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Art and Commerce

Jul 27 2024–Jan 12 2025

Seattle Art Museum

Andy Warhol’s sly comment, “Making money is art and working is art and good business is the best art,” called out the far greater reverence of money compared to that of art or ideas, especially in the US. Starting in the 1960s, he upended perceptions of value by painting humble commodities and turning them into cultural icons. In subsequent decades, the artwork as a particular, precious commodity within capitalist markets garnered attention. Meanwhile, growing concern with the social, economic, and ecological cost of interconnected global markets motivates many younger artists. Artists in this exhibition include Mary Bauermeister, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Meschac Gaba, Eirik Johnson, Brian Jungen, Moris, Albert Oehlen, Rena Small, Fred Tomaselli, Clarissa Tossin, among others.

Image: Weyerhauser Sorting Yard Along the Chehalis River, Cosmopolis, Washington, from the series SawDust Mountain, 2007, Eirik Johnson, American, b. 1974, Archival pigment print, 24 x 30 in. (61 x 76.2 cm), Seattle Art Museum, Gift of Clinton T. Willour in honor of Marisa C. Sånchez and gift of G. Gibson Gallery, 2009.7.1, © Eirik Johnson, photo: Courtesy of the artist.


What’s on at Seattle Art Museum

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Seattle Art Museum

Bethany Collins: At Sea

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Seattle Art Museum

Tariqa Waters: Venus is Missing

May 7 2025–Jan 5 2026

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Calder: In Motion, The Shirley Family Collection

Nov 8 2023–Oct 20 2024

Seattle Art Museum

Jacob Lawrence: American Storyteller

Jun 28 2024–Jan 5 2025

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Remember the Rain

Aug 18 2023–Oct 13 2024

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Art and Commerce

Jul 27 2024–Jan 12 2025

Seattle Art Museum

Diego Cibelli: Fiori dei Miei Habiti / La Montagne Enchantée

May 31 2024–May 10 2026

Seattle Art Museum

American Art: The Stories We Carry

Oct 20 2022–ongoing

Seattle Art Museum

Yirrkala: Art from Australia’s Top End

May 10 2024–ongoing

Seattle Art Museum

Impressionisms: The Global Nineteenth Century

Mar 27 2024–ongoing

Seattle Art Museum

Chronicles of a Global East

Oct 20 2022–ongoing

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SAM on Paper: Rembrandt’s Etchings

Mar 27 2024–ongoing

Seattle Art Museum

Pacific Species

Dec 22 2022–ongoing

Seattle Art Museum

Conscious Constructions

Apr 29 2011–ongoing

Seattle Art Museum

Art and Life Along the Northwest Coast

Nov 26 2014–ongoing

Seattle Art Museum

Deities & Demons: Supernatural In Japanese Art

Oct 20 2022–ongoing

Seattle Art Museum

Lessons from the Institute of Empathy

Mar 31 2018–Oct 5 2025

Seattle Art Museum

Cosmic Beings in Mesoamerican and Andean Art

Nov 10 2018–ongoing

Seattle Art Museum

Porcelain Room

May 5 2007–ongoing

Seattle Art Museum

John Grade: Middle Fork

Feb 10 2017–Feb 2 2025

Seattle Art Museum

Only Connect: The Art of Devotion

Apr 29 2011–ongoing

Seattle Art Museum

Following Space: Thaddeus Mosley & Alexander Calder

Nov 20 2024–Jun 1 2025

Seattle Art Museum

Joyce J. Scott: Walk a Mile in My Dreams

Oct 17 2024–Jan 19 2025

Seattle Art Museum