art shows & news

Ah, Valentine’s Day — a dreaded holiday for some and the ultimate heart-warming day for others. In either situation, though, viewing some diverse art is a good remedy. Here are some good shows taking place on Friday the 12th, in Portland and Seattle. They’re group shows that show that it’s not just about selfish relationships on Valentine’s Day! Community love’s worth something, too.

SEATTLE - ARTIFAKT SHOW

Yet another event from Seattle art collective Artifakt

Damager by Grym.

Terror by BeeryMethod.

Lutjanus campechanus by Crystal Barbre. Oil on canvas. 42″ x 72″.

Matroyshka Dolls by iamintricate.

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PORTLAND - LOVE SHOW

For the fifth year in a row, the Portland Love Show will be taking place this year at the Olympic Mills Commerce Center (107 SE Washington St.) from 7:00pm to 12:00am.

Here are just some of our favorite pieces showing this year.

Inevitable by BMAC. 16″ x 20″, $100.

Love and Lust Contemplating Their Predicament by Chuck E. Bloom. 14″ x 18″, $950.

Tied by Kindra Crick. Encaustic mixed media. 10″ x 8″, $180.

last of the famous international playboys by John Gajowski. 17″ x 22″, $250.

Portland photographer Tyler Kohlhoff explores Inland Empires, the spread in Southern California out east when you’re headed to Nevada or Arizona. Now at The Tribute Gallery, the images stand in stark contrast with the white walls of the gallery space and seem to stand still in time, capturing littered remains of home and memories faded into the past. For all who are interested in urban or rural decay, Kohlhoff’s photographs are little slices of grimey beauty.

Last year, I stumbled across Gabriel Mark’s work in a Portland art gallery and was extremely shocked that he was in the back of the gallery, working on a piece for all to see. Furthermore, despite the fact that his price point is probably higher than the average REDEFINE reader is used to, Mark is a genuinely nice guy; he was more than ready to field questions and more than gracious to answer them.

What stuck out in my head instantly is that Mark has traveled the world gathering arts training, whether it be in the form of a more formal education or simply living and learning. And with his diverse variations on oil paintings, he seems to be absolutely at home in the medium. Below are just some of Mark’s works, and I suggest you visit his website to see much more.

Dionysus And Ariadine from his Urban Legend series.

Balance Of Power from his National Cowboy series (giclee print available).

Suzy And Badda from his Cookietown series.

Mark also teaches painting workshops in Oregon certain parts of the year, and his work is currently on display in Jacksonville, Oregon, Ashland, Oregon, and Nashville, Tennessee. See his website for details.

(First image: Echo, second image: Remain)

With what seem to be some of the most difficult-to-name pieces ever, Megan Murphy has her Porcelain show up at PDX Contemporary Art as of… yesterday! The show will run through the end of the month, and features works that look a bit like encaustics, but are actually a combination of digital transparencies, mirrors, glass, acrylics, and oil paint. And with some pieces getting as big as 54″ x 54″, these pieces may not look too impressive from afar, but it’s the techniques and materials that require a closer look.

Talk about an epic name for a show! One of my favorite galleries in Portland, Oregon, the Together Gallery, has an opening tonight for a show entitled The Mountains And Hills Will Burst Into Song. Featuring new works and installations by Anja Verdugo, Julianna Swaney, Rebecca Artemisa Urias, and Sarah McNeil, the show will be an all-female showcase of artwork that would feel right at home in a woodsy children’s book. Expect delicately-drawn lines, largely muted colors, and a hefty portion of animal art.

A largely black-and-white drawing by Sarah McNeil (minus the hearty nipple!).

Rebecca Artemis Aurias’ wicked mountain, which she describes on her Flickr account, saying, “traveling with little peb to calm the wicked mountain spirits with the milksweet moths.”

Juliana Swaney’s Foxhat, drawing doesn’t mess around; it tells it like it is. It’s a fox hat.

www.togethergallery.com
ohmycavalier.blogspot.com
www.flickr.com/photos/applecheek/
sarahmcneil.blogspot.com

TONIGHT at The Together Gallery in Portland, Oregon: the decorative mixed media works of Evan B. Harris are on display for what will no doubt be an extremely impressive solo show. Utilizing broken boards, oil paints, acrylic paints, charcoal pastels, resin, wax, and many more mediums, Harris creates textured works that recall Victorian eras and ornamental wallpapers. Portland musicians Horse Feathers will also be playing a show on the back patio, to complete the aural/visual picture!

www.togethergallery.com
www.evanbharris.com
www.myspace.com/horsefeathersmusic

The ever-great Together Gallery in Portland brings together another group of illustrators for the month of May. This show ends on the 28th, but if you hurry, you’ll be able to catch the busy, schizophrenic works of Betsy Walton (left) and the awkwardly-shaped illustrated characters of Matthew Feyld (right).

The Together Gallery’s new location is located at 29th and Alberta St., 2916, Suite A!

www.togethergallery.com
www.morningcraft.com

The 3D Center of Art and Photography in Portland, Oregon, is a rarity in its own right. A non-profit museum/gallery, the Center features antique and contemporary 3D imagery in the form of everything from antique stereocards to computer-generated 3D art.

On display now through May 31st, 2009, is The City Quakes: The San Francisco Earthquakes of 1906 & 1989. Sideways-slanting buildings and burnt ruins capture two main earthquake disasters in California in a way that has been forgotten through the years — through the use of 3D cards released by stereo card companies after the events.

Head over now, and you will also get the chance to see the work of Abe Fagenson, an artist who uses three-dimensional, stereoscopic methods in his paintings. New pieces from his rose series will be seen in the 3D Center’s A Rose is a Rose is a Rose in 3D!, and it will coincide with the city of Portland’s annual Rose Festival.

www.3dcenter.us
/www.abefagenson.com
www.rosefestival.org

Living in the Pacific Northwest, one becomes used to rain and gloom, and after a while, it’s just a part of life and seasonal disorders seem nonexistent. Puddletown at Compound Gallery will feature artists’ takes on rain from Thursday, December 4th, 2008 (First Thursday) through December 24th, 2008. Here are some notable artists from this opening:

Robert Fayze Pellicer seems to combine equal parts surrealism, nature, and spirituality in his works, such as in this piece, entitled Food Web.

Timothy Karpinski must be the type who pays attention to details. Graphic, acrylic, and hand-sewn papers join forces in the elegant I Dream of the Forest.

Colors bleed, swirl, and transform to join forces with unpredictable shapes in Max Kauffman’s The Block Is Hot.

Elliott Wall makes the simple female form intoxicatingly haunting and fascinating with ease, such as in this piece, Moth.

In the case of Eli Effenberger and this piece, Over The Rainbow, digital paints are just as good as the real thing.

Eatcho seems to prefer painting and drawing on recycled papers and wood panels, and for good reason. His illustrations and exceptional compositions exclusively hold their own, with no need for detailed backgrounds.

Sophie Franz, shown in the post below, will also be showing her illustrations and drawings at this group show.