Last Month for 10th NW Biennial at TAM
It is the last month for the 10th Northwest Biennial at the Tacoma Art Museum, which runs through May 20th. Sure, nearly every institutional attempt at surveying a region's art production tells you more about that institution strengths and weaknesses than the art of that time and place, falling into at least one of several predictable missteps. (Also apologies, despite my best efforts I'm in this exhibition as an artist as well.) So it definitely isn't perfect. In this case the TAM show is too full but it does one thing that none of the recent spate of institutional survey shows have attempted... it has a coherent curatorial criteria, exploring the theme of multi-disciplenary art. Apparently, it helps having a consistent curator who is tasked with making the exercise intellectually viable? Novel idea! So for once this one isn't focused on "whittling" as a Northwest art staple and explores those who explore by crossing different disciplines and strategies.
What's more there more artists from Portland in it... (more)
Posted by Jeff Jahn
on April 30, 2012 at 22:07
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Richard Milgrim and Hiroshi Senju at the Portland Japanese Garden
Richard Milgrim, Canyon, (Konko-Gama 2004) photo Jeff Jahn
Currently, the Portland
Japanese Garden is hosting a fantastic dual exhibition, Meditative Moments,
consisting of noted Chado (Japanese tea ceremony) ceramicist Richard Milgrim's
works along with paintings by “waterfall artist” Hiroshi Senju. It
is an inspired pairing. Milgrim is in fact the first and only non Japanese Master
Chado ceramicist and though this practice is by definition “traditional”
(often a pejorative in the West not so in the East) this is indeed a working
and evolving tradition of which Milgrim is one of its chief innovators. Because
Chado ceramics are an inherently Zen practice, his unique East meets West approach
(with studios in Kyoto and Concord Massachusetts) suffuses everything from his
penchant for dark brown (traditional Japanese) and creamy white glazes (his
primary glaze in the USA). Both glazes being very similar to his dark hair and
light skin to the way his name “Richard” translates to with a pictogram
of Sen
no Rikyu the founder figure of Chado. Similarly Zen in coincidence, I was
honored to be given a chance personal tour, concluding with sharing tea with
Milgrim (prepared by his wife)... (more)
Posted by Jeff Jahn
on April 27, 2012 at 14:40
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Mayoral Candidate's Forum at PNCA
Saturday from 3-5PM at PNCA, the Pacific Northwest Science and Technology Foundation and the MFA in Collaborative Design program are presenting a forum with three mayoral candidates; Eileen Brady, Charlie Hales and Jefferson Smith, moderated by Peter Schoonmaker, Chair MFA in Collaborative Design. Question is, will these three finally distinguish themselves from one another for the likely pivotal cultural community vote? (not that THAT vote is one monogenic group. Their first forum on the subject was without Smith so I'm curious to see how they've distinguished their positions from one another since the first rather incomplete panel.) Also, if I didn't know better I'd say PNCA itself was trying to run for Mayor of Portland for the past decade. Here's the PR:
"Portland has a reputation as a center for creativity, technology, and design. From software to apparel to green technology, the opportunities for developing a vibrant creative economy are expanding. What specific actions can the City of Portland and our next mayor take to support and enhance Portland’s science, technology, and creative communities? Join the Pacific Northwest Science and Technology Foundation and the MFA Collaborative Design program at Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA) for a forum with mayoral candidates Eileen Brady, Charlie Hales, and Jefferson Smith. MFA in Collaborative Design Chair Peter Schoonmaker moderates a conversation on what Portland's next mayor should and can do to support the science-tech-creative sector in Portland."
Mayoral Candidates Forum | Swigert Commons (free)
PNCA | 1241 NW Johnson
April 28th 3-5 PM
Posted by Jeff Jahn
on April 26, 2012 at 14:32
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Ditch Projects presents Mike Pare
New Mexico based Mike Pare is interested in subcultures and creates paper-based works that expand the narrative of such intense but fringe movements.
For his first solo show titled New Believers at Springfield's Ditch Projects Pare has chosen the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh Movement, which famously usurped the small Oregon town of Antelope, as his starting off point.
"In this work, constellations of Rajneesh's narrative expand beyond rational investigation, and mutate into entirely new forms.
Rajneesh Things is an artwork in the form of an open edition tabloid Newspaper. The twelve page black and white tabloid contains articles, artwork, and designs based in investigations of the material culture of the Rajneesh Movement. Modeled after the original movement publication Rajneesh Times, Pare's newspaper visually mimics the style of underground press publications of the 1970s and 80s. The work functions as a platform for art making and journalism, but also serves as a coded fictional text and an object of material culture itself capable of everyday dissemination through its expendable form as a free paper. Free copies will be available at the exhibition.
The body of work entitled Devotional Goods is an exploration of material anomalies and the potential of art practice transcending a topic. working with the familiar drawing materials of graphite and paper, Pare creates large dark tie-dyed pieces that hint at melancholy and decay even as they radiate intense acid-drenched colors."
Ditch Projects: Mike Pare | New Believers
303 S. 5th Avenue #165 | Springfield OR 97477
Exhibition dates: April 28 - May 19, 2012
Opening reception: Saturday, April 28, 7pm - 10pm
Gallery hours: Saturdays 12 - 4 | info@ditchprojects.com
Posted by Jeff Jahn
on April 25, 2012 at 15:15
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Elena Buszek Lecture
Marianne Jorgensen and the Cast-Off Knitters, Pink M.24 Chaffee 2006. (Photo Barbara Katzin)
Craft has definitely become an integral part of the contemporary art lexicon and I'm always fascinated by where the sometimes tense border lines between craft and serious art are drawn. Elena Buszek's lecture on April 25th at MoCC should fire off a few shots in every direction or is this discussion so 2006? What new developments have there been since craft stopped becoming a dirty word in serious contemporary art? (Hint: it coincided with the realization that art from Los Angeles has been the equal if not superior to New York since the 60's and last year's PST... or we can blame Dave Hickey's The Invisible Dragon essays for making "beauty" as an intellectual construct supportable again).
Her lecture Wednesday at the Museum of Contemporary Craft is part of the CraftPerspectives Lecture Series and the 2011-2012 Graduate Visiting Artist Lecture Series.
"Maria Elena Buszek is a scholar, critic, curator and associate professor of art history at the University of Colorado in Denver. Her recent publications include the books, Pin-Up Grrrls: Feminism, Sexuality, Popular Culture and Extra/ordinary: Craft and Contemporary Art. She has also contributed to the anthologies It's Time for Action (There's No Option): About Feminism and Blaze: Discourse on Art, Women, and Feminism and Contemporary Artists. She has written for the popular feminist magazine BUST since 1999."
Presented by Museum of Contemporary Craft and the MFA in Applied Craft and Design (PNCA + OCAC).
Lecture: April 25th | 6:30 - 8:30 PM
Museum of Contemporary Craft
The Lab | 724 NW Davis St. | 503 223-2654
Posted by Jeff Jahn
on April 24, 2012 at 12:10
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Monday Links and a List
In case you missed it:
DK Row actually did a nice job interviewing the three mayoral candidates about the arts in a 4 part series. This is what we expect the Oregonian to be doing, but sadly this sort of eye for relevance is rare and it's generally just gratuitous conservative "shrug pieces". PORT will have something even more targeted and incisive to help you separate these 3 candidates.
Eva Lake's first solo show in New York City seems to be going over well. I knew it when I saw this show at Augen... Eva was definitely onto something.
Jerry Saltz picks 10 artists to save the art world. He's wrong of course because he didn't pick any Portlanders... we are the " Capital of Conscience" as I penned in the Tribune's Op Ed a few months ago after all. So if I picked 10 Portlanders (who haven't already been in a Whitney Biennial) who would they be? I won't make too big a deal about this list but just off the top of my head these 10 are all ready and doing original, high level work with impressively sustained intelligence: ...(more)
Posted by Jeff Jahn
on April 23, 2012 at 10:15
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Saturday Openings and Happenings
Lorna Bieber at Reed's Cooley Gallery
It's been up for a few weeks but it's time for a reception with the artist for Lorna Bieber's, Image Myths at Reed's Cooley Gallery tonight.
Bieber produces her images through; collage, paint, copier and computers, as well as traditional and non-traditional photographic techniques. She describes this as altering the "root" picture to create new "branches" whose archetypal narratives are completely changed from the original, yet due to their sources and treatment appear as a kind of memory. Carl Jung's collective unconscious comes to mind, except Bieber is the archetypal intermediary and filter here.
Artist's Reception: April 21st 5PM
Lorna Bieber, Image Myths | April 10 - June 3rd
Douglas F. Cooley Gallery | Reed College
3203 SE Woodstock Blvd.
Images from Wayne Bund's Mimesis @ PLACE
Portland artists continue to occupy Portland's Pioneer Place Mall with several lew shows:
MIMESIS: Fantasy and Friends - Wayne Bund
Within the Ephemeron - J. Brown
The Weighing of Souls - Georganne Watters
Crying, Feeding, Touching - Heather Zinger
High School Football Memories - Phillip Bone & BT Livermore
Opening receptions 5-8pm | April 21st
PLACE @ Pioneer Place Mall | 700 SW 5th | 3rd floor placepdx@gmail.com
It's your last and only chance to catch Damien Gilley's Data Systems Plaza at PCC Sylvania this weekend from 1-4 Saturday.
"Data Systems Plaza appropriates and transforms the gallery into a temporary showroom exhibiting sculptural experiences from a fictitious company. Drawing influence from science fiction and technology developments of the early digital era, the works reference an industry that posits advanced, speculative, and futuristic products and phenomena. Within a meandering architectural framework, the works allure the viewer with controlled visual spectacles while rendering the experience of materiality ambiguous. The exhibition aims to expand upon the ephemeral characteristics of information systems through the employment of compartmentalized areas, perceptual structures, and the concept of hidden architecture."
Special Saturday Hours | April 21st 1-4
North View Gallery | Data Systems Plaza
Reception/Artist Talk: Wednesday, April 4, 2-4pm
Dates & Hours: April 3 - 27 | 9am to 5pm, Monday through Friday
Portland Community College Sylvania | CT Building 12000 SW 49th Ave
Posted by Jeff Jahn
on April 21, 2012 at 0:12
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Call for proposals for White Box
The University of Oregon's White Box Gallery (BTW, which isn't a white box) has extended its deadline for proposals to the 23rd of April and it's a chance to show in a series of rooms that Donald Judd has rocked. It's good for 3-5 person group shows too. Here's the PR:
"The University of Oregon Portland's White Box is currently seeking project proposal submissions for February 2013 – June 2014. Through exhibitions and related educational and public programming, the White Box is dedicated to creating a laboratory for the exploration of contemporary creativity and critical inquiry. White Box programming aims to reflect and extend the intellectual work of the University, expressed via fine art, new media, interactive video, installation, architecture and design, attracting diverse audiences with a range of specific interests.
Architects, designers, artists, curators and organizations are encouraged to submit proposals for exhibition programming in the White Box. Preference will be given to original exhibitions, curated for the White Box spaces, exploring contemporary inquiry from unique perspectives, and demonstrating a relationship to Portland's community and the academic mission of the University."
For more information like proposal forms and floor plans visit their website.
Due April 23rd 2012
If you have any questions contact: whitebox@uoregon.edu
Posted by Jeff Jahn
on April 19, 2012 at 10:09
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Pure Clear closing reception
Pure Clear at Appendix
Although not wholly realized, Alex Mackin Dolan's Pure Clear at Appendix offers up some tantalizing mimesis and outright readymade examples of boho and industrial design tropes that conjure "purity", while inviting in a Smithson-esque sense of entropic infiltration or even outright pollution. He's definitely onto something and tomorrow night is your last chance to catch the show.
"Using 'clear' as an initial password, Dolan chooses objects based on their deployment of specific color sets and materials, using them to investigate various 'eco-aware' memes and connections."
Appendix Project Space
Closing Reception: 8:00 PM | April 18th
south alley between 26th and 27th Avenues off of NE Alberta Street
Posted by Jeff Jahn
on April 17, 2012 at 12:14
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Monday Links
Will a refurbished Palais de Tokyo bring French art back into the spotlight?
Finally, an Oregonian article that doesn't make me angry... ironically it is about creative anger. Perhaps anger isn't the right word but a very specific distate for certain things has always been the whetstone for those seeking to sharpen their ideas to a high level of excellence.
Argentina builds a new contemporary art district from scartch.
Posted by Jeff Jahn
on April 16, 2012 at 12:56
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PICA's new headquarters
PICA's new headquarters
I'm burying the hatchet because this space gives me reason to believe in PICA again but first a little history. In 2004 PICA shuttered its once excellent visual art program, which under curator Stuart Horodner presented the likes of Janine Antoni, William Pope L. Dana Shutz, Melanie Manchot, Jim Hodges, Tony Tasset and Rudolf Stingel... and if that sounds like the most interesting nonprofit exhibition space north of San Francisco it is because it was. What's more the space was large but not unwieldy space designed by Brad Cloepfil, long before... (more)
Posted by Jeff Jahn
on April 13, 2012 at 13:54
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Weekend Picks
Besides Glen Fogel's show + the unveiling of PICA's new space (more later today) Here are my picks for the weekend:
Amy Berstein in progress at Worksound
On Saturday at Worksound
for its Perceptual Control (a five artist/writer/curator residency and in process
exhibit), PORT's own Warhol Art Writing award winner Amy Bernstein will talk
about ''Form and Absence" and Emily Nachison will discuss her process which
draws on anthropology, geology, and the decorative arts. In the past 9 months
or so Bernstein has become one of the most watched painters in Portland. Here's
the PR:
"'Speech is the replacement of a presence by an absence and the pursuit,
through presences ever more fragile, of an absence ever more all sufficing.'-
Maurice Blanchot
Amy Bernstein will discuss the ideas surrounding form as language. Culled from
a history of philosophy and art theory, Bernstein will support her ideas through
citing examples of the semantics of artistic choices. Form as signifier and
as catalyst are the bases of all language, yet the creation of formal language
in a contemporary context and within specific cultures becomes culture itself.
Are these ideas cannibalistic, self propagating, or revolutionary? What freedoms
do we embody in making art that will push culture forward? How free is this
freedom? The answer is in the making.
Organic/Synthetic is the topic of Emily Nachison's talk. She discusses her making
process and influences. Drawing from anthropology, geology, and the decorative
arts, Nachison’s sculptures and installations are a hybrid of synthetic
and natural accumulation. Mythology and New-Age idealism become starting points
for an investigation into the cultural creation of landscape. Her process mimics
organic growth and geological sediment, resulting in experiential installations
using a variety of materials including glass, wood, cardboard, and foam.
Artist Talks | Saturday April 14 7-10PM
Worksound | 820 SE
Alder Portland OR.
Perceptual Control | Residency/Exhibition |February 3rd through May 31
2012 ...(more: PLACE and Joe Macca at Art Gym)
Posted by Jeff Jahn
on April 13, 2012 at 12:28
| Comments (0)
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Arnold Kemp Guggenheim Fellow
Arnold Kemp's Untitled, ( Played Twice) 2011
Congratulations to Arnold Kemp who was just named a 2012 Guggenheim Fellow for the Fine Arts. Kemp's work intrigues me for the way it rehabilitates the rather forced schism between formalism and identity politics. He basically implodes the idea that they exist in separate unrelated universes, which was such a 20th Century way of looking at things. Kemp is represented by PDX Contemporary Art and is Chair of the Master in Fine Arts in Visual Studies Program at Pacific Northwest College of Art.
Posted by Jeff Jahn
on April 12, 2012 at 11:03
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Lost at PSU's Littman Gallery
It is Portland Photo Month and one of the most promising exhibitions is Lost curated by the wry, stylish and wily Horia Boboia. A play on the slippery nature of images today where the "personally significant" becomes very public accruing various levels of significance. Whether looking at a meme or simply the issue of control, I like the amount of trouble this show seems to traffic in.
Featuring; Horia Boboia, Sean Carney, Alex Mackin Dolan and Rebecca Steele LOST promises to highlight, "some of the contemporary transformations of the 'photograph'. For this exhibition four artists compiled a series of images gleaned or collected from the vast anonymous pool found on the Internet, in magazines, advertisements, or other public sources and represent them as valid artifacts. These images were found, lost and found again..."
Lost | Portland State University | April 5-27, 2012 Monday-Friday 12-4 pm
Opening Reception: April 12, 5-7 pm
Littman and White Galleries | 503 725 5656
1825 SW Broadway, Smith Center
Posted by Jeff Jahn
on April 11, 2012 at 12:24
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Tuesday Links
I've got another The Score series of reviews in the works for later this week but till then here are some links.
Did you catch Doug Aitken's house on Venice beach in the NYT's Magazine? A few years ago I was annoyed that architects were beating artists at their own game. Well now Aitken just leveled the playing field by out cool-housing Koolhaus. Sure he is his own client and it wouldn't work for most other people but greatness isn't about being ubiquitous, it is about specificity and he's got that in spades.
Of course David Lynch doesn't suck like most celeb artists because well he got his start making video installation art at the University of Wisconsin Madison.
RACC is seeking works to add to the Visual Chronicle of Portland (I'm in the collection) and you have until May 11th to submit.
Posted by Jeff Jahn
on April 10, 2012 at 10:27
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Lorna Bieber at Reed
Lorna Bieber, Two Trees, Gelatin silver print, 68 x 42 in., 2004,
Courtesy of the artist.
Reed College's Cooley Gallery presents Lorna Bieber, Image Myths.
Long before photoshop's ubiquity, Bieber has been reinterpreting genre style found images using any means available. She produces her images through; collage, paint, copier and computers, as well as traditional and non-traditional photographic techniques. She describes this as altering the "root" picture to create new "branches" whose archetypal narratives are completely changed from the original, yet due to their sources and treatment appear as a kind of memory. Carl Jung's collective unconscious comes to mind, except Bieber is the archetypal intermediary and filter here.
Bieber's work has been exhibited or collected by; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Fogg Art Museum, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, LA County Museum of Art, Brooklyn Museum of Art and PS 1.
Lorna Bieber, Image Myths | April 10 - June 3rd
Douglas F. Cooley Gallery | Reed College
3203 SE Woodstock Blvd.
Artist's Reception: April 21st 5PM
Posted by Jeff Jahn
on April 09, 2012 at 10:15
| Comments (0)
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Weekend Picks April 2012
Adam Ekberg, Arrangement #1, 2009 @ Light Structures @ False Front
Don't miss Light Structures at False Front this weekend, a group show curated by Laura Hughes. It will be interesting to see the works chosen by one of the city's favorite light-play artists herself. False Front says, "exploring light as subject, concept, material or effect, these artists illuminate ways to engage with our visible surroundings: challenging our perceptual boundaries and the divisions separating habits of modern culture from the potential to see more".
Artists: Adam Ekberg (Tampa, Florida), Laura Fritz (Portland, Oregon), Sydney S. Kim (Brooklyn, NY), Cay Horiuchi (Portland, OR), Scott Rogers (Glasgow, Scotland)
Opening reception | April 7th | 7-10pm
False Front | 4518 NE 32nd Ave.
Zoë Clark at RECESS
RECESS presents a new project by 12128 co-founder Zoë Clark. Their first solo show to date, R&B songs is an evocative installation intended to cloud your view of the space itself. Clark writes "R&B songs are exceptional in their ability to transform our perceptions and mood. Although lyrically they may be simplistic, often bordering on cliché, they are able to transport us out of our everyday life and into our vision of love".
Opening Reception | April 6th | 7 - 10:30 PM
April 6th - 20th
RECESS | 1127 SE 10th Ave.
(More: Nan Curtis and Archer Gallery)
Posted by Tori Abernathy
on April 06, 2012 at 11:56
| Comments (0)
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Milgrim and Senju at Japanese Garden
Milgrim and Senju at the Portland Japanese Garden
Spring is in full swing and Portland's Japanese Garden is one of the most stunning places to contemplate the change. If that isn't enough consider this exhibition of world renowned Chado or tea ceremony ceramics by Richard Milgrim and Zen ink paintings by Hiroshi Senju.
"Chanoyu, the practice of preparing tea in this manner (Chado), requires a tranquil setting and meticulous attention to detail. A long history of creating exquisite environments in which to conduct these events resulted in the production of marvelous crafts-tea bowls, scoops, whisks, jars, containers, and braziers-as well as fine hanging scroll paintings and calligraphy.
Richard Milgrim is one of the rare non-Japanese potters who has reached the heights of recognition not only in the U.S. but also in Japan, where his work is highly sought after. Milgrim's work has been lauded by the grand master of the prestigious Urasenke School of Tea in Kyoto. This exhibition of his tea ceramics is part of the 2012 Art in the Garden series that explores the theme of Healing Garden with exhibitions and lectures that focus on the Japanese approach to health and well-being.
To complement Mr. Milgrim's tea utensils, we are most honored to show a selection of hanging scrolls by the internationally acclaimed painter Hiroshi Senju, whose famous waterfall paintings hang in many of the great museums around the world. Mr Senju divides his time between his studio in New York and his work as President of the Kyoto University of Art and Design.
During the run of the exhibition, the Garden will offer two presentations of the Chado each Saturday and Sunday in the Pavilion. These will take place at 1 & 2 p.m. and will be prepared by members of Kashintei Kai, the tea society associated with the Garden's Kashintei Tea House. Visitors who wish to try a bowl of the frothy matcha tea may purchase a $5 ticket at the Admission Gate.
Entrance is included with Garden admission and the exhibition will be open in the Pavilion during Garden hours."
Meditative Moments
Portland Japanese Garden
611 SW Kingston Avenue
April 6 - 29
Posted by Jeff Jahn
on April 06, 2012 at 11:08
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First Thurday Picks April 2012
By and large, young and emerging artists in this economic climate are in debt. Fortunately, many negotiate clever solutions to the lack of so-called 'studio time' while tinkering away in the cubicle, classroom, lab, etc. Day Job, originally exhibited at the Drawing Center, NY in 2010, highlights a group of these artists capitalizing off the byproducts of their daily grind. "Rather than subscribing to the idea that non-artistic work is by definition disruptive to an artist’s practice, Day Job looks at the ways in which the information, skills, ideas, working conditions, or materials encountered in the work world can become a source of influence". Day Job is curated by the cunningly whimsical Nina Katchadourian and organized by Mack McFarland.
Curator Walkthrough followed by Reception | April 5th | 5:30 - 9 pm
Philip Feldman Gallery at PNCA | 1241 Northwest Johnson Street
...(more with Jason Florschutz, Laura Fritz, Michael Brophy and Eva Speer)
Posted by Tori Abernathy
on April 04, 2012 at 12:13
| Comments (0)
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Gilley and Schenk at College Galleries
Installation art is perhaps Portland's strongest genre but it is usually up to non profit spaces to make it possible. In the past 10 years there has been an explosion in alternative spaces but it has also been accompanied by a deepening commitment of college galleries to adventurous programming. This week two of Portland's best outlying college spaces are hosting large scale installations by two of Portland's most promising artists, Damien Gilley at PCC Sylvania and Crystal Schenk at Linfield College.
Damien Gilley
Since taking over PCC Sylvania's wonderfully brutalist North View Gallery director, Mark Smith has imbued the program with a sense of adventure (which we experienced last month with Arcy Douglass). This month Damien Gilley, another artist of great expectations takes his turn with Data Systems Plaza, presenting large-scale sculptural works, wall drawings, and architectural structures.
According to the PR: "Data Systems Plaza appropriates and transforms the gallery into a temporary showroom exhibiting sculptural experiences from a fictitious company. Drawing influence from science fiction and technology developments of the early digital era, the works reference an industry that posits advanced, speculative, and futuristic products and phenomena..."
... (more details on Gilley and Schenk)
Posted by Jeff Jahn
on April 03, 2012 at 2:23
| Comments (0)
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Monday Links
Max Ernst's The Elephant Celebes (1921), Tate Gallery
Happy birthday Max Ernst! Somehow I feel like he is now underrated for his contributions to Dada and Surrealism. Perhaps too much focus on his relationships and not the work in art history classes?
Adrian Searle reviews Damien Hirst's retrospective at the Tate and doesn't throw the shark out with the bathwater.
In case you hadn't heard the Chinese Government is rejecting Ai Weiwei's request for a public trial.
Posted by Jeff Jahn
on April 02, 2012 at 3:11
| Comments (0)
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