Adam Putnam. Untitled, 2009. Mixed media. Dimensions vary.
Image via www2.seattleu.edu/artsci/finearts/Default.aspx?id=2516

Tonight: Void Blank Blank (1 of 3)
Adam Putnam Opening at the Hedreen Gallery
This is curator Yoko Ott's inaugural exhibit at the gallery, and the focus is the lush red passageway between the gallery and the theater.
Thursday, January 15, 5-8pm
Instead of denying that the gallery is an acting theater lobby, Ott's exhibit line-up aims to explore this fact.
Through March 21.


Joe Park, 1992
can't remember if the brick came first of the tissue dispenser, although they are both numbered so i guess i could check. Image via www.cornish.edu/exhibitions/joepark

Also Opening Tonight: The Hotness: A Sort of Retrospective by Joe Park
Thursday, January 15, 5-7 p.m. at Cornish
Cornish art alum Joe Park shows what could be considered a road map of how he got to his current painting style, including selections of his work as an art student, furniture designer, sculptor, and performance artist. Online catalog and gallery info here.
Through February 20.

Image: Dunraven Night, 1999, Acrylic on canvas, 45.5 x 57.5 inches
Courtesy of Francine Seders Gallery, via gregkucera.com

As part of the Color, Light, Time, and Place exhibit  (Selected Works, 1965-1999) Michael Dailey shows luminous abstractions in oil at Greg Kucera Gallery (with newer works in acrylic at Francine Seders Gallery) through February 14 (and 9, respectively).

Image via jamesharrisgallery.com
Scott Foldesi
Tabloids, 2008
Watercolor, sumi color and pencil on paper, 45 x 60 inches

A quick, visual trip around a few of the strongest exhibitions on view right now, this Second Thursday. Here's what to check out, from wall-mounted wooden tracks to minimalist oil renderings of gas stations. And a mylar balloon with vinyl lettering, that feels, somehow, rather clever.
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Twilight Artist Collective reports that on Monday, three paintings were stolen from its West Seattle gallery. (Nationwide, given the recession and all, shoplifting is reported to be way, way up.)

So be on the lookout for two works by Cyn Moore, including the one pictured above, and a picture of a crane (as in the bird) by Jessie Link. Value for the three canvases is said to be $500; this at a time when gallery sales are down. If you have tips or information, please contact:

Twilight Artist Collective
933-2444
4306 S.W. Alaska St.

Dawn Cerny, Nice Rack, 2008, Chine colle, etching. Edition of 5., 2" x 4"
Image via http://www.somespacegallery.com

One of a selection of small art works, by the irrepressible Dawn Cerny. A great show of pieces a foot long to a side (or less), up for just a few more days in this busy month of buying.  

For more info, a complete list of participating artists, and an online preview, look here.

Some Space, 625 First Ave., PIONEER SQUARE
Mon.-Sat. Free. Ends Dec 27.
You might call before you go to make sure the gallery's open: (206) 718-3104.

Photo by Tara Lemm

A friend and I drove out to the Olympic Hot Springs entrance to the park, just past Port Angeles, hoping the snow might be keeping the tourists away. When we arrived to find the guard house empty but no blockade it seemed our plan would work, but a mile later, a locked gate blocked the road. We were too far from the trail head to make it all the way to the springs, but we decided to just follow the road for awhile on foot, which turned out to be great.

The vistas I've seen a dozen times during the summer were suddenly snowy, winter paradises. With the thick trees that dot the Olympics and the ferns that grow all year, it's enough to make you believe in Narnia.. And with the hordes of people gone, the deer were happy to munch on vegetation a few yards away. 

Matt Browning.  Twice Conquered, 2008.  Concrete, Bondo. 3 x 20 x 30 inches.
Image via http://www.lawrimoreproject.com

Lawrimore Project is hosting an opening tonight, with new works by a group of very promising artists, some of whom you've heard of, and some, perhaps not. This roster is very worth checking out:

Matt Browning
Heide Hinrichs
Michael Simi
Justin Colt Beckman
Caleb Larsen
and Vesna Pavlovic
 

Patch Dynamics - Six New Invasions To The Field
Co-Curated by Scott Lawrimore and Yoko Ott
"six artists working in the northwest who are either new to the field of art or new to the area"
Opening Reception And Artist Talk:
Thursday, December 11, 6:00-9:00pm, with an Artist Talk with Caleb Larsen at 7:00pm

More, very much more, about the exhibit, and more images, here.

As we've previously written, the new Counterbalance Park in Lower Queen Anne (aka Uptown) has been flickering with new LED lights that were part of the original design. (The park is located at the base of Queen Anne Ave. North, where it meets Roy Street.) But, for a variety of reasons, they've been delayed since the park's ceremonial opening in July. So now there's to be a second opening on Saturday, featuring a band from McClure Middle School, hot cider, and s'mores. (Mmmm, s'mores.) Details as follows:

Counterbalance Park, 2 Roy St., www.seattle.gov/parks. Free. 5-7 p.m. Sat. Dec. 6.

The $1.1 million makeover of the old gas station site, long vacant, was made possible by $300,000 from the 2000 Seattle Pro-Parks Levy, with the balance raised by the Uptown Alliance from various local benefactors. We applaud the effort. But we also wonder why the park is  being rolled out twice, and why it's seemingly being built in stages, and why some portions of the design still haven't been implemented. And, moreover, who gets credit for the LED design versus the landscape architecture: Murase Associates, a Portland firm with a Seattle branch office; or Italian-born Seattle artist Iole Alessandrini? At least one SW reader has suggested she was fired from the project.

So we decided to ask her, and the city, and Murase what's going on with the "urban oasis" (that being the official city suffix to the name--how many other parks get such an honorific?)...
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