Over the past year Salon Refu has established itself as the edgiest art gallery in Olympia, if not the edgiest south of Seattle. But being in the avant-garde is not enough for gallery owner Susan Christian; she also insists that the art in her gallery be skillfully crafted - no carelessly thrown-together art for this gallery. And that brings us to the current installation by ceramicist Joe Blatt, which is outstanding in almost all aspects but slightly thrown-together in some small parts.

For some time now I've been fascinated with Batt's strangely anthropomorphized animals and child-animal hybrids. Now he offers a complete environment comprised of ceramic children and charcoal drawings. It's a world of satellites and cellular phones - surreal and futuristic, yet very much the world we live in, a world in which everyone is connected via satellite, in which every hand holds a smart phone and heads, eyes and brains become television monitors.

Read Alec Clayton's full review of Joe Blatt's show in the Music & Culture section.

JOE BATT, Thursday-Sunday, 2-6 p.m. through Nov. 26, Salon Refu 114 N. Capitol Way, Olympia, info@salonrefu.com.