Drrrrip.
  • Courtesy the artist and James Harris Gallery
  • Drrrrip.

On a vast expanse of white wall facing the Seattle Art Museum entrance at Hammering Man, there's only one painting: Karin Davie's Distraction (click for a pop-up image). It performs its title, acting as an immediate distraction from the business of getting up and into the galleries to see the other art. Its swooping lines laugh down from the imperious perch, giving the slapsticky impression that a colossus has come by and simply swiped his arm up and down a few times holding a titanic loaded paintbrush, leaving behind a line that's squiggling and bunched like a hardworking worm.

Distraction was made in 1999. That year, Davie showed at Mary Boone Gallery and Marianne Boesky Gallery, both in New York, on the heels of being featured at the Museum of Modern Art. In 2001, she would show at White Cube in London, and in 2006, the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo organized a major retrospective of her work. What's probably least known about Davie is that the Toronto native, who lived in New York for 20 years, three years ago moved to Kirkland.

A full story on the Seattle area's newest already-famous painter here.

UPDATE: I forgot to add that there's an artist talk Saturday (March 3) starting at noon at the gallery (James Harris). The reception, with coffee and pastries, starts at 11:30. Admission is free and open to everyone.