Thursday, July 01, 2010

July 1 Westside Art Openings

The Everett Lofts, bounded by NW Broadway, Flanders, 6th and Everett are always recommended for your viewing pleasure.



We are getting very confused about education and it will get worse before better. There is no guarantee that this month's show by conceptualists Anna Gray and Ryan Wilson, In the Classroom, will provide the key insight to untangle our confusion, but it should be a fun show. One suggestion, let's remove the word pedagogy from vocabulary. At PDX Contemporary Art www.pdxcontemporaryart.com 925 NW Flanders early close 8PM



Jack Davidson, Laurie Reid, John Zurier have a show of watercolors, the perfect summer medium at Pulliam Deffenbaugh www.pulliamdeffenbaugh.com until 8



Pedaling: Bicycle Photographs from Then to Now, includes classic photographers Brassaï, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Antonin Gribovsky, Shinsaku Izumi, André Kertész, Nathan Lerner, Herbert List, Wayne Miller, Sabine Weiss, Corey Arnold, Mark Steinmetz and Issei Suda. One wonders how 2010 images of Portland's bicycle romance will play in say 90 years, the vintage of some of these exposures. I guess well. At Charles Hartman Fine Art www.hartmanfineart.net 134 NW 8th



From the studio of Roy Lichtenstein is a sure to be entertaining show documenting the work of the world's most popular pop painter. Photographer Laurie Lambrecht worked as a studio assistant to Lichtenstein between 1990 and 1992, providing an opportunity to capture mundane studio details and Lichtenstein's idea board which appear almost monochromatic against his bold and colorful pop pieces. Melbourne artist Emidio Puglielli shows part of his collection of found photographs, presenting the front image and notations from the obverse, superimposed. In the Nines Gallery, an installation space within Blue Sky, Nines cofounder Jerry Mayer collaborates with partner Ellen George on Lightly, a large field patterned by tiny burns. It reminds me of an outstanding piece by Ann Hamilton in which every square inch of the walls were covered by soot and wax marks from candles. The Hamilton show is also the only show I've seen that was picked by PETA. Mayer and George are much more minimal than Hamilton, and unlikely to draw PETA's ire. At Blue Sky Gallery www.blueskygallery.org 122 NW 8th



Group shows of gallery artists are a great way to grok the type of art the gallery specializes, all in an easy viewing. Louis Bunce, Manuel Izquierdo, Jay Backstrand, Marlene Bauer, Judith Poxson Fawkes, Tom Fawkes, Cie Goulet, Gregory Grenon, Sally Haley, Mary Josephson, Kim Osgood, Betty Merken, Henk Pander, Lucinda Parker, David Schwarz, Anne Siems, Eric Stotik, Sherrie Wolf and Mel Katz are on the menu at their gallery Laura Russo www.laurarusso.com 805 NW 21st



Elise Wagner presents Solar Flare, meditations on the far fury of our sun. Wagner is known for her work in the fiery encaustic, wax pigment medium which must be heated to apply, and scientifically inspired imagery. At Butters Gallery www.buttersgallery.com 520 NW Davis, 2nd Floor 6PM-9



The always lively unofficial Japanese embassy that is Compound has Pedal Power, a bicycle themed show including Tripper Dungen, Kate Durkin, Jud Turner, Stuntkid, Berto Legendary H, Jessica Ward, Heidi Elise Wirz and Andrea Shear. At Compound Gallery www.compoundgallery.com 107 NW 5th



There is good ironic and bad ironic. And ironic has a shelf life. This trend has run its course, so this show may be entertaining, like those tragic photos of our oh so fashionable past. Rad Hatter is a show of trucker hats modified by artists. At Tender Loving Empire www.tenderlovingempire.com 412 SW 10th