"New Paintings" by Rachel Maxi present a vaguely Hopper-esque glowing realism in oil. Also: Kenyan native Rashidi Alibhai's vibrant mixed-media paintings combine acrylic and ink and capture East African life.

The petty criminals of "San Francisco 1940-1942" are the subject of local artist Chris Crites' latest collection of deft mug-shot portraiture on humble brown paper bags. . Also: "Count the Birdies," cartoonlike acrylic-on-wood paintings from a children's counting book by Matthew Porter.

Bellevue Arts Museum Work from 14 studios in "Studio Glass: Decorative and Functional Objects." Also: Garry Knox Bennett has created 52 wry and funky chairs in "Call Me Chairmaker."

Xiaoze Xie continues his realistic oil studies of newspaper stacks found in library archives, while Ying-Yueh Chuang sculpts detailed ceramic creatures in "Yuan."

Imaginative lithographs from the 1970s by Mexican print artist Francisco Toledo. Also: new etchings by American print artist Peter Milton combine real buildings into imaginary spaces in "Continuum." Also: the Antique Prints Dept. features etchings by Ralph M. Pearson (1883-1958).

Minimalist still-life floral paintings by James Waterman in "Awaken," and childhood memory-infused oil paintings by Ontario artist Darlene Cole in "Some Sweet Day."

Fountainhead Sheila Evans' acute pastel studies explore the abstract undersides of leaves in "Rhythm and Silence." Also: vaguely surreal oils and acrylics by Washington painter Anne John in "Beyond Boundaries."

G. Gibson Gallery In"Katrina-land: Photographs of the Hurricane's Devastation," photographers Chris Jordan, Debbie Fleming Caffery, Wyatt Gallery, and Will Steacy turn their lenses on post-Katrina New Orleans in a heartbreaking reminder of a catastrophe of weather and government failure we shouldn't forget.

Seattle videographer Thomas Ager uses light boxes and video elements in "Places Overlooked / Autochthonous Paintings," while landscape artist and ceramicist David Traylor presents mixed-media sculpture and paintings in "Veiled Targets/Buoys/Filled Vessels."

Gallery IMA "Inner Conversations" features rich abstract oils by Dale Witherow and drawings and paintings by Joon Hahn exploring blurred patterns.

Chris Engman's photographs insert manmade items like scaffolding or a photo of tree into natural settings. Also: mild-mannered superhero Mark Newport knits a force field around his kids in one of his comic book prints, and knits actual superhero suits as well.

Grover/Thurston Gallery There's a bright simplicity to the whimsical paintings of local artist Joe Max Emminger. In his eye-catching acrylic-on-paper tableaux, Emminger uses lots of vivid oranges, unadulterated whites, a lovely shade of blue, and bold black lines. Many of his characters look like they're being tossed about by the wind, at the mercy of unseen forces. None are the worse for wear for it, but they seem to be offering a colorful reminder of the discombobulating potential of human interaction and all the uncontrollable forces of life.

BYO found object and be an artist at the gallery's unconventional exhibit. Or be an art critic and jot down your interpretation of other people's objets. At least, I think that's what their press release said.

Lawrimore Project In "This Is Gallery," the stylish new art space presents a sampler from its edgy collection of artists, including Tivon Rice, Sami Ben Larbi, Lead Pencil Studio, Chris Jordan, SuttonBeresCuller, and Cris Bruch.

The local gallery "In Focus" this month is Catherine Person. Also: "Structures," interesting contemporary work exploring patterns by artists like Tram Bui, Etsuko Ichikawa, Christopher Martin Hoff, and Blake Haygood.

Jana Brevick combines her "ability to commandeer unsuspecting objects" with a fascination with old-school espionage in "Tinker, Tailor, Jeweler, Spy." Also: Sculptor Sara Osebold references winter in "Four Stages of Snow."

In "Northern Brilliance," various artists celebrate Pacific Northwest Coast art in red cedar, silver, abalone, and a rich variety of other materials.

Nancy Callan offers playful glass objects in "Woolgathering"; silver leaf mingles with resin in "Translucent Truths," paintings by Shea Bajaj; and New Zealander Layla Walter presents kiln-cast glass in "Camellia."

Michael Stasinos' crisp oil "Cityscapes" should look familiar to Seattle residents: the artist paints detailed scenes throughout town, from Gasworks to Elliott Bay.

"Tetrascope" features Catherine Houston, Shirley Travis, Keith Johnson, and William Fahey. Also: Avant-garde painter Phil Fagerholm takes on science and religion in "Creation Is Not an Ism: Art of an Intelligent Design."

Ballard Fetherston Born into a family of seafarers, Mercer Island painter Melinda Hannigan, 57, has long found inspiration in the rusted hulls of weathered ships streaked by opalescent residues of oily water. Though Ireland is the subject of "New Works," her latest abstract oil-on-paper paintings, her beautiful palette of burnished hues and sophisticated textured technique remain constant.

Experience Music Project "DoubleTake: From Monet to Lichtenstein" pairs in unexpected ways 28 modern and classic paintings from Paul Allen's private collection, many not seen by the public in over 50 years. Some sample matches: Van Gogh and Ernst, Monet and DeKooning, Signac and Rothko. Curated by art historian and Impressionism expert Paul Hayes Tucker.

Large-scale sculpture by New Yorker Will Ryman in "Private Moments." Also: Matthew Offenbacher's finely detailed owl paintings in "God, Sex, the Great Outdoors."

"Lot's Tribe" Sculptor Michael Magrath placed his three life-size sculptures of Iraqi war victims, made of ordinary table salt, in Occidental Park on Sept. 11: a captive boy, a weeping man, and a mourning father. They will remain on view as a stark reminder of the ongoing pain of war, until they dissolve like so many fleeting news headlines.

"The Flattening and Opening of Space" by Carrie Bodle and Margie Livingston, and "Floating Plaster/City Motion" by Robert Campbell and Yuki Nakamura are the intriguing results of experimental collaborations between visual and digital artists.

Dave McGranaghan's oil paintings capture local locales with a dreamy realism, while Sam Chapman works with mixed media and pastels in "Lost in the Woods."

A spiraling geometric web of precisely joined hemlock by New York artist Ben Butler fills the space in "All Things Long to Persist in Their Being."

West Edge Sculpture Invitational The lively array of sculptures along the waterfront is the annual effort by a coalition of sculptors and art-lovers to bring the work of 29 artists (some big names like Ann Morris, Phillip Levine, and Gerard Tsutakawa) to the pedestrians around the Harbor Steps and Benaroya Hall for two months.

Poetry is presented as visual art in this exhibit of work by "five contemporary visual poets": Joshua Beckman, Jen Bervin, Mary Ruefle, Robert Seydel, and Nico Vassilakis. Organized by Wave Books.

The depiction of children in the 19th century is the unifying theme of "Little Women, Little Men: Folk Art Portraits of Children from the Fenimore Art Museum," a collection of paintings, primarily by New England artists from that era. Also: The secret trove of idiosyncratic pencil and watercolor pictures and manuscripts by the self-taught recluse Henry Darger (1892-1973) was only discovered upon his death. They illuminate an imaginary world at war whose heroes are young girls. The Frye presents samples from the American Folk Art Museum in New York. Also: "Klompen" is the latest kinetic sculptural installation from sound artist Trimpin featuring nearly 100 wooden clogs hanging from the ceiling connected to a computer.

"Monsen 75 at 75" presents 75 groundbreaking and significant photos from the vast collection of Joseph and Elaine Monsen in honor of Joseph's 75th birthday. The collection spans 1843 to 1993 and ranges from Man Ray to Cindy Sherman. Also: "day ring, night ring" are sound artist Steve Roden's two new installations that respond to the museum's permanent wonder room, Skyspace by James Turrell. Also: Akio Takamori's "The Laughing Monks" combines the UW art professor's own ceramic work with pieces from the Henry's collection.

Various artists explore the properties of glass through site-specific installations in "Transparently Built." Also: "Kickin' It with Joyce J. Scott" is a 30-year retrospective of the multifaceted artist's lively work in sculpture, textiles, and performance. Also: "Fresh! Contemporary Takes on Nature and Allegory" juxtaposes contemporary glass art with other media.

Nordic Heritage Museum In the vast black-and-white canvases of "The Promise of Happiness," young British painter Mark Thompson effectively captures the dramatic loneliness and quiet unseen forces of the remote areas of Scandinavia, Alaska, and Iceland, where weather ravages the terrain and ignites the psyche.

Seattle Asian Art Museum German-born sound artist and sculptor Trimpin unveils his latest work, "Picnics, Rhythms and Vacations," which involves hundreds of random slides found at flea markets projected on the gallery walls accompanied by a percussive composition. Also: In "Discovering Buddhist Art—Seeking the Sublime," nearly 100 works represent the influence of Buddhism on Asian art and culture. The wonderful array of antique snuff bottles is a highlight. Also: Tooba, a powerful, haunting allegorical video by Iranian-born artist Shirin Neshat about a woman who merges with a tree. Also: "A Northwest Summer: Six Exhibitions—One Celebration" includes studio glass art from the Jon and Mary Shirley collection and art deco sculpture from SAM's early days.

In "Symphonic Poem: Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson," the African-American artist uses an array of media to recount narratives in a folk-art style. Also: "Between Clouds of Memory: The Ceramic Art of Akio Takamori."

"These Walls Can Speak: Untold Stories From Three Historic Buildings" celebrates the Kong Yick Buildings, Higo, and the Eastern Hotel through history, testimony, and artifacts.

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