On First Thursday this month, there were several new gallery openings at Pioneer Square galleries. Of note, Roger Shimomura's vibrant and powerful new works comment on many instances of racism and racial hatred towards Japanese- and Asian-Americans at Greg Kucera Gallery. In his show Stereotypes and Admonitions, Shimomura presents a cariacature critique of his own personal experiences with racism, and depicts other events and specific incidents where Asians and Asian-Americans have been subject to racial prejudice around the U.S. — as recent as this past year. The exhibition, in its survey of American social history, reveals a gallery of ignorance, racial profiling and hate, including: World War II-era attacks on Japanese-Americans, the beating death of immigrant Vincent Chin, and the unimaginable Abercrombie & Fitch T-shirt designs featuring the "Wong Brothers," among others.
Also, this month, two artists explore the industrial areas and by-ways of the Waterfront, the Duwamish and South Seattle. Nancy Peterfreund documents the rusting industrial landscape along the banks of the Duwamish, focusing on one woman who was evicted from her home after residing there for 46 years. Peterfreund's photographs, in her collection On the Duwamish, are on view at the Globe Gallery, 105 South Main Street #100, Seattle, WA 98104, in Pioneer Square.
Midge Williams' etchings and drawings of the Alaskan Way Viaduct and railroad tracks beneath and around the structure suggest reflective nuance in the space between architecture, location, and urban transition towards the city's southern industrial edge. On view at Gallery 110, 110 S. Washington Street, Seattle, WA 98104, in Pioneer Square.
