Ron Reeder’s show at Wall Space was a treat. The show is entirely photographic nudes done in a variety of interesting ways. Some are fanciful montages that reminded me of Uelsmann’s work — winged angels, ghostly reflections in pools of water, the birth of Venus, etc. (See photos 14–20 on Wall Space’s site). Others are mysterious images printed as tintypes — yes, civil war era technology. The process gives them a darkness that amplifies their mystery. The back room of the gallery holds more typical nude studies, which you can gloss over on your way to see the fun of the show: the “toys”. Throwing all typical concepts of framing to the wind, Reeder mounted his photos in a number of interesting, hand-made contraptions. First is a series of standing nudes mounted on a wheel, which was connected through a series of gears and pulleys to a crank — giving you a kind of kinematoscope. Continuing the Victorian riff, another photo — of a late 19th century photographer photographing a nude — is hung with a lace curtain over it. The curtain can be rolled up with a little crank at the top. Finally — and most alluring — is the nude of an asian woman lying down, mounted in a long wooden box with a japanese sliding screen in front (and everyone slid the screen back, giggling to themselves). I liked how the toys invited participation in a way that mirrored the complicity of the model with the photographer — like everyone was in on the game.
Following Yesler towards the water, our happy crew made a discovery: the artists lofts at 619 Western. Five labyrinthine floors of artists lofts — many of them live-in. Every one was packed with great work. The diversity of work is overwhelming — from classic landscapes, to fetish photography (complete with improvised goth club), to student works, to paintings, etchings, graffiti, and watercolor. Just about anything you could imagine on a wall, somebody’s got on a wall in this place. Happily, the building was full of an equally diverse range of viewers. This place makes the TK lofts up the street look like a side-show. There was a lot to see and it was well worth it. (My favorites were some of the work by Shawn Foote).

Related posts:

1. Seatle Artwalk: 2/06
2. Seattle Artwalk: 3/06

The Globe, Global Art Venue, and G. Gibson galleries were in reruns. Guess it’s not a month to begin with the letter G.
Unless, your name is Greg. Greg Kucera gallery had a great surprise for us — sketches by Matisse!!! Unfortunately, we got there right at closing, so we did not get to spend much time with them. I’ll have to go back.
Jeff Mihalyo’s paintings at D’Adamo / Woltz reminded me of Tom Gehrig’s work. It is somewhat surreal and fanciful with an occasional touch of humor. In the end, though, I like Gehrig’s work better, though I couldn’t tell you why.
I really enjoyed Ian Boyden’s eerie pigment prints at Davidson Gallery. Don’t just look at the web site; you have to go see these in person. At a glance, they seem like semi-abstract landscapes. Get up close and you see that they’re fabulously created by carefully letting pigment inks bleed through the paper. The subdued colors add to the moodiness.
Foster / White had a couple of curious shows. Carmen Lozar’s figurines are intriguing, though I think 80% of the appeal is because they’re fabulously well lit (someone had a fun time and did an excellent job — the lighting on one piece drew me across the gallery to see it. Again, web sites do no justice). Jamie Evrard’s big floral painting in the entry is striking, primarily in it’s choice of colors. The others in the show didn’t impress me much, but then, I’m not into flowers.
The TK Lofts were their usual motley selves. Nothing really struck me though. Must’ve been all that rain — and an impending sugar crash having not eaten most of the day.
We concluded as we often do at Trattoria Mitchelli’s for some food, wine, and conversation.

Related posts:

1. Seatle Artwalk: 2/06
2. Artwalk: Pioneer Square
3. Back in Seattle

Street vendors — Usually there are several artists lining Occidental Ave showing off all manner of artwork. This month, there were only three artists, huddling together, braving the wind, rain, and cold. I commend them for their heroism, but I hope they weren’t out there long…
D’Adamo/Woltz Gallery had a very fun show: their annual exhibition of student artists from Pratt Fine Art, Cornish College of the Arts, Northwest College of Art and the University of Washington. The show shakes things up nicely: being students, they’re a little more rough & adventurous than you normally see in a gallery. Keeara Rhoades (UW) Gilliam-esque collages were intriguing. Being a font geek, I really liked Casey Curran’s (Cornish) latin characters over mechanical sketches. A few months back, I was commissioned to do a photo series of decayed food, but Derrick Jeffries (UW) photos of trump anything I had shot. Derrick Nobbs’ (Northwest) creepy paintings kept drawing my attention (and inspired my co-artwalker and I to think up similarly creepy fairy tales to go with them).
Grover Thurston Gallery had a series of paintings that my friend and I decided looked quite nice together, with people milling about looking at them, as seen through the windows from the street. Individually, well…
Continuing down Occidental, Davidson rocked with a great mezzotint show by Carol Wax & Fred Mershimer. This show is very well curated: the artists work goes so well together that I didn’t realize it was two artists. Mershimer’s prints of a nocturnal metropolis draw you into their gothic world. Wax’s prints of vintage mechanical objects — Underwood typewriters, sewing machines, clocks — were my favorite. Being a photographer, I loved the film-noir lighting she created as well as the gentle, smooth curves throughout. I have no idea how she creates such detail by sanding a plate of copper… You can see the prints online, but it’s just not the same.
Global Art Venue — one of my favorite galleries — usually has something really interesting to see. Usually. The abstracts on the main floor this month didn’t move me to even write down the artist’s name. Downstairs, though, they had Stanislaw Zoladz’s frighteningly realistic watercolors that always astound and confound me (they’re so meticulously made, and the light so accurate, that I constantly have to check the placard to remind myself that they are indeed water color). If you haven’t seen these, you should.
Another favorite — the Globe Gallery — is a tiny little photography gallery masquerading as the foyer of the building — or maybe a foyer masquerading as a gallery. Either way it’s cool and often has very interesting photography. This month, they’re showing photographs of Burma by Julie McMackin. This show confused me. The photos on display did not impress me. In the little anteroom, though, they had a catalog of the entire series of work — it was full of interesting images! Maybe I’m just simple, but I would’ve hung the best images on the walls & left others in the book.
Eastward, Greg Kucera was showing Tim Roda. I have mixed reactions to Roda — the more narrative photos I like. Others, like Untitled #41, leave me scratching my head.
Doug Keyes show of massively multiply exposed prints at G. Gibson also didn’t move me. His print of Chinatown signs made me laugh as they matched my first impression of Times Square in NYC last year, but 10 seconds later I was ready to move on. A single print or two, sure, but a whole series? Take a look online and let me know what you think.
Finally, the Trustee Building at 306 Washington is always a treat — this is the home of the Tashiro/Kaplan Artspace Project which filled the building with artists lofts and studios, brimming with curiosities. During artwalk, most of the artists throw open their doors to allow us to wander about and see their works. It’s like a big artistic candy shop — I got so excited I forgot to take notes on the artists. One studio had a creepy picture I just loved: taken from inside a basement, a girl outside stares across a police-tape border, through a window, right into our eyes as we lurk in the darkness. Another had an interesting tower of glass with emulsion photos of 9/11 ground zero inserted inside. I lingered in the Rock Editions gallery looking at Stephen Rock’s pencil sketches from “Pages from a Diary”.
In the hallways of the building, I found an excellent exhibition I wish were in a street-side gallery so that it could get more visibility. Amanda Koster’s Aids Is Knocking project documents the stories of orphans and widows of AIDS in Kenya. This show is a knockout. The photos are wonderfully composed with available light used to full advantage. The emotional element is much stronger than the technical: the subjects are relaxed and completely open. Koster’s compassion radiates throughout. She further illustrated the photos by hanging, next to each photo, excerpts of her interviews with that subject (she also made a documentary film). Find a way to see this show. A few of the photos are on her site, but they don’t compare to the actual prints.
Rounding out the evening, we adjourned to a brilliant little coffee shop/bar who’s name I can never remember, but is conveniently located on the eastern corner east of the Trustee Building — great atmosphere, drinks, and DJ Thalmer spinning some cool grooves that exactly fit the mood.

Related posts:

1. Artwalk: Pioneer Square
2. Seattle Artwalk: 3/06
3. Faces in a crowd