Posted on

Wild and Beautiful Resistance on First Friday


For the newsletter this month we are emphasizing shows that inspire us to action, recognize beauty, and explore the ways in which both intertwine with our sense of personal identity.

While we are confronted daily by events that demand our attention, for most of us only occasionally do troublesome currents inspire us to take action. In many ways, the events that do so move us ultimately reveal as much about us as they do about the situations themselves.

Although all injustices carry their own unmistakable urgency, it is only by examining our internal agency that we remain capable of simultaneously seeing the beauty in the world, and also embracing the impetus for change. The world is already perfect, but we are a part of the world, as so too is our passion and fierceness.

Make sure to visit the First Friday PDX website for a full listing of art events and openings.

See you tomorrow!

Noah Alexander Isaac Stein
First Friday PDX Director

UPCOMING SHOWS

CONNECTED TO THE WILD | HIGH LOW ART SPACE

Join Wildlands Network and Endangered Species Coalition in Portland to celebrate the opening of our PNW wildlife photography exhibition, Connected to the Wild. The exhibit showcases photos of diverse and threatened wildlife, captured by professional photographers in the region. Experience incredible art, listen to presentations from conservationists and artists, and learn how you can protect the region’s wildlife and wild spaces. We co-organized this show to illuminate the PNW’s incredible wildlife, and raise awareness about the mounting loss species to environmental threats. The theme of the show is CONNECTIVITY (linking fragmented habitat to restore ecosystems and help wildlife thrive). We’re united in our efforts to reconnect, restore, and rewild the Pacific states. FREE ADMISSION.

6 pm – 9 pm @ 1402 3rd Ave, Suite 1019

TIANANMEN SQUARE BEFORE SUNRISE: GERHARD WITTENBERG | PUSHDOT STUDIOS

Pushdot Studio is pleased to present “Tiananmen Square Before Sunrise. High Resolution Satellite Photographs” by Gerhard Wittenberg. This is the second solo exhibition by Wittenberg at Pushdot studio.
“The photographs presented in this show were obtained under a Freedom of Information Act request submitted by Gerhard to the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and the Department of Defense. The works shown are small details of the actual satellite photographs.” They are representative of his efforts exploring issues involving surveillance, patriotism, political propaganda, manipulation of masses, etc. The show includes a very large wall- mounted photograph, 12 feet by 10 feet and four additional photographs 50 x 40 inches, face mounted on plexiglass.

6 pm – 8 pm @ 2505 SE 11 th Avenue, Suite 104 – in the Ford Building, enter on Division Street

INTO THE WOODS | SIDESTREET ARTS

On the six-year anniversary of her arrival in Portland, Sidestreet member artist Michele Sabatier’s show of new encaustic landscape paintings will be in the Feature Gallery in June. Paired with turned wood objects by Northwest master craftsman Kevin Poest, and found-wood assemblages by Minal Mistry on the pedestals, this show is a love letter to the exquisite native woods of the Pacific Northwest.

6 pm – 9 pm @ 140 SE 28th Ave.

THE UN-PC LGBTQ IA+ SHOW | AFRU

A Group Show of Fabulously Talented Artists to kick off Pride Month in Style!

” I was inspired to involve my community in an audio piece that I will use to start the 9 Pm entertainment hour. I have gotten a great deal of positive response from the community. People are sending in short Audio clips about their reasons and feelings surrounding the terms they identity with. Why they like one term over another……..etc. I am getting a lot of positive feedback and believe that there will be a good turnout by those who made submissions who want to hear their contribution alongside the recordings of others. I am getting a lot of help organizing this and have a clear vision about how I will connect the audio to AFRU’s mission statement, and opening remarks, and how I will balance heavy moments in the audio with comic moments by myself and the two queens that are joining me. I feel really good about what’s happening and am certain that interest is gathering. Pride events lack reflective events that make queer voices heard and express our history and struggle. I am feeling overwhelming support for what I am doing.”

This special show is recommended as an 18+ years of age show.

live performances by
Svetlana Trantastic, Betty Poops, Valerie Devilles, and Special DJ set by PINEAPPLE!!! ♥

6 pm – 12 am @ 534 SE Oak St

WELCOMING KBOO TO FIRST FRIDAY

KBOO JOINS FIRST FRIDAY | KBOO COMMUNITY RADIO STUDIOS

First Friday and Open Studio tomorrow night May 3rd from 6-9 pm. Come by for a glass of wine and chocolate and peruse the art! I’m working on a body of Willamette Valley monotypes for an upcoming show at Laura Vincent Gallery in July.

6 pm – 9 pm @ 20 SE 8th Ave.

BLOG

ARTS AND EMOTION: RETHINKING ROTHKO| VICTORIA GLANOWSKI

“This higher plane is the communication of emotion, that invoke the experiences of grief, ecstasy and destiny. Rothko famously wrote that “The people who weep before my pictures, are having the same religious experiences I had when painting them.”Read the full blog post here!

Read the full blog post here!

OTHER SHOW OPENINGS AND ART EVENTS

  • 6 – 8 pm: FIRST FRIDAY AT WOLFF: SELF-PORTRAIT PARTY! @ WOLFF GALLERY
  • 6 – 8 pm: ZODIAC @ SPLENDORPORIUM
  • 6 – 9 pm: THE SHAPE OF TIME AND NECESSITIES @ EUTECTIC GALLERY
  • 6 – 9 pm: BOTANICAL BEAUTIES @ EAST CREATIVE COLLECTIVE
  • 6 – 9 pm: WOMEN ICONS | REDUX GALLERY
  • 6 – 9 pm: OPEN STUDIOS | ANNIE MEYER GALLERY
  • 6:30 – 9 pm: KARUNA TURNS FOUR! @ KARUNA CONTEMPLATIVE LIVING
  • 6 – 10 pm: THE GRAND CONCOURSE: LENOR BINGHAM @ UNIONKNOTT GALLERY
  • 6 – 9 pm: SHELBI SCHROEDER @ JAILBREAK STUDIOS

Contact Us

We love to promote art events involving our participating galleries and artists, please be sure to send your news and any feedback to: press@firstfridaypdx.org

Or use our online event submission form!

General inquires: info@firstfridaypdx.org

Copyright © 2019 First Friday PDX, All rights reserved.

Posted on

Art & Emotion: Mark Rothko

Orange and Yellow by Mark Rothko

How many people can say that they have had an encounter with a painting that made them cry right there in a museum or art gallery? Did it happened to be a Mark Rothko painting?

For those of you who don’t know who Rothko was, he was an American painter born into a family of Russian Jewish intellects in 1903. His full name was Markus Yakovlevich Rothkowitz which got abbreviated to Mark Rothko in 1940 due to anti-Semitism. In 1913, he immigrated to America with his Mom and sister, they eventually meet up with his father and 2 brothers in Portland, Oregon. Soon after arriving his father sadly died.

Rothko had a complicated relationship to religion and after mourning the death of his father for almost a year, made a conscious decision to move away from organized religion.

He believed that color was “primal, elemental, pure unconscious emotional resonance and response.”(Meditations on Mark Rothko) This emotional response or experience was the reason why he recommended viewers to position themselves as little as 18 inches away from the canvas to have that experience. He described his paintings as “…not a picture of an experience. It is the experience.” This experience is eventually described as a religious transcendence or spiritual transcendence. The barrier that you find in other paintings is gone when you view one of Rothko’s paintings and become a part of it.  It is essentially taking you on a higher plane.

This higher plane is the communication of emotion, that invoke the experiences of grief, ecstasy and destiny. Rothko famously wrote that “The people who weep before my pictures, are having the same religious experiences I had when painting them.”

As seen, his paintings invoked basic human emotions that allowed for the viewer to actually be felt as a human being, in an empathic way. One were the person is listened to and finally understood. It is something that is lacking in today’s world and is needed more and more in a world gone mad.

Works Cited:

Auishai, Tamar, host. “Meditations on Mark Rothko.” Episode 24. The Lonely Palette. 22 November 2017. Retrieved from http://www.thelonelypalette.com/episodes/2017/11/20/episode-24-meditations-on-mark-rothko

Gaylord, Martin. ( 20 September 2008). The mysterious tragedy at the heart of Rothko’s tranquil masterpieces. Retrieved from https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturereviews/3560926/The-mysterious-tragedy-at-the-heart-of-Rothkos-tranquil-masterpieces.html

Jain, Mayank. (28 March 2017). HOW TO UNDERSTAND ART – A MARK ROTHKO CASE STUDY. Retrieved from https://www.mayankja.in/blog/how-to-understand-art-a-mark-rothko-case-study
h

Posted on

First Friday Tonight: Growth and Revolution

One of the few constants in the universe is change, and in both exuberant physicality and  metaphor, May is a month that often embodies it in its most welcome form. Here are a few shows this month that illustrate the growth and blooming of Spring.

Also don’t forget to visit the First Friday PDX website for a full listing of art events and openings.

See you tonight!

Noah Alexander Isaac Stein
First Friday PDX Director

UPCOMING SHOWS

REBIRTH, REJUVENATION, AND REVOLUTION | EAST CREATIVE COLLECTIVE

“Ranging from an ancient rite of spring, to a commemoration of religious transformation, to a call for workers rights and immigration reform, the beginning of May has a persistent association with change.

While the context and nature of this transformation is subject to its own transitional nature, there is also a common thread. Whether a reflection of natural phenomenon, our own personal and spiritual narratives, or even social revolution, change is constant, and despite what is left behind, it is a cause for celebration. Even when the tremulous gulf of such growth comes equally out of both gentle rains, and rushing torrents of upheaval.Rebirth,

Rejuvenation, and Revolution asks us to consider the common spirit and nature of this period. Do we see it as a new beginning or a the turning of a cycle? Is each new leaf a sutured healing or a shinning resurrection? Or perhaps such attempts at continuity are all simply fictions in the face of entropic metamorphose…”

6 pm – 9 pm @ 211 SE Madison St.


ALL THINGS BOTANICAL OPENING RECEPTION | SIDESTREET ARTS

Come for the art and munchies… We’ll pour you a glass of wine (if you’re of age) while you look at the art on our walls. Artists will be lurking to discuss their artworks.

6 pm – 9 pm @ 140 SE 28th Ave.

LEAVES OF RESISTANCE | ROLL-UP PHOTO STUDIO + GALLERY

Secret Society of Book Artists
Opening Champagne Reception
Dawn Banker, Anita Bigelow, Marian Christensen, Mary Elliott, Ellen Fortin, Joely Helgesen, Judilee Fitzhugh, Deanna Lautenbach, Megan Leftwich, Ilsa Perse, Kathy Karbo, Kathy Kuehn, Bernie Smith, Gay Walker, Marilyn Zornad

5 pm – 9 pm @ 1715 SE Spokane St.

THE ART4LIFE SHOWS | SPLENDORPORIUM

Join us for the opening of our annual kids show!

6 pm – 8 pm @ 3421 SE 21st Avenue

BLOG

ARTS IMPACT ON POLITICS AND SOCIETY| VICTORIA GLANOWSKI

“When was the last time a piece of art moved you? Was it a film, a painting or a street performer? Art in many ways can enrich the human experience and initiate change in society. These types of changes can be used to better society by not answering questions, but by asking questions.  ”

Read the full blog post here!

Contact Us

We love to promote art events involving our participating galleries and artists, please be sure to send your news and any feedback to: press@firstfridaypdx.org

Or use our online event submission form!

General inquires: info@firstfridaypdx.org

Copyright © 2019 First Friday PDX, All rights reserved.

Posted on

Art’s Impact on Politics and Society

Ai Weiwei, Law of the Journey

When was the last time a piece of art moved you? Was it a film, a painting or a street performer? Art in many ways can enrich the human experience and initiate change in society. These types of changes can be used to better society by not answering questions, but by asking questions.  

How can art be used for a political purpose? Well, it can be used to raise awareness and shift perspective. For example,  Beirut based artist, Lawrence Abu Hamdan asked 2 sheikhs in Cairo to deliver city wide speeches about the danger of noise pollution as a public health issue instead of their usual weekly Friday sermons. Cairo is the 3rd worst city for noise pollution, according to Worldwide Hearing Index. Another example is Definition, by Czech artist, Ivan Kafka, who placed 1,000 wooden sticks to block people from going to work. In order to understand this work of art, one has to understand that Prague at the time was under control of a communist government. Thus, Kafka created a critical dialogue that asked the local population to take a stand, one way or the other, to define their existence.  

How can art impact society? By translating experience across space and time. Chinese artist, Ai Weiwei, does exactly this in his art piece titled, Law of the Journey. Which was to confront and question the west’s complicity in the refugee crisis in 2015. This piece is a oversized life raft (60 feet long) composed of faceless figures and is made from rubber that the manufactures use in the boats most often used by the refugees.

As you can see, art can be used to transform an experience through art. Finally, in the words of Eli Broad (entrepreneur and philanthropist), “Civilizations aren’t remembered by their business people, bankers, or lawyers. They’re remembered by their arts.”  

Works Cited:

Blanc, Nathalie and Barbara L. Benish. Form, Art and the Environment: Engaging in Sustainability. 2016.  https://books.google.com/books?id=8iMlDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA114&dq=ivan+kafka+wooden+sticks&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjqytLo5f3hAhUDP30KHT5vBPIQ6AEwAHoECAMQAg#v=onepage&q=ivan%20kafka%20wooden%20sticks&f=false

Larmon, Annie Godfrey.(2018, May 21). Can Art Change the World? http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20180517-can-art-change-the-world

Eastham, Ben. (2015, September 22). Lawrence Abu Hamdan’s “The All Hearing”. https://www.art-agenda.com/features/237695/lawrence-abu-hamdan-s-the-all-hearing

Gray, Alex.(2017, March 27). These are the cities with the worst noise pollution.  https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/03/these-are-the-cities-with-the-worst-noise-pollution/

Posted on

April First Friday: The Beauty and Danger of Line

In celebration of art openings tomorrow that focus on line, the subject of this months newsletter is delineations, subjects that mark or dissolve separations, or those that challenge the very concept itself…

As a visual separator, line is one of the fundamental elements of art, however the process of delineation is also one of the central means through through which we conceptualize, and make sense of a chaotic world.

While we often take for granted the conceptual borders we use to create classifications, reality is more subtle; boundaries between phenomenon rarely fit so neatly into the spaces we assign them. While lines may create a useful shorthand, they are not inherent to a world that often prefers smooth blending.

Indeed, there is a danger of bias and preconception when we overly rely on such tools. However, line can also be used as a compositional element, rather than solely as a unit of division. The novel use is visually arresting, and also conceptually intriguing; it recast the tools of separation into the building blocks of new meaning and harmony.

Some First Friday openings to check out:

  • A solo show by Tenya Rodriguez at Jailbeak Studios
  • Delinations at Redux Boutique and Gallery
  • BrassWorks Gallery presents Steve Rutherford with The Art of Subtraction
  • Michal Fargo’s In the Back Room at Eutectic Gallery
  • Shrines and Alters at Splendorporium

Check out the First Friday PDX website for a full listing of show openings this month.

Look forward to seeing you tomorrow!

Noah Alexander Isaac Stein

First Friday PDX Director

UPCOMING OPENINGS

TENYA RODRIGUEZ | JAILBREAK STUDIOS

Tenya Rodriguez’s Bio:

markings made from meditations. movements measured in slowness. lines that force a monkey mind, my monkey mind to be present with and for every gesture. slow art and slow looking when the world feels disconnected and often times too much. the idea behind my art is to come to the paper each morning with a simple ballpoint pen and create the same meditative movement again and again. the lines layer up, overlap, connect, and present themselves as abstracts with their own conscious form. they are daily reminders that much can be created and accomplished in one sitting of fifteen minute slowness.

6 pm – 9 pm @ 910 SE Taylor St.

DELINEATION | REDUX

Redux is pleased to present a group show featuring five Portland artists and their amazing mastery of line-work and illustration. Featured artists include Megan Eckman, Marika Paz, Isaac Fletcher-Weiss, Kirsten Moore and Helen Mask-Greer.

This show explores the variety of methods artists use in defining space, carving out edges, and focusing on an object. “Delineation” describes the action of portraying something precisely. Some illustrate and define an object in its buildup of line, dots or shadow; others reveal the object through the suggestion of negative space. Sometimes emphasis is placed on something by drawing the viewer in with a small focal point of color within a sea of grayscale. Other times special consideration is paid to an environment of color, containing an object defined by black and white. In this show we have asked artists to illustrate how they tell their own stories through a personal approach to illustrative line-making.

6 pm – 9 pm @ 811 E Burnside St, # 116

THE ART OF SUBTRACTION | BRASSWORKS GALLERY

The Art Of Subtraction, Steve Rutherfords first solo show – where he brings us into the work of his magical photography, that pulls you into each image allowing your mind to wander and escape and feel the beauty.

6 pm – 10 pm @ 1127 SE 10th Ave

IN THE BACK ROOM | EUTECTIC GALLERY

We’ve been very lucky to acquire a diverse collection of works from Israel-born Berlin-based artist Michal Fargo. These works challenge notions of what ceramic art looks like, with their mysterious material origins. See the incredible detail up close, at this month’s opening celebration.

6 pm – 9 pm @ 1930 NE Oregon St.

SHRINES AND ALTARS | SPLENDORPORIUM

Join us for the opening of our Shrines and Altars show featuring artist Leslee Lukosh. There will be shrines, altars, paintings, sculptures, wearable art, art lamps and jewelry from a vast array of local Portland artists. Also – our kids gallery is full of wondrous beauty. Show runs 4/5 til 4/26.

7 pm – 9 pm @ 3421 SE 21st Ave

Blog

THE CYNICAL SIDE OF ART CENSORSHIP | VICTORIA GLANOWSKI

“In 2011, Facebook closed the account of Frédéric Durand without warning after he posted an image of Gustave Courbet’s L’Origine du Monde (The Origin of the World). For those not familiar with the painting, it showed a woman’s genitals…”

Read the full blog post here!

OTHER SHOW OPENINGS AND ART EVENTS

  • 5 – 10 pm: Quadraphotique @ Roll-Up Photo Studio + Gallery (1715 SE Spokane St.)
  • 6 – 8 pm: Riding the Storm Out – A Blizzard of Ravens; Adam Bacher @ Pushdot Studio (2505 SE 11th Ave #104)
  • 6 – 8 pm: Rumors by Small Talk @ Wolff Gallery (2804 SE Ankeny St.)
  • 6 – 9 PM: Opening Reception: Mini Giri/Charles GluskoterPublic @ Sidestreet Arts (140 SE 28th Ave)
  • 6 – 9 pm: First Friday April @ Annie Meyer Gallery/Studio 2507 (2507 SE Clinton St)
  • 6 – 9 pm: Fabulous First Friday and Open Studios @ East Creative Collective (211 SE Madison St
  • 6 – 9 pm: First Friday Artist Reception @ Bite Studio (2000 SE 7th Ave.)
  • 6 pm – 12 am: The Third Annual Kids Show @ AFRU Gallery (534 SE Oak St.)

Visit the First Friday PDX website for more info and the First Friday map!

Contact Us

We love to promote art events involving our participating galleries and artists, please be sure to send your news and any feedback to: press@firstfridaypdx.org

Or use our online event submission form!

General inquires: info@firstfridaypdx.org

Copyright © 2019 First Friday PDX, All rights reserved.

Posted on

The Cynical Side of Art Censorship

Before diving into art censorship, let’s ask ourselves, what is censorship? According to the Oxford Living Dictionaries, censorship is: “The suppression or prohibition of any parts of books, films, news, etc. that are considered obscene, politically unacceptable, or a threat to security.” Censorship can shelter citizens from reality and infringe on their rights. Below are some examples of art censorship.

In 2011, Facebook closed the account of Frédéric Durand without warning after he posted an image of Gustave Courbet’s L’Origine du Monde (The Origin of the World). For those not familiar with the painting, it showed a woman’s genitals.  Durand took it to French court and sued Facebook for violating his freedom of expression. After a 7 year battle, a French court ruled that Facebook was wrong to censor Courbet’s painting. However, the social media network did not pay the $25,000 in damages, due to the fact that he was using a pseudonym and opened up a new account on the same day his previous account was deleted.

Another example of art censorship involves low-level detainees at Guantánamo Bay and their artworks. 32 works of art by 8 detainees are now owned by the US government which were previously on exhibition at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. The reason for this is that the US government suspects that their potential sale would go to supporting terrorist activities. This new policy is a no-win situation when ownership is taken away and barbaric, especially when the art poses no security threat.  

As you can see, censoring art does more harm than good. It makes society less accessible and open for citizens. Finally, in the words of Ai Weiwei (artist and activist), “words can be deleted, but the facts won’t be deleted with them.”

Works Cited:

Rea, Naomi. (2018, March 15). A French Court Rules Facebook was Wrong to Censor Gustave Courbet’s Provocative ‘Origin of the World’. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/facebook-censorship-gustave-courbet-1245458

Thompson, Erin. (2017, November 27). Art Censorship at Guantánamo Bay. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/27/opinion/guantanamo-art-prisoners.html

Toor, Amar. (2015, March 3). 19th Century Vagina Sparks French Lawsuit against Facebook. https://www.theverge.com/2015/3/6/8160721/facebook-censorship-vagina-painting-france-lawsuit

Rosenberg, Carol. (2017, December 1). U.S. Military May Archive Guantánamo Prison Art Rather than Burn It.  https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/guantanamo/article186891663.html

(2018, February 1). Facebook to French Court: Nude Painting did not Prompt Account’s Deletion.https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/feb/01/facebook-nude-painting-gustave-courbet

(2015, May 3). Court to Rule that Facebook can be Judged in France in Vagina Painting Case. http://en.rfi.fr/americas/20150305-court-rule-facebook-s-can-be-judged-france-vagina-painting-case

https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/censorship

Posted on

Color and Collage: Tonight at First Friday!



3/01/19

While there are perhaps infinite elements which characterize art, none looms so large in pure expressive power as color. In either exuberant overabundance, or in limited dramatic palates, color, more than form, line, or space is the essence of feeling. Much like feeling itself however, color is also a thing that does not exist independent of its subject but rather alters its.

In this respect color is not unlike collage. Through the repurposing of existing images, collage permits the creation of new subjects and meaning. The previously banal or benign can take on urgent potency with new context.

Like an alchemist, this alteration is the essential power of art. In doing so the artist can recast the mundane to the sublime, ugliness into beauty…and also the reverse. In deciding if such such feats of transmutation are truly possible however, it also a power which the viewer shares.

In the spirit of these thoughts, here are some colorful subjects for you to consider this First Friday:

  • Rainbows and pottery at Spectrum and Carson Culp at Eutectic Gallery
  • Stephanie Chefas Projects welcomes Yellena Jame’s colorful creations in Immerse
  • Mixed media and collage by Israel Hughes at Roll-Up Photo Studio + Gallery
  • Sidestreet Arts presents new collage and mixed media works in All Mixed Up
  • The Night Gallery at Splendorporium
  • A Spring Fling at East Creative Collective
  • A new blog post by Victoria Glanowski on Tetrachromacy

Look forward to seeing you tonight!

Noah Alexander Isaac Stein

First Friday PDX Director

UPCOMING OPENINGS

SPECTRUM AND CARSON CULP | EUTECTIC GALLERY

Escape the dreary Northwest gray and immerse yourself in the eye-popping, candy colored rainbow of Spectrum. Blair Clemo will join us for the opening celebration, along with our Back Room artist, Carson Culp. Carson recently returned from a residency in Japan following an apprenticeship at Leach Pottery.

6 pm – pm @ 1930 NE Oregon St

IMMERSE | STEPHANIE CHEFAS PROJECTS

This March, Stephanie Chefas Projects is delighted to present Immerse, the latest exhibition of work from Portland-based artist Yellena James. Prepare to take a deep plunge into the world of James’ creation, where ethereal forms overlap amidst a limitless expanse. Rendered in vibrant color, organic elements thrive within fully conceived ecosystems, as the collective result essentially swallows the viewer whole.

7 pm – 10 pm @ 305 SE 3rd Ave, Ste 202

ISRAEL HUGHES | ROLL-UP PHOTO STUDIO + GALLERY

Painter, collage artist and native Oregonian, Israel Hughes presents new mixed media works that celebrate layers, lines and edges. His intuitive process and improvisatory style are informed by visual poetry, New York Dada and a storied history as a theater manager and blues musician.

5 pm – 9 pm @ 1715 SE Spokane St, Portland

ALL MIXED UP | SIDESTREET ARTS

We’re ”All Mixed Up” for the month of March … with collage & mixed media works. Our First Friday Opening offers up fun conversation, delicious reception munchies and adult beverages. If you like to mingle with artists and art lovers, you’ll not want to miss this! (Please be 21 years of age to consume the alcohol).

6 pm – 9 pm @ 140 SE 28th Ave

THE NIGHT GALLERY | SPLENDORPORIUM

Join us for the Night Gallery Show. Featuring artists Jason Stewart and Troy Hileman. Also, Ophelia Darkly will be here reading her haunted doll Tarot. This is going to be a dark, creepy, wonderful evening.

7 pm – 9 pm @ 3421 SE 21st Ave

SPRING FLING | EAST CREATIVE COLLECTIVE

Spring Fling Art and Craft is happening at East Creative in conjunction with First Friday. Frida’s Den will be filled with amazing colorful art and crafts in addition to our fabulous First Friday open studio event. Come on down and see what all the fuss is about. Makers, shakers and artists abound! Plenty of free parking as always. Free Kombucha too.

6 pm – 9 pm @ 211 SE Madison St.

MARCH OPENING | ANNIE MEYER GALLERY

We are excited to welcome the Annie Meyer Gallery to the East Side. Come check out the new location on SE Clinton this Friday!

6 pm – 9 pm @ 2507 SE Clinton St.

BLOG

HOW MANY GREENS DO YOU SEE? | VICTORIA GLANOWSKI

“What if I told you that there is this really cool mutation existing in today’s world called tetrachromacy. What is tetrachromacy? Tetrachromacy is “The condition of possessing four independent channels for conveying color information or possessing four types of cone cell in the eye.” Basically, a person has an extra cone that allows them to see the differences in colors that appear identical to others…”

Read the full post here.

Contact Us

We love to promote art events involving our participating galleries and artists, please be sure to send your news and any feedback to: press@firstfridaypdx.org

General inquires: info@firstfridaypdx.org

Copyright © 2019 First Friday PDX, All rights reserved.

You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website.

Want to change how you receive these emails?

You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

Email Marketing Powered by Mailchimp

Posted on

How Many Greens Do You See?

Scorpio Moon With Sirius by Concetta Antico

Any one thought that the mutants in the X-Men series were cool?

What if I told you that there is this really cool mutation existing in today’s world called tetrachromacy. What is tetrachromacy? Tetrachromacy is “The condition of possessing four independent channels for conveying color information or possessing four types of cone cell in the eye.” Basically, a person has an extra cone that allows them to see the differences in colors that appear identical to others.

This type of condition has so far shown up only in women. Maureen Seaberb and Concetta Antico are the only two known functioning tetrachromats in America. Antico was tested positive for tetrachromacy in 2012, when her daughter was tested for colorblindness. Her perception for color allows her to excel at being a tetrachromat artist and oil-painting teacher, since she can see more than a trichromat. For more information you can check out her website at https://concettaantico.com/.

Maureen Seaberb is a journalist and author who finds matching tops and skirts a different shade to her. Seaberb has also had some disagreements over colors, such as rejecting 32 sample colors that were part of a house remodeling project.  She tested positive in 2013 after hearing about the subject on a Radiolab podcast.

So, could you be a tetrachromat? Had any recent arguments about an object being beet red?

Beyond Average Color Vision: An Interview with Tetrachromat Artist Concetta Antico. https://munsell.com/color-blog/tetrachromat-artist-concetta-antico/

Robson, David. (2014, September 5). The Woman with Superhuman Vision. http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20140905-the-women-with-super-human-vision

Lewis, Ricki. (2016, December 25). A Good Mutation: Seeing the World with Extra Cones https://www.raredr.com/contributor/ricki-lewis-phd/2016/12/a-good-mutation-seeing-the-world-with-extra-cones

Shearer, John. (2012, March). Tetrachromats. http://www.wonderfulcolors.org/blog/tetrachromats/

Posted on

Pleasing Sense: Art and Love on First Friday

Love and art share many commonalities; into addition to originating in similar places in the human heart, the best examples of both also often share depths of passion, sensuality, and beauty.

Likewise, while we are constantly tempted and sometimes prefer to search for their greater significance, the essence of both love and art may simply lie in sensory stimulation.

Of course such analysis of either may also be misplaced; elements such as aesthetic or philosophy might be inseparable from their expression. Perhaps, they are merely components of the same self-evident expression of some ineffable truth?

Regardless, as in love and art, it is certain that the marriage of the two produces sublime results.

On this theme of esoteric synthesis then, here are some First Friday shows which will mark this lovely February through art, beauty, love, and sensory pleasure.

  • Visual and olfactory cross-stimulation at My Nose Made Me Do It by Catherine Haley at Pushdot Studio
  • Stephanie Chefas Projects presents All This Useless Beauty a solo show of Serena Cole
  • Botanical Burlesque at Redux Gallery
  • The Pink Show at Splendorporium
  • East Creative Collective’s February Open Studios and Vintage Valentines Day Pop-Up

See you on Friday!

Noah Alexander Isaac Stein
First Friday PDX Director

UPCOMING OPENINGS

MY NOSE MADE ME DO IT  | PUSHDOT STUDIO

Catherine Haley Epstein is an award-winning writer, artist, designer and curator. Over the past eight years she has pioneered the incorporation of scent into her visual and conceptual art practice. The effect has been an entirely new and more abstract dynamic to her work.

Mixing scent requires chance, knowledge and courage. In this installation, “My Nose Made Me Do It,” the artist has combined visuals with which she has been obsessed for over twenty years in the same manner she has combined scent materials – with love, patience and curiosity. The installation is a weaving of philosophy, art history and multimedia where scent, visuals, text and sculpture become distilled tales of her nose journey to date.

6 pm – 8 pm @ 2505 SE 11 th Avenue, Suite 104

ALL THIS USELESS BEAUTY  | STEPHANIE CHEFAS PROJECTS

This February, Stephanie Chefas Projects is delighted to present All This Useless Beauty, a solo exhibition from Northern California based painter Serena Cole and curated by arts writer Gabe Scott. Throughout the artist’s career, the physical body has served as the framework for which to look inward, outward and through the feminine psyche. Her watercolor and pencil renderings are composed of found images and anonymous individuals, which take on new roles and identities as assigned by Cole.

The images of these nameless individuals have been harvested for appropriation based on an emotional connection to the content. In working from pre-existing images, an individual in a photograph is no longer confined to existing in the original context presented. Revelations of her own subconscious are projected and manipulated on anonymous individuals, juxtaposing emotions and intuitions on to a new model that once only existed in a perfunctory realm.

7 pm – 10 pm @ 305 SE 3rd Ave, Ste 202

BOTANICAL BURLESQUE  | REDUX GALLERY

Group show featuring Northwest artists all focusing on a common theme of florals and the female form. Botanical Burlesque will focus on the female floral portraiture work of 6 woman artists.
6 pm – 9 pm @ 811 E Burnside St, # 116

THE PINK SHOW | SPLENDORPORIUM

Join us Friday, February 1st 7-9 for the opening of the PINK show. Featured artist Isaac Yoder with so many other artists!!!!! Visit the Art4Life children’s gallery to see the magic the kids make!

7 pm – 9 pm @ 3421 SE 21st Ave

OPEN STUDIOS AND VINTAGE VALENTINES POP-UP | EAST CREATIVE COLLECTIVE

Featuring open studios by resident artists, a vintage valentines day pop-up at Frida’s Den, fire dancing by Photonica, and live music by Slim Bacon, Edad Del Pavo, and TwentyThree Suns.

6 pm – 9 pm @ 211 SE Madison St.

 

BLOG

A NEW CHANGE ON THE HORIZON | VICTORIA GLANOWSKI

“…These types of independent galleries are being brought to the forefront to instill curiosity and thought in this chaotic world. Therefore, the world is in a dawn and it is up to the owners/directors of these galleries to make a difference in society.”

Read the full post here.

Contact Us

We love to promote art events involving our participating galleries and artists, please be sure to send your news and any feedback to: press@firstfridaypdx.org
General inquires: info@firstfridaypdx.org

Copyright © 2019 First Friday PDX, All rights reserved.

Posted on

A New Change on the Horizon: Representation in Art Galleries

Raise your hand if you have ever been on an artwalk. Good. Now tell me: why are trans and queer artist of color, people with no BA’s, and people with disabilities left out of the picture, or not pushed to the forefront? Because the gallery owners are either rich, white, or male. Here are three galleries that are redefining the art world for the better with owners who are not rich, white, or male.

One of these art galleries is on the other side of the world, in the thriving metropolis of London. The gallery is called Sid Motion, which is also the name of the gallery owner and curator. The gallery opened up back in June 2016 with the intent “to bring a range of fresh vibrant artists working in different media to this new gallery space” as stated on the gallery’s website. For example, for her opening show she chose to exhibit a group of unsigned artists in the UK who work in various mediums. Her shows range from solo shows to two-­woman show and group shows. She presents a  spectrum of artists from the established artists to lesser­ known and difficult-­to­-track­-down artists. These exhibitions “aim to introduce a forum for conversation, education and development.”

Back on the West Cost, there is the Ori Gallery that “seeks to reclaim and redefine ‘the white cube’ through amplifying the voices of Trans and Queer Artists [sic] of color, community organization and mobilization through the arts”, as stated on the gallery’s website. Co­-directors Maya Vivas (ceramic/performance artist) and Leila Haile (tattooer and community organizer) are not fazed by “limiting” those who can participate in the space. The most marginalized identity is being reflected and, unlike most galleries, they are being direct about it. Since they opened last February the gallery has been seen eight exhibitions that directly connect back to the gallery’s goal. So far, the gallery has done group exhibitions such as Emergent, which featured eleven young queer /trans /artists of color and two­-person exhibitions such as Linoleum Flowers . These exhibitions show the work as is and leave the “diversity representation” behind which connects to one of the gallery’s goals to “hold institutional power.”

Finally, the Wolff Gallery, run by Shannon O’Connor and Zemie Barr (visual artist themselves) seeks to “broaden the Portland art scene by prioritizing the exhibition of work by traditionally underrepresented artists.” These include exhibitions that focus on being “dedicated to a feminist, collaborative organizational model.” This means “rejecting certain things women have been told to believe.” Their grand opening, Now I am Myself exemplified this specifically through five female photographers, and focused on eliminating the male gaze and leaving the viewer with non-sexualized subjects. The five artists used softness and vulnerability in their works to shift the narrative and communicate strength.

As you can see, these newfound galleries challenge the status quo and make the viewer question society as a whole. These types of independent galleries are being brought to the forefront to instill curiosity and thought in this chaotic world. Therefore, the world is in a dawn and it is up to the owners/directors of these galleries to make a difference in society.

Notable Mentions:
Access Gallery
Medium Tings

Works Cited:
Skidmore, Maisie. (2016, October 10) A Beginner’s Guide to Opening an Art Gallery. http://www.anothermag.com/art­photography/9154/a­beginners­guide­to­opening­an­art­gallery

McCann, Fiona. (2018, January 30). A New North Portland Gallery Gives Space to Queer and Trans Artists of Color. https://www.pdxmonthly.com/articles/2018/1/30/ a­new­north­portland­gallery­gives­space­to­queer­and­trans­artists­of­color

Rabin, Jennifer. (2016, April 12). Now One Called Koons “Masculinist Art”.
https://www.wweek.com/arts/2016/04/12/no­one­called­koons­masculinist­art/

Rabin, Jennifer. (2016, September 6). Portland’s Newest Gallery Is Only Representing Female Artists. Rabin, Jennifer. (2016, September 6). Portland’s Newest Gallery Is Only Representing Female
Artists. https://www.wweek.com/arts/2016/09/07/portlands­-newest-­gallery­is-­only-representing­-female­-artists/