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Color & Pattern atPIVOT Art+ Culture

After the stunning “Seeing Nature” exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum, here is another occasion to see more of the fantastic art from Paul Allen’s collection.
This time, the exhibit is composed of abstract art by some masters.
“Color and Pattern,” at the Pivot Art + Culture gallery in South Lake Union features paintings, drawings and sculptures by David Hockney, Frank Stella, Agnes Martin, Mark Rothko, Robert Delaunay,  Guillermo Kuitca, Mark Rothko, Wassily Kandinsky, and Jasper Johns, to name a few.
The gallery is in the Allen Institute Building,
Now on view through July 23, 2017

— PIVOT Art + Culture, 609 Westlake Ave N, Seattle, WA 98109

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The Migration SeriesJacob Lawrence

This exhibition is a series of panels that depict the mass movement of African Americans from the rural South to the urban North during and after World War I.

In 1941, Jacob Lawrence, only 23 at the time, spent months working on the subject, writing captions and sketching preliminary drawings. After that, he painted the 60 panels all at once.

This amazing work looks like a beautiful graphic novel telling us an important part of African American history in primary colors and modern art.

From the Philips Collection: “The series was the subject of a solo show at the Downtown Gallery in Manhattan in 1941, making Lawrence the first black artist represented by a New York gallery. Interest in the series was intense. Ultimately, The Phillips Collection and New York’s Museum of Modern Art agreed to divide it, with the Phillips buying the odd-numbered paintings.”

These 60 panels are shown together for the first time in 2 decades on the West Coast.

Jacob Lawrence was born in NJ in 1917 and was a teacher at University of Washington from 1970 till 1986.

If you have not seen it yet, run to the exhibit because it is on view only through April 23rd.

If you want to learn more about the migration series and Jacob Lawrence follow this link: Lawrence Migration Series

— Seattle Art Museum Jan 21 – Apr 23 2017

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Akio Takamori, Local Ceramic Artist, Passed Away

Akio Takamori passed away last month in Seattle. I had recently discovered his work and posted a few photos on Instagram last fall.

Akio Takamori was a talented ceramic artist. Born and raised in Japan, he lived in Seattle where he was a art professor at the University of Washington. He had exhibitions all over the world but worked in his studio here, in Seattle.

You may have seen see some of his arts at the Seattle Art Museum, in Seattle galleries, and on the Seattle’s streets.

Here on Westlake avenue:
“Young Woman, Girl and Mother and Child” 2006 – Three Painted Cast aluminum sculptures – Collection Vulcan, Inc. Seattle, WA

Here at the Seattle Art Museum:

Girl in Dress, Male Student, and Middle Aged Man – 1999 – Stoneware with underglaze

SAM: “These figures come from an ensemble depicting a Japanese village street scene. Villagers were drawn from childhood memories of the hopes and fears of people in his hometown as they struggled to rebuild in the aftermath of World War II.”

Upcoming New Exhibit: Takamori’s Apology, a series of drawings and sculptures of men apologizing, will be shown at James Harris Gallery on February 16 (604 2nd Ave – Seattle, WA 98104)