Tablet Newspaper 3/20 - 4/2/2003

Kristopher Monroe

NORTHWEST PASSAGE

CoCA’s newest exhibit, Crossroads: New Art From The Northwest is something of an overview of regional artists but as with any perspective, it’s purely a subjective selection. This particular perspective is filtered through the lens of guest curator Michael Klein of the Microsoft Art Collection and, lucky for us, benefits from a highly discriminating point of view.

Most of the featured pieces display a level of sophistication not always seen in Northwest art. The Pacific NW seems to birth art oriented more toward the folk/craft side of things. While including these aspects, this show expands on those themes and incorporates what could generally be considered high art. Some of the most gripping images include Gaylen Hansen’s vibrant “Red Dog” oil on canvas and Bet Lo’s “I, You, Heaven, Earth,” a painted porcelain bamboo wall sculpture in which broken pieces of fabricated bamboo are arranged into the titular Chinese characters.

Upon entering the gallery, one is also taken with Scott Fife’s tilted cardboard head of Teddy Roosevelt. Cris Bruch has one of the most engaging pieces called “Politics of Time,” a sculpture of painted and sanded wooden rings fashioned into various sizes of contiguous and intersecting spheres that seem to grow through the floor and over the head. His didactic artist’s statement tends to detract a little from the immediate experience (a common hurdle with many conceptual works) but one can choose to ignore the thesis or not. The piece really speaks for itself.

Alden Mason was also a favorite with her deceptively simple, almost cartoonish oil paintings. At first glance, they seem light and carefree, but on closer inspection it’s apparent that something very subconscious is going on and they are neither simple, nor cartoonish. The images carry both weight and meaning. Clair Cowie’s watercolors and odd, melted, “puddle” figurines and Spike Mafford’s “Temple of Apollo” photo series also stood out. All in all an exciting show that proves the Northwest has much to contribute in the way of character and to the state of contemporary art in America. —Kristopher Monroe

Crossroads: New Art From The Northwest is showing through April 30. CoCA is located at 1420 11th Ave, 206.728.1980.