Staff Picks
The famed surrealist Salvador Dalí is coming to Seattle — at least an intriguing series of his etchings is. Featuring women with flower bouquets for heads and archangellike figures, these pieces make up one of several May exhibits that touch on the surreal, whether through uncanny photography, dreamy paintscapes or a healthy dose of whimsical pop art.
“Conner Gordon: After Cassandra”
The photos of Oregon-based Conner Gordon have a dreamlike quality. Something feels just a tad off. Hidden meaning lurks everywhere: a foreboding white statue of a young girl frozen in time; an all-seeing eye drawn on the glass, hovering above the horizon; a caged eagle spreading its wings. By naming this spellbinding, unsettling series after the Greek priestess Cassandra (who was cursed to see the future), Gordon hints at a catastrophe, as he puts it, waiting for us “beyond the threshold of perception.”
April 27-June 8; Solas Gallery, 300 S. Washington St., Unit Z, Seattle; free; solas.gallery
“Salvador Dalí and the avant-garde circle of Pierre Argillet”
Seattleites typically don’t have many opportunities to see an original Salvador Dalí (1904-89) in our home city. This month, Dalí devotees are in luck: 25 original etchings, a mixed-media painting and a drawing by the Spanish surrealist will be on view in Pioneer Square.
This exhibit centers on the collection of French art publisher Pierre Argillet (1910-2001), who was friends with Dalí and published many of his prints. Also included in this show are Argillet-published etchings by other famed avant-garde artists such as Georges Braque, Jean Cocteau, Leonor Fini and Giorgio de Chirico.
May 1-June 30; Frederick Holmes and Company, 309 Occidental Ave. S., Seattle; free; 206-682-0166, frederickholmesandcompany.com
“Flux”
By pouring, dripping and scraping paint onto paper and panel, Seattle’s Margie Livingston attempts to paint, she says, what’s “inside” her brain. In the resulting enigmatic dreamscapes, muted purples, cornflower blues and soft ochres bloom and spatter and fleck in surprising, delicate ways. Keep looking. What initially appears abstract contains hidden images: Wild creatures and undecipherable hieroglyphs lurk in the paint. Like an artistic “Where’s Waldo,” the joy is in the hunt.
May 16-June 29; Greg Kucera Gallery, 212 Third Ave. S., Seattle; free; 206-624-0770, gregkucera.com
“Spectacle Du Petite”
For a quarter-century, Roq La Rue has steadfastly charted a singular path in the local gallery scene, focusing largely on quirky pop surrealism. Next month, the gallery presents an array of small pieces — each 8-inch-by-8-inch or under — from more than 40 artists from across the country. Expect charming tableaux featuring robins with fish swimming in their bellies or daffodils blowing bubbles, ethereal, neo-futurist landscapes, macabre portraits and everything in between.
May 4-25; Roq La Rue Gallery, 2806 E. Madison St., Seattle; roqlarue.com
Also don’t miss:
Funk wasn’t just a music genre but also a 1960s visual art movement that embraced irreverence and boldness. “Coastal Funk” brings together work by Robert Arneson, one of funk’s godfathers, and contemporary artists keeping the spunk of funk alive. Through May 18; Heroes Gallery in residence at studio e gallery, 609 S. Brandon St., Seattle; free; 206-762-3322, heroesgallery.gallery
Attention: Artist RYAN! Elizabeth Feddersenis “Seeking Visions for a Better World” and invites visitors to contribute their thoughts and images for this participatory — and ever-growing — art installation. Through June 8; Hedreen Gallery, 901 12th Ave., Seattle; free; 206-296-2244, seattleu.edu
In “New Heraldry,” Seattle artist Sara Osebold imagines a new world after “total collapse,” through canvas drawings and clay sculptures imprinted with mysterious, textlike symbols and ceramic fragments found in mucky Seattle creek beds. May 1-30; Das Schaufenster, 6019 14th Ave. N.W., Seattle; free; annamlasowsky.com/dasschaufenster
Seattle artist Cameron Anne Mason showcases compelling soft sculptures — hand-dyed fabric monuments to Washington’s melting glaciers in “The Fabric of Memory.” May 2-25, artist talk 2 p.m. May 18; Foster/White Gallery, 220 Third Ave. S., #100, Seattle; free; 206-622-2833, fosterwhite.com
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