Devon Maldonado (L) Modou Dieng (R)

It may be a bit of a trek into wine country for Portlanders but Linfield College's gallery does some of the best truly contemporary shows in the area and An Interactive Installation: Modou Dieng in collaboration with Devon A. Maldonado looks like it is worth the trip.

According to the PR: "Dieng has collaborated with VanHouten-Maldonado on "An Interactive Installation," an exhibit that draws inspiration from a history of heroes and antiheroes in Mexico and Senegal. The exhibit examines the way history is represented in a contemporary context in the information age.

Viewers are asked to interact with the work using a provided 3D lens, in order to investigate cultural history and ethnicity using contemporary tools. A clash of digital and analog cultures determines a hybrid aesthetic of history and ethnicity, the artists say."

The PR photo alone conjures the classic Warhol/Basquiat show and other images call to mind Warhol and Basquiat having a bit of fun at Richard Prince's expense. It feels like internationalist payback in a post pop, post painting, post colonial, post photography, post heroic, post POST perhaps pre-revolutionary exhibition. It doesn't have that traditional Northwest vibe at all.


Detail of Dieng's work at MoCADA

Modou in particular is one of the most internationally connected artists in Portland (he's one of the key people behind the Portland NOW Triennial) and I'd be remiss to not mention his participation at Brooklyn's MoCADA (Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts) eMERGING: Visual Art & Music in a Post-Hip-Hop Era exhibition which opens on February 14th. See both shows on both coasts if you can.

An Interactive Installation | MMiller Art Center, Linfield College (McMinnville campus)
February 11 - March 16, 2013
Opening Reception: Saturday, February 16th | 3 to 5 p.m.
Artist talk at Nicholson Library on the Linfield Campus, room 127, Wednesday, Feb. 27, at 5 p.m.