2025 Past Exhibitions
Patti Warashina, Passage Through Venetian Light (detail), 2012, low-fire clay, underglaze, glaze, mixed media, 122.25” x 60” x 60”
MoNA Ceramic Invitational 2025: Build Me Up, Tear Me Down, Why Don’t You Love Me Babe Like There’s No One Around? features 12 remarkable artists from the Pacific Northwest whose engagement with clay offers a seductive account of the expressive possibilities of the medium. The exhibition features work by Iván Carmona, Emily Counts, Daniel Duford, Claudia Fitch, Ariana Heinzman, Holly Hudson, Ryan W. Kelly, Dirk Staschke, Chris Theiss, Timea Tihanyi, Tip Toland, and Patti Warashina. Inaugurating the Museum’s new series of thematic Invitationals, Build Me Up, Tear Me Down, Why Don’t You Love Me Babe Like There’s No One Around offers a window into the contemporary landscape of clay sculpture which, modeled by hand, becomes an extension of the body and the being which inhabits it.
Through the Light: The Sublime in Contemporary Northwest Art
June 28 - September 28, 2025
Drie Chapek, Breezy Dawn, 2023, oil and acrylic on canvas, 60 x 78 inches, courtesy of the Artist and Greg Kucera Gallery
The Pacific Northwest is often synonymous with nature, but what is it about the landscape that inspires such an emotional, intuitive, and often immediate response? The artists included in Through the Light: The Sublime in Contemporary Northwest Art all view nature through a unique lens tied to various elements found in our world: light, water, earth, and energy. Contrary to earlier understandings of the sublime, these artists have an intimate and personal connection with nature. Whether through technology, ease of travel, or increased scientific knowledge, the world is now viewed as both large and small. These artists provide viewers with an insight into the complexities of nature by creating small moments with personal interventions that inspire guests to consider their relationship with the surrounding environment in a different way.
Aaron Loveitt: Succession,
Within a Landscape Unfolding
June 28 - September 28, 2025
Aaron Loveitt, Revere, 2025, Salvaged Aluminum, 105" x 80" x 60", courtesy of the artist.
“The condition of this region’s landscape is experiencing a period of accelerated change. From a climactic ecosystem to a harvested territory, we are bearing witness to an unprecedented transition.” -Aaron Loveitt
This exhibition of Aaron Loveitt’s work takes the visitor through past, present and future tense to explore the condition of this region’s environment through the installation of three large scale sculptures: Revere, Reap and Recover. Succession presents a succinct and powerful narrative of our interconnected relationship within the Northwest landscape.
Vitamin P:NW
Recent Painting in the Pacific Northwest
October 11, 2025 - January 11, 2026
Margie Livingston, Large Wrap Over Organic Shape, White to Black, 2010, acrylic paint, 6.5 × 3 x 16 inches, Courtesy of the artist and Greg Kucera Gallery
In much the same way that the body requires a diverse variety of vitamins to remain healthy, function properly, and to grow, the visual arts rely on a regimen of media and practices that are integral to its well-being. Steadfast among those visual and material supplements is “Vitamin P”- Painting.
A central pillar of Western art, over the past century the practice of painting has undergone seismic transformations, been declared dead, revived, and been used as an ideological battleground for artistic and cultural discourse. Today the power and relevance of painting remains as strong as ever, as artists continue to turn to brush and canvas as the chosen tools to brave investigations of their natural and cultural environments, the self, and the material aspects of their chosen medium.
William Turner:
Conversations with the Elders
October 11, 2025 - January 11, 2026
William Turner, Casual Friday Vincenzo Anastagi (after El Greco), 2012, Acrylic on canvas, 36” x 34”
William Turner’s work is defined by bold plains of color, energetic brushwork, and a sharp sense of humor. As an artist, Turner was a careful observer and passionate student of art history, translating lessons from past masters into his own vibrant visual language. In William Turner: Conversations with the Elders, the artist took inspiration from a powerful encounter with El Greco's painting 'Vincenzo Anastagi' in the Frick Collection, New York. Entering into conversation with El Greco’s painting, Turner reimagines Anastagi in a variety of situations, some humorous, others more serious, but all alive with color and vigor.