Thursday, October 25, 2012

October 26-27 Seattle Butoh Treat

Seattle has long been a strong center for the Japanese modern movement art of butoh. They have a few international visiting performers this weekend.

Friday Su-en from Sweden performs Soot, with musical accompaniment by Lee Berwick from the UK. Su-en studied for many years in Japan with Hakutobo, the seminal group of female dancers formed as his last project by the founder of butoh, Hijikata. Her working method fuses the founder's ideas, inspiration from landscape and modern physics.

The same evening, Helen Thorsen will be presenting a portion of her new choreography, Higher Ground, with Mary Cutrera, Briana Jones, Alan Sutherland, and Lin Lucas. Kaoru Okumura will present her solo work merging Esoteric Buddhism Shomyo Chanting and Butoh with chanting by Rev. Yuren Tai of Seattle Koyasan Buddhist Temple. Will Fredo will present LUWAL, with Liza Dino (Flamenco) and Sheri Brown.

Saturday, it is Silver Lining, inspired by the art of concealment and the play of light and shadow, directed and performed by Joan Laage (Kogut), in collaboration with Kaoru Okumura. Diana Garcia will present MA, The Space Among Us, an interactive butoh-inspired multimedia performance, with media artist Eunsu Kang, software developer/composer Donald Craig, and costume designer Bo Choi. Maureen (Momo) Freehill and NOLA kinetic artist Heather Hansen collaborate with dancer Sheri Brown, digital artist Anna Czsoki and musician Stephen Fandrich for (•) GeoSoma MuMatics (part 1), based on A Beginner’s Guide to Constructing the Universe/Mathematical Archetypes of Nature, Art, and Science by Michael Schneider and our embodied experience of numbers 1-5.

Details, including on workshops at www.daipanbutoh.com/seattlebutohfestival Performances at the Velocity Dance Center 1621 12th Avenue Seattle. 8PM $22

October 26 Cumulus Confucious

Vicki Lynn Wilson, has had the PCC Sylvania Northview Gallery to herself and visitors as a studio installation site for a month. She has done similar projects at Blackfish which were fantastic. This one is a little more weighty. We usually don't print the release, but this one is better than we could rewrite:

"Cumulus is a sculptural installation comprised of Paper Mache, pattern drafted cardboard, sewn and cut paper, carved Styrofoam and other mixed media forms and structures. Several human forms traverse the monochromatic brown space of an implied flooded plane. Their postures are bent to the domestic objects which rise from their arms and backs. “I began with an idea of wanting to transform the space. I decided to use cardboard and paper as a practical matter. The gallery is large so I needed inexpensive and plentiful material. It was the disposability and transience of the material that led me to the subject of the installation.” Taking a “waste not” approach, the majority of the materials were collected from the recycling of Widmer Brewing Company, Rose City Upholstery and the PCC Bookstore. Even the coffee cups and trash of the artist and visitors to the space are being incorporated.

The work is inspired by the artist’s lifelong dreams of home interiors and family, and based on the theory that the state of a home in a dream reveals the psychological state of the dreamer. The work is also inspired by the powerful images of natural disasters around the world which have left survivors sifting through wreckage to recover their lost objects. “My dreams are often about loss and disaster, though I don’t always read them as bad dreams. I think they are a subconscious expression of compassion for those who are suffering. This installation is a conscious expression of the same. Objects become so significant to us when they take on symbolic qualities. When the memory of something lost becomes associated with an object, the significance can be so heavy”.

Wilson presents a closing performance tonight with Heidi Dyer and Eric Nordstrom in and around the gallery. PCC has fierce parking rules in effect until 10PM. At the PCC Sylvania Northview Gallery www.pcc.edu/about/galleries/sylvania/ 12000 SW 49th Ave. Portland, OR 97219 CT Building, Rm 214. 8-9PM Free



Power, Wealth, and a Confucius for Today is a talk by Peter K. Bol, professor of East Asian Languages & Civilization, at Harvard, a longtime center for study of Chinese literature. Confucian thought stresses order and respect for elders. It has been observed by many that those in power are followers of Confucius, and those who want change, followers of Taoism's Lao Tzu. But when the revolution is successful, each group assumes the other's philosophy. Over the more than 2500 years of Confucian influence on China, there have been waves of Neo-Confucian interpretation. Of course today, it is a strong meme of government. Bol provides his view of Confucius in China today. At Portland State University Lincoln Hall Room 75. 1620 SW Park. Parking is free after 5 in PSU garages as marked. 6:30PM Free

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

October 25 Albertas Arts

Antler has papercuts and watercolors by tattoo artist Laura Jean Graham. At Antler www.antlerpdx.com
1722 NE Alberta 6PM-9 Free



Heather McLaughlin and Garrett Price, printmakers, show their works. Flight 64 Print Studio www.flight64.org 2934 NE Alberta Behind Bella Faccia Pizza on the NE 29th-30th Alley. Map 6PM-9 Free



Ampersand shows found vintage printed materials, line. letter. colo(u)r. In a way it's upcycling. Ampersand Vintage Printed Material www.ampersandvintage.com 2916 NE Alberta, Ste B. Map 6PM-10 Free

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

October 20 Plink Place

Plink Flojd is an international collaboration of artists making CG work and setting it to music. It is often based on visual or musical sampling. In a few years we may look upon the Plink Flojd work as we view 8bit music or games today. It was started by David Quiles Guillo, Yoshi Sodeoka and Eric Mast. Tonight they present some of their work on the big screen with a big sound system, and even with live music from Nice Nice and Regular Music. Cartune Xprez also shows work.

Just as the founders are distributed between Sao Palo, New York and Portland, the participating artists are everywhere on the Internet. Collaborating artists include Akin, Andrew Benson, Peter Burr, Cristopher Cichocki, Droid-ON, Manuel Fernández, Gusti Fink, Jason Forrest, Rollin Leonard, Sara Ludy, Shane McAdams, Jonathan McCabe, Austin Meredith, A. Bill Miller, Lorna Mills, Brenna Murphy, Daron Murphy, Sabrina Ratte, Jimmy Joe Roche and Mario Zoots.

Plink Flojd Portland 1.0 instantiates tonight at the Hollywood Theater in association with Floating World Comics. At Hollywood Theater 4122 NE Sandy Blvd. 9:30PM $7



The galleries in the Pioneer Place Mall open new shows tonight. Elizabeth Lamb from Brooklyn, formerly the UO White Box Gallery opens Mall of America: A Toll Free Audio Exhibition. The project collects open source audio which can be contributed by a toll free telephone number. The work is an exploration of the shopping mall. While the idea is ancient, it became an element of America's car culture zeitgeist. Today the megamall is in eclipse, replaced by the synthetic town, modeled after Europe's varied streetscapes. An example would be the Portland area's Bridgeport Village. How interesting that the event is held in the Pioneer Place Mall, developed by the Rouse Company, one of America's major mall developers.

Sculptor Michael Endo presents Black Field. Endo creates schematic representations of places and objects for this show.

Jason Doizé, curator of False Front presents Underlier. It is a sound installation themed on shipping and receiving.

All at Place, placepdx.tumblr.com a gallery on the 3rd floor of the Pioneer Place Mall along with the People's art of Portland and the Woolley Gallery. If the mall appears closed, enter the film theater building adjacent, travel through the tunnel to the Place mall, and take the elevator to the 3rd floor, sometimes the bridge on the 3rd floor is open too. 700 SW Fifth. 5PM-9 Free

October 19 Impossible Worlds False Front

PNCA educated Mary Mattingly has been working in techno-dis/utopian futurism for ten years. She has created clothing for the future and photographed models outdoors in them. She conducted the grand Waterpod project, a floating gallery and live workspace on a Hudson and East River barge, complete with chickens and gardens. She is represented by the Robert Mann Gallery. She visits Portland for a talk Friday at the school. Arrive early, all the students, faculty, staff and alumni are invited. At PNCA www.pnca.edu 1241 NW Johnson 6:30PM Free



David Knowles is a photographer, graphic designer, book designer, performer and curator working in Portland. He has a firm footing in the book world, including at Publication Studio. Perhaps that is why his show titles are themselves almost an artist statement. "It was not so important - who did it and where they went. There was, after all, only one of them." is his new show opening tonight. At False Front Studio www.falsefrontstudio.com 4518 NE 32nd Map 7PM-10 Free

October 18 MK on Guth

October 18 Guth on Guth

MK Guth gives a gallery talk about her work on display and her new direction at the Marylhurst Art Gym today. It would be excellent if events like this were webcast or web archived. At the Marylhurst Art Gym at the Marylhurst University www.marylhurst.edu/theartgym/ Map Noon Free

October 17-18 Portland Brain Storms

Brain Storm is an annual series in which local innovators have a chance to talk about their work. These include Sarina Saturn, genetic neuroscientist; Jessica Green, indoor ecosystem biologist; Jim Solberg, founder of IndieHops; Tad McGeer, pioneer drone designer at Insitu and Aerovel; Dave Monette, revolutionary redesigner of the trumpet; Andy Frichtl, founder of local green firm Interface Engineering; Colleen Flanigan, coral sculptor, in situ; and Genevieve Bell, Intel ethnographer. The event spans two evenings. The event is free, but sold out. However wait list seating begins at 6:45 each evening. At W+K 224 NW 13th 7PM Free

October 16 How Much Does Material Computation Weigh?

Norman Foster and firm is in the top echelon of practicing architects today. The work tends to elegance over edge. A favorite work is his canopy at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery that bridges the courtyard of a 19th century building with an undulating aluminum and glass sculpture. Could a marriage of historic and modern be applied to the PNCA Broadway building?

Tonight a film on Foster, How Much Does Your Building Weigh, Mr Foster? explores his design philosophy and views on urbanization worldwide.

It is a part of the Portland AIA Design Festival. At the Portland AIA 403 NW 11th x Flanders. 6PM Free



Meanwhile, another architect who relies on curvilinear computer aided design to make buildings, Achim Menges, from Germany, speaks. He designs structures with highly detailed modular units of natural and man made materials. Interestingly, many of his structures are made of laminated wood. At the University of Oregon in Portland. 70 NW Couch 6PM Free

Tuesday, October 09, 2012

October 13 Postmodern Cross Section

Postmodern choreographer Tricia Brown studied with Anna Halpern, then joined the Judson Dance Theater in Greenwich Village in 1962. The Judson group was influenced by the experimental composition ideas of John Cage. Brown comes to Portland with her company in a performance sponsored by White Bird October 11-13. Brown biographer Susan Rosenberg speaks on the choreographer's work. At PICA 415 SW 10th, 3rd floor. 1PM Free



PSU stages a show of the work of a few select alumni, spanning over 45 years of the department. It is an annual show and this year the alumni artists are Holly Andres MFA '04, Robert Baribeau '76, Pat Boas 'MFA '00, Ken Butler MFA '78 Jim Hibbard '65, Elise Wagner '95. At Portland State University in the MK Gallery Room 210 in the PSU Art Building, 2000 SW 5th Ave 5PM-8 Free

October 12 On Photography

Marianne Wex, born in 1937, has used her eye as an artist to comment on masculine and feminine body language. Between 1972 and 1977 she documented male and female body language in Hamburg. The project included posing women in male-associated poses and vice versa. The project compared current gender-specific body languages with historical images. YU shows photographs from that project for the first time outside Germany. It is a perfect show for Portland with Blue Sky's long interest in the Arbus gaze. The artist is visiting for the show. Yu is reprinting the artist's original book, long out of print. Opening at Yu Contemporary Art www.yucontemporary.org 900 SE 10th 6:30PM $5, Free members

Monday, October 08, 2012

October 11 Musics and Appropriation

Animator musician Alexis Gideon performs the soundtrack live tonight with his animated short Floating Oceans. This is the third in his series. The second which we noted here was The Sun King. This work makes greater use of full 3d figures and sets. He has collaborated with artists, Matylda Osceola, Melody Owen, Cynthia Star, Jamin London Tinsel, and Tasha Zack. It's unusual work but a stunning entry into a dream world. At the Hollywood Theater 4122 NE Sandy 7:30PM $7



Our friends over at PORT have news of the opening of a show curated by JP Huckins, Inappropriate Appropriation (IA), tonight. Recommended. At the PSU Littman Gallery in Smith Union. 5PM-7 Free

Friday, October 05, 2012

October 6 Red Gemini Moon

I am sympathetic to Buddhism, one of the world's great spiritual systems. I have not studied it deeply nor immersed myself in its many branches. But in Portland there are places you can do so. Nritya Mandala Mahavihara is one. They are from a Nepali tradition which includes dancing and live music. Tonight they host Red Gemini Moon, a North Indian classical vocal recital by Michael Stirling. Stirling has been a warm force in experimental and Indian music for many years. He has studied with Pandit Pran Nath and is a student of Maestro Terry Riley. He will be accompanied by Lieve Maas, tabla Kat MacMillan & Cameron Wagner, tamburas and Derek Ecklund, vocal assistant. At Nritya Mandala Mahavihara Dance Mandal www.dancemandal.com. 1405 SE 40th Ave 8PM by donation

October 5 Eastside Art Openings

Nemo has a post-apocalyptic-themed show, Past, Present and Failure. At Nemo Design www.studionemo.com 1875 SE Belmont 6PM-10 Free



Nationale has painter Elizabeth Malaska with We Never Belonged to You. At Nationale www.nationale.us 811 E Burnside Map



Redux has it's annual halloween-themed show. At Redux www.reduxpdx.com 811 E Burnside



Black Box has Shadows, a loosely themed group show. At Black Box Gallery www.blackboxgallery.com 811 E Burnside, Suite 212 upstairs 5PM-8:30 Free



Pushdot has a documentary photography show shot in Tibet. At Pushdot Studio www.pushdotstudio.com 2505 SE 11th Avenue Suite 104

Wednesday, October 03, 2012

October 4 Westside Art Openings

Jim Lommasson continues his series Exit Wounds: Life After War - Soldiers' Stories. It is presented in connection with the play, The Body of an American, at Portland Center Stage.

The play is based on the experience of war photographer, Paul Watson, witnessing a death in Mogadishu, Somalia. The extreme highs of combat photography and journalism are accompanied by horrible wounding lows. An example is the story of The Bang Bang Club photographers. Watson has written about his experiences in Where War Lives, A Journey into the Heart of War.

Watson worked with playwrite Dan O'Brien on the play, which is presented in Portland as a world premiere.

The event in Mogadishu was a tragedy, as is all untimely death. It was after the Black Hawk Down incident, a tragic end to an idealistic humanitarian intervention. Watson's Pulitzer-winning images of a lost American serviceman, photographed in the street mob at great personal risk, had an impact on the American psyche. That dissuaded President Clinton from intervening in the Rwandan genocide.

In the time since, journalistic video and stills have been highly controlled in American media through journalistic embedding programs.

Lommasson's project collects photographs made by Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, with their stories. It's an ongoing project. This show is an expansion of his show in 2008 at the New American Art Union.

The show is viewable until November 22. At the Gerding Theater at the Armory, in the Ellyn Bye Studio Lobby. 1128 NW 11th. Opening reception 4PM-7



M K Guth continues her highly successful social practice series, Best Wishes. It's well worth understanding the ideas behind this artist's work and why it's valued outside Portland. The show has long braids with written wishes woven through them. The braids were worn by Guth as participants expanded them with their own woven intentions. The performance lasted for a lunar month in and around Las Vegas. Stephen Hayes also shows his pastoral landscape paintings. At Elizabeth Leach Gallery www.elizabethleach.com 417 NW 9th Map 6PM-9



Marie Watt is a contemporary artist who draws conceptual inspiration from her Native American heritage. She has just moved to New York. It will be interesting to see her work evolve. At PDX Contemporary Art www.pdxcontemporaryart.com 925 NW Flanders Map early close 8PM



The UofO gallery has a group show and solo show this month. The group show, 6/ONE, is Karl Burkheimer, Josh Smith, Ben Ediger, Todd Isaacs, Dan Anderson, and Chris Held. Solo is Laura Hughes who makes light art pieces, tonight mixing video and fluorescent pigments. Recommended. At the University of Oregon White Stag Building, http://whitebox.uoregon.edu/ 70 NW Couch 6PM-9



Corey Arnold is a photographer fisherman. His earlier work focused on crab fishing at sea. His new series, Graveyard Point, is focused on Alaskan salmon fishing, including river fishing, an abandoned cannery and the seasonal fishing life around it. Arnold is one of the best at this style documentary photography. At Charles Hartman Fine Art www.hartmanfineart.net 134 NW 8th Early close 8



Design With the Other 90% Cities exhibit continues at the Museum of Contemporary Craft. There is no admision charge on First Thursday. At the Museum of Contemporary Craft www.museumofcontemporarycraft.org 724 NW Davis
ted to generation sampling. It is surprisingly difficult to do well and Givens does.



Chris Lael Larson has a show of video work Yourself Through Others. He has previously shown his kissing series in which one of the figures is removed by video effects. The work includes video portraits. The color grading and display calibration on all the projects is video electric with almost poppy colors. That contributes well to the overall impact. At W+K www.wk.com 224 NW 13th Map 5PM-9 Free



Stumptown opens The Good Rain, a group photography show by Jake Arcularius, Olivia Bee, Ashby Lee Collinson, Sarah Meadows, Missy Prince, Marie Shelton, Jenny Simmons, Rebecca Thom, John Voves, Kersti Jan Werdal, and Dan Wilson. Reception Sunday at 5. At Stumptown www.stumptowncoffee.com 128 SW 3rd



Sculptor installationist Jordan Tull opens Ecto-Paraprism. It's installed at the AIA office at the corner of Flanders at 403 NW 11th.



Spooky! In honor of Halloween, Grass Hut is putting together a spooky-themed show. Grass Hut in Floating World. www.grasshutcorp.com 400 NE Couch 6PM-9



Hellion has two figurative illustrators, Keegan Onefoot and Christopher Konecki who work a finer line than most of Portland's outsider artists. At Hellion Gallery www.helliongallery.com 19 NW 5th Suite 208. Through the lobby of the arched brick entry, up the stairs and to the back. Very upper floor Japan-style.
Map



Annoyed Grunt is a show by Mr. Kiji from New York, in a superflat, but more simplified graphic style than the original superflat artists. At Compound Gallery www.compoundgallery.com 107 NW 5th 6PM-10



PNCA continues the excellent John Cage-inspired show and the alumni show. At PNCA www.pnca.edu 1241 NW Johnson Map



Arc Volant is an installation by Wid Chambers. It's not often there is an opportunity to take over a whole commercial gallery for an installation, this is one. At Chambers Gallery www.chambersgallery.com 916 NW Flanders Early close 8:30PM



Oregon artist Naomi Shigeta has quiet work with detailed patterns. We hope this artist finds representation beyond Portland. At Augen Gallery www.augengallery.com 716 NW Davis early close 8



A year in painting is a group show of a dozen artists including those represented by the gallery. It's mostly abstract, but different from what we see from Portland artists. At Victory Gallery www.victorygallery.com 733 NW Everett



Everett Lofts are recommended as always. It's easier for you to see them all than for me to write suggestions. Some close as early as 9PM. At the Everett Lofts 625 NW Everett. Bounded by NW Everett, Broadway, Flanders and 6th Map

October 3 Silent Circus and Not Silent

A Portland Circus on Cage’s Silence is a piece by Linda Austin and Seth Nehil inspired by the work of John Cage. The main building will be filled with music and silence, dancers and a poet. Dancers participating are Linda Austin, Mike Barber, Anne Furfey, Sally Garrido-Spencer, Keyon Gaskin, Tahni Holt, Carla Mann, Tere Mathern, Paige McKinney, Kaj-anne Pepper, Chelsea Petrakis, Kelly Rauer, Danielle Ross, Noelle Stiles, Emily Stone, Robert Tyree, Taka Yamamoto and Lucy Yim with musicians Matt Carlson, Jeff Diteman, Jordan Dykstra, Ben Kates, Phillip Kraft, Catherine Lee, Heather Perkins, Mary Sutton, Tom Thorson and Reed Wallsmith. Lisa Radon provides poetics. PNCA students add field recordings. At PNCA www.pnca.edu 1241 NW Johnson. 7PM-10 Free



Meanwhile the always charming Fin de Cinema continues with animated films set to a live score. The films are The Fantastic Planet, 1973 and Light Years 1988, both by Rene Laloux. The score will be provided by Jeffrey Jerusalem, Hosannas, Onuinu and WL. Link with more details from Holocene. At Holocene www.holocene.org 1001 SE Morrison 8:30PM $6

Monday, October 01, 2012

October 2 Kara Walker

Noted artist Kara Walker speaks tonight about her work. She is also the subject of a show in the Cooley Gallery, where there will be a reception and viewing after the talk. At Reed College www.reed.edu/art Talk in the Vollum Lecture Hall. 7PM Free