Saturday, July 30, 2016

July 30 Past, Present, Future

Incoming is a show of the past work of future Rainmaker resident artists Amory Abbott, Jason Berlin, Hannah Newman, Nick Patton, Veronica Reeves, Rachel Brown Smith and Lauren Stumpf. At www.rainmakerartistresidency.org 2337 NW York St, # 201 6PM-8 Free

Tuesday, July 26, 2016

July 29-31 Converge

Converge 45 is a new destination art festival in Portland. Many galleries will be open extended hours. There are public events which are free or affordable. Select artists have been engaged to discuss ideas among themselves for 2017 public art projects. The full details are at www.converge45.org

July 28 Old As New

Amanda Leigh Evans works in quilt arts and Anastasia Greer in ceramics. They open their show tonight. At Nationale www.nationale.us 3360 SE Division Map 6PM-8

Saturday, July 23, 2016

July 23 Miniature Neighborhood Tree Migration

Grace Weston has Serious Play opening tonight. She works by photographing staged miniatures. It is a great medium, because almost anything can happen lensed through the resolution and fabrication realities of miniatures. At Oranj Studios www.oranjstudio.com/Art 0726 SW Gaines, South Waterfront. 5PM-7 Free



Junko Iijima is interested in pop culture mashups with traditional fabrication methods and forms. Her latest work, The Migration Series, are iron and brass castings from her artist residency at Kohler. She speaks about her work this evening where the work is on display in the current show. Talk tonight at Jeffrey Thomas Fine Art www.jeffreythomasfineart.com 2219 NW Raleigh. 4PM Free



Melina Bishop, Flynn Casey, Brittany V Chavez, Tony Chrenka, Rose Dickson, Joaquin Dollar, Justin L'Amie, Lauren Moran, Tabitha Nikolai and Derrick Spotts are artists with studios in the Yale Union, YU building or nearby. They have a show and open studios tonight at Yale Union.

Trees in the Forest, curated by Kari Rittenbach from New York opens tonight. It includes David Askevold, Martin Beck, Bernice Bing, Trisha Brown, Beverly Buchanan, Elise Duryee-Browner, Howard Fried, Charles Gaines, Nina Könneman, Andrei Koschmieder, Peter Moore, Martha Rosler, Jen Shear & Vinnie Smith, Carlos Villa, Carleton Watkins and Jackie Winsor. It's a mix of old, new, and newer.

At Yu Contemporary Art www.yucontemporary.org 900 SE 10th. 4PM-6 Trees, 4PM-7 Neighborhood Artists Free

Friday, July 15, 2016

July 15 Stay Between Secrets

The Secret Staircase is a show by Charles Burchfield, Joy Feasley, Johanna Jackson, Chris Johanson, Paul Swenbeck and Agatha Wojciechowsky. It opens tonight. At Adams and Ollman Gallery, the second of two members of the New Art Dealers Alliance www.newartdealers.org, www.adamsandollman.com 209 SW 9th 6PM-8 Free



Just Now Between Positions, a show curated by Halsey McKay with artists Colby Bird, Graham Collins, Chris Duncan and Rachel Foully opens tonight. At the first of two members in Portland of the New Art Dealers Alliance www.newartdealers.org, Fourteen30 Gallery www.fourteen30.com 1501 SW Market Street Map 6PM-8 Free



Stay Wild adventure magazine drops their latest issue tonight at the Fjällräven outdoor store 901 NW 10th 6PM-9 Free

Thursday, July 14, 2016

July 15-17 Seattle Butoh Performances

Butoh is a Japanese modern improvisational dance form. It was created by Hijikata who launched a myriad of butoh lineages. Late in his career he created Hakutobo, an all-woman group centered around his mistress, Yoko Ashikawa, an artist, not a trained dancer.

Seattle is one of America's butoh centers because of the work of Joan Laage who studied with Ashikawa and performed in their second unit.

She, in turn, seeded new lineages into Seattle, Olympia, Portland and Krakow.

The result is the Seattle Butoh Festival and the DaiPan Butoh Collective.


The career of a ballet dancer usually ends in their 20's. For modern often 30's. Butoh is a little different, with the cofounder Kazuo Ohno performing outside Japan at age 93, and passing at 103, doing butoh in his wheelchair. Dancers can engage butoh at any age and exit at any age. An example is Doranne Crable, Evergreen College professor of dance and artistic director of Olympia's Kagami Butoh, who performed up to her passing.

The theme this year is the collaboration between Seattle and Olympia in butoh.


The Seattle Butoh Festival performances unfold with Mary Cutrera, Ivan Espinosa & Co, Helen Thorsen, Katrina Wolfe & Shoko Zama Friday, July 15 and Sheri Brown Dance , Mary Cutrera, Kaoru Okumura, Stephen Passero & Co Saturday, July 16. There is a free outdoor performance at Kubota Garden July 17, and an evening performance that evening by Beksiński Butoh with visitors from Poland.


The Seattle Butoh Festival www.daipanbutoh.com/seattle-butoh-festival/ and www.facebook.com/events/243603332663235/ has performances indoors at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center 4408 Delridge Way SW, and outdoors at Kubota Garden 9817 55th Avenue S.

At Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, Friday and Saturday, 8PM $18

At Kubota Garden Sunday, Noon-3 Free

At Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, Sunday, 7PM Free

Saturday, July 09, 2016

July 9 - September 18 Oregon Biennial

The Oregon Biennial opens today. It is 34 artists, scattered across Portland and Oregon venues, each with their own events. More information at http://www.disjecta.org/portfolio-items/portland2016-biennial/. Opening reception at Disjecta, in the shadow of Paul Bunyan www.disjecta.org 8371 N. Interstate Map 6PM-10 Free

July 9, 23, 24, 31 A Snail's Journey

Artist Hannah Piper Burns has made an art project around snail slime as a skin care ingredient. In South America there are vast snail farms; their slime is harvested and sent to high end skin care product formulators.

She brings her project Active Ingredients: A Guided Mediation in collaboration with the Bronco Gallery to the Mississippi Street Fair, July 9; PDX Pop Now!, July 23-24; and Converge45, July 31.

You can have one of her pet snails crawl on you while watching videos of skin care ads.

And she wins the copywriting award for the month:

The magic of skincare — both proven and promised — is that we think we want to look different, but really, we want to feel different. Our skin damage betrays our inevitable implication in destruction: of our own bodies, of other living things, of the earth. We want to halt, offset, repair and above all, deny that damage, erase the evidence of our past transgressions as if banging out the dent could somehow un-crash the truck. And, we want to feel good about it. So we are promised radical recipes and revolutionary rituals, fair trade and cruelty-free systems for procuring our precious elixirs, spiritual transcendence as a viable alternative to vanity and self-empowerment through the practice of self-care. What we desire goes beyond beautification. We want absolution.

In this quixotic quest to detoxify, we will stretch the limits of our belief and tie it up in knots. We seek out, eke out and demand the affirmation of nature through our perception of its ability to heal us. That’s what brought us here, that’s why it’s come to this: snail slime. Can there be a more perfect symbol of our perverted quest for purity than industrialized snail slime extraction? We start with the snail, and then we spiral out. Way, way out.

During the tailgates I will be performing as an esthetic technologist and snail handler, offering a multimedia treatment of fresh, organic, locally-sourced and high-vibration snail slime, activated by a proprietary blend of foraged, filtered and concentrated video footage from commercials for high-end face products and dispensed via a unique delivery system. The benefits of this treatment include but are not limited to: enhanced intuitive powers, increased production of collagen and elastin, deep-frequency cell communication, reduced inflammation, stimulated meridians and neutralization of free radicals."

Friday, July 08, 2016

July 8 Level Space Conversations

Portland filmmaker artist Vanessa Renwick has an expansive program this evening in connection to her Apex show Next Level Fucked Up. The event is in the courtyard, and the show is in the museum. There is an admission charge for the museum, $5 after 5PM, but the courtyard event is free for all. At 8 Renwick distributes "advance directives, donuts and free stickers" outside. At 8:15 Sam Coomes and Marisa Anderson perform music. At 8:45 Colleen Plumb provides projections accompanied by improvisational music with Coomes and Anderson. Food and drink available outside 5-9:30. Recommended. At the Portland Art Museum 1219 SW Park 5PM-9:30 $5/Free



Artists Demian DinéYazhi', Sara Siestreem, Sky Hoping, Keyon Gaskin, Gabe Flores and Sharita Towne have a show interpreting the native Chinook words mama x̣alaqɬ iliʔi: "make open space." At the PSU Littman and White Galleries in Smith Union. www.pdx.edu/littmanandwhite PSU Smith Hall, Room 250, 1825 SW Broadway 6PM-8 Free



Adrian Landon Brooks and Caleb Hahne have Conversations With Strangers. At Stephanie Chefas Projects www.stephaniechefas.com 305 SE 3rd Ave #202 - the City Sign Building, formerly a low cost artist space Map. 6PM-9 Free

Thursday, July 07, 2016

July 8-10 Good Cops

Rocksbox is back with C.O.P.S. Not those cops, Rock's is the Conceptual Oregon Performance School. It's a meetup of artists to explore what it is to jump on stage or perform in a gallery. The focus is to sharpen the point.

The schedule is on the C.O.P.S. web. Roughly it is talks 4PM-8 Friday, hang out Rock style 8PM-10. Noon to 11 Saturday and Noon to 7 Sunday.

At Rocksbox Fine Art www.rocksboxfineart.com 6540 N Interstate Map Time varies Free

July 7 Westside Art Openings+

It's Summer and many galleries continue last month's shows.



Anna Gray + Ryan Wilson, Paulsen Anne Appleby, Tina Beebe, Nick Blosser, Brad Cloepfil, Bean Finnegan, Jacques Flechemuller, Joe Freeman, Ellen George, Victoria Haven, Arnold J. Kemp, Elizabeth Knight, Justin L'Amie, James Lavadour, Susie J. Lee, Nancy Lorenz, D.E. May, Kristen Miller, Wes Mills, Jeffry Mitchell, Megan Murphy, Jenene Nagy, Vanessa Renwick, Ethan Rose, Joe Rudko, Tad Savinar, Adam Sorensen, Barbara Stafford, Storm Tharp, Terry Toedtemeier, Molly Vidor, Nell Warren, Heather Watkins, Marie Watt and Masao Yamamoto are all part of a 21st anniversary show. At PDX Contemporary Art www.pdxcontemporaryart.com 925 NW Flanders Map early close 8PM Free



Taking inspiration from Bruce Chatwin's Utz, photographer Martin Klimas photographs shattering ceramic figures with high speed flash photography. Cat Del Buono has Voices, a video installation of simultaneous murmurs of domestic violence. At Blue Sky Gallery www.blueskygallery.org map 122 NW 8th 6PM-9 Free



Indicies is sculpture by Colin Kippen at Duplex Collective www.duplexcollective.com 219 NW Couch 6PM-9 Free



We don't usually note classic vintage print shows by artists who have passed. But this month Augen pulls out prints by Friedensreich Hundertwasser, original outsider and visionary artist. It's a free art history in a good way lesson. At Augen Gallery www.augengallery.com 716 NW Davis early close 8 Free



Powells has an employee show. At Powell's Basil Hayward Gallery, 3rd floor. www.powells.com. 10th and W Burnside



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


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



Plus. PNCA has inexplicably scheduled a book tour talk on art night by a writer living in Nahalem, Oregon who could visit and speak any time. The speaker would be Micah White. He is enmeshed with Ad Busters and co-created the idea of Occupy Wall Street. He is promoting his book The End of Protest: A New Playbook for Revolution. It proposes ever evolving creative slactivism and performance-oriented political tactics. At PNCA www.pnca.edu 511 NW Broadway Map 7PM Free



And for the plus plus, Portland's own international musician, Soriah, performs tonight. He is recently returned from Tuva, Siberia, Russia from visiting his family. He is a world renowned Tuvan throat singer and performs with Orryelle, a loop sampling violin player from Australia. Early show, really. Must end by 10 for the following show. At Lovecraft Bar 421 SE Grand. 8PM sharp - 10 $5-10

Sunday, July 03, 2016

July 5 So Much Science

Summer of science, the weekly, has Soleil Ho on MSG, Libbey White on Computers: What Are they Doing?, Alma on Bacon Binary, Lynnea Griffiths presenting a Social and Technical Book Report on My TI-83 Graphing Calculator and Killian Czuba on Tattoos for Science and Ladies and Science Ladies. It's on Tuesday, rather than Monday this week. Bring snacks to share and drinks. Science https://www.facebook.com/groups/820392904718750/ at Xhurch xhurch.net 4550 NE 20th. 7PM Free

July 3 Slippery Fortune

Fortune/Objective is the new HQHQ. They have a varied program of artist book publishing, exhibition and performance. Today is Slip Cast by sub.set. It is a video installation made by modern dancers. At Fortune Gallery & Press, formerly HQHQ Objective, www.hqobjective.org 2235 W Burnside 6:30PM-9 Free

Saturday, July 02, 2016

July 2 Finger Picking Good

John Fahey is known for his guitar finger picking. He also was an abstract painter. His work is up and musicians Dr. Amazon (featuring original members of Smegma), Shelley and Darren & DoublePlusGood play outside in the Red Fox courtyard. At the Portland Museum of Modern Art inside Mississippi Records www.portlandmuseumofmodernart.com 5202 N Albina Map 5PM-7 Free

Friday, July 01, 2016

July 1 Eastside Art Openings

Cherry and Lucic, gallery in a garage, has Lydia Rosenberg www.lydiarosenberg.net. She went to PNCA then got an East Coast MFA. At Cherry & Lucic www.cherryandlucic.com 4077 NE 7th, enter on Mason 6:30PM Free



Belle Chesler has reductive block prints as well as small gouache and gold leaf paintings. At SIX/SEVEN www.shopsixseven.com 811 E Burnside Suite 111. 5PM-8 Free


Julia Barbee is hosting a plant exchange. She is known for scent-based artwork, including scents derived from plants. @portlandplantpropogation at Haunt www.hauntstudio.blogspot.com 811 E Burnside Suite Suite 113 6PM-8 Free


Narrative: People, Places and Things is a group show with a popular inspiration in photography. Most examples in this show are a little more modest than the Yale school. At Black Box Gallery www.blackboxgallery.com 811 E Burnside, Suite 212 upstairs Early close 5PM-8 Free


Redux has a group show and store ten tear anniversary. At Redux www.reduxpdx.com 811 E Burnside 6PM-9:30 Free


All at 811 East Burnside Map