Andrew Wyeth, On The Edge (2001)

The Wyeths: Three Generations at the Portland Art Museum feels more like a family gathering than a museum survey... because that is exactly what it is. It is a good thing. Whether you love Andrew Wyeth's bone ghostly landscapes or his masterful wisps of existential hair in hardscrabble Americana or not this exhibition extols a waspy New England generational presence, like a Thanksgiving Day rendezvous with all the familial dramas, humor and warmth simmering underneath. That said, I am an unrepentant Andrew Wyeth fan despite the work never really being couth in Greenbergian... then Artforum circles (a sign he was on to something) and I also grew up appreciating N.C Wyeth's illustrations. All of which contributed to a more fluid appreciation of visual culture that doesnt put artificial barriers up between graphic art and Art. As a family, the Wyeths cover the whole spectrum... but Andrew Wyeth is the great one and the reason there is a travelling exhibion of his family's work. There's a vitality in this filial arrangement. Patriarch N.C. Wyeth has a fantastical bent, Andrew's world is haunted and Jamie brings humor and nature's animus. True, this a lot of waspishness here in a time when all white male Newenglanders are reviled as a kind of LLBean clad Brahman class in the US socio-political landscape but I am a firm believer that no one be they Mexican, Jew, Irish, Italian, Nordic or Hmong should have to apologize for what they are and what their culture brings to the table. There are some truly marvelous works, especially the large Andrew Wyeths that are not behind glass, several N.C. Wyeth oil paintings that became book illustrations and a witty conclusion with Jamie Wyeth, whose painting of empty adirondak chairs sums it all up. Make certain to stream Victoria Wyeth's sold out talk on Sunday on PAM's Facebook page (It wont be archived so you have to watch it real time)... Victoria is a hoot and really brings the family history into perspective.

The Wyeths: Three Generations | October 7 - January 28, 2018
Granddaughter talk: October 8th 2PM
Portland Art Museum
1219 SW Park Ave




The latest show at Indivsisble, Coded Albumen, features artists Bukola Koiki and Angelica María Millan Lozano. The work explores the way immigrant women have always been crucial instigators of political action though code. Just to restate the obvious I love how Indivisble brings art into a domestic space and in many ways this is what contemporary art at the institutional level has lacked... a sense of extraordinary connection to everyday life... hopefully this latest show at Indivisble distills this important thread...

Coded Albumen | October 7-28
Reception: October 7, 6-9PM
October 14, 21, 28, noon to 5PM, and by appointment.
Indivisible
2544 SE 26th Ave

Loved the Wyeth exhibit as well. A lot to excellent paintings. I experienced a real sense of place in context to the art. I almost felt as if time were standing still while looking at it.