The Year that was 2008

With the systematic failure of the financial markets to regulate themselves, an intense election cycle which saw the repudiation of the politics of fear replaced by the chimera of hope, the art world moved on. In Seattle and all around the sound we saw plus change in our region of the country.

Big Changes in the Museums





Richard Andrews retired as Executive Director of the Henry Art Gallery. He was replaced by Sylvia Wolfe a Curator of Photography at the Whitney Museum of American Art. The choice seems apt as the Henry holds the Monson Collection of photography as one of its most significant collections and Wolfe may be just the person to use it effectively. By focusing on the University of Washington campus community, Wolfe realizes that College is the last chance for museums to start an educated class of citizens with a habit of visiting galleries as a part of the quality of life. She has been able to force the UW to pony up some cash for visiting artists and guest curators.


Over at the Seattle Art Museum {SAM], Mimi Gardner Gates announced that she would be retiring on June 30th 2009. Her achievements at SAM are seminal. The expansion of the main downtown facility, the creation of the Olympic Sculpture Park, and the renovations of the Seattle Asian Art Museum are even more remarkable by the short amount of time she got the job done. The caliber of exhibitions at SAM has risen to a new quality which can only benefit the Seattle community. Seeing the Gates of Paradise, Roman Treasures from the Louvre, Edward Hopper's Women are all notable achievements for any Museum to host. It was the S'abadeb The Gifts: Pacific Coast Salish Art and Artists exhibition which showed the true beauty and breadth of the art of the Salish First Peoples of Washington State and British Columbia. Attending the press preview was the late Vi Hilbert, Elder of the Upper Skagit, who stated "this is our land but there is room enough for everybody", schooling the entire Seattle Art Press in the true meaning of generosity.


The Frye Art Museum continued to leave behind its "representational figures only please' shackles by hosting exhibitions of R. Crumb and the Fluxfilm Anthology which comprised 37 short films ranging from ten seconds to ten minutes in length. Nam June Paik, Dick Higgins, Chieko Shiomi, John Cavanaugh, James Riddle, Yoko Ono, George Brecht, Robert Watts, Pieter Vanderbiek, Joe Jones, Eric Anderson, Jeff Perkins, Wolf Vostell, Albert Fine, George Landow, Paul Sharits, John Cale, Peter Kennedy, Mike Parr, and Ben Vautier were some of the artists featured. The Frye also took on Oliver Herring's "Task" in June at the Seattle Central Public Library. The Dario Robleto: Alloy of Love show was just about the creepiest art exhibit of the year leaving the viewer depressed and dejected. The current exhibition cycle showcases prints form the Dahesh Museum which will travel to Syracuse University in early 2009.

Bright Points in a Bleak Economy The Wallace Foundation has made an investment in audience research for the Seattle Art Museum to understand better, who visits the museum. Regina Hackett on her blog "Art To Go" made a sensible case for showing younger artists which builds a younger audience. Another investment was made to SIFF, who always have plenty of good ideas to fund. The Andy Warhol Foundation has committed $60,000 over two years to fund the exhibitions and programs at 911 Seattle Media Arts Center in South Lake Union. The Henry Art Gallery has established The Brink Award for artists joining the ranks of the Neddy [TAM] and Betty Bowen Awards [SAM]. Robin Held at the Frye Art Museum was named a fellow at New York's Center for Curatorial Leadership in 2009.

Commercial Galleries Endure the Economy James Harris Gallery showcased the work of Margot Quan Knight along with a rare viewing of recent work by Gary Hill. Lawrimore Project continues to dominates the representation of new and emerging cutting edge artists. Lawrimore artists keep popping up all over the place. Susan Robb's Toobes in Volunteer Park. Anne Mathern at Crawl Space, Alex Schweder all over the world. SuttonBeresCuller in Georgetown. Isaac Layman wins the 2008 Betty Bowen Award. Foster/White and Greg Kucera continue to show the usual suspects. Ditto Grover/Thurston, Lisa Harris, Linda Hodges and Francine Seders. Ok Ok in Ballard morphed into a full blown gallery with a new name tbd. On Capitol Hill Vermillion, Grey Gallery and Lounge and Bluebottle Gallery play make believe ism with their "pop surrealism" offerings, while BLVD closes its doors leaving Roc LaRue the only gallery in Belltown playing that game. Spike Mafford and CAIRO along with No Space are changing the way people think about Summit & Mercer, on Capitol Hill. In a sign of economic reality, Davidson Contemporary left the Tashiro/Kaplan building in September to contract into its original space on Occidental Avenue. next year looks fairly bleak in the art market so we may see further galleries and even some dysfunctional non-profits closing their doors.

Curatorial Efforts


OBViouS: Object Based Video Sculpture

started out as a vague idea of investigating how sculptors use video as an element in their work. What emerged were two different approaches. Objects, which have video projected onto them and objects which have video as a structural element. This exhibition has examples of both approaches. OBViouS is a sampler of different contemporary approaches to sculpture which have video as a common thread. The equivocal nature of the practice of making sculpture allows for the curator to "state the obvious"

Podcasting
Art Radio Seattle continues to grow at a slow steady pace. As a visual arts news service to the Art Community, Art Radio has completed the 166th weekly pod cast at the end of 2008. Here is the most recent podcast of 2008:
Art Radio Seattle, December 21, 2008

• Warhol Foundation Grants $60,000 to 911 Media
• Art Radio Goes on Holiday
• Dahesh Forms Partnership With Syracuse
• JOSÉ ORTIZ TO HARVARD
• MARC MAYER TO CANADA'S NATIONAL GALLERY
• Beardsley Drawings Bring $350,000
• ICONIC FISCHLI and WEISS FILM SOLD TO PRIVATE COLLECTION
• Tyler Announces $150,000 Annual Art Prize
• TACITA DEAN WINS SCHWITTERS PRIZE
• Siegel appointed Editor-in-Chief of Art Journal
• Mildred Constantine (1913-2008)
• William H. Pierson Jr. (1911-2008)

Video Channel
Art Radio produced 30 videos of Jazz concerts and Classical Recitals in association with MonkTail Creative Music Concern and 911 Seattle Media Arts Center. Included in this list is the complete video documentation of the Summer Concert Series "Sounds Outside" hosted at Cal Anderson Park on Capitol Hill. The unedited video footage from Oliver Harring's "Task" at the Seattle Central library which was organized by the Frye Art Museum is also available.

Critical Writing for The Capitol Hill Times 2008

• Napoleonic dreams of glory take over the Frye
• A eulogy for doomed architecture
• Cairo more than just the new kid on the block/b>
• Mural, mural on the wall... it will still be there in the fall
• A video pas de deux at SAAM
• Chinese art collection sparkles at SAAM
• Narrative video comes of age at Crawl Space
• Heather Dew Oaksen's Itinerent art
• Gates of paradise open at SAM