March 6 Eastside Art Openings+

We don't really fetishize bones as decoration in NW culture. Or I don't. In the past there were reliquaries and relics in Christian culture. Probably others. Perhaps in the Southwest, skulls are a thing. Jason Borders thinks otherwise. He carves skulls and other bones with dense curvilinear illustrations. Tonight he shows them. If you're still craving art after visiting Eutectic, it's near. At steampunk central Old Portland Hardware & Architectural 700 NE 22nd 6PM-9 Free



Good has a group show of Sasquatch-themed art. At Good:a gallery 4325 N Mississippi 6PM-9 Free



Tsuyoshi Uenaka visits from Japan. He is the 11th and most recent generation ceramicists in his family. His village has one of the oldest kilns in Japan, making ceramics for the imperial court. He is part of the Stoked, wood-fired ceramics show. At Eutectic Gallery www.eutecticgallery.com 1930 NE Oregon 6PM-9 Free



Response Response is a show by Linda Kliewer and Ryan Patrick Krueger, work separated by 20-40 years in its making. It explores the queer experience between then and now. At HQHQ Project Space hq-objective.info 232 SE Oak St #108 7PM-9 Free



Achieving and Underlining Too Many Dinner Parties is a show tonight of four this month. Tonight is Lewis and Clark MFA artists in flight at Surplus Space. The artists are Joseph Arzt, Olivia Cater, Liz Finch, Kelsey Gray, Malcolm Hecht, Kristina Nelson, Leah Reusch, Lilly Kiser Taylor and Clio Wilde. What a great way to fill the space. The series rotates weekly through this month with artists from different schools each weekend. At Surplus Space www.SurplusSpace.info 3726 NE 7th 6PM-9 Free



Taro Masushio has Untitled (re:space between our bodies) at Worksound International tonight. They are pinhole photographs. At Worksound www.worksoundpdx.com 820 SE Alder Map 6PM-9



The Justseed political poser artist collective, with Portland and Chicago roots, but now worldwide, speaks about their work at the 511 Gallery tonight. At PNCA www.pnca.edu 511 NW Broadway Map 6:30 Free

March 5 Westside Art Openings

PNCA invites you in to their new building this evening. They have at least one gallery space off the East-West hall on the main floor which is finished, the 511 Gallery formerly the Feldman Gallery. There will be performances, 2d art, video and open studios throughout the building on 3 floors. At PNCA www.pnca.edu 511 NW Broadway Map 6PM-9 Free



In Japan, Ema are wooden plaques offered at Shinto shrines. They have been repurposed by artists in a large group show at Hellion Gallery. They are small so they all fit. Artists include – Brendan Monroe (US), Tadaomi Shibuya (Japan), Mary Iverson (US), Dave Macdowell (US), Amandine Urruty (France), Skinner (US), Eric Wert (US), Stella Im Hultberg (US), Maryanna Hoggatt (US), Josh Keyes (US), AJ Fosik (US), Nigamushi (JAPAN), Yoskay Yamamoto (US), Mitsuya Watanabe (JAPAN), Naoshi (JAPAN), Nonnow Naruse (JAPAN), Mar Hernandez (SPAIN), Koichiro Takagi (JAPAN), Ryuichi Ogino (JAPAN), Casey Weldon (US), Yu Suda (JAPAN), Nosego (US), Sayuka Bloodstone (JAPAN), Lauren Gonsalves (US), Yoshi47 (Japan), Hideyuki Katsumata (JAPAN), JShea (US), Tadashi Ura (Japan), Jon MacNair (US), Martin Ontiveros (US), Kenji Nakayama (Japan), Mateu Velasco (Brazil), Souther Salazar (US), Yohei Takahashi (Japan), Yoriko Youda (Japan), Meredith Dittmar (US), Olivia Knapp (US), Ikumi Nakada (JAPAN), Gage Hamilton (US, Aki Miyajima (JAPAN), Cole Gerst (US), Rob Reger (US), Cho-Chan (Japan), Chris Valkov (US), Ryosuke Matsuzono (JAPAN), OT (JAPAN), Peach Momoko (JAPAN), Jordi Ferrándiz (SPAIN), Kousuke Shimizu and Tina Lugo (US). The show is 3 days only, not all month. It goes to Tokyo next, with over half the pieces sold. At Hellion Gallery www.helliongallery.com through the lobby of the arched brick entry, up the stairs and to the back. Very upper floor Japan-style. 19 NW 5th second floor. Map 7PM-10 Free



Rodrigo Valenzuela works in staged photography. Some work is with actors and others document rough sculpture. At UpFor Gallery www.upforgallery.com 929 NW Flanders 6PM-9 Free



Jeff Sheridan has Psychic Heaves, watercolors loosely inspired by science. At Duplex Collective www.duplexcollective.com 219 NW Couch 6PM-9 Free



Cynthia Lahti, recent recipient of the Bonnie Bronson award has Battle. At PDX Contemporary Art www.pdxcontemporaryart.com 925 NW Flanders Map early close 8PM Free



Trish Grantham has Mystics, Stripes, and Thieves. At Augen Gallery www.augengallery.com 716 NW Davis early close 8 Free



Hyoung Tae Lim has ISee inspired by his experience with cancer. Nicholas Nixon has Hospice Patients. At Blue Sky Gallery www.blueskygallery.org map 122 NW 8th 6PM-9 Free



The Museum of Contemporary Craft has the collection of Ed Cauduro. I have my differences with blown glass. But Cauduro is a seminal figure in Portland art and his family is from the Venetian glass blowing island Murano, driving his interest. At the Museum of Contemporary Craft www.museumofcontemporarycraft.org 724 NW Davis 6PM-8 Free



The UO Whitebox opens a new alumni show by Carl Diehl, Heidi Schwegler, Cara Tomlinson, Unfiltered Kilter. At the University of Oregon White Stag Building, http://whitebox.uoregon.edu/ 70 NW Couch 6PM-9 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 6PM-9

March 3 Free Space Painting

Heather Hutchison is an mid-career Oregon-born painter who moved to the East Coast. She paints on plexiglas extending from the plane of the wall, and in video. She is part of the inaugural show of the Jeffrey Thomas Fine Art salon, and speaks in person about her work this evening. At Jeffrey Thomas Fine Art www.jeffreythomasfineart.com 2219 NW Raleigh Doors 4, talk 5 Free

March 1 Hyenas

I have seen hyenas in the wild. They are a disturbing, opportunistic predator.

A favorite film shows today at noon. It is Hyenas, based on Friedrich Dürrenmatt's the Visit of the Old Lady. The play is often recontextualized to new times and places. This, by Djibril Diop Mambety, it is a tragedy set amid stunning production design in Senegal. Some plot elements parallel critiques of World Bank activities in Africa.

It is said that there are only a few plots. The protagonist leaves town, the protagonist arrives in town. The Visit is the protagonist who left town, and returns to town, for revenge. The final revenge is a small death, but the enormity of contributing revenge is epic.

Playwright Dürrenmatt/Duerrenmatt is known for his tragicomedies. Three stand out. This is the most tragic, though the dialog is subtile and there is scattered humor.

The most humorous of his plays is Romulus the Great. The protagonist is a fictional last emperor of Rome. He encourages its fall to barbarians because he believes it corrupt. In the end, it is revealed the barbarians are invading to adopt the culture of the empire.

In the middle is The Physicists. It is a meditation on the responsibility of scientists and engineers for the commercial application of their individual work. Let's just say this has been one of my projects over years. I have had some successes. But in the play, the dénouement is the utter failure of ethics against commerce.

This is a fine rare film to see.

Hyenas at the Cascade Festival of African Films. At PCC Cascade Moriarty Arts and Humanities Building, Room 104. 705 N Killingsworth. Noon Free

February 28 Warm, Even, In Real Life

Keith J. Varadi and Rebecca R. Peel are visual artists and curators. Tonight they do readings: Warm, Even. More info on the gallery website. At Adams and Ollman Gallery, the second of two members of the New Art Dealers Alliance www.newartdealers.org, www.adamsandollman.com 209 SW 9th 6PM Free


In person openings are the coin of the creative realm in Portland, like irl///onlineonly at Surplus Space tonight. Tonight is PSU MFA students, accompanied by artist interviews and social media archives. The series rotates weekly through March with artists from different schools each weekend. At Surplus Space www.SurplusSpace.info 3726 NE 7th 6PM-9 Free

February 27 Urban Outdoor

Outdoor clothing retailer Evo operates a small gallery of art by artists connected to the outdoor industry. It tends to run to urban as does the store vibe. Tonight they have illustration by Stefan Hofmann, half of Spaceraft which produces graphic screened clothing for EVO. At Evo outdoor store, 200 SE Martin Luther King Blvd. 6PM-9 Free

February 26 Media, Art, Performance

Artist Kristin Lucas works in performance, video and other electronic media. She is fairly prolific. She discusses her work this evening at the art school. At PNCA www.pnca.edu 511 NW Broadway Map 6:30PM

February 24: How I Broke My Brain and Changed My Mind

Josh Berger speaks on brain injury. His own. As a result of a bicycle accident. Yes he was wearing a helmet.

He is a well known brand strategist and designer, you probably know him. His talk tonight is on his journey over the two and a half years since his injury.

A presentation of the Curiosity Club, you can tune into the free live webcast off the Core77 site, see the video archive on the Hand Eye Supply Website or visit the talk and demonstration in person at Hand Eye Supply www.handeyesupply.com/pages/curiosity-club 427 NW Broadway 6PM Free

February 21 On Masculinism

In 1978, structuralists Anthony McCall and Andrew Tyndall created the experimental film Argument. Inspired by Godard and Gorin’s Letter to Jane, it considered the image and expectations of men hidden in a then current edition of the New York Times.

The film was screened with discussions, post, by the audience. It is still relevant, and today's showing includes discussion too.

A longer fascinating explanation is on the project FB https://www.facebook.com/zenazezzaprojects/posts/1541514609461129:0.

At 1857 Hallock & McMillan, 253 SW Naito Parkway. Film noon. $7 general, $5 students, artists, seniors

February 20 Key Figures

Key Figures is a group show by self-taught artists that are better than average like Chris Bradley, Vaginal Davis, Luc Fuller, Arnold Joseph Kemp, Brian Kokoska, Michael Lazarus, Gladys Nilsson, Misleidys Francisca Castillo Pedroso and Brion Nuda Rosch. At Adams and Ollman Gallery, the second of two members of the New Art Dealers Alliance www.newartdealers.org, www.adamsandollman.com 209 SW 9th 6PM-9 Free

February 11 Be There Salon

The Sum of Its Parts is the first gallery salon by Jeffrey Thomas. The first Portland contemporary art gallery was Arlene Schnitzer's Fountain Gallery which became the Laura Russo Gallery. The second was his.

Thomas was coprincipal, with William Jamison, in that second Portland contemporary art gallery, the Jamison Thomas Gallery. www.jeffreythomasfineart.com 2219 NW Raleigh 6PM-9 Free

February 6 Eastside Openings

Building construction is serious and costly business. It is visually rich and understandable on inspection. So it's a ripe situation to make art of.

Tori Abernathy stages a construction intervention in HQHQ Project Space including activist discussions February 24th-26th by the Portland Renters' Assembly.

Tonight and throughout the month the artist injects a tactic of play and the female into the HQHQ construction site in an intervention Make Yourself At Home.

At HQHQ Project Space hq-objective.info 232 SE Oak St #108 6PM-9 Free



Film can be finicky. Add to that uncontrollable accidents. It's a good way to get art. Myles Katherine is prone to using double exposure in a Holga plastic lens camera. Her work is centered on clothing and models in a dream style that works. At Haunt www.hauntstudio.blogspot.com 811 E Burnside Suite #113 6PM-8


Portland does have a map GIS map community. And Portland has a wood craft community. Don Lee combines both vectors into his Woodmaping artwork. In the back of the building, Sarah Landa shows photographs, viewable 24x7. At Redux www.reduxpdx.com 811 E Burnside 6PM-9:30 Free


Black Box has a group black and white photo show. At Black Box Gallery www.blackboxgallery.com 811 E Burnside, Suite 212 upstairs 5PM-8 Free


All at 811 East Burnside Map



Eutectic Gallery has Stoked, wood-fired ceramics. They are fired from our wood here and fired around the world by their wood there. That makes them carbon neutral! Wood-fired ceramics, the first fired ceramics date back to ancient China and Japan. Several Japanese artists visit to present their work. At Eutectic Gallery www.eutecticgallery.com 1930 NE Oregon 6PM-9 Free



We all know the Internet is overcrowded with cats! Carli Davidson has photos, Shake, of dogs doing exactly that, captured by high speed flash. So they might look a little odd, but they are happy for sure. At Pushdot Studio www.pushdotstudio.com 2505 SE 11th Avenue Suite 104 6PM- Free



Ghost Town is a photography show by young photographer Kyle Thompson. At One Grand Gallery www.onegrandgallery.com 1000 E Burnside 6PM-10 Free



Radical Color is a group photography show, just when we need color. At Newspace Photo www.newspacephoto.org 1632 SE 10th Map 6PM-9 Free

February 6 - March 8 Cascade Festival of African Films

The Cascade Festival of African Films has been running for 25 years. All showings are free! The opening night is at the Hollywood Theater. The rest of the festival is on the PCC Cascade Campus on N Killingsworth. You can see their schedule www.africanfilmfestival.org/calendar/, the description of the films www.africanfilmfestival.org/films/ then plan your free Thursday - Sunday viewing schedule. For free! Did I say it is free! Absolutely! The Cascade Festival of African Film at PCC Cascade Campus www.africanfilmfestival.org/venues/pcc-cascade/ in the Moriarty Arts and Humanities Building, Room 104. Check the website for days and times. Free

February 5 Westside Openings

It is still somewhat dark, many galleries are closing early, or promptly.

Words, Words, Words is a group show loosely themed on text placing regional artists beside international artists. Artists represented are Ghada Amer, Lisa Anne Auerbach, John Baldessari, Robert Barry, Pat Boas, Mel Bochner, Andrea Bowers, Peter Downsbrough, Jenny Holzer, Chris Johanson, Barbara Kruger, Michael Lazarus, Glenn Ligon, Bruce Nauman, Melody Owen, Matthew Picton, Jack Pierson, Jaume Plensa, Michelle Ross, Ed Ruscha, Buzz Spector and Lawrence Weiner. At Elizabeth Leach Gallery www.elizabethleach.com 417 NW 9th Map 6PM-9 Free



My Dakota is a landscape photography series by Rebecca Norris Webb. It was made as she was processing a personal family loss. Origins of Emotions by Monika Merva is a minimal exploration of family. In the Nines Gallery Bill Will, always a wry installationist has Love Thy Neighbor. It is about short range missile warfare. There is a theory that if individuals had weapons of mass destruction, they would use them on their neighbors, which is not farfetched. What's next? Drones? At Blue Sky Gallery www.blueskygallery.org map 122 NW 8th 6PM-9 Free



Jeremy Rotsztain shows electric fields, digital paintings and Oculus Rift experiences. Some of the work is generative, created by software algorithms once removed from the painterly hand. It has parallels to the indirect work in social practice art, albeit with less soul, but more visual appeal. At UpFor Gallery www.upforgallery.com 929 NW Flanders 6PM-9 Free



Something is wrong with Yu Suda is the namesake, Yu Suda's work inspired by history brought up to date. At Hellion Gallery www.helliongallery.com in their new space 15 NW 5th. 6PM-10 Free



W+K has large group murals, looking like something from the Pictoplasma conference, big and bright. At W+K www.wk.com 224 NW 13th Map 5PM-9 Free



Ok, Cupid? is a group show on modern love inspired by the world of online lust and romance. At Fifty 24PDX in Upperplayground.com 23 NW 5th 6PM-10 Free


Becoming What Was is a group show by current PNCA MFA students Candace Jahn, Marisa Lee, Kelly McGovern and Micah Schmelzer. At Duplex Collective www.duplexcollective.com 219 NW Couch 6PM-9



Augen has a group show by gallery artists Mark Andres, Sharon Bronzan, Sally Cleveland, Arless Day, Karen Esler, Trish Grantham, Pamela Green, Jef Gunn, Chris Kelly, Jim Riswold, Sara Siestreem and Mary Wells. At Augen Gallery www.augengallery.com 716 NW Davis early close 8



Joe Rudko has Picturesque, minimal work that started as photographs. At PDX Contemporary Art www.pdxcontemporaryart.com 925 NW Flanders Map early close 8PM 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 closing ranges to 9PMish

January 31 Last Night Raw Caldera Vision

We would not have today's "outsider art" movement if artists like the Reverend Howard Finster had not been "discovered" in the late 1970s and curated into the NY art world in the early 1980s, as a response to Wall Street-driven excesses in the New York art world. William Jamison and Mark Woolley were early on the phenomena in Portland.

Reverend Howard Finster's work stands on its own, of course. Opening this evening, it can be seen in a small selection in Portland at the Portland Museum of Modern Art. PMOMA has been inspired by outsider and visionary art, including that of Chris Johanson, and they are the hosts for the late Finster's work. Finster also created a prodigious collection of sound recordings before he passed in 2001.

His story is fascinating. The work is individualistic. It is well worth seeing.

Ural Thomas will perform his music for the opening, always a pleasure.

Howard Finster at the Portland Museum of Modern Art inside Mississippi Records www.portlandmuseumofmodernart.com 5202 N Albina Map 8PM-10



It's The Last Night On Earth Again (Other People Are Also You) is a show by Michael Fish, Michael Horwitz, Matthew Leavitt, Heiko Julien, Karl Sims, Jack Fisher, Shiloh O'Connor, Walter Davis, Corwin Peck, Austin Kelley Way, Sadashiva Stavrum, Rachel Bell, Jia Gy and Kai Nollie. It should fill up Surplus Space. Somehow it is inspired by Terrence McKenna. At Surplus Space www.SurplusSpace.info 3726 NE 7th 6PM-9 Free



Caldera artists in residence Amy Bonnaffons, Glendaliz Camacho, Sonja Dahl, Jeff Leake, Tamara Lynne, Kaila Farrell-Smith and John Whitten invite you to Blue Lake to see their work. It is a special space. The studios will also be open February 28 and March 28. At Camp Caldera www.calderaarts.org, 31500 Blue Lake Drive, Sisters, OR 1PM-3 Free

January 30 KOMA Soma

For many music is soma. Like me.

Portland's music synthesizer store Control Voltage often has in-store demonstration performances. KOMA Elektronik does that this evening, demonstrates their personal quadraphonic helmet and lets you jam on their machines.

Which sounds cool.

Synthesizer demonstration https://www.facebook.com/events/790628231018190 at Control Voltage www.controlvoltage.net 3742 NE Mississippi 6PM Free

January 29 Blue Rain

The Taureg is a traditionally nomadic ethnic group spanning the Sahel and the Sahara South to North. That would be Mali, Niger, Libya, Algeria. Close your eyes and imagine their music. Ethnomusicologist Chris Kirkley travels there regularly, collecting music. He launches his first film project tonight.

Akounak Tedalat Taha Tazoughai, in English: "Rain the Color of Blue with a little Red in it", tells the story of Taureg musician Mdou Moctar. It is inspired by the film Purple Rain. It's probably the first Taureg-American joint film production in history.

Film at the Hollywood Theater www.hollywoodtheatre.org 4122 NE Sandy Boulevard. 7PM $8

January 27 Mission Statement Human Radiance

MSHR usually performs installations in galleries and alternative art spaces. Tonight they do a club. With The Tenses (Smegma), Matt Carlson and Noor. At Holocene www.holocene.org 1001 SE Morrison. Doors 8:30PM $5

January 26 Shake It

The Bright Lights series is usually about building things. Tonight it is a discussion of what Portland would be like after the big earthquake.

About every 200-900 years, the tectonic plate we sit on, the North American Plate, slides over the Juan de Fuca plate off our coast as it is driven East by upswelling at its juncture with the Pacific plate. The last time was January 26, 1700 at 9PM. It is a subduction fault which generates megathrust earthquakes of greater than 9.0 and tsunamis. The under layer is locked by friction with the over layer. Once there is enough pressure, it slips.

The Fukishima (Tōhoku) earthquake was a megathrust. Not only was it great in magnitude, it lasted for a long six minutes. The Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, creating the great Pacific tsunami in 2004, lasted for 10 minutes. It's not clear that any modern construction will be able to withstand a strong, long earthquake unharmed.

Beyond building physics, there is the human response.

For a discussion of that Carmen Merlo, Portland’s director of emergency management and Joe Zehnder, Portland’s chief planner speak this evening.

Portland earthquake discussion at the Mercy Corps Action Center www.actioncenter.org 28 SW 1st. 7PM Free

January 25 Shifting Practice

Marylhurst has a panel discussion at 3 today with Chas Bowie, Teresa Christiansen, Dru Donovan, Joel W. Fisher, Isaac Layman and Paula Rebsom, artists in their current show, Shifting Practice: allusions, interventions, and conventions in contemporary photography. A reception for the show follows until 6. At the Marylhurst University www.marylhurst.edu/theartgym/ Map 3PM-6 Free

January 24 Hive Mind

Adam D. Miller presents Hive Mind, a show of LA-based artists. Miller is principal with Devon Oder, a photographer, who shows at Fourteen30, in The Pit LA, an alternative space. It is in Glendale, a new art frontier. It opened this Summer. The Pit LA also produces multiples of artist work on an antique Risograph printer. At Rocksbox Fine Art www.rocksboxfineart.com 6540 N Interstate Map 8PM-11 Free

January 23 Vivarium

Devon Oder opens Vivarium tonight. She has been working over the years at the intersection of altered landscape and altered photography. At Portland's first member of the New Art Dealers Alliance www.newartdealers.org, Fourteen30 Gallery www.fourteen30.com 1501 SW Market Street Map 11AM-6PM Weekends, tonight 6PM-8 Free

January 22 July Show

ShowPDX is a long running furniture design show descended from Table, Lamp and Chair. We like those crafts in the NW! Christopher Douglas, Joe Futschik, Jennifer Jako, Andi Kovel, and Dave Laubenthal discuss the state of and challenges around craft in Portland. The growth of Portland design, the role of women, and balancing installation work with standalone pieces are some of the topics they have announced they will address. At the PNCA Museum of Contemporary Craft 724 NW Davis 6:30PM-8 Free



Miranda July appears at Powell's on Burnside at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 22.

A long time ago, Miranda July was a Portland performance artist. At its core her work is story telling. She spent over a year in her studio in the Fez building on Burnside downstairs from the ballet studio writing what was to become her film.

Big Miss Moviola, media performances, film acting, writing, directing, social practice art, interactive art websites, a mobile app.

Speed up to now. She reads from her first novel First Bad Man tonight. Should be good.

Some of the audience are meeting up at the Ace before. At Powell's 3rd floor. www.powells.com. 10th and W Burnside 7:30PM Free

January 16 Golden Joinery

You can never step in the same stream twice.

It is the same with butoh dance, reinventing itself over years and in each moment.

Portland dancer Meshi Chavez does that with his own butoh and tonight with a workshop class he has facilitated. The dancers, Sara Alizadeh, Brenna Jagne, John Johnson, Anita Kress, Tanya McCoy and Joe McLaughlin have taken inspiration from kintsugi. It is a Japanese way to repair broken ceramics with gold laquer - “golden joinery”.

At the Headwaters Theater - information and tickets link: theheadwaters.net/?service=meshi-chavez-presents-kintsugi-being-moved-jan-16-17, 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 $18-25

January 15 Modulate This, The Enclave Versus the Dismal Science

On the Ground: Mercy Corps and the Democratic Republic of Congo is a talk by the Mercy Corps country director for Congo, Mark Dwyer. Mercy Corps has been working in the area where Irish artist Richard Mosse made his video work, The Enclave. The Enclave was first shown in the 2014 Venice Biennale and is showing at the Portland Art Museum until April. The Enclave is a do not miss work, of which we have written. At the Portland Art Museum www.pam.org 1219 SW Park Members free; non-members $15, seniors, students $12 7PM



Economics is called the dismal science. Perhaps because it is far from a science, and that it forgot the Pin Factory while placing all hope on the Invisible Hand. (see this for a decode)

David Warsh is a writer on economics. He speaks this evening about his book Knowledge and the Wealth of Nations: The Discovery of New Growth Theory. It is a history of the origin of current economic thinking in the 1700's to today

It is a heady Linus Pauling Memorial Lecture. www.isepp.org/Pages/14-15%20Pages/Warsh.html At the First Congregational Church 1126 SW Park 7PM $35



Central~Lattice Tool Array becomes an instrument this evening with a performance in the Resonant Entity Modulator series by MSHR. It is likely you will see lasers and modulated noise interacting with feedback paths in a network of analog synths. Recommended! At UpFor Gallery www.upforgallery.com 929 NW Flanders 8:30PM Free

January 9 Eastside Openings

Some Eastside openings happened last week, other galleries are carrying other December shows through January. With the darkness, many galleries are not open as late.


The Pain Quotidian, named for a micro bakery, is a group show by Andrea Crespo, Santiago Leyba, Carlos Reyes, Chloe Seibert, Flannery Silva, Eric Veit and Andrew Norman Wilson. At HQHQ Project Space 232 SE Oak St #108 - the Oak Street Lofts 6PM-9 Free



Back at the Crawdaddy is a show of paintings by Jaik Faulk. They were made in residency at False Front and inspired by his Louisiana birthplace. He invited visitors and painted portraits of some. 6PM-8 At Nationale www.nationale.us 3360 SE Division Map 6PM-8 Free

January 8 Westside Art Openings

Central~Lattice Tool Array by Brenna Murphy continues until January 17. Included is a video work. Recommended. At UpFor Gallery www.upforgallery.com 929 NW Flanders 6PM-9 Free



We like light art. From Thomas Wilfred to Dan Flavin, the sublime James Turrell, and Portlander Laura Hughes. We need more here. One is Hap Tivey who usually makes sculptures internally illuminated with combinations of primary colors. Also showing is Coincinnitas, prints by physicists and mathematicians. Recommended. At Elizabeth Leach Gallery www.elizabethleach.com 417 NW 9th Map 6PM-9 Free



Wrest is a show by Heidi Schwegler themed on angst and internal struggle. Schwegler has been working for some time with material at least somewhat disturbing, often body centered. In this work, Schwegler videos herself against a green screen in wrestling matches with mixed martial artist Colt Toombs, also in green costume, son of World Wrestling Entertainment's Rowdy Roddy Piper. The result is an image of Schwegler wrestling an invisible opponent. Also showing is The Quick and The Slow, sculpture themed on imaginary travel by Evan Larson-Voltz. Congratulations too, to Chris Moss, soon to helm the gallery. At the University of Oregon White Stag Building, whitebox.uoregon.edu 70 NW Couch 6PM-9 Free



The Spaces Between is group show curated by Elise Wagner. Even if you are not wild about Butters, this show might be worth seeing. At Butters Gallery www.buttersgallery.com 520 NW Davis, 2nd Floor 6PM-8 Free


Victoria Haven lived in Portland. Moving to Seattle she continued to refine her minimalist work. This show is based on diptychs of unrelated words, covering the gallery walls on all sides. They are on view at PDX Contemporary Art www.pdxcontemporaryart.com 925 NW Flanders Map early close 8PM Free



Group shows are a great way to get a feel for a gallery, and do your once yearly "power viewing". That is the case at Froelick and Augen galleries this month.

At Augen Gallery www.augengallery.com 716 NW Davis early close 8

At Froelick Gallery www.froelickgallery.com 714 NW Davis



Icon A is a group show reinterpreting the icon by Emily Counts, Jay Erker, Roni Feldman, Erin McCarty, Max Presneill and Rachel Warkentin. At Duplex Collective www.duplexcollective.com 219 NW Couch 6PM-9 Free



23 Sandy and sometime OCAC are Portland book art nodes. Add Glyph Cafe & Arts Space. This month they have Eugene librarian and artist Claire Dannenbaum with deconstructed books. At Glyph Cafe & Arts Space www.glyphpdx.com 804 NW Couch 7PM-9 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 closing ranges from 9PM-10:30ish Free

January 6 Let a Hundred Lillys Bloom

The story of John C. Lilly MD is fascinating.

Born in 1915, he attended Caltech, then studied medicine. He conducted research on the effects upon the body of high altitude flying and on muscle function. He developed electronic sensors to read nerve cell potentials. He was a research psychiatrist and psychoanalyst. He is also known for his study of dolphin intelligence. He was an influence on Carl Sagan and co-founder of SETI.

Lilly is noted for his philosophy of using his own body in research. He became interested later in life in the study of consciousness and altered mental states, through natural means, as well as psychedelic pharmaceuticals of the time.

Lilly also invented the float tank, a sensation minimizing meditation environment.

Float On is Portland's most dynamic float tank center, with an unparalleled community. They sponsor an international float tank conference each year in Portland.

Tonight they celebrate the 100th anniversary of Lilly's birth. There will be Lilly-themed games and quizzes, refreshments and music, as well as some of Lilly's books for sale including Float On's own unabridged republication of Programming and Metaprogramming in the Human Biocomputer: Theory and Experiments by Dr John C. Lilly.

Float On celebrates John C Lilly's 100th birthday tonight at the shop. At Float On www.floathq.com 4530 SE Hawthorne 7PM-10 Free

January 3 New Spectral Birth

New Year, new jam. The waves of hip hop have been blastin' out for like more than 40 from the Kool Herc mothership, East Coast. Bboyin', that wus mixed up whit it all from the start. But it united coupla generations and now it's worldwide. Know what I'm sayin'?

Fast forward. Hip hop dance is on the contemporary dance stage and in Cirque du Soleil. World-span competitions with real money. An Olympic-style scoring system from Dyzee has been growing for more than ten years. Could bboy/bgirling become an Olympic sport?

Let's get down to now, Portland. The six year old New Birth Crew throws down a jam and a battle tonight. It's got a lottery progressive elimination. The battles break down with 8on8 - Elimination, 4on4 Checkmate, 2on2 Category, and the final 1on1 Death Match. Prizes for power and footwork.

Exhibition by 1hunnid, New Birth Crew - Portland verses Rhythm Man, Waikiki Bboys - Hawaii. Judges are Thomas Origami, Soul Felons/HOODZ; Impulse, Moon Patrol and Roc, KHC/F2D. Beats by Dj Disast3r. Kasra & Kevin AKA Bboy Merk MC

New Birth Jam www.facebook.com/events/1483176981971791/. 1820 NE 40th. Doors 5PM, battles 6 $7 advance RSVP, $10 door



Derek Corns, mid-BFA at Otis, opens Teaches A Rainbow. It's mixed media and installation themed on desire. He is known for his prismatic palette. He showed previously at Multiplex, so this is a homecoming. At S1 www.s1portland.com 4148 NE Hancock Map 6PM-9 Free

January 2 Slip Slab Coil Pinch Press Throw

Slip Slab Coil Pinch Press Throw is a sprawling group show and preview of 2015 at Eutectic. This is ground zero for ceramics experimentation. Over 50 artists are participating. It is a cash and carry show if you need ceramic items. At Eutectic Gallery www.eutecticgallery.com 1930 NE Oregon 6PM-9 Free

December 21 Energy, Mass and C

Einstein laid the groundwork for the standard model. It still holds, though models are a sticky wicket. For a lovely exposition, see the film Particle Fever.

The standard model runs the sun, which makes our life. And the Solstice celebrates our relationship with the sun in its cycle.



M.A.S.S. X celebrates Solstice with musical explorations by Michael Stirling + Matt Carlson + Doug Theriault, Fountainsun (Daniel Higgs + Fumie Ishii) and Douglas Mcgowan. www.facebook.com/events/1523155414604295/ Recommended. At Alberta Abbey 126 NE Alberta 8PM-11 Donation



Today is also the Worldwide Celebration of In C.

Composer and musician Terry Riley wrote the work in 1964. It is the first minimalist music work, though it has innumerable preceding influences. Today In C will be performed throughout the world, and streamed live to the Worldwide In C website. It will also be performed live at the Waypost at 7PM.

By coincidence, Portland musician Michael Stirling, performing M.A.S.S. tonight, has studied extensively with Riley and Riley's teacher, Pandit Pran Nath.

Worldwide Celebration of In C www.worldwideinc.org. All day. Free

December 20,22-5 Aliens Once All Mostly

Most all of us are aliens, or our predecessors were aliens.

Raises hand.

The concept predisposes borders and includes the future of outside-of-earthians. Of course, from space, there are no borders.

Artists Xchurch have been wryly commenting yearly on the phenomenon.

This year they add an Oculus Rift take on past years. Xhurch NTVTY opens a few days and hours for your contemplation on family, and the turn of the sun, and for baby Jesus, artists and aliens.

Here is a little more about the project vimeo.com/112521303. Tuesday evening goes later with live music.

NTVTY V at Xhurch xhurch.net 4550 NE 20th. Saturday, December 20 6PM-9; Monday-Thursday, December 22-25 6PM-9. Tuesday evening ceremonial and musical ritual. Donation appreciated, think $5

December 19 Whither Arts Education?

Jen Delos Reyes and Harrell Fletcher run the social practice art program at Portland State University. Jen Delos Reyes shares her thoughts this morning on arts education as a vehicle for worldchanging.

Academia is expensive and it is competitive, not only in a positive way. The same applies to the internecine warfare between faculty over appointments. And of course, those same primitive impulses play out in society at large.

What if art and design were human-focused? What would change in arts education? Could those creatives create a better world? That is this morning's discussion.

It is part of the always excellent Creative Mornings. Advance tickets are required http://creativemornings.com/talks/jen-delos-reyes, but the video will be up on the web to be seen for free within a few weeks.

At the Museum of Contemporary Craft 724 NW Davis 8:30AM Free

December 16 The Tool Array Has Landed

There will be a reception for the Brenna Murphy installation Central~Lattice Tool Array at Upfor tonight. At UpFor Gallery www.upforgallery.com 929 NW Flanders 6PM Free

December 15 Body of Sound

Tere Mathern & Roland Toledo discuss collaboration between movement makers and soundscape makers. Mathern is a modern dance choreographer and Toledo is a sound designer. It is part of architects' Project Cityscope New Structure series. http://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-new-structure-tere-mathern-roland-toledo-tickets-10739683683. At Shout House 210 SE Madison St. Ste. 11 7PM Free

December 14 Publication

The annual fair of small Portland publishers and bookstores is today. What a pleasure in an era of Amazon and short attention spans. http://www.publicationstudio.biz/events/ At the Cleaners at the Ace Hotel SW 10th and Stark. Noon-6 Free

December 12 Give, Take, Happen

Givers is a group show curated by Jesse Hayward. They are artworks Hayward has been given by their makers over many years. Artists include Olivia Brown, Elias Crouch, Sally Finch, Bryan Friel, Nathan Gibson, Bill Hayward, Midori Hirosi, Byron Kurtz, Hannah Lockhart, Mark Moore, Lisa Mir, Jarrett Mitchell, TJ Norris, Tim Schwartz, Sibelle Sunar and Liz Walsh. 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. 6PM-9 Free



It's Really Cool To Be Here is Thomas J Gamble's response to recent citizen deaths at the hands of police. Many are drawings. At S1 www.s1portland.com 4148 NE Hancock Map 6PM-9 Free



Time Arts Club mounts Happening #17 tonight at Composition Gallery in the Everett Lofts. The event includes an installation by K.C.R.Anderson, Hot in the Sack; video by Katie Holden, two waters; interactive Installation by Emily Lewis, The Ache for Home; video by Chris Freeman You're a Good Man, Chris Freeman at 8PM; installation by Joshua Raines; performance by Amanda Wilson; video by Skyler Wells, Superdrunk at 815PM; 8-Channel Boom Box Performance by Manny Layers, New Romancer IV at 9PM. RSVP requested, it is a small space https://orgsync.com/67394/events/932921. At Composition Gallery compositiongallery.tumblr.com in the Everett lofts facing NW 6th 7PM-10 Free

December 11 Precipice

The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts has a mission to birth more L'enfant terribles. Those artists gather around experimental art spaces, like The Factory in its time. So the foundation has created The Precipice Fund in Portland to give grants of $500-$5000 for a total of $75000 to those experiments. The Foundation operates similar programs in San Francisco, Kansas City, Chicago and Houston.

Last year rcipients included The Portland Museum of Modern Art, M.A.S.S., Multiplex/S1, Falsefront, Weird Shift Storefront, C.O.P.S., 12128 Boatspace and others pica.org/precipice-fund/2013-grant-recipients/.

Tonight the new Portland recipients will be announced. You can attend the announcement event with an RSVP to precipice@pica.org, or attend an annual party later. Precipice Fund announcement and art party pica.org/event/precipice-fund-winner-announcement-pica-winter-fete/ at 415 SW 10th, 3rd floor. Announcement 6PM Party 8PM Free

December 5 Eastside Art Opening Magic

"No law shall be passed restraining the free expression of opinion, or restricting the right to speak, write, or print freely on any subject whatever; but every person shall be responsible for the abuse of this right." It is in the Oregon Constitution's Bill of Rights.

It is a stronger protection than the US Constitution.

In 2003, the Oregon Supreme Court broadly included exotic dance performances under the Oregon Bill of Rights. The rest is history.

The Magic Gardens opened much longer ago, in 1960, in an even older building. They are closing New Year's eve for the building to be redeveloped.

But tonight, over 50 artists contribute their memories in the form of commemorative posters. At One Grand Gallery www.onegrandgallery.com 1000 E Burnside 6PM-10 Free



Northwoods Journals by Kurt Simonson are photographs inspired by the artist's family childhood memories. It is in the narrative branch of photography. Reathel Geary has photographs Waiting for Griffin, meditations on his relationship with his autistic son. Kudos for a solid December show. At Newspace Photo www.newspacephoto.org 1632 SE 10th Map 6PM-9 Free



Mitsu Okubo, San Francisco Art Institute schooled, has a show at Worksound www.worksoundpdx.com 820 SE Alder Map 6PM-9 Free



All Play & No Work is work-play by Calvin Ross Carl and Matt Jacobs. It is at HQHQ Project Space in the Oak Street Building, 232 SE Oak St #108 6PM-9 Free



Daniel Long's I Hear a Symphony closes tonight with a reception. There is book release by Publication Studio related. At the Portland Museum of Modern Art inside Mississippi Records www.portlandmuseumofmodernart.com 5202 N Albina Map 8PM Free



The 811 building has some new shops and they will be celebrating.

Katherine Bradford and Sarah Gamble continue their previous show. At Adams and Ollman Gallery www.adamsandollman.com 811 E Burnside #213 6PM-9 Free


The Poetics of Light is a curated group show of photographs. At Black Box Gallery www.blackboxgallery.com 811 E Burnside, Suite 212 upstairs 5PM-8 Free


Michele Maule has Into the Woods, fanciful illustrations of treehouses and woodland life. Octavia Hunter has photographs Letting Go, which are on display 24x7 through the rear window. At Redux www.reduxpdx.com 811 E Burnside 6PM-9:30 Free

All at 811 East Burnside Map6PM-9:30



Lisa Golightly has Fade Away, collage of found and made images transferred to canvas. At Pushdot Studio www.pushdotstudio.com 2505 SE 11th Avenue Suite 104 6PM-8 Free

December 4 Westside Art Openings

Brenna Murphy has Central~Lattice Tool Array at Upfor. Some of the work will be recognizable as related to her work as MSHR. The work is individualistic, enigmatic and beautiful. Highly recommended. At UpFor Gallery www.upforgallery.com 929 NW Flanders 6PM-9 Free



Master of drawing, Samantha Wall has a show this month at Laura Russo. At Laura Russo Gallery www.laurarusso.com 805 NW 21st 5PM-8 Free



Francine Fleischer has Swim, photographs made in popular Mexican swimming holes called Cenote. They are fresh water caves and sinkholes. Many go back to the early civilizations of the region as part of their spiritual rituals. Today they are a popular place to cool off. Portrait photographers Jaime Travezán and Morgana Vargas Llosa with art director David Tortora have made an unusual project for Blue Sky, Mírame, Lima. They worked with 50 families to realized staged portraits subsequently digitally composited. In the Nine Gallery, Postcards From Paradise is a show of faux tourist attraction signs staged along the route of proposed Wyoming, Colorado and Montana coal trains. It may not even be economical to export that coal from Oregon and Washington ports. Ryan Pierce takes the artist way in making light of the issue and includes a map of his locations. At Blue Sky Gallery www.blueskygallery.org map 122 NW 8th 6PM-9 Free



Michael Horwitz, Susie J. Lee, Marne Lucas and Corey Lunn share a group show You Don't Know Me, roughly portraits. At PDX Contemporary Art www.pdxcontemporaryart.com 925 NW Flanders Map early close 8PM Free



Visage Eyewear has a show by illustrator Lisa Holley. It admixes animal portraits with botanical illustration. At Visage Eyewear www.visageeyewear.com 1046 NW Johnson 6PM-9 Free



The PNCA MFA programs are weak at publicizing their shows. They even have a dedicated gallery, and probably more, but they ably keep secrets. Not tonight. Happy Hour: The Retrospective is a show by 2016 visual studies class artists Rebecca Rosen Carlisle, Maggie Condit, Alex Godbold, Aaron Johnson, Caitlin Rooney, BriAnna Rosen, Dylan Schietinger, Tait Brian Simonson and Lauren Kristine. At the PNCA Visual Studies Lodge Gallery, in the Allied Works Architecture Lobby, 1532 SW Morrison 6PM-9 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 closing ranges from 9PM-10:30ish

December 2 Stoned Curiosity

Our regional perch on the ring of fire contributes to the rocks and minerals we find. There are outstanding ones, agates, jaspers, petrified wood, zeolites, sunstones and thunder eggs. That has led to a community of collectors who love exploring the out of the way corners of the state. Some then fabricate jewelry from those findings.

Alison Jean Cole is one and she speaks about her explorations and lapidary adventures tonight. A presentation of the Curiosity Club, you can tune into the free live webcast off the Core77 site, see the video archive on the Hand Eye Supply Website or visit the talk and demonstration in person at Hand Eye Supply www.handeyesupply.com/pages/curiosity-club 427 NW Broadway 6PM Free

November 29 Old Town

This is a film curiosity, not a visual art event.

Once upon a time, some of Portland's spiffaritic neighborhoods were gritty. Arrive a young filmmaker, Gus Van Sant. He made his first released feature film in those backstreets, Mala Noche.

Speed up to today. The filmmaker is loved by actors for his subliminal directing style, to the Academy, and to audiences for heart-rendering films, some difficult.

Tonight there is a showing of Mala Noche. The film was based on the autobiography of wild man poet-artist Walt Curtis, who will answer questions at the screening. One of the film's settings was the Satyricon Club in Old Town. Bruno, the long time doorman there, also will be there to relate the stories behind the film and the neighborhood.

Mala Noche, Portland history, at the PSU Fifth Avenue Cinema. www.5thavenuecinema.org 510 SW Hall 7:30PM. Free PSU community, $3 other students $4 everybody cash only

November 28 Light

There is a closing for the Light Wash installation tonight, with performances on the installation by Jesse Mejía in collaboration with Lucy Yim, Christi Denton, Edward Sharp, Jason Plumb, Alex Norman and Charles Buckingham. At Composition compositiongallery.tumblr.com 625 NW Everett #102 (6th side) 7PM-10 Free

November 23 Blue Surface

Arielle Adkin has Blue Print Series. It resembles an archaic soft printing process, blue, on paper. One of the earliest photographic processes, invented in 1842, it was the method for reproducing architectural blueprints before pen and inkjet plotters. Also called cyanotype, it has a long history in the photographic world. Adkin makes her images with paint, many include wallpaper-like patterns in tonal blues. At Stumptown www.stumptowncoffee.com 128 SW 3rd. 4PM-6 Free



Pure Surface is a performance series combining spoken word reading, movement performance and video. Performers tonight are Kaia Sand, text; Catherine Egan, movement; and Hanna Piper Burns, film.
Pure Surface www.puresurface.info at Valentines valentinespdx.com 232 SW Ankeny. Doors 6:00PM, performance 7 sharp Free

November 22 Bouy

FRONT is a broadsheet about contemporary dance and ideas, primarily written by dancers themselves. Today they launch their latest edition ED4:BUOY! So despite that they, to our chagrin, hew to all caps text design tactic, we recommend the event as a creative meetup, and a chance to get a copy or distribute them to your interested friends. It's free. FRONT distribution at Ristretto Roasters LoBu 555 NE Couch. 4PM-7 Free

November 21 Awaken Last Summer Sitings

Holocene has always been entwined with Portland visual and performing artists.

Tonight they host a PNCA happy hour with performances and video by PNCA staff members: Weird Fiction, Dizzynest, Fasters, a Power Girls zine reading from Kinoko Evans and video by Jason Williams, Linden How, Jodie Cavalier and Linda Kliewer. Some of these are in the PNCA staff show Last Call at the school. At Holocene www.holocene.org 1001 SE Morrison 5PM Free



Fourteen30 Contemporary has All Summer in a Day, a group show by Matt Connors, Kristan Kennedy, Owen Kydd, Diane Simpson and Erika Verzutti. At Portland's only member of the New Art Dealers Alliance www.newartdealers.org, Fourteen30 Gallery www.fourteen30.com 1501 SW Market Street Map 11AM-6PM Weekends, tonight 6PM-8 Free



Nationale opens When We Dead Awaken by PNCA MFA painting grad Elizabeth Malaska. The work expresses the artist's critique of gender sociopolitics in the art world and generalized social apathy using surrealist tactics. At Nationale www.nationale.us 3360 SE Division Map 6PM-8 Free



Disjecta opens video works Sightings by Kevin Cooley and Jessica Mallios. Cooley has Skyward, an up shot from a convertible car which is projected on the ceiling above the audience and A Thousand Miles an Hour involving synchronized sun and moon images. Mallios has Rhombus and Tower of the Americas. This is the second show by the new curator involving video, a welcome trend. At Disjecta, in the shadow of Paul Bunyan www.disjecta.org 8371 N. Interstate Map 6PM-10 Free

November 20 Thanksgiving Before Black Friday

Thanksgiving. It has resisted commercialization with a focus on family.

The first peoples of the Northwest had a similar tradition. Potlatch.

People gathered with their surplus or lack and made gifts to one another over a feast.

The Museum has a nine foot long Kwakwaka'wakw Indian Dzunk'wa Feast Dish, used in potlatches. Artist Blair Saxon-Hill has chosen this piece from all of the collection as the focus of this month's Thursday artist talk and happy hour.

Blair Saxon-Hill speaks at the Art Museum happy hour www.portlandartmuseum.org/event/artist-talks-and-happy-hour-blair-saxon-hill. At the Portland Art Museum www.pam.org 1219 SW Park
6PM $5 members or regular museum admission

November 19 MSHR Potatoes

S1 multiplexes between a visual arts venue, a video/media art venue and a music venue. Tonight they cover all three. Hairy Food, Jessie Mejia and MSHR perform. And it's underground. At S1, formerly Multiplex, www.s1portland.com 4148 NE Hancock Map 9PM $5-7

November 15 Flood Information Space

Portland is a river town. That is why we are here. But water is a powerful force.

Once upon a time, Portland, in a state which has a history unkind to African Americans, had a neighborhood, Vanport. It was in North Portland by now Delta Park. African Americans moved to Portland to work in the Swan Island shipyards for WWII. Inexpensive apartments for many were made in Vanport. But Vanport was known to be in a flood area. On May 30, 1948, the levies were overcome and the homes of many destroyed. Here is a short documentary.

This afternoon some of the first person survivors relate their experiences for the Vanport Multimedia Project. New videos gathering their experiences will be shown. More information is at www.facebook.com/events/673764226054360/.

Recommended for real Portland history we can learn from in our actions of the moment.

Vanport Multimedia Project at the Vancouver Avenue First Baptist Church, 3138 N. Vancouver 2PM Free



Portland is a paper publishing town. In that spirit, YU presents a talk by James Hoff on his project Primary Information which prints artists works, current and past. At Yu Contemporary Art www.yucontemporary.org 900 SE 10th 5PM



This evening is also opening for the remaining Pioneer Place Mall galleries. The Mark Woolley Gallery has Carola Penn and Diane Avo-Augee. At the Mark Woolley Gallery www.markwoolley.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 5PM-9 Free



Art is all around us. It is a niche of everyday experience with its own semiotics. But to see it in person with others seeking coreaction requires space. Space as in rent, heat, staff. So yearly one space, Disjecta, mounts an art auction. It's an opportunity to see a cross section of local art, artists, and those passionate about art. This year's participating artists may be seen on the Disjecta website.

The Disjecta art auction www.disjecta.org/exhibitions-events/2014-disjecta-annual-art-auction at Disjecta, in the shadow of Paul Bunyan www.disjecta.org 8371 N. Interstate Map 7PM-10 $25 advance $30 door

November 14 Grow Canaries

Recent L&C graduate Tony Chrenka brings his installations to S1 tonight. Inspired by social commentary, sustainable architecture and constructed identity he has built Slow Grow. The S1 art events are always recommended. At S1, formerly Multiplex, www.s1portland.com 4148 NE Hancock Map 6PM-9 Free



You can learn a lot about an artist-their art from a studio visit. It's a rare thing.

Artists can be the canaries in the coal mines. Sometimes they are inspired by the rivulets of culture before they coalesce into the great flood. So looking into what's going on in art school is a way of hearing some birdsongs of those canaries.

Tonight, PNCA MFA artists Amory Abbott, Sean Barnes, Rachel Brown-Smith, Rebecca Carlisle, Maggie Condit, Maria Davidoff, Liz Fuller, Alex Godbold, Anastasia Greer, Lucas Haley, Tessa Heck, Evan Isoline, Candace Jahn, Aaron Johnson, Marisa Lee, Kelly McGovern, Jung Min, Bertrand Morin, Annie Oldenburg, Nicholas Patton, Katie Piatt, Veronica Reeves, Caitlin Rooney, BriAnna Rosen, Dylan Schietinger, Micah Schmelzer, Tait Simonson, Lauren Stumpf, Jason Berlin Thomas and Nikki Vene open their studio warren to see work in progress, completed works and to chat.

Recommended. At the PNCA visual studies studios www.pnca.edu/graduate/c/vs 1830 NW 19th 6PM-9 Free

November 9 Heart of Darkness

Richard Mosse speaks today of his experience filming war in Congo.

We see with our eyes. But there are other "colors" beyond our vision. We call those ultraviolet, for light with shorter waves beyond violet, and infrared for long waves beyond red.

Mosse found an archaic infrared movie film stock made in WWII which was tuned in "color" to separate camouflaged military from plant life. The film prints the infrared reflected by natural plants as pink.

With a team of fixers, Mosse took his camera into Eastern Congo. The area is filled with warlords, remnants of the 1994 Rwanda genocide. Today they continue their dirty little war by mining minerals, like tantalum, an essential ingredient in every electronic device made today. It is smuggled to China where it sells for $400 a pound.

His resulting video work, The Enclave, has just opened at the Portland Art Museum. The work comes from the 2014 Venice Biennale.

Many people are critical of Conrad's Heart of Darkness. But they miss that it is a meditation on the experience of the narrator, and not a judgement on a continent. I've been in North Kivu, in a time of considerably less risk, though we drove by vast refugee camps and heard gunfire nearby.

Nonetheless, the 20 year war in Eastern Congo, with more than 6 million perished, is reprehensible.

The war has also decimated the endangered mountain gorilla, a sustainable source of ecotourism.

Richard Mosse speaks www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-iavffjpZc at the Portland Art Museum www.pam.org 1219 SW Park 2PM Members, free; otherwise regular admission - so you can see the show - seniors $12, else $15

November 8 Let's Get Conceptual

Late career British conceptual artist Terry Atkinson, cofounder of Art&Language opens a show recreating an earlier work using grease as the art medium. The YU website has a more detailed explanation. The artist speaks at YU on Sunday at 2PM. At Yu Contemporary Art www.yucontemporary.org 900 SE 10th 3PM-4

November 7 Eastside Art Openings+

Laura Hughes opens The Lines Along Which Anything Lies at the PSU Littman Gallery. Hughes is one of Portland's few light artists. The work is based on dichroic interference films which reflect color selectively based on the angle of reflection. There will also be an artist talk in the gallery November 21 at 6:30PM. At the PSU Littman Gallery in Smith Union. www.pdx.edu/littmanandwhite Littman Gallery, PSU Smith Hall, Room 250, 1825 SW Broadway 5PM-8 Free



The PSU Autzen Gallery has This is a This, returning MFA Studio Practice graduates. They are: Jea Alford, Chris Freeman, Katie Holden, Manny Layers and Pam Minty. At PSU Autzen Gallery, Neuberger Hall, 2nd Floor, Room 205, 724 SW Harrison 5PM-8 Free



Red Cloud Collective has a show of neon, Let’s Be Light, by Julia Calabrese, Derek Joyns, Adam Zeek, Daniel Long, David Wien and Perry Pfister
1454 NE Prescott 7PM-10


Worksound continues last month's show in their new compact space with a low key opening. At Worksound www.worksoundpdx.com 820 SE Alder Map 6PM-10



Black Box has Color Space, a group show of color photography. At Black Box Gallery www.blackboxgallery.com 811 E Burnside, Suite 212 upstairs 5PM-8 Free



Katherine Bradford and Sarah Gamble have dreamy paintings. Themes include electromagnetic fields, floating and flying. At Adams and Ollman Gallery www.adamsandollman.com 811 E Burnside #213 6PM-9 Free

November 6 Westside Art Openings+

Hellion has Dreams Within Dreams by APEK. We like, and have covered this husband and wife kwai-style illustration duo for some time. Also showing is In The Toy Box with Ikumi Nakada from Japan. Hellion is looking for a new location, ideally inner East side. They will continue in a temporary smaller space on the same floor beginning December until they find one. If you hear of something reasonable, let them know. At Hellion Gallery www.helliongallery.com through the lobby of the arched brick entry, up the stairs and to the back. Very upper floor Japan-style. 19 NW 5th Suite 208. Map 7PM-10 Free



Corey Arnold is a photographer that catches fish for a living. And the reverse is true too. He spends some of the year in Portland, so he is a Portlander. Tonight he opens a new body of work, Wildlife, shot (with a camera) in Alaska. We will have to see how the Pebble Mine proposed upstream from a huge salmon fishery unfolds, or not. At Charles Hartman Fine Art www.hartmanfineart.net 134 NW 8th



Reed professor Akihiko Miyoshi has Pigment Migrations & Suspended Refraction. They are photographs inspired by science. He is an artist and engineer. At UpFor Gallery www.upforgallery.com 929 NW Flanders 6PM-9 Free



It's always educational and often pleasurable to see a greatest hits - greatest hitter show. This is one of photographic self portraits by Delaney Allen, Chuck Close, Nan Goldin, David Hilliard, Justine Kurland, Isaac Layman, Robert Lyons, Robert Mapplethorpe, Vik Muniz, Alec Soth, Arne Svenson and Carrie Mae Weems. At Elizabeth Leach Gallery www.elizabethleach.com 417 NW 9th Map 6PM-9



Portland artist Roger Peet has Traps, Flows, Echoes in the PNCA second floor Gallery 214. It is related to his volunteer work and family history in the Congo. Fascinating. At PNCA www.pnca.edu 1241 NW Johnson Map 6PM-9 Free



Jared Soares has Small-Town Hip Hop, his documentation of that world in Roanoke Virginia. Adriana Lopez Sanfeliu has Life on the Block, a view of families in Spanish Harlem, New York, New York. At Blue Sky Gallery www.blueskygallery.org map 122 NW 8th 6PM-9 Free



Abigail McNamara has a wall piece she has been installing in the gallery all month. Now it is finished! At Duplex Collective www.duplexcollective.com 219 NW Couch 6PM-9 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 closing ranges from 9PM-10:30ish



Native(X) is a contemporary visual arts and crafts show by Native Americans. It includes work by Yatika Fields,Toma Villa, Jaque Fragua, Cheyenne Randall and Sho Sho Esquiro. At Union/Pine www.unionpine.com 525 SE Pine 6PM-10 Free

November 5 Eyes and Ears on Synths

An infinite symphony of musicians can be made in a laptop. Digital domain.

The analog electronics maker movement is going another direction.

They have adopted the tactics of musique concrète, a room full of analog oscillators and filters, on through to a rack full of miniatures of the same, which characterized the Moog era. These analog modules have knobs, switches, sequencers and colorful patch cables, sometimes even a chromatic keyboard.

A common format for all these today is the Eurorack. There are dozens of companies all over the world making Eurorack modules, including Portland's MiniGorille.

MiniGorille has a new species of hybrid digital-analog module, the Geometry Synthesizer. It has switches, dials and patchpoints to participate with the other sound modules in the patch. But it also talks by Bluetooth to laptop software, in this case, Grasshopper and Processing, generative visualization tools.

The music from the analog synth controls the generation of the visuals in real time.

I'm sure there are hybrid analog synth-laptop synth hybrids possible with the technology too!

You can see and hear the Geometry Synthesizer tonight. Geometry Synthesizer demonstration www.facebook.com/events/312810955568651/ at Control Voltage www.controlvoltage.net 3742 NE Mississippi 6:30PM Free

November 1 M.A.S.S. IX

Tonight is an all souls evening of music, visuals and reading. We are not saying its dark. But we are not saying its light. Grouper, Liz Harris, performs her abstract music. White Gourd, Suzanne Stone, performs music-art-movement inspired by the death card in her tarot deck, accompanied by visuals by vVv Stardust, Vivian Hua. Tyler Brewington provides readings.

M.A.S.S. is an ongoing series of events combining visual art, performance, music, readings and projections, in a church. Your own spiritual artistic experience.

M.A.S.S. IX https://www.facebook.com/events/1477119889221589/ at Alberta Abbey 126 NE Alberta Doors 7PM, show 8 Free, donations accepted

October 26 Utility Quilt

Artist Wynde Dyer continues her community quilt project. She worked with a group of 5-11 year olds to design and fabricate pattern quilts from poly tarp. There is more to this story too. Opening at Stumptown Coffee Division 4525 SE Division 4PM-6 Free

October 25 Spare Box

We have plenty of woods here. Enough to get lost in in a good way. (Lost) In the Woods is an art show on that theme by Shelley Jordon, sound by Kurt Rohde. It opens at the University of Oregon White Stag Building, whitebox.uoregon.edu 70 NW Couch 4PM-7



I'm Against It and Ad Hoc at Home is a punk art show. In Surplus Space, a home sometime art gallery, with stellar shows, Portland style!

I'm not going to rewrite this curious description: "Jodie Cavalier presents a series of sculptures informed by punk fashion and Gertrude Stein’s Tender Buttons. Stephen Slappe brings us selections from his series of Situationist skate videos. Local acts Consumer and YAH-EEF-AY will perform with audio cassettes, blenders, and the weather to supplement the venn of authenticity, revolt, and appropriation. Thomas Gamble will be offering stick and poke tattoos of the CRASS logo throughout the duration of the evening."

Recommended! Surplus Space is taking a break until January after this, so see it! At Surplus Space www.SurplusSpace.info 3726 NE 7th 6PM-9 Free

October 19 Blue Zena Oops Xhurch

Julia Dolan, Ph.D., the Portland Art Museum Minor White Curator Of Photography and Christopher Rauschenberg, Blue Sky Gallery Cofounder, present a talk accompanying the Blue Sky at 40 show. At the Portland Art Museum www.pam.org 1219 SW Park 2PM Members, free; students, seniors $12, else $15



Nee Yu, Sandra Percival, operating as Zena Zezza, opens a light and projection installation with You and I, Horizontal by Anthony McCall and 1857 Project by Laura Heit tonight. It is at the Hallock & McMillan building, Portland's oldest building. At 237 SW Naito Parkway x Oak 2PM-5



Portland filmmaker Matt McCormick has a family story. His grandfather piloted bombers filled with nuclear weapons on continuous attack patterns toward the Soviet Union in the 1960's. His grandfather survived a crash in 1964 of his plane in Maryland. The crash was caused by the tail fin breaking off. It was a known flaw in the Boeing B-52 plane, considered too expensive to fix. Neither of the two bombs detonated. The program was discontinued in 1968 after the fifth bomber crash with nuclear bombs.

Matt is making a film about the event, Buzz One Four, the plane's call sign. He has been able to gather first person materials, including interviews. and he is mounting a small Kickstarter to finish the film.

Tonight he speaks about the program in a small studio and shows some clips of the work in progress. Recommended. Buzz One Four at the Boathouse 822 N River 7:30PM contributions welcome



Ambient experimental music for church. We like. It's Sanctuary Sunday. This evening Mike Erwin, Montgomery Ward and Mori play. Visuals provided by Ritzy Sheens and Michael Green. At Xhurch xhurch.net 4550 NE 20th 7PM-10 Free

October 18 Fifty for Forty or Fight +

Blue Sky Gallery started as a clubhouse for photographer friends. They grew up and outgrew the treehouse. It is still a nonprofit, but it's known as one of the leading curators in the world of photography. The commercial galleries watch Blue Sky for what is new. They have put together a retrospective covering 40 years of shows. For several years, a gracious benefactor has been donating a piece of work from each photographer's show to the museum, that helps! That is over 400 shows and 600 photographers. This show is an opportunity to see some of that varied work, curated by the sharpest eyes in Portland.

The Portland Art Museum is the grand dame of the Portland art world. They are about preserving and contextualizing art through the ages. The Schnitzers are the art family in Portland. Arleen Schnitzer operated Portland's early contemporary gallery, the Fountain Gallery. The late Harold Schnitzer brought a passion for art and acted upon it. Over 50 years, the Schnitzers collected deeply in early pre-Han Chinese artifacts to contemporary Northwest work. Their son is carrying on the tradition, especially focused on prints.

Tonight a show of of some of the Schnitzers' collection, A Passionate Pursuit, opens. It is always a treat to see a collection guided by the collector's vision, over years, in one place.

Both shows open today and run through January 11.

At the Portland Art Museum www.pam.org 1219 SW Park
Regular hours and prevailing admission



We used to cover fashion more. Others do it better now. But fashion is art. And it is a Portland creative vector, spanning to mass produced design. Content is a once a year event where designers each decorate a room as an installation. It is always fascinating. Arrive early. Content at the Ace Hotel, 1022 SW Stark 5PM-10 $15-20

October 17,18,24,25 Adaption +

Dance is expensive to make. It needs a large space, with a foot-friendly floor, heated or cooled, to jump around in for months to make a piece. That piece also needs costumes, sound, lights, and maybe video. Often there are multiple persons.

The idea of Flock is a space for it's member choreographer-dancers to jump around in for months in the making of performances. Adaption is one by Stephanie Lanckton of Flock. It has visuals by Stephen A. Miller, a live soundscape by Lisa DeGrace, costume design by Alenka Loesch and lighting by Daniel Meeker.

On the same bill is Requiem by Meshi Chavez and One Door Closes by Lisa DeGrace + Adrian Hutapea.

At Disjecta, in the shadow of Paul Bunyan www.disjecta.org 8371 N. Interstate Map. Doors 7:30PM, show 8. $12 students/seniors, else $15-20



The Blue Sky retrospective opening tomorrow, opens tonight for members, with a reception in the Miller Room at 5:30PM

October 17 Wild Wild West

The Western fiction is something built over years of writing and filmmaking. Early short works captured the oral narratives circulating in the US. But at each turn since, like the oral narratives, they were enhanced and exaggerated. Until today in film they have become parodies of themselves - see the film The Quick and The Dead, and there are novels in the same vein, like Robert Coover's Ghost Town. Artist Donald Morgan presents High Noon, contemporary sculptures and paintings inspired in an abstract way by Ghost Town. 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 Free

October 14-15 Space Noise

S1 is one of three Portland galleries regularly showing video. And the Cinema Project is one of a handful of experimental film and video programmers in Portland. S1 & the Cinema Project present Makino Takashi from Japan with Space Noise. It reminds the seminal work of Stan Brakhage, updated with live video and ambient music. This is quite a program for little Portland. Recommended.

Cinema Project www.cinemaproject.org at S1, formerly Multiplex, www.s1portland.com 4148 NE Hancock Map 7:30PM $8

October 11 Stream Kick Sense

In 1992 Ann Hamilton made Accountings at the Henry in Seattle at age 36. It filled the upstairs gallery with floors of steel tags nailed in an impenetrable fish scale-like pattern, walls smudged by candle wax and soot, a display case of wax heads used in Brazilian rituals and 200 canaries. The next year, she won a MacArthur Fellowship.

She continues to make idea-based minimal work with organic materials. It is all very lyrical.

Hamilton is recipient of a one million dollar public art commission for the city of Seattle. It will make a work on the waterfront at Pier 62/63, possibly powered by the tide.

In the meantime, she opens the common S E N S E this evening. It is a participatory work, with you providing literary passages themed on the senses, visitors assembling the passages into personal journals, readers reading in the gallery, and those readers transcribing their readings into a record.

Some elements are a continuation from the stunning the event of a thread at the Park Avenue Armory, NYC.

The show the common S E N S E opens this evening, and runs until April 26, 2015.

At the Henry Art Museum of the University of Washington www.henryart.org 15th Ave NE & 41st St, Seattle. Wed, Sat, Sun 11AM-4PM, Thurs, Fri 11AM-9PM. Free students/faculty/under 13, $6 seniors, $10



Krystal South is an artist and interactive designer. She combines both, in an online art sale by 11 artists hidden inside a Kickstarter. Each artist has made an edition of 10, priced at $35-$500, and distributed through the Backer Rewards. The Kickstarter ends tonight with a gallery show of the art. It is oversubscribed 3X with 3 days to go.

At Ditch Projects www.ditchprojects.com 303 S. 5th Avenue #165, Springfield, OR Map and Building Map 6PM-9 Free




Deepwhitesound, DB Amorin, Matthew McVickar and Dana Paresa present Stream Room at False Front. Hundreds of samples from the electronic works of 33 composers are randomly recombined on the fly and broadcast wirelessly to hand built receivers with speakers in the gallery. False Front Studio www.falsefrontstudio.com 4518 NE 32nd Map 6PM-9 Free



Daniel Long is a recent PNCA MFA painter. Working in oil, he samples historical painting elements into new work. He opens a show this evening at the Portland Museum of Modern Art inside Mississippi Records www.portlandmuseumofmodernart.com 5202 N Albina Map 8PM-10 Free

October 10 New Nationale Ism

Photographer Delaney Allen has Getting Lost at the new Nationale space on Division. Allen has been with Nationale for some time. At Nationale www.nationale.us 3360 SE Division Map 6PM-8 Free

October 9 Design Video Architecture

As part of design week, Artist vs Designer is a panel discussion and shirt silk screening event. Adam Garcia, Damien Gilley, Calvin Ross Carl, and Phillip Stewart speak at 7. 4-7 is interaction, a photo booth and screen printing. Bring something to screen. At One Grand Gallery www.onegrandgallery.com 1000 E Burnside 4PM-9 Free



Après-Upfor is a new evening dark time video programs available through the window from the sidewalk. The first is a 30 minute loop, Becoming is a Secret Process by Rose Dickson. It is a live painting video. Until December 10. At UpFor Gallery www.upforgallery.com 929 NW Flanders 6:30PM Free



Architecture. It is ever changing, slowly. The modern international style, of Mies Van Der Rohe, dominated world architecture, and survives to today. Postmodern architecture and design attempted to break that mold by sampling and combining styles across eras. The Portland Building was the first example in the world. Frankly, I like it. It was designed by Michael Graves who later brought houseware in the postmodernist Memphis style popular in Italy to Target. At the American Institute of Architecture conference post the award of the design to the architect, buttons "I Don't Dig Graves" were in abundance.

Nonetheless, it is one of less than 5 buildings in the region of international architectural significance. (Portland Building, Commonwealth Building, W+K, Mt Angel Abbey Library)

Tonight the Portland Art Museum and Bright lights brings Michael Graves at 80 to speak about his design journey. Graves became disabled from an infection and has devoted himself to designs for enabling mobility. He also speaks on potential future modernizations of the building.

At the Portland Art Museum in the sunken ballroom of the Mark (Masonic Temple). 1211 SW Park 7PM $10

October 8 Lumber On

Dan Cameron, Tony Feher and Polly Apfelbaum speak at the Lumber Room this evening. They are a curator and two artists. The artists showed individually in the Spring and a joint show is up now at the Lumber Room. At The Lumber Room lumberroom.com 419 SW 9th, above Liz Leach Map 6PM-8 Free

October 6 Design Tube

Getting to Know You(Tube) shifts schedule and time to sync with Design Week. At Getting to Know You(Tube) www.gettingtoknowyoutube.com at the Hollywood Theater www.hollywoodtheatre.org 4122 NE Sandy Boulevard. 9:30PM $5

October 5 Humor Design

Paraprosdokians and Rubber Chickens is a group show based on humor and irreverence in the service of art. The artists are: Bruce Conkle, Jonathan Gitelson, Jamie Isenstein, Matt Jacobs, Alicia McDaid, Ralph Pugay, Sara Greenberger Rafferty, Jordan Rathus, Patrick Rock, Ben Sanders and Lindsey White. At the Marylhurst University www.marylhurst.edu/theartgym/ Map 4PM-6 Free



Sometimes we list design events and sometimes not. But design thinking and ethnographic tools are in my repertoire. We are lacking the D-School here, but UO-Portland is attempting to fill the void. As part of Design Week, some of their students and faculty occupy the art gallery. Tonight they have works shown at the Salone Satellite at the Milan Salone Del Mobile during Milan Design Week 2014. At the University of Oregon White Stag Building, whitebox.uoregon.edu 70 NW Couch 5:30PM-8 Free