This is little catch up on a few shows running through the end of the month...
At Stumptown downtown, photographer John Valls shows Cuba: a first look. His candid style, large format prints do not immediately telegraph the locale. This was Valls' aim. There are innumerable recognizable images of old Havana, with its buildings decaying in a tropical climate and '50's American cars, the ultimate icon of America's lost manufacturing might. Valls avoids this pitfall, focusing on people, who are really any country's ultimate value. The images effectively use a saturated Kodacolor palate and the exposure's depth of field to produce tender pictures. At Blue Sky, this work would be black and white, it would also have much less impact. For the print size, the prices are reasonable, here's hoping that public art programs, food businesses or a Cuban restaurant buys some. Here's also hoping that the artist gets down an editioning strategy and gallery shows. www.johnvalls.com Stumptown SW 3rd
I initially was not excited about James Riswold's show at Augen. He has created a large format print of DaVinci's The Last Supper as a paint by number canvas. I'm unsure Riswold calculated the pop culture relevance in advance, but there you have it. The work goes beyond the "one hit wonder - one idea artwork" weakness of much art. Paint by number is a conceptually rich metaphor, and the work is just fun to look at in the unpainted print form. Decide for yourself. http://www.augengallery.com/Artists/riswold.html Augen Gallery 817 SW 2nd
June 30
The art museum is free Friday June 30
