Past/Tense

Artists

• TJ Norris

Statement

"Nothing from nothing leaves nothing..." - Billy Preston

A few years ago I flew to Los Angeles and decided to point my camera upward towards monoliths of emptiness – a blank old billboard, a vacant sign where a big box store formerly stood – what used to be prime advertising real estate had now become a dinosaur in the sky. This trend has taken shape more frequently in the Northwest, this void becoming a norm. It’s a bit dystopian to look up to something so quiet scraping the sky. These towering marquees seem so beautiful in their simplicity, subtly subversive shapes, real signs of the times. Their loss of purpose, structure and construction spoke to me, something about negative space on a much bigger scale.
Special Thanks to: Diedrich Dasenbrock, Chris Ransdell, Ellen George, Darrell Williamson, Jeffrey McCune and PDX Contemporary Art

TJ Norris
www.tjnorris.net

* A limited edition print will be available as part of this exhibition, please inquire inside.