donut
shop one
The
Donut Shop
630 SE
3rd Ave.
Opening
reception 6 pm Friday, Aug. 4
2-7 pm
Wednesday-Sunday, through Aug. 18
From a cave of cement, pipes and wire springs Portland's
newest artistic venue--The Donut Shop.
The Donut Shop is a roving gallery that, for the next two
weeks, resides in the basement of a Southeast warehouse
one block north of the Montage restaurant. A single photo
of a donut marks its entrance at 630 SE 3rd Ave.
According to Cris Moss, the Donut Shop's founder, when
the gallery develops a rhythm and support network, he hopes
to be able to host a show at a new space every other month.
For now, it is more of a catch-as-catch-can art rave, relying
on donations and free labor to make each exhibition take
form.
"Basically," Moss says, "we started with a budget of zero."
But The Donut Shop has accomplished a lot with zero. This
first exhibition, donut shop one, displays some fresh
and experimental work from five transcontinental artists.
Video installations dominate the show, which focuses on
alternative media and its use in art. Seungho Cho, an artist
who has shown his work at the Museum of Modern Art and P.S.1
in New York, brings a looped video of water pouring from
a faucet and ocean waves crashing--believe me, more exciting
than it sounds. Moss himself has contributed a kind of musical
chairs-meets-Mad Libs by installing video screens into chairs
that display different words. Cynthia Pachikara, from Chicago,
shows Shadow Work, where viewers' shadows affect
and reveal video images projected onto a large screen.
The other two contributors to donut shop one, Nan
B. Curtis and Ginelle Hustrulid (both from Portland), have
taken a different turn. Curtis draws inspiration from the
gaggingly gross. She displays a variety of found sculpture
and installations, like a casserole dish of hair-stuffed
ravioli, that are gripping and base at the same time. Hustrulid
has opted for a more philosophical outlook on the body.
She shows a sculpture collection of fluids and containers
that deal with human anatomy, drawing her works' themes
and inspiration from her childhood as a doctor's daughter,
as well as a résumé that includes hospital
work and body attendant at a morgue.
While The Donut Shop is not anti-establishment (the Portland
Art Museum donated some video equipment and Moss has an
upcoming show at the Elizabeth Leach Gallery), it definitely
has an independent spirit. Moss has created a venue free
from the artistic self-restraint that goes along with the
quest for marketability--the works you will see here are
not consumer-friendly enough to attract the interest of
most commercial galleries.
As for the name, Moss says it relates to the presence of
abandoned donut shops in every American town as well as
the modern donut trend evidenced by outlets like Krispy
Kreme.
Of course, donuts will be served at the opening reception
on Friday evening.
|
