MSHR is Birch Cooper and Brenna Murphy. They build installations, they build analog physical synths, and they perform them together live together. Some of the most creative work going on in Portland and the world is noticing too. Get there early. Performance roughly 7:30. Did we say this is recommended? A-OK. At UpFor Gallery www.upforgallery.com 929 NW Flanders 6PM-9 Free
Craig Hickman is a photographer, cofounder of Blue Sky Gallery and professor of art at University of Oregon. He has made photographs of goings on in Portland and Eugene since the mid-1960's. Portland Creative Community 1.0 is his time capsule opened tonight. Friends, lovers, events, visitors, protests, politics in his creative world are all there. For you. At the University of Oregon White Stag Building, http://whitebox.uoregon.edu/ 70 NW Couch Free
I know a cartographer or two which includes GIS now. So I'm looking forward to Cartographers Delight, a show by Maxime Francout (france), Cecilie Ellefsen (Norway), Courtney Blazon (us), Mar Hernandez (spain), Belicta Castelbarco (Italy/Germany), Carolin Lobbert (germany), Becca Stadtlander (us), Mark Giglio – Penpencilstencil (us), Marcus Schafer (Germany), William Buzzell (us), Gregory Euclide (us), David Fullarton (us) and Sylvie Faur (france). Along with Under a Veil of Frost by Melinda Josie. At Hellion Gallery www.helliongallery.com through the lobby of the arched brick entry, up the stairs and to the back. Very upper floor Japan-style. 19 NW 5th Suite 208. Map 7PM-10 Free
As mentioned, a big national late career show visiting Portland is Ann Hamilton. Hamilton has been at installation, sculpture and wall pieces with strong materials, sometimes fabric, words and video. Well worth studying the work in person, beyond books and the web. See last week's notes here for more details. At Elizabeth Leach Gallery www.elizabethleach.com 417 NW 9th Map 6PM-9 Free
A Series of Rectangles is a show by local conceptual minimalists Anna Gray + Ryan Wilson Paulsen. They do it well where fail is easy. Along with artist, playwright, writer Tad Savinar, who presents I wonder. Savinar tends to be a little more explicit, owing his fascination with language. All around a good pairing. At PDX Contemporary Art www.pdxcontemporaryart.com 925 NW Flanders Map early close 8PM Free
Danish artist Susanne Wellm shows Inner Landscapes, intimate photographs. Intimate in a less prosaic way is Joshua Lutz with Hesitating Beauty. He has recontextualized family snapshots into the experience of caring for his mother going through psychosis. Sometimes you are in the mood for a good romcom or gaming and sometimes your in the mood for real. At Blue Sky Gallery www.blueskygallery.org map 122 NW 8th 6PM-9 Free
I haven't made up my mind about this. Here we have a relationship between a brand, shoe company Vans and artists. Vans was formed in Orange County in 1966, and made the skate shoe business when skating was early. This would also be early in the exmigration of families from LA, South, and before the Valley, North, filled. Bought in 2004, Vans is part of the company that is 20X, 7 For All Mankind, Bulwark, Eagle Creek, Eastpak, Ella Moss, Horace Small, lucy, Napapijri, JanSport, Kipling, Lady Lee Riders, Lee, Majestic, Nautica, Red Kap, Reef, Riders by Lee, Rock, Republic, Rustler, Smartwool, Splendid, The North Face, Timberland, Vans, Wrangler, Done Right, Downtown Showdown, Earthkeepers, Feels Good, Get What Fits, Green Index, Hard Working Jeans … Guaranteed, Inspired by Travel, Instantly Slims You, Long Live Cowboys, Never Stop Exploring, NEW DIMENSION, Off the Wall, Real. Comfortable. Jeans., S. Café, Storm Rider, Triple Crown of Surfing, We Are Animals. Sort of like P&G, brandwise. That big company grosses about 10B and nets about 1B yearly. Respectable gross margin. This a show of artists connected to Vans, branded Vans and with their own sticky paper on Facebook and Eventbrite to collect your identity. Anyway, I hope the art is good and that some duckets are flowing in the direction of the artists. The big shoe company and the ad agency do support artists, but with less incest between the company brand and the artist brand. Vans artists tour with Marco Zamora, Rich Jacobs, Nathaniel Russell, Tim Kerr, Zio Ziegler, Jai Tanju, Neil Blender, Chris Yormick, Russ Pope and Jay Howell. At Compound Gallery www.compoundgallery.com 107 NW 5th 6PM-10 Free
All encaustic all the time. Somehow Butters gallery has become a concentration point for encaustic painting. Is wax just butter with a higher melting point? Tonight, Infused - encaustic painting by Jeffrey Hirst, List Pressman, Elise Wagner and Kathleen Waterloo, opens. Alongside work by Carolyn Cole. At Butters Gallery www.buttersgallery.com 520 NW Davis, 2nd Floor 6PM-9:30 Free
There are a bunch of things going on tonight at PNCA and you should go. At PNCA www.pnca.edu 1241 NW Johnson Free
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 closing ranges from 9PM-10:30ish Free
