Sunday, April 07, 2013

April 5 - June 8 Not Lumber Sculpts

Artists Fred Sandback and Julia Dault show minimal sculptures at a private gallery in Portland with limited hours. Sandback was an early minimalist studying with Judd at Yale in the late 1960's. While Mr Sandback has passed, Canadian artist Dualt is much alive and making new work. The Lumberroom has put them together. Well worth engaging. At The Lumber Room lumberroom.com 419 SW 9th, above Liz Leach Map Check the site for hours. Free

Friday, April 05, 2013

April 5 Eastside Art Openings

Up in NE Chase Biado opens the Spring season at Appendix with Chase Biado in time. An artist and curator to watch. At Appendix Project Space www.appendixspace.com On the alley between 26th and 27th, South of Alberta. Map 7-10ish Free



Ty Ennis opens JKJKJK tonight. He is an illustrative painter with eclectic subject matter. He moves to Nationale for full time representation, a welcome move given Nationale's network, span and respect. At Nationale www.nationale.us 811 E Burnside Map 6PM-9



For Hire is a show of resumes. And resumes are still being accepted. The studios at Recess: Maggie Craig, Figurative Painting; Jenny Vu, Drawing, Painting & Comics; Lucile Marlome, Jewerly Making; Erica Edmonson, Sculpture & Textiles; Ashley Burke, Graphic Design; Paul Clay, Video & Performance and Chloe Kendall, Video & Printmaking, will be open as well. And a DJ opening night for your dance pleasures. At RECESS recessart.com at Oregon Brassworks Building, 1127 SE 10th Map 7PM-late



Ann Ploeger is one of Portland's great individualistic portrait photographers. Her trademark is people at home with their feet maybe oddly bare. She shows My Melinda tonight, multiple personae of a single subject. At Pushdot Studio www.pushdotstudio.com 2505 SE 11th Avenue Suite 104 6PM-9



Charlie Haughey presents A Weather Walked In a show of photographs made between 1968 and 1969. Haughey served in the infantry in the Vietnam War. His over 2000 negatives remained largely unseen until last year. Haughey has selected 28 and presents them in his handmade frames. At adxportland.com 417 SE 11th x Stark Map 6PM-10



Redux has a favorite illustrator Jennifer Parks. Her subject is women who would seem at home in Portland. Parks is one of the partners in the Pony Club. At Redux www.reduxpdx.com 811 E Burnside 6PM-10



Black Box has a photo salon, a larger show than most for them. At Black Box Gallery www.blackboxgallery.com 811 E Burnside, Suite 212 upstairs 5PM-8:30


New to LoBu Home Bass has a show by Davey Cadaver and Sarah Hoyt with DJ's. Hoyt makes caffeinated drawings of many-eyed cats. Cadaver has Juxtapoz-style heads. Both artists have made work for viewing with 3d glasses which induce extreme chromatic aberration, pulling red forward and violet back. Many other items in the store look great through them too. At Home:Bass www.homebasspdx.com 123 NE 6th 6PM-10 Free



Newspace has some potential curiosities. Early Works are some of the first images of now grown up photographers with their personal narratives. Then. Now. Here is a sequence of images alternating vintage photographs with current Oregon photographers working the same locations. There will also be a show of photographs by Newspace's young after school program photographers. At Newspace Photo www.newspacephoto.org 1632 SE 10th Map 6PM-9

Thursday, April 04, 2013

April 4 Westside Art Openings

We already mentioned the Littman show, which is recommended.



It's Portland Photo Month, officially organized as well as independently inspired. For more details: www.portlandphotomonth.org



What If? is an art & design exhibition for TEDxPortland auction items for the Children's Healing Art Program. It's varied and well curated. They start the evening early with a reception. At the University of Oregon White Stag Building, http://whitebox.uoregon.edu/ 70 NW Couch 4:30PM-6 reception, perhaps on display later



Up in Northwest, the Laura Russo Gallery has Whitney Nye and Roll Hardy. Nye excels in compositions of large patterns of small details, and does so in new abstract paintings. At Laura Russo Gallery www.laurarusso.com 805 NW 21st 5PM-8



We like China, so we will probably like Philipp Scholz Rittermann's Emperor’s River, documenting the thousand mile canal connecting Beijing to Hangzhou. Also showing Tamas Dezso's portrait of Hungary, and Retratos Pintados, vintage hand colored formal portraits from Brazil. At Blue Sky Gallery www.blueskygallery.org map 122 NW 8th 6PM-9



Everett Lofts are recommended as always. Some close as early as 9PM. At the Everett Lofts 625 NW Everett. Bounded by NW Everett, Broadway, Flanders and 6th Map



PDX has photos by Amjad Faur, Evan La Londe and Masao Yamamoto. At PDX Contemporary Art www.pdxcontemporaryart.com 925 NW Flanders Map early close 8PM



Hellion has unusual for it minimal work by Joshua Krause. 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



Space. It's big. It's the theme of a show by Lea Loo, Savannah Julian, Ethan Allen Smith, Ryan J Bush, Allison Berg, Kengo Olsen, Alex DeSpain, Bryony Redhead, Cassandra Swan, Samantha Sacomano. Guest curated by Dawn Yanagihara. At Compound Gallery www.compoundgallery.com 107 NW 5th 6PM-10

Sunday, March 31, 2013

April 4 People in Glass Houses

Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle has been awarded a MacArthur for his thought provoking and beautiful sculptures and video. Portland State has arranged to bring his work, usually shown in museums, to the Littman Gallery. The gallery shows a video and a painting, each referencing the seminal Glass House of architect Mies van der Rohe, founder of architectural modernism.

Mies built the house in 1951 along a river South of Chicago. It was later reprised by Philip Johnson at New Canaan. These gems were birthed in a different era of energy and economic optimism. They dispense with the gable, a strong symbol of home and gemutlichkeit in Europe and the United States, and substitute an efficient flat roof and inside out living on display.

So the metaphoric possibilities possibilities are rich.

The video, Always After (The Glass House), 2006 was inspired by the destruction of the glass sheathing of the S. R. Crown Hall at the Illinois Institute of Technology on the occasion of its renovation, 49 years after its inception. The building was designed by Mies when he chaired the architecture department of the school and houses the department of architecture.

The print, House with Four Columns, 2010 is inspired by the great unbuilt Mies project 50x50. The design, initiated in 1950, was an early American proposal for low cost housing. It echoed Mies' Bauhaus sensibilities: the Bauhaus was birthed in an economically depressed Germany, crippled by war reparations for WWI, and by the great recession.

The Bauhaus vision was for beautifully designed minimalist, inexpensive and durable housing and household goods for the people. Mies was the last director of the Bauhaus. It was closed by Hitler's rise and many of its Jewish creatives came to the United States. Their impact on design, architecture and art, including on Black Mountain College, is unassailable.

Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle speaks at PSU in a paid event April 26. Exhibition at the PSU Littman Gallery in Smith Union. www.pdx.edu/littmanandwhite Littman Gallery:
PSU Smith Hall, Room 250
1825 SW Broadway 7PM-8:30 Free

April 1 Half the Sky

Could we live with half the sky, half the sun, half the rain? The idea is unthinkable.

In 2009 Nicholas D. Kristof from Yamhill, Oregon and Sheryl WuDunn wrote a book Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide. Since, they have traveled the world documenting for public television situations where women of all ages are blocked from reaching their full potential. And with the great challenges facing our species, we need everyone working on them!

Kristof and WuDunn were in the right place at the right time to report on the Chinese democracy movement in 1989, for which they won a Pulitzer. They have gone on to report all over the world. Kristof has had a strong impact on reporting on the war in Darfur Sudan and on trafficing of girls in Southeast Asia. He operates a scholarship program in which college students accompany him on hard berth reporting projects worldwide. World news gathering is in decline over costs and perhaps disinterest, distraction or overwhelming depression. Maybe there is an antidote; there is a good argument that he is the most effective journalist operating in the world today.

Kristof presents his Half the World project in a talk tonight, with a book signing to follow. At Reed College in Kaul Auditorium www.reed.edu 3203 SE Woodstock 7PM Free

March 31 Atlas Insecta Obscura

When you were a kid, did you collect bugs? For some it can turn into an obsession, which is great for inspiring the next generation of bug collectors. In the great English traveler tradition of collecting, Don Ehlens brings his bug collection to Portland for an Insect Safari and will guide you through it.

Ehlens started collecting bugs at age 5. He studied entomology in college and keeps up active collecting. In some ways this falls into the "keep Portland weird" category, but really science is not weird.

See the insect safari at Paxton Gate www.paxtongatepdx.com 4204 N Mississippi noon-2, refreshments 2PM-5 Free

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

March 26 Modern Sleep Reading

The Portland Museum of Modern Art hosts Sleep, a roving reading series organized by Hannah Pass and Elizabeth Pusack. Readers tonight are Nour Mobarak, Jay Nebel, David Weinberg and Morgan Ritter. At the Portland Museum of Modern Art inside Mississippi Records www.portlandmuseumofmodernart.com 5202 N Albina Map 8PM Free

Saturday, March 23, 2013

March 23 Waltz Stimulus False Space

Are you bored tonight, the first Saturday of Spring? Nooo, don't be.

Portland artist Palma Coral opens a show, Stimulus, Sensation, Thought (Estímulo, Sensación, Pensamiento), focused on fear. Step into her installation. At Sum Gallery 2821 NE Martin Luther King Boulevard 7PM-11 Free



Kyle Simon from the East Coast opens a show, the waltz: the story of August and Eloise, flatish illustration paintings. At the Portland Museum of Modern Art inside Mississippi Records www.portlandmuseumofmodernart.com 5202 N Albina Map 7:30PM-9:30 Free



False Front opens Andrew Lorish. He is a painter, unusual for False Front, which likely means that it is painting worth seeing. It is a show opening tonight at False Front Studio www.falsefrontstudio.com 4518 NE 32nd Map 7PM-9 Free




Space is the Place. It is a meme owing origin as title to a film by musician Sun Ra. In this case, it's an epic group show. The show includes some people you may know, like Guillermo Gómez-Peña, David Huffman, Wendy Red Star and Saya Woolfalk. I'm a fan of Gómez-Peña though he can be an overbearing pain. Meanwhile there is a video opening in the Vestibule space at Disjects: Infinity vs Eternity by Chele Isaac. At Disjecta, in the shadow of Paul Bunyan www.disjecta.org 8371 N. Interstate
Map 6PM-9 Free
















Portland Museum of Modern Art is thrilled to present new work from Brooklyn, NY-based artist Kyle Simon. Simon’s solo exhibitions are multimedia meditations on expansive narratives, equally elaborate in their planning and execution. Simon delights in storytelling, and utilizes a blend of painting, printmaking, sculpture and the written word to weave together an engrossing, multi-layered narrative that strongly rewards multiple viewings. With evocative story lines that call to mind archetypal folklore and the intense personal mythologies of childhood, Simon goes to great lengths to create a realm of his own unique fantasy. THE WALTZ the story of August and Eloise details a complex saga of lust, music and jealousy amongst apprentices in the workshop of Hephaestus, the Greek god of blacksmithery and volcanoes.

A master print-maker by trade, Simon constantly acquires new skills for each project, often devising innovative processes by which to realize his vision. Whether building his own lathe to create a functioning record album from a Plexiglas disc, mixing his own oil paints from pigments and fats, or applying gold leaf to a roasted chicken to make a feast fit for a king, Simon dazzles with the effort, ingenuity and energetic spirit of his work.

Simon has exhibited his work at renowned contemporary galleries around the world, including La Serilla in Barcelona, Gallerie allerART in Bludenz, Kennedy Gallery in San Francisco, and Artjail and Pace in New York City. THE WALTZ the story of August and Eloise will be Simon's first show in Portland and will also feature work made with his frequent collaborator, artist Benjamin Folstein.
http://manthonyssong.blogspot.com/

Friday, March 22, 2013

March 22 Bleaps Happening

Portlandorusnow is more a sight event blog than a sound event blog. With the diversity of sounds in Portland, we leave it to others to do better on sounds. But we do note sometime Indian music, international and stand out electronica.

Ambient blips, bleaps, synthetic instruments and sonic landscapes are on our program tonight. Craig Padilla & Howard Givens from Spotted Peccary present their electronic musics at electronic music central in Portland. Throw a pillow, BYO bottle, or blanket in your pack for bringing as you desire.

At Control Voltage www.controlvoltage.net 3742 NE Mississippi 7PM-10 Free



4Happening is the #4 event by artists to create the Portland instantiation of Andy Warhol's collaboration parties. Performances by Goodwin, Solenoid & Activity Universal; mural by Dunja Jankovic; visuals-installation by Cody Brant, Perry Doane, Ernest Wedoff, Tim Ferrell & Bugenhagen. All ages. At PSU in Neuberger 293 7PM-9 Free

Thursday, March 21, 2013

March 21 Art Sparks

Art Spark, the networking meetup for the arts meets tonight. Writing concern The Attic Institute talks about their work. At Migration Brewing 2828 NE Glisan 5PM-7 Free

Saturday, March 16, 2013

March 16 Grand Mall

Ním Wunnan, Patrick Collier, Katherine Groesbeck, Michael Reinsch and Adrienne Huckabone open-continue shows at Place, placepdx.tumblr.com a gallery on the 3rd floor of the Pioneer Place Mall along with the People's art of Portland and the Woolley Gallery. 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. 5PM-9 Free



The Mark Woolley Gallery has well known for a good reason artists Amy Ruppel and Wesley Younie. At Mark Woolley Gallery www.markwoolley.com 5PM-9 Free

Thursday, March 14, 2013

March 15 Opening & Closing

Philip Iosca opens his Moment, Monument show at Fourteen30. The gallery is a good match for his work and we hope the work will be introduced to other cities. At Portland's only member of the New Art Dealers Alliance www.newartdealers.org, Fourteen30 Gallery www.fourteen30.com 1501 SW Market Street Map 6PM-9



The Portland Museum of Modern Art closes its Sun/Light show which opened on February 9. At the Portland Museum of Modern Art inside Mississippi Records www.portlandmuseumofmodernart.com 5202 N Albina Map 7:30PM-9:30 Free

Monday, March 11, 2013

March 13-16 Let's Get Critical

We have written about the Critical Art Ensemble since discovering them through the Gene(sis) art show curated by Robin Held at the Henry. Their early work, beginning in 1987, was political and often participatory. In the late 1990's they began to create bio-art work which were included in Gene(sis). That would make them early participants in the biohacker and biopunk movements. Then there was the unfortunate instance of CAE artist Steve Kurtz being arrested in 2004 for making art from living cells in his home laboratory. After 2006, the CAE shifted its focus to critique of global warfare, climate changes, endangered species, pollution and economic inequality.

Now the Critical Art Ensemble comes to PNCA.

Their visual show, Acceptable Losses, runs from March 13 to June 2 in the Feldman gallery.

The show opens and the artists speak on March 13 at 5PM at PNCA.

With support from Lewis and Clark and Portland State University, the Critical Art Ensemble talks about art and politics, a long time theme in their work. The talk will be held at the PSU 5th Avenue Cinema March 14 at 7PM.

Brian Holmes speaks on Tactical Media in the Neoliberal Era: The Helicopter View (or should we say the drone view) March 15 6:30PM at PNCA.

And using the social practice tactic of food, the CAE hosts a block party on NW 13th by PNCA March 16 noon-5.

You can do you own research on the artists, then join the events. The PR is sub par, but this link covers the entire program: cal.pnca.edu/e/675?s=20130313.

The PNCA events art at NW 13 and NW Johnson. The PSU Hall Street Cinema is at 515 SW Hall. All events are free.

March 12 Design at World Scale

D-Rev is a nonprofit design firm focused on products for underserved world markets. Helping rather than entertaining distraction. One is a low cost artificial knee joint. The other is a long life low powered therapy device for a common infant disease. The founder, Krista Donaldson, speaks about the mission of her design house, how they settled on these projects, and the design challenges for each.

Her talk is Design for Scaled Impact. Details: www.mercycorps.org/events/2013/02/21/28224 RSVP by email requested. At the Mercy Corps Action Center www.actioncenter.org 28 SW 1st 7PM Free

Monday, February 25, 2013

March 11 Beautiful Losers FTW!

Aaron Rose is a writer, director, curator, gallerist and cultural mover who also does copious commercial work. He has been one of the most skillful facilitators of engaging artists authentically in commercial branding. He is cocurator of the Beautiful Losers art show, codirector of the documentary film on the artists and coeditor of ANP Quarterly. He founded Alleged Gallery, 1992-2002, in New York which brought that aesthetic to the world's art center. It worked, the 2002 Whitney Biennial included for the first time Beautiful Loser artists operating outside New York and outside the commercial gallery ecosystems of the time.

Rose encourages artists to develop a strong personal aesthetic independent of sampling.

He looks back tonight over cultural movements in a talk Everything Starts Small. Rose observes that major movements in art, fashion, music and film started with an individual or small group. This is obvious, and identifiable in retrospect. The trick is to find them early as do we. It is part of an Oregon College of Arts and Crafts lecture series. Usually we don't publish this far in advance - in this case reservations required by email lectures@ocac.edu or phone 971-255-4165. In the auditorium of the Tiger Woods center on the Nike campus. 7PM Free

March 9 Evening Ragas

Ragas are a perfect ritual for Spring ahead. Ustad Aashish Khan performs evening ragas on sarod, accompanied by Pranesh Khan on tabla. Both are musical descendants of Baba Allauddin Khan and Ustad Ali Akbar Kahn. Both relocated to the San Francisco Bay area, and both have collaborated extensively with Western musicians. Here is a late night rag in which they play together, Darbari Kanada. Presented by Kalakendra at the First Baptist Church of Portland SW 12th and SW Taylor. 7:30PM $20, $15 students, Free Kalakendra members

March 7 Westside Art Openings and Mali Now

We Never Knew Exactly Where: Dispatches from the Lost Country of Mali is a book by Peter Chilson, who began an engagement with West Africa in the Peace Corps. He has returned many times, was visiting Mali in the time of the coup, and visited the North during the civil war. Chilson speaks tonight on his observations of Mali today. Details: www.mercycorps.org/events/2013/01/18/28064 RSVP by email requested.
At the Mercy Corps Action Center www.actioncenter.org 28 SW 1st 7PM Free



Amanda Wojick is a Northwest sculptor. Her work uses small units of common materials referencing nature in a contemporary way. Tonight she opens a new work of a large number of hawthorne tree leaves supported by steel rods and painted overall in a variety of colors. At Elizabeth Leach Gallery www.elizabethleach.com 417 NW 9th Map 6PM-9



The Optimist is a new show by Portland painter Adam Sorenson of bright geometrical mystical landscapes. At PDX Contemporary Art www.pdxcontemporaryart.com 925 NW Flanders Map early close 8PM



Tokyo printmaker Ritsuko Ozeki presents Scene A, his response to the tsunami which struck Japan two years ago. At www.froelickgallery.com 714 NW Davis



Stumptown has a show from the collective Crayon Coffin and the Mushroom Necklace. At Stumptown www.stumptowncoffee.com 128 SW 3rd until 7



Photographer Sarah Meadows, who studied at PNCA, presents a show of her new work. She excels at enigmatic landscapes, fashion photography and photos of friends and their events. At the PNCA www.pnca.edu 13th and NW Johnson 6PM-9



Daughter Like a Specter by Nonnow Naruse from Tokyo opens tonight at Hellion. Her illustration-style paintings. The work taps what I read as ennui and disaffection, a charming theme in Japanese art. 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-10



Michelle Morin, Sarah Burwash, Kelly Rae Burns, Bill Dunlap, Becca Stadtlander, Nokkasili, Midori Yamada, Micca and Tadashi Ura have a show of watercolor illustrations, Transparent Truth at Compound Gallery www.compoundgallery.com 107 NW 5th 6PM-10



Arthur Tress splits a show between Newspace and Blue Sky this month. Included are surreal settings made long before today's digital collage. At Blue Sky Gallery www.blueskygallery.org map 122 NW 8th 6PM-9



Everett Lofts are recommended as always. It's easier for you to see them all than for me to write suggestions. Some close as early as 9PM. At the Everett Lofts 625 NW Everett. Bounded by NW Everett, Broadway, Flanders and 6th Map

Sunday, February 24, 2013

March 6 You New Bad Things Time

You New Bad Things is a show by artists Chase Allgood, Erika Anderson/Leif Shackelford, Chase Biado, Zoë Clark, Zachary Davis, Alex Mackin Dolan, Jamie Edwards, Travis Fitzgerald, Mike Merrill and Chloé Womack. Those names will no doubt be familiar to many who visit Portland's alternative spaces. They all work together at the Holladay Studios. There will be a reception for the artists tonight. Recommended. At PSU in the Autzen, AB Lobby, and MK Galleries: AB Lobby Gallery, PSU Art Building, 1st Floor Lobby, Room 110, 2000 SW 5th; MK Gallery, PSU Art Building, 2nd Floor, Room 210, 2000 SW 5th; Autzen Gallery, Neuberger Hall, 2nd Floor, Room 205, 724 SW Harrison. 5PM-7 Free



(What's) Happening #3, an experiment by the PSU Time Arts Club, happens tonight. Visuals + installations by Bugenhagen, Tim Ferrell and Ernest Wedoff. Live mural by Kaila Farrell-Smith. Live performances by Maxx Bass, Solenoid and The Tenses. Conveniently at PSU in Neuberger 293. 5PM-7 Free

March 4 Tube Your Quarter

Oregon is not Portland. One way to look it is a state of four quarters. The upper left hand corner is the Willamette Valley to Eugene and the Northern Coast, Florence to Astoria. The upper right is La Pine to Burns, to Lagrande and Enterprise, Pendleton and The Dalles. The lower left is Ashland, Medford, Roseburg, K-Falls, Crater Lake and the Southern Coast. The empty quarter is what's left, including the Steens, Alvford, Christmas Valley and antelope and bird refuges. Pam Minty & Alain LeTourneau traveled the area, met some of the scattered residents, and made a film about the place, The Empty Quarter. For tonight's showing, the filmmakers will be in attendance. Film at PSU's 5th Avenue Cinema 510 SW Hall Street 7PM Free



Getting to Know You(Tube) is back tonight with social practice artist Ally Drozd and Sky Cunningham. Getting to Know You(Tube) www.gettingtoknowyoutube.com at the Hollywood Theater www.hollywoodtheatre.org 4122 NE Sandy Boulevard 7:30PM $5

Saturday, February 23, 2013

March 1 Eastside Art Openings +

Fuensanta Nieto & Enrique Sobejano are Spanish architects who specialize in designing modernist structures that sit among traditional buildings in Europe. Portland's design regulations and public involvement programs have turned back more than one effort in this area, requiring brick facades, continuing lines, awnings, or specific proportions. Nieto-Sobejano also have a specialty in perforated concrete, which is quite beautiful. Tonight they visit Portland to discuss their work. In the Shattuck Hall Annex, 1914 SW Park Avenue, at the corner of SW Broadway and Hall on the PSU campus. 6PM Free



Adams and Ollman is a new gallery opening this evening. They will specialize in self-taught and folk art influenced artists. Their first show will be Bill Walton, 1931-2010, a Philadelphia minimalist sculptor and print maker. If you know Portland artists, his work reminds me of DE May. At Adams and Ollman Gallery www.adamsandollman.com 811 E Burnside #213



Shades of Gray is a black and white photo show curated by Lauren Henkin. At Black Box Gallery www.blackboxgallery.com 811 E Burnside, Suite 212 upstairs 5PM-8:30 Free



Entitlement is a show of painting by Alex Steckly inspired by commercial automobile body painting. At Nationale www.nationale.us 811 E Burnside Map



Illustrator Julianna Swaney shows Root & Twig. You have probably seen this work around town. At Redux www.reduxpdx.com 811 E Burnside



Union/Pine has a show of art by artists in Portland's fashion world tonight. At Union/Pine www.unionpine.com 525 SE Pine 7PM-late Free



The Elk Collective is a branding/ design/ interiors concern. They are doing art shows in their space too. Urban style. At the Elk Collective www.elkcollective.com 2505 SE 11th #137 (Homeland loading dock) 7PM-10 Free



Sophia Wallace shows Truer, documenting she and her partner over a two year period. Also with San Francisco, 1964, vintage work by Arthur Tress. At Newspace Photo www.newspacephoto.org 1632 SE 10th Map



The ASMP, a trade group for commercial photographers, has stolen a play from the book of the Portland Grid Project, 1996-2005. 49 photographers have each documented their assigned 1 mile grid piece in project Portland Squared. The results are on display tonight. At Pushdot Studio www.pushdotstudio.com 2505 SE 11th Avenue Suite 104

Friday, February 22, 2013

February 28 We Got The Motion

We don't note graphic art shows. They have their own aesthetics distinct from my interests. Here is an exception. Michael Neault at Second Story Interactive Studios has curated an evening of animated infographics. Done well, they can bridge the ever growing torrent of data about our world and our able solution-seeking brains. Given the challenges we face as a species, I'm all for anything that works. Neault observes that a rich creative skillset, often a team, can come together to create some pretty stunning work. A good resource if you are interested in the topic ongoing is www.infosthetics.com. You can see Hollywoodtheatre.org/animated-infographics at the Hollywood Theater www.hollywoodtheatre.org 4122 NE Sandy Boulevard 7:30PM $7

February 24 Signal Fires for Josh

Plazm is a magazine, design concern and instigator that put Portland on the international map early. Cofounder Josh Berger was injured in a bicycle accident, something that could happen to anyone of us. He is making a steady recovery from brain injuries, thanks to his family and community.

100x100 is a benefit for Josh today. Over 100 artists have contributed works to raise funds for the family. The list is seriously impressive: Adam Garcia, Adam Sorenson, Alexis Mollomo, Alfredo Muccino, Brad Simon, Chris Haberman, Chris Johanson, Chris Knight, Christina Seely, Clare Carpenter, Corey Lunn, Cynthia Lahti, Dan Attoe, Ed Fella, Erik Stotik, Erin Holcomb, Gabriel Liston, Gus Nicklos, Harrell Fletcher, Heather Watkins, Jason Bacon, Jeff Foster, Jeff Jahn, Jeffry Mitchell, Jennifer Armbrust, Jeremy Bittermann, Jeremy Pelley, Jerry Ketel, Jolby, Jordan Domont, Jose Cabaco, Kathryn Lippert, Keegan + Meegan, Kristan Kennedy, Kristen Rogers Brown, Kristy Edmunds, Lloyd Winter, Malia Jensen, Marcus Swanson, Mark Faigenbaum, Mary Kysar, Melody Owen, Michael Brophy, Michael Buchino, Midori Hirose, Mike King, Milton Glaser, Nan Curtis & Marty Houston, Neva Knott, Patrick Long, Paul Fujita, Philip Iosca, Robbie McLaran, Sam Guerrero, Santiago Uceda, Sarah Cline, Sean Healy, Steve Sandstrom, Storm Tharp, Susan Seubert, Thomas Bradley, Tom O’Toole, Tsilli Pines, Vanessa Renwick, Will Bryant, Zak Margolis and TJ Norris.

If you are interested in the art, you can register in advance for a very reasonable price at a link on the website, www.tinyurl.com/joshpica, to increase your quotient of obtanium. If you don't need any more art, you can simply make a donation at the door and enjoy a great getogether of creative people for something important. There will be music by Sam Coomes, Ray Reposa, Tuvan throat singer Enrique Ugalde - Soriah, Grey Anne, WC Beck, and e*rock. Master of ceremonies is AC Dickson. Beer & food. urbanhonking.com/supercal/2013/02/24/100x100-for-josh-a-benefit-and-celebration-for-josh-berger/. At the PICA space 415 SW 10th 3PM-6 $10-20



A retrospective of work from one of the world's finest arts residencies, Signal Fire opens today at Marylhurst. Thirteen artists of the one hundred residents show work: Miguel Arzabe, Zachary Davis, Dan Gilsdorf, April Marie Hale, Ellie Irons, Kendra Larson, Guillaume Légaré, Sarah Meadows, Rebecca Najdowski, Jennifer O'Keeffe, Julie Perini, Kyle Riedel and Jillian Vento. It is at the same time as the benefit for Josh, but will be up for some time. You should see this show sometime in its run. At the Marylhurst Art Gym at Marylhurst University www.marylhurst.edu/theartgym/ Map 3PM-5 Free

February 23 Leaf Raiders of the Lost Private Caldera Vestibule Rag

The Independent Publishing Resource Center, the IPRC, is a clubhouse and classroom for self publishers. Over the years, they have amassed a huge library of 'zines. 'Zines upon 'zines. Binders of binders of binders of 'zines.

As Google has taught us, it's not the collection that matters, it's the indexing and ultimate use. The IPRC is hosting a a 24 hour marathon by "raiders of the lost archives" - you - to dig into the pile and catalog it. You can form a team or stop in as an individual, spending an hour or 24. Bring friends! Read weird fiction! Details on the IPRC website. At the Independent Publishing Resource Center www.iprc.org 1101 SE Division, Suite 2 10AM Saturday - 10AM Sunday Free!



This Private Screening is not private, Private Screening is simply the title of a new collaboration between Ním Wunnan and Gabe Flores. It is a show opening tonight at False Front Studio www.falsefrontstudio.com 4518 NE 32nd Map 7PM-10 Free



The Vestibule is the narrow hallway exhibition space at Disjecta. They are having a party-opening tonight. Dubias, Weird Fiction, ExtrAlone and Morganixx exhibit-perform. At Disjecta, in the shadow of Paul Bunyan www.disjecta.org 8371 N. Interstate Map 8PM $5



Caldera is a place for creative experimentation and collaboration. In summer it is a creative camp for at risk kids. In Winter it is a quiet, even snowbound residency for select artists. Today is one of their rare open houses. Artists Jason Baker, Helen Dennis, Laura Gibson, Elsbeth Pancrazi, Roger Peet and Joanna Priestley show what they have been up to. It's a chance to see the studios and talk with the artists. Directions on the website. At Camp Caldera www.calderaarts.org, 31500 Blue Lake Drive, Sisters, OR 1PM-3 Free



Signal Fire has a big opening tomorrow at Marylhurst. Tonight they release their third Leaf Litter - a book of work by recent artist participants in the program. Release and reading at Division Leap www.divisionleap.com 211 SW 9th xBurnside 7PM-9



If you would like to get your rag on, there will be vocal ragas tonight. The raga is an Indian classical music form distinguished by a swara, somewhat akin to a key, and an analog to a melody which form a structure for improvisation by the musicians. Those musicians are vocalist Michael Stirling, Benjy Wertheimer on tabla, Peai Luzzi and Lucy Stirling, tamburas. At The Movement Center, 1021 NE 33rd Avenue 7:30PM by donation


Tuesday, February 19, 2013

February 22 Experimental Two Hours Works Weeks

Who can critique an event titled Happening #2? Timeless experimenters, the Time Arts Club, brings together you, and live performance by Stepkid, MSHR, Mutagen and Tripp Johnson. With visuals and installation by Amanda Machina, Mark Martínez, Bugenhagen, Ernest Wedoff & Tim Ferrell. Wigs by Manny Reyes and a live mural by Sean Christensen. All ages. At PSU in Neuberger 293 7PM-9 Free



Fourteen30's 2/2 series continues with opening two of Grier Edmundson's works, Optimum Expansion (After Iain and Inrid) made in 2013, and Hans Blix and Pink Mittens made in 2006. The series features two works shown for two weeks in the gallery. No reception tonight, there will be one March 10th noon-2. Check the gallery website for the limited weekend hours or to make an appointment. At Portland's only member of the New Art Dealers Alliance www.newartdealers.org, Fourteen30 Gallery www.fourteen30.com 1501 SW Market Street Map 6PM-8

Monday, February 18, 2013

February 21 Sound Design & Vision

IDEO should need no introduction to people in the design world. Building on innovations in Berkeley's department of anthropology and PARC, it launched in 1991. It has spread the human-centered design philosophy worldwide, especially through its connection with the Stanford d.school. Tonight one of their design directors speaks in Portland. David Aycan is focused on business design, an interest of mine. Business design uses design thinking to design the total business, or redesign the business. Some people think business is boring. Only boring business is boring. Talk at PNCA www.pnca.edu 1241 NW Johnson Map 7PM Free



May Juliette Barruel curates an evening of music and visuals tonight. It's the third in Nationale's Sound & Vision series. The lineup is impressive: Tunnels (Nick Bindeman), Cloaks (Spencer Doran + Ryan Carlile), Entity (Birch Cooper + Warren Lee) and films by Brenna Murphy. At the Hollywood Theater www.hollywoodtheatre.org 4122 NE Sandy Boulevard 8PM $5 or free for Nationale event subscribers - it's a deal: http://nationale.us/MEMBERS-1

February 20 Plant Art or Parody?

Topiary is a wild edge of art and design. It's associated with land and time wealth in Europe. But it's open to a parody of itself too. For instance it was a design motif executed in Astroturf on the roof deck of the downtown LA Standard. Pearl Fryar is an American topiary artist in all seriousness. Our West Coast - grow most things climate, and our community of landscape architects is a perfect audience for a talk by this modern topiary artist. And maybe PNCA, the sponsor of this talk, will have a topiary thesis in the future! At the PNCA www.pnca.edu The Bison Building, the MFA in Applied Craft and Design Studios 421 NE 10th 6:30 Free

February 19 The Curious Case of Locks

It is fascinating to see a really old lock, or a primitive lock from another country, and realize we haven't traveled far since. In their copious free time, many have taken up recreational lock picking to puzzle out these small machines. Tonight Kenny McElroy, of The Open Organization Of Lockpickers, provides a guided tour of locks, door locks, padlocks, handcuffs, combination locks and more. There will be hands-on opportunities for you to best these beasts. The most effective security is an awareness of its limitations, and this is a great opportunity to learn about these weak, but just strong enough machines. 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 18 Mannly Sculpture

Scottish sculptor Geoffrey Mann speaks tonight. He has been successfully navigating the contemporary, design, art and craft continua, which is exactly PNCA's focus. It's especially interesting to hear his view given the strength in UK design, art and its long history of craft. Talk at PNCA www.pnca.edu 1241 NW Johnson Map 6:30PM Free

Friday, February 15, 2013

February 17 Poetry Pedigree

Pedigree isn't a word I use often. There is a good argument that in the case of pets, more genetic diversity is healthy. So perhaps it's the perfect name for a series of panel discussions at Place. Artists discuss the value of art degrees in relation to their cost. It is part of a worldwide consideration of higher education on the precipice of change. Aaron Swartz is also a part of the discussion. He joined college dropouts Steve Jobs and Bill Gates in laying down technology, policy and business innovations. His last work was to advocate for open source academic publishing, now embraced by Oregon's senior senator in the form of the FASTR legislation. So if you are interested in "art, money, art education, and the value of the Master of Fine Arts degree" you can hear artists Jamie Marie Waelchli, Travis Nikolai, Katherine Groesbeck and Michael Reinsch, moderated by David Vanadia, discuss it. 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-7 Free



We don't usually cover poetry or literary events; others do it better! But the new book, Between Page and Screen, is a curious hybrid the creators dub an "augmented reality book". So it's here as an innovative design point. The makers, author Amaranth Borsuk and designer-programmer Brad Bouse, present the book and other works tonight. The pages contain glyphs, that, tuned to a website, serve material over the Internet triggered by the reader's webcam. Borsuk has a whole series of other innovative poetics projects. Portland's contemporary poet laureate, Lisa Radon also presents her work. If you are interested in poetry, a good place to start is The Spare Room, presenters of this event. At Division Leap www.divisionleap.com 211 SW 9th xBurnside 7:30PM

February 16 Love Place

The Place plex, a collection of contemporary gallery spaces on the third floor of the Pioneer Place Mall, opens its new shows this evening. The White Gallery has Wish Making & Practicalities by Katherine Groesbeck. It is a meditation on the transition from childhood, where one set of almost anything seems possible, to adulthood, where it is an entirely different set. On Demand is a continuation by Michael Reinsch of making art works to order from scrap materials for $5-10, on the spot and in the moment. The Black Gallery has Solid Mind by Jamie Marie Waelchli which is a meditation on life planning and its impediments as represented by drawings and an installation of vessels of solvents. Travis Nikolai has The Breathing Room, a space for a time out to consider. Waelchli and Nikolai speak about their work in the space Sunday, February 24th at 3PM. All at Place, placepdx.tumblr.com a gallery on the 3rd floor of the Pioneer Place Mall along with the People's art of Portland and the Woolley Gallery. 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. 5PM-9 Free



Love of Portland is the annual love-themed show at the People's Art of Portland www.peoplesartofportland.com 5PM-9 Free

Friday, February 08, 2013

February 9 Let There Be Light

The Portland Museum of Modern Art opens a large group show Sun/Light. A wide range of creatives, known for visual art, film, music and design, provide their interpretation of the theme including Ilyas Ahmed, Emily Baker, Jonathan Belli, Carolyn Berk, Belly & Bones, Erica Browne, Julia Calabrese, Sarah Coderre, Ashby Lee Collinson, Grant Corum, Dana Dart-McLean, Alexi Juniper Deets, Garrett Durant, Tom Greenwood, Midori Hirose, Ben Houston, Michael Hurley, Eric Isaacson, Ryan Iverson, Joshua Kermiet, Alexandria Liegel, Jake Manning, Daniel Matt, Nathan McKee, Rebecca Noon, Jen Olesen, Christina Owen, Morgan Reedy, William Rihel, Kate Schaefer, Anna Shelton, Raf Spielman, Elizabeth Venable, and Larry Yes. Wear light and bright clothing in celebration! At the Portland Museum of Modern Art inside Mississippi Records www.portlandmuseumofmodernart.com 5202 N Albina Map 7:30 Free

February 8 More Art Previews

Fourteen30 opens Andrea Longacre-White as part of their 2x2 series of two works by an artist in the gallery shown two weeks. At Portland's only member of the New Art Dealers Alliance www.newartdealers.org, Fourteen30 Gallery www.fourteen30.com 1501 SW Market Street Map 6PM-8



PNCA hosts a preview reception of selected works for an upcoming fundraising auction. Artist donations for fundraising are a sticky wicket. But it will be instructive to see the PNCA selection as a representation of their brand building. It is also an opportunity to take a look at the Heathman art and book collection. At the Heathman Hotel, 1001 SW Broadway. 5:30PM-8 Free



Ashkahn is a poppy word artist, perfect for imprinting on American Apparel shirts. So if you like that you can see it on the wall. At Buy Olympia's Land Gallery www.landpdx.com 3925 N Mississippi 6PM-8

Wednesday, February 06, 2013

February 7 Westside Art Openings

Chris Moss is primarily known as a video and installation artist. He helms the excellent Linfield College gallery. Tonight he opens A Thousand Single Trees Can't Be Wrong, an unusual for him show of photography. At Visage Eyewear www.visageeyewear.com 1046 NW Johnson 6PM-9



The Elizabeth Leach Gallery continues the Robert Rauschenberg print show, recommended. At Elizabeth Leach Gallery www.elizabethleach.com 417 NW 9th Map 6PM-9



MSHR continues Binary Lore in the Feldman Gallery. Recommended. The new bicycle oasis, Student Pedal Garden, on the corner of 13th and Johnson is complete. Its a memorial to PNCA student Tracy Sparling and PNCA alumnus Brett Jarolimek, both killed on their bikes by trucks turning right over the bicycle right of way. At PNCA www.pnca.edu 1241 NW Johnson Map



Arnold J Kemp opens his show, When Will My Love Be Right, minimal sculpture of everyday objects and photographs of surfaces of aluminum foil. For this work, Kemp is inspired a ballad When Will My Love Be Right. The artist statement in the gallery is much more eloquent. At PDX Contemporary Art www.pdxcontemporaryart.com 925 NW Flanders Map early close 8PM



Blue Sky has Vivian Maier: Out of the Shadows, from the Jeffrey Goldstein Collection. We had a long description of the photographer's work for a December show at Powell's. Recommended. Also portraits by Pedro Farias-Nardi share the gallery. Richard Cahan, author of Vivian Maier: Out of the Shadows speaks at the gallery February 10 at 2PM. One of the original founders of the Nine Gallery, Gary Boswell PSU '80, occupies the Nines space. At Blue Sky Gallery www.blueskygallery.org map 122 NW 8th 6PM-9



Compound Gallery has a huge group show, Portland as Fuck, curated by Molly Georgetta & Scrappers Morrison. Artists include Ryan Berkley, Ryan Bubnis, Michael Buchino, Keith Carter, Alex Chiu, Jeremy Okai Davis, Tripper Dungan, Morgaine Faye, Meg Hunt, Fawn Gehweiler, Trish Grantham, Micheal Illick, JesseHectic, Ian Karmel, Tim Karpinski, Josh Keyes, Nicole Lavelle, BT Livermore, Steve Mathews, David Neevel, Bethany Ng, Jennifer Parks, Jack Pollock, Jeff Proctor, Wilder Schmaltz , Scrappers, Jeff Sheridan, Bwana Spoons, Brett Superstar, Brent Wick, David Wien, Lloyd Winter and Brooke Weeber. At Compound Gallery www.compoundgallery.com 107 NW 5th 6PM-10



Grass Hut has a home themed show by APAKi, Sean Christensen Eatcho, August Lipp, Zachery Maverick, Jeremy Nichols, Jaclyn Rose, Jeff Sheridan, Amber W. Smith and Ryan Thompson. At Grass Hut in Floating World. www.grasshutcorp.com 400 NE Couch 6PM-9+



Reading Frenzy is moving. Their last day in the current location is Valentines Day. To celebrate, they have a silent auction tonight of prime artists who have shown in the space before. A list is on their website. At Reading Frenzy www.readingfrenzy.com 921 SW Oak 6PM-9



Hellion has Cole Gerst, illustrator, who has also worked in the music industry doing graphics, digital design and art direction. 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-10



Elizabeth Malaska shows paintings at Portland Center Stage curated by May Juliette Barruel of Nationale. At Portland Center Stage, Gerding Theater at the Armory, 128 NW 11th 6PM-9



The UofO has a decent school of landscape architecture in Eugene. In Portland, their gallery presents two landscape inspired artists: Claire Zitzow with Remains To Be Seen, and Dawn Roe with Goldfields. Zitzow is inspired by the landscape and human artifacts of the American Southwest. Roe works from the landscape and history of the area around Melbourne Australia. Roe will give a talk February 9, 7PM, and Zitzow, February 11, 6PM. At the University of Oregon White Stag Building, whitebox.uoregon.edu 70 NW Couch 6PM-9



Croatian artist in Portland, Dunja Jankovic, moves drawing in a sculptural direction. In addition to her experimental illustrations she does animation. You can see it in her show, Enter/Return, at the White Gallery littmanandwhitegalleries.tumblr.com in Smith Hall 1825 SW Broadway, 2nd Floor 5PM-8 Free



Everett Lofts are recommended as always. It's easier for you to see them all than for me to write suggestions. Some close as early as 9PM. At the Everett Lofts 625 NW Everett. Bounded by NW Everett, Broadway, Flanders and 6th Map



Henk Pender is back with his large scale paintings in a more electric palette. An interesting contrast to Paul Missal's work at Blackfish. At Laura Russo Gallery www.laurarusso.com 805 NW 21st 5PM-8

Thursday, January 31, 2013

February 4 Tubular You

Getting To Know You(Tube) is a social practice art project twice removed. Artists Crystal Baxley and Stefan Ransom invite their creative friends to curate about 10-15 minutes each of YouTube video shorts from the vast corpus of often amateur video. The root of the word amateur is amo, to love. So amateur is in contrast to professional, work usually done for money and with a big budget. Maybe we should honor love more? Tonight Tracey Cockrell, Rebecca Carlisle-Healy and Adam Moser share a few of their favorite YouTube videos. The audience is invited to bring a link to one of their own favorites to share at the end of the program. Please no tiresome music videos. Getting to Know You(Tube) www.gettingtoknowyoutube.com at the Hollywood Theater www.hollywoodtheatre.org 4122 NE Sandy Boulevard 7:15PM $5

February 3 On Photography +

Not all good artists are dead. Carrie Mae Weems, born in Portland, is good and very much alive. A retrospective of her work is presented at the Portland Art Museum now; and she speaks there live and in person this afternoon. The show includes her still photography, video and film. The talk may sell out, advance tickets are available at the Museum box office or online. Plan arrival time comprehending ticket checking logistics. At the Portland Art Museum www.portlandartmuseum.org 2PM-3 Free for members, or regular Museum admission otherwise



As mentioned before, the latest Two Weeks/Two Works project at Fourteen30 closes today with a reception. It's work by Jessica Jackson Hutchens, one of a handful of Portland artists operating on a world stage. Highly recommended. At Portland's only member of the New Art Dealers Alliance www.newartdealers.org, Fourteen30 Gallery www.fourteen30.com 1501 SW Market Street Map Noon-2

February 1 - March 2 Authentic African Zeitgeist(s)

The Cascade Festival of African Films begins its 23rd year tonight. Being the real thing, they are more likely to avoid falling into Western and Northern traps and tropes criticized by Binyavanga Wainaina in his Granta piece. The films, drawn from across the continent, range from melodrama to material suited to children. This year several are themed on the African diaspora in the Caribbean. Some cover politics and even include a film on hiphop culture in Egypt just predating the Arab Spring. It's lean forward entertainment. Details at www.africanfilmfestival.org. Films show at PCC Cascade and the Hollywood Theater on a Thursday, Friday, Saturday schedule - check the web schedule. Best of all - free, all free.

February 1 Not So Quiet

Modou Dieng has been busy making his own work, teaching, freelance curating, and continues to lead art expeditions to Senegal, after closing his Worksound project. His latest project is the NOW Portland Triennale, scheduled for 2015. To kick off the project he presents Not So Quiet tonight. In his old Worksound space, there will be visual art, video, dance performance, poetry, DJ's and you.

The Triennale project will bring international artists, selected by international curators to multiple venues. Portland has good standing in national visual art circles. It's time to be known for world impact, and for Portland artists and audiences to become comfortable navigating world aesthetics.

Tonight Jason Traeger shows paintings; Anne Colvin, video; Barry Sanders talks criticism; Matthew Dickman reads poems; Renee Rhodes performs dance; and Golden Retriever performs.

Not So Quiet, kickoff for the NOW Portland Triennial www.nowtriennale.org 820 SE Alder 9PM-midnight $15

February 1 Eastside Art Openings

Newspace Photo has a group show Photography at the Edge. You can read about it on their website. At Newspace Photo www.newspacephoto.org 1632 SE 10th Map



Image and Identity is a quirky portrait show at Black Box Gallery www.blackboxgallery.com 811 E Burnside, Suite 212 upstairs 5PM-8:30 Free



Home Bass has a show and DJ's. At Home:Bass www.homebasspdx.com 123 NE 6th 6PM-10 Free



Redux has a love-themed show. At Redux www.reduxpdx.com 811 E Burnside



Pushdot has a show of photographs, Tangled Branches... Stories of Adoption, by Kimberli Ransom. She showed the work previously in her studio in the Towne Warehouse building. It is a series of portraits of families blended by adoption and their stories, which is also the story of the photographer. The styling is traditional portrait studio, unusual in the contemporary art world, but the narratives pull it together. At Pushdot Studio www.pushdotstudio.com 2505 SE 11th Avenue Suite 104



Most chainsaw art is banal. Maybe chainsaws in the hands of artists would be better. Tonight you can see a demonstration of chainsawing art. Then you can decide if you want to attack that particular beast. At adxportland.com 417 SE 11th x Stark Map 6PM-9

January 31-February 17 Love Theater

The Fertile Ground Festival began about a week ago and continues through this weekend. Included are many excellent theater and dance works at reasonable prices. A favorite of mine is Hand2Mouth Theater presenting Something's Got Ahold of My Heart. You can see the schedule, including their shows planned for New York, as well as Portland on their website www.hand2mouththeatre.org. Hand2Mouth at Fertile Ground Festival Studio 2, 810 SE Belmont. Whole festival pass $50 for festival dates January 30-February 3. Regular run $12-20 through the 17th

Sunday, January 27, 2013

January 28 Designing Design

Design is not always valued in its time, place or culture. Not so here, now and today. High design, rooted in Northern Italy, Germany and Scandinavian countries faces innovation by designers worldwide who not only produce beautiful objects, but also work with ethnographers to design objects that work. And forward thinkers are thinking about a future in which all interfaces are virtualized and even disappear. That is the vision for ubiquitous computing first proposed by Mark Weiser at PARC.

Portland is a design town. That has been realized by the Portland Art Museum dipping its toe into design shows, including the excellent new design in China show. Meanwhile, the PNCA Museum of Contemporary Craft is backing into design from its foothold in traditional craft. We have also had several tries at Portland craft weeks and festivals.

To further the discussion about what we should do with design, PNCA has invited Sam Aquillano and Derek Cascio, creators of Design Museum Boston to Portland.

Design Museum Boston is a virtual museum: a collection of geographically distributed programs often in conjunction with other presenters and online. So the question is, are museums themselves destined for the museum? Or will brick and mortar museums encompass a virtual model in their program?

Aquillano and Cascio will be interviewed by Randy Gragg and take questions from the audience on their now 4 year old project tonight.

It is part of the Bright Lights series sponsored by local magazine the Portland Monthly and the City Club, a thoughtful public interest group. The crowd runs to Portland thinkers, architects and planners. At Jimmy Mak's, 221 NW 10th. Doors 5:30PM, discussion 6. Free

Saturday, January 26, 2013

January 26 Caldera Blades

Crystal Shenk & Shelby Davis are the focus of this open house at Caldera. They are resident artists this Winter. It's a chance to see the studios and talk with the artists. At Camp Caldera www.calderaarts.org, 31500 Blue Lake Drive, Sisters, OR 1PM-3 Free



Aedion 44 has a show, Blade, by their graphic artists Jess Gleasman, Paul Nieminen, Kevin McNally and Derek Jaskot. At Aedion 44 Gallery www.aedionaesthetic.com 4430 SE Hawthorne 7PM-11 Free



Thursday, January 24, 2013

January 25 Free is Good

On the last Friday of the month, the Art Museum is free from 5PM-8. So start your new year's resolution to see more free art. At the Portland Art Museum www.pam.org 1219 SW Park 5PM-8 Free



Fourteen30 starts a 2 week show by Jessica Jackson Hutchins. The reception is on closing February 3, contact the gallery for viewing times which do not include tonight. At Portland's only member of the New Art Dealers Alliance www.newartdealers.org, Fourteen30 Gallery www.fourteen30.com 1501 SW Market Street Map

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

January 23 Bunny Sandwich

Bunny Sandwich is a bi-coastal collaboration by artists Sandra Preston and Cori Champagne, in Portland and Boston respectively. They make illustrations which take a humorous approach to solving serious problems. They have explored modern nomads, the environmental impact of tourism and urb-suburb gardening, in Germany's schrebergärten. They present a talk tonight Open Ground: Wheelbarrows, Backpacks, and Beer - The Collaborative Process and The Bunny Sandwich Collective. It's part of an irregular series of salons on artist work, Neurobics, at Place placepdx.tumblr.com a gallery on the 3rd floor of the Pioneer Place Mall 700 SW Fifth. Doors 6:30PM, talk 7 Free

Sunday, January 20, 2013

January 22 Bee There

Avoiding being stung is my earliest childhood conception of bees. We err in teaching that first to children. Instead bee knowledge can be a gateway to the wonder of nature and science. And we should be massively thankful to bees, we would be starving without them.

Matt Reed is on a mission. Bee Knowledge is his physical store in Southeast and Interwebs business providing bee knowledge and bee supplies internationally.

His specialty is bar hives. They are the simplest type and simulate hives bees have been making in trees for over 50 million years.

Matt shares his bee knowledge tonight. 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

Friday, January 18, 2013

January 18, 19, 20 Things by YU

Friday social intellectualism theorist Angie Keefer speaks at YU. From the writeup at the YU website and her websites it's impossible to tell what she does or what she is speaking about. Longtime electronic music academic Curtis Roads performs Saturday at YU. On Sunday, the film Magnificent Obsession by director Douglas Sirk will be shown - at the NW Film Center in Whitsel Auditorium. Sirk's traditional works were an inspiration for Portland filmmaker Todd Haynes film Far From Heaven. All details on the YU website. www.yucontemporary.org

January 18 Controvrsy on the Flat

Controversy and Conversation is a show of graphic collage and screen printing by Peter Moore. He has worked in athletic industry creative, so employs brand-style text and imagery in his art projects. At Gallery Homeland www.galleryhomeland.org in the Ford Building www.fordbuildingpdx.com 2505 SE 11th x Division. Enter through the cafe on the corner if the main doors on 11th are locked. 7PM-10 Free

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

January 17 Art Spark

Art Spark, Portland's bimonthly art networking meetup, hosts the Dill Pickle Club, the Rock 'n' Roll Camp for Girls, Third Rail Repertory Theatre, the Sisters of the Road Journeys Art Festival, Artslandia Magazine, Stumptown Comics and Into The Woods. It's an opportunity for artists, presenters, institutions and funders to mingle. Art Spark www.portlandartspark.com at the Performing Arts Center Lobby 1111 SW Broadway 5PM-7 Free

Friday, January 11, 2013

January 14 The 511 on Creativity

511 is a service code for directions. It's also the address on NW Broadway of a new PNCA building to be made from the old Portland federal building built in 1919. That's fitting, because creative thinking is essential for finding our direction to making a better world.

Tonight project architect Brad Cloepfil and PNCA president Tom Manley discuss the plan for the building with editor and architecture-planning writer Randy Gragg. Cloepfil's first large project was the remodel of the Wieden + Kennedy agency building completed in 2000. Cloepfil's firm Allied Works has gone on to significant museum and other projects, retrofits and bespoke.

It is part of the Bright Lights series sponsored by local magazine the Portland Monthly and the City Club, a thoughtful public interest group. The crowd runs to architects and planners. At Jimmy Mak's, 221 NW 10th. Doors 5:30PM, discussion 6. Free

Wednesday, January 09, 2013

January 13 Video Wall

The Marylhurst Art Gym is a sensitive detector of the Portland art world. They often focus on mid career artists, but not exclusively. For this show they tap Kelly Rauer and Samantha Wall. Rauer has worked across media including in video. Wall is a gifted illustrator. At the Marylhurst Art Gym at Marylhurst University www.marylhurst.edu/theartgym/ Map 3PM-5 Free

January 12 Knitlandia, Writelandia, Performlandia, Projectlandia and Bundlandia

Writers Patrick deWitt, Jon Raymond and Venessa Veselka read tonight, connected to the current show The Big Fig by Johanna Jackson, graphic knitwear. Recommended. At the Portland Museum of Modern Art inside Mississippi Records www.portlandmuseumofmodernart.com 5202 N Albina Map 8PM Free



There is an art vector tracing between San Francisco and Portland. We have several edge-seeking artists from there here, including Patrick Rock and Harrell Fletcher. In turn, they draw San Francisco artists here to exhibit, talk and perform. Jennifer Locke is a San Francisco performance artist and curator of a visual and documentary show opening Friday at PSU. Tonight she, Keke Hunt and Nicole McClure perform live and in person. Expect a fluid and challenging evening in a good way. Rocksbox is a place for Portland's most contemporary artists to converse and experience art beyond the warm and fuzzy Portlandia genres. Always recommended. At Rocksbox Fine Art www.rocksboxfineart.com 6540 N Interstate Map 8PM-11 Free



Chris Frasier opens a projection mapping project, In Passing. Wayne Bund opens Idle and Blessed, a photographic and video performance of childhood play by adults in the Mt Hood Wilderness. It's a similar theme explored by Justine Kurland in her early work. Bund, in contrast, focuses on men. At Disjecta, in the shadow of Paul Bunyan www.disjecta.org 8371 N. Interstate
Map 6PM-9 Free

Januray 11 Ash Street Art Program

The Ash Street Art Program is kin to Project Grow, Creative Growth and others.

Artists Aaron Cunningham, David Howard, Suni Lovelie, Jim Mary, Frank Mendoza, Robbie Mitchell, Andy Nacoste, Patrick Steen and Terry Wright show their work, some with accompanying narratives.

At Palio Desert House and Cafe www.palio-in-ladds.com in Ladd's Addition 1996 SE Ladd. Regular Cafe Hours. Free

January 11 Fourteen30

Conrad Ruiz is a painter from LA who paints figures in a loose but tending towards photorealistic colorful style. He is the first artist in a series, each exhibiting two works for two weeks at Fourteen30. The works are Punchmonster and Nova. The curator and principal of Fourteen30 maintains a strong relationship with the LA art world. This is an example. At Portland's only member of the New Art Dealers Alliance www.newartdealers.org, Fourteen30 Gallery www.fourteen30.com 1501 SW Market Street Map 6PM-8

Monday, January 07, 2013

January 10 Drawing a Day

Dan Attoe is a now Portland artist represented by PDX Contemporary, and founder of Paintalica. The IPRC is publishing a limited edition book of Attoe's sketches, Everything is New. It's the result of seven years of daily drawings, some of which have been realized in his artworks. Tonight is the release of the book and a brief talk by the artist at the Independent Publishing Resource Center www.iprc.org 1101 SE Division, Suite 2 7PM Free

Thursday, January 03, 2013

January 9 On Wilderness

This is primarily an art blog, but not exclusively. I have an interest in the intersection of politics, social change and energy-sustainability. Sometimes I note talks on those topics here.

I have studied environmental law and understand the spiritual value of wilderness. I often apply an ethnographic analysis of American absolutism and Walter Prescott Webb's Great Frontier thesis to political and social belief systems. I'm familiar with the deep ecology movement. That's me.

The topic of this entry is the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. It is not just a map. Arctic animals roam the area and reproduce there. Caribou migrate through the plains, the 1002 area slated for oil development. It's North America's Serengeti.

Many states will face energy mining challenges, including coastal states with potential offshore oil and gas deposits, and the possibility of renewable capture by wave and offshore wind projects. We will face it in Oregon, along with geothermal drilling on Oregon public lands. The real unaddressed issue is pricing of one time public resources extracted. As we own them, we should welcome a broad discussion. One theory is that we should leave the carbon deposits in the ground until they become more valuable and carbon capture is developed. Of course the other theory is get the most money as fast as you can.

Alaska has two golden egg laying geese: mining and fishing. So Alaska faces energy mining challenges continuously. (There is also a challenge around the Pebble Mine, pitting directly in conflict mining and fishing) Mining for oil and sending it South by the Alaska Pipeline has allowed a negative state income tax and is 80% of the state GDP. But those fields are being exhausted and there is a mad search for replacement fields to continue to fill the pipe. The Alaska oil pipeline gathers oil a short 75 miles to the West of the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge.

Alaska has had some success at using the natural gas often found with oil as well as exporting it to Japan as LNG. More exploration will produce more gas.

Land exploration and mining is much easier than sea. There may not be as much oil and gas in the Refuge as previously imagined. There is good science that there will be Arctic Ocean oil and gas. The area just offshore has reduced ice in Summer due to global warming. But drilling, wellheads and piping to shore, in sea ice conditions and storms, will be a challenge. Think Deepwater Horizon crushed by ice. In fact a Shell platform, the Kulluk, grounded New Years Eve in the Gulf of Alaska, and the crew evacuated. The rig had been unsuccessfully drilling for exploration in the Arctic Ocean Northwest of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and was enroute to Seattle for Overwintering and maintenance when it lost its towlines. Even with horizontal recovery drilling from shore, there will be impacts on land.

The Alaska National Wildlife Refuge includes coastal access to the Arctic Ocean. So there is a national debate, including you and I, on whether, how and when the American philosophy of wilderness will be breached to mine oil and gas. If you know the name George Schaller, you might enjoy his thoughts.

I have never visited the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge. The area is about a third the size of the entire state of Oregon. But Hudson Henry has. In 2006 he traversed the Brooks Range - 100 miles unassisted backpacking, in that self same Alaska National Wildlife Refuge. Tonight he relates that experience.

So, if you like, you can put yourself tonight right in the middle of our exploration as a country into the Northern facets of energy and wilderness policy.

At the Mazamas www.mazamas.org. 527 SE 43rd 7PM Free

January 7 Getting to Know You

I have not yet been to one of these events, and I must admit I cast a jaundiced eye on the premise. Other friends have gone to earlier events and liked them. So maybe I'm wrong, or maybe, more importantly, you will like this event. The organizers of Getting to Know You(Tube) have invited their friends Jovencio de la Paz, Marcus Estes and Shayla Hason, to select 10-15 minutes each of favorite shorts from YouTube, which they show tonight. It's social aesthetics presented on a big screen to a larger audience. The project was created by Portland social practice artists Crystal Baxley and Stefan Ransom, also responsible for Songs on Conceptual Art. There will be a brief question and answer with the presenters and the audience is invited to bring their own YouTube videos to share at the end as time permits. Getting to Know You(Tube) www.gettingtoknowyoutube.com at the Hollywood Theater www.hollywoodtheatre.org 4122 NE Sandy Boulevard 7PM $5

January 4-5 Move It

Meshi Chavez is a powerful modern dance mover long connected to the Portland butoh community and his own creative design. He has drawn together a stellar group of movers for two evenings performing across movement classifications. On Friday, Alicia Ankenman, Stephanie Lanckton, Andy Houseman and Sara Alizadeh perform. Saturday, it's Zan Tewksbury, Chris Larsen, Joe McLaughlin and Lanie Bergie. Music for both evenings by Lisa DeGrace, Adrian Hutapea, and Roldan. At the Headwaters Theater, by www.witdpresents.com 55 NE Farragut St. #9. The theater is in the back of the building by the active railroad tracks facing Winchell Street. Map 7:30PM $15 each evening, $22 both

January 4 Eastside Art Openings

Our close post-New Years is a little moribund for galleries and customers of art likewise, Westside and Eastside. Redux, Newspace and Pushdot continue shows.



Black Box has The Poetic Landscape, a group show on landscape. At Black Box Gallery www.blackboxgallery.com 811 E Burnside, Suite 212 upstairs 5PM-8:30 Free



Union Pine has a group show by Amanda McCarty and James Woodhead, Brooke Weston and Rikki Barney. Music by Palo Verde and Tyrants. At Union/Pine www.unionpine.com 525 SE Pine 7Pm-late Free



A new spot, relocating from NE 28th is Home Bass. They are a hybrid music store, art store and anime figure store. Art by Klutch, Brett Bowers and Lost Cause music by Ryan Organ and Penpointred. At Home Bass 123 NE 6 5PM-9 Free


Wednesday, January 02, 2013

January 3 Portland International

A Portland underground discussion group on international affairs ends this evening with the passing of its organizer. The group met for many years in a pub, hosting diplomats and deep thinkers on social change and international affairs. It remained off the Internet radar by design, thus this vague post. Best to the Dr.'s family.

January 3 Westside Art Openings

The Society For Nebulous Knowledge is a visual art project by Mariana Tres. In the spirit of Jorge Luis Borges, the early work of Josiah McElheny, the Museum of Jurassic Technology, and others, it is her continuing series of works based on faux figures of her artist imagination. In this show, it's Celestial Clockwork: Herschel McShougle's Dream of Ten Thousand Years, artifacts of an imaginary man in search of the long clock. The long clock project is, in fact, a fanciful project of the Long Now Foundation in Silicon Valley, intent upon creating a ten thousand year clock in actuality. At Chambers Gallery www.chambersgallery.com 916 NW Flanders Early close 8:30PM



Josef Albers is a giant in the art world for his direct works; and for his perhaps more important indirect work as a founder of the Bauhaus, Black Mountain College, and Yale's graphics program. He is also well known for his portfolio of prints and the book, The Interaction of Color. Augen has a collection from that portfolio and selections from Formulation: Articulation, a career survey of Albers' work. So for a free art history lesson of high quality, you can see this Albers show right in Portland. At Augen Gallery www.augengallery.com 716 NW Davis early close 8



Robert Rauschenberg is a grounbreaking figure in contemporary art. He was one of the early visual samplers and an inspiration to Warhol. The Leach Gallery presents a selection of Robert Rauschenberg prints this month. And this month, Leach presents Museum, photographs by Christoper Rauschenberg. The Museum show includes a striking panorama of the interior of he Hermitage, which in itself has a fascinating story. Both strongly recommended. There are also videos showing in the outside window by Miguel Arzabe, Zachary Davis Julie Perini and Rebecca Najdowski. At Elizabeth Leach Gallery www.elizabethleach.com 417 NW 9th Map 6PM-9



Camera Work is a seminal project by Alfred Steiglitz. It's intent, which was successful, was to have photography accepted as art, including in museums. Between 1903-1917, Steiglitz published 500-1000 copies quarterly of quality reproductions of the work of the time. That left behind series of limited edition prints in the form of a magazine. At Charles Hartman Fine Art www.hartmanfineart.net 134 NW 8th



PDX shows prints commissioned by Crow's Shadow Institute of Ford Family Foundation awardees Pat Boas, Arnold J Kemp, Eve Lake, Susan Murrell, Jenene Nagy and Storm Tharp. At PDX Contemporary Art www.pdxcontemporaryart.com 925 NW Flanders Map early close 8PM



Valentines has This is Just to Say That, photographs by Kersti Jan Werdal. At Valentines valentinespdx.com 232 SW Ankeny 6PM-late Free



In a fitting metaproject, Art Fare is a series of minimal portraits of art world insiders in their element. Accompanied by Stephan Hillerbrand and Mary Magsamen, who produce staged symbolic photographs with a Fluxus spirit. At Blue Sky Gallery www.blueskygallery.org map 122 NW 8th 6PM-9



Glades and Ragged Underwood is a show featuring art by Portland artists Angie Wang, Vivian Chen and Julia Gfrörer illustrating their grimm and mysterious view of the Northwest landscape. At Compound Gallery www.compoundgallery.com 107 NW 5th



Everyday Anomalies by Canadian Troy Coulterman takes a comics-influenced view of an imagination-driven life where anything can happen. 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



For a free history lesson on early NW Artists you can stop by the Laura Russo gallery which also has sculptures by the late Manuel Izquierdo. At Laura Russo Gallery www.laurarusso.com 805 NW 21st



Everett Lofts are recommended as always. It's easier for you to see them all than for me to write suggestions. Some close as early as 9PM. At the Everett Lofts 625 NW Everett. Bounded by NW Everett, Broadway, Flanders and 6th Map

January 2 Sometimes a Great Notion

Sometimes a Great Notion is a show by Portland painter Kendra Larson. Larson takes a mystical view of the northwest landscape, so an opportunity to compare her approach with others. Not sure if there is an event associated with the show, but it opens today in the Mt Hood Community College Fireplace Gallery www.mhcc.edu/FireplaceGallery In the Student Union, AC1051; 26000 SE Stark St, Gresham

Saturday, December 29, 2012

December 29 - January 3 Roses Above, Roses Below: On Photography

Gregory Crewdson has had a huge influence on constructed implied narrative in photography. Schooled at Yale, and teaching there since, he has trained more than a generation of photographer-stylists who, like motion film directors, select, direct and design characters within the photograph's still boundary.

He has spoken in Portland, exhibited at Reed and was included in a contemporary group show curated by Bruce Guenther at the Portland Art Museum. He's an artist and a little odd, but it's working. He receives multi-million dollar advances from his gallery, Gagosian, to hire production crews. He has developed a Photoshop process to produce very large infinite depth of field prints from multiple exposures on 8x10.

Now his latest work turns his cinematic approach on itself. In Sanctuary, he photographed the Cinecittà outdoor film studios in Rome, devoid of actors. Cinecittà has operated continuously for 75 years. It is the location for numerous well known films, including the HBO-BBC series Rome. So Crewdson has unmasked the cinema and made visible the precarious scaffolding hidden previously in his work.

Portlanders have another chance to engage Crewdson in a documentary, Brief Encounters, showing now in Portland. It is focused on a series in his mid-2000's cinematic work, Beneath the Roses, some of which showed in Portland. Not sure how long the run of the film is.

Gregory Crewdson: Brief Encounters shows at the Living Room Theaters pdx.livingroomtheaters.com 341 SW 10th See the Theater Website for times. $7/$6 Students

Thursday, December 27, 2012

December 29 Last Battle of the Year

In general we are against battles. And there is a good argument that this time of the year we need less battling and more hugs. In that spirit, the hip hop dance battle culture values positive competition energy and community. And so it is tonight.

CharacterCult presents Circle Science, a night of 1on1 bboy-bgirl battles. The format is a showcase to select 16. The 16 reduce to 8 in a toprock battle. The 8 move to semis based on footwork. The semis move to finals based on power moves. The finals select one based on all around.

On the wheels of steel, Golden Child & DJ Mighty Moves. Judges will be JoeRawk of Massive Monkees, Serg of Jungle Brothers and Impulse of Moon Patrol. Hosted by ThomasOragami of Soul Felons Crew.

Competitors include Boogie - Moon Patrol, Mikeezy - Limitless acts, A-be, Aantix - Back 2 Basix, Merk - New Birth, Fu-roc - New Birth, Rufio - Aristocats, Michael Kalas - MKC, Ben - Limitless acts, Elvis - Back2basix, Fredo - No Roots, TangBang - AAO, Sharkie - Soul Phase, Faze - Rhythm Bandits, JAB - Dance Broomz/THE HOODZ, JSpoon - Soul Felons/BDB/The Hoodz, Prince Hector, Rambo - New Birth Crew, One - Tru Roots, Phace - Salem Cypher, Flow One - Wicked FX, Juan - New Birth Crew, Marko - Vibe Tribe, Fligh - Tru Roots, Dobbin, Rona, Mpwo - New Birth/Jungle Brothers, Obscure, Mochine Gun - New Birth, Mango No Roots/Them Team, Eddie Lee, Chadzilla, Nahele - Back 2 Basix, Drift, Bloop, 2Luv, Lil D - Limitless Acts, Vote for Pedro - Wicked FX, Tommy Rocc - Wicked FX, Herrikane - Sick Floor Maniacs Crew, Calypso - DMC, and Lunatic - Battle Reflex/Unleashed.

Circle Science at Vega Dance Lab 1322 SE Water. 5PM-10 $8, $5 with FB RSVP.