August 4 Westside Art Openings

Elizabeth Leach Gallery opens the first third of the Shape of the Problem. Summer is a time for group shows. This is literally the mother of all group shows. Included are Henri Matisse, Helen Frankenthaler, Hans Hofmann, Sol Lewitt, Fred Sandback, Sarah Cain, Joseph Park, Stephen Hayes, Judy Cooke, Christopher Rauschenberg, Malia Jensen and many, many others. At Elizabeth Leach Gallery www.elizabethleach.com 417 NW 9th Map



PDX Contemporary shows modern prints from vintage negatives by Terry Toedtemeier. These landscape photographs were exposed at Mount Desert Island in Maine, Chaco Canyon and The Lightning Field in New Mexico, Taos and Tuba City Arizona and Winnemucca Nevada. At PDX Contemporary Art www.pdxcontemporaryart.com 925 NW Flanders Map early close 8PM



Hellion has Digmeout illustrator HR-FM from Yokohama. Angel Davis takes over the window with its view of Roseland's storied rock bus temporary autonomous zone. Photographer Tatiana Wills and Roman Cho present ther new book Heroes & Villains, portraits of art world figures and illustrator Blaine Fontana, his book Amalgamate. 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



In addition to the regular gallery openings, the Everett Station lofts have their annual opening of spaces and the deck upstairs. At the Everett Lofts 625 NW Everett. Bounded by NW Everett, Broadway, Flanders and 6th Map



Longtime Portland encaustic painter Elise Wagner has a ten year retrospective which has already shown on the East Coast. At Butters Gallery www.buttersgallery.com 520 NW Davis, 2nd Floor



High Five! is a 5 year group show of Ryan Bubnis, Bradley Delay, Meredith Dittmar, Jeremy Fish, Sam Flores, Bishop Lennon, Justin Lovato, Munk One, Amy Ruppel and Skinner. At Fifty 24PDX in Upperplayground.com 23 NW 5th



Jodi Darby shows photographs in a show titled Transit. At Valentines valentineslifeblood.blogspot.com 232 SW Ankeny



Rocksbox at Fourteen30's 937 presents a performance Stuck, by Jennifer Locke & Lucas Murgida. In addition to their art careers, these San Francisco artists have worked as a professional dominatrix, champion submission wrestler, artists’ model locksmith, cabinetmaker, busboy and yoga instructor between them. Performance 7PM-9. For much of the rest of the month, the gallery has Summer Movies, selected by artist friends, August 5 - 13. The artist curators and their dates are Brian Bress (Saturday, August 13th), Jeremy Deller (Friday, August 5th), Kim Gordon (Saturday, August 6th), Kristina Kite (Sunday, August 7th), Michele Maccarone (Monday, August 8th), Javier Peres (Tuesday, August 9th)
Nathan Howdeshell (Wednesday, August 10th), Ana Vejzovic Sharp (Thursday, August 11th), Bob Nickas (Friday, August 12th) and Brian Bress (Saturday, August 13th). Films at 8PM, bring blankets, friends, snacks, drinks. At Fourteen30 Gallery www.fourteen30.com 937 NW Glisan 6PM-10



The ad agency has a show in the lobby by a comic artist and tortured singer Daniel Johnston from Austin. Johnston is the subject of documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston. He performs on the 25th. Bold move by the ad agency. There is also a show by some staff at the Cleaners space in the Ace Hotel.

August 2 Robots Pack Attack!

The Curiosity Club hosts the Riverdale High School robotics team discussing their experiences building and competing robots. Robots are a big thing in schools, providing an opportunity for teamwork and a tangible computing experience. The robot team competes with other schools in a game of robots with rules. Each year there are new game rules, which subsequently orient the design of new robots. Think of it as a gene pool of robot species that evolves once a year, not in millions! You can tune into the free live webcast off the Core77 site or visit in person at Hand Eye Supply www.handeyesupply.com/pages/curiosity-club 23 NW 4th 6PM Free

July 31 Research Club Brunch

The Research Club brunch continues today at noon. It's a potluck with speakers and a chance to talk to other artists. In a focus on reducing waste, please bring a cup, plate and utensils! At Gallery Homeland www.galleryhomeland.org 2505 SE 11th x Division Noon-3ish Free

July 30 Vanessa Renwick & Montana Merida Art and Boat Shows

Vanessa Renwick & Montana Merida show videos and photos tonight. Accompanied by Lori Goldston and Marisa Anderson on guitar and cello. At Cherry Sprout Produce 722 N. Sumner. Evening Free



Carlos Gonzalez performs Sea Dogs. Gonzales trained as a painter graduating in 2010 from PNCA. He performs at 9 sharp on a 65 foot boat docked at a marina on the river. At 12128 Labrador Project www.labradorproject.com It's moored at Fred's Marina 12900 NW Marina Way, Portland. Easily the largest boat at the moorage, you cannot miss it. More detailed directions, don't get lost, on the website. 7PM-10 Free

July 29 Outdoor Dance Performance

Butoh was inspired by the wild landscapes of Northern Japan. Nature continues to be an inspiration in creating its improvisational movement. Haruko Nishimura, performer and art director of Seattle's Degenerate Art Ensemble journeys to Portland to collaborate with Mizu Desierto, Tracy Broyles and Kestrel Gates in an outdoor work inspired by permaculture. All four performers are quite noted for their creativity, individualistic movement styles, and shear physical chops. The performance takes place in a large yard in St Johns. Presented by Water in the Desert witdpresents.com/?page_id=18 9233 N. Bristol Avenue 7PM $10-15

July 28 Last Thursday

With warmth comes Alberta tribal fire fever. There are a few galleries there and even some art. But it is primarily people art. OK



Artist designer Stephanie Simek performs Sensitive Insides, at sunset, at experimental gallery False Front. Simek has performed compelling work previously at the gallery. Sensitive Insides is a duo of works made of deconstructed portable "Walkman" magnetic cassette players. In each piece, a half dozen to dozen players, with their circuit guts exposed, play ambient style loops. The sound machines are choreographed by photo sensitive devices. In one work, vintage videos of synchronized swimmers from the 1950's excite the sensors hidden behind a translucent projection surface. The movement of light and dark values defining the swimmers' figures in the frame makes a sound composition. In the second, Simek activates the tape sounds by playing a touchboard of sensors, illuminated by a saturated prismatic rainbow, produced by an old overhead projector and diffraction optics. Monoprints inspired by the vintage synchronized swimming videos complete the show. Because of the ephemeral nature of the vintage electronics, the one time performance will primarily be available as a video on the False Front website. Recommended. At False Front Studio www.falsefrontstudio.com 4518 NE 32nd Map 6-10 Free



At Appendix Project Space Nik Pence has made objects. Meanwhile PNCA grad Cathy Cleaver creates a performance in the hay antespace around churning butter from cows beginning at 7. Appendix Project Space. On the alley between 26th and 27th, South of Alberta. www.appendixspace.com Map 6-10ish Free



Together hosts Paper by Greg Gossel, I Will Meet You There by Sohaila Saadati and Mouth Breathers by Adam Baumker. All at Together Gallery www.togethergallery.com 2916 NE Alberta, Ste A Map 6PM-11, music 9:30 Free



Grand Detour curator of experimental moving images hosts New Hampshire animator Jodie Mack. Mack is an animator. The program spans six years of animation shorts. Presented by Grand Detour grand-detour.org at RECESS Gallery 1127 SE 10th 8PM



Goodfoot opens Jesse Reno, Kyle Gossman & Patrick Haemmerlein. Ryan Organ, Carrier & Sunday Grip DJ. At the Goodfoot www.thegoodfoot.com/gallery 2845 SE Stark Map 5-midnight Free

July 27 Antique Art Being and Time

Philosophy talk, Praxis, is back. Jason King and Tori Abernathy discuss Seeming & Seamlessness: Martin Heidegger and the Machine, in the context of art. Heidegger had a large impact on the big thinkers in ubiquitous computing, cultural anthropology applied to computer and office work, and artificial intelligence, technology we have now. Heidegger also influenced later philosophers, including the 20th century French, who, in turn have also had a large impact on art theory. So this should be a cool talk. At Place, a gallery on the 3rd floor of the Pioneer Place Mall. 700 SW Fifth. Doors 6:30PM, talk 7-9. Free



Notwithstanding the scandalous state of arts rights and value in the contemporary world, most art in museums is stolen. It's improved under UN agreements that limit exports of antiquities and stealing them in wartime. But the chain of custody and the integrity of each link is vaporous for art or antiquity older than about 100 years, even less for tribal objects. A very few objects have a solid legitimate history, those held continuously in a religious institution or by some dynastic governments.

The Getty fortune obtained from extracting ancient oil from the ground. The great Getty museum also extracted antiquities from the world. They were caught, triggering a cascade of other museums to return artifacts to their cultural countries of origin. That is the story told in the new book, Chasing Aphrodite. The museum purchased the namesake statue illegally in 1988 for $18 million, but were forced to agree to symbolically relinquish it, ultimately establishing the Getty Sicily to which the statue returned about two months ago. Authors Jason Felch and Ralph Frammolino present their book at a reading tonight. At Powell's Books www.powells.com 1005 W Burnside 7:30PM Free

July 26 Wasteland Utopia: Deep Canyon Cinema

David Sherman is a force in the Cali experimental film community. He ran Canyon Cinema, distributor of rare films, has been in the Whitney, taught at Cal Arts and created a low to the ground Total Mobile Home microCINEMA, similar to one Portland had in a basement on SE Clinton which became Four Wall Cinema at Oak Street. Born in Tucson, Sherman now lives in sunny mining town Bisbee. Part of the Craig Baldwin school of samplers, Sherman has made a film Wasteland Utopia from old open source footage. The film is in surrealist style, relating the visions of the real estate developer who invented retirement utopias with endless golf blooming from desert; and an influential intellectual psychoanalyst who became obsessed later in his career with cosmic Orgone Energy. The resulting film is a mashup of historic footage. Presented by Grand Detour grand-detour.org at RECESS Gallery 1127 SE 10th 8PM

July 22-24 Skating Pre-Post-Feminism Artists

Early skateboards had steel wheels, wheels of steel, with the axle rigidly fixed to cheap-assed decks. The invention of the pivoting truck and cushier, grippier tires and more dynamic decks made what we know as skating. The excellently edited documentary, Dogtown and the Z-Boys, shows the crossover in style between surfing and skating, in the 1970's, coming from Santa Monica and Venice, on the new trucks and boards.

That then leads directly to now.

Skating's a skill mastered by outsider kids, with a ton of free time, and no bodily fear. They are physical artists. They infected a couple of generations of skate culture and innovation. And now skating is a legit sport. One so infected was artist Chris Johanson. Johanson is an artist literally lifted off his board into the art world of New York's Whitney Biennial. His loose psychological urban folk art may be a result of a shy skater's observational modus.

Johanson has not forgotten his roots and has organized a skate film festival with art/skate photographer bud Pat O'Dell, Super Skate Summer 2011. It's got films, talks and bands. It's got bands scoring films. It should be fun. Super Skate Summer 2011 is at Hollywood Theater 7:30PM each night, $7 a night



Feminism. Somehow we got entranced by the French philosophers and their post-Modernism, and ever since, everything is post-, post-post-, or post-post-post-. So I have no idea what post- of feminism any reader is on. But there is a pretty good argument that contemporary art as we know it would not be what it is without the feminist artists of the 1960's.

Filmmaker-artist Lynn Hershman-Leeson was part of that era and filmed artists of the time in her apartment and at work. She has edited it all into a sprawling documentary !Women, Art, Revolution, !W.A.R. The film features Yvonne Rainer, Judy Chicago, Marina Abramovic, Yoko Ono, Cindy Sherman, Barbara Kruger, Nancy Spero, Carolee Schneemann, Miriam Schapiro, Martha Rosler, Eleanor Antin, Janine Antoni, Miranda July, The Guerilla Girls, and more. The score is by Carrie Brownstein. Wow.

The film premiered at Sundance. It just entered theatrical release June 1, showing in NY. But in an insane piece of fortune, it shows at PSU's Fifth Avenue Cinema at a bargain price. Film at the PSU Fifth Avenue Cinema. www.5thavenuecinema.org 510 SW Hall Friday and Saturday 7PM, 9:30; Sunday 3PM. Free for PSU students & faculty w/ID. $2 for all other students & seniors. $3 General Admission. Free popcorn for all!

July 22 Return (of the Son) of Khan

In Indian music of the subcontinent, one of the most noted musicians of our time was the late Ustad Ali Akbar Kahn from Bangladesh. His instrument was the sarod, a fretless stringed instrument, allowing each note to assume an infinite pitch range. He brought Indian music to the West in 1955, at age 33. Establishing a school here, he played and taught almost until his passing at age 88. You can get an idea from this 1981 performance with Ustad Swapan Chaudhuri.

Alam Khan, son and student of the Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, performs tonight on the sarod in Portland, accompanied by Javad Butah on tabla and Josh Feinberg on tamboura. Presented by Timings at The Movement Center Yoga & Meditation, 1021 NE 33rd Avenue. Doors 7PM, Performance 7:30. $20

July 21 Art Spark and Pop

The periodic artist, arts administrator happy hour meet up is tonight. PDX Pop Now gives a short presentation at 6. The PDX Pop Now weeken also begins tonight. One of the City's most powerful arts administrator came from PDX Pop Now and music is one of Portland's most successful art exports today. Art Spark www.portlandartspark.com. At Backspace 115 NW 5th. All ages. 5PM-7 Free

July 18,20,22,23,24,25,29 Boundary Crossing: Extended Animation at PNCA

Portland has a small animation base, with Dark Horse, Bent Image, Laika and others. Contemporary moving imagemaking combines live and CG is a seamless style, think Avatar; and in hybrid forms, including sampling, more like collage. Added to this is idea-based work by artists. PNCA provides a chance to unwind it all in the Boundary Crossing Summer session. Public programs include July 18, an opening lecture by Norman Klein, "Dismantling the American Psyche"; July 20, an artist talk with Mack MacFarland and Marieke Verbiesen; July 22, the opening reception for the show Pre-Nostalgic by DripDrop; July 23 a panel discussion, "Pre-Nostalgic: Concepts, Visions and the Usual Suspects"; July 24 a late showing of Pre-Nostalgic by DripDrop; July 25 a screening of re-situated animation; and July 29, the closing reception. Details at the PNCA website, though there are faulty links in patches. www.pnca.edu Discussions Free, admission for the films

July 16 Strange Place Stories

The gallery in the mall opens two new projects this evening: Mirrors, curated by Andrea Boyle, and Can You See Me Now Reflections on Palestine, curated by Sarah Farahat. The first project was created by artists working with facilitators from PSU's conflict resolution program, Middle Eastern Studies program and art therapists. The second continues the artist's inspiration with the region and individual culture in conflict zones. At Place, placepdx.tumblr.com a gallery on the 3rd floor of the Pioneer Place Mall. 700 SW Fifth 6PM-9 Free



Strange Cities is a show of photographs made by Portland photographer John Ryan Brubaker and also a book made of those photographs. Great publishing effort by local bookstore gallerists Ampersand. At Amersand Vintage Printed Material www.ampersandvintage.com 2916 NE Alberta, Ste B. Map 6PM -10 Free



Project Grow hosts one of their aperiodic talk-oriented events, Telling Stories. Details. At Project Grow at the Port City Development Center. 2156 N Williams Ave at Tillamook. 6PM-9 Free

July 15 Reading Cosmic Forest

No one can dispute the mystic myth of the West. From the transcendentalist currents underlying explorations of the great Western photographers of the 19th century to Morris Graves, it's a recurring theme. There is an argument to be made that Eugene's country fair is so themed. And so it's no surprise that progeny of mid-late 20th century new age adherents might tap similar inspiration. It's evident in the last about two years fascination with crystals in the landscape. Illustrator Meg Hunt provides her interpretation with figures in a schematic landscape in her show Cosmic Forest. Opening at Buy Olympia's Land Gallery www.landpdx.com 3925 N Mississippi 6PM-8



Ampersand is primarily a bookstore, and one of the finest in Portland of its kind. Most of the books are picture books. But tonight they tap text with readings by Scott McClanahan, Patrick DeWitt and Jenny Forrester; reading from Stories V1, Sisters & Brothers and Guns, God & Irony, respectively. At Amersand Vintage Printed Material www.ampersandvintage.com 2916 NE Alberta, Ste B. Map 7:30PM

July 10 Place Artists Talk and Music

Artists Will Justice, James Mulvaney, Rebecca Steele and Ním Wunnan talk about their current projects, which are closing 4PM-6:30. After 5:30PM-9:30 it's the Leisure Project. Read all the details at the website. At Place, placepdx.tumblr.com a gallery on the 3rd floor of the Pioneer Place Mall. 700 SW Fifth

July 9 Midyear Readout of PNCA MFA

PNCA visual studies artists, graduating next year, get in the exhibition groove with a mid program show. Artists Nadia Buyse, Jodie Cavalier, Patrick Driscoll, Kei Horiuchi, Juleen Johnson, Fletcher Meisenburg, Jamie Nadherny, Oriana Lewton-Leopold, James Papadopoulos, Stefan Ransom, Victoria Reynolds, Marilyn Skalberg and Timothy Stigliano show work. Let me mention that publication of MFA student shows news by PNCA has been abysmal. At Disjecta, in the shadow of Paul Bunyan www.disjecta.org 8371 N. Interstate Map 6PM-9 Free

July 8+10 All That Glitters Are Not Hair Pomes

Glitterheart is dispersed across the planet, but they are all captured the pull of the moon. At Nationale, they celebrate it with a show Lunation. Glitterheart artists are Jess Hirsch, Emma Lipp and Matt Marble. Hirsch, formerly in Portland, is now in Minneapolis working on her MFA. On Sunday the artists perform with the objects in the show at 11AM. Then from 4PM-6, Hirsch offers experimental hair sculpture to participants, free. Then after, at 6PM, gives a talk about her hair projects for which there is an admission of $3 - cheap. At Nationale thenewnationale.com 811 E Burnside Map




Research Club at Homeland continues their show with a reception this evening. At Gallery Homeland www.galleryhomeland.org 2505 SE 11th x Division 6PM-9



Worksound has Poemophone, performance sculpture by Jorn Ake, M. C. Boyes, Tim Cooper, Ethan Rose Peter Suchecki & Lauri Twitchell Jeff Wolf and organizer Tracey Cockrell. Performances continue this month on July 14, 15 and 16th. At Worksound www.worksoundpdx.com 820 SE Alder Map 7PM-10

July 7- 17 Movement and Performance - The 1 Festival

This event takes place at a performance space by the Columbia Blvd railroad tracks and sugar factory. The organizers have a great network and have gathered a variety of local and out of town artists for a series of performances and workshops in an intimate space and at a reasonable price. Some highlights include Vangeline, Sheri Brown, Mizu Deserto and Kat MacMillan; Tonya Jone Miller; Tahni Holt, Aura Fischbeck and Hannah Sim; and Erin Leddy. There are highly recommended workshops for experimental movement artists too. The organizer is doing a series of farm movement dinners under a separate project. The 1 Festival is at the Headwaters studio the1festival.com. Leave extra time to find the location, park below in the back of the venue, do not park on the active railroad tracks. 55 NE Farragut Street #9

July 7 Westside Art Openings +

Journalist turned documentary photographer Sara Terry collaborated with a former child soldier in the Sierra Leone war to tell her story. I have worked there as well and was able to help a friend with local connections doing related work. Her project included giving former child soldiers Flip-type video cameras to tell their stories. Entirely fascinating subject, let's just say it's personal, we are so fortunate in our lives not to have those experiences. The Nines gallery inside Blue Sky has Jerry Mayer and Ellen George, well known for minimal and the most elegant of installations. Recommended. At Blue Sky Gallery www.blueskygallery.org map 122 NW 8th



Summer, of course, needs a Summer Series! Never one to disappoint, Fourteen30 has just that. The first installment is Raymond Boisjoly, from Vancouver, BC presented by TARL, a gallery in a home basement on Capitol Hill in Seattle, organized by the old Crawl Space curators. For more, RocksBox, in collaboration with Fourteen30, has performances Snorri Asmundsson, from Reykjavik performs Polarbear. Jordan Wayne Long, from Bald Knob, Arkansas has Box Shipment #2. It's au courant, a gaming paradigm is all the rage. At Fourteen30 Gallery www.fourteen30.com 937 NW Glisan 6PM, performances 8PM-10



Balls Out is back. It's a show of small works by dozens of artists in the Grass Hut family at a diversity of price points. Recommended. Grass Hut in Floating World. www.grasshutcorp.com 20 NW 5th inside Floating World Comics




We need to engage with Islam as a culture. A small part of that process may be remixing Islamic art. Arabic caligraphy is beautiful and offers many possibilities. Tonight Joe Bartholomew does his own Islamic culture remix by altering the geometric patterns that are found in the impressive tiles of major Islamic architecture. At Chambers Gallery www.chambersgallery.com 916 NW Flanders Early close 8:30PM



Land sampler Mathew Picton is back too with relief sculptures derived from maps, apropos to the mobile geolocation explosion. At Pulliam Deffenbaugh www.pulliamdeffenbaugh.com until 8



Aki Miyajima is an illustrator from Tokyo, making ink illustrated figures with select areas enhanced by saturated rainbow shades of watercolor. Perfect Summer material. She comes to Portland through the Digmeout project, a model which should be recreated in Portland. 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.



Amalgamation is Ryan Berkley, AJ Power, Bradley Delay, Eveline Taruadjaja, Jamie Zolars, Kristopher Pollard and Miyu Karaki. At Compound Gallery www.compoundgallery.com 107 NW 5th



Nicole Linde has paintings at Grassy Knoll Gallery www.grassyknollgallery.com 123 NW 2nd



American business today does not understand failure, and it shows, in their failure. The strategy is averting risk, driving negative risk to zero. Of course that drives positive risk to zero, and business just keeps muddling on, downward. The ad agency understands this. Tonight they present an art show themed on failure. But they demonstrate daily that positive risk triumphs. At W+K www.wk.com 224 NW 13th Map 5PM-9 Free



The Everett Lofts, the block starting at NW Broadway and Everett, recommended as always.

June 30 Goodfoot and Weird Fiction vs Weird Fiction on Alberta

The Goodfoot dive bar is one of Portland's most economically successful galleries and draws on a large community of anti-minimalist artists. This month is Brin Levinson, Chuck Bloom and Yo Mutsu.

Brin Levinson paints industrial landscapes. Chuck Bloom paints surreal naturescapes. Yo Mutsu has repurposed the shunga style to focus on teen angst, sometimes including he and his wife's faces in the characters. Ryan Organ, Carrier & Sunday Grip DJ.

At the Goodfoot www.thegoodfoot.com/gallery 2845 SE Stark Map 5-midnight Free



Baring rain, while Alberta Street whips itself into a pre-Oregon Country Fair frenzy, Appendix Space will be doing just the opposite. Daniel J. Glendening and Michael Welsh collaborate on Neverland, the result of a month's residency in the space. In the outside space, Weird Fiction presents Artificial Empathy Machine. They win the copywriting award of the month:

"Weird Fiction has found that distributed tele-actions aid the erosion of empathy for all parties involved. This ficto-quizzical cabal has been rapidly prototyping towards a more sociable medium for mitigating known human-machine interactions.

On Thursday, the last day of June 2011, auras, aspirations, anxieties and ideas will be aggregated in a cybernetic haybatch wherein mammals and computers will be attuned towards a stylistic obsolescing of pretentious and anempathetic routines. Psychological shareholders will be encouraged to interface with a massive "Artificial Empathy" machine, one that is programmed for vicarious thrills. If bloated with featuritis, the machine remains a potential mirror of the self."

At Appendix Project Space. On the alley between 26th and 27th, South of Alberta. www.appendixspace.com Map 6-10ish Free



Together has three shows. Idea Board 3 is made of work from Jay Howell, Benjamin Edmiston, Casey Grey, Doodles, Timothy Karpinski, David Wien and Mark Warren Jacques. Friendship Rituals are drawings presented as an installation by Meg Adamson. Hunters and the Hunted are drawings and ceramics by Jennifer Parks. At Together Gallery www.togethergallery.com 2916 NE Alberta, Ste A Map 6PM-11 Free



The Emerson Space Case has Just To Tell You Once Again, art inspired by Michael Jackson. Artists include Rita Alves, Stephanie Brachmann, Eddie Butler, Joey Edwards, Sarah Flores, Kati Green, Laura Hensley, Juanita, Angela Marks, Chrissy Ortez, Karen Radd and Ilan Schraer. Opening night music by James Dean Kindle and the Liberian Girls. View in the Emerson Space Case emersonspacecase.blogspot.com NE 30th and Emerson Map



There is also an opening at the always engaging False Front Studio. False Front Studio www.falsefrontstudio.com 4518 NE 32nd Map 6-10 Free

June 26 Club Brunch Research Grow Project More No

Research Club brunches today at noon. It's a potluck brunch with talks and a chance to talk to other artists. Todays talking artists are Laura Hughes, Judith Pulman, Danielle Ross. In a focus on reducing waste, please bring a cup, plate and utensils! At Gallery Homeland www.galleryhomeland.org 2505 SE 11th x Division Noon Free



The No Fest is a DIY creative festival in St Johns. It's been growing year by year. Here is a schedule of the many FREE events. Grand Detour shows films. Artists and performers include Danielle Ross, White Rainbow, Krystal South, Jennifer Keyser, the Dead Air Fresheners, and hip hop dancing by the 45 Parallel Zulu Nation. Many others. Various locations in St Johns. 10AM-midnight Free



Project Grow throws a hoe down and tonight a hoedown: Throwdown. It's a celebration of the start of harvesting greens off their urban CSA farm and an excuse to have friends, that's you, over to their rad space. Performers are Safe @8, Jeffrey Jerusalem 8:45, Malaikat Dan Singa 9:30. Project Grow is always looking for volunteers and people to pet the goats, so this is an opportunity to see what the project is about and who it's about. At Project Grow at the Port City Development Center. 2156 N Williams Ave at Tillamook. 7-11PM Free

June 25-26 Risk Reward

Risk and reward are often proportional. Risk Reward is an experimental theater showcase hosted by one of Portland's theater companies that has been successfully balancing risk and reward in their own projects. Performers span theater, movement and music; Portland and Seattle. It's similar to Seattle's long running New Works program at On the Boards which has launched many creative groups, including Hand 2 Mouth themselves. Risk Reward performers are Bobbevy (formerly Hot Little Hands, Portland dance), Jessica Jobaris & Guests (Seattle dance), Part & Parcel (Allie Hankins, Seattle dance), Kyle Loven (Seattle theatre), People Person (previous Risk/Reward artists Angela Fair and Joe Von Appen, Portland theatre), Zac Nelson & Stephanie Simek (Portland music). There will be an after party Saturday Evening at Ella Street and a Q&A with the artists Sunday at 3 in the Artist Rep lobby. Recommended for a challenge, take a risk, and discuss after! More information at www.hand2mouththeatre.org at Artist Repertory Theater 1515 SW Morrison. 7PM $18

June 22 Edward Tufte on Information Design

Edward Tufte is in town for his one day seminar on presenting data and information so people "get it". Sometimes that's important. Tufte is professor emeritus at Yale where he developed and refined the ideas that became a series of some of the most noted, and beautiful, books in the field: The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, Envisioning Information, Visual Explanations: Images and Quantities, Evidence and Narrative and Beautiful Evidence. I've been to them. They are expensive, but include a set of his books. Entirely fascinating. Details www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/courses Location on registration. 9ish to 4ish. $380

June 22 Something from Nothing

The Pioneer Place Mall continues its monthly philosophy salon. Another example of Portland exceptionalism. This month, Victor Maldonado and Alex Rauch discuss nothingness in the art context. It's part of a series Praxis organized by the artists operating Place, the mall's art arm. At Place, a gallery on the 3rd floor of the Pioneer Place Mall. 700 SW Fifth. Doors 6:30PM, talk 7-9. Free

June 18 Deluxe Strawberries Here to There Place

Now Orlo, an art-environmental literary publication, has a place, it's in event-mode. They launch their newest (free) issue of Bear Deluxe magazine with local strawberries, live music and drinks. The new issue, You Are Where You Eat, is themed on food. They are doing an overlapping upscale dinner from 6-9 for a fee, consult their website. At Orlo www.orlo.org 810 SE Belmont 5PM-10 Free



Former Portland artist Johnne Eschleman & Todd Mandelkern have a show Here to There. At Millions of Hundred Dollar Ideas - Mohdi www.mohdi.com 625 everett #108, Everett side. 2PM-midnight, DJ 8ish Free



Space is the Place and Place is the Space. The mall galleries continue with shows and events. Place has Felicity Fenton, William Rihel III, Ryan Burns and Roger Peet, Stephen Kurowski, Marina Tait and performance by Wynde Dyer. Other events in the adjacent places. At Place, placepdx.tumblr.com a gallery on the 3rd floor of the Pioneer Place Mall. 700 SW Fifth. 6PM-9ish Free

June 11 The Seed Building

The North Coast Seed Building is a complex of artist studios in Albina, the zone between the Freemont and Broadway bridges and the river and N Interstate Avenue. Most of the artists open their studios tonight. Strongly recommended. 2127 N. Albina 6PM-10ish Free

June 10-11 Ant Farms

The Ant Farm was an art collabortive active in the 1960's and 1970's. They are best known for Cadillac Ranch, a set of 10 vintage Cadillac sedans from years 1949-1963, buried half in a field in Amarillo, Texas, fins up. Their work was an early instance of culture jamming, like their project Media Burn. The film center shows a documentary about the artists, Space, Land and Time Underground Adventures with Ant Farm. The filmmaker will be in attendance. Friday and Saturday 7PM Friday 2PM Saturday

June 10 Research Club Curates Homeland

The Research Club presents Vision, art by Laura Hughes, Michael Lauch, Vanessa Kauffman and Bradley Streeper. At Gallery Homeland www.galleryhomeland.org 2505 SE 11th x Division 6PM-9

June 9 Robots! Attack!

Tonight is robot night.

At Black Wagon, Brian Kappel has robot art in this all ages show. Graphic designer and illustrator Kappel breaks with flatland - these bright robot sculptures are perfect for acting out the friendly robot apocolypse with your own sound effects and dialog. Lev Mooney Montague is a 6 year old artist who can draw robots, his work is on display too! At Black Wagon blackwagon.com 3964 N Mississippi Map 5PM-7



Dr Daniel Wilson has a PhD in robots from CMU. He also writes novels about robots. His latest is Robopocalypse. In Wilson's future, it's not hackers, from a far away country, that weave all of our computer systems into a web of evil, but an AI entity. They turn on humans who must struggle to survive. You can read the book in advance of the Dreamworks film, scheduled for 2012, the official end of the world. I hope this story has a happy ending! Wilson talks about his book this evening. At Powell's Books www.powells.com 1005 W Burnside 7:30PM Free

June 4 Cinema Project When Where

When Where: Landscape and the Frame as Metaphor is a Cinema Project outdoor showing, a rare and popular event marking Summer. It's a program of landscape art shorts by Kren, Steiner, Beydler, Richardson, Cho, & Breer, with readings by Portland poet David Abel. Films include Kurt Kren, 31/75 Asyl (Asylum) [Austria, 1975, 16mm, color, silent, 9 min.]; Thomas Steiner, Camping Cézanne [Austria, 2010, video, color, sound, 9 min.]; Gary Beydler, Pasadena Freeway Stills [USA, 1974, 16mm, color, silent, 6 min.]; Emily Richardson, Aspect [UK, 2004, 16mm, color, sound, 9 min.]; Seoungho Cho, Buoy [USA, 2008, video, color, sound, 7 min.] and Robert Breer, Fuji [USA, 1974, 16mm, color, sound, 8.5 min.]. Bring a blanket to sit on. The Cinema Project at 3727 NE 11th Avenue (in case of rain, contingency plan will be announced on the Cinema Project FB page and web site). 9PM $7

June 3 Eastside Art Openings+

ADX officially opens this evening with a big party. They are a shared subscription shop with the space and tools to make things. They have wood and metal shops, and will be starting classes soon too. Very useful for artists! Performance by Old Light at 8:30, DJ 31Avas spins too. Food and drink available. At adxportland.com 417 SE 11th x Stark 6PM-11 Free



In the 811 building

Golden Rule has a show, Snow Cones, with actual snow cones and fiber art from Project Grow, Voila Brown and clothing by Tess Bidelspach. At Golden Rule Gallery www.goldenruleportland.com 811 E Burnside, Suite 122 in the back

Black Box has Portraiture Now: Constructing Photography, juried by Alice Shaw. At Black Box Gallery www.blackboxgallery.com 811 E Burnside, Suite 212 upstairs 5PM-8:30 Free

Nationale has a one week show of current photography, We Have Begun our Final Descent. Very strong show, recommended. At Nationale thenewnationale.com 811 E Burnside Map

All at 811 East Burnside Map



Lille has illustrations by Sarah McNeil. At Lille Boutique www.lilleboutique.com 1007 E Burnside



Worksound has Drawing Shades by Matty Byloos, Jane Schiffhauer and Nim Wunnan, as well as a show by Rebecca Ruth Peel. At Worksound www.worksoundpdx.com 820 SE Alder Map 6PM-10



Pushdot has a show of illustration by Jill Bliss, Ryan Berkley and Lee White. At Pushdot Studio www.pushdotstudio.com 2505 SE 11th Avenue Suite 104



Newspace Photo has a group show, Only Photographs, curated Jake Stangel. They are pairs of images from different photographers. At Newspace Photo www.newspacephoto.org 1632 SE 10th



Commonwealth Skate dips a toe in the art waters with skater Ashley Anson's embroidery and paintings, and embroidered paintings. Skating, painting, stitching. At Commonwealth Skateboarding 1425 SE 20th

June 2 Westside Art Openings

It is the season for thesis shows from recent art graduates.

PSU splits BFA graduates over shows opening tonight and June 18. In the Art Building there is LIMITS OF SPACE 1.1 - Memory of Space and LIMITS OF SPACE 1.2 - Suspended in Space, in the AB Lobby Gallery and MK Gallery upstairs, respectively. At PSU. Art Department Building 2000 SW 5th 4PM-7

PNCA has shows in the main building atrium, the Stevens Building and in the old Portland Art Center next to Floating world. See the May 22 listing for details.

OSU BFA Digital graduates Brian Aebi, Amy Chan, Braeden Cox, Gage Hamilton, Matt Pfliiger, Andrew Pomeroy, Steven Robinson, Brad Saiki, Lauren Seiffert, Tanya Tracy, Chris Wilson and Zach Yarrington present their show Watch Your Mouth at the White Box Gallery. Digital spans graphic design and many of the more commercial realms of the art world. At White Box in the White Stag Block 24 NW First. Opening reception 6PM-9 Free



Ditch Projects continues its romance with Fourteen30 in Chicago Chocolate Tour, by Ken Fandell, Scott Reeder and Tyson Reeder. Fourteen30 and Ditch rarely dissapoint, so see for yourself. At Fourteen30 Gallery www.fourteen30.com 937 NW Glisan



Good Luck. Again. is work by former Portlander Scott Patt. Patt is a master of materials, owing his design background. He excels at relating art to personal and pop culture. He works in 2d and 3. This latest work is themed on icons for luck, like rabbit feet, horse shoes and symbols from the Pennsylvania Dutch warding off evil spirits. At Grass Hut in Floating World. www.grasshutcorp.com 20 NW 5th



In Summer commercial galleries have group shows. Since shows are planned more than a year in advance, this one clearly represents a more optimistic view of Summer weather than is warranted. Gallery artists Anna Gray + Ryan Wilson Paulsen, Arcy Douglass, James Lavadour, Joe Macca, Tad Savinar, Storm Tharp an Marie Watt present "oomph [ʊmf]: enthusiasm, vigor, or energy. sex appeal". At PDX Contemporary Art www.pdxcontemporaryart.com 925 NW Flanders Map early close 8PM



There is a group show too at the Leach gallery including Luke Butler, Noah Davis, Robert Hanson, Justine Kurland, Vik Muniz, John Sonsini and Pamela Wilson-Ryckman. At Elizabeth Leach Gallery www.elizabethleach.com 417 NW 9th Map



Minimalist Linda Hutchins has Back to Basics. Hutchins has made sculpture, patterned line drawings and even work with typewriters. At Pulliam Deffenbaugh www.pulliamdeffenbaugh.com until 8



Former Portlander, now Seattlite, Anne Siems makes enigmatically romantic paintings, often with encaustic materials, and with children as subjects. In contrast Portland painter Michael Brophy captures masculine Northwest Landscapes. Both at Laura Russo Gallery www.laurarusso.com 805 NW 21st



Richard Barnes' Animal Logic is a collection of photographs of animal history museums. Fascinating and odd, a zoo without the bad parts. He's quite accomplished as a documentary photographer including Whitney Biennial photographs of the cabin of Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber, disassembled and remade in a storage warehouse for evidence. Also showing self portraits by Millee Tibbs. At Blue Sky Gallery www.blueskygallery.org map 122 NW 8th



Helion has a collaboration between artist Ren Sakurai (Albatross Tattoo) and furniture maker Taka Moriki, “Tactical Wall Unit”. 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.



Portland artists Wesley Younie has collaborated with P:ear youth artists for a show this month. At P:EAR www.pearmentor.org 338 NW 6th



W+K has Exhibit B: Fields of Work by Justin Gorman and Tyler Kohlhoff. Local businesses Rinella Produce, Foss Maritime Shipyard and Afton Field Farms are profiled in illustration and text displayed on furniture by wood craftsmen Delaney Kelly. At W+K www.wk.com 224 NW 13th Map 6PM-9 Free



Always recommended, the Everett Lofts.

May 31 A Curious Motorcycle Talk

The Curiosity Club hosts the inventor of a one wheel gyrostabilized motorcycle, a sort-of Segway motorcycle, but much cooler. Much. And it's green - chargeable electric. The inventor, Chris Hoffman, was inspired to invent it by his daughter who saw something like it in a video game, and asked dad to make her one she could ride to school. He has. Prototypes are running in Portland, and if all goes well, these cycles will be manufactured all over the world. Hoffman talks about the inventor's journey resulting in RYNO Motors You can tune into the free live webcast off the Core77 site or visit in person at Hand Eye Supply www.handeyesupply.com/pages/curiosity-club 23 NW 4th 6PM Free

May 28 Artists Talk in the Mall

Zoe Clark, L&C grad, has a minimal sculpture installation which is experienced by getting inside it. PNCA student Taryn Tomasello has a sculpture Pendulum Project/Obvious Tensions. Yes is moves. They discuss their work this afternoon. At Place, placepdx.tumblr.com a gallery on the 3rd floor of the Pioneer Place Mall. 700 SW Fifth. 3PM-4 Free

May 27 Art Museum Free Evening

I'm a huge proponent of free, most events listed here are free. On the other hand, many arts organizations which charge fees hire artists as staff, which I also strongly support. And many cultural organizations that charge admission have have yearly membership programs that pay themselves back in 3 visits for two in a year. How do you decide whether the year membership is valuable to you? Go on a free day! And the Art Museum is free tonight. At the Portland Art Museum www.pam.org 1219 SW Park 5PM-8 Free

May 26 Last Thursday on Alberta+

Appendix continues the video project which takes time and listening to watch by Andrew Norman Wilson. We wrote about its opening. Social practice artist Ariana Jacob activates her project Teach me how to think like you. It will likely involve you. At Appendix Project Space. On the gravel, dirt alley between 26th and 27th, South of Alberta. www.appendixspace.com Map 6PM-11 Free



Together has Happily ever After, art by husband and wife art makers APAK, Mel Kadel & Travis Millard, Mildred & Picolli, Ashley G & Drew, Brendan Monroe & Evan Fan, Kelly Tunstall & Ferris Plock, Jeremy Taylor & Allyson Melberg. As a complement, their project space has EMILYS, ceramics by Emily Counts and Emily Christensen. Live musics by Alina Hardin. Together Gallery www.togethergallery.com 2916 NE Alberta, Ste A Map 6PM-11, music 9:30 Free



The Emerson Space Case is getting is groove back with Kendra Hadlock and Papercuts. View in the Emerson Space Case emersonspacecase.blogspot.com NE 30th and Emerson Map



Alicia Blue shows Paradise Lost by Alison Foshee. They are bright patterns constructed entirely from discarded packaging. There is also a large series of small panels patterned by multi colored thumbtacks. At the Alicia Blue Gallery aliciabluegallery.com 1422 NE Alberta in the realty office Map 6PM-8 Free



The Gloss Gallery has Bruises by Cintamini, images of the photographer's naturally ocuring bruises over a 7 month period. Could be interesting if they play bike polo. www.glossgallerypdx.com 4954 NE 14 6PM-9



In SE the Goodfoot has the all girl summer fun show by Anna Magruder, Heidi Elise Wirz, Kendra Binney and Summer Hatfield. Recommended. At the Goodfoot www.thegoodfoot.com/gallery 2845 SE Stark Map Starts 4PM

May 25 Artists Talk Philosophy

I have a large vocabulary and use it. But there are certain words that irritate me as unnecessarily offputting and one is "praxis" (another is "discourse"). There is a good argument to be made that these words and a few others are a major contributor in themselves to out of control pricing in academics.

Nonetheless, that is the title of tonight's event: "Praxis - An Experiment in Collaborative Art & Philosophy (Round Three)" Philosophy is a great tool I love and have loved. In fact, it is a series of tools from at least as far back as the Greeks. It's embedded in even more ancient culture. And we look forward to discoveries in neuroscience and evolutionary genetics to illuminate the development of our human philosophical mind.

Tonight L. Pippa Callanan, Philosopher and Liz Shepherd Callanan, Artist, discuss Wittgenstein’s Philosophy of Mathematics and The Logical Character of The Infinite. We hope that the speakers will uphold Wittgenstein's passion for Oxford's ordinary language philosophy.

It's part of a series on 4th Wednesdays; artist-philosopher collaborations which will be made into a book with audience commentary.

The series is praxispdx.tumblr.com. At Place, a gallery on the 3rd floor of the Pioneer Place Mall. 700 SW Fifth. Doors 6:30PM, talk 7-9. Free

May 16 Project Row House and the Future Of Food Here

Project Row House is a great mix of artists, the community, and worldchanging. A beautiful coda to Open Engagement. Heard him speak at an earlier Bright Lights and it was great. Recommended. Talk Monday in the Shattuck Hall Annex, 1914 SW Park Avenue, at the corner of SW Broadway and Hall on the PSU campus. 7:30PM Free



Kat West is Multnomah County director of sustainability. We all eat food and sustainable food is the focus of tonight's talk. We grow food in our yards and maybe a few Multnomah County small farms. The County participates in regional planning with surrounding counties with farms supplying our eaters. Beyond that is a web of farms in surrounding Oregon growing food. West is responsible for the "Multnomah Food Action Plan" - the big picture. So that is what tonight's talk is about. At Jimmy Mak's, 221 NW 10th Map Doors 5:30PM, discussion 6. Free

May 14 The Calcutta Quartet Worksound Appendix

The Calcutta Quartet comprises Devshankar & Jyotishankar on violin, Subhen Chatterjee on tabla and S.Shekhar on mridangam. The tabla player, well known for his Western music collaborations is a student of Swapan Chowdhury. Presented by Kalakendra www.kalakendra.org At the Old Church. 1422 SW 11th 7:30PM $20, 15 students



Appendix is answering the call of Spring with more irregular events. Tonight it's Andrew Norman Wilson who has a strong connection with SF's Artist's Television Access and edits video at Google. He shows FlowSpot, Global Countdown, Workers Leaving the Googleplex, and Virtual Assistance - Video Task. It's the insider outsider view. After the Balkan dance party at the Candlelight! At Appendix Project Space. On the alley between 26th and 27th, South of Alberta. www.appendixspace.com Map 8PM Free



Worksound presents New Mutants with Tabor Robak, Missy Canez, Chris Freeman and Nadia Buyse. At Worksound www.worksoundpdx.com 820 SE Alder Map 6PM-9

May 13 The Hand Eye Supply Curious Float and Merchant in Residence

Hand Eye Supply is having a little get together this evening to show plans for their Starlight Parade float, which will undoubtedly be epic. At Hand Eye Supply www.handeyesupply.com/ 23 NW 4th 6PM Free



Nationale launches its Merchant in Residence series with items curated by artist Ty Ennis. At Nationale thenewnationale.com 811 E Burnside Map

May 13-15 Open Engagement Conference

Portland is a social practice art center. While styles of painting and sculpture evolve quickly and with material innovation, new areas of art entirely are a bigger thing to get established. This conference is part of that process. All the information is on the Open Engagement website: openengagement.info and it's all free.

May 12 Monograph Blow Up

Monograph Book Arts is one. One year old! This small store specializes in art books and art artifacts. The proprietors are artists themselves. It makes a great pair with Ampersand; both alternatives to moribund big booksellers at 10th and B-side. To celebrate and talk with artist-customers-you, they invite you to stop by for champagne, all day! At Monograph monographbookwerks.com 5005 NE 27th x Alberta Map



Italian director Antonioni is master at camera moves in relation to scene movement and brilliant with color for later films in that mix. He died in 2007, but left a ton of films worth 'flixing.

Or seeing tonight, projected large, with a live band soundtrack by Monarques, The Reservations and Rocky & The Proms.

Blow Up is Antonioni's 1966(!) exploration of pop culture, creatives, parties, models in London, UK, along with the existential crisis that the main character, commercial photographer of all that, faces thinking he might have witnessed and photographed a murder.

This series has live bands who have composed a sound track to the film, replacing the original.

Have seen these and the film and recommend. There is a scene with the mobile phones of the time in a car that is wow. At Holocene www.holocene.org 1001 SE Morrison 8:30PM $6

May 12-22 Uncanny Valley

The always accessible and simultaneously experimental Hand2Mouth Theater presents The Uncanny Valley on the big stage. The performance is constructed from memories of the performers. We reviewed earlier versions, just search. More information at www.hand2mouththeatre.org at Artist Repertory Theater 1515 SW Morrison. May 13,14,15,19,20,21 $14

May 8 How Other People See Me

How Other People See Me is a Publication Studio imprint by Portland artist Elizabeth Jaeger. Jaeger's thesis show is currently up in the Lewis and Clark art gallery, with an artist statement, and a smaller sample with the same materials is in the gallery at Pioneer Place mall. Those are sculptures. Tonight Jaeger releases an artist book of photography with her friends as subjects. More details at www.publicationstudio.biz/events/ At Publication Studio 717 SW Ankeny 6PM-9 Free

May 6-7 The Future

Once upon a time, performer, writer, filmmaker Miranda July lived in little Portland, Oregon. (In fact, she is collecting anecdotes of that time from you now) You may know her for her first feature, You Me and Everyone We Know. She returns tonight with her second big film, The Future, seen so far in just a few film festivals. Friday evening, July shows early shorts, many made in her Portland period, and the main film. Also in the program are films by local social practice artists, a genre that July played a part in, with Learning To Love You More, a project together, with Harrell Fletcher. Saturday it's two showings of the main film. At Hollywood Theatre www.hollywoodtheatre.org Film and shorts Friday 7PM; Film 7PM, 9:30PM $15

May 6 Yo YU Eastside Art Openings

The YU art center smartly draws itself in analogy to PCVA, a revolutionary art center in its day. To understand the relation, YU offers a show of some of the PCVA documentation. With smart artists a curators then, the center picked artists to show that today have been firmly acknowledged by history. The art world is more complicated now: professional curators v artist curators, gallery representation v self representation, commercial curation & art fairs v non-commercial international bieniale, local v international, social work v material work, and more. So a non-collecting art center today will be different. Tonight YU shows some of the PCVA documentation archive, shows off the start of a new art library and launches an issue of friends' Veneer Magazine. At YU Contemporary www.yucontemporary.org 800 SE 10th 6PM-9 Free



Global Alien has landed at Gallery Homeland! These artists in residence: Youngjoo Cho, Thorbjørn Reuter Christiansen, Lizza May David, Marte Kiessling, Namsee Kim, Kuo-Wei Lin, Jakob Schaible and Jae-Hyun Yoo, investigate The American Dream with their project Hope and Failure. Well worth the trip to Homeland's website for more and a visit to the gallery tonight. At Gallery Homeland www.galleryhomeland.org 2505 SE 11th x Division 6PM-9



In the 811 building

Golden Rule continues adventurous curation with Blisskreig, by Violet Aveline and Matthew DelBello. And Golden Rule gets the copywriting award for the month: "The coactive spectacle finds root in a fascination with mythology and folklore and emerges from a modern composition and electric color palette. The nontraditional figures and landscapes depict a somewhat paradoxical friendly violence. Nightmares of charm take shape in a post-industrial wilderness of a controlled disorder.

A wife and mother of two small boys, Aveline, who also enjoys experimenting with guitar, drums, flute and electronics, is working on soundscapes to accompany the vision she and DelBello have created. Also available this month: a fort to sleep in, screenprinted and designed by Aveline herself. Guests are invited to stay the night in the fort to get the full enchanting dream world experience. Stop by to register at your own whimsy.

Golden Rule’s object/artifact curation will marry carnival with classic--a well-tempered vintage collection paired with a retrospective: adult versions of the clothing you stole from Mom and treasured in your variant of a fort/circus tent/makeshift cave, as well as a healthy dose of Sunday bests".

At Golden Rule Gallery www.goldenruleportland.com 811 E Burnside, Suite 122 in the back

Black Box has Field Work, quite nice ironic landscape photography. Recommended. At Black Box Gallery www.blackboxgallery.com 811 E Burnside, Suite 212 upstairs 5PM-8:30 Free

Nationale has poet-painter Paulus Kapteyn with The Pursuit of Happiness, with a theme of "unchecked corruption,... political upheaval and social perversion". All very topical. At Nationale thenewnationale.com 811 E Burnside Map

Redux has Greg Brenden and Jim Mullen, both working in 2 1/2-3d with reused materials. At Redux www.reduxpdx.com 811 E Burnside

All at 811 East Burnside Map



Lille has Ruth Shively with First Impressions, portraits of women spanning cultures, perfect for mothers' day. At Lille Boutique www.lilleboutique.com 1007 E Burnside



Newspace Photo splits its show tonight between their home space and Biwa. Biwa has Jason Carlisle and the home space has Maureen Drennan & Sarina Finkelstein. Tonight when you are expending intense energy arting, stop at Biwa to refuel. Tasty Japanese snacks, drinks and meals. 10% of tonight's proceeds go to support scholarships at the excellent Newspace education program. Newspace Photo: www.newspacephoto.org 1632 SE 10th Biwa: biwarestaurant.com (menus) 215 SE 9th. Newspace until 9ish, Biwa until midnight



The Stables is the reincarnation of a previous artist workspace with an active and inexpensively-priced figure drawing and painting program. Tonight they have a 3 day show by Ramlah Yavar. At The Stables www.thestablespdx.com 910 SE Taylor 7PM Free



Nemo is a branding and communication agency. They present art shows from time to time that relate to their creative projects which are often extreme sports or urban-style themed. Tonight is Skulls and Tentacles by snow/skate board artists RYNO and Quincy Quigg. It's illustration-style work, a little rougher and more raw than usual skate graphics. Musical accompaniment by Wildildlife from Seattle, described as "heavy, heavy space rock". At Nemo Design HQ www.nemohq.com 1875 SE Belmont 6PM-10 Free



Disjecta has an early instance of the next months' art school thesis shows with UofO's MFA grads and their show Momentary Interruption. Sharing the space is Nickolaus Typaldos' Solitaire and the Unknown. At Disjecta, in the shadow of Paul Bunyan www.disjecta.org 8371 N. Interstate Map 6PM-10 Free



Milepost5 also has things going on if you are out that way. At Milepost5 www.milepostfive.com 900 NE 81st (go by MAX) 6PM-9 Free

May 5 Westside Art Openings

Grassy Knoll Gallery shows Know Power: Street Art for Social Change - Jackson Middle School students' graffiti-style interpretations of conflict in Africa. Proceeds to Play Pump, a project chosen by the students. Let's Go Outside spins. Graf coach for the project, Aden Catalani also has his own show this month at Backspace. At Grassy Knoll Gallery www.grassyknollgallery.com 123 NW 2nd



Chris Johanson is a fascinating artist who has been mentioned here before. Augen has a unique collection of Johanson prints going bask to his very early career, and they maintain their impact. At Augen Gallery www.augengallery.com 716 NW Davis



Ditch Projects decamps with great mixed media sculptures by Birdie Hamilton, as discovered by Tim Meyer. At Fourteen30 Gallery www.fourteen30.com 937 NW Glisan 6PM-8



Tom Cramer is a PNCA-schooled Portland artist who has worked for a few years in low relief carvings with applications of lush pigment. He worked early on in primitive carved totems then moved on to abstract relief carvings. This work, Oregon Landmarks, pictures impressionistic locations in his low relief carving style. Quite nice and great public art material. Also showing longtime Portland-NY artist and PCVA cofounder Jay Backstrand. At Laura Russo Gallery www.laurarusso.com 805 NW 21st



Chambers has Fab:topia, by Korean in America artist Sang-Ah Choi. The bright work relates to j-pop art with Korean artists navigating the spaces between the art giants Japan and China, geographically and figuratively. Chambers has been hewing a path of bright and video art, a welcome addition to Portland art vectors. At Chambers Gallery www.chambersgallery.com 916 NW Flanders Early close 8:30PM



Johannes Girardoni is a mid-career artist who has shown in US and European art centers. He shows minimalist sculptures in the main gallery and photographs altered with paint in the Across the Hall space.At PDX Contemporary Art www.pdxcontemporaryart.com 925 NW Flanders Map early close 8PM



The Grass Hut, firmly anchored at Floating World, has a great group show of Portland favorites titled Sloth n Moth. Excellent work. Grass Hut is in Floating World. www.grasshutcorp.com 20 NW 5th




Over at Hellion there are two shows: Echo and After the Quake. Echo is illustrations of angels and demons in the female form. The work is by well known manga artist and character designer, Kashima. After the Quake is illustrations by schoolkids about their feelings, from Yokohama, a large coastal town, thankfully out of the tsunami path this time. Sales of the drawings benefit the Japan Red Cross. Great project by Hellion's Matt Wagner, and the Echo show is a score. 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.



Renew is a show by Yoko Furusho, Cannaday Chapman and Jaz Harrold. At Compound Gallery www.compoundgallery.com 107 NW 5th



Interesting continuing shows include Sean Healey at Elizabeth Leach, Holly Andres at Charles Hartman and the Reading Frenzy print series.



The Everett Lofts are recommended as always for your free viewing pleasure.

April 29 Social Practice on Big Things

The Social Practice art movers at PSU have organized an art sale benefit in response to the Japan earthquake and tsunami. Portland and Portland State University have a long relationship with Japan. Tonight they hold the benefit art sale with works from the PSU community, many of whose artists are known nationally. The proceeds will travel unimpeded through Mercy Corps to their Japan partner, unlike other aid groups which collect money when disaster strikes and then place it in their own general fund. The show is Friday and Saturday. The auction is Friday evening. The work wil remain on display Saturday. At PSU Autzen Gallery, 2nd floor, Neuberger Hall. View 11AM-10PM Friday and 11Am-6PM Saturday. Reception begins 5PM Friday. Auction ends 8:30PM Friday. Free, donations accepted.

April 28 Together on Alberta

In Winter, the last Thursday madness hibernates. The fire performers, clowns, tall bikers, DJ's, bands, strollers and dogs recharge their energies. Hopefully a way to continue this event that benefits bars, restaurants, residential property values and landlords can be found. Meanwhile, Together Gallery, Ampersand and Monograph Bookwerks show year round out of the rain. Many other indoor spaces have art too. Together has How Did I Get Here by Scuba from San Francisco and OWL: Oregon Wave Logger by Scrappers Morrison. Live music by Tears Club at 9. At Together Gallery www.togethergallery.com 2916 NE Alberta, Ste A Map 6PM-11 Free

April 25 Carson Ellis at PSU

Local favorite illustrator Carson Ellis speaks tonight. She has shown all over Portland and has illustrated books mixing a precise and whimsical style which is instantly recognizable. Talk Monday 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 23 Appendix Space Benefit Event

The Appendix Project Space, one of Portland's most perfectly adapted art spaces, in that it offers engaging quality work, performance, participation on the slimmest of budgets, hosts a show, event, benefit this evening. Some outstanding artists offer their work for sale and in a raffle: Brennan Conaway, Carlos Gonzalez, Charissa Niles, Container Corps, Dave Griess, Edward Sharp, Gary Wiseman, Laura Hughes, Michael Reinsch, Midori Hirose, Molly Cooney-Mesker, Nathan Dinihanian, Oregon Painting Society, PISS, Sean Patrick Carney, Terence Duvall and Zach Rose. At Appendix Project Space. On the alley between 26th and 27th, South of Alberta. Wear shoes you can get muddy. www.appendixspace.com Map 6PM Free

April 22-23 Water In The Desert Under the Influence

Local creative forces host two evenings of local and out of town performers. Details at www.witdpresents.org 55 NE Farragut St. #9 (around in back)

April 17 Street Food as Street

In the Arab world, "the street" is an important, in-person place, for discussion and debate about politics. Jon Rubin is a social practice artist known for his Conflict Kitchen project, serving street food from a rotating cast of countries in which the government has a conflict. Rubin distributes the food in wrappers providing his interpretation of what in going on in country, developed by interviews with people in country and from there, but living here. The artist also organizes events around the food stand that operates 7 days a week for lunch in Pittsburgh, forming an in person place for discussion, like "the street". His Waffle Shop is similar, adding webcasts, emanating from the eatery. He has created dozens of works including documenting the fan culture of a Pittsburgh football team, a project that could easily fit with an exploration of Portland's Timbers Army. Talk Monday 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 16 The Mall and Vancouver

The mall galleries have another event tonight, a great opportunity to see what has changed since the last time you were there. At the Pioneer Place Mall, bounded by SW Morrison, Yamhill, 5th and 6th. Third floor. 6PM-9 Free


Some denigrate suburbs. But in this case, Vancouver rocks and Vancouver is the next St Johns! Tonight Vancouver Archer Gallery shows Thomas Allen, Harrison Higgs, Andrew O’Brien, Devon Oder and Robert Smith. It's a landscape gallery in their expansive space. Devon Oder is known for her alt-landscapes at Fourteen30. See it at Clark College Archer Gallery www.clark.edu/archergallery 1933 Fort Vancouver Way, Vancouver, WA 6PM-8 Free

April 15 Belgium Boat

Worksound has had consistently occasional international artists. Tonight they open a show of Belgian artists curated by Vanessa Van Obberghen. At Worksound www.worksoundpdx.com 820 SE Alder Map 6PM-9 Free



Meanwhile up North, the Labrador Project has a show by Lewis Feuer, one of the artists that make the boat their studio. At 12128 Labrador Project www.labradorproject.com It's moored by Fred's Marina 12900 NW Marina Way, Portland. Easily the largest boat at the moorage, you cannot miss it. More detailed directions, don't get lost, on the website. 7PM-10 Free

April 14 Pander Helm

Local illustrator filmmakers Jacob and Arnold Pander show collaborative work at Local 35. The brothers were early and influential comic artists with an impact on Portland-Oregon City developing into today's comic illustration center, along with Dark Horse, Reading Frenzy and the IPRC. At Local 35 local35.blogspot.com 3556 SE Hawthorne Blvd 6PM Free



The Portland Art Museum artist talks continue with local creative Jelly Helm. That adman - Mad Man is responsible for the Timbers soccer team axe campaign! Helm, in this monthly event, has chosen a work from the collection, and discusses with the audience how it inspires them. At the Portland Art Museum www.pam.org 1219 SW Park 6PM-8 $5 members, otherwise regular admission $12 so tour the Museum before

April 13 Curator Talks at Gallery

The Portland Art Museum photography curator, Dr. Julia Dolan, responsible for a collection ranging from the 19th Century to today, gives a talk at the Charles Hartman Gallery, a photo gallery spanning the same period, about collecting photographs. At Charles Hartman Fine Art www.hartmanfineart.net 134 NW 8th 7PM-8 Free

April 9 Pecha Kucha Foundation Ya

Pecha Cucha PDX #9 is themed on illumination. Pecha Cucha is a night of presentations of 20 slides, 20 seconds each slide, for a total of less than 7 minutes per presentation. While TED is world changing focused and Ignite is humorous, Pecha Kucha is primarily focused on design, planning and architecture. Speakers tonight are Jacob Brostoff, city planner / más transit; Brian Brush & Yong Ju Lee, architect, designer / SoftRigid; Osvaldo 'Ozzie' Gonzalez, board of directors / Miracle Theatre Group; Mykle Hansen , writer, inventor / Mykle Systems Labs; Laura Hughes, visual artist / Laura Hughes Studio; Ryan Lingard, designer / ryan lingard design, Kelley Roy & Eric Black, directors / ADX Portland; Susanne Seitinger, researcher / MIT Media Lab / Fluid Interfaces Group. The event is free, but they will be collecting funds for the Architecture for Humanities Japan project which is directed by Japanese on the ground. It's fitting because Pecha Kucha began in Japan. There will also be Pecha Kucha webcasts world wide April 16 focused on Japan. At the Shattuck Hall Annex, 1914 SW Park Avenue, at the corner of SW Broadway and Hall on the PSU campus. 7:30PM doors, 8:20 talks Free



The Foundation returns to homeboy Reed in the old union, a cross between a gym, a chapel and a ski chalet. It's one of Portland's most consistently presented b-boy/b-girl competitions and always fun. It's 5on5 for $500. Organized by ThomasOragami. DJ is ComputerFam. Judges are Alex - Moon Patrol (Portland, OR), Jbugz - Soul Felons (Vancouver, B.C), Jermz - Dance Broomz (Tacoma, WA) and Tim Chips - Fraggle Rock (Seattle, WA). Out of town crews representing are Suicide Kingz (Los Angeles, CA, Massive Monkees (Seattle, WA), Dance Broomz (Tacoma, WA), Outcrowd (Phoenix, AZ), Flex flave (Sacramento, CA), Filthee Feet (Vancouver B.C) and Jungle Brothers (Houston, TX).

The battle goes down beginning at 2PM with "Donald Trump your opponent" eliminations of P-town crews down to 8. Each of the 8 then choose which of the out of town guest crews they want to battle in the first evening round.

The Foundation in the old union at Reed College. Doors 6PM $10 advance/15 door


Container Corps is one of Portland's vibrant micropublishers. One of their projects is YA, a journal of arts writing. YA5 breaks tonight at Container Corps world headquarters. It has a superstar edit team: David Knowles - Publication Studio, Sam Korman - Car Hole Gallery, Gary Robbins - Container Corps. This edition is art themed; the publication rotates to music, food, design and film in cycles.

The first art issue includes: HG Masters on Public Art in Tel Aviv, Larry Rinder on The Best Museum Imaginable, Sanela Jahic on “Fire Painting”, Brad Troemel on Street Skateboarding, Derek Franklin on Satire and Irony plus Frederick Deknatel on Iraqi Artists in Exile.

At Container Corps www.containercorps.com 1322 N Killingsworth 6PM-9 Free

April 7 Westside Art Openings

Elizabeth Leach gallery has Upstate, mixed media sculpture by Sean Healey. The show is themed on the loss of American manufacturing in his home town. There are also snapshots by poet Alan Ginsberg and friends, of Alan Ginsberg and friends. At Elizabeth Leach Gallery www.elizabethleach.com 417 NW 9th Map



Holly Andres has a new body of dramatic domestic photography. Andres is the best in the Northwest at constructing these situations and is a national figure to watch. At Charles Hartman Fine Art www.hartmanfineart.net 134 NW 8th



Blair Saxon-Hill, known for painting and prints, has Tonal Sequence, collage, at the new Fourteen30 itinerant space. It's really quite elegant work. The raw material is printed matter, some samples containing recognizable photographic content, but what makes the work, work, are the other elements that are halftone dot printed elements which compose a tone and space poem. Outstanding. Temporary quality art spaces hosted by developers is a great trend we woud like to see more of in Portland, and this building is one of the more design-oriented recent efforts. At Fourteen30 Gallery www.fourteen30.com 937 NW Glisan 6PM-8



Blue Sky has landscape and skyscape photographers. Michael Light makes aerial photographs of the built landscape in the West. This is the more interesting work for me, high resolution huge contrast-y prints, another look at our impact on the landscape. Mitch Dobrowner makes photographs of sky storms from the ground. www.blueskygallery.org map 122 NW 8th



The UO White Box Gallery and video space within Grey Box have great shows this month. Hung Keung has an elegant video installation that is best experienced with another person or a group - ask how it works to make it yours. In the main space are outsider style portraits with a twist - their stories. The artist Daniel Heyman is also showing at Linfield College. At White Box in the White Stag Block 24 NW First. Opening reception 6PM-8 Free



Augen has a selection of gallery artists Grace Weston and David Leventhal, working in miniatures, and Phil Bard classical monochrome landscape maker, all working in photography. At Augen Gallery www.augengallery.com 716 NW Davis



Froelick has photographers Susan Seubert showing < r e s t r a i n t >, Ron van Dongen showing Proof, and Theresa Wingert showing Cinema Deconstructed. At www.froelickgallery.com 714 NW Davis



The Everett Lofts at the corner of NW Everett and Broadway are recommended, easier to see them all than to write about one.



Reading Frenzy has This Garden of Eden, primitive style figuartive work by musician Rachel Blumberg. At Reading Frenzy www.readingfrenzy.com 921 SW Oak



The Seasons Reverse: Leaps of Time and Distance is by music photographer and mail artist Jaclyn Campanaro. At Valentines valentineslifeblood.blogspot.com 232 SW Ankeny Art 9PM, Free



This month Photolucida touches down in Portland, so just about every gallery in the city has photo shows. Those that aren't are showing illustration-comic art connected to the Stumptown Comics show this month.

April 5 Geoloqi Curiosity

The Curiosity Club, with industrial design roots in the physically made world, hosts virtual maker-inventors Aaron Parecki and Amber Case of Geoloqi for a talk to fellow maker - designers this evening. Their invention is a secure geolocation platform for mobile. You can tune into the free live webcast off the Core77 site or visit in person at Hand Eye Supply www.handeyesupply.com/pages/curiosity-club 23 NW 4th 6PM Free

April 4 Jon Raymond Writer

Jon Raymond, a writer that operates in the art world speaks. He cofounded Plazm and has written art narratives and works that have become film. Talk Monday 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 3 Dance Art

Modern dance is has a small audience, though participatory and ritual dance is as old as we are human. Perhaps, like other contemporary art, it is voided by a potential audience that believes they cannot "get it". In actuality, it is as fascinating as the performance of Olympic athletes. It can be experienced by pure intuition - a resonance of subconscious points, a personal narrative can be impressed upon it, the dynamics between performers can be the focus, or the viewer can put themselves inside the movement.

Modern dance also incorporates its own tragedy. While some discover performative dance through ballet from young childhood, others discover it through gymnastics or come to it later, in college. Their peak physical capability is in late teen years to early 20's, like an athlete, from whence it declines. But their expressive emotional capability is meanwhile on the rise, for a lifetime. Where do those petterns intersect?

Today a show opens at a visual art space which reprises dance video over almost 40 years in Portland. It's accompanied by performances by performers active throughout that period. The show continues to mid-May. This afternoon, Linda K. Johnson, Linda Austin and Tahni Holt, representing the 1990s, the 1980's to now and the millennium to now perform at 3:15PM, 4 and 4:45, all respectively. More performances follow April 30 and May 14, with a discussion April 28.

At the Marylhurst Art Gym at the Marylhurst University www.marylhurst.edu/theartgym/ Map 3PM-6 Free

April 2 Disjecta False Front Fan Death

Disjecta has a colorful history of building occupations. They were in a revival church, with a bathtib in the main room for baptisms, in the Frigidaire Building rented from an LA-based slumlord and now are in a former bowling alley. Tonight's show, Score, by Avantika Bawa, reprises the bowling alley history of the building. At Disjecta www.disjecta.org 8371 N Interstate 6PM-10 Free



False Front Studio opens Emily Nachison's Hylozoic. It's and installation inspired by her mythical landscapes. You can see from her website some of the epic installations she has made. Recommended. At False Front Studio www.falsefrontstudio.com 4518 NE 32nd Map 7PM-10 Free



Appendix is well known for installation and performance. They reduce their schedule in rainy season. But rain not withstanding, tonight they have Fan Death by Gary Robbins. At Appendix Project Space. On the alley between 26th and 27th, South of Alberta. www.appendixspace.com Map 6-9ish Free

April 1 Eastside Art Openings +

At 811 Central

Golden Rule has a show publicized by puzzling interchanges with the artist. We love meta, so stop by to see the outcome. Trust the Golden Rule. At Golden Rule Gallery www.goldenruleportland.com 811 E Burnside, Suite 122 in the back


Black Box Gallery opens tonight upstairs. Savvy-brainy curator Todd Johnson has made it. The first show is an open call. blackboxgallery.com Suite 212 upstairs


Redux has Brent Superstar. I mean how can you argue with a superstar? The artist is well known in Portland for works on Alberta and in the City Art network. You can't go wrong with this artist who has newly undertaken a more caricature style. At Redux www.reduxpdx.com 811 E Burnside Free


Nationale has Portland painter Jaik Faulk. At Nationale thenewnationale.com 811 E Burnside Map

All 811 East Burnside


Up the street Lille Boutique has Valerie Joan Taylor. The boutique's merchandise is sweet and romantic. But their art shows are unafraid at venturing into more complex elements of the female psyche. This show is more medium light side. At Lille Boutique www.lilleboutique.com 1007 E Burnside



Newspace has a show connected to the Photolucida curatorial process. That has resulted in an international show by emerging photographers Thomas Alleman, Justyna Badach, Claire Beckett, Kendrick Brinson, Christopher Capozziello, Tom Chambers, Christopher Churchill, Sam Comen, Kirk Crippens, Mitch Dobrowner, Natan Dvir, Daniela Edburg, Matt Eich, Ethan Eisenberg, Dima Gavrysh, Kevin German, Elin Hoyland, Jessica Hines, Joseph O. Holmes, Norihisa Hosaka, Mary Shannon Johnstone, Loli Kantor, Dianne Kornberg, Alejandra Laviada, Stephen Mallon, Rania Matar, Annie Marie Musselman, Louie Palu, Rachel Phillips, Benjamin Rasmussen, Christopher Rauschenberg, Frank Relle, Justine Reyes, Jeff Rich, Lynn Saville, Traer Scott, Manjari Sharma, Jeff Sheng, Tim Simmons, Pavel Maria Smejkal, Yisook Sohn, S. Gayle Stevens, Jamey Stillings, Amy Thompson Avishai, Daniel Traub, Kevin Van Aelst, Alvaro Villela, and Corinne Vionnet. Newspace is a great proponent of up to date photography. At Newspace Photo www.newspacephoto.org 1632 SE 10th



Photography is magic. Today it is electromagic. But yesterday it was chemomagic. That is the essence of this show of "alternative" photographic printing processes. Well worth seeing. At 23Sandy www.23sandy.com 623 NE 23 at Sandy 5PM-8 Free



We enter the emergence of the new generation of Portland-schooled artists. Keep an eye here for shows by recent graduates, though we guarantee we don't cover everything. PSU and PNCA have done well integrating themselves with art making machinery publicity vehicles. Lewis and Clark is on the upswing too, curating its own at the Car Hole Gallery and Labrador. The newest class opens shows this evening in the L&C main gallery, usually host to prestigious international artists. At Lewis and Clark College www.lclark.edu/hoffman_gallery Opening 5PM-8 Free