Storm Tharp: Artist Talk at Portland Art Museum, June 10th

Monthly Artist Talks Series Continues at Portland Art Museum

June 10th—Storm Tharp

The second Thursday of each month offers the unique opportunity to casually explore pieces in Portland Art Museum’s permanent collection through the inspired lens of a local artist. All talks depart at 6 p.m. from the Hoffman Lobby and are followed by a lively happy hour with the artist until 8 p.m. that includes complimentary food, beer, and wine. Free for members or with Museum admission, but tickets are required. Space is limited to the first 45 ticket holders. Advance tickets are available at the box office.

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On June 10th, Storm Tharp will lead a discussion about the biographical, philosophical, and aesthetic building blocks shared by Agnes Martin’s painting, Untitled #15, and Shirakura’s four-paneled literati painting, Visiting A Mountain Recluse. He is drawn to how Martin essentially abandoned her life in New York in order to pursue a humble and rigorous practice, living alone in New Mexico. Regarding his selection, Tharp expounds, "It may not be accurate to say that Agnes Martin was a recluse, as she maintained friendships and business relations with a select few. But it is fair to suggest that she turned her back on the voices and the influence of her day in order to locate the purest form of unadulterated inspiration within herself that she translated into painting." Considered a Minimalist in the canon of art history—suggesting a contemporary intention of formal reduction and essentialism—Tharp rather romanticizes her practice to be "reminiscent of a master Chinese calligrapher from the 12th century."

Storm Tharp was raised in Ontario, Oregon. He attended Cornell University and received a BFA from the College of Architecture, Art, and Urban Planning in 1992. Upon graduation, Tharp moved to Portland, Oregon where he presently resides. His work is representational—by both figurative and conceptual means—and expressed through a variety of media. Tharp was one of fifty-five artists selected to exhibit in the prestigious 2010: Whitney Biennial for which he created a series of new portrait works. He is represented by Nicole Klagsbrun Gallery in New York City, Galerie Bertrand & Gruner in Geneva, Switzerland, and PDX Contemporary Art, where his solo exhibition Hercules will be on view June 1-26, 2010.

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