Tonight's moon approaches earth at its closest in the year's cycle. What this all means, I have no idea.
Consider opening your evening with a free performance by Three Leg Torso http://www.3legtorso.com/ the gypsy chamber ensemble. They play at 6 in the Jameson Square Park at the corner of NW Johnson and 11th.
PICA's TBA festival opens with a performance at 8 by Brede Rørstad's Music Population Orchestra followed by Small Sails at 9 at Audio Cinema SE 3rd and Madison. 21 and over unfortunately, free fortunately.
Now for the visuals:
Valentines shows "Split Cities", photography by Portland and Brooklyn photographers Mikael Kennedy http://www.interruptart.com, Mike Powsner at http://www.mikepowsner.blogspot.com, Oriana Lewton-Leopold http://www.orianalewtonleopold.com, Sarah Meadows http://www.urbanhonking.com/owl, Brian Slaughter at http://www.babychickenwing.blogspot.com .
, Shayla Hason http://www.urbanhonking.com/dokuchan and Yoni Kifle http://svr84.ehostpros.com/~plrds84/plrdyk.htm collaborating with E*Rock http://www.urbanhonking.com/lightandsound/. Music by Ryan Boyle as DJ Pogostick Yankovich.
Art 6-9, open late, but bring a flashlight for arting after 9 232 SE Ankeny
Ogle shows photographs by Chelsea Mosher. Her earlier work reminds me of that of Liz Haley in that it can capture an enigmatic solo or group moment. In this work, Mosher collages her photos into perhaps surealistic compositions, rephotographed. Also showing is Philip Iosca. Both are part of the Portland Modern #4 group. 310 NW Broadway, doors close at 9.
PNCA hosts a long traveling group exhibition "Illegal Art" http://www.illegal-art.org/ themed on copyright and other intellectual property issues. Sampling pop culture provides a ready emotional ingredient to new work. The question is who owns that effect? The original creator? Or is it really a phenomena in each of our psyches?
PNCA graduate Heidi Cody's "American Alphabet" was used to form the group's logotype. Portland filmmaker Todd Haynes is also part of the illegal art group on the basis of his 1987 film Superstar, exploring pop singer Karen Carpenter's fatal struggle with anorexia. The film is stop action animated with BarbieTM/KenTM dolls as the actors. When art is outlawed, only the outlaws will have art...
until 9:30 PNCA 1241 NW Johnson
Leach Gallery shows "Supernormal" sculpture and relief forks by Sean Healy. Supernormal is themed upon high school social power dynamics which are thankfully discarded by most people by age 18 at the latest.
Until 9 417 NW 9th http://www.elizabethleach.com
The Portland Art Center mega complex presents video loops accompanied by live improvisation l by Paint and Copter. Listen to soundscapes by Seth Neihil in collaboration with dancer Linda Austin.
See "The Inside Game", selections from the personal collections of Elizabeth Leach, Joel Leib, Rod Pulliam, Justin Oswald and Jeffrey Thomas, all collectors and gallerists. The artists in the collections include: David Altmejd, Chandra Bocci, James Bolton, Claire Corey, Russell Crotty, Roe Ethridge, Harrell Fletcher, Harry Fritzius, Nick Di Genova, William Kentridge, Dinh Q. Le, Frank Magnotta, Roy McMakin, Lari Pittman, Rob Pruitt, Nick & Sheila Pye, Halsey Rodman, Will Rogan, TM Sisters, Dash Snow and Pinar Yolcan. Finally, perhaps because of our damp cool winters, Portland has become somewhat of a center for encaustic painting using wax pigments that must be melted on a hotplate to use. Tonight see a show juried by Elise Wagner, Jeff Gunn and SparkPlugArt of 32 encaustic artists.
http://www.portlandart.org 32 NW 5th
Rake Art shows work by Skyler McCaughey, Grace Luebke, April Alden. I am feeling particularly lazy so from the gallery press release:
" Skyler McCaughey's body of work, The Business of Sweetness is an exploration of what it really means to work and what work is in relation to our lives. She investigates the idea that not only do we work to make a living, but in turn the lives we lead can be defined by the way we work. She suggests that questions about goals and work performance should not be confined to the workplace, but should be asked for every aspect of our lives. This exploration of what one could call a life's work has culminated in an investigation into the lives of insects. Skyler considers insects, bees especially, as totems of industry, having an innate and insatiable work ethic. These are the icons of her work. Using constructed light boxes, etched glass, stainless steel, copper, and brass, she constructs a view into the lives of insects. Her interest in what happens when an unstoppable worker becomes exhausted is evident in the both the frenzied activity of "Punching In" and the fossilized amber stasis of "Work Environs". In these works, Skyler explores the sensations of feeling exhausted, yet simultaneously feeling capable of doing more. This is what she refers to as the work of our living: the alchemical transformation of pollen to honey.
Grace Luebke's 3-D installation/ performance art "Ephemeral Matter" is a conceptual design, symbiotically integrating form and dance in the site specific space of Rake Art Gallery. An installation of 200 yards of silacoat screen mimics the movement of shifting, slipping, and speeding momentum contained within an axis while coinciding with a butoh dance performance. Grace finds inspiration for her designs in butoh, an improvisational dance movement founded by Tatsumi Hijikata and Kazou Ohno. The performance begins slowly, and gradually picks up to a fast, edgy pace. The combination of installation with live dance performance enforces a connection between spatial design and the body. This inevitably creates an interactive connection between viewer and installation once the dance performance has ended.
April Alden's work, consists of found materials from the natural environment applied to wood or canvas by means of gesso and encaustic wax. She draws her inspiration from the found materials which then dictate her organic and geometric arrangements. This process oriented work allows her to express a childhood reminiscence of collecting plant materials and obsessively manipulating them into various shapes and patterns."
http://www.rakeart.org 325 NW 6th
As usual the other Everett lofts are recommended.
Pulliam Deffenbaugh presents abstract contemporary baroque paintings by Brenden Clenaghen. Clenaghen adds unique icepick prick textures to his work. I like it.
Until 9 929 NW Flanders http://pulliamdeffenbaugh.com/
A side trip sometime in the month is called for to see the work of mid career artist and Reed professor Geraldine Ondrizek. She samples nature and science producing large scale sculptures. This show is entitled "M168: Tracing the Y Chromosome"
Oregon College of Art & Craft, 8245 S.W. Barnes Road
Ringler's Annex is not the greatest venue for art viewing, particularly their subterranean space. But this month it is well worth the visit to see paintings by Brett and Whitney Superstar. Their styles partner well, maintaining their individuality; their subject matter is often schematic plants and animals.
1223 S.W. Stark St.