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Portland art blog + news + exhibition reviews + galleries + contemporary northwest art
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Saturday 03.30.13 Saltz's best writing This essay on the importance and disappearance of gallery exhibitions is Jerry Saltz's best bit of writing ever. A Must Read! The bit about self knowledge is crucial as is the sense that the overall heuristics of an exhibition good or bad is a way to store and share collective intelligence...
All that said there are now more galleries scattered in cities throughout the globe than ever before... perhaps this is just the price of decentralization? Then again, the quality of collectors hasn't necessarily improved. In some respects it is a chicken and the egg situation that probably has a lot to do with the proliferation of art schools and the lack of long term development of artists. That is one of the things I like about Portland... artists are allowed to develop for over a decade before they launch onto the national scene and have their first NYC solo show. Posted by Jeff Jahn on March 30, 2013 at 13:59 | Comments (0) PermalinkFriday 03.29.13 Wynne Greenwood 22nd Bronnie Bronson Fellow 
Congratulations to Wynne Greenwood the 22nd annual Bonnie Bronson fellow. A Seattle resident and The Stranger genius award winner, Greenwood describes herself as a, "queer feminist artist who works with video, performance, music and object-making to practice culture-healing." Her work has been featured at the Tate Modern, Whitney Biennial, The Kitchen and On the Boards. The Bronson Fellowship is designed to feature mid career artists with community impact and are more often than not women and or educators. The Award will be conveyed at Reed College April 29th 6:00PM at the Kaul Auditorium Posted by Jeff Jahn on March 29, 2013 at 16:24 | Comments (0) PermalinkFriday links PORT has a # of interviews and reviews in the works but here are some links to hold you over for a few hours.
Yup, NYC screwed up a brilliant initial design for an AIDS memorial. Nice to see the New York Times actually considering something of substance in Portland like the Object Focus, the Bowl show at MOCC, which content wise is excellent and thought provoking... if more than a tad shunted into a corner of the museum for the install. (can someone PLEASE show PNW museums how to install things in a way befitting the content) There is depth in the visual arts here that goes beyond the Times obsession of how "chill" or "odd" we are as the WSJ article last year on the Portland art scene was the first to take a serious look at. My point is, we are being watched closely and should act accordingly. Portland isn't just chill and odd, we are definitely a city of rabid idealists who don't wait for permission to do something with higher ideals. This year my pet ideal is insisting on that shows be installed well.... esp. if the show is really wonderful like Object Focus, The Bowl is. Brian Libby interviews Brad Cloepfil, discussing both the new PNCA 511 building and his exciting winery in Yamhill county. ...and there is is Jeffrey Deitch putting his foot in his mouth again, Im actually a fan of him as a gallerist but his director chops are sorely lacking. It is interesting how the board seems to make all these major press releases about major developments but he doesn't even get name checked... well this is the reason. If MOCA is truly serious about fund raising Deitch should be gone by around the end of June. I don't think his words change anything, sure a LACMA merger is considered a last resort... but that means MOCA needs to be single minded about their stated "preferred" independent and strong option. Once MOCA gets a suitable director, artist board members, a chief curator and raises the 100 million then they should implement a 10 year master plan including a capital campaign to create permanent gallery spaces for the permanent collection. That is going to take a lot of planning and on message PR and a string of low drama years for the museum. Deitch just isn't that kind of person, he is a gadfly. Posted by Jeff Jahn on March 29, 2013 at 11:34 | Comments (0) PermalinkWednesday 03.27.13 Events : Last Week of March 2013  Whirlpool http://www.ampersandvintage.com/Ampersand_Vintage/Marten_Lange_-_April_2013.html Ampersand is pleased to present Another Language, a solo exhibition of new work by Swedish artist Marten Lange. The stark black & white simplicity of his photographs & the typological inquisitiveness of his eye are something to be admired. As with his previous bodies of work, Lange's new images bring to mind the work of a visual taxonomist cataloging outside the confines of identifiable geographies or defined eras of time. Another Language ventures toward the natural world, bringing to our eye a collection of animals & vegetation, land masses & water bodies, mineral forms & ephemeral natural phenomena. The object quality of his small photographic prints, floating amid the ample white space of simple frames, further brings to mind a collection of scientific specimens. Differing from scientific practice however, Lange deliberately skirts the boundaries of fact & fiction in favor of a space where intellect & imagination are allowed to collide. Born in 1984 in Molndal, Sweden, Lange studied photography at the University of Gothenburg & the University for the Creative Arts in Farnham, UK. He founded Farewell Books in 2007 & oversaw the publication of 11 titles through 2010, among them four of his own books. Lange’s work has been exhibited widely in Europe. In addition to being in attendance for the Thursday opening reception, Lange will be presenting an artist talk & slide show on Saturday. He will be discussing the evolution of his photographic practice & his experiences overseeing the design, production & output of a small publishing imprint. Drinks will be provided by Ninkasi & Lange will be signing copies of Another Language. Another Language | Marten Lange March 28th - April 21st 2013 Opening Reception | March 28th | 6-10 PM Artist Talk and Book Signing | March 30th | 7:30 PM Ampersand Gallery & Fine Books | 2916 NE Alberta Street, Suite B, Portland, OR 97211 www.ampersandgallerypdx.com ... more events for Friday & Sunday ... Posted by Emily Cappa on March 27, 2013 at 12:32 | Comments (0) PermalinkTuesday 03.26.13 MOCA boosts endowment 
MOCA Today, MOCA announced that they have commitments of 60 million towards a 100 million dollar endowment building campaign (making the now dead LACMA takeover earlier this month seem even stranger in hindsight). MOCA has the most important contemporary art collection on the West Coast (and in many ways IS better than MoMA's from 1960 on) and once this endowment campaign is completed lets hope they finally undertake an expansion to give that stellar permanent collection room to be displayed. The MOCA press release is also the first time we've seen Deitch's name mentioned in a while. Looks like a good time for him to leave on a high note and hire (rehire?) a chief curator + a new director...hmmmmmmmmmmmmm? Notice how Broad was never once mentioned? That's a good thing, even from Broad's position... this way he doesn't seem like a puppet master. Also, let's hope some artists make it back to the board. Posted by Jeff Jahn on March 26, 2013 at 14:04 | Comments (0) PermalinkMonday 03.25.13 Monday Links The Guardian reviews David Bowie Is. Has any rockstar been so worthy of the visual spectacle he has produced?
The NYT's takes a somewhat broader look at abstract expressionism, for example many members of The Irascibles never made it to the Ab Ex cannon... reminds me of the stellar work of Ralph Rosenborg. Artinfo reports that Jcrew is now selling "Collection Curator" pants. A line of chief preparator chappeaus, artist assistant socks (with arch support), chief registrar scarf and mid career retrospective underwear should round out the entire behind the scenes art world line. ...and now the New Yorker gets in on Seattle's big art story of the Year. Look, his work was always weak and part of the problem is accepting of simple/brittle juxtapositions for shock effect. The fact that it involved craft did not make it any better and it was very one dimensional so not worth the closer look that some gave it (they collected it and curated it into shows). The lesson, dig deeper and expect more from art (consider suppleness) and you likely wont get caught supporting a Nazi fan boy. Posted by Jeff Jahn on March 25, 2013 at 10:32 | Comments (0) PermalinkThursday 03.21.13 Events : March 22nd & 23rd  Crap Evidence, by Ralph Pugay http://jacobsgallery.org/exhibits/ "FREE PEOPLE, is a group show featuring the work of 12 contemporary painters (Kavin Buck, Calvin Ross Carl, Timothy Scott Daldbow, Arcy Douglas, Danridge Geiger, Ruth Lantz, Kendra Larson, Matthew Letzelter, Raul J Mendez, Ralph Pugay, Eva Speer, & Roy Tomlinson) based in Portland, OR. These artists represent a diverse set of self-driven painting practices ranging from the figurative and surreal, abstract and geometric, to the concrete and representational concerns of painting as a creative form of expression. Not only do each of the artists in FREE PEOPLE demonstrate the versatility that painting offers contemporary artists, but also of its continuing vitality as a form of art. Each artist in FREE PEOPLE is represented by multiple pieces in the exhibition so that the viewer can glean a sense for each of their distinct and overlapping practices, subject matter and methods. To be free as an artist today means that you possess the skills to make art and the ability to be conscious and responsible for the choices you make. The twelve artists in this group exhibition allow us an opportunity to learn from their freedom and be inspired by it." FREE PEOPLE Contemporary Northwest Painters based in Portland, Oregon | Curated by Victor Maldonado March 22 - May 4, 2013 Members Preview | March 22nd | 5-6 PM General Opening | March 22nd | 6-8 PM Speaker | March 22nd | 6 PM First Friday ArtWalk | April 5th & May 3rd | 5:30-8 PM Jacobs Gallery at the Hult Center | 1 Eugene Center. Eugene, OR 97401 http://jacobsgallery.org/exhibits/ ... more picks for Saturday the 23rd ... Posted by Emily Cappa on March 21, 2013 at 17:35 | Comments (0) PermalinkStephen Scott Smith's SEEYOUYOUSEE  Stephen Scott Smith at Breeze Block is a maze of glimpses This month Stephen Scott Smith definitely wins the prize for ambition and immersive follow-through for his solo show SEEYOUYOUSEE at Breeze Block Gallery. Years ago Smith caught PORT's attention for his Matthew Barney tinged spectacle but this show certainly ups the ante production wise by installing a Kubrickian maze of suburban lobby-like interstitial spaces within the gallery over a 2 month period. At first SEEYOUYOUSEE seems like a test of one's navigational skills but each turn only rewards the viewer with constant surveillance and sheetrock-enforced constriction... (more) Posted by Jeff Jahn on March 21, 2013 at 12:29 | Comments (0) PermalinkTuesday 03.19.13 MOCA Board Rejects LACMA Offer It looks like MOCA will be staying independent and understands that means a serious endowment building effort. To me that sounds like the idea of merging with LACMA or USC are being rejected outright. Good!
Here is the statement MOCA's board released today: "The Board is in agreement that the best future for MOCA would be as an independent institution. The Board understands that this will require a significant increase in MOCA's endowment to ensure its strong financial standing. We are working quickly toward that goal, while at the same time exploring all strategic options, to honor the best interest of the institution and the artistic community we serve." ... (more analysis) Posted by Jeff Jahn on March 19, 2013 at 16:55 | Comments (0) PermalinkMonday 03.18.13 Monday Links The lineup for the next Venice Biennale's core pavilions is drawing mixed responses from curators... gee who could have predicted that? Isn't that healthy... and wouldn't consensus seem fascist? That said European and US dominated shows seem tired. Even here in Portland we have enough foreign nationals to question why every high profile list, award or group show in the city needs to be extra WASPy.
Turns out what they thought was a later Rembrandt copy depicting the artist in a funny hat is in fact the real thing. No new news in the MOCA drama but Christopher Knight chimes in again. MOCA needs independence and that requires an end to the drama... which will take an effective director and board combo... not simply one man or one savior institution. Reading between all the lines it is curious how nobody is talking about Deitch leaving or staying... seems like there is a done deal out there? Any deal that keeps him in place is the wrong deal, Deitch is better as a gadfly than as a stabilizing agent. Toyo Ito is the latest Pritzker Prize winner (but of course he is). Check out these Iwan Baan photos of one of Toyo Ito's best projects the Tama Art University Library. Frankly, it is one of my favorite buildings completed over the last decade. The PNCA's Cloepfil designed 511 building will make somewhat similar use of form substituting catenaries for arches... especially in the library areas. Ito's design still outclasses Cloepfil but to be fair the PNCA project is a renovation and has a more challenging program to address. I just think Portlanders should be conversant about the properties of both projects. With PAM in a semi-silent planning phase, a new transit bridge over the Willamette and the Japanese Garden working an a super exciting Kengo Kuma expansion Portland is looking up in turns of international caliber architecture. Design excellence does push patrons... but it is a push that needs to happen now that Portland is perhaps the most interesting city in the USA. Posted by Jeff Jahn on March 18, 2013 at 10:51 | Comments (0) PermalinkThursday 03.14.13 Weekend Openings & Events 
http://fourteen30.com/ Addressing the topic of gay bullying with a series of minimalist works, Philip Iosca presented HOPEFULLY I BECOME THE UNIVERSE at Pacific Northwest College of Art in 2011 to critical acclaim. Previous exhibitions include Water Sports at 12128, Portland; Eveything Matters All The Time Cleaners at Ace Hotel, Portland; Catch All, PDX Across The Hall, Portland; Amsterdam Biennial, Amsterdam and Portland; as well as an invisible monument for Car Hole Gallery in Summer of 2010. In 2011, Iosca published his book of poems, Ballad of the Sad Young Men. Iosca is a graduate of Rhode Island School of Design and Weiden+Kennedy's 12 Program. He lives and works in Portland, Oregon MOMENT, MONUMENT | Philip Iosca March 15th - April 14, 2013 Opening Event | March 15th | 6-8 PM FOURTEEN30 CONTEMPORARY | 1501 SW Market Street, Portland, Oregon 97201 http://fourteen30.com/ ... more picks for Saturday, March 16th ... Posted by Emily Cappa on March 14, 2013 at 18:07 | Comments (0) PermalinkTuesday 03.12.13 Critical Art Ensemble at PNCA's Feldman Gallery 
Critical Art Ensemble's Acceptable Losses at PNCA's Feldman Gallery Presenting the groundbreaking Critical Art Ensemble's Acceptable Losses is perhaps one of the most challenging things the Feldman Gallery has ever attempted so you definitely don't want to miss this and the other related events we will post on for this weekend. According to the PR: "Acceptable Losses is an exhibition that examines which forms of human sacrifice are acceptable within US society and which are not. Critical Art Ensemble (CAE) is a collective of tactical media practitioners of various specializations, including computer graphics, wetware, video, photography, text art, book art, and performance. Formed in 1987 in Tallahassee, Florida, CAE focuses on the exploration of the intersections between art, critical theory, technology, and political activism. CAE has authored six books on cultural production and political economy. Brian Holmes was born in San Francisco in 1959 and lives in Chicago. With Claire Pentecost and the 16 Beaver Group he co-organized the Continental Drift seminars (2005-11). He is a member of the Compass group, exploring the "Midwest Radical Cultural Corridor," and of the Technopolitics group, with Armin Medosh and others. His recent books include Escape the Overcode (2009) and Unleashing the Collective Phantoms (2008). He also wrote the foreward for Critical Art Ensemble: Disturbances (LONDON, FOUR CORNERS BOOKS, 2012)" CAE's Acceptable Losses | March 13 - June 2 Opening Reception: March 13 5:00PM with lecture by Kurtz, Barnes and Sommer at 6:30 on their current projects PNCA | Phillip Feldman Gallery 1241 NW Johnson Posted by Jeff Jahn on March 12, 2013 at 22:26 | Comments (0) PermalinkMonday 03.11.13 Monday Links Well the MOCA news pretty much overshadowed the Armory Show, which is as it should be (though it isn't fashionable in art schools, the idea of Greatness trumping the daily ins and outs of the art market would be refreshing if it weren't so unfortunate).
Still, the Armory Show and related fairs like the Independent happened. Here's more on the Independent, Volta and the Moving Image Art Fair. Artinfo did a 60 second video tour of the main Armory show. It is what you would expect, people watching, "look at me" art etc. Here is an interesting book review of two books on contemporary curating. I love how the reviewer teases out the idea of what I call rhetoric without belief (part of what makes contemporary curating both interesting and and horse shit). There is a mantra of nihilism that is seductive and often pointless that can get old fast... just the same as evangelistic curating. Posted by Jeff Jahn on March 11, 2013 at 10:55 | Comments (0) PermalinkThursday 03.07.13 MOCA takeover by LACMA? Again?
MOCA This just in, LACMA makes a formal offer to take over MOCA. Yes, this again. To me it is a bit like the consolidation of banks, airlines and cell phone carriers over the years as a way of streamlining operating costs and resetting soured or miasmic investor/donor faith in the management. In this case (like most corporate mergers) I don't like it because it creates a less diversified ecosystem, though it may be the way out I've suspected Deitch has been looking for since the dismissal of Chief Curator Paul Schimmel. The problem is a city like LA needs diversification of institutions on a patronage level for it to become a full fledged art capital like New York or London is now. Besides, LACMA already has a contemporary program that would get confused with the addition of MOCA which is a "contemporary only" program and not a generalist art museum like LACMA. Think of museums as charismatic megafauna in an ecosystem, their presence indicates the health of the entire system. I believe the focus and diversification is crucial as the packs or tribes (patrons) that an institution must cultivate to survive have immense collateral effects that range much farther than the physical plant of each institution. A more monoculture approach might be convenient (at least on paper) but it is ultimately a missed opportunity for diversity... ... (more with updates on any recent developments) Posted by Jeff Jahn on March 07, 2013 at 14:16 | Comments (0) PermalinkObject Focus 1: The Bowl at MOCC  Do-Ho Suh, Untitled (Glass Bowl), 2004, Hand-blown glass, 6.5 x 9.5 inches diameter; Courtesy of the Reed College Art Collection, Gift of the Peter Norton Family Today the first in a series of exhibitions Object Focus 1 : The Bowl opens at the Museum of Contemporary Craft. Part 1 is culled from local collections includes masterworks we have seen recently (but never enough) like those by the Natzlers but it also includes more conceptual pieces like the untitled work by Do-Ho Suh. It even has its own Tumblr blog with essays on individual items in the show. What I like about this show conceptually is how it takes a ubiquitous item, one of man's first tools and does a bit of local archaeology mining of local collections. Thus, it treats Portland itself as a kind of bowl, which it is if you consider the Willamette Valley meeting the Columbia Gorge. In general, I don't think one needs to even try to justify craft as contemporary art... instead, if one considers the way even ancient pottery shards become artifacts (that's a different kind of art that uses time and rarity to justify itself) one can consider the bowl as one of the most inherently contemporary objects each culture produces at the time of its making. Everone can relate, so suggest you stop in and see this show curated by Director Namita Wiggers, a show full of objects designed to hold something probably will resonate deeply and hold your attention. Object Focus 1: The Bowl March 7 - August 3 2013 Museum of Contemporary Craft 724 NW Davis St. Posted by Jeff Jahn on March 07, 2013 at 14:07 | Comments (0) PermalinkWednesday 03.06.13 Reed Arts Week: REVERIE 
Reed Arts Week (RAW): Reverie is the 24th annual student-led festival of visual and performing arts at Reed College. The festival has been gaining momentum as of late, evolving in ambition and impact from year to year. Tackling the overarching theme of Reverie, this year's RAW will feature performances, installations, lectures, and various projects from national, local, and student artists. The curatorial team highlights the theme as "an opportunity to consider the fluidity of the aesthetic and physical dispositions by which we situate ourselves. To experience REVERIE is to become dislocated, excised from the familiar and submerged in the irrational." Under the spell of this sort of parlance, it's fitting that this year's festival is heavy on sound art and digital works. They further, "RAW 2013: REVERIE aims to invoke an atmosphere of amorphous resolution, a space in which participants can confront the dubiousness of their situations and acknowledge the indeterminacy upon which they situate themselves." RAW: REVERIE | March 6-10th | See full schedule for details Reed College | 3203 SE Woodstock Blvd. | Multiple Locations Featuring: New York-based video artist Michael Robinson, Seattle performance duo Shabazz Palaces, Los Angeles artist-theorist Zach Blas, Portland multi-media artist Brenna Murphy, Portland artist and musician Grouper, San Francisco-based artist Chris Ando / John Oven and the Millenials, NYC-based multi-instrumentalist ONEIROGEN, Los Angeles-based artist and composer John Wiese, Seattle-based producer and musician OCnotes, and Portland-based artists Nick Makanna and Brandon. Reed student artists: David Beame, Sophie Barba + Jimmy Curry, Marvin Bernardo, Alisa Bones, Eli Coplan, Lauren DeRosa, Chris Falcone, Nicole Herr, Dorothy Howard, Erin McAllester, Arthur Sillers, Dylan Richards, Madelyn Villano, Erin Guy + Creighton Weidner, Anna Baker + Maxwell Smith-Holmes, Santiago Leyba, and Andrew White. ...(more details after the jump) Posted by Tori Abernathy on March 06, 2013 at 10:07 | Comments (0) PermalinkTuesday 03.05.13 March 2013 First Thursday  Stephen Scott Smith's Untitled, installation view, mirror, plywood, drywall, carpet, fir - size various, 2013 Breeze Block Gallery is back from winter break, and they're kicking off the season with something new, the first large-scale transformation of the gallery, an installation by Stephen Scott Smith. Smith's SEEYOUYOUSEE explores perception and shifts in perspective through reflection, light, shadow, CCTV, video, objects and spatial relationships. The show involved a 60-day construction period starting in January 2013, while the gallery remained closed. The first phase of the installation required stacking 10,000 pounds of plywood (piece by piece) in Breeze Block's new Project Space. The flooring in the Project Space had to be reinforced to withstand the load! Once the plywood was in place, erection of the floating wall and door system in the traditional gallery began. Smith simultaneously designed the space and objects, created works and documented the process of boring into the ply stack for over 200 hours. SEEYOUYOUSEE explores myth, faith, and mystery while engaging the viewer to connect the dots through their own story. SEEYOUYOUSEE | Stephen Scott Smith March 6th - April 20th 2013 Preview Event | March 6th | 5-8PM Opening Event | March 7th | 6-10PM Breeze Block Gallery | 323 NW 6th Ave http://breezeblockgallery.com/ ...(more picks including: Amanda Wojick, James Minden and Michael Endo) Posted by Emily Cappa on March 05, 2013 at 23:21 | Comments (0) PermalinkYou New Bad Things at PSU 
I've been looking forward to You New Bad Things, an expose of sorts... exposing us to a tribe of artists who happen to have studios in the same building, collectively called the Holladay Studios. Well, the day is finally here Wednesday March 6th. Sure, some of these artists have established themselves as the brightest young stars in Portland but it is always nice to see them assembled Armory Show (1913) style. Let me be crystal clear, ignore these artists and you hazard irrelevance in a fast moving art scene like Portland. Many of the artists engage digital design age themes that your typical "Northwest Art" shows somehow seem to miss with their one sided focus on whittling and other old school analog processes. So who might these new baddies be? Here's the list: Chase Allgood, Erika Anderson/Leif Shackelford, Chase Biado, Zoe Clark, Zachary Davis, Alex Mackin Dolan, Jamie Edwards, Travis Fitzgerald, Mike Merrill and Chloe Womack. Here are the PR details: "You New Bad Things, The Work of: Holladay Studios is an inaugural exhibition by the nine individual members of Holladay Studios of Portland, Oregon. This exhibition an examination of their ethos for work as independent entities within in an open incubator of dialogue and shared conceptual concerns; A look into a conversation and collaboration amongst peers, an endeavor in earnestness to contextualize and question the cultural currency of the 'contemporary' in contemporary art by individuals working across current pluralistic lines and methodologies." You New Bad Things | The work of: Holladay Studios Reception: Wednesday, March 6, 2013, 5-7 p.m. Portland State University Galleries | Autzen, AB Lobby, and MK Galleries Exhibition: Wednesday, March 6, 2013-Friday, March 29, 2013 PSU Galleries involved: AB Lobby Gallery, PSU Art Building, 1st Floor Lobby, Room 110, 2000 SW 5th Ave. MK Gallery, PSU Art Building, 2nd Floor, Room 210, 2000 SW 5th Ave. Autzen Gallery, Neuberger Hall, 2nd Floor, Room 205, 724 SW Harrison St. Posted by Jeff Jahn on March 05, 2013 at 22:06 | Comments (0) PermalinkMonday 03.04.13 Monday Links Yinka Shonibare makes a normally staid sculpture park into something hilarious and more challenging. Shonibare is perhaps my favorite re-lo-colonial artist.
Today the Oregon Senate is voting on the extremely poorly designed yet multi-billion dollar CRC bridge. Nobody likes this bridge unless you own a freeway construction company or work for a trade union. To reiterate our position, the design is poor because it is too low for river navigation, creates a below decks tunnel of doom between Portland and Vancouver, doesn't maximize seismic safety, doesn't have enough federal funding (it is I-5), is a design with more piers thus more environmental impact and misses a huge opportunity to build to the Northwest ethos celebrating the place and values. In short it doesn't give citizens enough for such a huge outlay of money. Overall, a stronger design process was necessary to justify and avoid this very expensive skimp on the details franken-bridge. Oregonians, look up your representative and give them a call. Holland Cotter is gaga for, "Anything Jay," (DeFeo that is). Why is De Feo such a lightning rod? I have a theory. DeFeo represents absolute integrity (like Judd and Smithson) but isn't part of the simplified art historical lexicon. She represents and confirms the nagging feeling that we haven't been in adequate comprehension of our recent past. Hell I still hear college profs spouting nonsense about Judd being about all about "perfection"... when it is the furthest thing from the truth (which instead was arch-pragmatic with a lot of intellectual rigor). DeFeo by resting her entire reputation on one painting makes an end run around the market in heartening ways. Great art places demands on institutions and collectors... it does not pander. Great patrons and institutions prefer facilitating these demands because they find them valuable and insist on such integrity... pandering is to be avoided. Posted by Jeff Jahn on March 04, 2013 at 11:16 | Comments (1) PermalinkFriday 03.01.13 First Friday March 2013 
Ay ay, this exhibition Interuptus by Paul North and Near Coastal Riot at Gallery Homeland looks like a promising bet to kick off a March full of gallery shows. Something about a show with a theme of interruption and a certain nautical spirit just seems appealing to me right now, here's the PR: "Art is interruption. We spend much of our time and money perusing works created, yet within these efforts I find we pontificate ourselves into a culture of oblivion. It is a culture where few things are known, yet we speak with such brash certainty on the topics. We build parentheses, so that we may agree on the accepted continuum of what art is, but it aids nothing. The entirety of the experience comes when an individual is interrupted by a piece – by its beauty, intrigue, tragedy, playfulness, and framing of something as other. Knowing this, I have framed this piece to veer away from collective opinion, focusing on individual’s interaction and the meaning created from that. INTERUPTUS functions as a baited hook. Those who choose to bite down will find themselves in a rascally carnival of experiences. For the last seven years, I have made my living on the Pacific, from commercial fishing in Alaska, to sailing Tall Ships down to the Equator and back. What I offer with this installation is a window into those worlds – a landscape framed by the tenets of my mind." Ive also heard something about, "draw for your drink," which sounds like some inspired insanity worth supporting. Interuptus | Gallery Homeland Opening Reception | March 1st | 7-10PM Ford Building 2505 SE 11th  Alex Steckly, Untitled 3, 2013, automotive enamel, automotive primer, and sign enamel on MDF panel, 36 x 36” Another good bet is Alex Steckly's Entitlement at Nationale. Steckly is one of those painters with a fail for texture and a fetish for surface... akin to the the Dave Hickey UNLV school painters. While you are at it check out the new gallery upstairs from Nationale in this active arts neighborhood, Adams & Ollman. Alex Steckly | Entitlement Opening Reception: 6-9PM Nationale | 811 E Burnside Posted by Jeff Jahn on March 01, 2013 at 10:49 | Comments (0) Permalink |
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