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Artdish Magazine Feature / Winter 2010

Point of Intersection: Tacoma Art Museum and Northwest Art

Seattle critic Matthew Kangas offers comment on Tacoma Art Museum's current ongoing exhibition "A Concise History of Northwest Art" and explores the exhibition in context of the museum's ambition to be a regional institution for Northwest Art. The exhibition, organized by Curators Rock Hushka and Margaret Bullock, represents work from the museum's collection spanning the period from 1890 to present day. Although the exhibit's ambitious scope covers a regional and historical survey of Northwest Art, Matthew Kangas has questions about some gaps in the exhibition details. More . . .

Cover image: Jeffrey Simmons, Eulalia (detail), 1998, Oil and alkyd on linen, 52 1/2 x 46 1/2 inches, Tacoma Art Museum, Gift of Rebecca and Alexander Stewart, 1998. Image courtesy of TAM.

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The Dish
Comments to the Students of Gage Academy
by Jim Demetre / May 2009
Earlier last month, Artdish Editor Jim Demetre addressed art students attending the Gage Academy about art, arts criticism, and the transition from student practitioner of art to becoming an artist with a successful career.

Currents
Inauguration, 2009
by Cliff Frasier / February 2009
Writer Cliff Frasier considers President Obama's iconic symbolism as America's elected 44th President, and his charismatic light to lead the country after President Bush's eight-year cloak of darkness following the Clinton era.

Culture Report
Meet Me in Miami
by Jane Richlovsky / December 2008
From South Florida's Art Basel Miami Beach art fair, Seattle artist Jane Richlovsky reports about her visit to the event, one steeped in visual excess. Read more about her initial impressions as a participating artist and visitor to Miami's annual showcase.

Exhibition Round-Up
With a Bang or a Whimper
by Elizabeth Bryant / September 2008
The curatorial decisions between Seattle's Frye Art Musuem and Henry Art Gallery, rooted to their institutional missions and past, reveal distinctive directions. Writer Elizabeth Bryant comments on both museums' evolution and change.

Travel Journal
The End of the Trail (Part 2)
by Thomas Oles / August 2008
Writer Thomas Oles gets back in the saddle with his concluding second part of Pendleton Round-Up, and describes the highlights of the Round-Up's leisure life infused with sexual energy, free-flowing whiskey and beer, entertainment at The Happy Canyon Night Show.

Travel Journal
The End of the Trail (Part 1)
by Thomas Oles / May 2008
The Pendleton Round-Up is held each year in Pendleton, Oregon -- one of the last stops on the Oregon Trail. Writer Thomas Oles contributes his thoughts visiting the Round-Up, cowboy culture, and explores iconic vestiges of the American West.

Currents
Exploring the Democracy of Fantasy and Fetish
by Molly Norris / May 2008
Seattle arts writer Molly Norris contributes her impressions from this year's Seattle Erotic Art Festival held at the Exhibition Hall in the shadow of the Space Needle. Fashion and fetish levelled the playing field for cultural, sexual, and artistic expression.

Music
New York is Now??
by Igor Keller / February 2008
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Currents
The Dearth of the Cool
by Molly Norris / November 2007
Artist and Writer Molly Norris comments on Seattle cool. How cool is it? Who is cool in gallery circles, the art glitterati, and artists known for just being cool? Norris considers how "cool" has factored in her past and present as a Seattle resident.

Notebook
Let There be Rock
by Richard Berman / October 2007
Local writer Richard Berman, a former jazz DJ for Seattle radio, describes the paternal bond with his son, and muses about his own childhood memories. Like a tree, father and son draw shared connections in music, family and home.

Visual Art
Diary of Heroic Promiscuity
by Nate Lippens / August 2007
Seattle arts critic Nate Lippens pores over pop icons, art heroes, and New York's contemporary cultural legacy at recent art shows, galleries and exhibitions in New York City this past June.

Notebook
What an Oratorio About Phone Sex Taught Me - Part 4: Snow and Redemption
by Igor Keller / August 2007
Local musician Igor Keller's final installment of his series exposes the hectic weeks leading to Mackris v. O'Reilly's stage debut. Keller's mood fluctuated from anticipation to elation after months of planning and preparations shimmered in January's icy air.

Notebook
What an Oratorio About Phone Sex Taught Me - Part 3: Treachery
by Igor Keller / July 2007
In the months leading up to stage his production of Mackris v. O'Reilly, Igor Keller recalls he was caught up with logistical and interpersonal struggles between close associates, colleagues, and fairweather participants enlisted to help launch his controversial oratorio.

Notebook
What an Oratorio About Phone Sex Taught Me - Part 2: Hitching to the Wrong Wagon
by Igor Keller / July 2007
Seattle jazz musician and composer Igor Keller relates his anxiety and fear as production obstacles and a conductor's commitment wavered with uncertainty.

Notebook
What an Oratorio About Phone Sex Taught Me - Part 1: Dubious Beginnings
by Igor Keller / June 2007
Seattle jazz musician and composer Igor Keller lays bare his soul in a four-part post-mortem reflection of conceiving, preparing and staging his debut classical work Mackris v. O'Reilly with a local orchestra. In Part 1 Keller describes early efforts to realize his dream.

Exhibit
Bodies - The Exhibition; Mother's Day, May 13, 2007
by The Rev. Cliff Frasier / July 2007
The New York exhibition of BODIES, commanding commuters' attention beaming from ad campaigns in subway cars, haunted The Rev. Cliff Frasier long enough to attend this curious exhibition of Bodies configured in athletic and idealized poses. On Mother's Day.

Visual Art
April
by Elizabeth Bryant / May 2007
Of course, it is the cruelest month. Springtime -- filled with eternal hope and buoyant optimism, also has an undercurrent of dread and fear. Writer Elizabeth Bryant explores this polarity in two recent exhibits from artists Zhi Lin and Elizabeth Sandvig.

Visual Art
TAM's Northwest Biennial - Curating Substance Without Subtext
by Tim Appelo / March 2007
Established and new contemporary artists from around the Pacific Northwest appear as part of the Tacoma Art Museum's Northwest Biennial. Writer Tim Appelo questions why Curator Rock Hushka assembled the exhibition's selection without a thematic focus.

Visual Art
This Month in Seattle: Some Notes
by Elizabeth Bryant / March 2007
Elizabeth Bryant, local arts writer and former Editor of Reflex Magazine, explores the age-old question "is painting dead?" in its contemporary context, specifically, as esteemed in art critic Rosalind Krauss' estimation as "post-medium" art.

Notebook
If There's One Article You Read About Mackris v. O'Reilly Let This Be It
by Igor Keller / January 2007
Seattle tenor sax musician Igor Keller describes his inspiration for writing his 'Mackris v. O'Reilly' oratorio which debuts at Meany Hall in January at the University of Washington.

Music
. . . And Tell Tchaikovsky the News! Rock Stars Tackle Classical Music
by Igor Keller / April 2006
Artdish Music Editor Igor Keller sought out extant recordings of "classical" compositions by Paul McCartney, Elvis Costello, Billy Joel and other pop legends listening for any sign of "juice." Sadly, he found that moments of inspiration were few and far between.

Dance
Peter Boal's Heart of Darkness: Points of View at the Pacific Northwest Ballet
by Jim Demetre / March 2006
After more than a decade of sitting through performances of the Pacific Northwest Ballet, Artdish Editor Jim Demetre reflects upon the institution under the sway of new Artistic Director Peter Boal.

Currents
White Girl's Burden
by Anna Fahey / February 2006
Writer Anna Fahey, after attending a Western States' Powwow last Spring at the University of Washington, responds to local aboriginal visibility, culture and identity and her personal thoughts about the scales of racial economy and integration.

Literature
Are Men Necessary?
by Ljiljana Stanojevic / January 2006
Seattle writer and real estate maven Ljiljana Stanojevic reviews Maureen Dowd's book Are Men Necessary: When Sexes Collide, and considers Dowd's assessment of recent feminist history and culture theory.

Passages
Pioneer Square Bids Farewell to Painter Drake Deknatel: 1943 - 2005
by Jim Demetre / January 2006
In mid November, Seattle painter Drake Deknatel suddenly passed away at his favorite local cafe in Pioneer Square. Artist Drake Deknatel, whose career spanned between Berlin and Seattle, is remembered as a distinctive voice in Seattle's arts community.

Visual Art
Joseph Park: The High, The Low, and the Rococo
by Jim Demetre / April 2005
Seattle artist Joseph Park, whose late winter exhibition at Howard House coinciding with a solo spring exhibition at the Frye Art Museum, marks a bold milestone for the artist, whose maturing work draws on layers of cultural and artistic idiom.

Art and Technology
Cross-Eyed and Painful: Watching Powerpoint with David Byrne
by Christopher Rieber / March 2005
When an artist uses a conventional software application for creative expression, such as Microsoft's presentation tool PowerPoint, is the result art? Writer Christopher Rieber describes the slippery business of art, media, and software technology history.

Profile
The House that Howard Built
by Jim Demetre / February 2005
For a guy who started out showing art in the living room of his Capitol Hill home, Billy Howard has done rather well for himself. Today Howard House is among one of Seattle's most successful galleries to view contemporary art.

Film
The Unbearable Messiness of Being
by Walt Opie / December 2004
Artdish contributor Walt Opie sees shades of his own life in Alexander Payne's celebrated new film Sideways. Read his account of Hollywood's most compelling meditation on failure and a journey of two men that includes wine, women, and a bad unpublished novel.

Politics
Signs of the Times
by The Rev. Cliff Frasier / December 2004
In the wake of last month's presidential election Artdish's spiritual advisor and unofficial pastor Cliff Frasier gives us his thoughts on the moral state of the nation. Find out what revelations he experiences under the bright lights of his local karaoke bar.

Visual Art
An Empire Returns: Spain in an Age of Exploration 1492-1819
by Jim Demetre / November 2004
With the election over and the possibility of a national change of course lost, Jim Demetre takes a broader look at history with his review of Spain in the Age of Exploration at the Seattle Art Museum.

Travel Journal
Deep in the Heart
by Victoria Josslin / November 2004
Where is Comanche, Texas? As Victoria Josslin likes to tell folks, in her Texan twang, it's "deep in the heart." Artdish founder and former Editor Victoria Josslin revisits her past in collision with the present down in the Lone Star state following her brother's death.

Soapbox
Viva Boosh!
by Igor Keller / November 2004
When Igor Keller woke up Wednesday morning after the Presidential Election something happened. Like St. Paul, the scales fell from his eyes and he saw the light. Read about his conversion here.

Profile
Working the Work: The Henry's Elizabeth Brown Prepares to Wow Seattle
by Jim Demetre / October 2004
Out of a necessity to attract visitors and secure funding, museums have trended towards packaging exhibitions rather than simply presenting art. Bucking this trend, Museum Curator Elizabeth Brown is taking the Henry Art Gallery in a new direction.

Profile
Go Figure: Robin Held Joins the Frye
by Jim Demetre / October 2004
On the margins of Seattle's buoyant arts and exhibtion spaces, the landmark Frye Art Museum on First Hill has been undergoing a transformation. With the recent appointment of Robin Held as the Museum Curator of Exhibitions, more changes are in store.

Visual Art
The Art of the McGuffin: Trisha Donnelly Visits the Henry
by Jim Demetre / September 2004
Artist Trisha Donnelly presented an artist lecture at the Henry Art Gallery in late August. Working with an obsession to engage viewers with her art, Donnelly's approach arouses surprise in nuance and expression.

Politics
Southern Discomfort: Zell Miller at the Republican Convention
by Jim Demetre / September 2004
Artdish Editor Jim Demetre -- after seeing the Republican National Convention on TV -- shares his thoughts on Senator Zell Miller's claim that the Democrats are "too liberal" for America. Demetre argues that the Democrats have been shifting rightward for some time.

Profile
A Stranger No More
by Jim Demetre / August 2004
In Seattle's small circle of visual arts critics and reviewers, any change is certainly felt when people move in or out. Visual arts writer Emily Hall, who left The Stranger last month after five years to return to New York City, has left her mark on the local arts community.

Film
Why People Hate Fahrenheit 9/11
by Jim Demetre / July 2004
Michael Moore's new film Fahrenheit 9/11 might prove divisive in an America recently enjoying summer picnics and the Fourth of July, but few can avoid the strong case Moore makes against President Bush's rhetorical campaign to wage war in Iraq.

Exhibit
Sifting Through Space Junk
by Jim Demetre / July 2004
In June Paul Allen launched the opening of the Science Fiction Museum in the oversized blob-like hull of the Experience Music Project at the Seattle Center. Jim Demetre left with disapppointment remarking that SFM's curatorial mission seems unfocused.

Travel Journal
Virginia is For ???
by Walt Opie / July 2004
Writer Walt Opie spent an early summer visit with family and close relatives in Virgina, the state where "mountaineers are always free" according to its motto. Underneath that banner, Opie uncovers some old bones and secrets in his travel memoir.

Architecture
Engineering Serendipity
by Christopher Rieber / July 2004
Inside the angular matrix that shrouds the newly minted Seattle Public Library, writer Christopher Rieber describes the pleasure of discovery when combing through aisles of books on the four floors of the Book Spiral designed by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas.

Film
Reinventing Cinema: SIFF at 30
by Eric Gould / July 2004
What are some current pulses in contemporary cinema? At the Seattle International Film Festival writer Eric Gould remarks that some filmmakers like Lars von Trier, Peter Greenaway, Guy Maddin have an eye on pushing its boundaries in new directions.

Television
FOX's The O.C.: Great Expectations in the Golden State
by Jim Demetre / June 2004
FOX TV's new drama, "The O.C." -- set in Newport Beach, California -- exposes the cracks of American Dream Arcadia with its portrait of characters from different social and economic backgrounds. Jim Demetre reviews "The O.C." set in sunny SoCal.

Travel Journal
La Playa Utopia: Portraits of Cuba in Transition
by Anna Fahey / June 2004
Writer Anna Fahey describes her visit to Cuba last November when she traveled to the country with Cuba Education Tours. She reports that while Cuba may be a kind of socialist utopia in the Caribbean, hints of change are in the salty air.

Film
The Sack of Troy
by Ben Rankin / June 2004
Wolfgang Petersen's screen adaptation of Homer's Troy boulders through the poem with cinematic shorthand for the Hollywood toga genre film, writ large. Writer Ben Rankin asks: does Petersen's Troy turn historical narrative into sand?

Notebook
Get Your Mack On
by The Rev. Cliff Frasier / May 2004
In the past year, The Rev. Cliff Frasier completed a six-month prison sentence at Ft. Dix for his participation in a peaceful disobedience action at Ft. Benning in Georgia, which offers commando training for Latin American militaries.