British Talent On Display At New Houston Gallery

In a gambit that holds special interest for Seattle, the new Houston gallery presents the first-ever retrospective of British photographer Simon Larbalestier. Larbalestier is best-known here for his record sleeves, specifically those of 4AD Records stars the Pixies. (Kurt Cobain, during the salad days of Nirvana, couldn't say enough about the Pixies' influence on his own work.)

The Houston exhibition has already premiered in Britain, under the moniker "Attracting to Emptiness." Its newest images log the artist's travels in Italy and focus on themes of transience and abandonment. Here, they will be shown in a wider context, alongside work for 4AD (collaborations with Vaughan Oliver and Chris Bigg); 12 years' worth of hand-treated prints; a CD-ROM portfolio and a Web site (www.physikgarden.com), built in collaboration with painter Michael Eldridge.

Larbalestier will be at tonight's opening and local artists should enjoy making his acquaintance. His career exemplifies something unique: the diversity and potential of the UK art-school system. Larbalestier left the Royal College of Art in '87, but from 1988-1992, he still worked there.

He spent that time exploring graphic design on the photocopier: a famous tool in British art since the 1970s, pioneered by Laurie-Rae Chamberlain and Ian Wright.

Larbalestier now continues to teach at Camberwell College. Like the London College of Printing or St. Martin's College of Art, Camberwell still encourages Britons to make art, rather than following the fashion (set at Goldsmiths College) of producing merely hype or art-as-investment.

So kudos to Houston for sponsoring this visit, the latest in its series of ambitious outreach efforts. ------------------------------- "88299," the work of Simon Larbalestier, opens tonight at 7 p.m. at Houston, 907 E. Pike St., Seattle; open noon-8 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday (206-860-7820; or online at www.wehaveaproblem.com). -------------------------------