Don't fret if you left your road map at home; we've got your stops planned for you in our First Thursday guide. Use it wisely! (And if you're interested in joining up for an art walk tour, get info here.)
Good Morning at Europa Gallery
Why it’s worth a visit:
Good Morning is a group exhibition featuring artwork by Seattle art stars Hernan Paganini, Joe Rudko, Robert Hardgrave, and Saya Moriyasu. While these artists are beloved for their mastery of mediums such as assemblage, collage, painting, and ceramics, Good Morning peels the lid off their practice and reveals the secret lives of their daily morning drawing practices. Sure, the magnum opus paintings and sweeping sculptures are great, but drawing is where the sexy secrets of the artist mind come out to play. Europa’s exhibitions are one-night-only affairs, mind you, so don’t dilly-dally!
Commit to Memory, Know it Will Perish at 4Culture
Why it’s worth a visit:
If you’re alive in the world and own a smart phone, you’ve probably wondered about digital memory in some regard—about clouds and where data lives (and if it ever truly dies). Many of us take thousands of photos a year to try and remember, to document our lives in some feeble way. This show by new media artist Althea Rao questions the logic of these attempts to combat time with data storage, asking whether “documentation truly guarantees remembrance,” and how our obsession with data collection might actually be counterproductive. She juxtaposes digital memories with remnants of biological presence—including wax strips collected from a local salon—to create a “living archive” that dares us to accept and perhaps embrace the perishability of our memories.
For the Soul at Common Ground
Why it’s worth a visit:
Just in time for Seattle Art Fair, For the Soul serves as a grounding reminder of why we choose to do this art thing in the first place. Through a variety of deeply personal, intimate works, this show highlights the power of creation to both heal and inspire, as according to a truly stacked line up of twenty artists whose takes on soul-feeding art we can’t wait to devour. Names include Anthony White, Brandon Vosika, Andrea Heimer, Sheila Klein, Elly Minagawa, and many more. We’ve also heard rumors that Yale Wolf’s neon art car might be taking center stage (IYKYK), which is reason enough for us to go check this out.
Shattered Sanctuaries at Hologram Gallery
Why it’s worth a visit:
From afar, Lily Landi’s glass mosaics depict lovely, colorful scenes of domestic life. But they play with our expectations in more ways than one. These “shattered sanctuaries” are aptly named; get closer, and you’ll see a skeleton hand springing up from the bathtub, or tracks of bloody footprints across the kitchen floor. They pack a sort of quizzical energy of childhood dreams—the kind that are vaguely offputting, but you can’t really explain why, and you’re not sure whether you want to wake. The shards of glass are dangerously sharp, but when you blur your eyes, they make a pretty picture.
Friend Museum: Tattoos, art, wine, etc.
Why it’s worth a visit:
Friend Museum is the holy grail of First Thursday vibe curation; if you haven’t made it there yet, we recommend stopping for a pick-me-up. This time around, expect flash tattoos from @sammy_pokess, work by visual artist Jeremy The Creative, a bouquet bar by florist @saritasflorecitas, natural wine, a free photo booth, and treats by Maddy’s Bakeshop and Sully Eats. Go for the art, stay for the impromptu tattoos.
Aspects of Being and Lin-Lin Mao Mollitor at Gallery 110
Why it’s worth a visit:
Gallery 110 has two shows this month: Aspects of Being, a group photography show, and Looking Back at ’65, a solo show from Seattle artist Lin-Lin Mao Mollitor. The former is a broad exploration of what it means to be human as interpreted by 7 PNW-based photographers, while the latter gets a little more granular. In 1965, Mollitor’s family immigrated to the United States from China. She paints her memories of this year through the lens of a child split between cultures and continents. Both shows are, in the end, **meditations on identity and how we make space for ourselves in the world. **
The Shape of Life at Greg Kucera
Why it’s worth a visit:
Pakistan-born Humaira Abid’s third exhibition at Greg Kucera explores the shape our lives take depending on the circumstances we’re born into. More specifically, Abid’s show is a dedication to children living and dying in times of war. A series of 20 carved wooden desks conjure images of a classroom, yet they are more like altars, each representing a different child lost to war. Inside the desk drawers, instead of pencils and rulers, visitors can find photographs of the children along with their stories. As per Abid: “Often only names and ages are published in the media, but these children are much more than that. They had dreams and were loved by many. The installation's aim is to provide more information about them and pay tribute to their lives.” It’s an all-too relevant show for right now, and one that is guaranteed to leave visitors thinking for a long time to come.
Blend In: Echoes at Foster/White Gallery
Why it’s worth a visit:
Calvin Ma’s anthropomorphised bird character returns in a new series of highly detailed sculptures at Foster/White. This time, Ma depicts our avian friend in a number of new poses and scenarios; in some pieces, he/she/they are flanked by an army of butterflies while in others, they are soaring heroically through the skies like an action figure being played with by a child. As always, Ma pays delicate attention to his subject and its surroundings, intricately rendering everything from the outstretched feathers to the tree-stump plinth from which his bird takes off.
Return to Sender at J. Rinehart Gallery
Why it’s worth a visit:
Cable Griffith’s paintings—generally falling within the category of landscape—are always a feast for the mind and eyes. Over the years his style has evolved to build on a visual shorthand (or longhand) influenced by the chunky, pixel-y, colorful universe of Minecraft; what he’s arrived at is a very satisfying and surreal style where trees, hills, and indeterminate objects interlock in dotted and dashed tableaux that glow with cool black-light undertones or buzz with the geometric intensity of a mescaline-induced fever dream. But it’s more than gratuitous PNW psychedelia; many pieces read like stained glass—something akin to the sublime. You won’t exit Griffith’s fantastical worlds disappointed.
Color and Line at Chatwin Arts
Why it’s worth a visit:
A two-person exhibition featuring exceptional painters, Kevin Cosley and Soo Hong, who dabble in the language of line and color—i.e. abstraction. Hong is a master of bold line and large-scale mark-making, on display in her murals across town (her recently completed mural for Cannonball Arts is the backdrop of our recent feature in the June issue). Meanwhile, Cosley plays with depth of color, creating largescale paintings that overwhelm with their energy and pulse.
J5 / Nothing at AXIS
Why it’s worth a visit:
We aren’t quite sure what to expect at AXIS, but they always put on a good show. This month, the artist J5 is bringing his work. With a mentor like @indiangiver, it’s bound to be good. Says J5: “I’ve explored all kinds of art throughout my life—sculpture, graffiti, and everything in between—but I never really found my direction. A little over nine months ago, I hit a breaking point. Struggling with addiction, I knew I had to make a change. With the influence and technical support of a childhood friend, Randall—also known as @indiangiver—I started throwing up large wheatpaste murals across the city. I was searching for my own way, my own vision—a style that could actually express what I was feeling and who I was becoming.” ◼︎
Pioneer Square’s First Thursday Art Walk is the longest running established art walk in the nation. More information here. Sign up for our art walk tour here.
