Poke-in-the-Eye

Upcoming Exhibitions

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Image Placeholder 940px — *Red Hot Pot*, 1969, Patti Warashina

Poke in the Eye: Art of the West Coast Counterculture

Jun 21 – Sep 2 2024

Simonyi Special Exhibition Galleries

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“It was almost like anti-art. . . . a rebellion.”

– Patti Warashina

Tune in to an alternative art history you may not know. Organized by the Seattle Art Museum, Poke in the Eye celebrates the aesthetic practices that emerged across the West Coast in the 1960s and ’70s. Reacting against the sleekness, formality, and coldness of East Coast movements like Pop Art and minimalism, artists on the West Coast—particularly in Seattle and the Bay Area—began creating artwork that was intentionally offbeat. These artists used traditional craft techniques and bold color, centered figuration and narrative, and often employed an irreverent sense of humor. Poke in the Eye draws primarily on SAM’s collection to present an inclusive view of this countercultural style that continues to reverberate today.

Presenting Sponsors

Generous Support
Kreielsheimer Exhibition Endowment
Herb and Lucy Pruzan

Additional Support
Contributors to the SAM Fund

FEATURED ARTISTS

Robert Arneson Alfredo Arreguín Clayton Bailey Xenobia Bailey Fred Bauer Joan Brown Robert Colescott Ken Cory Roy De Forest Viola Frey David Gilhooly Erik Gronborg Gaylen Hansen Fay Jones Howard Kottler Michael Lawson Michael Lucero Jeffry Mitchell Bruce Nauman Woody De Othello Ken Price Patti Warashina William T. Wiley

Red Hot Pot, 1969, Patti Warashina, American, born 1940, ceramic with glaze, 11 x 19 1/4 x 19 in. (27.9 x 48.9 x 48.3 cm), Gift of Lucy and Herb Pruzan, 2023.23.3 © Patti Warashina. Photo: Scott Leen. Double Poke in the Eye II, 1985, Bruce Nauman, American, born 1941, neon and aluminum, 24 x 36 x 6 1/4 in. (60.96 x 91.44 x 15.88 cm), Gift of Byron R. Meyer, 91.260 © Bruce Nauman / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: Scott Leen. Skull Doggery, 1989, Howard Kottler, American, 1930-1989, ceramic, 22 x 22 1/2 x 13 1/2 in. (55.88 x 57.15 x 34.29 cm), Gift of the Howard Kottler Testamentary Trust, 91.75 © Howard Kottler. Photo: Scott Leen.

Seattle Art Museum respectfully acknowledges that we are on Indigenous land, the traditional territories of the Coast Salish people. We honor our ongoing connection to these communities past, present, and future.

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