Around the Sound

 

By Brenda Tipton We are blessed with some great museum exhibits during the next few months. One of them is at the Bellevue Arts Museum which is presenting a mid-career retrospective of Sherry Markovitz's work titled Sherry Markovitz: Shimmer, Paintings and Sculptures 1979 - 2006. Best known for her beaded, richly-adorned papier-mâché animal head trophies and dolls, which explore the realms of human expression, art and craft, life and death, and metaphors of gender and identity, her colorful work is sure to be of interest to every age group. The exhibit is on view from May 22 until September 7. In the last issue we told you to be sure to visit the newly-expanded Seattle Art Museum downtown. Try to get there before May 11 to see Roman Art at the Louvre. Ancient art from Paris's famed Musée du Louvre portrays nearly 300 years of imperial Roman life and history. The exhibition includes approximately 180 pieces, many that have never before traveled to the United States, from one of the richest collections of ancient Roman art in the world. Sure to be a blockbuster show this summer is Inspiring Impressionism: The Impressionists and the Art of the Past, on view from June 19 - September 21, 2008 at the downtown Seattle Art Museum on First Avenue between Union and University Streets. Organized by the Denver Art Museum in collaboration with the High Museum of Art, Atlanta, and the Seattle Art Museum, the exhibit launches an in-depth exploration featuring Degas, Cezanne, Goya, Raphael, El Greco, Cassat and many more. Plan on spending the day at SAM as there is much to see, and they have a fine restaurant as well. The only museum in town open to the public at no charge is the Frye, located at 704 Terry Avenue. Opening May 17 and on view through September 1, is Alloy of Love, by San Antonio artist Dario Robleto. Robleto is well known for intricately hand-crafted objects that reflect the artist's passionate investigations into a wide range of subjects, including music, popular culture, science, philosophy, war, and American history. If your interests include wildlife photography, go to the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture on the University of Washington campus, where you will find The Last Polar Bear, Facing the Truth of a Warming World. You can see it from June 28 until December 31. The Burke also has a fine permanent exhibit of Northwest Coast Native art, the fifth largest in the United States. While you are at the University of Washington make a point of visiting the Henry Art Gallery and see James Turrell's Skyspace. The Henry always has contemporary shows that are sure to capture your attention. Take a drive north on I-5 to the quaint little town of La Conner where you will find the Museum of Northwest Art. On view until June 15 is Paul Horiuchi: East and West. Another exhibit you should drive to La Conner for is to see glass artist Ginny Ruffner's Aesthetic Engineering: The Imagination Cycle, on view from July 12 until October 12.

Breasted Buddha, Sherry Markovitz, 2002/2003, Photo: Markovitz/Millet. Jean-Honoré Fragonard, A Young Girl Reading, c. 1776, oil on canvas, 32" x 25.5" (1961.16.1), Gift of Mrs. Mellon Bruce in memory of her father, Andrew W. Mellon, Image ©2006 Board of Trustees, National Gallery of Art, Washington. On view at the Seattle Art Museum from June 19 - September 21. Paul Horiuchi, Essence in Drama, painting with collage, collection of Linda Hodges, photo: C. B. Bell, III. At the Museum of Northwest Art until June 15

Drive farther north to Bellingham's Whatcom Museum of History & Art where they are showing a retrospective of Seattle-born, internationally-acclaimed artist John Franklin Koenig through August 24 . Koenig is known for his large-scale abstract paintings. Going south of Seattle on I-5, stop off in Tacoma for a visit to the Tacoma Art Museum and to the Museum of Glass (read our article by Matthew Kangas about the Lino Tagliapietra exhibit at Museum of Glass). TAM features A Couple of Ways of Doing Something: Photographs by Chuck Close, Poems by Bob Holman, through June 15. Renoir as Printmaker: The Complete Works, 1878 - 1912, is showing until June 29, lluminating the Word: The St. John's Bible is on view from July 12 through September 7, 2008. Created in the tradition of handwritten medieval manuscripts, this is the only handwritten and illuminated Bible commissioned since the advent of the printing press more than 500 years ago. Stay on I-5 South until you reach Olympia. Giants in the Mountains: The Search for Sasquatch, organized by the Washington Historical Society, will be on view all yearlong at the State Capitol Museum. On loan from the Maryhill Museum of Art is a prehistoric, ape-like Stone Head found in the Columbia Basin. Created especially for the exhibit is a full size mural of the legendary Dzoonokwa or Basket Women of the forests, a carved mask by renowned Native Artist Pete Peterson, Sr. and artwork by Sean Peterson. Take the whole family to Olympia for this one. As far as the individual galleries go, make an effort to see new exhibits on opening night by attending a gallery walk. East of the lake, Kirkland has a fun gallery walk on second Thursday, First Thursday in Pioneer Square, and Tacoma has one on third Thursday. There is no charge to wander from gallery to gallery, Actually, there are gallery walks in just every hamlet in this part of the world, so be sure to check out the events calendar at the front of Art Guide Northwest for a complete listing of gallery walks as well as art fairs and festivals. For daily art news look for our blog on the world wide web at www.seattleartblog.com. Enjoy!--Brenda Tipton

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