Cliff Notes
Each week, our regional Cliff Notes columnists Jaydra Johnson, Brittney Frantece, Blessing Greer Mathurin, and Quintessa Matranga pick the most exciting events and exhibitions on the West Coast
Gossip: Between Us
Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, W
August 9, 2025–Ongoing
I do love scandalous whispers in private conversations. When I was younger, I used to think that gossip was harmful. It was malicious sharing of private information. Something that good friends wouldn’t do, despite its temptation. But recently, with the help of think-pieces that explore the nature of gossip, I’ve developed a more expansive understanding of provocative storytelling in intimate settings. I’m excited for Gossip: Between Us to broaden my views through a wide range of visuals. Opening on August 9th, I anticipate this exhibition will challenge the common idea that gossip is unnecessarily malicious and destructive to social groups. Rather, one could say gossip enhances community.
The exhibition gathers artists working across diverse mediums and from diverse backgrounds, generations, and locations. It covers themes that celebrate queerness, femininity, familial artifacts, and spirituality. I’m eager to see how Gossip will include works by Carrie Mae Weems, given that Weems is known for her depictions of communion, grief, excitement, and bonding. The range on display highlights how storytelling across time, space, and visual representation can be useful and playful.
Reflection: What’s something that happened that you can’t wait to tell a friend?
Tariqa Waters: Venus is Missing
Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA
May 7, 2025–January 4, 2026
A pale pink spaceship with glowing magenta ballie barrettes hovers above a platform stage in a black-blue space. My imagination can’t decide if the spaceship is stationary or soaring, but I do feel like I’m floating through space. A disco ball scatters light bubbles across the dark walls. What kind of space is this, where stars are bubbles? Behind me stands a giant monument, a glass sculpture that is a replica of a two-ball barrette. Near the entrance, I see a mission guide that tells me I’m in the middle of a story, with Agent Waters taking me through an emotionally vulnerable journey.
Tariqa Waters’ Venus in Missing is more than a solo exhibition that highlights her glassmaking, installation designs, and wood-sculpting skills. Waters offers a visual experience that is felt through my whole body. Waters uses relics of 90s Black girlhood, like ballies and bubbles. Water also uses historical relics, like Venus, a recurring symbol that Black women have reclaimed as a symbol of empowerment. With these materials and symbols, Waters creates an otherworldly, intergalactic environment that is a safe haven for Black feminine imaginations.
Reflection: Where would you go to escape capitalist excess and to find vulnerability?