Thursday September 6, 2007
06:00 PM : Art Openings @ Portland Westside
Visual Arts / Architecture Flyered by Rob W.
Visual art has seasons. September is a special month with out of town maybe art buyers visiting for T:BA and the Affair at the Jupiter hotel art fair.
Roberta Bayley shows photographs of punksters Blondie and the Ramones in the 70's. One wonders what the contemporary examples are, and how they will look 30 years hence. What is the interplay between familiarity/nostalgia and novelty in a generation of viewers? How will digital photography's look evolve? Compare this to, for instance, the current show at Dantes. Also showing, mixed media work with an old school master's etching feel, by Morgan Walker. Compare this style to illustration style work at Compound or the Grass Hut. At Augen www.augengallery.com One show at 716 NW Davis, the other at 817 SW 2nd
Yamamoto Masao shows quiet photographs at PDX. Chill. www.pdxcontemporaryart.com
PNCA schooled Rebecca Guberman-Bloom shows enigmatic mystical figurative work. At Mark Woolley in his new downtown location. www.markwoolley.com 817 SW 2nd
Portland photographer Dianne Kornberg shows vintage prints from her past work. Claire Cowie populates environments with creatures. Her fantastic constructions mirror the interplay of the natural and industrial environment near her Seattle studio by the Duwamish River. Some are a little scary. At Elizabeth Leach www.elizabethleach.com 417 NW 9th
Jeffery Mitchel is ultra baroque. Take a look for yourself at Pulliam Deffenbaugh www.pulliamdeffenbaugh.com 929 NW Flanders early close 8PM
Painter Abi Spring creates subtly textured minimalist abstract paintings. You want to touch. But don't. At Chambers Gallery 207 SW Pine
"The Awesome But True Electric Institute in Outfits" is a show of illustration at the always affordable Reading Frenzy. www.readingfrenzy.com 921 SW Oak
The Everett Lofts and the Portland Art Center - Everett and NW Broadway and 32 NW 5th respectively should be standard itinerary points.
Digmeout, of which we have written, shows the latest batch of Osaka-based illustration style art. At Compound/ Just Be Toys www.justbedesign.com 107 NW 5th
The US Bank branch shows graffiti style art by nishiki tayui 1040 NW Lovejoy until 8
Tender Loving Empire is a newish gallery, music label, small press, consignment space. They show Finn Riggins "a soldier, a saint, an ocean explorer" and Cameron Browne "moments of splendor" www.tenderlovingempire.com 18th and NW Lovejoy Opening 4-8PM
Arvie Smith's work is a wild portrait of of his African American world. What a pleasure to be invited in for a glimpse of "chitlin' circuit". At Beppu Wiarda www.beppugallery.com 319 NW 9th
Heather May Rodetzke shows new work at Quality Pictures in the long project space. www.qcpa.com 916 NW Hoyt
Tamar Monhait shows high contrast symmetrical prints, stencil or lace-like, at the downtown Stumptown. 128 SW 3rd
Westside, but not downtown:
Seattle's Darren Waterson makes dreamy abstractions which resemble landscapes or maybe the -scapes of celestial bodies. At the Lewis and Clark College Gallery www.lclark.edu/dept/gallery
06:00 PM : TAMAR MONHAIT @ Stumptown Downtown
Visual Arts / Architecture Flyered by kmikeym
TAMAR MONHAIT
HYBRIDS
MIXED MEDIA CARBON PRINTS
SEPTEMBER 2ND- SEPTEMBER 30TH
OPENING RECEPTION: SEPTEMBER 6TH, 6PM-8PM
STUMPTOWN COFFEE
128 SW 3RD
PORTLAND, OR
503-295-6144
06:00 PM : THE LAND OF BROKEN HEARTS @ Floating World Comics
Visual Arts / Architecture Flyered by kmikeym
FLOATING WORLD COMICS & ORANGE SUNSHINE PRESENTS:
"THE LAND OF BROKEN HEARTS"
A RARE EXHIBITION OF ARTWORK BY AL COLUMBIA
Floating World Comics presents a rare and exclusive opportunity to view
new work by the acclaimed and elusive artist Al Columbia. September’s
first Thursday will see the debut of “THE LAND OF BROKEN HEARTS,” marking
the first public exhibition and appearance by the enigmatic artist in over
a decade. The exhibition will feature a large collection of limited
edition prints, original artwork, handmade books, and other ephemera from
his Orange Sunshine Company, much of it created especially for this show.
The artist will also participate in an informal Q&A during the event.
"THE LAND OF BROKEN HEARTS" is a new series of illustrations that serves
as a preview for a new collection of work that Columbia will release in
2008 from Seattle’s Fantagraphics Books. Floating World will have all of
Columbia’s published works to date on hand at the event, including The
Biologic Show, Blab!, Mome, and Zero Zero.
The opening night reception will be documented on film by Kevin Belli, a
Boston filmmaker who has been creating the documentary "Whatever Happened
to Al Columbia?" over the last four years.
LISTING INFORMATION:
WHO: Al Columbia and “The Land of Broken Hearts”
WHAT: Opening Reception & Book Signing with the artist
WHEN: Thursday, Sept. 6th, 6-10PM
WHERE: Floating World Comics
20 NW 5th Ave #101
Portland, OR 97209
(503)241-0227
“The Land of Broken Hearts” runs through Oct. 2
Floating World Comics is greatly honored to host Columbia, who will be
visiting from his home in Connecticut. “I've been a fan of Al Columbia's
since I first read his groundbreaking masterpiece, ‘The Trumpets They
Play’,” says Floating World Founder Jason Leivian. Published in the
anthology Blab! Vol. 10 in 1998, “The Trumpets They Play” has been hailed
as one of the great short stories the comics medium has ever produced,
retelling the story of the apocalypse from the Book of Revelations in a
style that looked like stills from a 1930s Max Fleischer cartoon. The
story caused an instant stir, and comics fans couldn't wait to see what
Columbia would do next. Unfortunately, after “Trumpets” was released,
Columbia more or less disappeared from the comics scene. This show will
end a 9 year silence for him and offers his fans a very rare opportunity
to meet him in person.
If you are interested in obtaining an interview or providing coverage of
this event please contact Jason Leivian. A selection of digital imagery is
also available in a variety of formats.
Floating World Comics
20 NW 5th Ave #101, Portland, OR 97209
Store hours: Tuesday - Sunday 11-7pm
06:00 PM : Seattle Showcase @ Backspace
Visual Arts / Architecture Flyered by kmikeym
Portland Ore – September 6, 2007 – Young, precocious, and new on the scene, four of Seattle’s nubiles give us a peek into the budding art scene of Portland’s northern neighbor. Backspace Gallery is proud to present Seattle Showcase, a group exhibition featuring works from Carl Faulkner, Parskid, Peekaboo, and Soso.
In the past decade, Seattle has been the home to such prominent artists as Robert Hardgrave, Blaine Fontana, and Grant Barnhart. So what does this new generation of art mag cover-girls have to offer? How is their voice unique, and what are they saying?
Faulkner’s abstract and ethereal artwork features collage pieces, works in oil, and photography. Faulkner’s work is heavily influenced by his affinity for comic books, fantasy, and science fiction, and his affection for mixed media gives him a singularly characteristic style. Regardless the medium, Faulkner’s pieces all have an energy and vitality that really draws out the Sci-Fi junkie in every viewer.
The whimsical and dreamy landscapes of Parskid’s works are equally inviting. His characters drift effortlessly through peaceful fields of tall grass and within looming forests. Their fat bodies and thin arms make them undeniably cute, if somewhat creepy. Light and darkness play freely in Parskid’s pieces and he achieves this through the careful patterning and layering in his paintings.
Peekaboo brings a boisterous quality to the show. His bold lines and colors give his characters a freshness and humor that speak of his graffiti background. Twisty-armed, vacant-eyed, saggy-breasted fairy-tale animals are characteristic of his outspoken work. These adorable characters are further divorced from reality with switchblades and sharp teeth, giving Peekaboo’s pieces a capricious air that is both chic and well executed.
Soso rounds out the show with her doe-eyed caricatures. Her bittersweet portraits of little girls and owls in gorgeous vintage frames are juxtapositions – the characters are childlike, yet hold a strange wisdom in their eyes. However delicate, her pieces seem simple but are emotionally complex.
Please join these four artists for Seattle Showcase’s opening night at Backspace Gallery with a live-painting performance and artists’ reception from 6pm – 12am on First Thursday, September 6, 2007.
09:00 PM : MPO @ Apotheke
Music Flyered by kmikeym
mpo:portland returns to Apotheke
Apotheke in Portland has a special place in mpo's history. We've played our first concert ever there and several times after that. It's a perfect spot for chamber music and it's therefore very exciting that mpo:portland will be performing there Thursday, September 6th at 9pm. It all happened to work out so that I'll be the substitute conductor while Brien is out of town. We'll be performing my latest piece, Words of My Mouth, a piece I scored for a short film by Portland filmmaker Jessica Baclesse.
€$€ from our previous performance at apotheke