Springtime in Seattle brings a bevy of colors to the landscape — orange California poppies, pink rhododendrons and purpley bluebells are sprouting along the city’s sidewalks. But in the second-floor gallery of the Seattle Art Museum (where, by the way, workers just announced that they are unionizing), it’s a decidedly all-black affair.
Monochrome: Calder and Tara Donovan (through Jan. 17, 2027) brings sculptures and prints by Brooklyn-based artist Tara Donovan into conversation with two matte-black Alexander Calder pieces. The show is the third entry into the museum’s Calder at SAM series, which kicked off in 2023 thanks to a generous donation of the sculptor’s work by the Shirley Family.
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Curated by Donovan with SAM’s modern and contemporary art curator Catharina Manchanda, “Monochrome” was the guiding principle for this new exhibition, bringing the materials, texture and form of each piece into focus.
“When I was conceiving of this exhibition and trying to tease out these commonalities between myself and Calder — aside from there being maybe a playful nature to the way both of us were — I really wanted a central focal point to discuss the entirety of the show,” Donovan said, of her decision to use black as the exhibition’s sole color.
Donovan’s practice transforms mass-produced industrial materials into large-scale sculptures that resemble organic structures, often reflecting or engulfing light. In the SAM exhibition, Donovan’s “Apertures” is composed of thousands of black plastic stir sticks bunched together in a way that resembles layers of sediment. On another wall is a huge, snake-like sculpture made of soldered slinkys, which dances with light as you move around the gallery.
When it came to selecting Calder works to pair with her own, Donovan wanted to dial into a specific mode. The influential midcentury American artist is best known for his large mobiles that incorporate playful primary colors. But for Monochrome, his black works come to the fore.
The first thing visitors see when they step into the gallery is “Jacaranda,” a cascading mobile from 1949. The wiry fish skeleton-like structure is suspended above Donovan’s “Transplanted” (2001/2025), a massive floor sculpture composed of hundreds of layers of tar paper, ripped to resemble a topological map.
“A lot of times we see Calder’s mobiles, they’re either hung really high or they have some kind of pedestal situation underneath them,” said Donovan. “I loved the idea of just doing away with the pedestal and having my work behave in that way.”
“Mountains (1:5 intermediate maquette)” is from 1976, and one of the last pieces Calder made before he died. The towering, blocky sculpture is situated right across from Donovan’s “Untitled (Mylar)” (2011/2025), a sprawling, many-orbed piece composed of thousands of rolled up mylar strips, the same material used for birthday balloons.
While Calder and Donovan’s works contrast greatly in material and sensibility, when they are placed in the same room, the importance of the viewer’s movement becomes paramount. The matte blackness of Calder’s work transforms his sculptures into outlines that shift depending on where you’re standing. And Donovan’s huge reflective pieces glint and gleam as you move through the gallery.
There are quite a few new art shows around Puget Sound to dive into over the coming week.
What if a sticky note served as more than just a reminder or label, but an actual record of time? A mini-diary of sorts? That’s what Clare Johnson’s newest exhibition, A Life In Sticky Notes (at 4Culture Gallery thru June 18), is about. For nearly two decades, Johnson has captured a bit of her day through text and drawing on a 3 by 3 inch Post-it note: from the nostalgic feeling of walking home at night or the silliness of ignoring her sister’s advice.
For the show, she arranged hundreds of notes into eye-pleasing grids, which serve as a collective remembrance of days past and their ephemerality.
On the complete opposite end of the artistic spectrum is the work of Jason McDonald, a Tacoma-based glass artist who creates ornate vessels and sculptures that balance the long history of the artform with Black identity.
Ode to Diligence: The Art of Jason McDonald (at Tacoma Art Museum May 16 – Oct. 18) is the artist’s first solo museum exhibition and features works from across his oeuvre. In his statement, McDonald writes, “I believe my presence in the field as a working-class Black man, striving and excelling in a field occupied chiefly by society’s most privileged (whitest), is a powerful artistic and political gesture.”
Also opening this weekend at the Museum of Pop Culture is Rebels + Icons: The Photography of Janette Beckman (opens May 16). If you don’t know Beckman by name, you’ve most likely seen her vibrant photography. Over her four decade-long career, she captured the rise of British punk in the ‘70s, hip-hop in NYC in the ‘80s, and snapped portraits of some of the most rebellious and iconic artists of our time (including Keith Haring, Run-DMC, Tracy Chapman, LL Cool J and Debbie Harry). The exhibition will feature over 500 photos and rare archival materials from Beckman’s catalog as well as an immersive photo studio where visitors can create their own portraits. Time to update that avatar!
Every spring I get the sense that the local arts scene is vying with regional flora for the title of Most Blooming and Abundant. That’s a win-win for the citizenry, though the amount of competing arts events makes for some tough choices. Here are just a few for contemplation.
Indulge in music of many flavors
< Pianist, composer, arranger and three-time Latin Grammy nominee Jovino Santos Neto is bringing his quinteto to Jazz Alley (May 19-20). Based here in Seattle, the Brazilian jazz artist is world-renowned for his technical skill, improvisation, and ensemble playing. Maybe you’ve even taken a class with him — he taught piano and composition at Cornish College of the Arts for 26 years! For this Jazz Alley appearance, the Jovino Santos Neto Quinteto will play a completely unique set each night to keep things fresh.
< Local vocal ensemble/contemporary choir The Esoterics are performing Rites and Rituals (May 16 in Seattle, May 17 in Tacoma), featuring compositions by up-and-coming Black choral composer Tara Mack. Her works incorporate texts by poets Gwendolyn Brooks and Langston Hughes, and activists including Arundhati Roy, Frederick Douglass, Susan B. Anthony, bell hooks and Fannie Lou Hamer. The program will be a mix of Mack’s works that reflects both her political values and her experiences as a mother.
< Emerald City Music’s final concert of the season (May 15 in Seattle, May 16 in Olympia) features acclaimed guest composer/pianist Vijay Iyer, as well as members of the East Coast Chamber Orchestra, playing music by Iyer, Max Bruch and Errollyn Wallen, the last of whom, ECM notes, “in 2024 became the first Black woman appointed Master of the King’s Music by King Charles III.” For the night owls, Iyer will also play a late night session after the May 15 concert if you want Maximum Jazz Lounge Vibes — pianos sound the best at night, in my opinion.
Sink into festival season
< Chop House Row will be abuzz this weekend – the first inaugural Pike Pine Social (May 16-17) brings together over 50 Pike/Pine businesses for two days of very social events. Check out a runway show on Saturday then peruse designer and vintage pop-ups, tour open art studios, listen to some live music, attend food, drink, and wine tastings. They don’t call it a social for nuthin’!
< One of the best aspects of spring on The Ave is the University District Street Fair (May 16-17) where the neighborhood’s deep quirkiness is on full display. For its 55th anniversary, the street fair is going all out. There will be 50 food trucks, live music outside the Neptune Theatre, and outdoor art, fashion, and tchotchke vendors plus tons of pop-ups inside businesses themselves. Make sure to take the light rail — this event regularly attracts 90,000 visitors and parking will be a nightmare.
< In light of the Pentagon’s recent release of new UFO — or, now-called Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena — “documentation,” it might be a good time to road trip down to McMinnville Oregon’s annual UFO Festival (May 15-16). In addition to speaker panels, a street fair and a podcast recording, there will also be a screening of the documentary A Tear in the Sky, featuring William Shatner. Of course, costumes are encouraged! And if you’re looking for another UFO rabbit hole to go down, read about the Maury Island incident. Local and historic!
Check out Season 2 of our tv show Art by Northwest, featuring in-depth interviews with the printmakers, painters, sculptors, carvers and photographers who are creating captivating work across Washington state. Nominated for two Northwest Regional Emmy Awards.
