March 24 Bathrooms are Gross

"Bathrooms are Gross, So We’re Redesigning Them" is a talk this evening by biowaste activists Molly Danielsson and Matthew Lippincott of The Cloacina Project. Indoor waste plumbing is about 4000-6000 years old. But what happens to that waste followed "the solution to pollution is dilution" philosophy until only about 150 years ago. In many places in the world today, and even in the US, that is the state of the art. That we deal with it at all is attributed to the first epidemiologist, Dr. John Snow. He traced a cholera outbreak in 1854 Soho (London) to a water pump contaminated by human waste (map). The episode and its importance has been popularized by noted information graphics proponent, Edward Tufte.

Cloacina provides a poetic summary: "combining inevitability, intimacy, and ecological value, the problem of excrement is situated directly between our artificial boundaries of human and natural environments." Tonight they present bathrooms they have built, their evolving theories, and new research directions on toilets, sinks and urinals of the future.
At Project Grow at the Port City Development Center. 2156 N Williams Ave at Tillamook. 6PM-9 Free/donation

March 23 Pure Clear Appendix

New Appendix curator-collaborator, Alex Mackin Dolan, shows his personal work tonight at Appendix, Pure Clear. The work connects objects by color, concept and chemistry, weaving an environmental theme. At Appendix Project Space www.appendixspace.com On the alley between 26th and 27th, South of Alberta. Map 7-10ish Free



Worksound has been hosting an extended residency for 5 artists. Tonight two, Kyle Rapiquiso and Nathanael Thayer Moss discuss their work over an informal happy hour. Rapiquiso discusses the influence of "skyscrapers, shelves, images and mimicry"; Nathanael Moss on "transcending repetition... parallax". At Worksound www.worksoundpdx.com 820 SE Alder Map 7PM-10 Free

March 21-24 In the Garden with Natsu Nakajima

Natsu Nakajima began her dance career in 1955, at age 12. At age 19, she began a collaboration with Kazuo Ohno, and at age 20, in 1963, with Tatsumi Hijikata.

Hijikata is the founder of the butoh dance movement, with its first performance in 1959, Kinjiki (Forbidden Colors). He worked with Ohno for many years and together they define the two main branches of butoh.

Hijikata represents the wild and taboo-embracing branch. He was the youngest of 9. He was suspended from school for urinating on teachers and engaged in petty crime in his early Tokyo days. He worked with images of nature and the landscape inspired by the rural Japan of is youth and the indigenous nature-based religion of Japan, Shinto.

Ohno was a Christian and represents the soulful branch of butoh. He first encountered butoh later in life, at age 53, and worked with themes of birth, death, the mother and flowers. Many butoh dancers perform at advanced age. Ohno performed unassisted into his early 90's, and sometimes in a wheelchair in his late 90's, passing at age 103.

Initially butoh was entirely made by male dancers. Nakajima was the first female dancer with whom Hijikata worked. At age 26, she formed her own group, Muteki-sha (Fog Horn Dance Company). For a few years, Hijikata choreographed works for Muteki-sha.

After his performance, Nikutai no Hanran (Revolt of the Flesh), Hijikata undertook a four year reexamination of butoh. He returned to visit his home town in rural Japan. His meditations on the female spirit, including his lost sisters, who had been sold or married to feed the family, in the period of famine of his childhood, weighed upon him. In 1972, he formed the first all female butoh group, Hakutobo, with his lover, Yoko Ashikawa, and other women with no previous dance background.

Meanwhile, Nakashima carried on her own work, including a collaboration again in 1976 with Hijikata, Sorewa Konoyouna Yoru datta (It was a Night Like This).

Nakashima's signature work is Niwa (The Garden), first performed in 1982. It has been continuously adapted to the present time. "Niwa is a forgotten garden, very tiny, very Japanese. I wanted to see my life from the perspective of a woman seated in the garden, watching it bloom and wither." She has also made stunning and moving works with untrained intellectually and physically disabled dancers.

At age 69, she teaches regularly in Tokyo and travels internationally to perform. This week she offers a series of workshops in Portland. Opportunities to work with Nakashima are Wednesday-Friday from 7PM-9 and Saturday 12PM-3. Registration information and details are at www.theheadwaters.net/?service=natsu-nakajima-intensive-butoh-workshop At the Headwaters Theater, by www.witdpresents.com 55 NE Farragut St. #9. The theater is in the back of the building by the railroad tracks facing Winchell Street.

March 21 Designing the Mayor

Portland loves process. In particular, Portland public involvement in government decisions is one of the most involved, including our strong neighborhood association system. So it's fitting in this year's campaign for mayor that there are innumerable debates between the 3 major candidates. Tonight it is in front of the architecture, planning and design community, with an opportunity for questions. It's part of the excellent Bright Light series, but in a different location than usual. At the University of Oregon in the White Stag Block, 70 NW Couch. Doors 5:30PM, talk 6. Free

March 20 Boombox Appendix Party

Michael Davis-Yates builds speakers, ambient audio objects and electronic musician performance tools as Leaptronic Audio. His specialty is boomboxes. The originals are getting long in the tooth enough that finding a thrift store museum piece that works is a challenge. Repairs of those old ones is a challenge too, few of the electronic parts of the time are made today. So there is a romance for some with making them anew. A presentation of the Curiosity Club, you can tune into the free live webcast off the Core77 site or visit the talk and demonstration in person at Hand Eye Supply www.handeyesupply.com/pages/curiosity-club 23 NW 4th 6PM Free



Appendix Project Space holds a fund raising party for its upcoming year of programming. It will be an exciting year with shows by Daniel Baird (Chicago), Alex Mackin Dolan (Portland), Christian "Megazord" Oldham (Salem), Brian Khek (Chicago), David Knowles (Portland), MSHR (Portland), Cameron Rowland (New York), Micah Schippa (Chicago), Iain Ball (London), Joseph Hamilton (Melbourne), Yngve Holen (Berlin) and Katja Novitskova (Amsterdam). The event tonight includes DJ's and visualists Concrete Floor, Ra' Sean, DJ Peacepips, DJ Biohazard and Tarzan Boy. At Holocene www.holocene.org 1001 SE Morrison Doors 7PM, Music 9 $5

March 18 No. 2 Waves Alike

The No. 2 Print Shop is one of Portland's printmaking collectives. They open a show tonight by Vanessa Kauffman, The waves [broke on the shore]. The work was made in Belgium and combines letterpress, monoprinting and drawing, with the text based on the writing of Virginia Woolf. At the No 2 Print Shop, 3317 SE 21st 4PM-6 Free

March 17 Mall Time

The Mall galleries open their new shows tonight.

Place has Philip Bone & BT Livermore have High School Football Memories, themed on the formation of their conception of manliness. Georgeanne Watters has large scale prints, The Weighing of Souls. Julie Perini has Big Film and Michael Reinsch has a performance from his crowdsourced project. Heather Zinger has a video work Crying, Feeding, Touching on men and personal stories.

The Store space opens one of the last if not the last of its shows, 24 Karat Pretense. The space has been programmed by PNCA students. The artists, Kris Clouse, Kaija Cornett, Demian Dine ’Yazhi’, Zack Dixon, Insa Benita Evans, Andre C. Filipek, Anthony Hudson, Adam Johnson, Brenna Lavin, Izidora Leber, Lee and K. Valenci, are participants in Linda Kliewer’s video installation class. The space will soon be the new project of Mark Woolley who may open his first show there themed on red.

At Place, placepdx.tumblr.com a gallery on the 3rd floor of the Pioneer Place Mall. If the mall appears closed, enter the film theater building adjacent, travel through the tunnel to the Place mall, and take the elevator to the 3rd floor, sometimes the bridge on the 3rd floor is open too. 700 SW Fifth. 6PM-9 Free

March 16-18 Clash

Hip hop is a fertile cultural remix culture that matters. Yes, contemporary art remixes culture, but with the same risk and earnest? This event, Clash, is hip hop mixed with commercial sponsors. Bboy-Bgirl dancing is a sport, so what's new with that?

The event is a regional bracket that leads to the world championship. Saturday 64 competitors from LA to Vancouver to Houston will be narrowed to 8. Sunday those 8 compete with an invited A-list of 8. The one winner advances to San Diego for the best of the West. From there, the winner competes in Chicago for the US title. The US winner moves to the world finals in Rio.

Competitors are: Faze - Rhythm Bandits (PDX), Lift - Soul Beat (PDX), Ginger - (PDX), Mel Massacre - No Roots (SEA), Bryan - Shoryukent (Kent), Cha Cha - Art Of Movement (SEA), The Pit - Massive Monkees (SEA), Phenomejon - 17.42 (Puyallup), Boxcutta - Fraggle Rock (SEA), Furuya - Mid City Breakers (PDX), Impulse - Moon Patrol (PDX), Mikeskee - Sleepless Collective (SEA), Luke - Crisis (SEA), Jbugz - Soul Felons (BC), MPO - Jungle Brothers (Houston), King Reds - Soul Felons (Tri-Cities), Nori - Battle Reflex (SEA), Fligh - TruRoots (Salem), Kornnut - Crisis Crew (SEA), Beany - Solo (Boise), Sonic - Rockin Fly Kicks (PDX), Drama - Moon Patrol (PDX), Say - Crazy Monkiees (PDX), Byron - Misguided Steps (SEA), Fu-Rok - Solo (PDX), Akhang47 - Dec Con 5 (PDX), Spinoy - Battle Reflex (SEA), Lunatic - Unleashed (SEA), Leviathan - Def Con 5 (PDX), Fumi - Battle Reflex (SEA), Killa Cam - Portland City Rockers (PDX), Drift - Vandle Squad (PDX), Doe Rock - Portland City Rockers (PDX), Quetzel - Spanish Armada / Rocking Fly Kicks (Hood River), Justin - Solo (WA), Throw - Rhythm Bandits (PDX), Neo - Unleashed / Battle Reflex (SEA), Cristian Em - DWA (PDX), TangBang - Solo (PDX), Hongover - 17.42 (TAC), Irban - Unleashed/Battle Reflex (Seattle), Lil Sin - The Freakshow (Oceanside), Gil - AOM (SEA), Merk - New Birth (PDX), Abiud - Break Tuff (Tri Cities), Aaryn - Back 2 Basix (Aloha), Rona - Solo (Aloha), Golden Child - MPC (PDX), Long Division - Shoryukent (Kent), Buckshot - Unleashed (SEA), Mango - No Roots (TAC), Damon - Solo (PDX), Jason K. - Solo (PDX), and Elvis - Back 2 Basix (Aloha).


Sunday DJ Soul Rane (Vegas) on the wheels of steel. Special guest Bboy, 2011 world finalist Morris of the Fallen Kings. True athlete.

Pre-party at The Slate: 2x2 crowd judged battles & performances. 2001 NW 19th#104 Friday 7PM
Eliminations at the Urban Arts Studio. 3934 NE MLK Blvd#108A Saturday 6PM
Event at the Bossanova Ballroom. 722 E Burnside Sunday Doors 6PM
All events all ages, drinks 21+ Friday & Sunday, each event $10

March 15 On the Beach

Einstein on the Beach. Seminal postmodern opera. 1976. Avignon. 5 hours.

It is a collaboration between minimalist composer Philip Glass and epic director Robert Wilson. It samples the life of Albert Einstein, whose work ultimately resulted in the atomic bomb. The title is a reference to the 1957 Australian novel, On the Beach, about the end of the world from the nuclear radiation of a war. It is an end still within our grasp. The film from the novel, easily searchable by the same title, uses Waltzing Matilda, a song of deep significance to Australians, throughout. Later musicians wrote new lyrics to the song lamenting the futility of war and its human impact. Is it a coda to a species?

The opera, with original choreography by Lucinda Childs, is being presented again in 2012-3, internationally. Glass and Wilson have selected 5 dance performer collaboratives, from Argentina, Iceland, Italy, Brazil, Chile, NY and Seattle, to make new interpretations of segments of Einstein on the Beach for a separate 75 minute performance in NY. One is the Seattle movement music collaborative, the Degenerate Art Ensemble, DAE. DAE is the creative child of composer-musician, Joshua Kohl, and butoh mover, Haruko Nishimura, with their collaborators.

Tonight DAE previews the work in progress at the Moore, with a documentary about the original Einstein on the Beach performance. DAE presents its performance with the others in New York April 5-7 at the Baryshnikov Arts Center.

Einstein on the Beach by the Degenerate Art Ensemble. At the Moore Theater 911 Pine Street Doors 7PM, 8 show. Free!

March 15 What We Carried

PortlandOrUSNow is generally focused on events close to Portland city center. We only occasionally cover school galleries, though their shows are consistently often good. It's our culture. But sometimes we note items in the suburbs and this is one.

Longtime Portland photographer Jim Lommasson has flexed his lens toward social practice, and poignant narrative, focused on the small stories of individuals affected by big events. These have included Katrina and Iraq War veterans. Now he brings, What We Carried, a refugee project.

The United States has been blessedly insulated from war on its soil for almost 150 years. Yet the social impact and resentments, the wounds and scar tissue, from that time are still present. What is it like for people who have personally lived in war?

Lommasson explores that in his project What We Carried: Fragments from the Cradle of Civilization. He has been interviewing refugees to the United States from Iraq. He collects their stories and photographs the personal items they carried with them, often by foot, through borders and refugee camps, over months and years, before arriving here.

The show opens tonight. Lommasson gives a talk about it March 21 at 2. At Print Arts Northwest www.printartsnw.org in the Washington County Museum on the PCC Rock Creek Campus. 17677 NW Springville Road Opening 5:30PM-8 Free

March 14 Good Local

PortlandOrUsNow wrote about and attended the inspiring Good for Cities:Portland event. That project feeds into a PSU design class which has chosen Portland challenges of their own and then designed solutions. Design thinking worldchanging.

The students present their chosen problems and designed solutions tonight. Alissa Walker of GOOD speaks as part of the program. At adxportland.com 417 SE 11th x Stark Map 6:30PM Free

March 12 Mao to Now

Art in China can be a sticky wicket. Most artists operate under the official radar, but some fly too close to the sun. That the sun's orbit changes unpredictably makes it a challenging game. Dr. Richard Kraus, Professor Emeritus of Political Science, University of Oregon is fascinated by the subject and shares his thoughts on the interrelations between politics, economics and art over the last 40 years in China. Dr. Kraus has written on patronage, censorship, nude painting, the repatriation of Chinese antiques, calligraphy and the impact of Chinese aesthetics on the world. Readers interested in this topic can research the backstory of the current Chinese film Let The Bullets Fly. At PSU www.pdx.edu in Smith Memorial Student Union, 1825 SW Broadway, Room 236 6PM Free

March 10 Le Hip Hop Biennials

The Portland Biennial continues tonight with an opening by artists Erik Geschke, Brian Gillis, Anna Gray & Ryan Wilson Paulsen, Hand2Mouth Theater, Arnold Kemp, Matt McCormick, Mack McFarland, Susan Seubert. The entire collection of biennial artists are exciting, but many of these are the most interesting to me. Decide for yourself! At Disjecta, in the shadow of Paul Bunyan www.disjecta.org 8371 N. Interstate Map 6PM-10 Free



I'm fascinated by sampling and some edges of hip hop. Here's a rare edge for Portland: French hip hop. French hip hop culture is considered second only to the American scene. It's a mix of African influences and working class culture straight out of the projects, the banlieues, monumental low rent housing towers in the suburbs. French rap emerged in the early 1980's. Here is Petit Frere from IAM's Planète Mars from 1991 Marseille. Here is another example, La concubine de l'hemoglobine, by Paris MC Solaar. Portland DJ E3 has a French connection, is fluent in French, and in French hip hop. Tonight for the early set, 9PM-10 of Atlas, E3 lays down le hip hop. Atlas by Anjali and The Kid with E3 at Holocene 1001 SE Morrison 9PM $5

March 9 Bansuri

The bamboo flute, the bansuri, is one of the more difficult instruments, and its expressive mastery in Indian and Japanese music is a great quest. American bansuri player Steve Gorn is joined by American tabla player Benjy Wertheimer in a concert of Indian music this evening. Wertheimer was the founding tabla player of the world fusion ensemble Ancient Future in 1979. Both musicians have performed classical Indian music and fusion with Indian and world musicians. Tonight they perform Northern Indian classical ragas and folk music in traditional style. At the Movement Center www.themovementcenter.com 1021 Northeast 33rd Avenue. Parking directions in the residential neighborhood www.themovementcenter.com/direc.php. 7:30PM $15 advance $20 door

March 8 Typographic Animals

Artist Marcus Fischer makes illustration style work which includes type selected by weight and shape to make edges and shading. So it's a hand- machine- hybrid. His subject for this show is animals. Fits perfectly with Portland's type foundring and letter press obsessions. Could be a good exercise of find the letter with a magnifying lens for childen as well as being pleasing for adults. Fischer is a sound artist, musician and photographer too. At Black Wagon blackwagon.com 3964 N Mississippi Map 5PM-7

March 7 Wild Combination

The Research Club is a gathering of creative individuals in Portland. They have a new initiative to facilitate collaborations between arts groups and individuals. Wild Combination kicks off that program with varied performances and tables set up by arts groups, as well as plenty of individual networking. Details are at research-club.org/wild-combination. At Holocene 1001 SE Morrison. Early start 8:30PM $5

March 3 Rocking Bamboo Flute

Openings at underground gallery Rocksbox are at once sprawling, and intimate, in a good way. That is because the curator, impressario and artist, Patrick Rock, who has created the gallery in a storefront on North Interstate, has a progressive bent and a great network of edgy artist friends not afraid to make a mess. Tonight it's Night-tide Daytripping by Ralph Pugay. Pugay has been making a name for himself with painting illustrations in which the characters engage in provocative pursuits. The gallery has hours throughout the month detailed on the website. Always recommended. At Rocksbox Fine Art www.rocksboxfineart.com 6540 N Interstate 7PM-11 Free



Portland and Oregon have a long history of Chinese connection. The PSU Institute for Asian Studies and the Portland Lan Su Chinese Garden have partnered to present talks on those connections. This morning, Ned Jacquith will discuss the bamboo collection of the Lan Su Garden. At the PSU College of Urban Affairs Bldg, Room 250. 9:30AM-11 Free



Shashank Subramanyam performs on flute with H.N. Bhaskar on Violin and Sai Giridhar on Mridangam, in a concert of classical Indian music. Produced by Kalakendra www.kalakendra.org. At the First Baptist Church, 909 SW 11th Avenue. 7:30PM Members, free, students $15, otherwise $20

March 2 Eastside Art Openings+

Out Eastside, Milepost5 has a poignant performance by artist Wendy Dyer. Dyer, who has been making groundbreaking performances based on her childhood family life, presents Sorting Things Out. In this performance, Dyer uses a paper shredder to reduce all of her childhood family portraits to bits. She then will sort the bits by hand, by grayscale and hue, into piles. I really can't say anything more about the intensity of this idea. It's at Milepost5 www.milepostfive.com 900 NE 81st (go by MAX) 6PM-9 Free



YU Contemporary has a talk by 2008 Whitney Biennial photographer Shannon Ebner. Ebner places handmade signs in her photographic field as another layer of content. At YU Contemporary www.yucontemporary.org 800 SE 10th &PM $5



Valentines is cohost to 13 for 13, an exchange of artists and art between The Portland State University & the San Francisco Art Institute. Most of the show is at PSU's Autzen Gallery. Tonight there are live performances and videos at Valentines valentineslifeblood.blogspot.com 232 SW Ankeny 10PM-11:30 Free



Notes on a Recent Arrival is the show by University of Oregon faculty. Tonight curators Stamatina Gregory and Kristan Kennedy discuss the work. At the University of Oregon White Stag Building, 70 NW Couch 5:30PM



Ajna Lichau is a smart installation and video artist locating from San Francisco to Portland. She combines her studio with other building openings, Gallery Homeland and curator Modou Dieng for a show, Slow Invisible Drama of Madonna. The work is an interactive light and video sculpture by Daniel Long, Mary T Brossman and Val Hardy Jr, current or recent PNCA students. 2nd Floor, Ford Building 7PM-9ish Free

Meanwhile downstairs Homeland continues performances supporting portrait paintings by Jeff Diteman. Winter Compresses the Day is a dance performance by Grace Nowakoski, Jacqueline Rubinstein and Jaasiel Bean; with live music by Jeff Diteman, Justin Glenn Smith and Ryan Spangler; video by Dora Gaskill, Grace Nowakoski & Jeff Diteman. At Gallery Homeland www.galleryhomeland.org in the Ford Building www.fordbuildingpdx.com 2505 SE 11th x Division 6PM-9



Portland painter James Papadopoulos, in PNCA's MFA program shows his work at Nationale thenewnationale.com 811 E Burnside Map

Portland Scottish artist Neil M. Perry makes anthropomorphic illustration style work. You can see it at Redux www.reduxpdx.com 811 E Burnside

Color: The Visual Spectrum is a photography show of landscapes and a few peoplescapes curated by Todd Johnson. At Black Box Gallery www.blackboxgallery.com 811 E Burnside, Suite 212 upstairs 5PM-8:30 Free

All at 811 East Burnside Map



Gabe Flores continues and About Framing, by Avantika Bawa, opens. At Half/Dozen Gallery www.halfdozengallery.com 722 E Burnside (enter on 8th) 6PM-9, half dozen



Foco has 2011 grad of Arizona State Jonni Cheatwood who combines collage and urban aerosol techniques in his paintings. At Foco Gallery focogallery.wordpress.com 211 SE Madison Free



Painter and illustrator Ian Anderson opens new illustration paintings at the Hawthorne Albina Press tonight. 5012 SE Hawthorne 6PM-8 Free

March 1 Westside Art Openings+

Death is not funny. But there is a good argument we should lighten up on our relationship with it. Maybe artist Jim Riswold, mad ad man, who beat death by cancer, has some ideas about that. Pretty smart copywriter Riswold presents his new show, Philosophy is Not Funny, inspired by noted philosophers Hegel, Kant, Spinoza, Foucault and others. At W+K www.wk.com 224 NW 13th Map 5PM-9 Free



Contact. It's a heavy meme. One of the heaviest. In the top 5, with birth, love, mating and death. Take a look at a talk on the search for contact. So with that meme, curator Chloé Womack has crafted a show. Artists Chase Biado, Jamie Edwards, Daniel J Glendening, Joshua Lee Vineyard, the Xhurch Collective and the Portland Alien Museum explore of the idea of a relationship with other life forms, real, fictional, in our minds. The announcement of the show is a beautiful thing. In the Littman Gallery at Portland State University Smith Center, 1825 SW Broadway Room 250. early 5PM-8 Free



Sometimes we forget, in the ADD fog of the mediasphere, our our native landscape, and our native people, both here before. Especially true with the ubiquity of access to wild landscape surrounding us daily. James Lavadour lives it as a native man who makes abstract landscape paintings. His studio is on the res. Long championed by PDX Contemporary Gallery, he has a show there opening tonight. At PDX Contemporary Art www.pdxcontemporaryart.com 925 NW Flanders Map early close 8PM Free



What is it about eleven? In our range of experience we have had 9/11. Madrid 3/11. Japan has 3/11. The Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami shook the culture and government to the core. There will be an exclusion zone for years. Artists Soichiro Fukuda and Dai Ishizaka have photos of it. The gallery also has Terra D'Agua by illustrators Marcelo Macedo, Monstrinho and Michael Cursed. 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 6PM-10ish Free



The Portland 2012 Biennial, curated by Prudence Roberts, continues its sequential openings across multiple venues tonight. Ben Buswell and Akihiko Miyoshi are at PDX Across the Hall, 929 NW Flanders. Early close 8PM Free



Compound has Aaron Nagel, Dan Gluibizzi, David Bray, Berto Legendary, JesseHectic, Adam Garcia, Ripper1331, Alister Lee, others, in a show, Dangerous Curves, themed on the pin up aesthetic. At Compound Gallery www.compoundgallery.com 107 NW 5th 6PM-10 Free



Stumptown has Bradley Streeper. Haven't seen the show, but it wins the copywriting award for the month: "Bradley Streeper combines paintings and sculptures to reflect on a culture increasingly dictated by shallow advertising, flashy surfaces, and anxiety-inducing white noise. With surroundings often distorting our definition of value, Streeper points to man’s conflict with the natural world and literally carves out extraneous information from his pieces in an attempt to bring some order to this modern chaos". At Stumptown www.stumptowncoffee.com 128 SW 3rd 5PM-9 Free



Chambers has installation artist Allen Maertz. Maertz makes 2d and dioramas which would fit well with natural history or science museums. At Chambers Gallery www.chambersgallery.com 916 NW Flanders Early close 8:30PM Free



Jessica Bronk is a Portland painter and maker of schematic impressionist landscapes. She has some at the Powell's Books third floor gallery. 1005 W Burnside Store hours. Free



Valentines is transitioning to Modou as curator. Tonight though there is Yep, photos by Norm Sajovie. Best to curator booker Jen on her new project! 7PM-late Free



The Everett Station lofts are recommended as always, all of your choice, of course! At the Everett Lofts 625 NW Everett. Bounded by NW Everett, Broadway, Flanders and 6th Map



Want the heaviest of heavies instead of art? You can see the documentary War Don Don as part of the Cascade African Film Festival free tonight. War Don Don translates in Krio to the War is Over. Sierra Leone had a civil war from the 90's to 2001. It's in the top 3 unspeakable atrocities of the 20th century. Not necessarily in numbers, but certainly in transgression on society and civilization. After it, the UN and the international court at Le Hague stepped in to process the period. This film traces the trial of rebel leader Issa Sesay. Prosecutor David Crane remarks on the war as “a tale of horror beyond the gothic into the realm of Dante’s Inferno… these dogs of war, these hounds of hell released.” That's a mild indictment in my opinion. The defense portrays Sesay as himself caught in the maelstrom. Frankly I don't know if I can watch this on the big screen knowing the period. But I would recommend it. Part of the Cascade Festival of African Film www.africanfilmfestival.org At PCC Cascade Moriarty Arts and Humanities Building, Room 104. 7:30PM Free

February 29-March 4 Reed RAW Art

Reed Art Weekend is a yearly festival of visual and performance art curated entirely by students with a budget. The work of Reed artists shows together with visiting artists. There have often been striking outdoor installations that take advantage of the luscious campus. Always recommended! The full program is at reed.edu/raw. At Reed College 3203 SE Woodstock. Free

February 29 Wicked Conflict and Fixes From History

Let's just say I have and interest in South Africa. South Africa is the most developed country in Africa. What does that mean? Well, Egypt might be number 2. Once upon a time, the country had a legal system and constitution allowing democracy and human rights for about 5 million citizens whose families migrated from Europe. 3.5 million "mixed race" citizens had some participation, their own separate parliament of lessor power. And 31 million Africans had neither voice nor many rights. Beginning a few years earlier, the South African government initiated secret negotiations with opposition groups in the civil war. That war and adjacent actors, like Chief Buthelezi, was very destructive of the country's culture. The result was the release of Nelson Mandela and other opposition leaders from prison, negotiations on a new government and elections for all in 1994. Happy ending. Those negotiations and the work of the president, F W De Klerk and Nelson Mandela enabled the relatively peaceful transition. They were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize as a result.

Wicked problems is a friend's name for the most difficult problems facing society and the world. As a strategy, he assigns them to students to explore, maybe to solve. Someone's got to do it.

The Concordia University Wholistic Peace Institute is bringing President De Klerk to Portland to speak on resolving wicked problems, peacefully. He speaks at a variety of events today which you can find here: www.wholisticpeaceinstitute.com. Peace, out.

February 28-29 How De Body?

"How de body" is a traditional greeting in West Africa equivalent to "How are you doing?" Is It My Body: Conversions, Transgressions, and Representations is a showing of artists' films themed on the body. On Tuesday you can see Black Balls by Bruce Nauman, Hand Movie by Yvonne Rainer, Geography of the Body by Willard Maas and Conversions by Vito Acconci. Wednesday you can see Representational Painting by Eleanor Antin, Fat by Ursula Hodel, Snap by Seoungho Cho, Leg by Denise Marika and Thighing (Blue) by Bruce Nauman. Excellent opportunity to see rare showings from innovators. Not sure about the chair situation. Curated by the Cinema Project cinemaproject.org at Fourteen30 Gallery www.fourteen30.com 937 NW Glisan 7PM Free

February 27 Cagey Texting History

Are you bored on a Monday? No need in Portland, Oregon, US!


John Cage is a revolutionary and groundbreaking American composer. He invented the idea of random processes in composing music. Pianist Adam Tendler from NY presents Cage's Sonatas and Interludes for prepared piano tonight. Everyone knows the sound of a piano. A prepared piano is a piano with items added on the top of the strings to alter the sound, creating new resonances or activating adjacent strings. At PSU Lincoln Hall, Room 21. 8PM Free



Photography+Text was a thing. A proponent has been late career artist and Cal Arts prof Jim Goldberg. He speaks tonight. A part of the PSU MFA Lecture Series pdx.edu/art/mfa-lecture-series. In the Shattuck Hall Annex, 1914 SW Park Avenue, at the corner of SW Broadway and Hall on the PSU campus. 7:30PM Free



Portland likes talks. And beer. And beer talks. One series is the History Pub sponsored by the Oregon Historical Society. Tonight writer-artist Arcy Douglas and actor Daniel Benzali talk about artist Mark Rothko (1903-1970). Benzali plays Rothko in the Portland Center Stage play, Red, based on one of Rothko's most progressive periods, something that feels fresh today. At the Kennedy School 5736 NE 33rd 7PM Free

February 26 Biennial Research Brunch Yum-yum

The Portland Biennial this year has upped it's game. It's curated by Prudence Roberts, one of the region's most experienced and learned. She has strong museum experience and was selected to consult on one of the world's great international private collections.

Roberts has curated 24 artists and artist collaborations for the 2012 Portland Biennial of Contemporary Art. The event extends over five venues, each with their own openings; this is the first. Artists here are Future Death Toll, Chris Knight, Cynthia Lahti, Ben Rosenberg, Jack Ryan, Marie Sivak and Dustin Zemel; opening this afternoon at the Marylhurst Art Gym. The full schedule, with artist links, are at disjecta.org/2012. There is also a gallery talk here, March 15, noon. At the Marylhurst Art Gym at the Marylhurst University www.marylhurst.edu/theartgym/ Map 3PM-5 Free



The Research Club, a meetup of artists and creatives, is back with its signature brunch and talks. Today it's comedian and MC for the big upcoming Research Club event, Leo Daedalus; Vivian Hua, traveler-artist and writer; Sara Mirk, journalist, activist and Oregon history comic maker; and Ezra Spier, who will discuss his in-person research on coffee growing, worldwide, and how it gets here, to your cup. Guaranteed interesting! Bring some vegetarian or vegan-friendly food, a plate, cup and utensils, and yourself. Listen to engaging speakers. Network. A project of Research Club at the Collective Agency 322 NW Sixth Ave (between Everett and Flanders), Suite 200. See their website, collectiveagency.co for details on how to get into the building. Noon-3 Free

February 24 Bike K Free Red Quartet Warming

America is undergoing a manufacturing revival of custom bicycles. A few years ago, the National Handmade Bike Show was here and Show Me Yours was the celebration of local bikemaker participants. The national show is not here this year, but that's no reason not to celebrate local makers who are headed to the show. Makers include: MAP Bicycles, Vendetta Cycles, Ahearne Cycles, Metrofiets, Ti Cycles, Signal Cycles, Ira Ryan Cycles, Pereira Cycles and Cielo. At the Cleaners at the Ace Hotel 1022 SW Stark 6PM-10 $6



Calvin Johnson knew he was in the right place at the right time, Olympia Washington, in the early 1980's. A local u-store allowed bands to rent units as cheap band practice spaces that could be loud. So he started K Records. The K and Olympia gene spread, with a major influence on Seattle, Portland, DIY, lady rock and the world. Johnson continues to play and DJ. He is co-subject of a film, Have You Ever Had a Beard?. The world premiere is tonight. It is based on a conversation between Johnson and a colorful music writer of the same generation, Chris Estey, who shared his own musical influences, intercut with historical footage. Mr K Calvin Johnson will perform and answer questions. At the Hollywood Theater www.hollywoodtheatre.org 4122 NE Sandy Boulevard 7:30PM $10



Free is good. The Art Museum usually charges admission, but not the fourth Friday of the month, 5PM-9, thanks to a business donation to keep the doors open. It's also a rare time in the evening for the Museum to be open. Good opportunity to see the Rothko show. At the Portland Art Museum www.pam.org 1219 SW Park 5PM-9 Free



It's Rothko month in Portland. Mark Rothko is a Portland artist who made a mark in New York. He traveled the 1930's to late '40's through figurative to surealism. His late colorfield minimalism is his best known, including a commission in 1958 to make work for the Four Seasons Lounge in Mies' the Seagram building, famous as an exhibition space for contemporary artwork. In the end, Rothko rejected the commission, on the basis of the space's “pretentious atmosphere”. The paintings survive, and the play, Red at Portland Center Stage explores that period. There is a small collection of his paintings at the Art Museum, and innumerable talks around town. In support of the Red play, the Third Angle plays Morton Feldman’s String Quartet N. 2, a four hour experimental work. The performance is free, though donations are accepted. The audience may come and go as they like. In the Ellyn Bye Studio of Portland Center Stage www.pcs.org 128 NW 11th 2PM-6 Free



The Island President is a documentary about the first democratically elected president of the Indian Ocean archipelago, the Maldives. The president took on the existential issue: as oceans rise, the country, where most people live at less than 6 feet above sea level, will simply disappear. You can watch the trailer here. Unfortunately although the president has reduced luxury spending by the executive office by 40X in one year and proposed opening the presidential island as a park, he was forced from office February 7. Sponsored by Mercy Corps at the Portland International Film Festival. Shows in the PGE World Trade Center Auditorium, 121 SW Salmon, 2nd level. Advanced tickets likely needed. 6:15PM $10

February 24-26 Maya Deren on Film

Maya Deren, who came to America from the Ukraine, is one of our greatest early experimental filmmakers, beginning in the 1940's. Inspired by poetry, her seminal Meshes of the Afternoon is a self financed art film set in opposition to Hollywood aesthetics. It was awarded the Grand Prix Internationale at Cannes. She went on to gather ethnographic footage of voodoo in Haiti, authoring a book. Her film work there was edited and released in the 1985, as Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of Haiti. She was a part of the New York modern dance world, working with Katherine Dunham until her death at age 44 of malnutrition.

In the Mirror of Maya Deren is a documentary made in 2002 about Deren. Guaranteed to be fascinating. Film at the PSU Fifth Avenue Cinema. www.5thavenuecinema.org 510 SW Hall Friday and Saturday 7PM, 9:30; Sunday 3. Free for PSU students & faculty w/ID. $2 for all other students & seniors. $3 General Admission. Free popcorn for all!

February 23 Ode to Dead Plants and Animals

Coal is the prehistoric remain of ancient plants, transformed by pressure, temperature and time. Romans mined coal in Wales. Since, it, and other earthly deposits, have marked the landscape in their extraction. In Wales, it fueled the industrial revolution. It also fueled social organizing and unions. Even today coal is having a profound impact on politics. Artist Catherine Fairgrieve, from Wales, speaks of her research on coal mining as an inspiration for her artwork tonight. She has curated a show Invisible Cities/Hidden Landscapes which opens at the school gallery in March. It will be interesting to see how her work relates to Portland's social practice art. At Oregon College of Art and Craft
Centrum Studio www.ocac.edu 8245 SW Barnes 6:30PM Free



Matt Hall is fascinated by roadkill and dead urban wildlife. For The Secret Inside, he draws them and he makes dioramas with their skeletons. He has found many on Portland streets and reduced them to their boney frame, posed in his interpretation of their last moment. Very natural history museum. The work is accompanied by a book. At Ampersand Vintage Printed Material www.ampersandvintage.com 2916 NE Alberta, Ste B. Map 6PM-10 Free

February 20 Axel Void

Axel Void is a great '80's name! I have no idea what this is about, but you are welcome to find out at the webcast to Shattuck. A part of the PSU MFA Lecture Series pdx.edu/art/mfa-lecture-series. In the Shattuck Hall Annex, 1914 SW Park Avenue, at the corner of SW Broadway and Hall on the PSU campus. 7:30PM Free

February 18 Love Place

The Galleries we love in the mall open their new shows this evening.

The People's Art of Portland in the mall opens their Love Show, loosely themed work by 150 artists on love and love of Portland.

Place continues the shows opened last month. At Place, placepdx.tumblr.com a gallery on the 3rd floor of the Pioneer Place Mall. If the mall appears closed, enter the film theater building adjacent, travel through the tunnel to the Place mall, and take the elevator to the 3rd floor, sometimes the bridge on the 3rd floor is open too. 700 SW Fifth. 6PM-9 Free

February 17 Video Performance Cage

Bruce Nauman is a contemporary artist who often eschews beauty, particularly in his early late 1960's studio films. It's a tactic. And the style is innovative in its era, as video art worked to establish an identity distinct from commercial television, which was pretty smiley face at the time. Nauman, now 71, has a long history of work in many mediums. Reed has a show of that video work in its gallery. A former Reed professor, Robert Slifkin, speaks tonight on Nauman and his work, after there is a reception in the gallery to view the work. The talk is in the Eliot Hall chapel, on the second floor. Reed College 3203 SE Woodstock. 7PM Free



Yu has feet in the visual art and music worlds. Tonight, with Fear No Music, and collaborators, they explore the music of seminal composer John Cage. Throughout their space, the works will unfold with the audience freely migrating as they like. More on the Yu website. www.yucontemporary.org/events/irl/09-CAGE.php At Yu 800 SE 10th. Advance tickets at Stand Up Comedy 811 E Burnside. Doors 7PM, performance 7-11. $25, $15 seniors, $12.50 students



Homeland continues events around their Fabbri Series visual show. Tonight it's movement and music performed by Jin Yim and Lucy Camou as Split, Brian Mumford and Ben Kates of Thicket, and Linda Austin. At Gallery Homeland www.galleryhomeland.org 2505 SE 11th x Division Performance 8PM Free

February 16 Civic Design Innovation in 3D

Design concern Ziba now operates far beyond it's original industrial design roots. They are hosts and participants for an example today: GOOD Ideas for Cities. GOOD magazine and CEO's for Cities are sponsoring the event in select American cities. The link details the Portland creative teams and the challenges they address with their substantial design chops. The event tickets are sold out. At Ziba Design Auditorium www.ziba.com 810 NW Marshall Map Doors 6PM, talk 7 Free



3D is the Next Big Thing in filmmaking. But it's hard to do well. Not only is it necessary to do all the things right, that can otherwise doom a conventional film; it's necessary to use the 3d to support the narrative without making people sick.

Portland is actually a major 3D center. Pacific University studies 3D display fatigue and illness, one of the three major 3D cinema system makers makes glasses here, and there are several 3D medical display makers here.

So cool Cinema 21 has scored a showing of Pina, a documentary about the late avant garde modern dance choreographer, Pina Bausch, who passed while the film was in production. The seminal director of the film, Wim Wenders will be in attendance at tonight's showings. Details on the Cinema 21 website. (Note the film moves to the Living Room theaters next) At Cinema 21 www.cinema21.com 616 NW 21st 7PM and 9:40 $11

February 13 Land Use as Art

We have been an advocate here of expanding the definition of art, tastefully, and nutritiously. The Center for Land Use Interpretation has been doing exactly that since 1994. They started examining the human impact on Western landscapes and documenting it. They've expanded to other American locations. They also work with artists interested in working landscape. It's landscape, natural history and science for artists and the art world. And they are an example of the prime directive to make art useful to the non-artworld. Certainly they fall into the social practice field. Tonight someone from the Center for Land Use Interpretation visits Portland to speak about their work. Likely they would answer questions about their many artist residency programs if you asked. A part of the PSU MFA Lecture Series pdx.edu/art/mfa-lecture-series. In the Shattuck Hall Annex, 1914 SW Park Avenue, at the corner of SW Broadway and Hall on the PSU campus. 7:30PM Free

February 11 Vernacular Photography Painting and Sculpture

Mak Katz and Henk Pender are late career Portland artists. Katz was in the booming art world of New York City in the '50's, relocated, going on to influence several generations of Portland art students with his minimal organic sculptures. Henk Pender grew up in the painterly world of the Netherlands. Coming to Portland with his family, he has used old world techniques to attack realism in portraits and landscapes with an edge. He is known for his oils. This current work are accomplished watercolors, where the transparency of the medium allows the white paper beneath to glow through the image. The artists both speak informally today at the gallery before their works. At Laura Russo Gallery www.laurarusso.com 805 NW 21st 11AM Free



Vernacular photography is democratic and anonymous. It's a postmodern condition. And it is powered by nostalgia in a visual culture evolving, rapidly, inevitably. Ampersand has created a niche for collecting and republishing vernacular photography. Tonight they sponsor a talk by Tyler Whisnand: Vernacular Photography: collecting, publishing, curating & communication. Whisnand arrives to Portland from the Netherlands, where he curated and published photography books. At Apmersand Vintage Printed Material www.ampersandvintage.com 2916 NE Alberta, Ste B. Map 7:30PM Free

February 10 Metropolis and its Anti Unseen

Each individual has a unique neoro-resonance-set, based on experience. Pop culture is an unavoidable part. If you haven't added Metropolis to yours, I suggest it. This film has plenty of my mythological archetypes, stunning visual design and some sympathetic characters. Also very Occupy, 85 years after its making. It was a silent film when made. That has allowed many instances with updated soundtracks. Tonight the Portland Opera Theater musicians and singers create their own soundtrack with the film, based on Verdi's Aida, set in Egypt, which has and had its own Occupy problems. At the Mission Theater 1624 NW Glisan Doors 6PM film 7. $9 advance, $12 door



Kendra Binney is the metropolis antidote with dream-like psychological paintings of a main character and animals, or their traces, wondering. She has a show of that work tonight. At Albina Press, 4637 N. Albina Ave x Blandena Map 6PM-8



You want fresh? You want Foco. Sight Unseen is their show of Matt Miller, Coleman Gocio, Clinton Chambers, Jena Cumminsky and Sarah Meadows. Fresh art school vibe. At Foco Gallery focogallery.wordpress.com 211 SE Madison Free

February 9 Yacht(s) Vu(e)

Portland's other yacht, the boat project, opens Travis Fitzgerald of Appendix and Gary Robbins of Container Works with if it is a crown it means it belongs to a king. The show takes place on a 65 foot boat moored in the Willamette River near Sauvie Island. At 12128 Labrador Project http://www.12128boatspace.com/ It's moored by Fred's Marina 12900 NW Marina Way, Portland. Map More detailed directions, don't get lost, on the website. 8PM-11



Portland's mystical concept dance rockers perform tonight at the Wonder Ballroom. What's a mystical concept dance rocker? OK.



Recess Studios have a show of drawer Jenny Vu at PSU, with a reception tonight. At the PSU White Gallery, second floor South end. 5PM-8 Free

February 7 Portland Memorial Curiosities

The Curiosity Club is back for Spring with writer, chronicler, cultural explorer Trevor Blake. He has just published a survey of Portland memorials, Portland Memorials. Blake publishes in the public domain too, the new model. A presentation of the Curiosity Club, you can tune into the free live webcast off the Core77 site or visit the talk and demonstration in person at Hand Eye Supply www.handeyesupply.com/pages/curiosity-club 23 NW 4th 6PM Free

February 6 Gray Area

Gray Area is Eyebeam West with a social practice inclination. That's actually a great evolution, as technology-based art can easily loose (or never even gain) its soul. Josette Melchor founded Gray Area and speaks tonight, naturally by video conference. Some of her talk includes digital marketing for artists. A part of the PSU MFA Lecture Series pdx.edu/art/mfa-lecture-series. In the Shattuck Hall Annex, 1914 SW Park Avenue, at the corner of SW Broadway and Hall on the PSU campus. 7:30PM Free

February 3 Eastside Art Openings

Recess has a show Hypercorrection with Paul Clay, Sokhun Keo, Krystal South, and Ross Young. Usually I don't have the patience for overly vague artist statements. But this one is more substantial:

"Our attempts at improving ourselves are often founded on misinformation. We temper conventions that marginalize and impair us.

The artist’s use of mimicry, material transformation, and dissimulation to incite critical discourses not only illuminates the ambivalence of salient cultural ideologies, but more subtly infers his/her desire to be perceived a certain way.

Hypercorrection results from the effort to improve oneself on the basis of an incongruent analogy.

While pursuing their conspicuous goals (the myth of cultural authenticity, material/relational value, fetishization of the Other and social mobility), the artists of Hypercorrection inadvertently offer intimate portraits of themselves. The works have the potential to alter the proclivities of the audience, expanding each viewer’s capacity for transformation".

Should be a good show. At RECESS recesspdx.blogspot.com at Oregon Brassworks Building, 1127 SE 10th 6PM-11



Nationale has Luminosis mori, by Portland photographer Wendy Given. Two bodies of work, nicely printed. At Nationale thenewnationale.com 811 E Burnside Map



Black Box has a group landscape show which covers quite a span of well made work, neither jarringly radical nor namby pamby. At Black Box Gallery www.blackboxgallery.com 811 E Burnside, Suite 212 upstairs 5PM-8:30 Free



Union Pine has fourteen artist-doers in a show Duo. At Union/Pine www.unionpine.com 525 SE Pine 7Pm-late Free



Newspace has a very large group monochrome show, curated by the director. At Newspace Photo www.newspacephoto.org 1632 SE 10th Map



Pushdot has selections printed large from portraits released in book form by Portland photographer Tatiana Wills. The portraits are of modern dancers in straight up portrait style style, eventually to become a book. At Pushdot Studio www.pushdotstudio.com 2505 SE 11th Avenue Suite 104



Half Dozen closes Arteries by Lisa Berry and opens If I Were You:An Apology From Myself To Myself by Gabe Flores. At Half/Dozen Gallery www.halfdozengallery.com 722 E Burnside (enter on 8th) 6PM-9



Land opens Wild at Heart by Trish Grantham and Lisa Congdon, a romance-themed show. At Buy Olympia's Land Gallery www.landpdx.com 3925 N Mississippi 6PM-8



The Jupiter Hotel drops its own gallery tonight. The hotel proper was the site of a short lived art show modeled after Art Basil Miami's Aqua. Now they are back with a gallery opening on first Friday. They have repurposed the registration area, now relocated next to the tent area, into a 24x7 gallery curated by an late career Frenchman. That means French curators on both sides of Burnside! The show tonight is painter Christoper St. John. At the Gallery at the Jupiter Hotel www.galleryatthejupiter.com 800 E Burnside all hours

February 2 Westside Art Openings

Joe Thurston has a new show Nothing Leading Anywhere Any More Except to Nothing. At Elizabeth Leach Gallery www.elizabethleach.com 417 NW 9th Map 6PM-9



Late career artists Mel Katz and Henk Pender have a show at Laura Russo. Katz connected Portland and New York in the 1960's. Without that Portland art would not be what it is today. Pender brought an old school European painting aesthetic to Portland which influenced many, including his family who connected Portland art and LA. At Laura Russo Gallery www.laurarusso.com 805 NW 21st



For an art history lesson, stop by the David Hockney print show at Augen. Hockney picked up the pop vibe at RCA in the UK, later living in California. Important art person. At Augen Gallery www.augengallery.com 716 NW Davis early close 8



Blue Sky has two intense and obsessive shows this month. Jamey Stillings became entranced by the construction of a high road bridge over the Colorado River. It is a bypass of the road over the Hoover Dam for post 9/11 security reasons. David Rochkind likewise has documented a small part of the drug war in Mexico. At Blue Sky Gallery www.blueskygallery.org map 122 NW 8th 6PM-9



PDX has a group show of gallery artists Patrick Abbey, Amjad Faur, Jacques Flechemuller, Ellen George, Anna Gray + Ryan Wilson Paulsen, Victoria Haven, Justin LʼAmie, Jeffry Mitchell, Arnold Kemp, Elizabeth Knight, Cynthia Lahti, Nancy Lorenz, D.E. May, Kirsten Miller, Susan Seubert, Jane Timkin and Heather Watkins. At PDX Contemporary Art www.pdxcontemporaryart.com 925 NW Flanders Map early close 8PM



Hellion has two shows in their new space. In League is formed of pairwise collaborations in which one artist started the piece, shipped it, often to another country, where it was finished by another. The artists are HR-FM +Cole Gerst, Mijn schajte +Rudy Fig, Nishi +Blaine Fontana, Inohaco +Scarecrowoven, Hsiao Ron Cheng +Kalina Tate , Taka Sudo +Michael Amorillo, Yohei Takahashi +Deseo, Nigamushi +Tripper Dungen, Anneli Olander +Naomi Nowak, Michinori maru +Keegan Onefoot, Anneli Olander +Junker Jane. The other show is 1 Hand Cannot Hold 2 Watermelons, a show of illustration style work by Pandemic, Spenser Little and Jaclyn Rose. 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 7PM-10ish Free



Fifty24 has Faux Money Faux Problems by Portland artists. It's a current topic Occupying many. At Fifty 24PDX in Upperplayground.com 23 NW 5th


Early PSU's White Gallery opens a show by Portland Painter Jenny Vu. It's in the SW area of the second main floor of the PSU Smith Center.



Valentines has Dark Rooms by Matt Connors. Valentines valentineslifeblood.blogspot.com 232 SW Ankeny Art 6PM-late Free



Pulliam Gallery has a group show by James Boulton, Linda Geary and Paul Kottke. At Pulliam Gallery www.pulliamdeffenbaugh.com until 8



Encaustic is a big thing in little Portland. Encaustic painter Kelly Williams has pulled together some favorites and also a show of artists using art as therapy. At Portland Center for the Performing Arts SW Broadway and Main.



The $100 show is an out of town illustration show curated from out of town. The work is priced at 100 dollars accordingly. Deets at 100dollarshow.com. At W+K www.wk.com 224 NW 13th Map 5PM-9 Free



UofO in Portland has a faculty show, Notes on a Recent Arrival, Carla Bengtson, Craig Hickman, Colin Ives, Dan Powell, Jack Ryan, and Kartz Ucci. At the University of Oregon White Stag Building, 70 NW Couch 5:30PM-8:30 Free



The Everett Lofts are always recommended - the Everett Lofts 625 NW Everett. Bounded by NW Everett, Broadway, Flanders and 6th Map

January 31 Open Source Art

Walter Benjamin's seminal essay The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction laid down ideas on the back end of art: from maker to the viewer experience. We are experiencing a complementary revolution on the front end, sometimes called open source art making. Social practice art is a branch. Open innovation in products and design is another. Crowdsourcing is a term often used. While a comprehensive view of the topic cannot be constructed by an individual, because the view itself is open source and evolving rapidly, there is an opportunity tonight to hear a talk about it by two individuals, Nora Ligorano and Marshall Reese. Recommended. Part of a very high quality lecture series by Oregon College of Art and Craft www.ocac.edu. The talk will be held at the Portland Art Museum in the Mark Building (nee Masonic Temple) in the Miller Gallery which is immediately to the right off the lobby. Arrive early, seating is limited. 1219 SW Park 7PM Free

January 30 Trade School

There may be a Monday Night Lecture tonight, though the organizers have yet to publish it. It may be a web conference with Caroline Woolard, artist cocreator of Our Goods, a creative barter network. I've found the web conferences draw a smaller crowd and are less compelling, you can draw your own conclusions. There is also conflicting information on the time, it may be 6:30PM or the usual 7:30. Lecture Series pdx.edu/art/mfa-lecture-series. In the Shattuck Hall Annex, 1914 SW Park Avenue, at the corner of SW Broadway and Hall on the PSU campus. Free

January 29 Research Brunch

The Research Club brunch is back. They invite you to Brunch #21. Bring some vegetarian or vegan-friendly food, a plate, cup and utensils, and yourself. Listen to engaging speakers. A project of Research Club at the Collective Agency 322 NW Sixth Ave (between Everett and Flanders), Suite 200. See their website, collectiveagency.co for details on how to get into the building. Noon-3 Free

January 27 Sundry Bikes

Portland artist Micki Skudlarczyk started in ceramics like many Portland artists. I'm talking about you, Alfred grads. And like them, she has traveled far in sculpture since. A tactic is the use of materials that take us, and her, out of our comfort zones, though from a purely rational standpoint they should not. Since we are all flesh and bones, maybe we have a built in survival mechanism to not want to dig deeply under the skin. A breakthrough was on one of her international residencies in Mexico where she was able to see a cow slaughtered and butchered in the traditional way, outdoors and by hand. That inspired a series of artworks made of animal parts remaining after the meat is separated. Sundries is the meat industry term for those "miscellaneous items of little value". This show Sundries Serenade, is a continuation of that series, an installation made of skin and hooves, gently cleaned, sung to and displayed. Closing reception at Good Gallery 4325 N Mississippi 7PM-10



For the last month, the Project Grow Gallery has hosted an ever evolving sculpture show of bikes and bike part made projects: The 2012 Bicycle Experience: Prototypes, Visions & Dreams. Johhnie Olivan is one of the guest artists. His Rejuiced Bikes gathers bike parts to be reutilized, even as sculpture, instead of being melted for metal, providing one more use trip. The Portland phenomenon the Sprockettes perform too!This is the closing event for the show. At Project Grow at the Port City Development Center. 2156 N Williams Ave at Tillamook. 7PM-9 Free

Januray 26 Occupation

Brad Cloepfil created Allied Works Architecture in Portland in 1994. His initial projects include sculptural works on the Marylhurst Museum land, the W+K headquarters in an old warehouse, residences and interior projects. Since Allied has opened a New York City office and built many structures, and many of them are art museums. Tonight Cloepfil releases a book tracing their work, Occupation, and speaks about the firm's journey. It's a brief event and book signing. At the Art Museum. Regular admission applies, so you can go early and take in the entire museum, or if you are a member, you can go for free. At the Portland Art Museum www.pam.org 1219 SW Park 6PM-8 $15, free members

January 23 Camintzer

Late career conceptual artist Luis Camintzer makes installations as well as 2d work and photography of a political nature, in the broadest sense of the word. His talk is a joint production of PNCA and the PSU Monday Night Lecture Series pdx.edu/art/mfa-lecture-series. In the Shattuck Hall Annex, 1914 SW Park Avenue, at the corner of SW Broadway and Hall on the PSU campus. 7:30PM Free

January 21 Lumber Place Prison Peoples

The Lumber Room hosts its second discussion with the artists of the Interior Margins show, the curator and the creator of the space. The creator of the space is an articulate art force and up to date on contemporary art. At The Lumber Room lumberroom.com 419 SW 9th, above Liz Leach Map 11AM-1PM Free



The mall galleries are open for one of their monthly confabs tonight.

Jason Starin & Daniel J Glendening open New Function - 2d and sculptures.

Gabe Flores continues Intimate Historical Fictions, large scale sculptures inspired by personal experiences.

Palma Corral has a new installation, International Paradiastole Pageant. In the installation, mannequins wear clothing made of utilitarian manufactured items with loaded associations.

Chris Freeman shows his new video I’m Getting Too Old For This, beginning at 7PM. It's a social practice open source video piece in which the artist's friends made segments themed on aging, boredom and melancholy. The artists working on the project are: Wayne Bund, Jodie Cavalier, Kristin Derryberry, Petra Fortes-Schramm, Adrienne Huckabone, Kayla Martin, Brandon McWilliams, Joe Noreen, Portia Roy and Jamie Marie Waelchli.

At Place, placepdx.tumblr.com a gallery on the 3rd floor of the Pioneer Place Mall. If the mall appears closed, enter the film theater building adjacent, travel through the tunnel to the Place mall, and take the elevator to the 3rd floor. 700 SW Fifth. 6PM-9 Free



Adjacent to Place, The Peoples Art of Portland opens "People of Peoples", work by Ali Schlicting, Anna Magruder, Brin Levinson, Chris Haberman, Chuck Bloom, Dan Pillers, Heidi Elise Wirz, Jen Berry, Jesse Reno, Joel Barber, Joshua Abraham, Kendra Binney, Kyle Gossman, Larry Christensen, Matt Schlosky, Patrice Demmon, Robert Paulmenn, Sam Arneson, Roger Lealamanua and Wellie Glenn with poster artists EMEK, GUYBURWELL and Gary Houston. 5PM-9




This show is well worth seeing. The hue of a repeating graphic covering the main space walls entirely is lit with green and yellow light, producing a disconcerting feeling opposite the usually calming use of those colors in institutions. Peter Haley a well known late career artist presents Prison, a graphic work consuming the walls at Disjecta, in the shadow of Paul Bunyan www.disjecta.org 8371 N. Interstate Map 6PM-9 Free

January 19 Art Spark

Art Spark is back at the Mt Tabor Theater, below the snow line. www.portlandartspark.com At Mt. Tabor Theatre, 4811 SE Hawthorne Blvd 5PM-7 Free

January 18 Biophilia Papermaking Happiness

Portland is one of America's best examples of new urbanism. We have a climate that gives us plenty of options for urban plantlife. Those plants are breathing in carbon dioxide and breathing out oxygen too. Can we go further with plantlife in our cities? Timothy Beatley believes so. Biophilic Cities: Integrating Nature into Urban Design and Planning is his book detailing those thoughts. He believes plantlife can cover roofs, the walls of buildings, the medians between sidewalks and the streets, everywhere. Why? The biophilia hypothesis, coined by the great Edward O Wilson, proposes humans have an innate drive to experience other living things. Beatley gives a talk this evening about his work. At PNCA www.pnca.edu 1241 NW Johnson Map 6:30PM Free



PNCA hosts a master papermaker talk this evening too. Paul Wong visits from New York's
Dieu Donné where he makes paper by hand in support of artist projects. At the PNCA www.pnca.edu The Bison Building, the MFA in Applied Craft and Design Studios 421 NE 10th 6:30PM Free



The Economics of Happiness is a new film by Helena Norberg-Hodge and coworkers at the International Society for Ecology and Culture. That group has worked extensively in Ladakh, in Northern India. The film is a call for local economics from worldwide leaders in sustainability. At adxportland.com 417 SE 11th x Stark Map 5:30PM Free

January 14 American Medium

American Medium is a project in New York by Travis Fitzgerald and Josh Pavlacky from Appendix Project Space in collaboration with Daniel Wallace of Extra Extra. Their first show will be Jon Rafman in April. But they are having a celebration tonight with photos of the space and samples of the work. At Publication Studio 717 SW Ankeny 6PM-8 Free

January 13 Interior Appendix Bot

Jasper Spicero presents Interiors, based on video game rendering technology. He is an intermedia student at PNCA. At Appendix Project Space www.appendixspace.com On the alley between 26th and 27th, South of Alberta. Map 6:30-10ish Free



Jess Fogel shows her illustrations at Albina Press. Fogel also illustrates children's books, so good happy Winter art is forecast. At Albina Press, 4637 N. Albina x Blandena 6PM Free



Not art but tool: Pocketfactory loaded their Prius with a couple of Makerbots, Kinects and software and are on a cross country road trip to demonstrate it. They have a concept for a company that manufactures one-of or small quantities of design and craft items using bot magic. The Makerbot is a relatively inexpensive 3d printer. You can see videos of it in action. In a very meta move, key parts of the Makerbot can be made by a Makerbot - robots making robots! What it makes comes from plugging it into your computer. The design can be made by 3d drawing and design software. A shortcut is a 3d scanner. Open source software can be used to turn a Kinect into a scanner! For artists it can be a sculpture factory. At Brainsilo www.brainsilo.org map 6PM-9 Free

January 12 Tripper Museum

Every month the Art Museum invites an artist to select a work from the collection, then give a talk about it to an intimate crowd, which might include you. This month, choreographer and modern dancer Tahni Holt speaks. Holt is known for brainy architectural dance works, and participatory works in the social practice world. It requires museum admission, to keep the museum from becoming even more nonprofit than it already is, so go with a member or make an afternoon tour. If interested, meet promptly at 6PM at the side entrance by the courtyard. Reservations suggested, it can sell out. At the Portland Art Museum www.pam.org 1219 SW Park 6PM-8 $15, $5 members



Tripper Dungan makes bright lowbrow illustration. Trippy! At Black Wagon blackwagon.com 3964 N Mississippi Map 5PM-7 Free

January 12-14 Flamenco!

This blog has been a champion of flamenco and Portland has had flamenco hot flashes. With teachers moving on, it's been quieter for flamenco in town. But it's always a pleasure when we have a visit from out of town performers. Noche Flamenca is the world touring project of Soledad Barrio, and her ensemble of additional dancers and musicians. They are presented by White Bird www.whitebird.org in the Newmark Theater 7:30PM $25-60

January 9 Global City?

Is Portland a Global City? A destination for travelers like Barcelona, Venice, Kyoto, Shanghai, Geneva? We could do better. How about creative companies or even major companies inlocating? John Jay has a vision for the next generation of Portland. It's Portland as the creative persons' destination. Part of the plan is a small creative business incubator and travelers' hostel in gritty Chinatown. PIE has gained rapid success. Is this PIE II? Hear Jay, who spends quite a bit of time in the world's major creative cities propose Portland's possibilities and challenges in attaining a vision of Global City. It's part of the City Club's Bright Lights Series, a gathering of planners, architects and interesting people to hear discussions, primarily of urban planning. At Jimmy Mak's, 221 NW 10th Map Doors 5:30PM, discussion 6. Free

January 8 Anonymous Pattern Sampling People

Do people sample patterns or do patterns sample people? Does the essence lie in the sample or does it reside in the viewer? The Pattern People are visual samplers. This show of their work, titled Collision, would not have been technically possible only a short time back. The Pattern People, Claudia Brown and Jessie Whipple Vickery, based in Portland-London sample the visual world and remix it into surface design. It can take the form of fabric, wall paper, murals, packaging or illustration. To me it has a great feel, that can surely be evolved to stay fresh. And I think we are able to simultaneously respond to all the associations in the source material. At Stumptown Belmont 3356 SE Belmont 6PM-8 Free


Usually the Marylhurst Art Gym is a space for regional mid-career artists to show. A small number of them are high concept or conceptual. The curation, which has been very consistent, is anything but high concept. So this show is a surprise. The show has been put together by a guest curator from Bogota Columbia. And the artists are anonymous: they have made an agreement with the space thus:

Agreement: You, “Artist D” are entering into an agreement with the “Curator” and The Art Gym. Both “Artist D” and “Curator” agree to never confirm your participation in this exhibition to the press, Art Gym museum staff members, students, other artists, friends, family, or anybody who might fall outside of this list. Your participation will not be listed on any press materials, statements or documents outside of this one. If a direct question is asked of your participation a straight lie of, “no, I have nothing to do with any of this” is perfectly acceptable. Upon signature of this contract, your authorship is officially obscured.

Artists A, B, C, D, E & F each had different experiences, and it's fascinating to read about it on the gallery website. Better yet, match each narrative with the work by visiting. There will also be a gallery talk January 12, noon. At the Marylhurst Art Gym at the Marylhurst University www.marylhurst.edu/theartgym/ Map 3PM-5 Free

January 7 Pure Collection Gallery

Ampersand Vintage is a Portland amalgam of fine and found, cheesy and meaty, photography and 2-dimensional ephemera. Tonight they open two shows of found, covering all those ingredients. Robert E. Jackson has been an obsessive 15 year collector of snapshots. Ampersand is publishing a book, Pure Photography, based on that collection. Ampersand also collects vintage snapshots. Tonight they open a show of Jackson and Ampersand photographic findings. At Apmersand Vintage Printed Material www.ampersandvintage.com 2916 NE Alberta, Ste B. Map 6PM-10 Free

January 6 Eastside Art Openings

The new year finds some galleries carrying shows from December, or vacationing. Others have adopted mid-month openings as a regular strategy. But there are some notable shows opening tonight.



Highlighter is a show of painting with artists Amy Bernstein, James Boulton, John Brodie, Timothy Scott Dalbow, Marie Koetje and K Scott Rawls. It will be bright and perky.

It also wins the copywriting award for the month: "[the curators] openly engage with the now in order to emphasize the heuristic energy guiding such innovation in the first place. Through a shared language of brilliant colors and jostling patterns, inspired in part by the excess of modern culture, the canvases of [the artists] function as a playground for symbolic and formal invention. However, despite such non-representational tendencies, the works ultimately renounce the highbrow tenets of traditional abstraction in favor of more relatable, personal experiences. Like an aesthetic transubstantiation, the act of painting converts momentarily from a studied medium to a mean for catharsis as the artists attempt to decipher society’s fraught existence through each arresting stroke. Whatever the end result, it is always this encounter that matters most for, as Mr. Dalbow avows, 'each painting is an excuse to ask the question again.'"

At Nationale thenewnationale.com 811 E Burnside Map Free



As population growth slows, people migrate away from small towns. Despite our web of electronic connections, we prefer to touch in person. So we have ghost towns in America. The same can be found worldwide. In the heady days of the Soviet Union, the tiny town of Tiski, Тикси, was settled by scientists and the military as a research outpost in the far North on the Arctic Sea. January high temperatures average -36F. Although the republic in which Tiksi lies is rich in natural resources, they are all mined far to the South in towns served by rail. In contrast, the only way to get to Tiksi, above the Arctic Circle, is by charter plane. Now it is becoming abandoned. Photographer Evgenia Arbugaeva was born in Tiksi, and lived there until 8. At 26, she returned to document the town disappearing through the lens of her memories. She focuses on the built environment, and experiences of the remaining residents, including children, who have the infinite landscape as playground. This is her first solo show in the United States, a great accomplishment for Newspace. At Newspace Photo www.newspacephoto.org 1632 SE 10th Map Free



Emily Bixler shows necklace-like sculptures or sculptural necklaces made of industrial materials. They work. Blair Saxon-Hill shows her halftone collages, work she pioneered at Fourteen30 gallery. Very high quality in both cases, and they fit well together, even if the large space gives both a chance to breathe. At Union/Pine www.unionpine.com 525 SE Pine 7Pm-late Free



Cheyenne Sawyer of Atlas Tattoo shows her illustrations. At Albina Press East 5012 SE Hawthorne 6PM-8 Free

January 5 Westside Art Openings

Robert Frank is a classic photographer known for a 28,000 image series of portraits, The Americans, made 55 years ago. Those stunning black and white images pioneered unusual framing, which would not be foreign to today's hipstamatic snappers. Frank grew up in Switzerland and came to the United States at age 24. With his outsiders' eye, he began the epic documentary project at 31. Americans, made throughout the United States over 2 years, captured an impressionistic view of a country on the verge of the 1960's intensity. He continued working and Blue Sky last showed his work in 1981. Frank's new Blue Sky show is Painkillers, a series of prints from Polaroids selected with the participation of Blue Sky from the photographer's archives. They cover the 1970's to today. Frank usually shows international museums, This month he shows at Blue Sky.


Also Karen Miranda-Rivadeneira shows Bliss Street, photos of her extended family's home in New York.

At Blue Sky Gallery www.blueskygallery.org map 122 NW 8th 6PM-9



Ethan Rose shows Reflection, a sculptural installation with unique bells. Today anyone implementing a bell would synthesize it, or record one, then simply play it back over a loudspeaker. Rose started with mechanical bells, like something from an old factory, with exposed mechanisms. The striker is motivated by sending electricity through a coil of wire, clearly visible. There are ten bells on one wall of the gallery. On the facing wall are ten speakers. Rose recorded each bell, then reversed the recording in time, the sound of the bell backwards. One recording plays, from the soft decay to the strike. At that moment the corresponding bell rings, then decays. The process repeats, with electronic recordings of the bells overlapping with the actual bells. It's worth spending time with it sometime when the gallery is not crowded. It's quite stunning. Rose has also made a very reasonably priced editioned recording of the installation. At PDX Contemporary Art www.pdxcontemporaryart.com 925 NW Flanders Map early close 8PM



SCOOP 6PM continues until January 14 at UofO's White Box Gallery. Dustin Zemel's multi-channel video piece uses local television news, acted by local artists. Each of the seven "newscasts" covers the same story, differently. At the University of Oregon White Box Gallery whitebox.uoregon.edu. 24 NW 1st



Hellion has Internal: Apprentice, Intern Assistant, Talent with Joey Alvarez, Joseph Bergin III, Alex Despain and Christa Mariottini. 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



Camera Obscura: Outside In(n) is a show of pinhole rephotography by Darius Kuzmickas. The camera obscura is an early imaging system, in which a lens or pinhole lens casts an image in a darkened room from the world outside. Kuzmickas used hotel rooms and apartments as camera obscura, then photographed portraits lit by the obscura images. If you know anything about optics, that the images are inverted should not surprise, nonetheless the result is striking. He also includes a series of ironic sunset photos made by the same process, Ocean Pinholes: Sunset. At Stumptown www.stumptowncoffee.com 128 SW 3rd 6PM-8



Illustrated is a show of illustration work by Meredith Butner, Jess Fogel, Lily Gilbert, Amy Ruppel, and Lisa Schonberg. Curated by Iris Porter. At Valentines valentineslifeblood.blogspot.com 232 SW Ankeny Art 6PM-late Free



Augen has a group show. It's a good opportunity to see the span of aesthetics the gallery supports. Artists include Deanne Belinoff, Bill Brewer, Sally Cleveland, Jonnel Covault, John Dempcy, Trish Grantham, Jef Gunn, Chris Kelly, Eva Lake, Royal Nebeker, Jim Riswold and Mary Wells. At Augen Gallery www.augengallery.com 716 NW Davis early close 8



PSU has a show by students who participated in their program in Italy, Summer last year. The artists are Artists are William Bruno, Fara Di Noto, Stephanie Drachman, Gabriela Golez, Yibo Lu, Robert McKirdie, Riley Werner and Amanda Wilcox. At PSU MK Gallery in the PSU Art Department Building, Second Floor, Room 207, 2000 SW 5th 5PM-7



The myriad galleries at the Everett lofts are always recommended. At the Everett Lofts 625 NW Everett. Bounded by NW Everett, Broadway, Flanders and 6th Map

January 3 Cats!

This is primarily a visual arts blog, with excursions into contemporary performance and worldchanging. But we love it when Portland creative communities cross boundaries as with the Fin de Cinema series. The event pairs an iconic or ironic film with a live soundtrack provided by a bevy of Portland's most interesting musicians. Tonight it is the 1963 Cassandra Cat from Czech director Vojtěch Jasný, now at SVA. It has something to do with a magical circus cat who reveals the true motivations of individuals, which of course is threatening to society. It's a technical accomplishment in its time; hand coloring, optical printer? Live musical accompaniment is provided by Typhoon, Tu Fawning and Brainstorm, with DJ Coldyron and DJ Pattern and Shape. At Holocene www.holocene.org 1001 SE Morrison 8:30PM $6