Friday, April 27, 2012

April 30 Slanguage and W. O. Douglas

William O. Douglas is one of the Northwest's most noted jurists, and the nation's. Living as a child for a period in Yakima, Washington, he developed an ardent appreciation for the wild unspoiled outdoor environment, mountain hikes and climbs.

He was appointed SEC commissioner and chairman by President Roosevelt, then to the Supreme Court, the youngest justice at age 40, since 1812, and since. He was a strong advocate of privacy, civil liberties and legal protections for the environment. He is the longest serving justice and a prolific author of opinions. Douglas also authored an article for the first environmental law journal, published by the Lewis and Clark Law School.

One of his most famous dissenting opinions is in Sierra Club (Mineral King) v. Morton. In that case, it was the Disney Corporation which wanted to develop a ski resort adjacent to Sequoia National Park. The opinion of Douglas was incorporated into the seminal book Should Trees Have Standing: Law, Morality, and the Environment by Stone. Stone's book, in 1972, is one of the early contributions to the theory of deep ecology. The eloquent opinion by Douglas in Mineral King argues that the environment be granted a form of personhood in defense of its destruction by corporate personhood. Stone extends the argument, noting that women and children were once considered objects, and without rights, or standing, under the law. Thus he argues, following Douglas, that there is a precedent for extending rights to the natural environment itself. That vision has not yet been attained.

Tonight filmmaker John Concillo and author Adam Sowards discuss Douglas. Concillo's documentary Liberty and Wilderness will be shown.

At the Kennedy School History Pub, 5736 NE 33rd 7PM Free



Slanguage is a social practice collective and residency operating for 10 years in Los Angeles. Karla Diaz and Mario Ybarra have made fascinating works including community and youth participations. They are extensively documented on the Slanguage website. A likely to be interesting talk! A part of the PSU MFA Lecture Series pdx.edu/art/mfa-lecture-series. In the Shattuck Hall Annex, 1914 SW Park Avenue, at the corner of SW Broadway and Hall on the PSU campus. 7:30PM Free

April 29 Idealist Reseach Brunch

Who can argue with idealism? That's the argument for The Idealist - www.idealist.org. The Idealist joins forces today with the Research Club as the new home to brunch.

The Research Club brunch is a pot luck gathering of artists, creatives and community organizers built around informal presentations. This month it is Sam Balter - What happens to a college paper? Millions are written yearly, then disappear into the ethers, when they could produce much more value; Modou Dieng, creator - curator of Worksound Gallery and residency, and also our art link to Dakar; Hannah Kane of The Idealist on their worldwide direct action projects; and Nim Wunnan, organizer of Research Club.

Bring vegetarian-vegan friendly comestibles, and a plate, bowl, mug and utensils!

Research Club at The Idealist - www.research-club.org @ www.idealist.org 209 SW Oak St #600 noon-3PM Free

Thursday, April 26, 2012

April 28 Biennial Appendix

David Knowles is a Portland writer designer and maker of books at Publication Studio. He opens a new show of sculptures at Appendix tonight "I'm not going anywhere until I die". At Appendix Project Space www.appendixspace.com On the alley between 26th and 27th, South of Alberta. Map 7-10ish Free



Disjecta closes their biennial show in the main space with a talk by several artists beginning at 5, then a closing party with musicians Alameda. Alameda comprises singer and guitarist Stirling Myles, cellist Jessie Dettwiler and clarinetist Jennifer Woodall, with guitarist Tim Grimes and Kate O'Brien-Clarke on violin. It's singer songwriter music with more interesting arrangements than the usual. At Disjecta, in the shadow of Paul Bunyan www.disjecta.org 8371 N. Interstate Map 5PM-10 Free

April 27 Grow Free

The Portland Art Museum is free to all this evening after 5. Every day they are free for those under 17. So take advantage of your museum! At the Portland Art Museum www.pam.org 1219 SW Park 5PM-8 Free



Project Grow has a gallery. This month, the gallery has a show of photography, which closes this evening by staying open a little later than usual. It includes selections from the Portland Grid Project, Project Grow Artists, photographs from the Oregon State Hospital and a walk in view camera, best seen when it's lighter. At Project Grow at the Port City Development Center. 2156 N Williams Ave at Tillamook. 6PM-10 Free


April 26 Prom Photo Revolution in Egypt

One of the most dramatic manifestations of the Arab Spring was in Egypt. The revolution was televised. So many things went right in our new society of social media, mobile and worldwide interconnection. That includes the arrest and subsequent release of Wael Ghonim. While Egypt is still in transition, it stands as one of the most peaceful and moving expressions of the aspirations of the new generation since the dissolution of the Soviet Republic.

Journalist David Wolman happened to be reporting a few years before on social media and the new generation of activists in Egypt. He was gifted the opportunity to see it all unfold.

He published an e-book The Instigators, on the movement which was also covered in articles for The Atlantic.

He speaks at Mercy Corps tonight on Egypt and another book he has written, The End of Money. Mercy Corps has been a pioneer in using mobile phone technology to directly distribute cash in disaster areas. They also have sponsored markets which bring together local vendors of household necessities and households who can use Mercy Corps scrip to buy items. Mercy Corps pays the vendors in cash at the conclusion.

At the Mercy Corps Action Center www.actioncenter.org Advance tickets recommended - details: www.mercycorps.org/events/2012/01/27/26382 28 SW 1st $10 7PM



Prom. The word strikes terror and joy into the hearts of students, teachers and parents. The students' views across the country are captured in the project, Prom, by Mary Ellen Mark and Martin Bell. Mark has made formal portraits of the couples on the Polaroid 20x24, the highest resolution imaging system in existence, at about 500 megapixels per frame. Bell interviewed the couples, resulting in a film, Prom, which accompanies the photographs published as a book. In addition to everyday honest angst, there are very touching interviews with students preparing for the prom while undergoing treatment for cancer, gay prom tribulations, the kids struggling to fit in, and disabled prom goers. The 33 minute film will be shown tonight in a small photo studio in the Towne, sponsored by Photolucida. Details and reservations at www.jonikabana.com/classes/photo-picnic-mary-ellen-mark-martin-bells-prom-book-and-documentary-film/ 8PM $10 cash or check



Ampersand has a show of portrait works by Brandon Fernandez made by a short depth of field view camera on wet collodion plates. The long exposure time, depth of field and resolution recall the work of photographers of the 19th Century, such as Julia Margaret Cameron, Nadar and later, Bellocq. It's excellent work. Also showing photos and constructions involving bones by Jefferson Hayman, being released as a book by Ampersand. At Ampersand Vintage Printed Material www.ampersandvintage.com 2916 NE Alberta, Ste B. Map 6PM-10 Free

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

April 25 On Craftavism

We are on the crux of a better tomorrow, and a catastrophic tomorrow, in so many aspects of our society, humanity and the natural world. Those challenges of possibility, we welcome. But it is also a challenge for art, and a challenge for craft to contribute to making things better, and especially solving the wicked problems. Those are the big problems of society, war, climate, the environment, the economy. So it's no longer OK to be content with a private monologue in the art world. That's why we are a proponent of socially conscious social practice art. It's also why we welcome socially conscious social practice craft.

That is the discussion tonight with Maria Elena Buszek, craftavist. She has been doing it for some time in the form of craftworks, teaching, writing, editing, curating and organizing. One of her books, Extra/Ordinary: Craft and Contemporary Art, captures for its cover, the stunning Pink M.24 Chaffee by Marianne Jørgensen. For the work, hundreds of knitters made 15cm squares in pink shades that were united in a knitting graffiti project to cover a military tank. Knitting graffiti is a fascinating movement. Like Jørgensen, knitters like Barb Hunt take it much further with her knitted land mines project, Antipersonnel.

Buszek speaks tonight on the admixture of craft, art and politics. Presented by the PNCA Museum of Contemporary Craft. www.pnca.edu. At the Museum of Contemporary Craft, 724 NW Davis 6:30PM Free

Thursday, April 19, 2012

April 21 Red Mall

The galleries in the mall open their monthly show this evening. The big news is that long time Portland gallerist Mark Woolley is moving into the middle space. To celebrate, he launches a red-themed art show, Simply Red (2). The opening features funk stylings by DJ Parmajohn, and the Sexbot dancers st 8. Suggest attire is red. The mall closes sometime after 9, so arrive early and plan a post funk. At the Mark Woolley Gallery at Pioneer www.markwoolley.com 700 SW 5th 3rd Floor 6PM-9 Free



Place continues Crying, Feeding, Touching by Heather Zinger; The Weighing of Souls by Georganne Watters; and High School Football Memories by Phillip Bone & BT Livermore. With Within the Ephemeron by J. Brown, half of Half|Dozen Gallery and Mimesis by Wayne Bund documenting queer people in both straight and fantasy settings. At Place, placepdx.tumblr.com a gallery on the 3rd floor of the Pioneer Place Mall. 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 3rd Floor West. 6PM-9 Free



We don't cover music posters as art here. Because they have their own aesthetic and collectors largely outside the areas in which we are interested. But We support the work the People's Art of Portland and bro gallery the Goodfoot, in providing a place to see posters and outsider art. The People's Art of Portland open a show of poster art by John Howard: Spawn Camping the Psionic Swamp, in his own pop surrealism style he calls psychedelic. That includes anaglyphic 3d posters. In the same space, Portland duct tape artist Mona Superhero shows her new work. At People's Art of Portland in the Pioneer Place Mall peoplesartofportland.com 700 SW 5th 3rd Floor South 6PM-9 Free

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

April 18 Pure Clear Closing Science Fair

Alex Mackin Dolan closes Pure Clear tonight in the Appendix Project Space. Dolan has joined the Appendix collective as curator-collaborator, so this is an introduction to his thoughts in the form of his personal work. The location has limited hours, so openings and closings are the best opportunity to see it. At Appendix Project Space www.appendixspace.com On the alley between 26th and 27th, South of Alberta. Map 8-10ish Free



Tin House is one of Portland's brainy independent publishers. They release the latest issue of their magazine tonight, Science Fair. That accompanies, readings, science experiments, vintage films, and music by White Hinterland, Pure Bathing Culture, DJ Jen O and Carl Sagan's Turtleneck. At Holocene www.holocene.org 1001 SE Morrison early 7:30PM $5

Thursday, April 12, 2012

April 14 Smart Art Talks

Worksound has transformed itself into a residency and salon, as principal Modou Dieng takes on curatorial roles around town.

Perceptual Control is an experiment between five artists, writers and curators to engage with one another for four months at Worksound.

Tonight two, Amy Bernstein and Emily Nachison, engage in a dialog and you are invited to listen, question and comment. Amy Bernstein has been thinking about "Form and Absence". "Speech is the replacement of a presence by an absence and the pursuit, through presences ever more fragile, of an absence ever more all sufficing." - Maurice Blanchot. She expresses these ideas in her sparse energetic paintings. She is also an accomplished writer and will take the opportunity to talk about pragmatics in art making from a linguistic and philosophical viewpoint. "Organic/Synthetic" is on the mind of Emily Nachison. She discusses her process of making sculpture and installation from influences in mythology, anthropology, geology and decorative arts.

At Worksound www.worksoundpdx.com 820 SE Alder Map 7PM-10 Free

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

April 13-18 Bike by Film

Filmed By Bike is Portland's Spring bike meetup with the block taken by bikes, a giant street party Friday, films of bikes, people on bikes, and the bike view of the roads. It's the ten year anniversary!

A special treat is a visit by world bicycle travelers Brian Mathe, Morgan Monchaud and Vera Siphay, Solidream, from France. They arrive in Portland by bike, of course! They premiere a short of the first half of their journey at the festival. They have traveled 23,000 kM, 14,000 miles along the West Coast of Africa, to the Antarctic, through South America and now the US on their round the world bicycle tour. The film plays in the Opening Night Shorts program on Friday, April 13 at 7, 9, and 11 PM and in the Adventure Shorts program Saturday and Sunday at 7 PM. The Q+A session follows the Sunday 7pm screening.

At the Clinton Street Theater, SE 26th and Clinton. Friday, 7PM,9,11; Saturday & Sunday 5PM, 7, 9; Tuesday & Wednesday 7PM, 9. Check the website for the detailed schedule, festivities and ticket information.

April 13 PICA Space Patrol

PICA is a cultural presenter in Portland. It has often borrowed space. Tonight they open a new office and performance-visual lab space. New York artist Glen Fogel opens the space with video work My Apocalyptic Moment. At 415 SW 10th Ave, Suite 300, 6PM-10

April 12 Photographs of Portland Culturists

Marian Wood Kolisch (1920-2008) is an Portland photographer who began her career in photography at age fifty-two. She studied with local photographers, then later with Ansel Adams, forming a long friendship. Her style of luminous platinum prints echoes Adams Zone System aesthetic, capturing the full tonal range. It was the wish of the family that Kolisch's work be kept together and the Oregon Historical Society has done so.

Culture Captured: The Photography of Marian Wood Kolisch is her collection of portraits of Portland cultural leaders made between 1972 and 2008. It's a history lesson in Portland's earlier cultural period.

At the Oregon Historical Society www.ohs.org. 1200 SW Park Free admission for Multnomah County residents

Friday, April 06, 2012

April 6 Eastside Art Openings

Are you bored tonight? Noooo! Get with art, Eastside baby!



Nemo is an interactive agency which does art happenings in service of their same campaigns. You can boo that, whatever, but experiencing it rules in interesting and notable in Portland. Tonight they provide a show on the theme. At Nemo Design www.studionemo.com 1875 SE Belmont 6PM-10 Free



Union|Pine has Kate Pugsley shows, Brooke Weeber too, and Emily Katz as well, all local makertrons. Union|Pine At Union|Pine www.unionpine.com 525 SE Pine 7Pm-late Free



Newspace has a great show gathered internationally by the Photolucida process. Recommended. At Newspace Photo www.newspacephoto.org 1632 SE 10th Map




Manchus is a men and women store. Clean, minimal, elegant. Fittingly, they are in a clean, minimal, elegant, modern space. Tonight they present a short film by Portland artist Cliff Sargent: Tokyo, fittingly. At Machus www.machusonline.com 6PM-9 Free
Reception is from 6-9pm



Albina Hawthorne has Amelioranting. A show from the "jumbled steamer trunk of my mind" of Cloë Ashton. She wins the copywrighting award of the month with "Cloë Ashton is a carbon based food tube who enjoys a peaceful existence on Earth in the 21st century. In order to put food through her tube she works hard drawing things that will make other food tubes happy enough to give her green paper. Green paper isn't very good to eat, but you can usually trade it for better tube food." Of course the interwebs are a system of tubes, so it's all well. At Albina Press Hawthorne, 5012 SE Hawthorne 6PM-8 Free



Old rhythm and blues songs are exceptional in their ability to transform our perceptions and mood. Although lyrically they may be simplistic, often bordering on cliché, they are able to transport us out of our everyday life and into our vision of love. The rhythmic phrases are usually based on the vocals, not on the machine beat structure. The honesty within these songs speaks to an often repressed part of our psyche, that part of us that is uninterested in acknowledging the complications of reality. Zoë Clark is a Portland based artist vibing on that. She has a show tonight you should see. At RECESS recesspdx.blogspot.com At Recess in the Oregon Brassworks Building, 1127 SE 10th 6PM-11



23 Sandy is a gallery focused on photography and book arts. Tonight is a combo. It's Interplay: Elizabeth M. Claffey, Lauren Henkin, Clifton Meador and Laura Russell. At 23Sandy www.23sandy.com 623 NE 23 at Sandy 5PM-8



Print and Destroy is a show of new artists: Jalissa Taylor, Morgan Bass, Albert Navetta and Megan Fix at a PNCA|DIY curated space.
At Foco Gallery focogallery.wordpress.com 211 SE Madison Free

Thursday, April 05, 2012

April 5 Westside Art Openings+

The kung fu movie. The phenomenon started over 100 years ago in China, and blossomed there, post WWII, especially in Hong Kong. It came to America in the persona of the legendary Bruce Lee. Lee was an accomplished martial arts master and child actor from Hong Kong. Coming to America at age 19, he studied philosophy at UW, and later opened martial arts studios in San Francisco and Seattle. At that time, the Chinese martial arts were primarily taught within the Chinese community to Chinese Americans. Lee opened his studios to Westerners.

In his early acting career, he played Kato to the Green Hornet beginning about age 25. Breaking out as a lead, at age 29 he made several kung fu films, launching the Asian martial arts craze in America. While that wave has been eclipsed by yoga today, it could resurge.

Sadly Lee passed at age 32 from a brain embolism. What could he have done, if he had lived to today, when he would be 72?

Year of the Dragon is a show of more than 25 artists honoring Bruce Lee, including Patrick Fong, Ren Sakurai, Robert Mars, Brian Flynn, Dennis Moore, Tetsuya Tashima and more. Presented by the Bruce Lee Foundation, which has the awesome motto: using no way as way having no limitation as limitation.

At Compound Gallery www.compoundgallery.com 107 NW 5th



One of Portland's finest printmakers in traditional style, Sarah Horowitz, has Das Stachliges Dickicht. Horowitz excels in botanical illustrations, printed on handmade papers. At www.froelickgallery.com 714 NW Davis. Early close



Augen has brought some fine Frankenthaler and Motherwell prints from their trove, so you can have a museum art lesson for free! At Augen Gallery www.augengallery.com 716 NW Davis early close 8



Sculptor and installation artist Laura Fritz shows Entorus. Fritz is known for installations that seem vaguely scientific, and maybe disturbing, certainly enigmatic. It's in the old Blue Sky Building, basement suite B5. 6PM-9



It's Portland photo month, many galleries are showing photography. Blue Sky is all photography all the time. This month are Nigel Dickinson and John Faier. Dickinson has the Smokey Mountain series, Phnom Penh, Cambodia: documenting a community of recyclers living atop a waste dump. Faier has Queen of Heaven, documenting the indoor landscapes of a mausoleum in Chicago. At Blue Sky Gallery www.blueskygallery.org map 122 NW 8th 6PM-9



Blaine Fontana is a Portland, designer, illustrator, sculptor and furniture maker. He has his first Portland solo show, Mergers & Acquisitions, allowing him to create a complete environment. 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



That's My Ride, Bro! is a show of custom van-themed art curated by Tripper. Artists include Hilary Pfeifer, Bwana Spoons, Scrappers, Martin Ontiveros, Meredith Dittmar, Brett Superstar, Eatcho, Adrienne Vita, Aaron Barker, Chelsea Fletcher, Caleb Highley, Tripper Dungan, Steve “ManVan” Mathews and Shawn Wolfe. I douby any of them have vans, but maybe it will be a new hipster ironic trend! At Grass Hut in Floating World. At Grass Hut www.grasshutcorp.com inside Floating World Comics 400 NE Couch



Stage 5 of the Portland Biennial, organized by Disjecta, has Vanessa Calvert, Sang-ah Choi, Daniel Duford, Wendy Red Star and Vanessa Renwick. Recommended. At the White Box Gallery in the University of Oregon White Stag Building, 70 NW Couch



The Laura Russo is a haven for late career artists, including this month painter and sculptor, Michael Brophy and Michihiro Kosuge. Brophy is notable for what can be done in landscape painting that's a little rougher than realistic, capturing the dramatic energy of landscape. Kosuge hews to a Japanese minimalist take on sculpture. At Laura Russo Gallery www.laurarusso.com 805 NW 21st


As always we recommend the Everett Station galleries, NW Broadway and Everett.

Likewise PNCA is bursting with shows at NW 13th and Johnson and in the surrounding buildings, ask for directions.



This is a wild card to do with as you may. We are a proponent of social practice art in its finest forms. Lily Yeh went to art school, then began work on children's and community art projects in Philadelphia in the 1960's. Founding Barefoot Artists, she expanded her participatory community art projects internationally. Contemporary art operates with certain codes, alien to children, and really most of society. So how Yeh fits into our usual topics is unknown to me. But you can hear her speak today about what she does. Sponsored by the World Affairs Council www.worldoregon.org/persona/lily-yeh. At the The Old Church, 1422 Southwest 11th, Noon $5-10



The film and video business in Portland is overwhelmingly made up of small businesses. Like. Tonight the Oregon Media Production Association hosts Portland Candidates for Mayor in a discussion of their ideas to support Portland's creative economy. The organizer request you RSVP on their website. The event will be captured for later broadcast on cable access, but good luck finding out when. At KGW studios, 1501 SW Jefferson 6:30PM Free

Tuesday, April 03, 2012

April 3 The New Iron Age

Sometimes it seems we are moving backwards. Sometimes that is good; to evoke nostalgia, or more sustainable human earth relations. Other times, it seems we are moving backwards in forging ever more clever instruments of war or ideological attacks upon one another. We exited the stone age to form tools of a new material in the bronze age. But it was the invention of the blast furnace, iron metallurgy and the forge between 3000 and 4000 years ago which set us on the modern path.

Tonight we go back to the future with a presentation by Lyle Poulin a blacksmith forging irons. Working with metal since eleven, Lyle also makes jewelery and blades as well. Another specialty is architectural iron work. A presentation of the Curiosity Club, you can tune into the free live webcast off the Core77 site or visit the talk and demonstration in person at Hand Eye Supply www.handeyesupply.com/pages/curiosity-club 23 NW 4th 6PM Free