On the first Thursday of every month, hundreds head to Pioneer Square to check out the latest art shows.
Seattle’s oldest neighborhood is home to dozens of galleries and the First Thursday Art Walk, from 6 to 8 p.m., is when they often showcase new exhibits.
First Thursday parking is free from 5 – 10 p.m. at Frye Garage (117 Third Ave. S.) and Butler Garage (114 James St.). To redeem, pick up a voucher at participating Pioneer Square stores, restaurants or galleries.
Here are a few shows you may want to check out Feb. 1.
“Humaira Abid: My Shame” at ArtXchange
If you’ve never witnessed Humaira Abid’s stunning woodcarving skills, her new show at ArtXchange gallery is worth the visit. Abid creates lifelike sculptures that challenge conventional notions of the medium.
From the gallery: “My Shame,” presents carved wood sculptures, often incorporating elements of miniature painting and installation, examining the stigma that women feel over natural, social and cultural issues. The power and politics in women’s lives are brought into focus through Abid’s global lens as an artist working between the United States and Pakistan. By focusing on taboos and stereotypes that are rarely addressed in public, Abid aims to normalize them through dialogue and discussion.
“My Shame” overlaps with “Searching for Home,” currently on view at Bellevue Arts Museum.
WHAT: “Humaira Abid: My Shame”
WHEN: Runs until March 31
WHERE: ArtXchange Gallery, 512 1st Ave. S, Seattle
“ARTifACTs: We Almost Didn’t Make It” at CoCA
“We Almost Didn’t Make It” is an interactive and generative installation focusing on the outcome of our choices in a time where the effects of our participation in the destruction of our planet seems shortsighted.
From the gallery: In a game-like installation, visitors will be presented with work tables covered with “ingredients” and “recipes” that make an artifact that represents aspects of our current world that may not exist in the next 150 years. Each participant will place a commitment to an action into that artifact that will help future generations not only exist, but thrive. The lead artist on this project is Beverly Naidus, installation artist and professor of Interdisciplinary Arts at the University of Washington, Tacoma. Other ARTifACTs members include Carol Rashawna Williams, Ed Mast, Camella Cooper and Matthew Hamilton. The show endeavors to foster a continual dialogue about ways to move past dystopian thinking and continue to be resilient activists. As visitors create and explore artifacts and read the commitments to actions, there is an opportunity to transform rage, frustration, grief and despair into fuel for creative activism.
You can join the collective for one of two workshops scheduled on Feb 3 and Feb 11, from 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
WHAT: “ARTifACTs: We Almost Didn’t Make It”
WHEN: Runs until Feb. 24
WHERE: CoCA (Center on Contemporary Art) 114 Third Ave. S, Seattle
“Elisheba Johnson: but a dream”
In “but a dream” Elisheba Johnson explores Seattle’s rental market. Through various media Johnson represents her own search for housing in her hometown and the “unattainable reality of that dream.”
Johnson is a multi-media artist, poet, author and graduate of Cornish College of the Arts. She’s the former owner of Faire Gallery Café, a multi-use art space that had art exhibitions, music shows, poetry readings and creative gatherings. Currently she’s the public art manager for Seattle’s Office of Arts and Culture. She was recently named in KUOW’s list “Four Seattle artists you should know about (if you don’t already).”
WHAT: “Elisheba Johnson: but a dream”
WHEN: Feb 1, 5 – 8 p.m.; Feb. 10 Noon – 5 p.m. and by appointment through Feb. 24
WHERE: Front Room Gallery, 306 S Washington St., Studio 104, Seattle
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Wait, there's more. Check out the full January 24th issue.