Francine Seders Gallery, 6701 Greenwood Ave. N., is holding a free special performance at 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 5, as part of its current exhibition of paintings by Alan Lau. “the swirl of sound, the shadows of movement” features Lau’s works from 1980-2012. The exhibit will be up through Aug. 12.
Three friends of the artist from various artistic disciplines will pick a favorite painting to communicate with via their preferred mode of expression. Those participating are musician and composer Stuart Dempster, sound artist Susie Kozawa, and Peter Joon Park, who specializes in Korean traditional music. A reading/collaboration by alan lau and friends will follow.
In addition to being a painter and poet and holding down a day job in the produce department at Uwajimaya, Alan Lau reads widely, listens to music, watches films, writes about the arts, travels, and participates in Seattle’s community life. Over time, Lau has found a way to incorporate all of these interests and activities into his work. He has developed an elastic and idiosyncratic calligraphy that expands and contracts in response to the nature of his connection to the work’s subject or theme—whether he’s recalling a piece of music, remembering an old friend, or reflecting on the color and texture of a piece of overripe fruit. Lau uses sumi ink to provide the underlying structure in the work. He may then choose to flesh it out with more liquid ink, watercolor, and pastel to add color and texture. The pieces included in the upcoming show range from spare, linear drawings to tangled and multi-layered paintings. They offer both a chronological look at more than thirty years of work and insight into how Lau’s process reflects his diverse thematic interests.
Lau also will lead an informal walk-through of the show at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 25.
Alan Lau, Inner fire, 2009, sumi, mixed media, 23 ¾ x 18 ½ in. Photo by Spike Mafford.
