What, for example, differentiates Cloepfil's charcoal drawings from the paintings of G. Lewis Clevenger (represented by Pulliam Deffenbaugh), who admits he was influenced by mid-century architecture and design? Perhaps it is the formalist implacability of Cloepfil's works that makes these questions so perplexing—and more than a trifle boring. 925 NW Flanders St., 222-0063. Closes June 30.
The relationship between architect and artist yields to a different relationship—that of artist and curator—in New American Art Union's The Hook Up. Jesse Hayward is best known as a painter who aims to transcend the properties of his chosen medium. He has been both successful (his extravagant, glycerolic slopfest at now-defunct Haze Gallery in 2004) and unsuccessful (his cringe-worthy, grad-school flunk-out at the 2006 Oregon Biennial). Now, with a superb show at NAAU, he dons the hat of curator, and it fits him well. Highlights of the well-conceived and nicely laid-out show include Stephanie Robison's popcorn kettle gone awry, Sean Healy's elegantly whimsical Neighborly and Jeff Jahn's oversized sculptural creepy-crawlie. The show's lowlight is yet another of the sphere/hemisphere wall pieces that Jacqueline Ehlis has been churning out for the past five years. Ehlis is a gifted artist—one of the best in the region—but if she puts out one more of these tiresome ping-pong glitterballs, I'm going to take a cyanide pill. 922 SE Ankeny St., 231-8294. Closes June 30.
