Monday, October 23, 2017

CoCA Legacy 24-Hour Art Marathon & Auction



There are amazing things afoot...

I'm thrilled to have been invited back to participate in CoCA (Center on Contemporary Art)'s 24-Hour Art Marathon at Elysian Fields in Pioneer Square! 

The Marathon:
Thursday, 2 November - Friday, 3 November (10am-10am)

CoCA Legacy: 24-Hr Art Marathon Preview Party:
Thursday, 2 November from 6-9pm

CoCA Legacy Art Auction:
Friday, 3 November from 5.30pm-late!

CoCA has created exhibits & opportunities for Northwest artists for over 35 years, and the proceeds from the pieces created during the marathon benefit both the artists involved & the future of CoCA! The Art Walk preview is free to attend, and tickets are available for the auction if you see any pieces in process you simply have to have. :) 

Come say hi, cheer us on, and help us stay awake!

Participating artists: 
Annie Sprinkle, Aramis Hamer, Braden Duncan, Casey Curran, CASH, Dallas Cooper, Diego Suarez, Erika Rier, Flora Ramirez-Bustamante, Flynn Bickley, Gabriel Marquez, Jazz Brown, Jean Bradbury, Jeff Mihalyo, Juli Adams, Julie Devine, Kamari Bright, Larry Calkins, Leah Gerrard, Leslie West,  Stephanie Hargrave, Talia Silveri Wright, Todd Horton

Sunday, October 22, 2017

Steamposium 2017



In less than a week, Steampunk invades Seattle! Experience Steamposium 2017 at the Bell Harbour Conference Center on Pier 66!

Attractions include:
Celebrity guests Billie Piper & Reeve Carney!
Performances by Abney Park, Unwoman & Shake That Brass!
The coolest members of the Steampunk'd cast!
Mad Science Fair!
Tea & fashion fashion show!
Talented artists & merchants!
Panels, games, Nerf wars & more!

https://www.facebook.com/events/1824195774526055

Tickets are going fast, so get yours while they last!

I'll be your curator for the Merchant Hall, Artist Alley & Art Show! Hope to see you there.

~ BC Duncan

Monday, May 29, 2017

JUNE Art Fix: Upcoming Events

If you need your art fix for the month of June (and I know I do!), here are some shows that you won't want to miss! Spring is upon us, and summer is coming soon, so that means pleasant weather for art walking. :)

Famous artists born in June: Paul Gauguin (7th), Egon Schiele (12th), MC Escher (17th), Antoni Gaudi (25th) & Peter Paul Rubens (28th)


LAST CHANCE:




"Bad Anatomy:" The artwork of Cassie Murphy, Nick Gucker, and Genevieve St. Charles Monet at the Saloon Gallery. Join us as we celebrate all of the bad ways to depict, explain, and feed your anatomy with the art of these three amazing local artists. As always, the Saloon Gallery is open later than the rest of artwalk, so stop by after and keep the party going! Showing through 31 May.


COMING UP:  










The Pioneer Square Art Walk ~ Thursday, 1 June from 5-9pm. Selected shows: 
AXIS Pioneer Square - Opening Reception: "Dule Solo" by William Hooper & Ula Trudnos. Corner Gallery: KOH Atelier Collection group show. Closing Reception: "Patterns That Connect" by Geometica.
Abmeyer + Wood - "Meditations in an Emergency" by Amanda Sciullo & "Souvenir" by Biata Roytburd 
Art Xchange - "Singularity Now" by Jazz Brown, Jonathan Wakuda Fischer & Gabriel Marquez. Singularity Now draws from three artists' futuristic visions of a super-intelligence that reveals itself to be omnipresent Love. In a timely examination of humanity's future, Jonathan Wakuda Fischer, Jazz Brown and Gabriel Marquez present new works exploring our relationship to Nature and the ultimate truth that "All is One and One is All."
Foster/White Gallery - "Endless Summer" by Joshua Jensen-Nagle. For over a decade, Joshua Jensen-Nagle has captivated the viewer with his evocative photographs and singular aesthetic. Best known for his dreamy large-scale beaches and romantic European vistas, Jensen-Nagle’s photographs of faraway places impart a nostalgic mood on the viewer.
Greg Kucera Gallery - "¡Cuidado! - The Help" group show & "The 1970's" by Alden Mason
Linda Hodges Gallery - Galen Hanson, paintings on paper
Mortlake & Co - "World of Emanations" featuring Michelle Anderst, Marlene Seven Bremner & Adam One“World of Emanations” brings together three Seattle artists whose explorations of Tarot, Qabalah, and Astrology have delicately interwoven and influenced each other in their magical paths. This ever deepening relationship between the three can be viewed in the exhibition as a sort of Trinity; particularly that of Atziluth, the supernal triangle in the tree of life known as the world of emanations. It is here, and only here that God acts directly and not through his ministers. Atziluth is an archetypal world that emanates from timeless nothingness. As the first expression of light and fire, it bridges the imperfect realms of physical existence with the perfection of the infinite.
The Piranha Shop - "Future prophesies" by Jennifer Amenther first solo exhibition of encaustic paintings
Saloon Gallery - "Sideshow: Joseph Brooks & Jeremy Gregory"
Also check out new work a4Culture, 57 Biscayne, Acid Axiom,  Angle Gallery, Artifact Gallery, The Belfry OdditiesBon Voyage Vintage, Bonfire GalleryCafe VitaCoCA, Core GalleryDavidson Galleries, Delicatus, Gallery 110, Gallery IMA, goCstudio, Hall Spassov GalleryHuntington Media Gallery, James Harris Gallery, Kraken Congee, Mariane Ibrahim Gallery, Method GalleryNord Alley & the Alley Network Project, Occidental Square ParkOK GalleryPlatform Gallery, Punch, Room 104 GallerySAM GallerySeattle ArtsourceShiftSOILStonington GallerySurface TheoryTK Artist Lofts, Treason Galleryand  more! Pioneer Square is the oldest art walk in the United States, and features over 50 galleries, studios, and other art spaces!






The Fremont Art Walk ~ Friday, 2 June from 6-9pm. Selected shows:
evo Timesinfinity Galler - Asymbol Collective: Jamie Lynn, iuna tinta, Matt French, Mike Parillo, Ten Hundred, Corey Smith & Adam Haynes
Frame Up Studios - Greg Colligan, oil paintings & pin ups
Saturn - Antonio Holguin, Natalia Fialkoff, Richard Rhodes & Sarah Ashwood
The Sweet Spot - Amy Rueter, paintings
Also check out new work at ArtFX GalleryAsgard TavernAtlas Clothing, Bellefleur Lingerie, Fremont Jewelry DesignFremont Health ClubGasworks Gallery, GiGi Retro Inspired ClothingHub and BespokeJohnson ArchitectsMakerhausNorthwest Vision Studio, Pel'Meni Dumpling TzarPortgage Bay Goods, Sanachi MassageSpace, Starbucks CoffeeStone Way Cafe, Tiny Dodo Gallery, and more!




The Bainbridge Island Art Walk ~ Friday, 2 June from 6-8pm. Selected shows:
Bainbridge Arts & Crafts - "Yard Art" group show. Just in time for basking in the sunshine, this group show will feature quirky, earthy pieces perfect for outdoor appreciation and enjoyment. Functional and/or decorative pieces will include sculpture, furniture, wall art and other outside accoutrements.
Blackbird Bakery - TBA
Roby King Gallery - Larry “Ulaaq” Ahvakana/Solo Exhibition
See new and exciting work at Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, the BPADangerFork & Spoon, Ginger, Harbour Public HouseIsland GalleryPegasus Coffee, Pauli Dennis Gallery, PrettyStickSally Robinson Gallery, and more!





The Port Townsend Art Walk ~ Saturday, 3 June from 5-8pm. Selected shows: 
Red Dragonfly Gallery - Braden Duncan's "Dreaming in Aether" New watercolours of pop culture, Steampunk & mystical kittens with a smattering of Bionic Bunnies!
Also check out new work at Earthenworks GalleryForest Gems GalleryGallery 9, Max Grover GalleryPort Townsend GallerySimon Mace Gallery, Williams Gallery, and more! Don't forget to stop in Cellar Door for a nightcap, local art, & live music!




Eyes On Walls Presents ‘Flaming Heart’ a Multi-City ArtShow by Lora Zombie. The Piranha Shop, Saturday, 3 June from 7-10pm. One night only! Lora Zombie first ever Multi-City Art Show Tour, ‘Flaming Heart’ will be visiting Seattle, WA for one night only on Saturday, June 3rd. This will be her first ever solo show in Seattle and will feature as many as 30 Original works, as well as prints and exclusive merchandise from Eyes On Walls and HEROTIME. Attendance is free and all are welcome to attend. Lora will be there to meet and sign. Original Art, Limited Edition Prints and more will be available for purchase. A small amount of limited edition gift bags will be FREE for the first to arrive with any purchase.

About Lora Zombie:
Born in a small town in Russia in 1990, Lora Zombie was set on becoming an artist a very early age. The self-taught painter first gained recognition in the late 2000s as her work circulated online, reaching millions of people through blogs, news outlets, and social media. Lora is now a top seller on the urban art scene and in recent years has exhibited in Los Angeles, Toronto, London, New York and Russia. She has also completed collaborations with HBO, Warner Brothers, Lollapalooza, Blackmilk Clothing, Perrier, Urban Nation, The Hundreds, and Sony/AMC. In 2017 Lora has completed several outdoor murals in London, Los Angeles, Iceland, Berlin, Dublin and soon Toronto.



"Pancakes & Booze" at El Corazon. Saturday, 3 June from 8pm-2am. Seattle's Premier Underground Art Show featuring:
-70+ Emerging Artists
-Live Body Painting
-Live DJ sets
-Live Art
-FREE Pancake Bar
-21+ ONLY
 PAINTINGS, MIXED MEDIA, PHOTOGRAPHY, SCULPTURES, DRAWINGS, GRAFFITI. AUDIO & VISUAL performers TBA





The Capitol Hill Art Walk ~ Thursday, 8 June from 5-9pm. Selected shows:
CoCA - "Gener8" group showCoCA Gener8 is a catalyst for new artist projects that *generate* work in a unique, short term, large-scale office space. The eight artists who were selected to have 24/7 access to the large studio space (which is near Elysian Brewing on Capitol Hill) May 17 through June 15 will be presenting their art on Thursday, June 8th during the Capitol Hill Arts Walk! Join us while we celebrate these artists and what they have created during the event going on 5-8pm. Featured artists: Kamari Bright, Wyly Astley, Amina Maya, Dylan Tucker, Makena Gadient, Jean Bradbury, Melanie Voytovich, Stefan Gonzales, Jazz Mom
Ghost Gallery - "Once There Was" New Work by Crystal Barbré. ”Once There Was” is inspired by the magic and lore of the Pacific Northwest. These new works are the beginning of an exploration into the darkness and romance, real and imagined that lurks in the history and myths of the Cascadian landscape. It is an enchanting place that has always sparked the imagination of the people's that inhabit it. This show is Chapter One in exploring where truth and tale intersect and where we can find, in true fairy tale fashion, the hidden truths that apply to our present days."
Mercury - "Transmission" Featured artist: TBA! Featured bellydance: TBA! Every month we bring you the best in Shoegaze, post-punk, post-rock and psych music with your host DJ Echo! You do not have to be a member for this night, and you do not need a member to sign you in. It is open to the  public. No dress code. Free for members before 9.30pm, $5 for non-members. Starts at 9pm and goes til 2am.  
True Love Gallery - Group show: Aaron Jasinski, Abby Fields, Rhodora Jacob, & Krissy Downing. For the month of June, come explore the whimsical, colorful, immersive character art of four PNW artists. Music Provided by Kid Amiga
Also check out new work at 12th Avenue Arts, AmericanaArt Primo, Broadcast Coffee Roasters, Caffe VitaCafe PettirossoCalypte Gallery, Capitol CiderChroma Clouds Gallery, Cloud Gallery, Cupcake RoyaleDendroica GalleryEdie's Shoes, The Factory, Front Seat Gallery, High 5 Pie, In-Arts Collective, Joe Bar, Kismet Salon, Laughing Buddha, Online CafeParis EastsidePCNWPoco Wine + SpiritsRetrofit Home, Rubix Apartments, SAAMSaint John's Bar, Saints Gallery, Steve Gilbert Photo Studio, SugarPillThe Pine BoxVermillionand more!


The West Seattle Art Walk ~ Thursday8 June from 6-9pm. Selected shows: 
Also check out new work at Arts West, Click! Design That FitsThe Heartland CafeHotwire CoffeeShadowlandSkylark Cafe, Shoofly PieWest 5, West Seattle Wine Cellars, Wild Rose's, Windermere, and more!


The Art Up Phinneywood Art Walk ~ Friday, 9 June from 6-10pm. Selected shows:
BLAM! - The BLAM! Crew: Tnglr, Narboo, Starheadboy, Andy Miller, and 13fngrs

Echo Echo Gallery - The Echo Echo crew: Claudio Duran, Eva Wang, Jeff Farnam, Jill Feenstra, John Hunter, Rhodora Jacob, Xavier Lopez Jr, Zeal Rattlecans & (occasionally) Braden Duncan
HappyTime Apocalypse - The HTA Crew: Sami A Saurus, Dusty Frasier, Jeanne Young, Katrina Gudnason & Kendall Hanson
Kolab Galery - The KOLAB Crew: Robert BellmJoshua BouletMelissa CrosettoTravis MelocheMallory MilkeMegan Noel Smith
Urban Light Studios - Main Gallery Opening Reception: Greg Colligan, oil paintings & pin ups. Auxiliary Gallery Closing Reception: The Recycled Art Show, group show
Warlock Labs - TBA
Check out new work at: Avanti Art & DesignChocolattiGainsbourgHome Suite HomeNaked City Brewery, School of RockTwo Birds Tattoo, and more!


The Belltown Art Walk ~ Friday, 9 June from 6-9pm. Selected shows:
A/NT Gallery, Bikes + Art, City Hostel SeattleCrocodile CafeEssentia, Form/Space Atelier, Michelle Dirkse Interior Design, Patricia Cameron Gallery, Pintxo & The UpstairsRocco's, Rudy's Barber ShopSassafras, Seattle Ink & OilStylus SalonTheatre Schmeatreand more!




"Brass Screw Confederacy" in Port Townsend. Friday-Sunday, 9-11 JuneAirships and blunderbusses, submarines and privateers - all in search of elusive mermaids and pirate gold. Celebrating Port Townsend's designation as one of three Victorian Seaport in the US, come decked out in your piratical steampunk finery for another amazing year...

Join us for the 6th annual celebration of the historically-infused, eccentrically irreducible, inexplicably enticing Steampunk festival in the Pacific Northwest. Music, swordfights, mad science, and tea - why haven't you already gotten your tickets?!

The Brass Screw Confederacy welcomes such musical enticements as Frenchy and the Punk, Nathaniel Johnstone Band, Rogue's end, Hot Damn Scandal and more. Join us for Tactical Croquet, Nerf Wars, the Bodgers' Grand Exhibition, the Bazaar of the Bizarre, tea dueling, exceptional erudition at the Steampunk Chautauqua, and just too much else to list here.



"On the Record" at KEXP, Saturday, 10 June from 5-7pm. Join us in the KEXP gathering space for an exhibition of over 100 Seattle artists recovering the record and record cover. Come show your love for the power of art & music!





The Ballard Art Walk ~ Saturday, 10 June from 6-9pm. Selected shows:
Monster Art & Clothing - Ryan 'Henry' Ward. Join us for our June Ballard Night Out featuring the works of Seattle's beloved Muralist, Henry! There will be many adorable original paintings available to adorn your home with, and Henry will be in attendance to meet fans and sign his works. PLUS we're going to have our WEIRDEST SNACKS YET!
Push/Pull - TBA
Check out new work at Annie's Art &Frame, Art & SoulBallard Metal ArtsBallard WorksBallyoo Curiosity Shop, The BalMarBlowing Sands Glass StudioBuilding C StudiosCupcake RoyalFilthy RichFull TiltHabitude, Herb's House, Kiss Cafe, Liberte Skin WellnessMiro Tea, Nightingale Gallery, Savour, Spark StudioSticks & Stones Gallerythe Sunset TavernVenue and more!



The Georgetown Carnival, Saturday, 10 June from noon-10pm. Music - Art -Powertool Races - Carnival Games - Clowns - Food - Beer -Wine -and so much more! Did we mention FREE?!!






The Georgetown Art Attack ~ Saturday, 10 June from 6-9pm. Selected shows: 
Eight and Sand - "A Stitch in Time" by Mary Clymer, fiber, thread & photography
Georgetown Liquor Co - "Eli Wolff & the Wild Things" Eli Wolff is a video game designer who enjoys spending free-time creating art work. He enjoys a wide variety of influences so each new painting is a fun surprise. He tries to do a new painting at least a couple times a month, so check back regularly to see new work. 
Krab Jab Studio - "Metamorph: The Art of Stephanie Law". Illustrator Stephanie Law returns to Seattle to join us in celebrating her new body of work, "Metamorph". Butterflies, bumblebees and forest creatures frolic and dance in ancient forests and specially designed panels that literally weave and sway across gallery walls like ribbons in the wind. Stephanie will have an Artist Talk at 7:30 pm to discuss her work in this fantastic exhibit! As an added bonus, we will be selling printed catalogs of her show both onsite and online by June 10th!
Also check out new work at 9lb HammerThe Alice, Artcore TattooBelle & WhisselBridge ProductionsThe ConservatoryEquinox StudiosFantagraphics Bookstore, Georgetown AtelierGeorgetown Arts & Cultural Centre, Georgetown Trailer Park MallInterstitial, Praxis Arts, Smarty PantsTotally Blown GlassworksTwo Tartes CafeWax Expressions, and more!



"2nd Saturdays at TK Hall Collective" ~ The 2nd Saturday of every month from noon-5pm at the TK Artist Loft building in Pioneer Square. With the revitalised success of the Pioneer Square 1st Thursday Art Walk, several of the working studios at the Tashiro/Kaplan Building have collectively decided to add a new tradition by also opening our doors to the public on the second Saturday of every month from noon to 5 pm. Participating studios:
306 S Washington St. (#101 - Ellen Hoch Berg, #103 - Studio 103, #104 - Juan Alonso, #105 - Joanna Morgan Designs)
312 S Washington St. (#2B - Barbara Noonin, #C - Jody Joldersma)



The Queen Anne Uptown Art Walk ~ Thursday, 15 June from 5-7.30pm. Selected shows:
Check out new work at Bombsheller Art LabsCaffe LadroLiberty Tattoo ParlourMercer Street BooksMud BayPeridot BoutiqueSolo Bar, Teatro ZinzanniTin Lizzie Lounge, Toulouse PetitThe Vera Project, and more!.



The Edmonds Art Walk ~ Thursday, 15 June from 5-8pm. Selected shows:
Otherworlds - Katie Croonenberghs: Kamakru Art. Katie is a fantasy and fine artist for book covers and concept, design and art for tabletop games. Her focus is on fantastical creatures with strong roots in our natural world, working in both digital and traditional mediums she weaves color and movement into her visual storytelling. Landscapes and environments play a large role in her works, as the setting to a story always starts with a place, and all are important details.
Cheesemongers is right next door if you find yourself in need of something delicious, and you can check out new work at ARTspot, Arts Now, C'est La VieThe PaperyRed Petal CakesStunningly Strange Gallery, and more than 30 other Edmonds art spaces!
The Edmonds Thearte presents Free Movie Night! Every 3rd Thursday following the Art Walk! This Month: TBA



The University District Art Walk ~ Friday, 16 June from 6-9pm. Selected shows:
Gargoyles Statuary - "Goddesses" group show
Also see new work at 7 Market & CafeBC Surf + Sport, Cafe Allegro, Cafe SolsticeChaco Canyon Cafe, Daisy Sky StudioLucid GalleryMokshaUniversity Business Center, and more! 




"The Haberdashery Fundraiser" hosted by Somethingprettie.com at the Haberdashery in Auburn. Saturday, 17 June from 11am-6pm. You are cordially Invited for fun, lemonade and goodies, live music, and a very large grouping of Artists, all here for your enjoyment and to promote the renovations and the coming soon of The Haberdashery! My dream has been to open up a location to welcome and inspire other artists and support them in a way that is difficult in this profession. The location is an art gallery and boutique offering unique supplies for artists and crafters, as well as showcasing work from all different kinds of artists. In addition to this it will double as a wine bar and event venue! 2017 earnings are going to be funneled in its entirety to the renovations happening at our gallery.


Urban Craft Uprising at Seattle Center Exhibition Hall. Saturday & Sunday, 24-25 June. Urban Craft Uprising is Seattle’s largest indie craft show! At UCU, now in its thirteenth year, fans can choose from a wide variety of hand-crafted goods, including clothing of all types, jewelry, gifts, bags, wallets, buttons, accessories, aprons, children’s goods, toys, housewares, furniture, paper goods, candles, kits, geekery, art, food, and much, much more. Each show is carefully curated and juried to ensure the best mix of crafts and arts, along with quality and originality. This bi-annual show features over 150 vendors excelling in the world of craft, art and design. Hundreds of fans are lined up before our doors open to receive our famous swag bags full of goodies from our vendors and lovely sponsors. Not only can you peruse the aisles full of vendors, but there are also hourly crafty book signings to check out. This show is free and fun for the whole family! We look forward to seeing you!


"Oddmall Emporium of the Weird" at Everett Community College. Saturday & Sunday, 24-25 JuneShow hours are 10-6 on Saturday and 11-5 on Sunday. Free Admission and over 1600 Free Parking spaces! Oddmall is more than just an ordinary craft show. It’s a celebration of uniqueness, creativity, imagination, and wonder where artists, crafters, and like-minded sorts gather to offer their unusual creations for public consumption. It’s a forum for creative expression, a classroom for esoteric wisdom, a soapbox for wild ideas, a miraculous marketplace of the unconventional, a metaphorical Serengetian watering hole where the zebras and wildebeests of inspiration and artistry congregate amidst the snapping crocodiles and scorching sunbeams of originality and ingenuity… umm yeah. Anyway, it’ll be fun. Trust me. Oddmall: Emporium of the weird features the best of the best of Pacific Northwests  Artists, Crafters, Authors, Illustrators and purveyors of unusual things!


Seattle PrideFest 2017 ~ All month long! PrideFest 2017 is coming soon! Saturday June 24 on Capitol Hill and Sunday June 25 at Seattle Center. This year, we'll celebrate all the ways we're stronger together: gay bi and straight, white black and brown, trans cisgendered and intersex, and every color of the rainbow in between. PrideFest is the largest free Pride Festival in the country and the busiest day at the Seattle Center throughout the entire year! Schedule:
Sunday, 4th: Clean Sweep
Thursday, 8th: Queer Art Walk (Capitol Hill)
Sunday, 11th: Pride March
Saturday, 17th: Film Festival
Sunday, 18th: Milk with Cleve Jones
Thursday, 22nd: Dragapalooza
Saturday, 24th: Pridefest (Capitol Hill)
Sunday, 25th: Pridefest & Parade (Downtown)


ONGOING: 


The SAAM is temporarily closed for remodel. Re-opening is anticipated for 2019.




The SAM is currently featuring:

Olympic Sculpture Park - Spencer Finch: The Western Mystery (1 April 2017 - 3 March 2019). As the sun slips away and daylight turns into twilight, we become keenly attuned to the shifting colors of the sky and our surroundings. New York–based artist Spencer Finch has dedicated his practice to the study of light and color and the ways in which we perceive them. At the Olympic Sculpture Park, Finch has installed a nebulous formation of suspended glass panes that are, in his words, “creating a moving abstraction of a sunset, based on actual sunsets photographed from Seattle over Puget Sound. Using ninety square panes of glass of three different sizes and sixteen different colors, the installation straddles the line between abstraction and representation, shifting composition in real time as the panes of glass gently rotate in space.” Spencer Finch spent many years studying representations of landscape in painting, literature, and poetry. In the 19th century, Impressionist painters studied a single view at different points throughout the day in an attempt to capture the light of outdoor settings, resulting in dramatically different images and moods. Similarly, Finch’s nonrepresentational landscape uses a collection of visual data to create abstraction and abstraction to represent visual data.

Brotman Forum - John Grade: Middle Fork (ongoing). John Grade’s large-scale sculpture, Middle Fork, echoes the contours of a 140-year-old western hemlock tree located in the Cascade Mountains east of Seattle. Beginning by making a full plaster cast of the living tree, the artist and a cadre of volunteers used this mold to recreate the tree’s form out of thousands of pieces of reclaimed old-growth cedar. Middle Fork was conceived and fabricated at MadArt Studio and made its Seattle debut there in January 2015. The original work was 40-feet long and will more than double in length for its installation in the Brotman Forum.

Big Picture: Art After 1945 (ongoing). In the decades following World War II, New York emerged as a new center of contemporary art in the Western hemisphere, eclipsing Paris in importance. It was a moment of bold beginnings. The gestural painting styles that developed in the United States in the late 1940s and ‘50s had unprecedented explosive energy and grew out of an experimentation with painting as an expression of the subconscious. These were the landmark beginnings of abstract expressionism and its concurrent artistic movements—from intense fields of color, to minimal manipulation of surface and texture, to artists learning from dance and movement and examining the everyday. Big Picture presents these vibrant developments in painting and sculpture as an ongoing and evolving exhibition. A November addition introduces works by European artists grappling with their unique experiences and concerns in the wake of World War II, centered more strongly on the figure and the environment. As the galleries change, new connections and points of departure will be uncovered.



Bainbridge Island Museum of Art is currently featuring:
Chris Maynard: Featherfolio (ongoing). Feathers mark nature’s pinnacle of achievement: the intersection of function and beauty. They make flight possible; insulate against water, sun and wind; and their colors and patterns help them hide and attract mates. To Chris Maynard, each feather is a small bit of perfection. When birds shed or discard their feathers every year, he recycles them in his art. The feathers Maynard uses are from private aviaries and zoos. Most feathers used are from birds not native to North America—even the crow feathers. The exception to using feathers from North America are those from turkeys and grouse. All feathers used in Maynard's artwork are legal to have and sell.

Gage Academy of Art is currently featuring:
"Drink & Draw" every 1st Friday from 7-9pm. Each session is based on a theme – a costumed model, still life arrangements, music, videos and more. We’ll provide the drawing materials for free – or just have a cocktail or glass of wine and watch the artists work! No formal instruction is provided, no host bar. Ages 21+ only, please. $10 at the door.




The Henry Art Gallery is currently featuring:  

"Summer Wheat: Full Circle" (4 March - 17 September 2017). In the paintings for this suite—Nightshade, Strawberry Sun, and Valley of Life with Snake—Wheat brings celestial bodies and earthly creatures into a shared pictorial field to consider the relationship between the cosmic realm and human existence. Fragmentary and contorted, adorned and decorated, Wheat’s figural forms and characters conjure the psychological toll and messiness of the mundane experience and search for meaning, and also the beauty and resilience implicit in this process. The title Full Circle alludes to these dualistic qualities as counterpoints constantly encircling us individually and collectively. Wheat made these paintings by pushing her medium of acrylic paint through aluminum mesh, embracing the intuition of felt experience as a way of knowing that rivals conventional forms of reason and logic. The effect creates a textured surface evocative of latch hook rugs and historic forms of wall covering such as woven tapestries to suggest a flattening of hierarchies between the fine and domestic arts and crafts.

"Fun. No Fun" Kraft Duntz featuring Dawn Cerny. (4 March - 10 September 2017). The Henry is pleased to present Fun. No Fun., a commissioned work by Kraft Duntz, the Seattle-based artist/architect team of David Lipe, Matt Sellars, and Dan Webb, in collaboration with artist Dawn Cerny. The installation occupies the large open volume of the Henry’s lower level gallery and investigates how space and memory mediate experience; just as desire and lived experience affect the spaces we build, imagine, and occupy. This work locates itself somewhere between sculpture and architecture and considers states of togetherness and aloneness, purity and impurity, aspiration and pragmatism. The title Fun. No Fun. refers not only to the range of positive and negative emotions that are linked to the genesis and execution of any given project, including the many discussions to arrive at a final form, but also to the harder aspects of exhibition making, including navigating institutional limitations and physical and material constraints. Fun. No Fun. is an installation composed of built forms and voids that together appear to offer options but no apparent resolution—much like the world we live in, where the opportunity for action appears endless but is often thwarted by closed systems and networks. Through its very form, Fun. No Fun. reflects the inherent contradiction that exists between exhilaration, expectation, and disappointment in the experience of art and life. It suggests that navigating this persistent conundrum is at the discretion of every individual, regardless of larger processes that explicate and validate contemporary art and the world we live in. 



The Frye Art Museum is currently featuring:  

"Amie Siegel: Interiors" (20 May - 3 September 2017). New York-based artist Amie Siegel works between film, photography, performance, and installation. In her solo exhibition Interiors, she investigates ideas about objects and their perceived cultural value, and the power systems innate to connoisseurship and museum practice. Through the complex, meticulously constructed works that are her signature, she explores how hierarchies of ownership, care, and display—constructs of the human mind as well as the museum—implicate institution, audience, and artist alike.

"Between the Frames: The Frye Art Museum Collection After 1952" (29 April - 23 July 2017). Between the Frames explores the evolution of the Frye Art Museum’s collection, presenting sixty-five years of acquisitions in chronological sequence. The exhibition charts the Museum’s transformation from a personal selection of late-nineteenth and early-twentieth-century art, cultivated by First Hill residents Charles and Emma Frye, to a museum of the twenty-first century dedicated to regional and international creative practice in its myriad forms. Situated between founding legacy and future vision, Between the Frames considers the ways institutions shape and are shaped by their collections.


With this much going on, you couldn't possibly complain that there's nothing to do in Seattle! 

Support your local art scene! Cheers.

~ BCDuncan