News

Marie Watt: Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian

Washington, D.C. "Vantage Point: The Contemporary Native Collection"
Sewing Circle with Marie Watt.
Saturday September 25th 11am-1pm and 2pm-4pm

Storm Tharp: PICA TBA visual arts catalogue excerpt

Kristan Kennedy
Curator, PICA

Storm Tharp
High House*
Storm Tharp has been looking in the same mirror for more than a decade. It has moved with him from studio to studio, accumulating paint marks, bits of tape, and various scuffs. The mirror is as great an influence on his work as any other single tool, piece of research, beauti- ful peony, or sad song. For his residency at PICA, Tharp brings together objects and ephemera that provide the hidden, joyful, and meaningful subtext to his work to form arrangements in a room that is part studio, part gallery, and part home: a still life.

+Kristan Kennedy: High House is an arrangement of things and a constructed environment that is both of the studio and of the home. How do you define this space, is it in-between or a blend- ing of the two?
+Storm Tharp: My house and my studio are where I spend the majority of my time—but there are ideas in High House that are about other spaces. Being outdoors, being in the sun, eating alone— these kinds of things. The intent was to showcase real inspiration, or the ideas that fill life.
However, constructing the room and building the stage for High House was so amazing to watch happen. I love the room with nothing in it, as well. The sculpture of the room is inspirational on its own. Something to remember.
Putting this show together has caused me to think long and hard about my tendencies. There will be a very tidy presentation going on. Very formalized; an almost fetishized version of what surrounds me.
+KK: I know that both of us turn to the writings of Agnes Martin from time to time, and I love her quote: “When I think of art I think of beauty. Beauty is the mystery of life. It is not in the eye, it is in the mind. In our minds there is awareness of perfection.” What do you think of beauty and its place in art?
+ST: I have spun this answer for way too long. So many different versions resting in a word document, flooding my mind.
The question almost doesn’t make sense to me. My faith in beautyis so wild and devout that I don’t even think about its place in art. Beauty is everything. It is not a choice. Art is an idea that is beautiful. To question beauty is to broaden beauty. New forms, new ideas: the new beauty. Beauty does not dissolve.
I know it sounds all very correct and Christian-minded of me, but I guess, when you ask me about beauty and art, my mind explodes. I believe in the big picture of that question. I think it’s all beautiful and I think it’s all art. To believe otherwise is like building fences.
It reminds me of the Warhol quote that goes something like, “If everybody’s not a beauty, then nobody is.” I love that!
Perhaps you wanted me to comment on the value of pretty? Because that would be fun. Some other time...
+KK: Who lives in High House, meaning, who is the subject of this space, it is of you or of them? (Them being the people, things, and places you reference, directly or indirectly, in the objects, draw- ings, photographs, and plants in the installation.)
+ST: I love the idea that someone might actually get to live in High House. A shape-shifting existence: a transformer, a reflection of all its facets. A dark-and-hairy-Popeye turns a corner, becoming a lanky, stoned teenager. A sexless figure with crystal eyes and super-human sonar capabilities sits in a chair. Science fiction. An animal. A mother with a moment to herself. A memory.
I don’t know. I guess it’s me. But it’s funny; I don’t think of myself when I think of the things. I think of them. Beauty beyond me. So it’s tricky. It’s like that poem by Wallace Stevens that I sent to you last week: “I am what is around me... A black vestibule; A high bed sheltered by curtains.”
+KK: We have been talking about High House in some incarnation for many years. I still remember our late night studio conversation all those years ago, the one with the bottles of wine... I have a note on my wall that you posted to my door the next morning that says, “Was last night a trick or a sign? by the way that is a good name for a show. x ST.” I think I had just started working at PICA, and we were both on the cusp of solo shows at our respective galleries. Do you think this show is also a reflection of our relationship: artist- to-artist, curator-to-artist, friend-to-friend? And, if so, do you think that the show ends when the exhibition closes? Or will you forever be building High House (and asking my opinion of it)?
+ST: Ha! I will always be building High House, and you will always be subject to its change. But yeah, this show is not the suite of draw- ings that we discussed over a year ago. High House is happening because you were listening and doing some thinking for me. Artist- friend–to–artist-friend. You were looking out for me—challenging me—to look at a drawing not as a drawing but as a cup of coffee, or a plant that grows in a window.
+KK: What does it mean to be human?
+ST: The first thing I did was look up the word, humane. Being humane is a nice way to be human. But it doesn’t seem to address all of the mess and disaster that comes with humanity. What does it mean to be human? To have a conscience, I suppose. To ask ques- tions. To make out with your boyfriend.
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Storm Tharp: ART PAPERS review

ART PAPERS review, by Katherine Bovee, September/October 2010. Click on image for full article.

Nancy Lorenz in "Consider the Oyster" at James Graham and Sons, Sept. 23 - Oct. 30

Conceived and curated by Ingrid Dinter. September 23 - October 30th. Opening Thursday Sept. 23rd, 5:30 - 7:30 pm.

Storm Tharp and Jessica Jackson Hutchins: PICA, TBA Noontime Chat "It's Too Personal"

Wednesday, 09:15:10

It's Too Personal
Portland Institute For Contemporary Art (PICA) .
NOONTIME CHAT
Wed . Sept 15 . 12:30 pm at Swigert Commons, Pacific Northwest College Of Art
Storm Tharp and Jessica Jackson Hutchins discuss mining the personal and the familial for inspiration and content.

Megan Murphy: Sun Valley Center For The Arts

Included in group show "Water"Megan Murphy’s drawings are studies of water, place, and the West. Each piece is printed with a photograph of Silver Creek’s water and layered with transfer lettering. The text reflects on the environmental problems happening in the water. A list of the chemicals, golf courses, household water usage, and warming global temperatures are interwoven with the stories, history, and irony that Silver Creek represents. CLICK ON IMAGE FR MORE INFORMATION

Adam Sorensen: The Huffington Post "Top Summer Shows You Can Still Catch"

Top Summer Shows You Can Still Catch, North and South

Continuing through October 2, 2010
PDX Contemporary Art, Portland, Oregon

Adam Sorenson's "New Westerns" exhibition takes the viewer into exotic terrain that seems more the province of dreamscape than landscape. The dramatically composed mountains and hills evoke the fjords of Scandinavia and New Zealand, nowhere more potently than in "Flusskeller," a fantastical vista worthy of J.R.R. Tolkein. The piece, at 78"x67", is the largest in the show, and its scale heightens the otherworldliness of its imagery: waterfalls cascading down black and gray mountains, water atomizing into mist, brightly colored geodes and boulders dotting the valley below.

In "Dragon's Mouth," these boulders take on the appearance of oversized Easter eggs, while in other works, the artist renders strata of rock as stripes of color in subtle gradations stacked one atop another, so that the creaminess of the paint mimicks scenes' rugged topography. The wildly colored rocks and geodes seem to exist in a different space than the sylvan expanses behind and above them, as if inhabiting a more magical dimension seemingly exempt from the laws of perspective and physics. While the landscapes are unapologetically extravagant, their semi-abstracted forms and playful color palette keep the work on the ironic side of the romanticism/kitsch divide.

- Richard Speer
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/artscene/top-summer-shows-you-can-_b_70846...

Adam Sorensen: Visual Art Source pick

Adam Sorensen, "Dragon's Mouth," 2010, oil on linen, 40 x 44", at PDX Contemporary Art.
Continuing through October 2, 2010
PDX Contemporary Art
Portland, Oregon

Adam Sorenson's "New Westerns" leads the viewer into exotic terrain that seems more the province of dreamscape than landscape. The dramatically composed mountains and hills evoke the fjords of Scandinavia and New Zealand, nowhere more potently than in "Flusskeller," a fantastical vista worthy of J.R.R. Tolkein. The piece, at 78"x67", is the largest in the show, and its scale heightens the otherworldliness of its imagery: waterfalls cascading down black and gray mountains, water atomizing into mist, brightly colored geodes and boulders dotting the valley below.

In "Dragon's Mouth," these boulders take on the appearance of oversized Easter eggs, while in other works, the artist renders strata of rock as stripes of subtly graded color, stacked one atop another, the creaminess of the paint mimicking the scenes' rugged topography. The wildly colored rocks and geodes seem to exist in a different space than the sylvan expanses behind and above them, as if inhabiting a more magical dimension seemingly exempt from the laws of perspective and physics. While the landscapes are unapologetically extravagant, their semi-abstracted forms and playful color palette keep the work on the ironic side of the romanticism/kitsch divide.

- Richard Speer

Masao Yamamoto: in group show curated by Chris Johanson

The Color of Black & White : Sep 10 – Oct 16, 2010
PRESS RELEASE
This exhibition celebrates the beauty of and between black and white. Sometimes when the palette is reduced a vibrant emotional spectrum emerges. A reductive, simpler lens creates a place where a quiet poetry about life is shared. The black and white work of these four artists shares that ability to create that energy.

The photography of Masao Yamamoto shares the vibrant world of nature. It resonates the preciousness of the living landscape.

The prints of Julia Asherman reflect the experience of a connected harmony with nature. Each piece acts as an account of her life experiences from travels, living on her farm and seeking a harmonious connection with the environment that she lives in.
The calm, immediate photography of Dave Schubert looks at city life. They are vignettes of the world he co-inhabits and carefully quietly photographs.

Gary Groves' woodblock prints of the Pacific Northwest coast evoke a sense that he has spent a lifetime pondering the land formations that are his subject matter.
All of the work of these artists individually and when presented collectively create a powerful meditative vibration about life. Distinct in their art making, they share a collective connectedness about the rhythms of our world.

~ Chris Johanson

Kavi Gupta Gallery

Storm Tharp: PICA

For TBA:10, Tharp will develop a body of work in residency over the summer. His art is representational — by both figurative and conceptual means — and expressed through a variety of media.

Tharp was raised in Ontario, Oregon, and presently resides in Portland. He received his BFA from Cornell University. His work was featured in the 2010 Whitney Biennial and has been acquired by The Whitney Museum of American Art, Albright Knox Gallery, Saatchi Gallery, Portland Art Museum, Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, and Reed College. He is represented by PDX Contemporary Art (Portland), Nicole Klagsbrun (New York) and Galerie Bertrand & Gruner (Geneva).

THE WORKS at
Washington high school, Portland Oregon
opening reception
thu, Sept 9, 8–10:30pm
Gallery hours
Sept 10–19
every day, 12–6:30pm
Sept 23–oct 17
thu–Fri, 12–6:30pm
Sat–Sun, 12–4pm
Free CLICK ON IMAGE FOR MORE INFORMATION

Megan Murphy included in "Illiterature" Exhibition at CA State University, Chico

August 24 - September 19, 2010
University Art Gallery at California State University, Chico
CLICK ON IMAGE FOR MORE INFORMATION

Cynthia Lahti in Bellevue Arts Museum Biennial 2010

PDX is pleased to announce the inclusion of Cynthia Lahti in the 2010 Bellevue Arts Museum Biennial: Clay Throwdown, the inaugural edition of BAM's new, juried exhibition competition. With over 30 participating artists, it provides a panoramic survey of ceramic art created in the Pacific Northwest and a glimpse into the many directions in which this dynamic medium is moving.

August 28, 2010 - January 16, 2011

Bean Finneran and Megan Murphy: Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art

Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art
EXCESSIVE OBSESSION
Anchored by the promised gift of Jordan Schnitzer of Ellsworth Kelly’s [American (b. 1923)] monumental lithograph Purple/Red/Gray/Orange, ed. 16/18, 1988 the gallery presents art influenced by minimal expressions that came to the fore in the 1960s. These paintings, prints and objects are dominated by color, shape, repetition and industrial material embracing the minimalist aesthetic. The also installation includes artwork bySuzanne Caporael, Joe Fedderson, Bean Finneran, Linda Hutchins, Donald Judd, Shido Kuo, Sol LeWitt, Chris McCaw, Megan Murphy, Frank Okada, Gay Outlaw, Florence Pierce, Martin Puryear, Mark Rothko, LeRoy Setziol, and Joe Thurston

"Relative Picnic" in Willamette Week

"Relative Picnic"
PDX Contemporary Art
A taxidermied jackrabbit sprouts golden horns, which morph into garish plastic machine guns—this is Peter Gronquist’s delightfully ridiculous wall sculpture, Nouveau Americana.

Storm Tharp: Artforum

In the enigmatically titled “Hercules,” Portland-based artist and 2010 Whitney Biennial participant Storm Tharp presents his latest works on paper that run wild through the history of art, literature, and culture. The exhibition features large, deeply psychological portraits of notable and anonymous personages as well as pairs of ethereal, monochromatic washes that perfume the senses. Abstract Painter with Peony (all works 2010), for example, features the delicate hues of a flower’s unfurling petals (set before a stoic likeness of Ad Reinhardt), colors that reappear in the atmospheric monochromes of the two-panel piece Vreeland. In another portrait, Reinhardt is depicted behind a small pot, arms crossed. The pot’s overlapping shadows echo the bends and furrows of the figure’s visage. In other portraits, such as Realness, figures collapse into pools of color across the bright light of paper. The works feel romantically entangled in philosophical endeavor.

Tharp catalyzes mastery against accident in the seepage and layering of ink and gouache, which he’ll sometimes subdue amid scrims and expanses of marks, as in the portrait Groton House or Reinhardt’s suits in the works mentioned above. At the vibrating core of Tharp’s unparalleled vision flows water––messenger of an invisible humanity. Tharp’s subjects argue for a conceptual space beyond irony’s cutting edge, predicated on the very precariousness of representation. Shape-shifting before the viewer, the works cohere into a symbolic world, rich with metaphor and patterned on the idiosyncrasies of human nature as forms of aesthetic avowal.

— Stephanie Snyder

Arnold Kemp: Berkeley Art Museum

Arnold Kemps work is currently included in the Berkeley Art Museums exhibition curated by Larry Rinder. Show is called "Hauntology" and the features works that evoke uncertainty, mystery, inexpressible fears, and unsatisfied longing. Artists included in show: D.L. Alvarez, Diane Arbus, Lutz Bacher, Francis Bacon, Roger Ballen, Lewis Baltz,
Carina Baumann, Dirk Bell, Marie Krane Bergman, Debra Bloomfield, Fernando Botero, Todd Bura, Victor Cobo, Jess, Travis Collinson, Bruce Connor, Julia Couzens, Peter Doig, Vincent Fecteau, Linda Fleming, Goya, Robert Gutierrez, Hongren, Alfred Hrdlicka, Rudolphe Ingerle, Tadeusz Kantor, Arnold J. Kemp, Max Kurzweil, Aristide Maillol, Bernard Maybeck, Donal Mosher, Maruyama Okyo, Joachim Patinir, Mitzi Pederson, Laurie Reid, Ad Reinhardt, Patty Robeshow, William Rogan, Felicien Rops, Georges Roualt, Paul Schiek, Ivan Seal, Paul Sietsema, Takahashi Sakunosuke, Antonio da Trento, Luc Tuymans, Unknown Artist, Miller Updegraff, Carrie Mae Weems, and James McNeil Whistler. CLICK ON IMAGE FOR MORE INFORMATION

Ellen George: in collaboration with Jerry Mayer at Nine Gallery

"Lightly"

Ellen George & Jerry Mayer

July 1 – August 31, 2010

Nine Gallery (inside Blue Sky Gallery)

12:00 - 5:00pm Tuesday - Sunday

122 NW 8th
Portland OR 97209
503-225-0210

A Limited Anthology of Edits: Anna Gray & Ryan Wilson Paulsen

Please join the artists Anna Gray & Ryan Wilson Paulsen for a lecture about their work, and more specifically, the new book they just completed called A Limited Anthology of Edits. It will take place on Friday June 25th at noon in the New Video Gallery at Portland State University. The talk is a part of the completion of the artists' MFA degree and is happening in conjunction with their MFA thesis exhibition, which is currently on view. CLICK ON IMAGE FOR MORE INFORMATION

A series of lectures hosted by Anna Gray & Ryan Wilson Paulsen

Saturdays at 11am at PDX Contemporary Art:

Saturday, July 10th: Anne Marie Oliver
Saturday, July 17th: Sean Regan
Saturday, July 24th: Helen Reed
Saturday, July 31st: Barry Sanders
In conjunction with their exhibition "The Classroom" - a body of work which examines the politics and aesthetics of education - Anna Gray and Ryan Wilson Paulsen and PDX Contemporary Art will host a series of short lectures on Saturday mornings during the month of July. Four local educators will use the objects of The Classroom to present on a variety of topics including fan-culture, pedagogy, language, philosophy and literacy.

Lecture Schedule (Saturdays at 11 am at PDX Contemporary Art, 925 NW Flanders Street): CLICK ON IMAGE FOR MORE INFORMATION

Anna Gray + Ryan Wilson Paulsen in Portland + Miami

Anna Gray and Ryan Wilson Paulsen, whose show "The Classroom" is on display at PDX in July, are exhibiting this month both here in Portland as well as in Miami, FL. The Portland show is a group exhibit as a culmination to the PSU Masters of Fine Art program. In Miami, "How to Read a Book" explores classic literature and fiction and the relation to contemporary art.

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