Vasari Art Codex

museum exhibitions schedule May 9, 2025 visibility 4 link 2 artists

Tariqa Waters' 'Venus is Missing' at the Seattle Art Museum Tasks Visitors With a Galactic Mission

Tariqa Waters' immersive installation 'Venus is Missing' has opened at the Seattle Art Museum, running through January 5, 2026. The exhibition, which won Waters the museum's Betty Bowen Award in 2023, invites visitors to 'beam' into a futuristic cosmic world via a transporter beam of light. The gallery features a pink retro-futuristic spaceship, an 8-foot-tall ball-barrette sculpture, and a vinyl image of Waters' daughter, all set to staticky music blending Herbie Hancock and Luther Vandross. The installation draws from science fiction, music, and Waters' childhood memories, exploring themes of vulnerability and connection through her signature humor and pop art sensibility.

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A pink rocket ship and other sci-fi elements fuel Seattle artist’s latest exhibit

Seattle artist Tariqa Waters presents her first solo exhibition with sci-fi elements, titled "Venus is Missing," at the Seattle Art Museum from May 7, 2025 through January 5, 2026. The show features a retro-futuristic pink rocket ship and oversized glass sculptures of ball barrettes—elastic hair ties from the 1970s and '80s—arranged as constellations. Waters won the Betty Bowen Award in 2023, which led to this exhibition, and she used the extra preparation time to create an immersive narrative about vulnerability, nostalgia, and escape. The exhibition also connects to her upcoming book "WHO RAISED YOU? A Martyr Sauce Guide To Etiquette," published by Minor Matters Books.