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.
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