Like many January First Thursdays this one isn't firing on all cylinders with holdovers and some galleries opening a week or more later. Still, after the ice storm in Portland earlier this week many will want to get out and there are some good things to see (I'll publish the extensive rumination on 2015's Portland art scene this weekend, I think we are all in the right mood for serious reflection now).


Alien She at MoCC

Perhaps the best holdover from 2015 is Alien She, an extensive survey of Riot Grrrl counterculture at the Museum of Contemporary Craft and PNCA. It is the final week to catch this exhibition on the North Park Blocks with its feral sasquacherinas and pink squirrels.

Alien She | September 3 2015 - January 9 2016
First Thursday: January 7 6:00-8:00PM

Museum of Contemporary Craft
724 NW Davis

PNCA (511 Gallery)
511 NW Broadway





Perhaps the most promising new show opening in Portland today is Eyeshine, a double barrel pair featuring two of my favorite Portland artists, Ryan Pierce and Wendy Given. Both are nature aficionados interested in shifted para-histories, mystery and the way nature circumscribes both humans and itself. The exhibition arose while camping together on the excellent Signal Fire Residencies that Pierce co-operates.

Eyeshine | January 7 - 29
Reception: January 7, 4 - 7PM
Autzen Gallery | Neuberger Hall, room 204
Portland State University
724 SW Harrison St



Neon Saltwater at the Good Mod

The Good Mod (a fantastic 20,000 sq. ft. warehouse space near Powells) is putting on its second Vintage Playground exhibition pairing noted local designers with their massive space and inventory. This iteration features Neon Saltwater, "a brand of interior design and visual art about spaces created by Abby Dougherty. After years of collecting images of rooms and studying interior design, she started to identify consistent qualities in spaces that resonated with her emotionally. In the summer of of 2015 she began writing about these qualities that developed into a genre known as Roomwave." Should be of interest to many artists in Portland since so many make furniture and living settings a part of their practice. Besides its a big, cool warehouse in the Pearl District... something many might think no longer exists.

Vintage Playground | January 7 - 25 Reception: January 7, 6-9PM
The Good Mod
1313 W Burnside, 4th Floor