Portland Spoke – The Official Blog of Travel Portland

Here are some of Portland’s visual highlights for September and October (see theater and music highlights):

The Portland Art Museum has a big exhibition of Greek and Roman sculpture arriving from the British Museum and the London Olympics, which celebrates the human body. This should give a nice balance to a season full of challenging contemporary art.

Design with the Other 90%: CITIES
Aug. 17, 2012 – Jan. 5, 2013
Museum of Contemporary Craft, 724 N.W. Davis St.

Organized by Cynthia E. Smith. the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum’s curator of socially responsible design, this exhibition examines design as it applies to the world outside of the professional design community, highlighting the work of designers and architects who endeavor to bring change through design to developing areas and economies. A companion exhibit is at Mercy Corps, 28 S.W. First Ave.

Storm Tharp, “Holding a Peach”
Sept. 4-29
PDX Contemporary Art, 925 N.W. Flanders St.

Portland artist Storm Tharp is known for his adept use of ink, dye, gouache and other materials to create finely rendered abstractions of the human form. Following his inclusion in the 2010 Whitney Biennial, he has evolved his focus on the figure and presents here a suite of paintings on paper and complementary sculpture works. Drawing on the art of flower arrangement, ikebana, Tharp finesses a love of Japanese prints, Modernist sculpture and erotica to arrive at sublime abstraction.

Kara Walker, “More & Less”
Sept. 4 – Nov. 18
The Douglas F. Cooley Memorial Art Gallery, Reed College, 3203 S.E. Woodstock Blvd.

Known for her biting commentary on social and racial history in America and her darkly comic silhouettes, this solo exhibition of Walker’s work includes a collection of prints and multiples by the artist and a viewing of her shadow puppet film, “Fall Frum Grace, Miss Pipi’s Blue Tale” (2011). Walker will give a public artist talk on Oct. 2 at 7 p.m. in Reed’s Vollum Lecture Hall.

Happy Birthday: A Celebration of Chance and Listening
Sept. 6 – Nov. 17
PNCA Feldman Gallery, 1241 N.W. Johnson St.

Composer, artist and musician John Cage would have turned 100 this year. In celebration of his work and teachings, PNCA is mounting an exhibition that features seven artists’ takes on how Cage’s influence is still felt today, as well as a piece by Cage himself. In conjunction with the exhibit, there will be an hour-long dance and music performance drawing on the work of Cage and choreographer Merce Cunningham on Oct. 3 from 7-10 p.m.

“End Things”
Sept. 6-29
Time-Based Art festival, Washington High School, S.E. Stark Street between 12th and 14th

Curated by Kristan Kennedy, this grouping of artist projects and residencies questions the seemingly simple idea of “things.” Why are they made? Why do we have them? Why do we keep them? Alex Cecchetti, Isabelle Cornaro, Claudia Meza, Morgan Ritter, Van Brummelen & De Haan, and Erika Vogt mix artist statement with object curation to extrapolate on these questions and pose some of their own.

Richard Serra, Etchings
Sept. 6-29
Elizabeth Leach Gallery, 417 N.W. 9th Ave.

International artist and poster boy of the 1980s culture wars, Richard Serra is known for his intimidatingly beautiful Cor-Ten steel sculptures. The bold yet subtle forms of his installations are evident in a collection of etchings that explore texture, balance and simplicity.

The Body Beautiful in Ancient Greece
Oct. 6, 2012 – Jan. 6, 2013
Portland Art Museum, 1219 S.W. Park Ave.

Fresh from its debut during the Summer Olympic Games in London, this exquisite collection of Greek and Roman sculpture from the British Museum makes its first stop in Portland. Rarely shown outside the U.K., these pieces offer a prime opportunity to marvel at the perfection of form championed in the classical past. Aside from regular hours, the museum also offers free admission on the fourth Friday of every month from 5-8 p.m.

MK Guth: “when nothing else subsists, smell and taste remain”
Oct. 7 – Dec. 9
The Art Gym at Marylhurst University, 17600 Pacific Highway, Marylhurst, Ore.

Opening this fall after an extensive remodel, The Art Gym will play host to a new exhibition by Portland artist MK Guth. Springing from the simple action of sharing food, Guth explores ideas of communal experience while also working within the confines of choreography and a repeatable score.

Fighting Men: Leon Golub, Peter Voulkos, and Jack Kirby
Oct. 25, 2012 – March 3, 2013
Ronna and Eric Hoffman Gallery of Contemporary Art, Lewis & Clark College, 0615 SW Palatine Hill Road

Curated by Portland artist Daniel Duford, “Fighting Men” combines the visceral, charged paintings of Golub (famous for his work about the Vietnam War, and included in many major museums) with the abstract expressionist sculpture of Voulkos and the pioneering spirit of the comic book art of Jack Kirby, creator of Captain America. The exhibition explores these three seemingly disparate artists through the themes of masculine power and violence.

“, Will Holder,,,,”
July 1, 2012 – July 1, 2013
YU Contemporary, 800 S.E. 10th Ave.

As part of an ongoing exploration of the Reed College Ian Hamilton Finlay Archive, YU has asked a number of artists, curators and like-minded individuals to curate and exhibit their take on the work and life of the late Scottish concrete poet, sculptor and publisher. Will Holder is an editor of F.R.DAVID, a London-based journal on writing and the arts.

Tags: galleries, gallery, museums, visual art, visual arts

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