Clay Apenouvon: Film Noir
Mariane Ibrahim Gallery

Black plastic might seem like a fairly innocuous material, but Clay Apenouvon knows how to use it to create symbolic depth and emotional resonance. Originally inspired by shipwrecked African immigrants on the Italian island of Lampedusa, the French artist coats everyday objects in sleek black plastic and arranges them in sculptures that make the material look like it’s seeping out of the walls in order to symbolize of the few items displaced people possess and comment on the destruction of the planet that leads to the suffering of black bodies. Apenouvon brings his unique medium to Mariane Ibrahim Gallery for his first North American solo exhibit, Film Noir.

Does Live Art Have to Be Experienced Live?
Soil Gallery

If you’re interested in fully blurring the line between performance and visual art Soil Gallery’s Does Live Art Have to Be Experienced Live? offers the perfect chance. For the opening weekend (August 4–7) Soil extends its hours for all day marathons of performance including live life-sized figure drawings, a comparison between woodshop and sexual failures, a potluck honoring dead dads, readings of The Wizard of Oz, and more. Other artists will then create static representations of weekend’s performances, which will be displayed in the gallery through the end of the month to offer a taste of the live art, but not the experience. It’s a gallery show that demands multiple visits to take in the full experience (especially for those that also want to attend the exhibit closing durational performance on August 27). Opening duration performance from noon–8.

Francisco Goya: Disasters Of War
Davidson Galleries

In the per-photography era, people turned to artists for visual deceptions of the horrors of war. Spaniard Francisco Goya shared brutal scenes of the Peninsular War between Spain and the Napoleon’s First French Empire (1807–1814) through his etched printmaking series Los Desastres de la Guerra (Disasters of War). The unflinching inhumanity of the acts Goya witnessed and replicated in these prints still can send a sorrowful chill down the spine. Opening reception from 6–8.

Out of Sight
King Street Station

Okay... so this might not technically be part of First Thursday (the evening's Opening Night Party and Collector's Preview run $50–$100; as opposed to $10 admission the following days). But still. It’s hard to think of any counterprogramming that works as well as Out of Sight. Set on the top floor of King Street Station, a short walk from the Seattle Art Fair at CenturyLink Field Event Center, the group mega show features an embarrassment of Pacific Northwest artist riches without the same pretense of SAF’s galleries. Out of Sight boasts the scrappier independent spirit. Featuring nearly 100 of the top area artists/collectives showing off their wares (paintings, sculptures, drawings, dance projects, etc.), it’s almost too much to take in during one visit. It’s the Seattle art fair that feels authentically Seattle. Collector's Preview from 4–6. Opening Night Party from 6–midnight.