Epics of Wallingford, Peter Mundwiler's newest installation, at Gallery4Culture through Friday, Feb. 25, exhibits the mythic landscape of the North Seattle neighborhood.
"The show reworks a few Wallingford characters as gallery objects," Mundwiler said.
The works, loosely tied together, are inspired by Mundwiler's memory of living in Wallingford.
"Pretty much the gist of the show is about what is real and what isn't real," said Greg Bell, Gallery4 Culture's director and manager.
Portraits of a community
Part of the exhibit pays homage to the film "Harry and the Hendersons," with a print entitled "Lowland Sasquatch Villa" and a giant, handmade Bigfoot made out of clay, fake fur and enamel.
The movie, filmed in Wallingford, features a Bigfoot that comes to live with a suburban family.
"'Harry and the Hendersons' was my favorite movie growing up," said Mundwiler, who grew up in Olympia. He lived in a home a few blocks away from the house where 'Harry and the Hendersons' was filmed when he attended the University of Washington ceramics program. He said he led tours of that home while he was in college.
The exhibit also features a film by Mundwiler in which three people give a screen test as Seattle artist Paul Margolis, a Wallingford resident and Mundwiler's former housemate. The actors are made up to look like Margolis and take on some of his characteristics.
"These portraits are the most purely sculptural work I've done in a long time. In the past, my work has owed a lot to the '70s body-art tradition and consisted mostly of video and performance pieces," Mundwiler said. "Recently, in order to address the distinct reality of the gallery, I've been focusing on making objects that respond to gallery issues like artificiality, scale and display conventions.
A certain amount of 'gallery dressing' was also included, he said, specifically the potted fir trees/houseplants and the coat rack, because "I consider a gallery something between a storefront and a really uncomfortable living room. I've tried to create objects that occupy the space in this way," he said.
Upcoming show
Mundwiler is a student enrolled in the Bachelor of Fine Arts program at the University of Washington.
Last year, he was an artist-in-residence at Nocera Umbra in Italy, where he researched medieval art history.
In 2003, he participated in the School of Art Rome Program, a study-abroad program offered through the University of Washington.
Mundwiler is currently working on a solo show called "Sleight of Hand," which he describes as "mostly video pieces that spotlight minute, stylized body movements, as well as the odd magic trick."
That show opens March 8 at 6 p.m. with an artist lecture and reception at the CMA Gallery, 4205 Mary Gates Memorial Drive, in the University Village area.
Gallery4Culture, which is showing the Epics of Wallingford exhibit, is located within the 4Culture offices, at 506 Second Ave., Suite 200, on the second floor of the Smith Tower. Gallery hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Admission is free.
For more information, call 296-7580 or visit www.4culture.org.
Have an idea for an arts story? Contributing writer Jessica Davis can be reached at needitor@nwlink. com.
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