Thursday October 4, 2007

06:00 PM : Art Openings @ portland Westside

Visual Arts / Architecture Flyered by Rob W.

Shows are up all month, generally Tuesday through Saturday, noon to 5 or 6. So rainy Saturdays are a good time to see art without opening crowds.

Just Be Toys/ Compound duals Japanese illustration shows and small sculpture reliefs. Illustrators include Sayka, Makiko Sugawa, Yuka Yamaguchi and Micca.

The beautiful strange polymer clay reliefs are "The Evolution of Psychepolymereganics" by Meredith Dittmar.

Prolific Portland creative Merideth Dittmar had a great show a while back at Stumptown. Now her work is at Compound, a good suggested match. Her description wins the copywriting award of the month:

"Meredith Dittmar is an artist living and playing in Portland OR. Born near Boston Mass, she grew up in a world of pet pigs, horses, hay-forts and spy games. Follow this with an education in computer science, a career in interactive design, a compulsive need to create, and a drive to seek and you get the major elements of her person and work.

Dittmar's human-animal-plant-energy amalgams contain threads of common elements and colors to express deep levels of union across themes of biology, technology, and consciousness. Her characters are frequently involved in quiet expressive moments, or lounge facing their audience so they can share their inner space. Dittmar believes it is this space we recognize in ourselves, and through convening in that space, the interconnectedness of all things is revealed. She sees the act of spontaneous artistic creation as part of a larger practice of being present, and a way to better understand herself and reality."

At Compound/ Just Be Toys www.justbedesign.com 107 NW 5th

Reading Frenzy has been a reliable art outpost for self taught artists since its inception. More than a few have blossomed into showing their creative work at galleries in and outside Portland. The 'Frenzy has always concentrated on small very affordable work - that means you can buy it. Repeat "you can buy it". This month see "Forget Me Not", a show themed on the Day of the Dead, holiday of remembrance. Take a look at the list of artists: Alicia Justus, Carye Bye, Cathy Pitters, Cynthia Lahti, Dan Ness, Donal Mosher, Edith Abeyta, Julianna Bright, Justin "Scrappers" Morrison, Nicole Georges, Philip Iosca, Tara Jane O'Neil, Theo Ellsworth. We each, and the artists too, have lost. Loved ones, the land, companion animals, places, the past and longed for futures. If you are so inspired, bring a small photo or drawing to add to an altar of remembrance. If you like, wear your Sunday-best to the opening. At Reading Frenzy 921 SW Oak

Busy-ness ontogulates efficiency. So I say see the Everett Lofts, the Portland Art Center and the Daisy Kingdom art megaplexes. It won't take much time to find things you like and I don't need to write about everything. The intent is for you to see a lot and craft your own quality. The Everett Lofts and cotravelers are bounded by NW Broadway, Everett, Flanders and 6th. The Daisy Kingdom houses very quality commercial and non commercial galleries. It is at the corner of NW Broadway and Davis. The Portland Art Center is at the corner of NW 5th and Couch and has multiple shows each month. Artist studios in the same building are often open first Thursday.

Mathew Picton is an Oregon artist from Ashland who operates on a global geographic. In this case, geographic is the meme. Picton's sculptural theme has been to sample the world, from lifting peeling paint from decaying walls; casting Alvord desert playa fissures; sampling the subocean topography; tracing the fascinating patterns below our feet of cracked concrete. Look sometime, those beautiful patterns are hidden around us all. For this show, Picton has sampled street grids and relayered them on the gallery walls. Especially fascinating is Baghdad's street grid, drawing us against our will into a sad maelstrom. Generations will know that map. Cartography is a more subtle art than appreciated, repurposing it for art maybe brings back the mystique. At Pulliam Deffenbaugh 929 NW Flanders early opening close - 8PM

We are a place. Unimaginably beautiful forests of fifteen foot diameter firs were cut to pieces to craft loving homes and a myriad of supporting structures. With them we realize now all the lost salmon and more. A great romantic swath for some, for others the loss of Rousseau's Eden. That is Karin Weiner's start point. Her schematic paintings depict stumps, lost bears, the houses made from all the long grown wood. At Elizabeth Leach 417 NW 9th

The Mark Woolley Gallery, now downtown, opens a themed show "Blue". Color and blue sky. At Mark Woolley Gallery
817 S.W. 2nd

Oregon (Salem?) quiet artist D. E, May shows minimal weathered work of paper. May has niched a spot that might be difficult for an emerging artist to enter now. Nonetheless, the work has a quiet Zen appeal which could play worldwide. At PDX Contemporary Art 925 NW Flanders early opening close 8PM

PNCA graduate Tom Cramer is known for bright geometric paintings on building walls, and painting vehicles from old school bugs to scooters. He is a sculptor, imprinting the same aesthetic on carved wood totem poles. His work of recent are low relief carved wood panels. Cramer carves wandering quiet patterns and colors them with rich finishes. At the start of this body of work, he collaborated with a lost friend, Cassie Wright, traveler and artist, to find the surface finishes which complete the work. The combination draws you in. Now at Laura Russo Gellery 805 NW 21st

06:00 PM : "WOMAN POWER" @ FLOATING WORLD COMICS

Visual Arts / Architecture Flyered by kmikeym

FLOATING WORLD COMICS
"WOMAN POWER"
FEATURING OVER 20 LOCAL FEMALE ARTISTS
GALLERY OPENING: 1ST THURSDAY, OCT. 4TH, 6-10PM

This October we have a very special show dedicated to female artists in
Portland. The show features new paintings, collages, illustrations,
comics, zines, sculptures, mobiles, and embroideries from some of this
town's most exciting artists - all of which happen to be female.

Headlining the show are Bobbie Sue, Rikki Barney, Indgha Leigh, and Buket.
Bobbie Sue has prepared an amazing new zine, and paintings featuring
crying celebrities and our own celebrities from local bars. By going
beyond the normal comics scene, these works are uninhibited by any
preconceptions of what a comic could be. This results in work that is
more immediate, original and refreshing.

In addition to these 4 artists we've also invited the following artists to
show their work:

Maura Arraj
Janina Bain
Heather Campbell
Ashby Collinson
Britney Crump
Sarah Gottesdiener
Aidan Koch
Kristie Louderbough
Carolyn Main
Dylan Meconis
Sarah Oleksyk
Jennifer Parks
Jeannie Lynn Paske
Catherine Peach
Rachel Richter
Morgan Ritter
Nubby Twiglet
Jen Wang
Julia Wertz... and more to be announced!

These artists come from many different fields and professions: comics,
animation, fine art, graphic design, sculpture, illustration. It's going
to be one of our most diverse and interesting shows yet.

06:00 PM : Collaborative drawings by Roberto Visani and John Movius @ Sugar Gallery

Visual Arts / Architecture Flyered by kmikeym

10 a.m. Phoenix
Collaborative drawings by Roberto Visani and John Movius

Sugar Gallery
625 N.W. Everett Street, #108
Portland, OR 97209

Opening Reception 10/4/07 6-10pm

10 a.m. Phoenix features a series of mixed media works on paper and a wall installation created by the NYC-based collaborative team of John Movius and Roberto Visani. Through collage, painting and drawing, their distinct sensibilities are fused into works of unpredictable elegance and complexity. Images ranging from mythology to current events converge to create volatile compositions reflecting the artists' experiences and working process.

More about the artists:

Roberto Visani: Visani received a BFA from Minnesota State University in 1993 and MFA from the University in Michigan in 1997. Recent exhibitions include Frequency at The Studio Museum in Harlem, Make it Now: New Sculpture in New York, and Sculpture Center, both in New York City and Black Panther, Rank and File, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. He has been an artist in residence at The Cooper Union, New York City and twice at Atlantic Center for the Arts, New Smyrna Beach, FL. He won a Fulbright Grant to Ghana in 1997.

John Movius: Movius received a BFA in Photography and Art & Public Policy from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.
Exhibitions include Hinterconti Gallery in Hamburg, Germany (artist and curator), Cinders Gallery in New York City, Orange County Center for Contemporary Art in California, Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center in Portland, and the International Print Center New York. He received the 2003 Rosenberg Travel fellowship and has been a featured artist at the 2006 IMPACT festival and the 2007 National Grassroots Media Conference.

06:30 PM : DJ Safi @ Upper Playground

Music Flyered by hason

DJ Safi spins from 6:30-9:30 for the opening of Mike Maxwell's new show at Upper Playground. There will be beer.

07:30 PM : Brian Libby @ Broadway Books

Talk/Expo Flyered by kmikeym

Brian Libby will be reading and signing copies of his new book, "Tales From the Oregon Ducks Sideline", this Thursday at Broadway Books, which is at 1714 NE Broadway just north of Lloyd Center.

09:00 PM : Night of 1000 Madonnas w/ The World Court @ Holocene

Music Flyered by kmikeym

Night of 1000 Madonnas - [a DIY Tribute, Costume & Dance Party]
Sexton Blake
Tara Jane O'Neil
The Online Romance
Gay Deceivers
The World Court
CJ & The Dolls
Do N Dudes - [DJ Set]

Thursday 4 October
TIME
9pm
COST
$5.00 day of show