ART
A Couple of Ways of Doing Something: Photographs by Chuck Close, Poems by Bob Holman
Chuck Close is something of a one-trick pony, but he does that one trick magnificently. He does portraits of his friends in an almost endless variety of media and techniques, usually close-ups with sharp focus on the center of the face and fading along the edges. This internationally famous artist who grew up near Tacoma and went to school at the University of Washington first became famous in the 1960s for his stark, in-your-face photographic realism â€" images of faces seen so close and in such gigantic scale that every pimple, scar and wrinkle was seen in almost microscopic detail.

Now showing at Tacoma Art Museum is a collaborative project two years in the making between Close and the poet Bob Holman â€" visual and word portraits of themselves and their friends. â€" Alec Clayton

[Tacoma Art Museum, Tuesday-Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Third Thursdays 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Sunday noon-5 p.m. through June 15, 1701 Pacific Ave., Tacoma]

DJ
A Jazz Primer
If your head is spinning because you can’t decide what to do with so much going on, just know that you’re not alone. I’ve got the added pressure of a houseguest, my 21-year-old niece, to make matters even more indecisive. What am I supposed to do with someone who hates large crowds of people and is only interested in jazz?

DJ Alspinski.

The man has, as the kids say, skills. Alspinski spins jazz â€" old and new â€" at the Monsoon Room every Wednesday. Alspinski, in his own way, is helping to shape how the turntable can be utilized as an instrument in a jazz-oriented context. â€" Suzy Stump

[Monsoon Room, 9 p.m., no cover, 1022 S. J St., Tacoma, 253.722.5075]   

LINK: Stanley & Seafort’s jazz and more in the clubs.
LINK: Catch a flick today.
LINK: Let’s eat in a bistro today.