On View

BUSTER SIMPSON // SURVEYOR

June 15 - October 13, 2013

The Frye Art Museum is proud to present BUSTER SIMPSON // SURVEYOR, the first retrospective survey of work by Seattle artist Buster Simpson, a pioneer in the field of urban environmentalism and art in public spaces.

For more than four decades, Simpson has been the ecological and social conscience for neighborhoods and cities in constant states of transition and renewal. His site-specific, agitprop, and process-driven art has surveyed the problems, scrutinized the context, and presented new frames of reference to provide local solutions for global issues.

Since the late 1960s and early 1970s, Simpson has been dedicated to working in the public realm; his method is grounded in a farsighted contract between the artist and where he lives. His career parallels the rise of public art in the Pacific Northwest and he has played a crucial role in establishing Seattle as a significant center for community-minded artistic practice. By acting locally while thinking globally, Simpson has contributed greatly to the national and international debate on what constitutes responsible public art programs.

At a time when Seattle is reimagining its waterfront and its identity, BUSTER SIMPSON // SURVEYOR reframes Buster Simpson’s vision of the city and presents his groundbreaking contribution to dialogues about the health of communities and the societal obligations of the artist striving to affect real change in public life. The exhibition documents and articulates for the first time the breadth, depth, and influence of Simpson’s body of work, staking a claim for his artistic legacy and defining how his methodology and regional aesthetic applies to global systems and ideologies.

BUSTER SIMPSON // SURVEYOR is curated by Scott Lawrimore and funded by the Frye Foundation with the generous support of Frye Art Museum members and donors. It is supported by The Boeing Company, Seattle Office of Arts & Culture, 4Culture, National Endowment for the Arts, Washington State Arts Commission, and Riddell Williams P.S. Seasonal support is provided by ArtsFund. Media sponsorship is by The Stranger, KUOW 94.9FM, and City Arts.

Buster Simpson. Woodman, 1974. Photo-documentation of the street action. Courtesy of the artist. 

EXHIBITION PROGRAMS 

June 14, 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm 
Exhibitions Opening Reception 
BUSTER SIMPSON // SURVEYOR, Horizon, The Hudson Flows West 

June 15, 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm 
BUSTER SIMPSON // SURVEYOR 
Gallery Talk with Buster Simpson, artist, and Scott Lawrimore, curator 

July 9, 10:00 – 4:00 pm 
Drawing the Figure 
Workshop with Bruce Edwards 

July 18, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm 
BUSTER SIMPSON // SURVEYOR Walking Tour 
Randy Engstrom, Director, Seattle Office of Arts and Culture 

July 23, 10:00 – 4:00 pm 
Sewing Machine Arts 
Marita Dingus 

July 25, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm 
Elwha River Valley – Exploited, Rethought, and Reborn 
Lecture with Peter Malarkey, artist; and Lynda Mapes, reporter, The Seattle Times; and Buster Simpson, artist 

August 6, 10:00 – 4:00 pm 
Relief Printmaking 
Ben Beres 

August 6, 1:00 pm – 3:30 pm 
Contesting the Status Quo: Avant-Garde Art and Praxis 
Lecture with Kolya Rice, art historian 

August 8, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm 
BUSTER SIMPSON // SURVEYOR Bicycle Tour 
Jill Rullkoetter, Frye Art Museum Senior Deputy Director 

August 15, 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm 
Members’ Summer Happy Hour 

August 15, 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm 
BUSTER SIMPSON // SURVEYOR 
Gallery Talk with Buster Simpson, artist, and Scott Lawrimore, curator 

August 18, 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm 
Magic Lantern: Imagining the City on Film 
Robert Horton, film critic 

August 27 - August 30 
Quick Sketching and Modeling 
Peter Millett 

September 7, 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm 
BUSTER SIMPSON // SURVEYOR 
Gallery Talk with Buster Simpson, artist, and Scott Lawrimore, curator 

September 14, 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm 
BUSTER SIMPSON // SURVEYOR 
Gallery Talk with Scott Lawrimore, curator, and Shane Montgomery, exhibition designer 

September 15, 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm 
Magic Lantern: Dreaming of a Tree House 
Robert Horton, film critic 

September 21, 11:00 – 4:00 pm 
The Sky’s The Limit: Family and Educator Day 

September 26, 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm 
BUSTER SIMPSON // SURVEYOR 
Lecture with Buster Simpson, artist, and Cath Brunner, Public Art Director, 4Culture 

October 3, 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm 
Gifts of the Crows 
Lecture with John Marzluff, PhD, Professor of Wildlife Science, University of Washington 

October 13, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm 
BUSTER SIMPSON // SURVEYOR Book Signing 

October 13, 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm 
Magic Lantern: The Gleaners and I (screening) 
Robert Horton, film critic