One of the greatest strengths of art is its ability to get you thinking about everyday objects or themes in a new light. As we head into the fall, art museums and galleries across the Seattle area invite visitors to step away from their busy lives, pause and consider anew the world around them. Some efforts take a closer look at the region, turning reclaimed local driftwood into an astonishing swell or showcasing the legacy of Indigenous and indie folk artists from the Pacific Northwest. Other exhibitions offer a new way to look at the world as a whole through existential paintings or the lenses of two of the best living photographers. Here are a few of the most thought-provoking visual arts options to check out this fall.
“Soft Services” Throughout Seattle’s Volunteer Park, you’ll see a series of 14 stone benches spread out — either single benches or in groups of up to three, each engraved with artist-written text. With “Soft Services,” artist Chloë Bass, known for her work in performance, installation, text and social practice, creates spaces that are both meditative and social as she connects to the history of Volunteer Park as a site for AIDS activism by exploring what true care really is and what care is deemed essential and what care is determined to be optional, or “soft services.” This installation was commissioned and organized by the Henry Art Gallery as part of its Henry OffSite program.
Through August 2023; Volunteer Park, 1247 15th Ave. E., Seattle; henryart.org
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