We would not have today's "outsider art" movement if artists like the Reverend Howard Finster had not been "discovered" in the late 1970s and curated into the NY art world in the early 1980s, as a response to Wall Street-driven excesses in the New York art world. William Jamison and Mark Woolley were early on the phenomena in Portland.
Reverend Howard Finster's work stands on its own, of course. Opening this evening, it can be seen in a small selection in Portland at the Portland Museum of Modern Art. PMOMA has been inspired by outsider and visionary art, including that of Chris Johanson, and they are the hosts for the late Finster's work. Finster also created a prodigious collection of sound recordings before he passed in 2001.
His story is fascinating. The work is individualistic. It is well worth seeing.
Ural Thomas will perform his music for the opening, always a pleasure.
Howard Finster at the Portland Museum of Modern Art inside Mississippi Records www.portlandmuseumofmodernart.com 5202 N Albina Map 8PM-10
It's The Last Night On Earth Again (Other People Are Also You) is a show by Michael Fish, Michael Horwitz, Matthew Leavitt, Heiko Julien, Karl Sims, Jack Fisher, Shiloh O'Connor, Walter Davis, Corwin Peck, Austin Kelley Way, Sadashiva Stavrum, Rachel Bell, Jia Gy and Kai Nollie. It should fill up Surplus Space. Somehow it is inspired by Terrence McKenna. At Surplus Space www.SurplusSpace.info 3726 NE 7th 6PM-9 Free
Caldera artists in residence Amy Bonnaffons, Glendaliz Camacho, Sonja Dahl, Jeff Leake, Tamara Lynne, Kaila Farrell-Smith and John Whitten invite you to Blue Lake to see their work. It is a special space. The studios will also be open February 28 and March 28. At Camp Caldera www.calderaarts.org, 31500 Blue Lake Drive, Sisters, OR 1PM-3 Free
