Blue Sky Gallery was started by artists in NW Portland of 23rd when that was a run down cheap neighborhood. Then they moved to the old PCVA walkup space in Chinatown when the neighborhood was unpopular. Then they had a space in an old brick Pearl District building guaranteed to be destroyed in an earthquake when the Pearl was just getting respectable. That was 40 years ago. Along the way, they have broken photographers like Richard Misrach. Commercial galleries watch them to recruit new artists.
This month they have arranged many of their photographers to print over 300 works in small format ~8x10 in one of a kind edition for sale at a very reasonable $40, plus whatever tax deductible donation you might add.
Thomas Alleman has photos of cities Xiangshawan, Ordos City and Hohhottraveled in Inner Mongolia, China. His monochrome Holga photos capture the modernization and industrialization of these cities in a nomadic high desert. The area has one quarter of the world's coal reserves, natural gas and rare minerals; it is a national sacrifice zone. And it is following the development with a Chinese face tactic of large Han in migration, diluting the indigenous Mongol population. Perhaps it is the reverse of the historic pattern of Mongols taking control of China.
At Blue Sky Gallery www.blueskygallery.org map 122 NW 8th 6PM-9 Free
Adam Sorensen releases a new series of luminous schematic landscapes. At PDX Contemporary Art www.pdxcontemporaryart.com 925 NW Flanders Map early close 8PM Free
Enfant terrible Jim Riswold has Tips for Artsists Who Don't Want to Sell. Riswold is an ex-adman who naturally explores provocative themes in his work. One of his tactics is to sample Hitler into his sculptures and photographs. He has found that Hitler art does not sell well. Now he is experimenting with Kim Jong Un. We'll see how that works. He has an artist talk October 10, noon in the gallery. At Augen Gallery www.augengallery.com 716 NW Davis early close 8 Free
Katherine Longstreth presents Marginal Evidence. It is a three room installation making a window into modern dance choreography, its collaborative process, and with a forensic eye, including music, video, drawings, writing and photography. At the University of Oregon White Stag Building, whitebox.uoregon.edu 70 NW Couch 6PM-8 Free
Elisabeth Horan has arranged 5 years of materials from her studio into a sort of timeline collage over 5 days in the gallery. You can see the result tonight. At Duplex Collective www.duplexcollective.com 219 NW Couch 6PM-9 Free
There is a 20th anniversary group show at Froelick if you would like to get a sense of what the gallery shows. At Froelick Gallery www.froelickgallery.com 714 NW Davis early close 8 Free
PNCA & PNCA Museum of Contemporary Craft, Adams & Ollman and Upfor continue shows. 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 usually about 9 Free
PNCA is recommended to stop in. They have long time cycle shows and pop ups distributed throughout the building. PNCA www.pnca.edu 511 NW Broadway Map 6PM-9 Free
W+K is another often worth visiting spot. It has an inconsistent schedule, not every First Thursday, and curation all over the map. Some work is preoccupied by its embrace with design and advertising. But their last show of Malia Jensen, who received an early commission for the giant beaver which graces the entry, was excellent. At W+K www.wk.com 224 NW 13th Map 5PM-9 Free
And on the Keep Portland Weird theme, MonstraSomnia is a group show or outsider artists on a Halloween theme. At Refuge 116 SE Yamhill 9PM-midnight Free
