Scratching the Surface is an annual show of an evening that makes art on the river. Sometimes floating in the river too. It is centered on the East Bank Esplanade - the foot of SE Madison is a good place to start. Bruce Conkle's Mountain Romance kicks off at the Ash St. Pier at 6pm, architect artists Grace Luebke and Ben Stagl are floating their installation Tumbleweed at 7pm, and Brooklyn artist Tim Folland launches Ship Wrecked at 9pm. Last year, the maintenance guy hauled away some of the installations the morning of the event thinking they were refuse, but it is all sorted this year. More details at Gallery Homeland the river wranglers. 6-10ish Free
Note Stagl also has an installation in the Portland building lobby "Below Marquam" between August 6 and September 4.
Gabriel Liston shows Tearfully Remembering Familiar Things, nostalgic illustration style paintings as well as drawings and objects. At the New American Art Union 922 SE Ankeny
In the 811 block...
Ayumi Piland, one half of APAK, shows all her own My Secret Pocket Journey. "The one thing I try not to forget before doing the laundry is checking my husband's pockets. All his pockets are always filled with many little things... all types of twigs, rocks, plants, old screws, nuts, balls of fuzz, receipts, post-it notes, coins, dirt, broken piece of plastic, small metal parts, candy wrappers, toys, stickers, business cards, flyers...etc. In contrast, my pockets are usually empty and I feel sort of envious of his collection. But I do have a secret pocket that I keep non-objects, my imagination. I hide the secret pocket around my belly to keep it quite safe. This is where my soul curls up and takes a nap to dream. In this show you get a chance to peak at the world of my secret pocket. I hope you enjoy it!" This is a perfect example of the power of art in a world that seems to be falling apart. At Grass Hut Gallery
By cosmic coincidence the other half APAK, Aaron Piland shows Imagination Machine at Moshi Moshi. His illustration-style work is max kawaii too.
Redux presents P. Williams' Flotsam and Jetsam - paintings on salvaged materials.
"P. Williams current series of work is an exploration of the relationship between humans and nature. The work looks at the plastic divide between humans and the world at large, as well as the tragedy and disasters that come from ignoring the seemingly benign.
P. Williams’ began his professional career after graduating from Art Center College of Design with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration Design. His work is a combination of comics and realism, using two stylistic approaches, fundamentally opposed, allowing for a deeper conversation between the viewer and the artist. There is a cast of characters that perform in these paintings. Being iconic yet completely general. Through subtle manipulations, the characters become distorted to mirror internal conflict, landscapes change from one painting to the next yet they all manage to stay firmly rooted within the same world, the same characters, just a different chapter in the mythology of suburbia. His audience is appreciative of the fact that the modern suburban landscape is that of a warped nature, and the resulting social structures are equally warped. These paintings don’t need to reflect a specific explanation or a title but have items that relate to many storylines and possibilities within a wide range of people."
In his own words;
“ My paintings are fun, and they are supposed to be fun, but they are also intended to be challenging. In many ways, my work functions like a comic, drawing heavily on the lexicon of comic mechanisms, but also invents, distorts, and leaves few puzzles for the viewer to discover. The paintings can be viewed as single panels, or as a collection of snapshots of some novel, standing perfectly alone yet some how complete.
I am also heavily invested in myths, and the way that they relay information, ideas and of course, misconceptions. I explore the way myths and stories tell us how to exist within a society, and what is important. The weight that myths give to creation and destruction have come to function heavily in this current series. Burning foot hills, bleak skies and giant beasts, the work has evolved in to a myth system of it’s own. It is a collection of repeating symbols and metaphors perfect for reinterpretation of modern life.”
Definitely the copywriter of the month award. At Redux
All 811 E. Burnside
Collaborators Justin Gorman and Caleb Freese, who had a recent show at Ogle, show their work at Jáce Gáce. It's their place and their design sense, including culinary, makes for a sweet spot to savor art, beer and waffles. Jáce Gáce 2045 SE Belmont
One of my obscure interests is Butoh, a very modern dance form from Japan. You can search my older posts for plenty of reference. Tonight butoh fusion artist Akira Kasei performs. Kasei fuses eurythmy with butoh. So I guess that would be Waldorf Butoh. He has been teaching a workshop this week at Portland State and he and the students will perform together and separately tonight. I took the same workshop last year and there is no way you should not see this. He is quite the rock star at 63! At Imago Theater 17 SE 8th 7:30PM Free(!!!)
For something completely different, the Film Center is reprising the works of filmmaker Stanley Kubrick. Tonight it's 2001: A Space Odyssey. The vastness of space and cinematography demands seeing this as film on the big screen. This is the famous meditation on the meaning of life and our spiritual evolution. Let's get it right! It also stars HAL9000, the sensitive AI. A space traveler is led by the monolith through a wormhole to the beginning of time, to become the creator of the universe. (I think you have to read the book to get that, sorry for the spoiler, but the last fourth of the film is a little abstract) See also Dr Strangelove and A Clockwork Orange later in the series. At the NW Film Center's Whitsell Auditorium in the Art Museum $7/6 members 7PM
