More May

Often here it's reliably rainy until mid May, after the Rose Parade. Perhaps it is global warming, but lately being outside has been severely competing with being indoors as most of these events are. Balance, ah...

May 4 First Thursday

Free is good. And so it is for radio. The concept of PRA, Portland pirate radio, is that the airwaves should be as open as the seas. On those airwaves we shall evolve culture at the fringes of fair use, what shall emerge? King Kong? YES! Walking catfish? Hopefully NOT... Musicians and DJ's Collective Consciousness, Hott Pink, Guau Guau, Quiet Countries, DATLOG, Uncle Nancy, DJ T'ant, Sappho, Masmod, AMPex and Dj Zombo lay down sonic experiments live, and on www.praradio.com. They will be accompanied by visual artists GerFunk, Dr. Medz, DFX, Chance Fisher, Christian Walker and Corey Smith. Where is pirate TV when you need it? Did I mention that this is totally illegal, oops. www.rakeart.org Rake Gallery 325 NW 6th til 10ish


Malia Jensen shows new work at Elizabeth Leach Gallery. Jensen is known for her work themed on animals, including her well known giant beaver constructed of plywood. This later work departs from Jensen's playful minimalism adding color and more baroque elements. The Fresh show of last month continues. www.elizabethleach.com 417 NW 9th until 9PM


Portland artist Linda Hutchins shows "Line Drawing" at Pulliam Deffenbaugh. Hutchins is known for using repetition to create somewhat minimalist compositions. Past work used repeated typewritten phrases, subtly offset, filling the page densely, and edge to edge. For this show, pen and ink lines are repeated to fill the papers' space, entirely. www.pulliamdeffenbaugh.com 929 NW Flanders closes early first Thursday, about 8PM


PDX shows a video piece, Fallen, by Ryan Jeffery. This was the work shown in the Peripheral Produce Portland Experimental and Documentary Film Festival world championship of film. It features a very Brothers Quay-esque machine of cast acrylic by artist Kari Merkle which will also be shown in the gallery. Jeffery is also known for his super-8 accompaniment of musicians Small Sails. This work represents a welcome evolution for PDX Gallery in showing video art. It illustrates perfectly the continuity between live music visuals in the club, sit down cinema, and video art shown in galleries. www.pdxcontemporaryart.com 925 NW Flanders if open on first Thursday, it will close by 9


Chambers presents a performance "Research and Development" by poet Lisa Radon and musician Tim Duroche at 7PM. Both draw water from deep creative wells, individually, and here, together. www.chambersgallery.org 207 SW Pine Gallery open until 9


I am a huge proponent of beauty in art. The Hickey school. But I require more, like thoughtfulness, and that is why this is a selective guide to Portland art shows. Glass? Portland is home to the Bullseye Glass Company, one of the world's few manufacturers of the raw materials for glass art. Bullseye does a good job at curating contemporary glass art into their gallery, but often the work is just all beauty. This month, I will make an exception for pure beauty: see the work of Anna Skibska. It's lattices of lampworked glass rod with the diameter of uncooked spaghetti. Might be better seen on a quiet day. www.bullseyeconnectiongallery.com 300 NW 13th until 9


The Mark Woolley Gallery presents a show of visionary art, "Internal Guidance Systems" curated by Seattle uber outsider Anne Grgich and London outsider heavyweight Colin Rhodes. Visionary art is usually classed with outsider art, art by self taught artists, crazy people and the like. One definition is "art outside the art world". It was popular in galleries in the '80s when many Southern artists inspired by god to create obsessive work, such as Howard Finster, were drawn into the gallery system, most notably Atlanta's Fay Gold Gallery. Its popularity in commercial galleries has faded, although I understand there is more interest in Europe, which has its own homegrown visionary artist-architects such as Gaudi and Hundertwasser. The journal of outsider art is Raw Vision, yours for further study. Actually I like some of it, though less lately, but that's me.

Outsider art and its visionary branch are popular in Portland, so here is a chance to compare the gallery view of it with the street view on NW 13th or on Alberta. Portland locals Walt Curtis and Allison O'Donoghue show beside artists from the UK and France, as well as other US artists.

The show is spread across both Woolley locations 120 NW 9th and the Wonder ballroom site 128 NW Russell which will host an opening Friday www.markwoolley.com


Valentines shows "suite b" work by and benefiting the collaborative art group similarly named. Included are "eclectic crafty wares. pieces include sculpy objects, collaborative drawings, video media and much much more". All works inexpensively priced. til late 232 SW Ankeny


p:ear shows collaborations by street youth with Tom Cramer. p:ear corner of SW Alder and 8th


Portland Art Center shows Linfield College art department thesis work. This is totally pot luck, but perhaps artist Chris Moss, who teaches there, has had an effect. portlandart.org 32 NW 5th til 10


Compound gallery presents illustrations of some future universe, Maschinen Krieger ZbV 3000 by Kow Yokoyama. 880 years in the future opposing forces are fighting for control of earth. Still. When will they ever learn? www.compoundgallery.com 107 NW 5th til 9:30


The Vorpal Space in the Everett Lofts will show "Readymech" flatpack paper toys. www.vorpalspace.com corner of Flanders and NW Broadway. until 11


Tilt shows "Horizon Line" new landscapes, curated by Mark Brandau, who is responsible for the Portland Modern project. www.tiltpdx.com 625 NW Everett #106


Genuine Imitation shows paintings by local multi artist Mo. www.genuineimitation.com 625 NW Everett #110


And in Seattle, this sounds so sweetly strange:
The Tashiro Kaplan Lofts hosts "Bugs, Beer and Art". Seattle entomologist Don Ehlen brings an "Insect Safari" of 3000 bugs for your enjoyment! Ehlen's bugs will be accompanied by 8 butoh dancers performing their own personal infestations at 6:15, 7, and maybe another time - check when you arrive. The performance will be accompanied by bass, clarinet, harp and guitar. Many of the TK Lofts artists have also produced bug themed art for the show. Bugs, more necessary than you think!
www.tklofts.com/bugs 115 Prefontaine Pl. S. in Pioneer Square til 10



First Friday may 5


In the 811 building, Portland's design block, Yes, Moshi-Moshi, Denwave, Renowned and Redux will all show work. No word yet on what, but well worth your time. Denwave wants to emphasize that Denwave=Don Jones+Hazel Cox+genevieve dellinger, and we concur.


Compound will host a party and book signing for the Maschinen Krieger show at 8 www.justbedesign.com 107 NW 5th


New American Art Union. It's not a surprise they are announcing second shows by their artists. This month Felice Koenig shows "Alliteration", abstract work which composes color and shape in a manner analogous to alliteration in literature. New American Art Union Until about 10 www.newamericanartunion.com 922 SE Ankeny


Light Leak is a show by photographers who meet monthly to share work and provide feedback to one another. Did I mention that participation is free? This show includes Blake Andrews, Bob Gervais, Lisa Gidley, George Kelly, Bruce Hall and Krista Wheeler. Newspace is mounting a capital campaign to expand their space next door. The plan includes a color darkroom and a digital media lab. If you have some excess cash this is a good place to put it. New Space Photo til 10 www.newspacephoto.org 1632 SE 10th


Tiny's Coffee shows work by painter Lisa Dejohn, Amy Ruppel and Briana Linden. Live music by The Escapists. 1410 SE 12th 7- 930 PM


Small A Projects opens "Out the Window", photographs of Los Angeles by Zoe Crosher. Crosher made many of the images shooting out the windows of vacant hotel rooms in the vicinity of the LAX airport. The pictures symultaneously capture the low rent neighborhood's ennui, a transient sense of place and the potential for adventure in each departing plane. The artist will speak at 8. This show continues the gallery's bold curatorial moves and strong sense of quality. www.smallaprojects.com 1430 SE 3rd Gallery open 6-9PM


Valentines hosts a book release party for Like Then Yet Now: drawings by Chris Nakayama and poems by Jeff Karl Butler. Produced by Red Ant Press/Ricky Pang Makes and printed by Pinball Press in an edition of 500. Music provided by Scrabbel from San Francisco, Giant Robot darlings: http://scrabbel.org ; http://myspace.com/scrabbel and Shanghi Soul Club DJ's til late 232 SW Ankeny



May 5, 7, 9

Anoushka Shankar performs Indian music on sitar May 5 in Arcata, May 7 in Berkeley and May 9 in Santa Cruz. With dad. Familial dynamics in music are special and the opportunities to experience this one live are not endless. Details at http://www.anoushkashankar.com/. Hope they make it to our area. Samples on Amazon from her recording Rise. Shankar is also included in a new release of Thievery Corporation remixes "Versions" to be released May 16. That would be the same Thievery Corporation who visits Portland July 19.



Saturday May 6

Rose City Rollers roll again at the Expo Center. PBR and mad cheering aplenty. www.rosecityrollers.com 6-10ish Tickets $12-20


PICA unveils the list of TBA performers at a party at Audio Cinema 226 SE Madison 10PM $15, 10 members


p:earblossoms is the annual fundraiser for p:ear's homeless youth art programs. Not only a great program, which pairs local artists with the kids, but the fundraiser features a preview of the aerial dance group Aviator suspended in space in the Weiden and Kennedy atrium. Not inexpensive, but a good cause: $75 (two for $130), reservations at www.pearmentor.org, or 503-228-6677.



Monday May 8

PSU's art department presents a talk by Swiss artist San Keller. Keller is artist in residence at PS1 and mounts projects such as "The Long Way Home' in which New Yorkers are encouraged to drive back winter's emotional ebb by sharing unusual experiences with strangers. Curator Dorothea Strauss comments: "His works are complex, cheerful and melancholy at the same time. They pick up the concerns of the social sculpture and, in the most marvelous way, carry it into the 21th century." PSU 5th Avenue Cinema Room 92, 510 SW Hall 7PM Free.



Friday May 12

Portland Modern #4 "Saturation", curated by Matthew Stadler & Kristan Kennedy is ready for release. This issue includes Roberta Aylward, Amber Bell, Michael Boyle, David Corbett, Alex Felton, Anna Fidler, Caleb Freese & Justin Gorman, Sarah Gottesdiener, Liz Haley, Levi Hanes, Mary Henry, Philip Iosca, Eva Lake, Jonathan Leach, Isaac Lin , Marne Lucas , Rae Mahaffey, Jeannie Manville, Chelsea Mosher, Daniel Peterson, Shawn Records, Spirit Quest (Khaela Maricich & Melissa Dyne), Amy Steel, and Casey Watson. www.portlandmodern.org Release party 9pm at Apotheke 1314 NW Glisan Suite 2A



May 12, 13 14

Daniel Addy's aerial dance unit AVIATOR performs 22ºhalo. Movers Daniel Addy, Mike Barber, and Tracy Broyles, plus Meshi Chavez, Stephanie Lanckton, and fierce Dawn Joella Jackson will explore the spectacular Allied Works designed atrium of the Weiden and Kennedy building. Explore the four story space, and gravity. Details to follow. See this



Saturday May 13

Kalakandra presents a Carnatic violin duo by Mysore Manjunath & Mysore Nagaraj.
First Congregational Church 7:30 1126 SW Park, $15 advance www.indeogram.com/ticketswest.com. Children 3-12, half price. Hey free for Kalakendra members - think about that for next year... www.kalakendra.org



Sunday May 14

Last month's church of craft - Crafty Wonderland was a hit. So this month get there, and bring mom! Work for sale by Portland's crafty vixens complements a DIY zone for learning new skills. 11AM-4PM. www.craftywonderland.com at the Doug Fir Lounge Free



May 17-20

The BodyVox dance unit reprises "The Big Room", movement scored to Mozart. BodyVox is known for lighthearted but heart felt movement, and often a humorous touch. Tickets $15-36 www.bodyvox.com at the Newmark Theater 7:30PM



Thursday May 18

Small Sails performs at Holocene



May 19-28

City Repair Project holds its Village Building Convergence. People from all over the country come for this program focused on permaculture, community democracy and ecological public art. Details at http://www.cityrepair.org/wiki.php/projects/vbc A very Portland thing.



Sunday May 21, 2006

Oregon's only nuclear power plant, the decommissioned Trojan, takes another step towards disappearance well before its construction bonds are paid off. Of course well, well before the decay of all the transuranium elements it produced too. The cooling tower will be brought down by Controlled Demolition early Sunday morning. It will take about 8 seconds to bring down the 499 foot tower. The demolition will be televised, but hopefully the herons will not be traumatized.


The PNCA Thesis Show opens, I think at 6. The show always features some outstanding work, more lately. It is perfectly acceptable to purchase any of the works that are for sale. www.pnca.edu Free


2:00 pm Installation Art Lecture @ Portland Art Museum Whitsell Auditorium

The Portland Art Museum presents a talk "Context as Content: Installation Art in the ‘60s and ‘70s". With Portland's mad interest in installation art, it can be helpful to know what has happened before. Modern art scholar Anne Rorimer will review the Conceptual art and its influence on a generation of installationists including Sol LeWitt, Dan Graham, Lawrence Weiner, Marcel Broodthaers, Daniel Buren and Michael Asher. Free for Museum members or with Museum admission. Get tickets in advance as these events fill to capacity www.pam.org 503-226-0973.



Thursday May 25

Solo Flamenco presents Flamenco Sin Fronteras, Flamenco Without Borders at the Aladdin Theater. Flamenco, the other passion without regret, I mean another passion without regret! www.flamencodance.com/events.html $18-25 Advanced tickets recommended 7:30PM



Friday May 26

Belly dancing. The cognoscenti, or whatever the body's belly center equivalent is, know all about it. But it flies below the pop cultural radar, close to the ground. Now underground belly dance... These performers are creatively evolving belly dance, particularly in costuming. Tonight's bi-annual production by East:Meets:West is themed Kali's Boudior: 'From distant lands past Priestesses of gyration gather in Kali’s Temple. While the Sultan’s away, the girls will play…' That establishes quite a territory. Performers Serpentine, Belyphonic, Auracle, Severina, Geurilla Tribal, Ariellah, Gypsy Caravan, Tayissa Blue and Anath will be accompanied by DJ's Layla and Amar with percussionists Children of Paradise and David Rolin
Sabala's 4811 SE Hawthorne

3 times a day in May?

Sometimes it feels like it. The month of May may have been named for Maia, the Roman earth goddess and wife of Vulcan. Much more to follow, but we will start out with this event:

Ashes to Ashes b-boy-b-girl Event May 1-6. Portland is not a hotbed of hip hop music for a variety of reasons including strong discouragement by the police and the liquor control agency. Every so often though, Portland busts out something suprising in hip hop including this event.

May 1-2

Ashes to Ashes 3 is the place to be for bboys and bgirls. Monday and Tuesday Remind and Poe 1 from Cali lay down a style elements 'shop on the nice floor at Nocturnal. Moves aint nothin witout style - itz an art. Workshop 5-7PM $20 each day Nocturnal is 1800 E. Burnside

May 3-4

Wednesday and Thursday itz skilz and methodz from Abstrakt and Teknyc at Nocturnal. Workshop 5-7PM $20 each day. Nocturnal is 1800 E. Burnside


Later Thursday, Ashes to Ashes lays down a benefit show for Ethos www.ethos-inc.org, who connect kids to music year round. The line-up is: Sleep (Old Dominion), Clockwerk (Sand Peoples), Kurious George, The City, Def Minds and EPP SAHEED. This show is all ages w/ a bar for 21+ kidz 07:30 PM - Hawthorne Theater 1507 SE 39TH AVE $7.00

May 5

Friday warm up at the Killafornia Powermove Master Workshop taught by Ronnie Ruen at Nocturnal. 5-7PM $10. Nocturnal is
1800 E. Burnside

The Ashes 2 Ashes: Round Three Competition begins Friday with 5 on 5 battles. The winning crew of b-girls-b-boys takes home $2500 cash money. Judges are Leanski (Floorlords MA), Poe 1 (Style Elements CA) and Remind (Style Elements - CA)
Doors open @ 6:00pm Battles start @ 7:00pm Wonder Ballroom 128 NE Russell

May 6

Saturday itz the top four crews from day one and a mad crew exhibition by King of the Hill (10-Man): Lil DVS (X-Fienz - NY) D-Rock (Renegades - CA) Lilou (Pokemon – France) Jeromeskee (Massive Monkees – WA) Do Knock (Battle Monkeys – CA) El Nino (Floorlords – MA) Nemesis (Breaks Cru – NY) Cico (Spinkings – Italy) Machine (Rockforce Crew – CA) Casper had to cancel to do some film work. Here come da judge, or judges: Alieness (Zulu Kings – NY) Poe 1 (Style Elements – CA) Leanski (Floorlords – MA) - this aint no joke - the exhibition battle prize is $1000. DJ's include Skeme Richards (Section 31), CPS Diablo (Rebel Alliance/Bboyworld), Trunks (Rebel Alliance), Mando (Rebel Alliance), Magneto (Innernational) and Day (Innernational) Saturday's event is at Portland State University Peter Stott Center 903 SW Hall Doors 5:30, battles 7.

Cypher circles at the Ashes to Ashes after party wit an exhibition battle - Miracles (Furious Styles) vs. Tim the Pitt (Massive Monkees). Soundz by Day and Magneto 10:30pm – 2:30am Wonder Ballroom $7.00 all ages situation 128 NE Russell

The Friday and Saturday shows are $20/both days advance; $14 general admission at the door; $7 for students with a valid Oregon ID. Advance tickets at the PSU box office or the Wonder Ballroom ticket office.

They are not allowing camcorders or cameras, but you can buy DVD's of Ashes to Ashes One and Two at the shows. All events are all ages.

More details at: http://www.myspace.com/ashesbattle


Also on May 1, the PSU art lecture series continues with artist Kathryn Van Dyke who showed last month at Pulliam Deffenbaugh. This might be a very serious talk as she has a BA in political economy from Berkeley, a BFA in painting from CCA and a MFA from Yale. She is also a former Headlands resident. PSU 5th Avenue Cinema Room 92, 510 SW Hall 7PM Free.

More April Art

April 21

06:00PM Compound Concoction: Emerging Japanese & US Artists @ Guestroom Gallery

The Guestroom is the space under the Wonder Ballroom which is shared with the Mark Woolley Gallery. The Guestroom operates with guest curators, so each show is entirely different. This show is curated by Katsu Tanaka, creator of Just Be Design and the Compound Gallery. Tanaka San has been doing an excellent job with Compound's space and also at the Jupiter Affair, it will be great to see more work in this larger space. Bring your friends to start the evening. www.guestroomgallery.com 128 NE Russell 6-9PM

April 25

07:00PM A Broken Spoke Fashion Show @ Seaplane

Portland designer John Blasioli shows his designe for men's clothing at Seaplane. Hats off to Seaplane for hosting regular low key fashion shows which can be watched, if you choose, through the store windows from the sidewalk. www.e-seaplane.com 827 NW 23rd FREE

April 27

09:30PM House-Wears Fashion Show @ Holocene

Portland designers Jonny Shultz, gesundheit wish, darBeka, Anne Bonney. Makool. Pomp by Lou, Kay Lyn, Seaworthy, Ommatic by Lizz strut out a fashion show themed on re-mod' clothing. The models will lounge about a retro living room created for the occasion. There will be a sale of clothing and accessories and mad music by DJ'd Sew Whut, Beyonda, 4Star and Ravi. Thx UltraPDX.com for the tip! www.holocene.org Doors 8 $5

April 29

09:00PM Experimental Film Face Off @ The Guild

The Portland Experimental and Documentary Film Festival runs April 26-April 30 as noted previous. A special event in the festival is the World Championship of Experimental Cinema. About a dozen invited shorts, from the best of the best are shown. You, the audience vote for the best, the ballots are totaled on the spot, the winner is crowned the World Champion. Reigning two time Champion Vladimir will return with her latest Viewmaster production. She will be faced by a fierce pack of hungry artists including Chel White : Portland, David Gatten : New York, Ryan Jeffery : Portland, Martha Colburn : New York, Julie Orser : Los Angeles, Jalal Jemison : Portland, Anne McGuire : San Francisco, Jim Blashfield : Portland, Alex Mackenzie : Vancouver, BC, Karl Lind : Portland, Ted Passon : Philadelphia, Orland Nutt : Portland and Salise Hughes : Seattle Show at 9 at the Guild. Advance Tix recommended.

Some Events April 6-30

Thursday April 6, 2006

6:00PM First Thursday Art Gallery Openings @ Downtown Portland

You have before you Portland's art opening night. A night where bankers' hours galleries, Tue-Friday, noon to 5, fling themselves open till 8, 9, 10, even 11. Whew! All free, sometimes with free drinks and snacks, though that's more often found to ply the preopenings' collectors.

Blue Sky shows "Waiting for the End of the World", images of underground survival shelters by Richard Ross. Atomic age backyard fallout shelters; Beijing's tunnels replete with barbershops, stores and shrines; the secretly constructed shelter at West Virginia's Greenbriar Hotel http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/bomb/sfeature/interview.html, designed to hold the entire US Congress, are documented. Also included are examples from Switzerland, where each family is required, by law, to maintain a survival shelter.

The somewhat surreal world depicted represents the power of fear. That time has been replaced by CNN's micro-now feed, yellow alerts and an endless war on terror - a Brave New World/1984 made real - overstimulating our flight or fight reflex, to exhaustion. How nostalgic today, seems the possibility of nuclear annihilation, by evil Soviet submarines off our fair coasts, always 15 minutes, the time of a kiss, away.

With Johannes Hepp, panoramic photographs, documenting the locations today, seemingly normal, of previous terrorist attacks. This material is too close to me. Sorry.

til 9:30PM www.blueskygallery.org 1231 NW Hoyt

Pulliam Deffenbaugh shows work by artists new to the gallery: Yoshihiro Kitai, Sian Oblak and Kathryn Van Dyke. Van Dyke updates the drip painting with a style at once cool, reserved but also deeply affecting. Sian Oblak's deconstructed imagery balances detailed rendering, irregular soft color shapes and white space. She samples specific classical paintings, but the resulting work is solidly her own. Yoshihiro Kitai's training in printmaking is applied to Japanese flavored minimal sort of landscapes. closes early first Thursday, about 8PM www.pulliamdeffenbaugh.com 929 NW Flanders

Rake Gallery presents a group video show "Out of Sync", in collaboration with the 4th Portland Documentary and Experimental Film Festival. Included are the works are Holly Andres, Ian Coronado, AGF.3 + SUE.C, Carl Diehl, Disjunct, The EarthwUrms, Ogo Eion, Jesse England, Alex Felton, Shawna Ferreira, Emily Franz, Colin Ives, Jo Jackson, Alex Mackenzie, Mack McFarland, Gabe Parque, Tom Sherman and Stephen Slappe.

Andres, 2006 PAM biennial artist, taps into her world of growing up a girl. Ferriera, recent PNCA grad, covers her personal territory, abstracted, very abstracted, and challenging. Jo Jackson, http://www.jackhanley.com/id203.htm, nee SF artist, transfers her sharp eye, now, to Portland.

And in the most brilliant Portland DIY coup to date, Rake is sending the work of five of its artists: Jeremy Tucker, Brian Mathes, Michael Wilson, Michaela Endo and Rachel Allen to China http://www.rakeart.org/gallery_chinaevent.php.

Rake Art Gallery until about 10 rakeart.org 325 NW 6th

Elizabeth Leach Gallery presents Fresh, work by Chandra Bocci http://www.chandrabocci.com (Portland Art Museum 2006 biennial selectee), Sean Healy http://www.elizabethleach.com/Artist-Detail.cfm?ArtistsID=37, Kristan Kennedy http://www.elizabethleach.com/Artist-Detail.cfm?ArtistsID=83 (PICA art program curator), Melody Owen http://www.thistlepress.net (current Alfred University MFA candidate), Daniel Sturgis, Amanda Wojick, http://www.elizabethleach.com/Artist-Detail.cfm?ArtistsID=139 U of O sculpture professor (2004,2006 Portland Art Museum biennial selectee ) and others.

Bocci incorporates materials from our- my- your- waste stream into artworks. Owen, U of O grad, now at Alfred U, creates the sweetest minimalist work, such as her room filled with hummingbird feeders and her illuminated igloos. Wojeck samples materials such as those pick- a- color- paint chips into sculptures. The gallery also shows new work by Matt McCormick, Signs, in its streetside video window

See this show. Elizabeth Leach Gallery until 9PM www.elizabethleach.com 417 NW 9th

Is Kendra Binney the new Trish Grantham, with three shows in as many months, the hardest working artist in Portland? Binney shows sweet lowbrow-style portraits of wide eyed girls, in a double entendre, her subjects' eyes are set wide too. At Vino Paradiso until 11PM www.vinoparadiso.com 417 NW 10th

Augen Gallery presents samplings of lace by Todd Johnson http://www.augengallery.com/Artists/johnson.html . Johnson represents a flavor of intellectual sampling which ranges across the board of source material. This show covers lace stark white, against a black background. Augen Gallery until 8:30PM www.augengallery.com 817 SW 2nd

Allison Edge shows "you're the one for me", finely detailed drawings of kittens and boys http://www.motelgallery.com/gallery/april2006/main.html . Perhaps the common thread is that neither can be counted upon to always do the expected, but do it often enough to admit the possibility. Motel Gallery until 9:30PM www.motelgallery.com NW Couch between 5th and 6th across the street from Ground Control.

The Everett lofts bounded by Everett and Flanders, Broadway and 6th NW will no doubt have something to see. until about 10 Rumor has it that fire performers will be showing their art on the street.

Blackfish presents time variable sculptures incorporating industrial materials and vegetation by Stephan Soihl. Soihl speaks at the gallery April 29 at 2PM. Blackfish Gallery till 9PM www.blackfish.com 420 NW 9th Avenue

This is too beautiful not to just reprint: "When Hope Hitchcock was but a young lass she sat in a small cafe with her parents and pointed to a window in the old brick building across the street. "That's the apartment I'm going to live in someday," she said, waving her fork over eggs B arnaise. Eleven years later she moved to Portland and right into her dream. Now this third generation artist and calligrapher pays homage to the building with our April exhibit, L'Appartement.

Hitchcock recreates the bizarre intimacy of strangers' lives stacked together with intricate drawings and portraits of her neighbors. Calligraphy samplers, tiny hand made residents and embroidered paintings divulge the secrets of one lovingly haunted Portland apartment building." Work by Hope Hitchcock at Reading Frenzy until about 9PM www.readingfrenzy.com 921 SW Oak

Laika, the first dog in space, is the improbable name of the former Vinton Studios. Laika After Hours is a show of the personal work of the artists at the studio. Compound Gallery until 9:30PM

www.justbedesign.com 107 NW 5th Avenue

Chambers Gallery presents paintings on wood panels by tattoo artist Peter Archer. Chambers Gallery til 9 www.chambersgallery.org 207 SW Pine

Sean Croghan, Portland musician, the consummate insider, has lived his entire life in here. So he has had a lot of time to think about rain and depression. The result are outsider folk art style paintings of concepts for tattoos, uniquely Portland. Valentines til late 232 SW Ankeny

Portland Art Center presents 'Boredom: I learned it from watching you", a group show curated by Josh Arseneau and Gabriel Flores. I've no idea of the work, but the title is a close runner up to the description of the last show at Valentines by Zach Margolis. Portland Art Center til 10 portlandart.org 32 NW 5th

PNCA presents the NEXUS IV show, an open hanging of PNCA graduates. In the past they have had 60-80 artists - that's quite a slice of Portland's art world in one place. The show will be in the library gallery. Pacific Northwest College of Art til 9

www.pnca.edu 1241 NW Johnson

Friday April 7, 2006

6:00PM-9/10ish Art Openings @ Portland's East Side

Cecilia Cannon shows mosaics of broken glass. If you have ever been involved in a serious car accident, you know how the precise curvilinear contours of tempered glass can be, in a subinstant, transformed to a million jagged pebbles. I've had one under my skin for a time. Cannon collects glass of all types from the streets and creates standalone pieces, and also icons, incorporating her painted imagery. For icons she chooses saints of resonance as subjects. The ultra personal folk art of icons, now old enough for the materials' crackle and craze, cleaves to Cannon's broken glass surrounds and perspectivelessness outsider painting style. Perhaps we long for the icons' era of simplistic focus, perhaps today, it has been replaced by a focus on media icons.

New American Art Union Until about 10 www.newamericanartunion.com 922 SE Ankeny

Yoni Kifle shows Polaroid's. American icon Polaroid http://www.polaroid.com/, founded by 17 year old Harvard dropout Edwin Land, went bankrupt too soon to be purchased by foreign buyers. His chemistry-based instant photography has been replaced by electronic, messaging, mobile and instant instant instant imaging. Polaroid's seemingly old timey clunky mechanical shutters and peel apart pos/neg represent a kind of old school magic, particularly their 22x30 inch camera of ultrareal resolution.

Kifle produces portraits, manipulated and not, documenting his friends, the national tour of his friends' band, and the band's friends on the road. Kifle also shows passport style portraits at Reading Frenzy next month.

Yes 811 E Burnside

Denwave, bereft Rachel Allen, who reclaimed the Fix name, elsewhere covered (Rake-China), shows Dan Ness' worldwide tour of lost pet posters. Painter Ness is known locally for working from found photographs. Midmonth, Denwave's show will switch to Ness' around the world candy wrappers verses cigarette wrappers work. See this.

Denwave 811 E Burnside

LA-based Michelle Blade http://www.oragamibunny.com/ , presents Drift, Wander, Migrate, Motel-material paintings and illustrations on the aforementioned theme. Blade is inspired by myth and old wives tales=sometime-knowledge of Russian, Hungarian, Indian, Mexican and Native American folktales and aesthetics. Her show telegraphs Portland's wider art networks and should prod Portland artists to reach out, in turn, to other cities.

http://www.renownedgallery.com 811 E Burnside

Redux presents Jenna Dibble, Jason Radies, Theo Fanning and Gregory Hanson. (Completely outstanding at this gallery-store are soda can pop top key woven purses from Brazil..) This little (really little) store stands for furnishings and decorative items from recycled and found materials. Their art is the same. My aesthetic is more clean and minimalist, nonetheless, the art work here represents a good cross section of what psychological impact is possible with found object - mixed media artwork.

www.reduxpdx.com 811 E Burnside

Light Leak is a show by photographers who meet monthly to share work and provide feedback to one another. Did I mention that it's free? This show includes Bobby Abrahamson, Chris Bennett, Lyla Emery Reno, Faulkner Short, Gretchen Vaudt and Bryan Wolf. The second half of this group of twelve shows next month. New Space Photo til 10 www.newspacephoto.org 1632 SE 10th

The Woolley Gallery Wonder Ballroom branch shows paintings by Dan Ness, who is also opening at Denwave.

6-10PM www.wonderballroom.com 128 NE Russell

7:30PM Photographer Richard Ross Talk @ Blue Sky

Richard Ross, showing photographs "Waiting for the End of the World" at Blue Sky Gallery (see April 7) presents a slide lecture of his work at the gallery. Blue Sky Gallery www.blueskygallery.org 1231 NW Hoyt Free

7:30PM Arch Republican, Kevin Phillips, Speaks on Loosing Faith @ Powell's

Author Kevin Phillips at age 27 created a realignment of American electoral politics by managing Nixon's 1968 election with a new Southern Republican majority. Previously the South voted Democratic. Phillips went on to become a conservative commentator and the intellectual architect of conservatism. In his new book "American Theocracy"

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/19/books/review/19brink.html?ex=1144296000&en=dbfb3d495a33e30b&ei=5070

he presents a critique of the Republican Party as a "nightmarish vision of ideological extremism, catastrophic fiscal irresponsibility, rampant greed and dangerous shortsightedness". (NYT) Just what I've been saying! Regardless of your political views, Phillips talk should be interesting. Powell's Burnside www.powells.com 7:30 free

8:00PM BeNumbed Dance Performance @ IFCC

BeNumbed, a dance-performance art piece by Angelle Hebert and Phillip Kraft includes some well known Portland movers, music by Kraft and costumes by Elodie Massa. From the IFCC website: "Hebert and Kraft explore extreme states of sensory deprivation and saturation as both viewer and performer are subjected to a range of infiltrating sights, sounds, and smells. Afflictive imagery, inhuman costuming, and a raw soundscape of both live and recorded vocals create a world numbed by its own existence." reservations recommended 503-774-0997 ifcc-arts.org $10 working artists, $12 general 5340 North Interstate Avenue Repeats April 8, 9 at 8PM and April 9 2PM

Saturday April 8, 2006

9:00PM Tres Gone+Honey Owens @ Valentines

Tres Gone + Honey Owens perform improvisational music on guitar, stick and drums, with Owens making vocal sounds. Portland has lately developed a great ambient/ improv/ experimental/ electronica/ electroacoustic/ music community and this group exists in that world. Samples at www.tresgone.com Valentines 9PM 232 SW Ankeny

Sunday April 9, 2006

11:00 AM Crafty Wonderland @ The Doug Fir

How strange, at the book release party for "PDX Supercrafty" http://www.pdxsupercrafty.com/, hosted by the ultra cool Doug Fir Lounge, to see people knitting under kitschy thrift store lamps. They are back the second Sunday of each month. Crafters will have work for sale and a DIY zone is the place for you, supercrafter, to learn to make something new. Dawn patrol, catch some breakfast, then go to it 11AM-4PM. www.craftywonderland.com at the Doug Fir Lounge Free

Friday April 14, 2006

8:00 PM South Indian Dance @ Newmark Theater

Kalakendra presents a Bharatanatyam dance performance by the Shristi Company of India. There are a myriad of opportunities for dance study here in fair Portland, but in India, it is different. To study dance there involves immersing onself for months, if not years, into aruveda, yoga, philosophy and dance. It is all one. Bharatanatyam dance represents devotional dance and narrative, with the eye and hand movements retelling Hindu myth. http://www.kalakendra.org/flyer.html Tix are not inexpensive - $25 advance (ticketswest.com), $30 door and $15 Kalakendra.org members. PCPA Newmark Theater, 8PM

9:00PM Ingredients Music Video Competition @ Holocene

Ingredients 2006 is a challenge. Teams all have access to the same audio and video samples and 24 hours to make them into a 3-6 minute music video. The evening will be MC'd by Kelly and Jason of the Kelly and Jason show and by Koto y Soto

9PM Holocene www.holocene.org free

8:00PM Oslund+Company Modern Dance @ Imago Theater

Modern dance. Modern dance is one of those love it or hate it things. It's fuel, girls rebelling against ballet their parents chose for them. It's innovators, trying to express something in movement which cannot otherwise be communicated. You, the audience, just letting it wash over you, without trying to make a story. If you are a dancer, or have loved one, you understand. It is pure abstract emotion, emotional narrative. Choreographer Oslund presents "The Object of Unreal", "Crazy", "Awkward Duets" and "Further" by dancers Amber Baker, Rinda Chambers, Suniti Dernovsek, Margaretta Hanson, Faith Levine, Dana Loewen, Jim Mcginn, Keely Mcintyre, Eric Nordstrom and Joan Schott. Oslund, tapping modern dance's pioneers, such as Martha Graham (1894-1991) and Merce Cunningham (1922-) carries forth dances' abstract meditation on the body and movement. Costumes by Denwave/ Jackie O's Genevieve Dellinger. At Imago Theater, 17 SE 8th, across from KBOO and the Jupiter Hotel. Reservations, recommended, as the space is small, 503-221-5817 Repeats April 15, 8 and April 16, 7

Saturday April 15, 2006

6:00PM Toy Art Show @ Missing Link

Missing Link presents a show of custom toys and art: "a Symphony of Prosthetic Possibilities" by artists from across the world including Honk, Jessie Hernandez, LIV3R, Phuek, Motorbot, Charlie Alan Kraft, Daniel Damocles Wall, Sonny Sajadi, Doktor A, NVC Crew and others. Missing Link 6-10 www.missinglinktoys.com 3314 SE Belmont

9:00PM Life Size Interactive Coloring Book Installation @ Backspace

Blender Coop presentsa publishing event for "So Much Love in One Can", a coloring for a cause book for kids, and a bombed black book for their adults. It's a benefit for Posez's Graffiti Classes and the B-Boy BBQ. Mensen, Zees, Eos Montana and Ozzi Biasi create a live coloring book. Other graf artists are included in an installation. Music by Spun Academy, Newspeak and Sick Mediks. Backspace 9PM-1AM 115 NW 5th

Sunday April 16, 2006

2:30PM Bunny on a Bike Ride @ Union Station

I am sick and tired of people who are trying to corrupt our traditional American values of paganism by trying to take the bunny out of Easter. Let's get back to the true spirit of this holiday - candy! Here is your chance to strike a blow for the values of our founding fathers that made America great, like that eye on the pyramid. The 3rd annual Bunny on a Bike ride, strictly requiring a costume, departs at 2:30PM from Union Station 800 NW 6th. For details see www.redbatpress.com all ages

Wednesday April 19, 2006

5:00PM Artist Fellowship Award: Bill Will @ Kaul Auditorium Reed College

Whoa, fifteen years. That's the span of the Bonnie Bronson fellowship, a Portland thing. This year it's awarded to Bill Will. He has pursued a path of installation and art political, from his pay the rent position at OCAC. With galleries eschewing installation art, he and some other artists created their own gallery, the Nine Gallery at Blue Sky. Tonight, Portland Art Museum 2006 Biennial selectee Will reprises his work in a talk. Reed College Kaul Auditorium www.reed.edu 6PM Free

Thursday April 20, 2006

7:00PM Artist-Architect Maya Lin Speaks @ the Henry Art Gallery, Seattle

Chinese American artist-architect Maya Lin speaks. Of her I've written previously: "In an open competition, Lin won the commission to design the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington DC at age 20. She has continued to design elegant minimalist memorials and sculptures with emotional taproots miles deep, complementing her sublime architectural work. Lin was the subject of the Academy Award winning documentary 'Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision'". She is showing work at the Henry and working on a series of outdoor works, "The Confluence Project" www.confluenceproject.org, which marks points of the Lewis and Clark expedition with references to the native peoples and landscapes. Sadly Lewis, Clark, the original landscapes and the native people are too few with us today.

Kane Hall, the University of Washington www.henryart.org

Gold tickets (seating in the first ten rows): $40 non-member / $30 member

General seating: $25 non-member / $20 member / $10 student (with ID at Henry - one ticket per student)

Ticket sales begin March 20

Online: www.brownpapertickets.com

By Phone: 1.800.838.3006 (Brown Paper Tickets) or 206.616.9894 (Henry Art Gallery)

Friday, April 21, 2006

7:30PM Opening Reception for Maya Lin's Systematic Landscapes @ the Henry Art Gallery, Seattle

See April 20 for information on Lin. Members preview 7:30-9PM, Opening reception 9-11PM.

Henry members, FREE. $8, $6 students and seniors.

Sunday April 23, 2006

7:00PM Ira Glass @ First Congregational Church

Ira Glass, creator of radio's "This American Life" speaks. In our hyper competitive world of "reality" television, casting consultants, stylists, hair and makeup people lurk outside the camera range. It's only reality is its cheap production cost. In contrast, Glass represents the revenge of the losers. Whoever you are, Glass seems able to draw out a story, a story in which you are the hero. Glass speaks as part of the Wordstock program at 7PM at the First Congregational Church SW Park$20-25

Tuesday April 25, 2006

7:00PM Photographer Gregory Crewdson @ Reed College Vollum Lecture Hall

Gregory Crewdson, professor of photography at Yale will speak. Crewdson is known for his composed photographs, capturing a cinematic moment, with all the attendant emotional responses in the viewer, you, to what lead up to that moment, and what will follow. Crewdson may spend months constructing and lighting elaborate sets with a crew of production assistants on a sound stage, equally intensive in preparation are his outdoor shots, using the tools of the film industry such as crane shots. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/egg/210/crewdson/ Crewdson's high contrast lighting and control of color, particularly of skin tones, creates an image beyond hyperrealism http://www.sitesantafe.org/exhibitions/virtualgalleries/frcrwan/crewdsonqa.html, drawing the viewer in, irresistibly.

Crewdson has been very supportive of the careers of his students, rare in art's increasingly competitive world, and perhaps only matched by UCLA's Baldassari http://www.baldessari.org/. Crewdson is infamous for curating the show "Another Girl, Another Planet", in 1999 featuring his students. The show was roundly criticized as representing an unholy admixture of art, fashion and pornography by the New York arts establishment who dubbed it "panty photography" http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2479/is_4_27/ai_59877385 . It launched the careers of the six of his students, establishing a now well accepted vector in contemporary photography. An interesting question is whether the same work by male photographers would be accepted.

Locally, some of photographer Liz Haley's work explores similar psychological territory.

The Cooley Gallery, which opens part II of its Geffen Show April 11, includes seven examples of Crewdson's work. The gallery will be open from 5-7 before the lecture. Reed College, Vollum lecture hall. http://web.reed.edu/gallery/ 7PM Free

Wednesday April 26, 2006

7:30PM Documentary and Experimental Film Festival @ the Guild Theater, afterparty Holocene

The 4th Portland Documentary and Experimental Film Festival opens with Old Joy, a film about a camping trip, getting lost and the terrain of friendship. This story could only be set in Oregon and was filmed here with a small crew. The festival is the brainchild of filmmaker Matt McCormick, whose aesthetic informs the work selected. It could be dubbed shoegazer cinema, but it is much more, like the impact of a sneaker wave amid a seemingly calm sea. http://www.peripheralproduce.com/pdxff06_schedule.php 7:30 Guild Theater $7, $6 FilmCenter/Museum members $35 festival pass.

No festival would be complete without the afterparty. This one is an opportunity to talk with the filmmakers and fellow Portland artists and visitors. The event also features a performance- sound- video- installation by White Rainbow. Free with festival ticket otherwise $5 Holocene

The festival continues April 27,28,29 and 30, with a closing night party at Valentines and will be blogged at URHO

7:00PM Artist Driscoll Reid @ Office

Driscoll Reid shows paintings and drawings at this sweet store holding out a mid century modern aesthetic against Alberta's aesthetic sampling of the Oregon Country Fair. 07.00.pm - 09.00.pm www.officepdx.com 2204 NE Alberta St

7:30PM Author Peter Matthiessen @ Schnitzer Concert Hall

Peter Matthiessen, author and naturalist, speaks. Matthiessen founded the Paris Review in 1953 and has authored about 30 books, fiction and non-, spanning the world. He combines a Zen Buddhist sensibility with deep research to create exquisite literature. Portland Arts and Lectures $25 Schnitzer Concert Hall 7:30

Friday April 28, 2006

10:30AM Tokyo Design Revolution Conference @ PNCA

The second instantiation of the Tokyo Design Revolution in Portland happens at PNCA.Last year's lecture by John Jay and Teruo Kurosaki was electrifying. 10:30Am to 9PM http://www.pnca.edu/pdf/tokyoflow.pdf

Saturday April 29, 2006

6:00PM PNCA Fundraising Party @ PNCA

PNCA throws a fancy fundraising party. You would think that with the school's tuition, they would be swimming in cash, but this is far from the case. Look for this school to launch an MFA program within the next 2 years and possibly move to a larger brand new building in the future. Proceeds from this event support the school's scholarship programs and the creation of a new Global Studios program. The party features a guaranteed ultra-tasty sit down dinner by the Art of Catering. music by the Portland Taiko and dancing later with W+KTokyo LAB breakbeat DJ's KEIZOmachine! and Juicy http://www.wktokyolab.com/hifana/. Dinner 6PM at Ecotrust $250, Party 8:30 on $20 students, $40 general, $100 patron at PNCA.

11:00AM Henry Art Gallery Free Day @ Henry Art Gallery, Seattle

Seattle's, Henry Art, on the campus of the University of Washington campus is free to all. Have a great time exploring art at the Henry, from the colorful prints of Roy Lichtenstein to the monumental sculptures of Maya Lin. Children of all ages are invited to look at art, take family-friendly tours, make art, listen to live music in the Sculpture Court, and enjoy special treats. 11 AM - 3 PM FREE

Sunday April 30, 2006

9:00PM Church of Psychedelia @ Holocene

This monthly, with its namesake ambient music is free

Portland Now

Welcome readers. Long ago, 1919, amid the ashes of World War I, in Germany, a little school was created called the Bauhaus. Beautiful art, design and new architecture would be created for all the people. It would be affordable and inspiring. It would create a new optimism. It was not however consistent with the atmosphere of fear and chauvinistic heroicism to which the arts were bent by Adolf Hitler. The school was closed in 1933. Many of the Bauhaus teachers fled the country

Renegade academics in the US established the experimental Black Mountain College in a small town in North Carolina. Bauhaus teachers, Josef and Anni Albers joined the school. The college closed in 1956, but the ferment of collaboration of the school continues to echo through the world's art and culture.

Who was there? Robert Rauschenberg, artist who brought visual sampling into modern art. John Cage, who brought random processes into making music. Harvard dropout Buckminster Fuller who created the first geodesic dome at the school, later inventor and futurist who argued that all the material needs of the world's people could be easily met by a fair distribution of resources and sustainable development. Merce Cunningham, dancer and choreographer who decoupled the musical accompaniment from movement in modern dance. Max Dehn, mathematician and pioneer of group theory, and an influence on Fuller. Architect Walter Gropius, from the Bauhaus, who designed the first suburban ranch house, perversely fulfilling the Bauhaus credo; Gropius also taught at Harvard and designed New York's Pan Am building with Portland architect Pietro Belluschi. Composer Lou Harrison, Portland born, who pioneered using the Indonesian gamelan and other traditional Asian instruments in contemporary music. Charles Olson, the creator of postmodern literature and poetry and huge influence on the Beats. Sculptor-engineer Kenneth Snelson, inventor of tensegrity, structures created by the dynamic between rigid elements and elements in tension. Film director Arthur Penn. The school was home to or hosted lectures by many who later became key figures in the creation of abstract expressionist painting and other modern art styles. These include Willem and Elaine de Kooning, Franz Klein, Jacob Lawrence, Ben Shahn, Jack Tworkov, Clemmet Greenburg, MOMA's Bernard Rudofsky, John Chamberlain, Cy Twombly and Ray Johnson. Albert Einstein lectured there as well.

Black Mountain College. A time-place where creative people met, collaborated, exchanged ideas, had fun. They did not know that they would later be the leaders of new creative movements in all fields.

Black Mountain College, then, is Portland, now. From Portland's creative ferment, the great leaders of tomorrow will emerge, people who will change the course of history.

This blog is a selective list of art and cultural events in and about Portland. They represent my view of good work, they represent a place to meet other creative people and engage in conversation. Often they are both. Or sometimes they are just plain unusual events which may spark a new creative vector.

March Things Here

March 1-5

Reed Arts Week brings a host of events and opportunities to the Reed community, and you, as Reed's art programs increasingly engage Portland's larger art community. Details at web.reed.edu/raw/main.html


to May 28

The Portland Art Museum, after muddling about in 18th and 19th century painting and decorative arts, is getting today. For the next few months, the Museum is running Roxy Paine's Painting Manufacture Unit, a machine for making paintings. This Powerbook controlled, very industrial machine, sprays 16 gallons per minute of specially formulated white acrylic paint on canvas every 2 or 3 hours building dozens of layers over a period of weeks. Paine, www.jamescohan.com/artists/...ndex.html in this piece, explores the interrelationships between machine time and materials time, between the program and randomness, between adhesion and gravity, as the heavy flows of paint form canyons and foothills. The gallery shows PMU, 24, completed in 2005. Between February 25 and May 28, when the show ends, the machine will make 5 more paintings. Plan a visit to the Museum for a few hours, check the programmed painting time when you first arrive, and plan your museum wanderings to correspond to the next painting cycle. www.pam.org Museum admission has crept up to $15, so find a friend who is a member to get in for free or join, $45 per year for one and $75 per year for two.


March 1

Preopenings (note that some Everett Station Lofts are doing preopenings on the Tuesday of Wednesday before first Thursday)


March 2

Portland hosts the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts Conference this month and so many galleries are showing local ceramics as well as out of town ceramic artists curated by out of towners. I'm am not super interested in ceramics. Portland though is living on the fault line between art and craft, so you are on your own to discover what is out there and form your own opinions. More conference info at www.nceca.net.

Greg Renfrow www.elizabethleach.com/Shows-Detail.cfm shows seductive minimalist colorfield flows on plexi panels. Simple and delicious. Elizabeth Leach Gallery www.elizabethleach.com until 9PM 417 NW 9th

Vicki Lynn Wilson shows her installation "Love in the Wild". Wilson, a recent PSU MFA graduate is known for her curatorial chops ("The Locals" September 2004 at Blackfish), her ability to work across media and her wit. She is a smart pixie! In this show, imaginary species intermingle with household appliance-animal hybrids, such as an 8 foot refrigerator-polar bear. Wilson also performs amid the work Saturday March 4 at 7PM. Blackfish Gallery www.blackfish.com 420 NW 9th Avenue

PDX Gallery presents ceramic koosh ball-like sculptures by Bean Finneran www.pdxcontemporaryart.com/main....html . Do not touch, though you know you want too! PDX is hit or miss as far as opening nights, having correctly determined that few sales, but a lot of stress and strife, accompany first Thursday. Besides, PDX-style work is best seen in a quiet gallery. They may be open Wednesday evening. www.pdxcontemporaryart.com 925 NW Flanders

Kim Ray, PNCA graduate, shows in the Nine installation space in the Blue Sky Gallery. Ray has long been fascinated by Andy Warhol and multiples, fierce conceptual brilliance underlies her work. I've no idea what's up this time, but it may be worth a look.

Reading Frenzy presents a group show And Then You Were Born, curated by brilliant local artist, and PNCA grad, Shawna Ferreira. until about 9 www.readingfrenzy.com 921 SW Oak

Motel presents "Unnatural World" by Boston Artist Amy Ross. Alexis Rockman's www.artseensoho.com/Art/GORN...man1.html dark future landscapes of plants and animals mutated by pollution recall David Lynch in tone. In contrast, Ross irvinecontemporary.com/newsle...dex.php uses Audubon style illustrations of hybrid creatures which may presage genetic engineering gone wild. The significant white space in the pieces allows them to slip past our aesthetic filters like the illustrations in childrens' books. I have often felt that Motel's aesthetic would suit the rooms of children. Perhaps those children will be the ones who wreak these creatures upon the world as adults, or, maybe in high school biology lab. www.motelgallery.com until 9:30PM NW Couch between 5th and 6th across the street from Ground Control.

Just Be Design/ Compound Gallery presents Stash and Sense. NY Graffitti artist by Stash observer.guardian.co.uk/cash/s...00.html is responsible for the Recon stores in NY, SF and Tokyo. www.justbedesign.com until 9:30PM 107 NW 5th Avenue

Jessica Bronk shows her dark atmospheric landscapes at Vino Paradiso. This venue, with a new curator, is one to watch. www.vinoparadiso.com until 11PM 417 NW 10th

The Hot Dish group show opens for three days, March 2-4, at a temporary space. This is the output of respected local painter Jacqueline Ehlis' class, so pot luck. In the old Fashion Incubator space 23 NW 5th

In our espresso addled regional reality, the concept of an actual coffee pot may seem quaint. But for more pot luck, the Starbucks coffee sponsors a show of art by its employees curated by PICA's executive director Victoria Frey. It's perfectly fine to buy art you like from artists unsigned to the majors. Complementary appetizers and Oregon wine. 6-9:30PM Weiden + Kennedy, 224 NW 13th Free

Pulliam Deffenbaugh shows the ultra baroque ceramic sculptures of Seattle artist Jeffry Mitchell.
www.pulliamdeffenbaugh.com closes early first Thursday, about 8PM 929 NW Flanders

Rm.744 shows Replicating the Object, sculpture including a sea of slipcast fingers by Jennifer Anable. This is a new space, let's see where they go. Show March 2-12 Tue-Sun 12-4 Opening 6-9 at 744 NW 12

Might take a peak in at the work of Judy Hill. In the past, Hill has produced subtle narrative sculpture. Now? At the Bullseye glass gallery www.bullseyeconnectiongallery.com 6-9PM 300 NW 13th

At Blue Sky, Steven Benson shows The Cost of Power in China: The Three Gorges Dam and the Yangtze River Valley, documentary photographs of the area to be flooded by China's huge hydroelectric project. www.blueskygallery.org 1231 NW Hoyt

Butters Gallery, to my taste, presents work much too beautiful for its conceptual and emotional content. Elise Wagner, one of Portland's best encaustic painter makes vaguely, astronomical images. Encaustic is one of those luscious art materials but very tricky to use as it is based on wax, liquid only when heated to near inflammability. Judge for yourself. Until 9 www.buttersgallery.com 520 NW Davis, 2nd floor

The Everett lofts bounded by Everett and Flanders, Broadway and 6th NW will no doubt have something to see. As galleries are priced out of the Pearl district, they are migrating to Old Town. The Everett Lofts will soon be joined by upscale nonprofits across the street in the Daisy Kingdom building.

Valentine's presents Zak Margolis' Moon Babies, comics and diptychs inspired by twins separated at birth. According to the gallery cafe bar's own press release: "In his attempt to create a cohesive story in the gallery setting, Margolis has given us an underwhelming, disjointed show, with each piece seeming more meaningless than the next. Admittedly, the artist does receive points for the number of flaccid penises that appear in these works. There seems to be between 1 and 5 penises in each piece! But then, what else is new with the work of Zak Margolis? Margolis is best known in the art world as a collaborator in the Pacific Switchboard art group which, rumor has it, is on hiatus. It was also reported that Margolis is the recent father of twins - the apparent subject of this abysmal show." until late Valentine's 232 SW Ankeny

The Sugar Gallery, a new gallery, and successor to Gallery 500, is hard at work at establishing its identity beyond party space. We'll see how that develops. This month you can see an installation by Georgia artist Dallas Oliver titled Inflatable Control. Also on view: Now You Know, paintings by Christian DeFilippo and Maria Dixon "exploring the link between the known visible world and things intangible". www.sugargallery.org 420 SW Washington, 5th floor


March 3

In the Burnside art heart nexus, adjacent spaces Renowned, Denwave, Moshi Moshi and Yes open shows.

Renowned presents a show, Business Minded, of artwork on found business cards. Artists include: Jeremyville, Lily deSaussure, Jill Bliss, Kevin Scalzo, Deth P. Sun, Luke Ramsey, Ryan Bubnis Jacob Magraw, Breanne Trammell, Jennifer Jackman, Wilson Hsu, I Like Drawing, Daniel Lim, Omar Lee, Victoria Keddie, Michelle Blade, Marci Washington, Maxwell Holyoke-Hirsch, Kelly Lynn Jones. 6-9:30

Next door Denwave shows music posters and operates a barbecue.

Moshi Moshi shows work by artist couples including Brett and Whitney Superstar homepage.mac.com/bwsuperstar

Yes, Yes will have art on the walls too.

All at 811 E Burnside

Across the street, the Ivy Studio design store, in the Jupiter hotel fashion megaplex, shows Checkered Past, Martin McBride's and Luke Smalley's work including '80's punk fliers. theivystudio.com 800 W Burnside

NAAU shows photographs by Jim Lommasson themed Heaven and Earth - of down to earth storefront Christian churches and their relics. Until about 10 www.newamericanartunion.com 922 SE Ankeny

Newspace Center for Photography, way over on the right side of the Eastside industrial district presents a black and white show. Paul Hernandez shows nudes and landscapes, while David Reamer recreates found photographs. Until about 9 www.newspacephoto.org 1632 SE 10th


March 4

The Reed Arts Week presents a talk by hip hop artist Paul Miller, aka DJ Spooky. While his reputation sometimes overwhelms the aesthetic quality of his work, Miller has long been practicing conscious hip hop. Intellectual and philosophical, Miller's talk last fall in a small W&K conference room was reported out as brilliant and thought provoking. 3:30PM Vollum Lecture Hall Reed College $3/ Reedies free


March 5

Sometimes it's a bit depressing to see the direction of our fair country has taken. The best therapy is to work for change. Where to start? - anywhere which inspires you! If you are inspired by working in other countries, the Peace Corps is offering an afternoon of panels and workshops. I've worked with and visited several volunteers, the program will be intense, but you will emerge with tools that will allow you to undertake anything. General info at www.peacecorps.gov.
2-5pm PSU Smith Center Room 228 Free


March 6

The PSU Art Department presents Steven Badgett of Simparch www.simparch.org whose work combines the politics of place with the politics of art into large scale structures. PSU 5th Avenue Cinemas SW 5th and Hall St 7Pm Free


March 7

Marina Abramovic, born 1946, in post war Belgrade, is the mother of extreme performance in the art world, now grandmother, still performing at age 60. This article www.eyestorm.com/feature/E...rticle.asp articulates some of her performance history much better than can I. I wouldn't miss this once in a lifetime opportunity to hear Abramovic speak. Arrive early, or you may watch the talk videoconferenced to the overflow classroom. 7pm Vollum Lecture Hall, Reed College Free

Michael Lerner reads from his book The Left Hand of God: Taking Back Our Country from the Religious Right. Lerner is an influential political thinker and author. His many writings offer a spiritual basis for living and spreading progressive politics accessible to America's middle.
7:30 Powell's Burnside Free

March 8

Lewis and Clark College presents a reading by and discussion with poet and novelist Michelle Tea. Tea has been living and exploring life and identity to the edge and writing of it from San Francisco. The energy of her writing is matched by her persona and her readings. 3:45-5:15 Council Chamber of the L&C Templeton Student Center Free (but expect to pay for parking if arriving by car)


March 9

Some Hawthorne area art spaces have claimed the second Thursday for openings. This includes Local.35, showing work by Kendra Binney. The clothing store is commissioning a mural by Binney and spectacular dressing areas by artist Jessie Reno. DJ 7-10PM www.local35.com 3556 SE Hawthorne


March 11

Not in Portland, but worth a trip, the Degenerate Art Ensemble www.degenerateartensemble.com performs Cuckoo Crow at the Moore Theater in Seattle. The DAE, formerly the Young Composers' Collective combines now music, plated expertly with fierce butoh dance performance. Details at the DAE website.


March 12

The Portland Art Museum presents a lecture by John Elderfield, the NY Museum of Modern Art's chief curator of painting and sculpture. Elderfield will review the history of modern art in the context of art made now, right now. 2PM Whitsell Auditorium at the Portland Art Museum advance tickets free for Museum members or with Museum admission that day.


March 13

Ripe Back Room presents a dinner-discussion with Lawrence Weschler, former staff writer for The New Yorker; director of the New York Institute for the Humanities at New York University; and author. Weschler has written on artist Robert Irwin, the Museum of Jerassic Technology and artist JSG Boggs, who prints money and exchanges it for goods. Tonight's focus will be the new economies of writing and his book Everything That Rises, published by McSweeny's. The $65 price includes a copy of the book, the tastiest dinner to be had in all of Portland that Monday, wine and brandy, with proceeds benefiting Reading Frenzy. Reservations www.ripepdx.com

PSU's artist lecture series presents Frederic Paul. 7PM PSU 5th Avenue Cinemas SW 5th and Hall St Free

Holocene hosts a performance by Ethan Rose with visuals by Ryan Jeffery (small sails visualist), a performance by Unrecognizeable Now with visuals by Rob Tyler, vcr100.com, and a new film by Jeffery - Fallen, with music by Rose. 8PM www.holocene.org/calendar $4


March 15

Ethan Clark discusses his book Stories Care Forgot: An Anthology of New Orleans Zines. The over years, zine authors have "poured their hearts out, sharing their thoughts and opinions on music, politics, bikes, gentrification, gender, class and, of course, the city itself", perhaps offering some insight beyond the blame game and CNN's seemingly endless flyovers. 7PM www.readingfrenzy.com 921 SW Oak


March 17

Mike Barber presents 10 Tiny Dances - performances on a stage 3 feet square. This 10th edition includes Tracy Broyles, Margretta Hansen, Gabriel Masson, Anne Furfey, Josie Moseley, Mary Oslund, Cydney Wilkes, Linda Austin, Mike Barber and Minh Tran. The pieces are short, ADD engaging, and often fun. See at the Wonder Ballroom, details www.tentinydances.org


March 18

Local presenters of classical Indian music of the subcontinent present Shashank and Purbayan Chatterjee, bansuri flute and sitar. This is the real thing. Details at www.kalakendra.org $15 advance/20 door 7:30 PM Flannegan Chapel Lewis and Clark College.


March 20

Susan E. Rice www.huffingtonpost.com/contri...bio.php speaks on "The National Security Implications of Global Poverty: Africa's Strategic Importance to the U.S" at Reed College. Rice, former National Security Council member focused on peacekeeping and Africa in the Clinton administration, and was later Assistant Secretary of State for Africa under Madeline Albright secretary.state.gov/www/albr...ght.html. Rice is now at the Brookings Institution. Her tenure includes policy decisions on Somalia, Rwanda, and Sierra Leone addressed cinematicly in "Black Hawk Down", "Hotel Rwanda", and "Lord of War" respectively. 7PM Vollum Lecture Hall Reed College Free


March 22

Author Elizabeth Kolbert reads from her book Field Notes from a Catastrophe, an account of global warming and its impact.
7:30 Powell's Burnside Free

March 25

The Rose City Rollers, girls roller derby teams Guns N Rollers, the Heartless Heathers, Break Neck Betties, and the High Rollers, go at it again. Information at www.rosecityrollers.com

The Portland Opera presents Nixon In China. See March 30.


March 29

Clothing by Church and State, formerly Anther Pistil, the designs of Nathaniel Crissman and Rachel Turk, will be presented at a fashion show at Seaplane. 7PM www.e-seaplane.com 827 NW 23rd Free


March 30

Nixon In China is an avant garde (why does that term seem so dated...?) opera by brilliant composer John Adams, with production design by enfant terrible Peter Sellars. Nixon, the other president who illegally wiretapped his political enemies, was forced to resign when tapes of his own oval office bugs threatened to expose his coverup of a black ops burglary of Democratic Party offices. Luckily his loyal secretary of 24 years, Rosemary Woods, erased a crucial 18 1/2 minutes from the tapes before they were turned over to prosecutors seeking Nixon's impeachment for lying. Arch anti Communist Nixon was probably the only politician of his era who could have credibly opened diplomatic relations with China. Perhaps the same could be said of Mao, who lead China's Communist revolution in the 1940's. The opera focuses Nixon's trip to China and the dynamics between Nixon, his wife, Mao, his wife, Henry Kissinger and Chou En-lai. In English 7:30 www.portlandopera.org $37-$133


March 31

Who Get's to Call it Art? the film reviews the art world of the 1960's from the viewpoint of Metropolitan curator Henry Geldzahler. The film has an updated MTV style, offputting to some, but nonetheless sounds fascinating, including much historical footage. 7PM www.nwfilm.org Whitsell Auditorium of the Portland Art Museum $7/ 6 members

March 30

Brede Rørstad's Music Population Project materializes its demographic, that would be you, for a musical meeting of ears, minds and hearts. Classical chamber music, the music everyone loves to hate, was in its time the improvisational frontier. It was the avant garde. (For a laugh, try to locate "Lexicon of Musical Invective by Nicholas Slonimsky - scathing reviews of classical music in its time) The MPP rekindles that spirit by performances of 21st century music on classical instruments accompanied by video projections and sometimes electronic sounds. Tonight's performance will be by an 18 piece orchestra, Brede's biggest yet!

www.thempp.com 7:30PM W+KAgency atrium 224 NW 13th. Free, ages 0-200

March 22

Continuing a vector of presenting the first solo shows of artists, Small A Projects opens the work of Allyson Vieira. Vieira composes her work around the ideological resonance between disparate times: in this case, ancient Greece, the Enlightenment, and sometimes also includes the American Revolution (how far we have strayed) and the French Revolution (something to be learned?). Artist - curator, Vieira, has a BFA from Cooper Union and has been included in group shows by Jeffrey Deitch.

Shawna Ferreira, PNCA grad, also presents "Oblivion's Everywhere Else". Ferreira presents smart installations that juggle intimate scale and filling the space. Well. She is an artist to watch.

That makes this Vieira+Ferreira!

www.smallaprojects.com Small A Projects 6-9PM 1430 SE Third (near Audio Cinema)