Tacoma Art Museum Announces Artist Line-Up for Ninth Northwest Biennial

The most striking thing about this list is how few artists you might recognize.

As the press release reads:

Rick Araluce, Seattle

Gala Bent, Seattle

Michael Brophy, Portland

Jack Daws, Seattle

Eric Elliott, Seattle

Tannaz Farsi, Eugene

Sarah Hood, Seattle

Denzil Hurley, Seattle

Linda Hutchins, Portland

Robert Jones, Seattle

Michael Kenna, Seattle

Doug Keyes, Seattle

Isaac Layman, Seattle

Zhi Lin, Sammamish

Micki Lippe, Seattle

Margie Livingston, Seattle

Victor Maldonado, Portland

Debora Moore, Seattle

Susan Robb, Seattle

Stephanie Robison, Portland

Ross Sawyers, Seattle

Susan Seubert, Portland

Chang-Ae Song, Eugene

Scott Trimble, Seattle

Rock Hushka, Director of Curatorial Administration and Curator of Contemporary and Northwest Art for Tacoma Art Museum, and Alison de Lima Greene, Curator of Contemporary Art and Special Projects at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, selected 24 artists from the 543 entries.

The regional breakdown for entries was 358 from Washington (203 from Seattle), 155 from Oregon (123 from Portland), 20 from Idaho, and 10 from Montana.

Just a few quick notes in response to this just-released list.
Both Susan Robb and Isaac Layman are affiliated with Lawrimore Project.
Painter Margie Livingston and sculptor Jack Daws are both represented by Greg Kucera.
Ross Sawyers’ photographs have been seen at Platform.
Both Michael Kenna’s photography and Doug Keyes pigment prints have been seen at G. Gibson.
Eric Elliot’s monochrome paintings were shown at James Harris Gallery.
Denzil Hurley’s work has been shown at Francine Seders Gallery.
And Scott Trimble’s work (a collaborative installation with John Fleming) is closing out Drop City Gallery – on view until November 29.

This biennial is based on artist-submitted applications, not on curators selecting what they might consider the best artists of the region -- so there might have been some self-selecting happening here.

The exhibit will be on view January 31-May 25, 2009. I’m looking forward to seeing how these disparate artists' work hangs together, and what works they choose to show (or create) for this exhibit.

I’m especially intrigued to see what Portland artists Linda Hutchins and Stephanie Robison will come up with. I’m curious to see Rick Araluce’s “Miniature constructions,” as well as Gala Bent’s work, which was last seen at Crawl Space, as part of a residency with her husband Zack.