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Portland art blog + news + exhibition reviews + galleries + contemporary northwest art
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Saturday 06.30.18 Annual Seed Building Open House 
North Coast Seed Building The North Coast Seed Building is one of Portland's great artist work spaces (many have disappeared or have been threatened). Today it hosts its annual open house. I loved last year's Seed Building Open House. The building is made up of three separate warehouses constructed over thirty years, beginning in 1911. Originally zoned only for industrial use, artists working in the space in the early 1990s were nearly evicted by the fire marshal. Years ago, due to the intervention of a sympathetic member of the City of Portland's Bureau of Buildings, an artist's work was reinterpreted as a manufacturing process, and the North Coast Seed Building became an officially sanctioned artist space. This is one of the best annual events in Portland and we need more of these spaces since several have been redeveloped, robbing the city of its important artist workspaces and overall ethos. Many top Portland artists have studios here. Open House | Noon-8PM | June 30 North Coast Seed Building 2127 N Albina Posted by Jeff Jahn on June 30, 2018 at 9:25 | Comments (0) PermalinkMonday 06.11.18 Early June Links Tablet has a very interesting article on cultural appropriation that everyone in creative fields can take something from. At a certain point culture cannot be a proprietary exercise... do I find the PSU Vikings mascot odd? Yes... but does everyone making pizza have to be Italian? It fails the logic test and the curiosity one. I've found that sharing culture (respectfully) actually promulgates understanding... and liberal elites who protest too much are undermining their arguments. There is a sensitive respectful way to share, lets not be so prophylactic but I think simply dry humping other cultures for design inspirations doesnt go far enough. Dig in, find out what makes a culture what it is. Consider Anthony Bourdain please... Perhaps this was all just a tribute to him?
Brad Cloepfil is finally getting a new ground up project in Portland. Is Portland's allergy to ambition and realizing it finally losing its grip???? Yes, but very slowly. The LA Times did a longish article on Rick Bartow, who is much missed. Id love to see a major museum with the balls to do a show of art by veteran's... Think how great Rick Bartow, HC Westermann, Dan Flavin, Robert Rauschenberg and even Paul Klee could be? Sadly museums seem to have lost their mojo when it comes to being cultural lightning rods (showing what is expected instead of where the tension needs exploring), but by adding in different countries and time periods it could be great and thought provoking. Al Held is always worth another look. Posted by Jeff Jahn on June 11, 2018 at 16:28 | Comments (1) PermalinkSaturday 06.02.18 Mother Shape at Indivisble 
As PORT readers already know Indivisible is one of the most interesting alternative spaces in Portland and this house/gallery continues its programming with Mother Shape by Amy Conway. To paraphrase, apparently the exhibition replicates, documents and transcribes the shape of motherhood in the artist's life as a reflective attempt to define the role in on her own terms. It's a heady topic that is very current... especially considering there is a very mom-oriented strain running through Portland's contemporary art scene (in most other places it is more of a liability). Is this the MOm Jeans of contemporary art? Let's see what Conway offers to the discussion? Mother Shape | June 2-30 Reception: June 2, 6-9PM Indivisible 2544 SE 26th Posted by Jeff Jahn on June 02, 2018 at 14:09 | Comments (0) Permalink |
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Site Design: Jennifer Armbrust | • | Site Development: Philippe Blanc & Katherine Bovee | |