|
Edge of Vision at L & C
Bill Armstrong, Mandala #450, 2003
Cameras are more common now than in any time in history, which should = more experimentation right? So what happens when the subject is no longer bound to documentation? To help answer that question twenty international photographers have been gathered for, The Edge of Vision: Abstraction in Contemporary Photography at Lewis and Clark College's Hoffman Gallery. The exhibition is curated by Lyle Rexer and presented by the Aperture Foundation.
"The works explore diverse aspects of the photographic experience,
including the chemistry of traditional photography, the direct capture of light without a camera, temporal extensions, digital sampling of found images, radical cropping, and various deliberate
destabilizations of photographic reference. This abstract use of
photography often combines other mediums such as painting, sculpture,
drawing and video. All artists join a broad contemporary trend to look critically and freshly at a medium commonly considered transparent."
Edge of Vision features photographs by; Bill Armstrong, Carel Balth, Ellen Carey, Roland Fischer, Michael Flomen, Manuel Geerinck, Shirine Gill, Barbara Kasten, Seth Lambert, Charles Lindsay, Irene Mamiye, Chris McCaw, Edward Mapplethorpe, Roger Newton, Jack Sal, Penelope Umbrico, Randy West, Silvio Wolf, and Ilan Wolff.
The Hoffman Gallery January 19 - March 18 2012
Hours Tuesday through Sunday, 11 AM to 4 PM (Free)
Lewis & Clark, 0615 SW Palatine Hill Rd.
Parking on campus is free on weekends. (503-768-7687)
Read More
Posted by Jeff Jahn
on January 27, 2012 at 13:54
| Comments (0)
Bruce Nauman Basements at Reed
Bruce Nauman's Wall-Floor Positions, 1968, 60 min., B & W, sound, 16 mm film transferred to digital video displayed on
monitor. (c) 2012 Bruce Nauman / Artists Rights Society (ARS)
In 1968, while living in Northern California, Bruce Nauman signed with the Leo Castelli Gallery, which helped fund an important series of performance/video works. The latest show at Reed College's Cooley Gallery, Basements, explores this crucial period in Nauman's groundbreaking career. To discuss this period on February 17th, Nauman scholar and NYU professor Robert Slifkin lectures on the artist's early film and video work.
Cooley Gallery • January 27 - March 9 (all events free) • 3203 SE Woodstock Blvd
Hours • Tuesday through Sunday 12 - 5 PM
Slifkin Lecture and Reception • February 17 7:00PM
Curatorial Conversation & Walk-Through • March 3rd 12PM with Stephanie Snyder
Read More
Posted by Jeff Jahn
on January 26, 2012 at 10:19
| Comments (0)
Interior Margins: A Question of Language
"Animal", Judy Cooke, 2011
There are just three short days left to see the exhibition Interior Margins at the Lumber Room. Granted, this is not much time to observe and ponder the abstract experiments of the artists exhibiting therein, but to miss the questions posed by this eloquent exhibition entirely would be quite a loss. As one of the newer exhibition spaces to Portland, the Lumber Room is a fantastic addition, enriched by a live-in residency program that is on display as part of the gallery. . .(more)
Read More
Posted by Amy Bernstein
on January 25, 2012 at 7:31
| Comments (0)
Artist | Architect John Holmes
It's crazy world with architects who think they are artists, artists who think they are critics, critics who think they are curators and curators who think they are architects. Yes there is a point to made there but truth is, there is no reason one can't be very proficient in multiple disciples (Michelangelo, da Vinci, Judd, Irwin etc. all did it well indeed). The latest case in point is John Holmes (one of the principles at Holst Architecture, most recently responsible for the Bud Clark Commons.)
According to sources, "His artwork is about transformation - a natural process we see in nature and in our own inner lives. By transforming wood from solid to gas through fire and recording on paper, the patterns created reveal the astonishing Beauty hidden within natural phenomenon." Ah, so he's an alchemist as well!
Opening reception • Thursday January 26th 6pm - 8pm
Holst Architecture • 110 SE 8th Portland, OR 97214
Read More
Posted by Jeff Jahn
on January 24, 2012 at 16:13
| Comments (0)
Monday links
OHSU has gotten approval for it's latest South Waterfront expansion by CO Architects and SERA. Interesting, it reminds me a bit of Thom Mayne on the south end but the 12 story tower seems underwhelming in comparison. Still it should blend in with other nearby buildings.
Curator sharing between Detroit and Kansas City? It is common in the orchestral world but I think it is problematic in the museum world. Why? because curators don't just plan and execute shows, they are the public face of the institution and interface with the interests of the community. Half the face time? ....half the interface! Overall, I'm not a fan of half time curators at major museums.
As Kodak files for bankruptcy the Guardian takes a look at the role of women in their identity.
Read More
Posted by Jeff Jahn
on January 23, 2012 at 13:53
| Comments (0)
Weekend Goings On
Catch a special screening of !Women Art Revolution a film by Lynn Hershman Leeson at the NW Film Center on Sunday with a special introduction by Reed College's Stephanie Snyder.
Screening • January 22 • 4:00 PM
NW Film Center • $9 general $8 members • free to students and faculty
Portland Art Museum • Whitsell Auditorium
Sponsored by: Pacific Northwest College of Art, Oregon College of Arts and Crafts, Portland State University, Reed College, Northwest Film Center and Elizabeth Leach Gallery.
...(more after the jump: Peter Halley and PLACE)
Read More
Posted by Jeff Jahn
on January 20, 2012 at 22:44
| Comments (0)
Interior Margins Conversation II
Interior Margins (1st guided conversation last December) photo Jeff Jahn
Like a dinner party with a theme (which did in fact instigate this project)... the predominantly white, black and grey (or at least color muted) dress code tips viewers off that Interior Margins isn't so much of a comprehensive or even super tight survey of Northwest abstraction as much as it is a salon conversation starter amongst 11 ladies with a close connection to drawing (+ toasting Leonie Guyer) in their work. Curious about that that conversation? Join curator Stephanie Snyder and Interior Margin's artists Saturday for another guided conversation at the Lumber Room. The first talk was looooong winded yet worthwhile.
Guided Conversation • 11am-1pm, Saturday • January 21
lumber room • 419 NW 9th • info@lumberroom.com
Read More
Posted by Jeff Jahn
on January 19, 2012 at 14:59
| Comments (0)
Sandra Percival leaves YU
former YU Director, Sandra Percival
Last Fall I raised questions about Sandra Percival's role and basic questions of board oversight, which was a reiteration of what I was first to point out a year before.
Now YU just announced that, "We, Curtis Knapp and Flint Jamison, Co-founders, announce that
Director Sandra Percival will leave YU. Curtis Knapp will become Acting Director, effective January 20.
There will be complete continuity in the day-to-day functioning of YU and in the assumption of strategic
and programmatic planning imperatives at the director level, some of which we will discuss below....(more)
Read More
Posted by Jeff Jahn
on January 19, 2012 at 13:25
| Comments (0)
10th NW Biennial at Tacoma Art Museum Opens
It is an even numbered year and like clockwork 2012 is predictably a giant survey
show year. The first of them, the 10th
Northwest Biennial at the Tacoma Art Museum opens Saturday and explores the
multinational region from Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Washington States as well
as the British Columbia Territory of Canada. In fact, it is the first time the
Canadians have been invited to play and let's hope it spurs on more trans-border
exhibitions (it's true that it is easier for humans to cross the US/Canadian Border
than it is for art). Of the 30 artists 13 are from Portland (including myself,
look I did try to dissuade/dare them I
have a history of disliking these shows). In March Hide/Seek
will open in the next galleries over so there is an interesting programming confluence
here... by not being in Portland, Seattle or Vancouver BC perhaps Tacoma can sidestep or at least juggle
some very local politics? Designed by Antoine Predock TAM's is the best Museum building in cascadia.
Sean M. Johnson's Family Portrait (2008)
According to TAM, "The 10th Northwest Biennial will examine the vital questions
of who we are as residents of the Pacific Northwest, what we look like, and what
are our aspirations for our communities. The Biennial will seek artworks that
address the critical issues that underpin the larger issues of identity and community
including the fluidity of regional identity in an age of global capitalism, increased
urban migration, and the virtual diffusion of a discernible regional style. Because
of the extraordinary complexities of these issues, The 10th Northwest Biennial
will focus on the newly revitalized and resurgent forms of interdisciplinary art
practices."
Yes I've seen the show in an unfinished state and I'm happy to report there are
at least 5 large installation pieces of which at least 3 of which are new works
and there is a lot more video than we've seen in recent TAM Biennials. Importantly,
being focused on “ interdisciplinary art” a good deal of it is not traditionally
craft or landscape oriented but with this many artists you know it is going to
be a bit of a zoo of a show. It is also important that many participants are not
represented by galleries (though their presence is felt). Most prominent Northwest
galleries tend to be a bit conservative and relying on them for bleeding edge
trend analysis is not the best idea.
Artists: Cynthia Camlin (Bellingham, WA), Pamela Caughey (Hamilton, MT), Dana
Claxton [Hunkpapa Lakota Sioux] (Vancouver, BC), Harrell Fletcher (Portland, OR),
Flicker Art Collabratory [Kenneth Newby and Aleksandra Dulic (Vancouver, BC),
Wynne Greenwood (Seattle, WA), Wendy Given (Portland, OR), Gray & Paulsen
[Anna Gray and Ryan Wilson Paulsen] (Portland, OR), Laura Hughes (Portland, OR),
Allison Hyde (Eugene, OR), Abraham Ingle (Portland, OR), Ariana Jacob (Portland,
OR), Jeff Jahn (Portland, OR), Sean M. Johnson (Seattle, WA), Susie J. Lee (Seattle,
WA), Benjamin Love (Boise, ID), Kirk Lybecker (Portland, OR), Jeremy Mangan (Fife,
WA), Matt McCormick (Portland, OR), Kelly Neidig (Portland, OR), TJ Norris (Portland,
OR), Paul Pauper (Seattle, WA), Juliette Ricci (Tacoma, WA), Paul Rucker (Seattle,
WA), Reza Michael Safavi (Pullman, WA), Seattle Catalog LLC [Gretchen Bennett,
Matthew Offenbacher, and Wynne Greenwood] (Seattle, WA), Henry Tsang (Vancouver,
BC, Matika Wilbur [Swinomish/Tulalip] (Seattle, WA),Jin-me Yoon (Vancouver, BC),
Joshua Zirschky (Portland, OR)
Opening Reception • January 21st • 6:30 - 9:00 PM
Tacoma
Art Museum • 1701 Pacific Avenue • Tacoma, WA 98402
Free for Members • Non-member Guests $10
Read More
Posted by Jeff Jahn
on January 18, 2012 at 22:38
| Comments (0)
Tina to Williams
Christina Olson
It would be sad news if it weren't something we hadn't seen coming the moment she took the Director of Education job at PAM but Christina Olson is leaving her post in Portland to become the "Class of 1956 Director of the Williams College Museum of Art" (WCMA for short). During her tenure in Portland she was THE point woman for Brian Ferriso's very successful revamp of PAM's education department and her accomplishments go far beyond the annual Shine a Light events. With Tina the museum took what was a very hit or miss program and made education a part of every single museum activity. The busloads of kids I see at PAM every week are a testament to her but so is the greater community/interpretive involvement... like the fantastic Artist Talks series (of which I've taken part). She leaves PAM as one of the most successful employees the museum has ever hired.
... (more)
Read More
Posted by Jeff Jahn
on January 18, 2012 at 14:37
| Comments (0)
Memory and Anonymous
I've made no secret that I'm a little tired of the curatorial crutch of installing grayscale work (photography exempt of course) but two shows this month, titled Memory and Anonymous explore both the reasons for my antipathy and a secret appreciation for the underlying aesthetic. These conflicted feelings are interesting as less colorful shows always seem to be both an easily achieved form of elegance and a well worn road to generic accessibility.
Memory
First off is Memory by Jerry Mayer and Ellen George at the Nine Gallery. Extremely simple and elegant the show consists of one large sheet of paper that has been folded and unfolded so much that it resembles a topographic map of the Himalayas. This is riffing on the trope of art as palimpsest as the paper records the wear and... (more)
Read More
Posted by Jeff Jahn
on January 17, 2012 at 16:41
| Comments (0)
Monday Links
Nice article on seminal Light and Space artistDoug Wheeler in the New York Times.
Should a Keith Haring mural be conserved or simply repainted as Haring wanted it to be? I'm with Haring on this.
Tyler Green points out a pretty cool Luis Tomasello installation at the Nelson-Atkins Museum.
Roberta Smith gives Damien Hirst's polka dot paintings a fair shake. For me he is a bit too prolific but he's still one of my favorite artists of all time. That said I've always found the dot paintings much less interesting than his installations and I think he knows it. The thing with Hirst is he finds a way to make people form an opinion by pushing buttons... that is a tremendous ability, without which contemporary art dies. She's absolutely right about it being a lot better than the Christos' The Gates project.
Read More
Posted by Jeff Jahn
on January 16, 2012 at 1:25
| Comments (2)
|
