Tonight, Seattle’s Roq La Rue will premiere two solo shows, Tran Nguyen‘s “A Place Procured From Our Yesteryears” and Jason Wheatley’s “Osmosis.” Though Nguyen’s cool-hued, almost monochromatic artworks seem quite different from Wheatley’s color-saturated still lifes, the two artists share a common interest in exploring the sentimental nostalgia we tie to commonplace objects. Nguyen’s characters — beautiful, albeit giant young women lying on top of rows of houses — appear to grapple with the idea of finding a place to call home. Meanwhile, Wheatley paints accumulated objects to symbolize the collections we amass for memory’s sake; these delicate still lifes are disrupted by the presence of havoc-wreaking primates. Take a look at our preview of the two shows below and catch the exhibitions at Roq La Rue through August 31.
Tran Nguyen
Jason Wheatley: