NW GALLERIES
"Mail: Magic + Mud".
A show by J. Claire Dean documenting the places, people and spaces of the West African country of Mali.
1928 NW Lovejoy St., 227-6667. Event closes Nov. 2. Map
Glasswork from April Surgent. Engravings from Czech engraver Jiri Harcuba.
300 NW 13th Ave., 227-0222., 227-0222. Map
From Argentina by way of Italy, Silvia Levenson creates highly allusive sculptures that critique our current obsession with mood-stabilizing pharmaceuticals. It’s Not Living Alone is the latest in her virtuosic deconstruction of postmodern life. Interestingly, this international sensation says much of her inspiration comes from the work of local bad-boy author Chuck Palahniuk.
300 NW 13th Ave., 227-0222., 227-0222. Closes Dec. 6. Map
Juri Morioka.
Lime-green striations, Creamsicle orange, twinkly flashy squares like TriBeCa studio apartments with scrawly-crawly people peeking out of them—these are the elements of New York painter Juri Morioka’s style. Since her last show two years ago at Butters, she’s had much success in New York, Miami and Dubai. This is sure to be one of the most eye-pleasing shows of the month.
520 NW Davis St., 2nd floor., 248-9378. Closes Nov. 2. Map
Group Show.
Glass art and paintings by the owners of Portland's new Eyeful Gallery—Flynn Helper, Jeff Ballard, Josh Sands and Joe Tsoulfas. Gallery currently open for First Thursday and by appointment, as well as "randomly throughout the week."
625 NW Everett St., No. 104., 243-1222. Closes Jan. 1, 2009. Map
In the wake of Yugoslavia's bloody civil war, a subversive zine and comic culture took root and thrived underground, breeding some of the region's most adventurous artists. Featuring Igor Hofbauer, Dunja Jankovic, Aleksandar Opacic, and Radovan Popovic.
20 NW 5th Ave. #101., 241-0227. Map
New paintings from Gregory Grenon.
805 NW 21st Ave., 226-2754. Map
Recent paintings from Jackie K. Johnson.
805 NW 21st Ave., 226-2754. Map
The Ceramics of Gertrud and Otto Natzler.
Gertrud and Otto Natzler crafted ceramics together out of their Los Angeles-based studio for over 40 years. The Natzlers arrived in the U.S. in 1938 after fleeing Austria during World War II and created over 25,000 pieces of ceramic art during their tenure. Select pieces of the Natzler collection will be on display.
724 NW Davis St., 223-2654. Closes Jan. 25, 2009. Map
Artists painstakingly rework nondescript manufactured items into incredible brand new objects, like "Cat Chow's
Bonded, a dress made from one continuous zipper."
724 NW Davis St., 223-2654. Closes Jan. 4, 2009. Map
Simulated chairs, appliances, teapots, and teacups, meticulously constructed from recycled, pre-printed tins.
724 NW Davis St., 223-2654. Closes Oct. 28. Map
Hilary Pfeifer.
Hilary Pfeifer’s show,
Natural Selection could be subtitled “Botany Gone Wacky.” Her Fraggle Rock-like fake plants, fashioned from wood and clay, are displayed with scientific rigor in an atrium. This show would be insufferable if the little plantie-wanties weren’t so darned cute.
310 NW Broadway., 227-4333. Closes Nov. 1. Free. Map
"Museum-quality reproductions" of art by Charlotte Salomon, killed in Auschwitz in 1943.
310 NW Davis St., 226-3600. Map
"Oregon Nisei Baseball: The Early Years".
"A nostalgic exhibit about Japanese American baseball in Oregon."
121 NW 2nd Ave.,., 224-1458. Event closes Jan. 11 2009. Map
Selected paintings and drawings from Lucinda Parker's past 20 years. "The exhibit also unveils her large-scale commission for a new Gerding Edlen Development project in Bellevue, WA."
1241 NW Johnson Street., Map
One of the Northwest’s most inventive visual thinkers, painter Brenden Clenaghen, is known for his elegant sprays of semi-abstract imagery. His new work promises a step back from his signature texturality. Without that texture, will his compositions still delight the eye? Check out the show to find out.
929 NW Flanders St., 228-6665. Closes Nov. 1. Map
New paintings from Laurie Reid.
929 NW Flanders St., 228-6665. Closes Nov. 1. Map
Michael Scoggins.
As Election Day draws near, Michael Scoggins’
So American It Hurts feels perfectly timed. His oversized sheets of ruled notebook paper are scrawled with schoolkid-style handwriting that comments on adult sociopolitical issues. One piece shows nuclear missiles raining down on the White House, while another,
Bad Words, depicts stick figures spewing racial epithets. Sly and satirical, the show packs considerable punch.
916 NW Hoyt St., 227-5060. Closes Nov. 1. Map
Conceptual sound installation from Beaverton sound artist Dan Senn. Twelve rejection letters—ordinary sheets of paper—individually suspended from conductive piezo-electric wires act as functional speaker diaphragms, each projecting the recorded sound of the letter being read by an unknown robot voice. Each paper speaker has an audible range of just two to four feet. "The idea is to draw patrons to the installation by its sculptural elements, and then into the installation itself as the machine voices sound the letters." Sounds good.
108 NW 9th Ave., Suite 300., 823-5111. Closes Oct. 31. Map
Conceptual photomontage by Horace Long.
226 NW 12th Ave., 224-4909. Map
SW GALLERIES
Robert Motherwell and Helen Frankenthaler.
It’s hard not to read this Robert Motherwell-meets-Helen Frankenthaler exhibition as a gender-studies primer. Motherwell’s lithographs are etudes on the terse masculine gesture, while Frankenthaler creates liquidic atmospheres such as Contentment Island, which soothe and ooze and envelop. Both are exemplars nonpareil of Abstract Expressionism and are brilliantly counterposed in this first-rate show.
817 SW 2nd Ave., 224-8182. Closes Oct. 31. Map
The story of two local tiny printing companies—Loaded Hips Press and Red Bat Press—told in a collection of small woodblock, lino-cut, and letterpress prints from the company founders Shannon Buck and Carye Bye.
917 SW Oak St., No. 218., 827-0249. Map
"Beyond Green: Toward a Sustainable Art".
"Exhibition includes existing works, commissions, and previously presented work that has been 'recycled,' spotlighting ways in which artists are building paths to new forms of practice."
0615 SW Palatine Road., 768-7000. Event closes Dec. 7. Map
Paintings, drawings, clay, and more from Multnomah Arts Center Youth Arts Classes.
7688 SW Capitol Highway., 823-2787. Map
Michael Curry.
Puppetry: An Out of Body Experience, features Oregon native Curry's puppetry works from
The Lion King and Cirque du Soleil.
1200 SW Park Ave., Closes Oct. 19. Map
APEX : Marc Dombrosky.
Hand-sewn paper art, located in PAM's Wintercross Foundation Gallery, 4th Floor, Center for Northwest Art.
1219 SW Park Ave., 226-0973. Closes Oct. 26. Map
Wild Beauty: Photographs of the Columbia River Gorge, 1867-1957.
More than 250 images of Oregon and Washington's iconic Columbia River Gorge, orgazined by Portland's own Terry Toedtemeier.
1219 SW Park Ave., 226-0973. Closes Jan. 11, 2009. Map
NORTH PDX GALLERIES
Bruce Conkle.
As Portland’s preeminent “eco-artist” (whatever that means), Bruce Conkle is perennially fascinated by the environment in general and global warming in particular, and his current show at Rocksbox,
Friendlier Fire, updates these pet themes with deep foreboding. Past shows have been fashioned from aluminum foil and stuffed animals; this one is mostly comprised of scrawly, amateur-chic drawings, Styrofoam coffee cups and black-lit incense burners. It’s all part of the artist’s populist strategy to make fine art more accessible to the archetypal “common man.” As Conkle told me on opening night, “When people say, ‘My 5-year-old could’ve made that,’ I take it as a compliment.” The show’s most imaginative departure,
TGI Doomsday, portrays the White House fireplace as it might appear after environmental Armageddon: lit by a sorry propane canister, the flame’s lonely shadow flickering over an overhead-projected drawing.
6540 N Interstate Ave., 971-506-8938. Closes Oct. 26. Map
NE GALLERIES
Broadsides from master letterpress printer Sandy Tilcock.
623 NE 23rd Ave., 927-4409. Map
Masks and hats "in a variety of media including reclaimed fibers, woven natural materials, ceramic, paper and encaustic." Juried by Alyce Cornyn-Selby, curator of "America's only Hat Museum."
4136 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 971-255-9599. Map
Brian Kappel builds robots. Well, to be more specific, the Portlander crafts very cool laser-cut wooden robots that fall somewhere between art and the kind of toy big boys and girls covet (full disclosure: There's a flame-and-skull-themed Kappel-bot sitting on my home library shelf right now). But when he's not making custom robots or selling his creations at Black Wagon and other local shops, he's also creating funny, vibrant movie-monster posters and unexpectedly evil creatures like zombie rabbits. Fittingly enough, his October show at Extracto is called
False Advertising & Movies That Never Existed. 2921 NE Killingsworth St., 281-1764. Closes Oct. 31. Map
"Beyond Green: Toward a Sustainable Art".
"Exhibition includes existing works, commissions, and previously presented work that has been 'recycled,' spotlighting ways in which artists are building paths to new forms of practice."
0615 SW Palatine Road., 768-7000. Event closes Dec. 7. Map
SE GALLERIES
Installation by Jim Neidhardt and Kerry Davis.
8235 SE 13th Ave., Suite 5., 432-3513. Map
Masks and hats "in a variety of media including reclaimed fibers, woven natural materials, ceramic, paper and encaustic." Juried by Alyce Cornyn-Selby, curator of "America's only Hat Museum."
4136 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 971-255-9599. Map
Devon Oder.
This brand-spankin’-new gallery debuts with Los Angeles artist Devon Oder’s
Breaking Light. Oder processes Polaroid film within an inch of its chemical breaking point, getting crackly surfaces, dazzling color, and abstract topographies that compete with the best contemporary painting. This is an artist—and a gallery—on the rise.
1430 SE 3rd Ave., 236-1430. Closes Nov. 1. Map
"MASKS".
A show of masks from artists such as Mary Dixon, Susan Gallacher-Turner, Brita Gould, Bonnie Meltzer and Diane Trapp.
3601 SE Division St., 230-0588. Event closes Oct. 31. Map
Better to explain it with a quote from the organizers: "Features artworks from 25 local artists, interpreting technological and social progression and regression, revolution and devolution."
107 SE Washington St., Closes Nov. 4. Map
BULLSEYE GALLERY
