SQFT Egyptian Theater, Boise, ID (Brad Carlile image: 2nd row, 4th col)

SQFT is a window-based, traveling exhibition curated by TJ Norris of 2D works by 50 of the most innovative, emerging and established artists in the Northwest. It is intended as a showcase of where we are right now, and many works respond directly to the in-situ nature of being either on public display or behind glass.

November 14-December 30, 2009
SQFT
60 Established + Emerging Pacific NW Artists
curated by TJ Norris
Egyptian Theater, Boise, ID
(portable/traveling exhibition)

For more information see:
http://www.bradcarlile.com/blog/my-art-update/sqft-show/

Tom Cramer Lecture at Laura Russo in October 2009

Tom Cramer gave a artist lecture this past Saturday (17-Oct) at Laura Russo Gallery (805 NW 21st, Portland, OR) where he discussed his work in his current show. There was a lot of interaction and questions on a wide range of topics. A good-sized crowd heard and inspiring talk about Tom’s work and his influences.

Tom Cramer Lecture

Tom’s new rebellion… is leading a cause to be ultra positive in these times. This is not a blind positivism but a thoughtful positivism.

Tom Rebelling

Another part of this is a deep responsibility for all of us. He talked about his reading of Schopenhauer and the need for each of us to “Think for Yourself”

Tom Cramer & the front row

He is also rebelling against “1-liner” art. In my mind a lot of 1-liner art has jumped the shark. Life is richer than that.

Tom Cramer

Below are some random thoughts from the lecture:

Art is a verb.

Music activates other senses

Tom Cramer's Scent (detail)

Other influences… Heidegger, Blake, Pacific Rim artists, poets, writers, Maurer and many others.

Tom Cramer's Scent

Especially in America he wants more support for non-mediocracy.

…more images from the show in upcoming posts.  I’m behind on posting images from October’s First Thursday’s shows, I’ll try to catch up before long…

PDX Contemporary Art (925 NW Flanders, Portland OR) is showing Nell Warren’s new work.

Nell Warren Whale Song PDX Contemporary

Nell Warren - Brink - PDX Contemporary

Elizabeth Leach Gallery (17 NW 9th, Portland OR) is showing Portland Artist MK Guth who’s work was seen at the last Whitney Biennial. Here is a peak in the door, but you must go in!

MK Guth - Elizabeth Leach

SQFT is show Curated by TJ Norris you can see outside Blackfish Gallery (420 NW 9th Ave, Portland, OR) in the Fishbowl II – Window. It will be showing August 31 – September 26, 2009.

SQFT is a window-based, traveling exhibition of 2D works by 50 of the most innovative, emerging and established artists in the Northwest. It is intended as a showcase of where we are right now, and many works respond directly to the in-situ nature of being either on public display or behind glass.

Read more about it at my previous blog posting.

Brad Carlile - the race for kicks - SQFT

Inside the Blackfish Gallery (420 NW 9th Ave, Portland, OR) I liked Carol Benson’s painting in the back.

Carol Benson - The Internet is the Devil - Blackfish Gallery

Froelick Gallery (714 NW Davis, Portland OR)

Rick Bartow - Arms Crossed Pow Wow - Froelick Gallery

Nine Gallery which is inside Blue Sky Gallery (122 NW 8th Ave, Portland OR) has an installation by Jiseon Lee Isbara called Accumulated.

Jiseon Lee Isbara - Accumulated - Nine Gallery

Jiseon Lee Isbara - Accumulated - Nine Gallery

Augen Gallery (716 NW Davis, Portland OR) was showing Andrew Young’s work.

Andrew Young - Untitled c 188 - Augen Gallery

Here was Port’s posting on first thursday recommendations for September.

Walking around Everett galleries we ran into Tom Cramer,w ho has a show at Laura Russo Gallery (805 NW 21st, Portland, OR) next month, check it out!

Jason Ehlers - All stumps go to heaven

Jason Ehlers - All stumps go to heaven

Erik Palmer had very impressive work.  The opening show had a scene that could have been filmed for movie, if you were there you know what I’m talking about.

Erik Palmer

Erik Palmer

Augen Gallery (716 NW Davis, Portland OR) was showing the amazing collages by Arless Day.

Arless Day - Sounds of Italy - Augen Gallery

Arless Day - The Dream Recreate - Augen Gallery

Laura Russo Gallery (805 NW 21st, Portland, OR) was showing Whitney Nye.

Whitney Nye - Vodopad - Laura Russo

Whitney Nye - Hit Singles - Laura Russo

Whitney Nye - Hit Singles (detail) - Laura Russo

Chambers Gallery @ 916 (916 Flanders, Portland OR) continues to have a good lineup of shows. In August & Sept it is Peter Halasz.

Peter Halasz - 7 Oblique Aerial View of Collapsed Section of the Broughton Flume Skamania Co, WA - 916 Chambers

Elizabeth Leach Gallery (17 NW 9th, Portland OR) wonderful paintings by Chester Arnold.

Chester Arnold - Afterword - Elizabeth Leach

Chester Arnold - The Fall - Elizabeth Leach

Froelick Gallery (714 NW Davis, Portland OR) showed Kelly Kievit’s work.

Kelly Kievit - Taken at the Flood - Froelick Gallery

PDX Contemporary Art (925 NW Flanders, Portland OR) was showing Terry Toedtemeier’s images from around the Northwest.  I’ve love this one of the tracks.

Terry Toedtemeier - PDX Contemporary

Ogle Gallery (310 NW Broadway, Portland OR) was showing installation by Mike Bragg.

Mike Bragg Ogle

Nine Gallery which is inside Blue Sky Gallery (122 NW 8th Ave, Portland OR) has an installation by Kim Ray called Generation.

Kim Ray - Generation - Nine Gallery

Butters Gallery (520 NW Davis, 2nd flr, Portland OR) had a summer group show. Favs included: Monroe Hodder, Michael Kessler, Andrea Schwartz-Feit, and Annette Davidek.

Monroe Hodder - Saint Valentine - Butters Gallery

Annette Davidek - 35-06 - Butters Gallery

First I start out with the mandala-like photo of Christian Rogers, “His & Hers (Predominantly His)”.

Christian Rogers, His Hers (Predominantly His) Blackfish Gallery

Below is the detail from “His & Hers (Predominantly His)”  Here you get a better view of the lozenges that radiate out from the center.  Images so thin they meld in layers.

Christian Rogers, Detail His Hers (Predominantly His) Blackfish Gallery

Next is Patricia Patino, whose work “March 24″

Patricia Patino, March 24, Blackfish Gallery

Finally I loved this one by Leah Morris. Such a wondeful gift of poison for cut little bunnies.

Leah Morris, Gift, Blackfish Gallery

I also liked Sanna-Lisa Gesang-Gottowt “Everything Changes” and Caitlin Ducey “Shapes.”

In the window project at PDX Contemporary Art (925 NW Flanders, Portland OR) is Brennan Conaway’s “In Joyful Anticipation of Catastrophic Ruin…” I didn’t capture the full title, maybe ends with “first colony”(?).  This sculpture is a celebration of a future cultural demise, to facilitate a consumerist-free rebirth.

Brennan Conaway, In Joyful Anticipation of Catastrphic Ruin, PDX Window Project

In the gallery at PDX Contemporary Art (925 NW Flanders, Portland OR) is Wes Mills’ Mondrian’s Forest.  I’m often drawn to work in grids.  The repetition of work with variations continues to build upon itself.  Each individual framed piece is subtle work on paper that is drawn, stained and wrinkled.

Wes Mills is part of the NYC group show Master Drawings New York: Sol LeWitt, Agnes Martin, Wes Mills atDickinson (19 East 66th Street, NYC). He has work in the collections Whitney Museum and MoMA (NYC)

Wes Mills, Mondrians Forest, PDX Contemporary

Detail of Wes Mills’ Mondrian’s Forest.  Here you can see the descending lines and the effects they have on the paper and the effect of the paper on them.  Also at this show is the work “Pie Set” which has sketches of pies/disks with wedges removed from them are superimposed and interlaced.  Again the paper and the drawing effect one another.

Wes Mills, (Detail) Mondrians Forest, PDX Contemporary

Blue Sky Gallery (122 NW 8th Ave, Portland OR), has a strong combination this month. Ferit Kuyas has wonderful beautiful prints – STUNNING WORK.  Colors and images are luxurious and often soft.  But the fog and the massive buildings hit you with what we have wrought by rebuilding our land and smogging our air.

Postscript: According to the artist this is actually fog not smog.  I was mislead by the smog that I saw in Beijing in my trip to China in 2005 (few snaps from that trip).  Read more at the Oregonian about an interview with Ferit Kuyas: http://www.oregonlive.com/art/index.ssf/2009/07/photos_capture_a_foggy_chinese.html

Ferit Kuyas, Restaurant Boats Jialing River Chongqing, Blue Sky

Ferit Kuyas, Cableway Cangbai Raod Chongqing, Blue Sky Gallery

Artist and frequent Blogger Amy Stein is in the back gallery of Blue Sky Gallery.

Her works are modern dioramas set out in our landscape.  These constructed  scenes she writes, “explore our paradoxical relationship with the “wild” and how our conflicting impulses continue to evolve and alter the behavior of both humans and animals.”  She continues, they “…are constructed based on real stories from local newspapers and oral histories of intentional and random interactions between humans and animals.”

Garden was a hilarious look at an American garden that is a comment on  protectionism and created nature.

Amy Stein, Garden, Blue Sky Gallery

Watering Hole is an image of Amy’s that you may have seen around the web.  It is also on the cover of her book “Domesticated” that was the winner of Photolucida’s Critical Mass book award.

Amy Stein, Watering Hole, Blue Sky Gallery

Michael Kenna has another strong show at Hartman Fine Art (154 NW 8th, Portland OR).  His black&white work is powerful as always.  You can see why they grace many museum collections.  But see them here in Portland in a great space.

Eva Lake has a very nice interview of Michael Kenna on KBOO, hear it at: http://kboo.fm/audio/by/title/michael_kenna

Michael Kenna, Huangshan Mountains Study 2 Anhui China, Charles Hartman

Allen Cox work is showing at Augen Gallery (716 NW Davis, Portland OR).  Allen is a well-known Pacific Northwest abstract painter.  Below is the painting “Landslide”.  I was also drawn to “Uncertainty Principle” which I believe is what they used on the show postcard.

I didn’t get any snapshots of Akahashi Murakami’s lithographs, but they are well worth a visit to the gallery in their own right.

Allen Cox, Landslide, Augen Gallery

Butters Gallery (520 NW Davis, 2nd flr, Portland OR) has a show called NEW DISCOVERIES, and two of them are discoveries for me.

Nicolas Guerrero magical color… trippy mandalas.  I liked them a lot.  Bold saturated colors and interesting shapes. These gain extra luminosity since they are face-mounted plexi which gives both a softer and stronger impression.

Nicolas Guerrero, Cromatico, Butters Gallery

Here are two more… Bold primary colors that can fill one’s imagination.

Nicolas Guerrero, Cromatico, Butters Gallery

Also at Butters is Jiro Yonezawa’s sculptures. He combines “traditional Japanese weaving combined with ideas of modern Western sculpture.”

I particularly liked the thin space filling works like the image below.

Jiro Yonezawa, Bond 09 7, Butters Gallery

Matthew Craig paintings were also captivating. He is recent graduate from the University of Oregon.  In this work we have layers of bold geometries with dare I say pin-stripping squiggles.  It works with great effect.

He writes, “The lines shift, the colors recede or advance, the space is at once flat and deep. Both space and color are contingent upon the formal choices Craig makes; color is affected by its surroundings, and the color and structure of the lines creates the space. The structures in the paintings never seem quite stable because of this shifting of space, this vibration of color. The work is very much about the present moment, the viewers direct engagement with the work, and their immediate perceptual responses.”

Matthew Craig, Untitled, Butters Gallery

Below is one more…

Matthew Craig, Untitled, Butters Gallery

It was a good set of 1st Thursday shows. Stop by any of these Portland Galleries and more to really spend some time with these works in person (and without the opening festivities).

You can clearly see some of my work at starting at 2:32 and also at 3:30…

The images in the show are from my Tempus Incognitus show. Which you can see on my website at:
http://www.bradcarlile.com/portfolio/jose.html

I also loved that fact that they used a favorite song of mine “Tonto” by Battles as the background music. I had nothing to do with this choice, but great minds must think alike . I blogged about battles back in Nov 2007. http://www.bradcarlile.com/blog/music/battles-coming-to-portland-2-nov/

ROOTED
Opening reception: Thursday, June 25th : 6 - 8 pm
Show: JUNE 25 – JULY 25 2009
TUE – FRI 2.30 – 6.30 pm, SAT 10 -12 am / 2 – 5 pm
The gallery is located at 21, rue du St-Esprit – 1475 Luxembourg.
(see map)

The WINNERS (Galerie Clairefontaine):

Brad Carlile USA – Adam Martinakis Greece – Nebojsa Despotovic Serbia – Myriam Ziade Luxembourg – Franca Giovanrosa Italy

Date:
Thursday June 25, 2009, 6 p.m.
Location:
GALLERIE CLAIRFONTAINE
ESPACE 2
21, rue du St-Esprit
L – 1475 Luxembourg

“Lauréats” of theROOTED competition!

• Adam Martinakis, Greece
• Nebojsa Despotovic, Serbia
• Myriam Barbara-Ziade, Luxembourg
• Franca Giovanrosa, Italy
• Brad Carlile, USA

“Fotografias Estrangeiras” from Joaquim Paiva Collection
Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro
29 Aug – 05 Oct 2008 (Extended until 12 October)
2nd floor – Area 2.3 / 250m2 – 43 works

Fernando Rabelo in his blog Images&Visions wrote a blog posting about the show on September 22, 2008  “Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro shows the work of foreign photographers,” below is my translation from Portuguese:

The Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro exhibition called “Photos Foreign” shows 43 photos of the international diplomat and collector Joaquim Paiva, selected by the curator of the museum, Reynaldo Roels Jr.

Paiva’s collection is one of the greatest of modern photography and contemporary Brazilian as well as international. He has been Brazilian collection of about 1,090 works, which he has been showing since 2005.

The exhibition “Foreign Photographs” presents works by Alberto Korda, Anderson Wrangler, Annemarie Heinrich, Ansel Adams, Brad Carlile, Carlos and Miguel Vargas, David Julian Leonard, Diane Arbus, Dominic Rouse, Flor Garduño, Frank Rothe, Georg Hornung, Martin Chamba, Sara Terry, Sergei Leontiev, Vadim Gushin, and Vincent Delbrouck.

The show ran from 29-August until 12-October, 2008.

The first stop was at Yossi Milo Gallery (525 west 25 Street, NYC) to see Myoung Ho Lee’s photographs.  The concept is simple but powerful, Lee singles out one tree in each of his images in Korea, he then separates the tree from nature by putting a huge white sheet behind it.  I like the way it questions subject, representation and art itself.

Myoung Ho Lee at Yossi Milo

I found the backlight one below to be particularly interesting. But I must admit that after reading that the following in his artist statement.

To install the large canvases, which span approximately 60 by 45 feet, the artist enlists a production crew and heavy cranes. Minor components of the canvas support system, such as ropes or bars, are later removed from the photograph through minimal digital retouching, creating the illusion that the backdrop is floating behind the tree.

I was a bit dismayed I would have like an even more process heavy that would require no heavy crane and the digital after removal of them. The industrial nature bothered me and subtracted a bit from my experience.

Myoung Ho Lee at Yossi Milo

Below is an image by Philippe Azaud at FOLEYGallery (547 W 27th Street, 5th floor, NYC).  I loved this image from the group show.  Michael Foley also stopped by the opening at the Hearst Biennial show that I’m in, so we had a couple of chances to talk this month, which was quite nice.

Philippe Azaud at Michael Foley

From there we went to ClampArt (531 West 25th Street, Ground floor, NYC). At FotoFest in Houston I meet Frank Yamrus, who recently had several shows with his “Rune Lagu” which is a series of water bottle portraits.  A new series of his is self-portraits as he turns 50.  They are excellent and you can see them in the back room.  Take a look below…

Frank Yamrus Clampart

The main show at ClampArt is well curatored show called… “Kids behaving badly”

Clampart

Larry Clark at Clampart

Von Lintel Gallery (555 West 25th street, NYC) has the work of Japanese photographer Izima Kaoru. “In this work, Kaoru asks famous Japanese models and actresses to describe fantasies of their own deaths and then stages them for the camera. …
human figure in a landscape juxtaposed against the shock value of death is even more pronounced in this latest endeavor.”

This solo coincides with the publication of Izima Kaoru: Landscapes with a Corpse, a 192-page monograph published by Hatje Kantz.

Izima Kaoru at Von Lintel

Aperture has a very strong and moving show by Jonathan Torgovnik that you must see and read more about.
“Intended Consequences: Rwandan Children Born of Rape” From the press release.

During the 1994 genocide, hundreds of thousands of Rwandan women were subjected to massive sexual violence by members of the infamous Hutu militia groups, known as the Interhamwe. Among the most isolated survivors are women who have borne children as a result of those rapes. Due to the stigma of rape and “having a child of the militia,” the women’s communities and few surviving relatives have largely shunned them. Intended Consequences: Rwandan Children Born of Rape brings together Jonathan Torgovnik’s remarkable portraits of these women and children, and their harrowing first-hand testimonies.

Jonathan Torgovnik Aperture

Jonathan Torgovnik at Aperture

Prolific blogger Ed Winkleman has a show at Winkleman Gallery (637 West 27th Street, NYC) by Jennifer Dalton called “The Reappraisal.”

From the press release:
In “The Reappraisal,” everything in the house Dalton shares with her husband and four-year-old son is for sale, provided would-be collectors are willing to pay the price arrived at through her family’s level of attachment to a particular object. Every household item—from graduate student paintings to the cleaning supplies under the kitchen sink to the planter in the back yard—has been photographed and appraised by both her and, again, Christie’s auction house.

Jennifer Dalton The Reappraisal at Winkleman Gallery

Cheim & Read (547 West 25th Street, NYC) has a wonderful exhibition of new paintings by Louise Fishman.

Louise Fishman at Cheim Read

At Derek Eller Gallery (615 West 57th, NYC) is a show where Alyson Shotz investigates issues of perception and space with highly sophisticated sculptures. This is a interesting show where I spent some time just enjoying.

Alyson Ahotz - Phase-shift at Derek Eller

Alyson Shotz - Phase-shift at Derek Eller

Alyson Shotz - Phase-shift at Derek Eller

STUX Gallery (530 West 25th, NYC) has the show “Phantom Landscapes,” by Israeli-based multimedia artist Penny Hes Yassour. The space is is transfored by this rubber-like sculpture.

Penny Hes Yassour Stux

Winston Wächter Fine Art ( ,NYC) has the recent paintings by Angelina Nasso entitled “Miwis.” Great work in a great space.

From the press release:

Angelina Nasso’s oil on paper works are inspired by nature using gem-like circular forms that reference pixilated images and draw upon the theory of subatomic particles in space. She views space as a container of vibrational forces. Nasso describes, “I grew up in the bush in Australia where the nights were very dark. There were no streetlights and hardly any cars went by. In the darkness of a moonless night I would watch space. In this blackness I saw circular forms dancing and vibrating.”

Angelina Nasso miwis Winston Wachter

Angelina Nasso miwis Winston Wachter

Tonight are the openings for April!

Mel Katz at Laura Russo

Mel Katz at Laura Russo

Roll Handy at Laura Russo

Roll Handy at Laura Russo

Ryan Pierce “dabrowa-station” at Elizabeth Leach

Nicola Lopez at Elizabeth Leach

Andy Freeberg at Blue Sky Gallery

Andy Freeberg at Blue Sky Gallery

Takahiko Hayashi at Charles Froelick

Takahiko Hayashi “nest-of-winds5″ at Charles Froelick

Eva Speer “Award” Charles Hartman

Helen Hiebert “Crossing” at Oogle

Christine Clark “22-gauge” at 9 Gallery

Christine Clark “22-gauge” at 9 Gallery

Masao Yamamoto “Kawa=Flow” at PDX Contemporary

Jonnel Covault “Ancient redwood top” at Beepu Wiarda

Ashley Vincent

snapshot on the street, Brad Carlile 2009 copyright