Sorry we've been a little quiet, don't worry PORT is about to unleash a deluge of interesting content as we approach our 3rd year (June 1st).

As a calm before the PORT in a storm here are two fine things from the New Yorker:

Peter Schjeldahl's take on Action Painting and abstraction show at the Jewish Museum discusses the how writers got mixed up in all of that paint. Greenberg, being the most important has a Portland tie in of course... his personal collection forms the cornerstone of the Portland Art Museum's modern holdings. Yet there are gaps, we dont have a major Pollock, Still or most naggingly a major Rothko... despite the fact that Rothko grew up here and had hist first solo show at PAM. I love the fact that we have a very good Krasner and Richard Pousette-Dart on view though. PAM's current display doesn't exactly follow Greenberg's dictums but an expanded worldview. It is interesting that Greenberg is no longer considered the big bad wolf of modernism, the art museum world is no longer made of straw.

Paul Goldberger looks at Chinese architecture and the message it sends. Note the China Design Now show will come to PAM October 2009.