Poke in the Eye @ Seattle Art Museum

📆  June 21st – September 2nd, 2024
⏰  Wednesday – Sunday: 10 am – 5 pm
📍 Seattle Art Museum:  1300 First Ave, Seattle
🎟 $0 — $32.99

If you’ve ever spent some time traversing around South Lake Union, you may have stumbled across this surreal-looking sculpture on the corner of Westlake Avenue and Republican Street. Installed in March of 2022, Patti Warashina’s Dreamer serenely surveys its expansive plaza, balancing a curled fish on her feet. This type of whimsy and absurdity can be found in much of her work—in fact, Northwest artist Warashina helped define the West Coast Funk Art movement during the 60s and 70s. Rebelling against the rise of East Coast pop art and sleek minimalism, the movement saw West Coast artists experimenting with their art forms, pushing boundaries, and making art that was subversive, funny, loud, and plain ol’ bizarre.

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If you’re interested in exploring the question of what really separates “high” and “low” art, Seattle Art Museum’s exhibition Poke in the Eye is a nearby place to start. June 21st through September 2nd, you’ll be able to explore a variety of work—like lush paintings, alien-like ceramic containers, absurd neon sculptures, elaborate crocheted headpieces—from artists of that period to today. In that lineup along with Patti Warashina, are Northwest artists Fay Jones and Howard Kottler, as well as Robert Colescott, Ken Corey, and Jeffry Mitchell. Also part of Poke in the Eye is an entire gallery dedicated to Seattle-born fiber artist Xenobia Bailey, who delves into Black material culture and craft traditions. Intricacy is a common theme in her work, but the wearable piece, Sistah Paradise, takes it to another level with tendrils of colorful crocheted wool trailing from its headdress, belt, and bright red arm sleeves.

👀 Looking for more on the exhibit? Check out these highlights on The Seattle Times.

With three dynamic locations, Seattle Art Museum has been the center for visual arts in the Pacific Northwest since 1933.

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