Portland and Japan have a long relationship. The Portland Japanese Garden https://japanesegarden.org/about-portland-japanese-garden/history/ is a physical manifestation of it.
The End of Summer https://www.end-of-summer.org/ is a Summer artist residency created by the late Matt Jay at The Portland Japanese Garden Japan Institute. Jay spent much of his life living in Tokyo.
Throughout the year the works by Japanese artists are shown at the gardens. It is a great motivation for a year membership. This week, September 21-27, the project unfolds with talks and an art show at the Bullseye building in the Pearl District.
Saturday is a relaunch of the program designed by San Francisco Studio Bang-Gu. The Studio formed the visual identity with founder Jay. Advance tickets are limited, required, and free at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/end-of-summer-cafe-talks-with-studio-bang-gu-tickets-1007017054117.
Sunday, End of Summer artists Ai Sugiura and Hanae Utamura, 2019 and 2017, respectively, speak, moderated by art historian Keenan Jay.
"Ai Sugiura is Tokyo based multidisciplinary artist who focuses on the trivial objects of everyday life and rethinks their meaning and function. Sugiura’s artistic practice is driven by her interest in material and space, inside/outside, memory, and the transition between the ordinary and extraordinary. Sugiura’s work often takes the form of sculpture and installation, and in recent years she has been incorporating photography into her three-dimensional production and take the technique of photo collage."
"Hanae Utamura is a Japanese interdisciplinary artist based in New York and Tokyo. Her work engages with historical memory, questioning the notion of progress in modernity, ecology and technology. Utamura’s media include video, performance, installation, and sculpture. She connects human beings and the earth, using the physical human body as a conduit. She explores negotiations and conflicts between the human and the non-human, and how all the varieties of the wills of life manifest such as in the field of science. By decentralizing the human perspective, Utamura diversifies historical narratives, and enters the imagination of nature."
The show is viewable noon-6 throughout the week.
The End of Summer https://japanesegarden.org/events/end-of-summer-2024/ at Bullseye Projects 300 NW 13th. Noon-6 Free
