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Portland art blog + news + exhibition reviews + galleries + contemporary northwest art
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Thursday 11.30.06 Kenton Firehouse Sale  Work by Hilary Pfeifer Avoid the hassle of the mall this holiday season and instead support some very talented artists. The third annual Kenton Firehouse Sale is this Saturday Dec. 2. Juried this year by Namita Wiggers, curator for Contemporary Craft Museum and Gallery and Portland artist Marie Watt, the one day sale features a range of work including fuzzy ornaments, felted wearables, and simple but sexy jewelry. Artists participating in the sale this year: Cristina Aucone, Tierney Brachear,Clare Carpenter, Tripper Dungan, Al Flory, Julie Fulkerson, Margaret Gardner, Shelly Hedges, Junko Iijima, Madoka Ito, Hilary Pfeifer, Suzy Root, Rebecca Scheer, and LeBrie Rich. Shop and be merry. Kenton Firehouse Sale Saturday, Dec. 2 • 11a-6p 8105 N. Brandon St. • Portland, OR Posted by Jenene Nagy on November 30, 2006 at 19:39 | Comments (0) PermalinkFirst Friday Picks for December First Friday is upon us!
 Bruce Conkle photographed by Marne Lucas Sitting City: Portland Artist Portraits by Marne Lucas promises to be a December highlight. These seventeen images of prominent locals artists hint at the both the moments of joy and bouts of melancholy that are part and parcel of the imaginatively lived life. Her casually sophisticated portraits suggest empathetic identification with her subjects, as in this strange, sweet shot of Bruce Conkle simultaneously revealing his inner child and inner monster. Also showing this month at Mark Woolley's newly consolidated home at the Wonder Ballroom location: Only For Seeing, new drawings and watercolors by Arnold Pander and Denizens: Screenprints and Drawings by Casey Burns. Opening Reception • 6-9:30pm • Dec.1-30 Mark Woolley Gallery • 128 N.E. Russell (near MLK) at the Wonder Ballroom • T. 503.284.3636 ..........(more) Posted by Jessica Bromer on November 30, 2006 at 7:32 | Comments (0) PermalinkWednesday 11.29.06 Damien Hirst at The Portland Art Museum  Damien Hirst Autopsy with Sliced Human Brain 2004 So what is the next show after the current Pierre Huyghe video at the Portland Art Museum's Miller-Meigs endowed room in the Jubtiz Center? You may have heard of him, it is Damien Hirst (one of my all-time favorite artists and probably one of the most loved/hated people in the history of art). He's obsessed with death, was generous enough to help an entire group of Young Britsih Artists become successful and is the master of presentation, having worked as an gallery installer before he became famous. Hirst is also notable as the first major artist since Picasso to control his own market. In a time where the market controls everything, this is yet another example of how perceptive Hirst is. This is a rare solo US museum show for Hirst, who has avoided the museum blockbuster machine, preferring to make his own weather in out of the way places. Show opens January 13. Posted by Jeff Jahn on November 29, 2006 at 11:25 | Comments (2) PermalinkMonday 11.27.06 Doing A Lot Of Justice: Thom Mayne's Wayne L. Morse Courthouse in Eugene 
The new Wayne L. Morse Federal Courthouse, designed by Thom Mayne, is without a doubt the hottest new building in Oregon and yes it's in Eugene, not Portland (insert envy here). It opens to the public on December 1st. Still, the mind swims with two curious incongruities: 1) Huh, a hot new courthouse… is that possible?... (much more) Posted by Jeff Jahn on November 27, 2006 at 22:59 | Comments (2) PermalinkCloepfil has it Still Tyler at MAN
reports that Portland's "starchitect" Brad Cloepfil will be designing
the new Clyfford
Still Museum in Denver. Cloepfil has his light and airy side (new Seattle
Art Museum, PDX Contemporary Art) and a heavier side that does wonders with concrete
(Weiden + Kennedy headquarters). Still, like a lot of AbEx painters liked to present
a kind of life and death drama in his work so Cloepfil's earthy/heavy and airy light should
complement the artist's dichotomies well.
Posted by Jeff Jahn on November 27, 2006 at 12:31 | Comments (0) PermalinkSunday 11.26.06 Jeanne C. Finley at PSU 
The PSU Monday Night MFA lecture series continues with a talk by experimental film producer, artist and CCA professor Jeanne Finley. Working with diverse subject matter - including an account of an American-Russian matchmaking trip, a young girl's experiences at a Baptist youth retreat, the story of a former Ku Klux Klan Grand Dragon and narratives from two Muslim women living in Instanbul - Finley returns again and again to the documentary form to explore the relationship between individual identity, cultural forces and the forms of media through which these experiences are mediated... Lecture · Monday, November 27th · 8:15 p PSU 5th Avenue Cinema · 510 SW Hall St. Room 92 (on the corner of 5th & Hall) Funded in part by PICA, PNCA, Reed College, Lewis & Clark College and The Affair at the Jupiter Hotel Posted by Katherine Bovee on November 26, 2006 at 15:30 | Comments (0) PermalinkFriday 11.24.06 Weimar Litmus Test & Figurative Art 
Self-Portrait with Champagne Glass, 1919 Max Beckmann (German, 1884-1950) Oil on canvas; 25 9/16 x 21 7/8 in. (65 x 55.5 cm) Private collection, courtesy W. Wittrock, Berlin In the NYT's Roberta Smith had a timely review of the "Glitter and Doom" show at the Metropolitan Museum. The focus on the anxiety present in the New Objectivity movement's artists like Otto Dix and Max Beckmann is absolutely in step with the mood of today. Still, one would have to stifle a chuckle in order to compare the anxieties found in Cecily Brown and Dana Schutz to that of Dix and Beckmann (and I like Brown and Schutz). The difference, Weimar Germany had just come off of WWI and the US's war in Iraq doesn't have the same urgency, though we are in a time of decadence and wealth while a smaller scale war of attrition rages. Good that the Metropolitan put this on, with the Miami Art fairs coming up this seems like a kind of cultural litmus test. Where is our version of brutal honesty? It definitely isn't Pierre Huyghe, who has a purosefully theatrical slight of hand that's been big ever since Matthew Barney. Sure Beckmann is theatrical too, but it is infinitely more honest than nearly everything Ive seen lately. Today good intentions and entertainment seem to be a substitute for difficult critiques and self-reflexive questioning? On to someone who could use a huge dose of Otto Dix's depth, Portlander Ty Ennis (who was reviewed on PORT a few weeks ago) has spawned a hilarious unauthorized biography and a flux 7 out on the PDX blogosphere. Catch the show tomorrow on its last day to gauge the fuss (correction Dec 10th is the last day). Ennis is a talented artist in search of stronger subject matter, though according to the flux 7 he stands by it. Good on him, let's see if he gets something from the response he's received for this show, the criticism has been valid. Posted by Jeff Jahn on November 24, 2006 at 17:16 | Comments (18) PermalinkTuesday 11.21.06 Holidays Are For...Applying! After you feast this weekend, ponder these exciting opportunities...(more)
Posted by Jenene Nagy on November 21, 2006 at 21:12 | Comments (0) PermalinkExistentialism, Advertising and Toast? I noticed this
same thing and I enjoyed how the Nissan ad defanged "Breadface"
by making it a leisurely piece of toast in a chair. Let's face it (oh endless puns?), an endpiece for a loaf of bread by itself is more existential than toast... but I
never would have thought about that except for Nissan's approximation of Matt Johnson's
art. Also, Tyler cracks me up with his, "How hipster! How clever! Because
gosh, who wouldn't want to live out of a mid-level Japanese car?" The hipster
cars in Portland tend to be old biodiesel ready Mercedes, any Volvo but a brand
new one, Ford Festivas and the ever popular "no
car" ride a bike/Max train option. So, unless Nissan can make an old European automobile they ain't gonna hit this demographic.
Posted by Jeff Jahn on November 21, 2006 at 11:22 | Comments (5) PermalinkMonday 11.20.06 Tom Cramer at Laura Russo  By now many collectors have received announcements that Tom Cramer, arguably the city's artist laureate, has joined forces with the venerable Laura Russo Gallery, the now (as ever) undisputed leader in historical Northwest artists. This makes a lot of sense. Tom (a good friend who left his previous gallery over 8 months ago) is probably the best selling artist in Portland and I've known about this for a very long time. Tom is particularity important since he is the link between the pre-90's art scene in Portland and the current one... I see it as one contiguous cloth and Cramer's take no prisoners approach to the sublime, kitsch and the ancient art of woodcarving make him pretty unique. This is the first major artist shift for the Laura Russo Gallery since Henk Pander joined the stable a few years ago and an exciting development. It is a great thing as the Russo gallery just celebrated its impressive 20th anniversary (Liz Leach just celebrated her 25th on the 11th) and what I like about Russo's gallery is their no-nonsense seriousness. What other gallery in the Pacific Northwest represents the estates of so many artists? In art the follow-through is very important. Now with Mel Katz, Francis Celentano, Lucinda Parker, Gregory Grenon, Robert Colescott, Henk Pander and Michael Brophy, Cramer only adds to the most mature stable of artists in Portland while adding a dash of flash. The announcement card indicates that he has a one-person show scheduled for October 2007 (Ive seen some of the work, he just keeps getting better). Posted by Jeff Jahn on November 20, 2006 at 11:04 | Comments (1) PermalinkSunday 11.19.06 Marc Horowitz at PSU 
You have two chances to see this week's PSU Monday Night Lecture series guest. Los Angeles-based artist Marc Horowitz will lead a free public workshop at PSU on Monday at 1pm and will present a lecture later that evening. Horowitz is an SFAI grad, a funny guy and an artist whose "social research" often teeters on the border between conceptual art and publicity stunt. In 2004, he gained notariety by scrawling "Dinner w/ Marc", along with his personal cell phone number, on a white board in the set of a Crate and Barrel photo shoot. The catalogs were distributed and Horowitz not only received several thousand of phone calls, but also caught the attention of the mass media. Other projects have included an Errand Feasibility Study, in which Horowitz rode a pack mule through San Francisco while running his daily errands. In 2004, the artist ran a 1500-foot extention cord from his kitchen to a nearby park each Saturday, providing power for his coffee pot so that he could serve passers-by free coffee... Free public workshop · Monday, November 20th · 1p PSU Art Building · 2000 SW 5th Ave Lecture · Monday, November 20th · 8:15 p PSU 5th Avenue Cinema · 510 SW Hall St. Room 92 (on the corner of 5th & Hall) Funded in part by PICA, PNCA, Reed College, Lewis & Clark College and The Affair at the Jupiter Hotel Posted by Katherine Bovee on November 19, 2006 at 16:39 | Comments (0) PermalinkThursday 11.16.06 You can dance if you want to  PORT strongly advocates automotive safety. All too often, we find ourselves surrounded by drivers laboring under the false impression that commonsense precautions, like buckling up and respecting posted speed limits, are uncool. Luckily, some of the brightest lights of the local art community have teamed up to dispel this myth with a one-day event bound to show safety-haters that road respect isn't just prudent; it's also hip and happening. On Saturday, November 18th, Joe Macca, Ryan Wilson Paulson and AmyEllen Flatchested Mama Trefsger will host Safety Dance, an event/exhibition of artwork created around the theme of Fluorescent (Safety) Orange. The following artists will contribute work to the "Porch Gallery": Brad Adkins, Brenden Clenaghen, Arcy Douglas, Jessica Eastburn, Ellen George, Jesse Hayward, Scott Hensala, Walter Lee, Joe Macca, Tim Nickodemus, Ryan Wilson Paulsen, Stephanie Robison, Adam Sorensen and Sean Sterling. Says Macca, "Safety Dance is a one-day event intended to raise awareness in the neighborhood about the speeding on SE 41st avenue between Holgate and Steele. It's a 25 mph residential zone, but people drive 40 mph. The goal of our event is to generate interest in the neighborhood to permanently slow the traffic down. If you live on 41st and are as irritated as me, please come by to talk about it." Safety Dance: Sat., Nov. 18th, 10am-4pm • Joe Macca's House 4614 SE 41st Avenue (just off Holgate) Posted by Jessica Bromer on November 16, 2006 at 16:42 | Comments (7) PermalinkRound Up
4 Shows: 2 Here and 2 Beyond
GREEN LIGHT GREEN LIGHT THE GAME SHOW OUT THE WINDOW LOADED, NAILED, SHORT ON CASH Posted by Melia Donovan on November 16, 2006 at 10:08 | Comments (0) PermalinkWednesday 11.15.06 Archer Gallery's "New Directions"  Detail from Grace Weston's "Identity Crisis" The defining boundaries of photography as expressive medium continue to expand as illustrated in the Archer Gallery's current show, New Directions. The show gives the world's tiniest hors d'oeuvre of where the current art world is taking the medium, and Jeffrey Archer does an excellent job refreshing our tired eyes and awaking the mind with the ambitions of this collection of photographers, weary as they are from the barrage of images the media spits at us on a daily basis. Photography is everywhere these days, yet this collection of artists test and question. . .(more) Posted by Amy Bernstein on November 15, 2006 at 17:22 | Comments (1) PermalinkRAD!  Lance Mountain Culled from his extensive personal archive, Portland artist Stephen Slappe screens some of his favorite skateboard films tomorrow night. Rolling Deep: Skateboarding Films, 1965-1980 features six shorts including "Skaterdater", winner of the Golden Palm for Best Short Film at the 1966 Cannes Film Festival. Come watch the history of the sport unfold on the Big Screen. Rolling Deep: Skateboarding Films, 1965-1980 Thursday Nov. 16 • 7p and 9p (two screenings) Clinton Street Theater 2522 SE Clinton St. • Portland, Or $6 (CASH ONLY!) Posted by Jenene Nagy on November 15, 2006 at 13:29 | Comments (0) PermalinkTuesday 11.14.06 Jim Coddington Lecture  Tomorrow night Reed College brings in Jim Coddington, Chief Conservator at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, to give a talk about art conversation issues. Both a craft and science, conservation has recently moved into the spotlight. Opened earlier this year, the Lunder Conservation Center exposes visitors of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery to what happens behind the scenes. And because they need to look fantastic doing it, the conservators wear smocks specially designed for them by Isaac Mizrahi. With the increasing number of media works and less than traditional materials being used in art making, Coddington should have plenty of interesting topics for the night. Jim Coddington lecture Wednesday, Nov. 15 • 7p Reed College • Vollum Lounge 3203 SE Woodstock • Portland, Or Free Posted by Jenene Nagy on November 14, 2006 at 14:04 | Comments (0) PermalinkDeveloping Culture Tyler Green pointed
out this nice story about the connections
between non-profits and developers in the Boston Globe. The most obvious
example of this in Portland is the Armory (the Gerding Theater). Other projects
like Jim Winkler's development of the the Daisy
Kingdom building and PAC's arrangement with David Gold also come to mind.
Another favorite blogger Edward Winkleman had a nice post on the pressures of success upon artistic (mass) production here. It's true much of the revolutionary art of the last century was birthed in complete market obscurity, that simply doesn't exist now. When I was in Miami last year I couldn't believe how many people knew about what was going on in Portland. This year our presence will be even better with more galleries etc., plus Bruce Conkle will have one of his show-stopping snowman in a freezer at Nada this year (his work makes Marc Swanson look so lightweight with its cartoony darkness, and he's been at the game much longer too). Posted by Jeff Jahn on November 14, 2006 at 11:27 | Comments (0) PermalinkSunday 11.12.06 Mark Newport at PSU 
Mark Newport's knitted costumes and embroidered comic book covers combine masculine superhero fantasies with the kinds of subversive appropriation of feminine domestic handcraft that has resurged in the past decade. Newport's work finds resonance in everything from Jim Drain's knitted bodysuits for Forcefield to Dave Cole's oversized knitting machine and work of DIY craft artists like Jenny Hart, who is part of Contemporary Crafts Museum & Gallery's New Embroidery show, which ends today [disclosure: I am Visual Media Coordinator at Contemporary Crafts]. On Monday, Newport will be the featured PSU MFA Lecture Series guest, coinciding with the opening of his solo show at PSU's Autzen Gallery. The exhibition, entitled Heroic Endeavors, "will feature wearable costumes hand knit by the artist that are based on 'heroic' masculine role models such as the cowboy hero from the 60s and 70s as well as the classic comic book superheroes such as Batman and Superman. A series of prints plus a bedcover will accompany the costumes and expand on the visual language of comic books and the narratives suggested by the costumes." Lecture · Monday, November 13th · 8:15 p PSU 5th Avenue Cinema · 510 SW Hall St. Room 92 (on the corner of 5th & Hall) Funded in part by PICA, PNCA, Reed College, Lewis & Clark College and The Affair at the Jupiter Hotel Special Exhibition Hours · Monday, November 13th · 6:30 to 8 p Through December 7th · Autzen Gallery · Portland State University · 2nd Floor, Neuberger Hall, 724 SW Harrison Street Posted by Katherine Bovee on November 12, 2006 at 9:18 | Comments (1) PermalinkJames Chasse Jr., artist and model  James 'Jim Jim' Chasse by Randy Moe courtesy of Chambers Gallery At this point, most Portland residents are familiar with the story of James Chasse's tragic, unconscionable death in police custody. Out-of-towners and those who are a little hazy on the details can read about the incident here. As a teenager in the late 70's and early 80's, Chasse was a friend of several longtime members of the local art scene, including Eva Lake and Randy Moe. In his late teens, Chasse changed dramatically after developing schizophrenia, which he struggled with until his death on September 17th, 2006. When Moe and Lake learned that Chasse had been killed, they were already preparing for an exhibition of Moe's portraits at Chambers Gallery, which Lake manages. Presciently entitled, It's a Sad, Sad, Sad, Sad World, the show has been expanded to include a portrait of Chasse and a binder filled with photocopies of The Oregon Organism, a zine Chasse created while in his early teens. Moe used an old polaroid photograph of a 14-year old Chasse, affectionately known as 'Jim Jim,' as the source for his memorial portrait...............(more) Posted by Jessica Bromer on November 12, 2006 at 9:13 | Comments (2) PermalinkSaturday 11.11.06 Diana Puntar's An Hour On The Sun at small A 
Last Thing I Remember (2006) Americans are famously materialistic so it's no surprise that American art has a long tradition of material fetish as carrier of information, although it certainly popular in other countries as well. Be it John Chamberland's crumpled cars, Warhol's Gold Marilyn, Carl Andre's bricks, Jeff Koon's vacuum cleaners, Damien Hirst's carcasses, Dieter Roth's chocolate, Yves Klein's blue pigment, Matthew Barney's Tapioca, Tara Donovan's stacks of cups the material is the engine that drives or at least directs the message. More recently artists like Roxy Paine, David Altmejd or Curtis Fairman have all presented strong bodies of work exploring paint, mirrors and the world of store-bought plastic as well. Locally we have Chandra Bocci, Jacqueline Ehlis, Jesse Hayward, Brenden Clenaghen etc., the list is never-ending. To this list lets add Diana Puntar at small a projects, it's he last day of her show and her materials are decidedly mid-century sci-fi. Her favorite material is plywood, used in a way mid-century design fanatics will be very comfortable with. From Frank Lloyd Wright to Charles and Ray Eames it is as synonymous with modern furniture as metal tubing and glass. In step with the fetish Puntar often laminates mirrors to the plywood as well. This all relates back to a time when the future wasn't quite as complicated (save for Earth's annihilation by nuclear weapons). The extensive use of mirrored plywood slats also serialize space with facets while evoking sputnik era satellite design. It's slightly Alvar Aalto but no where near as refined and some of the plywood edges wouldn't have made his grade...(more) Posted by Jeff Jahn on November 11, 2006 at 13:26 | Comments (0) PermalinkBargaintastic benefit tonight 
Ahhh the bargain hunting holiday art sale season is in full swing and to that end Gallery Homeland presents Residence, a benefit art sale geared towards art lovers and new collectors. Over 50 artists have contributed their best affordable works to benefit Homeland's Residency and National/International art exchange program. Here's the list: Nicole Amore, Holly Andres, Josh Arseneau, Joe Beil, Troy Briggs, Chris Buckingham, Ali Cook, Sam Coomes, Brent Comstock, Bruce Conkle, Tim Dalbow, Marguerite Day, Nick diSessa, Fred Fliesher, Liz Haley, Kim Hamblin, Meg Hanson, Jimmy Hatch, Scott Wayne Indiana, Ryan Jeffery, Chris Johanson, JoAnn Kemmis... (more) Posted by Jeff Jahn on November 11, 2006 at 11:52 | Comments (0) PermalinkFriday 11.10.06 Sound and Video Festival  sound artist Oliva Block Celebrating the release of their 5th issue "Autonomy", FO(A)RM magazine is presenting a Festival of Sound and Video at the Portland Art Center. The magazine, published once-yearly, presents investigative projects with a special focus on sound-art, experimental poetics and social sculpture. Each issue clusters around a given topic, gathering together a variety of perspectives, methods and articulations - from the extravagant to the pedestrian (and the juncture between). Included in the festival will be work from man-about-town Mack McFarland, who will be featured in the Northwest Biennial, and an experimental video from the multi-faceted Melody Owen. The lineup also includes critically acclaimed electro-acoustic composer Olivia Block, minimalist drone artist Seth Cluett, local avant-folk accordionist Luc, and ethereal noise trio Borborygmus (Jonathan Sielaff/David Hirvonen/Jean-Paul Jenkins), along with a screening of abstract video curated by Morgan Currie and an ongoing barrage of installed video, ranging from the conceptual to the non-linear and fragmentary. Tickets can be purchased here, and will not only get you in the door, but will also get you $2 off the latest issue of the magazine. FO(A)RM Magazine • Festival of Sound and Video Portland Art Center 32 NW 5th Avenue • Portland, Or Saturday, Nov. 18 • 8p $8/avdance • $10/door |
