28 Ways of Looking at a Goddess

"Pretty," she said of Joshua Petker's "There Is a Light that Will Never Go Out."

Isabel Samaras' "Black Venus"? "Nudies." Further clarification: "No bra on." Double true.

Most of the rest of her commentary involved asking "What's that, Daddy?" as we walked from painting to painting. Explaining the mythological imagery being riffed on by 28 artists to a 1.5-year-old made our art interpretation skills sound extra dorky -- "That's another Venus -- she was the goddess of love, the Roman version of Aphrodite -- and she's got big green eyes. And do you see what she's got in her hair? Right -- a butterfly!"

Gallery owner (and friend of Seattlest) Kirsten Anderson kindly refrained from laughing out loud during our tour. Venus is the Roq's latest group show -- and much as we love almost all of their shows, the group shows, with their smorgasbordian essence, are our favorites. We see works from artists we already love (hello, Glenn Barr and Audrey Kawasaki) and discover artists we need to Google when we get home (nicely done, Krysztof Nemeth).

When we asked Anderson what inspired her to choose Venus as a theme, she said it was a good way to show paintings of pretty women -- turns out paintings of pretty women are popular in the art world. Some things never change. Expect to see a number of red dots at the opening tonight -- Anderson says many of the pieces are already sold, and a glance at the online gallery bears that out.

She was especially pleased with the strong showing by women artists, who produced a number of pieces that mash up traditional depictions of Venus in art, pin-up influences, and lowbrow aesthetic to produce alluring visions that didn't seem catered to the male gaze. Don't take our word for it, though; Anderson's writing a book on the subject. Be sure to ask her about it when you hit the gallery.

We loved the show -- Kirsten asked us which pieces were our favorites, and we're pretty sure we pointed out about half of them before we stopped babbling. Most of the pieces are new for this show. The selection ended up having a strong thematic unity -- many of the pieces play with familiar Venus iconography (shells, hearts, bazooms) -- but showcases the diverse styles that fit the Roq's pop surrealist point of view. Travis Louie, Fuco Ueda, and Gail Potocki on one bill? You run the gamut from photorealistic surrealism to fine-art-style painting.

One more thing: this show marks Roq La Rue's ninth birthday. Go to the opening. There may be cake. It's 6-9 pm and features music by DJ Vodka Twist.

Painting: "Amai Wana" by Audrey Kawasaki.