The Dregs Marylhurst Art Gym

Two artists sift through a dead man’s life.

Visual Arts Most of us know a pack rat or two. The souvenirs of yesteryear that we leave behind for others to disperse and dispose of are the subject of Paul Middendorf and Brandy Cochrane’s affecting colla ...   More

 

Wednesday, January 13, 2010 RICHARD SPEER

Best Of Visual Arts 2009

2009 kicked the Portland art scene’s ass—but it kicked back.

Visual Arts Despite the recession, poor art sales, and the continued dearth of first-rate collectors, this was an astounding year for the Portland art scene. It was astounding because in the absence of any tangib ...   More

 

Wednesday, December 30, 2009 RICHARD SPEER

Mel George At Bullseye, Reiner Riedler At Blue Sky

Wishing you were someplace—anyplace—else.

Visual Arts I’ll never forget a photograph by artist Liz Obert of a man and woman lying on the sands of South Beach yakking away on their respective cell phones. No matter where we are, it would seem, it wo ...   More

 

Wednesday, December 9, 2009 RICHARD SPEER

In the altogether: Daniel Léveillé Danse at Leftbank Annex

China Design Now Portland Art Museum

PAM’s new show unwittingly plays into the worst stereotypes of Communist China.

Visual Arts There is extraordinary design work being done in China, but it gets lost in the claustrophobic mess that is Portland Art Museum’s China Design Now. This show—which originated at the Victor ...   More

 

Wednesday, November 18, 2009 RICHARD SPEER

Bryan Suereth

Older and wiser, Disjecta’s founder bets on a better arts future despite economic woes.

Q & A More than a year after opening its splashy 12,000-square-foot exhibition space in NoPo’s Kenton neighborhood, plucky arts nonprofit Disjecta is surviving the economic meltdown and forging forwar ...   More

 

Wednesday, November 4, 2009 RICHARD SPEER

The Century Project At Bamboo Grove

Photographer Frank Cordelle wrestles with body acceptance.

Visual Arts It’s hard to believe that in 2009, the sight of a naked body can still provoke such a spectacular gamut of feelings, from arousal to repulsion. But it can, especially when the bodies in question ...   More

 

Wednesday, October 7, 2009 RICHARD SPEER

High Art

Tom Cramer resurrects the psychedelic ’60s.

Visual Arts Sinuous tangles of vines, flowers, and lichen—dots of gold that gleam in the light, then suddenly congeal into stars and teem with insectlike forms...if Tom Cramer’s latest paintings seem ...   More

 

Wednesday, September 30, 2009 RICHARD SPEER

Shits & Giggles At Launch Pad

Jeremy Okai Davis paints the halcyon days of summer.

Visual Arts Every summer the Boston Symphony Orchestra plays a series of concerts, some of them in an outdoor band shell, under the moniker “The Boston Pops.” In lieu of heavy fare like Wagner and Mah ...   More

 

Wednesday, August 19, 2009 RICHARD SPEER

Visual Arts: Going Solo

After two decades on the sidelines, painter Jeffrey Butters takes center stage.