Converge 45 is a Portland visual art event with strong curation. It was created to bring internationally acclaimed contemporary artists to Portland. It was created to create interactions between noted Portland artists and international artists. It was designed in an arc around curator Kristy Edmunds. This is the culmination of that arc for you to see.
The acclaimed guest artists have never had major shows in Portland. Ann Hamilton in a lyric minimal installationist. I've found her works simple and rich enough to not require an idea to stand on their own. For instance, Accountings, at the Henry, engaged textures underfoot, the smell of wax, and the sound of birds along with obsessively labored visual elements, the movement of birds, their droppings and South American ritual objects. Seattle has always had more commissioning resources and they have been working with Hamilton on another big project on the pier. Portland gets a more modest variation of her Armory project Event of a Thread https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fJ4umqXGjM: a series of swings activating curtains of shear cloth amidst poetic sound recordings. That evolved into Habitus, with an open source of collected readings, https://habitus-a-commonplace.tumblr.com/. Habitus is installed at the Centennial Mills ruin. It opens 2PM-5 Friday, followed by a talk 6:30 at Reed. The installation is open Friday – Sunday, 3PM-7, August 10 – September 16. Free. That area is not convenient for parking, so consider walking, biking and transit.
Jenny Holzer is a minimal word artist. She made the LED reader board her canvas akin to Barbra Krugers Life Magazine style printed word works. She has expanded her material canvas to architectural projections, billboard trucks and words on graffiti-style canvases. Her early work was aphorism-inspired; it's sharpened its political and social point over time. This show is a large collection of prints lent by the Jordan Schnitzer museum.It opens Thursday 5PM-7 with the artist speaking at 6. It is at PNCA and viewable PNCA gallery hours after. All free.
King School Museum of Contemporary Art has an international exhibition opening in the 15 NE Hancock apace Friday 4PM-7.
There are other free events through the weekend on the project website.
Converge 45, converge45.org. Various locations and times. Free
A selective guide to art events and exhibitions in Portland, Oregon, US with occasional musings, related and not.
Thursday, August 09, 2018
Saturday, August 04, 2018
August 5 Together
Putting Itself Together is a show by Justin Caguiat, Indah Datau, Phil Davis and Sara Malpass. It's curated by recent art school grads Jenni Crain and Lydia Glenn-Murray. At Chicken Coop Contemporary www.chickencoopcontemporary.com 12400 SE Knapp 5PM-8 Free
August 4 Robot Uprising
Artists are the original and continuing technologists. Consider DaVinci. It goes back to the Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Mesopotamians and Chinese. It goes back before them. In the current era, artists were early adopters of electronic sound, film and video.
So it's no surprise Dutch recent art school grads Marie Caye and Arvid Jense have a hackathon today with the readout tonight. The project theme is artificial intelligence and autonomous machines.
Sensory Performance at Blanc Space 215 SE 9th Ave, Studio 307 7PM Free
So it's no surprise Dutch recent art school grads Marie Caye and Arvid Jense have a hackathon today with the readout tonight. The project theme is artificial intelligence and autonomous machines.
Sensory Performance at Blanc Space 215 SE 9th Ave, Studio 307 7PM Free
Thursday, August 02, 2018
August 2 Westside Art Openings+
Many galleries are doing group shows. By coincidence, many of tonight's interesting shows close early at 8. Some are on the Eastside.
Grace Weston is a portland photographer known for constructing miniature dioramas and photographing them with short depth of field lenses. Many have the Lensbaby or plastic camera look of the center in focus and the surround in vague focus. Escaping Gravity is her first large scale installation, inspired by "loss, liberation and water." It will be exciting to see the result as she occupies the Nine Gallery.
In Blue Sky proper, Julie Anand and Damon Sauer have Ground Truth, photographs of 1960's era surveillance satellite ground targets from the Corona Project. The 60 foot diameter targets were used to calibrate spy satellite images of the Soviet Union and China. The satellites used film at about 170 megapixel resolution and up to 1.8 meter ground resolution, which was retrieved by airplanes capturing falling capsules. Light: On the South Side are 1970's candid portraits by Michael Abramson exposed in Chicago night clubs.
At Blue Sky Gallery www.blueskygallery.org Map 122 NW 8th 6PM-9 Free
Willie Little turned his communication degree into an art career combining the visual language of self-taught Southern artists with social commentary on our country's racial injustices, continuing. He also makes abstract paintings. Growing up in North Carolina, he now moves his residence and art career to Portland, Oregon, where we could use some help we don't think we need. He gave a talk on his work and move to Portland: https://vimeo.com/254145376. At Froelick Gallery www.froelickgallery.com 714 NW Davis early close 8PM Free
Hello! Good Morning! and Cargo bring a pop up of Tokyo's Tambourin Gallery. We are missing Matt Wagner's curation, this is likely a narrower, less edge, range of work. Cargo's show is Sunday 81 SE Yamhill 2PM-6. Both Eastside. At www.hellogoodmorningkids.com 2419 NE Broadway early close 4PM-8 Free
Claire Fontaine is an artist duo, British and Italian, working in Paris. They adopt conceptual and readymade tactics. Same War Time Zone is a pair of clocks representing the people of Gaza separated from the people of Israel by a wall. The floor of the gallery is papered with news, printed on paper. The artists usually operate in museums, so this show is special for Portland. At Williamson|Knight williamsonknight.com 916 NW Flanders 6pm-8 early close Free
Upfor has a 5 year anniversary show. They have good curation. If you are not familiar with them, it is a good opportunity to see their range. At UpFor Gallery www.upforgallery.com 929 NW Flanders early close 6PM-8 Free
P:ear has Inner Landscapes by Jeff Leake. He works with neuroscientists to study neuroaesthetics. At P:ear www.pearmentor.org 338 NW 6th early close 5PM-8 Free
Butters has a 30th anniversary group exhibition by gallery artists Katherine Levin-Lau, Julie Rall, Dorothy Goode, Ted Katz, Debra Van Tuinen, Jeffrey Butters, Andrea Schwartz-Feit, Susan Hall, Mark Rediske, Axel Breutigam, Fred Holcomb and more. Eastside. At Butters Gallery www.buttersgallery.com 157 NE Grand Early close 6PM-8 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-10ish Free
The Ace Hotel has a First Thursday experimental music event curated by Sounds et al. It pairs well with Veriform's sound gallery First Thursday, but it detracts from people flowing to galleries and it is a very small space. This month: Szymon Kaliski and Amulets. In the Ace Hotel Lobby 1022 SW Stark 6PM-8 Free
Grace Weston is a portland photographer known for constructing miniature dioramas and photographing them with short depth of field lenses. Many have the Lensbaby or plastic camera look of the center in focus and the surround in vague focus. Escaping Gravity is her first large scale installation, inspired by "loss, liberation and water." It will be exciting to see the result as she occupies the Nine Gallery.
In Blue Sky proper, Julie Anand and Damon Sauer have Ground Truth, photographs of 1960's era surveillance satellite ground targets from the Corona Project. The 60 foot diameter targets were used to calibrate spy satellite images of the Soviet Union and China. The satellites used film at about 170 megapixel resolution and up to 1.8 meter ground resolution, which was retrieved by airplanes capturing falling capsules. Light: On the South Side are 1970's candid portraits by Michael Abramson exposed in Chicago night clubs.
At Blue Sky Gallery www.blueskygallery.org Map 122 NW 8th 6PM-9 Free
Willie Little turned his communication degree into an art career combining the visual language of self-taught Southern artists with social commentary on our country's racial injustices, continuing. He also makes abstract paintings. Growing up in North Carolina, he now moves his residence and art career to Portland, Oregon, where we could use some help we don't think we need. He gave a talk on his work and move to Portland: https://vimeo.com/254145376. At Froelick Gallery www.froelickgallery.com 714 NW Davis early close 8PM Free
Hello! Good Morning! and Cargo bring a pop up of Tokyo's Tambourin Gallery. We are missing Matt Wagner's curation, this is likely a narrower, less edge, range of work. Cargo's show is Sunday 81 SE Yamhill 2PM-6. Both Eastside. At www.hellogoodmorningkids.com 2419 NE Broadway early close 4PM-8 Free
Claire Fontaine is an artist duo, British and Italian, working in Paris. They adopt conceptual and readymade tactics. Same War Time Zone is a pair of clocks representing the people of Gaza separated from the people of Israel by a wall. The floor of the gallery is papered with news, printed on paper. The artists usually operate in museums, so this show is special for Portland. At Williamson|Knight williamsonknight.com 916 NW Flanders 6pm-8 early close Free
Upfor has a 5 year anniversary show. They have good curation. If you are not familiar with them, it is a good opportunity to see their range. At UpFor Gallery www.upforgallery.com 929 NW Flanders early close 6PM-8 Free
P:ear has Inner Landscapes by Jeff Leake. He works with neuroscientists to study neuroaesthetics. At P:ear www.pearmentor.org 338 NW 6th early close 5PM-8 Free
Butters has a 30th anniversary group exhibition by gallery artists Katherine Levin-Lau, Julie Rall, Dorothy Goode, Ted Katz, Debra Van Tuinen, Jeffrey Butters, Andrea Schwartz-Feit, Susan Hall, Mark Rediske, Axel Breutigam, Fred Holcomb and more. Eastside. At Butters Gallery www.buttersgallery.com 157 NE Grand Early close 6PM-8 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-10ish Free
The Ace Hotel has a First Thursday experimental music event curated by Sounds et al. It pairs well with Veriform's sound gallery First Thursday, but it detracts from people flowing to galleries and it is a very small space. This month: Szymon Kaliski and Amulets. In the Ace Hotel Lobby 1022 SW Stark 6PM-8 Free