News
Marie Watt: 2019 Honolulu Biennial
Marie Watt to exhibit in the 2019 Honolulu Biennial, March 8 - May 5 ...
Read moreD.E. May: 1952-2019
D.E. May
Dan May passed two nights ago, just one month before his 67th birthday. He dearly wanted to be 67, 77, and 87. When Dan was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, he was given just months to live. No one could have guessed that he would make it almost 3 years. He was quite well this past year, until a few weeks ago. His friends in Salem loved him and took such good care of him. His doctor and other medical staff gave him both excellent clinical care and kindness.
The first time I saw Dan May‘s artwork, I instantly loved it. I was amazed at how he managed to make abstractions with such feeling and emotional content. Shortly after that, I met Dan and again felt love and amazement for his his truly original mind and spirit. I was blessed to work with him for many years.
Dan spent many hours in the library looking at books and magazines. He said he didn’t read, but I think he was reading in his own way. He was gathering visual information, just as he did on his long walks and bike rides around “Island Salem,” as he called it. There was really no separation between the man and his art. Being in is live-work space was like being in one of his artworks. It was full of stacks of cardboard document boxes, each carefully marked in black ink; small cellophane bags of found paper scraps, hanging in neat order; a cardboard screen over the window, and very few signs of domestic life. He was blessed with the complete clarity that art was his lifework, his preoccupation, and his destiny.
Dan was humble, charismatic, and much loved by his friends and peers. He was incredibly devoted to both his relationships and his art making.When going into his studio, I would see a piece that I thought was wonderful, and he'd say, 'Oh no, it's not done.' The next time I'd come, the piece would be finished, with just one small precise line added. He would wait until a piece was just right--until it looked like it'd evolved itself over time without the overly conscious intervention of an artistic hand. Dan had little patience for art speak. He wanted his art to speak for itself, and it did. It is a testament to the quality and trueness of his work that those who pursued it were serious collectors, other artist galleries, and people in the arts.
Anna Gray and Ryan Wilson Paulsen recounted how important Dan was in giving them confidence in their own work. It is just the kind of story one hears over and over about Dan. We will all miss him but remember his way of being and of course and most importantly to him remember is artwork.
The photo is of Dan and Curtaor Amanda Hunt arranging his grid of drawings for the Disjecta 2014 Biennial. He didn't like pictures of himself but he did like this one.
Read moreConversation with the Artist: Heather Watkins at Front of House Gallery
Join us at Front of House Gallery at Jessica Helgerson Interior Design for a conversation with Heather Watkins about her most recent exhibition, "Drawing Room."
Saturday, February 23rd at 11am
Read moreIván Carmona: Interview on KBOO Radio
Listen to the lovely interview between Joseph Gallivan and Iván Carmona on KBOO radio about his work in "Imprint of Place" at PDX CONTEMPORARY ART. Carmona speaks about his introduction clay in Puerto Rico and his deep interest in the landscape and abstraction and what brought him to Portland, Oregon to study at Oregon College of Art and Craft.
https://kboo.fm/media/70976-joseph-gallivan-interviews-sculptor-ivan-car...
Read moreEllen George and Jenene Nagy exhibit in the Bellingham National 2019
PDX CONTEMPORARY ART is pleased to announce Ellen George and Jenene Nagy’s participation in the Bellingham National 2019, Water’s Edge: Landscapes for Today, juried by Bruce Guenther and on view at the Whatcom Museum in Bellingham, WA.
February 2 - May 19, 2019
Whatcom Museum
Lightcatcher Building
250 Flora Street
Bellingham, WA 98225https://www.whatcommuseum.org/exhibition/bellingham-national-2019/
Read moreAnna Gray + Ryan Wilson Paulsen | Public Art Commission at Karl Miller Center, Portland State University
PDX CONTEMPORARY ART is pleased to announce Anna Gray + Ryan Wilson Paulsen’s public art commission, How Can We Assemble Ourselves? at the Karl Miller Center at Portland State University.
Read morePhoto LA: Jan 31 - Feb 3, 2019 Barker Hangar - Santa Monica, CA booth F04
Heather Watkins: Front of House installation
Kristen Miller: Nine Gallery Installation
Kristen Miller a new member of Nine Gallery and her first installation is up in the gallery now.
Read moreMarie Watt & James Lavadour: Forbes Magazine
Forbes lists Marie Watt and James Lavadour as artists to watch ...
Read moreEllen George: Oregon Artswatch
Ellen George featured in "Descendent Threads" at the Portland Chinatown Museum October 4 - November 10, 2018 ...
Read moreTerry Toedtemeier: Sun, Shadows, Stone at the Tacoma Art Museum
Sun, Shadows, Stone: The Photography of Terry Toedtemeier @ the Tacoma Art Museum October 20, 2018 - February 17, 2019 ...
Read moreJames Lavadour: Crystal Bridges catalog "Art For a New Understanding: Native Voices, 1950's to Now"
James Lavadour's painting selected for the "Art for a New Understanding: Native Voices, 1950s to Now" Catalog, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art
Read moreJenene Nagy: Minneapolis College of Art and Design
Jenene Nagy “condition + practice” @ Minneapolis College of Art and Design, October 5 - November 6…
Read moreStorm Tharp: 'HOUSE MODEL' at Cooley Gallery: Case Works, Reed College
Storm Tharp exhibits at Cooley Gallery: Case Works, Reed College.
Read moreHeather Watkins: Review on Oregon Arts Ecology Project
"Waiting Room", Heather Watkins' solo exhibition reviewed for the Oregon Arts Ecology Project by Sam Hopple; "...Watkins’ embroideries are strangely soothing, poetically beautiful, and complex. They speak to how we experience the passage of time in moments of uncertainty through the tranquil and meditative act of mark making." ...
Read moreAnna Gray + Ryan Wilson Paulsen: Series of Saturday morning reading discussions in the gallery
We're excited to co-host a series of Saturday morning reading discussions in the gallery June 9th, 16th, and 23rd from 11:30-1pm. Discussions are open to the public.
Join us at PDX CONTEMPORARY ART:
Saturday, June 9th, 11:30am-1pm with Emily Squires
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Saturday, June 16th, 11:30am-1pm with Rachel Hines
and Saturday, June 23rd, 11:30am-1pm with Ariana Jacob
...Vanessa Renwick: Releases her new film "Kesh"
"Kesh," a new short film by Vanessa Renwick featuring music composed by Ursula Le Guin and Todd Barton posted on Quietus, a British based arts website...
Read moreVanessa Renwick: Welcome to Your Cell, Curated by Renwick
Outer Space Gallery, 3726 NE 7th Avenue, Portland OR - Saturday / Sunday, May 12, 13 + 19, 20 1:00 - 8:00pm; Special late viewing Friday May 18, 2018 from 6:00 - 10:00pm ...
Read moreNancy Lorenz: Moon Gold at the San Diego Museum of Art
Nancy Lorenz: Moon Gold at the San Diego Museum of Art, April 27 - September 3, 2018. A solo exhibition showcasing important selections from her sketchbooks, intimately scaled studies, a series of new boxes, and a new body of large-scale work inspired by Japanese masterpieces housed in the San Diego Art Museum's own permanent collection...
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