March 2010: “Influence”
“Social networks are intricate things of beauty. They are so elaborate and so complex—and so ubiquitous, — that one has to wonder what purpose they serve. “
-nicholas christakis
Featuring collaborations with over 50 artists, “Influence” is a process based art show that explores how real life social networks influence our ideas, emotions, and behaviors.
The project began with a random group of artists who each began a drawing or painting, and then passed it to another person they knew to continue working on it. That person in turn passed it to someone they knew, and so on. The pieces were passed along in this manner for the month of February. Some of the collaborations passed between just 2 or 3 people and others more than 10.
The finished results are varied. They represent the work of professional, amature, and beginning artists, as well as people who had never painted before. Some of the pieces include artists who have worked together before while others are collaborations of people who have never met. Some artists incorporated their own distinct styles while others were inspired to try new mediums or techniques. Some of the work is still unfinished, and many of the started works never found their way back to the gallery.
The show will be on display through the month of February. All work is for sale with all proceeds split between participating artists. Unsold work will continue to pass along to further explore how our social networks affect our ideas, emotions, and creativity.
Hope to see you there!
February 2010: “Sight + Smell”
Featuring new works by Portland photographer Nyree Watts, “Sight plus Smell” explores the fluid, osmotic relationship between image, memory, and smell. Landscapes and images may evoke memories and smells of childhood or distant experiences, their recollection yielding a joy and pleasure perhaps not even present at their origin. Simultaneously, drifting smells can conjure up and project scenes from travel or images of old on the inner eye. Using old school techniques to express her modern sensibility. All of Nyree’s images are photographed from film, using hand processing and printing from various cameras, including pinhole, plastic, 35mm, and medium format. In her work she stretches boundaries and sees beyond images in ways that create wonder, juxtaposed with a certain stillness. To some they may evoke loneliness, while others see hope, thus her images are three dimensional, emotional, and spiritual to the viewer… they hold your hand or let it go in a slow motion dreamscape.
Nyree Watts is a visual artist who has been creating beautifully striking photographic images for the past 15 years. She studied art and photography at San Francisco State University, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1998. After completing her B.A., Nyree combined her love for music and art by becoming the house photographer for the Badman Recording Company. Nyree’s body of work consists of over 20 CD and book covers, including work for Sun Kil Moon (mark Kozelek) and his label Caldo Verde. She has created and exhibited multimedia shows of her images, touring with singer/songwriters Lisa Cerbone and Robert Deeble. She is currently working on a cookbook incorporating her imagery.
Nyree has been described as “one of the most skilled photographers in Portland…whether she’s shooting stark, eerie landscapes or the neighbor’s cat, her images are always gorgeous and haunting.”
December, 2009: “Home and Ruin”Featuring new mixed media paintings by Portland artist Kendra Binney, “Home and Ruin” explores the deep connections we form with the places we live, how they transform with our presence and absence, and the lasting impact they have can have upon us.
“Home and Ruin” is a highly personal body of work for the emerging NW artist. Many of her 3 dimensional works feature personal artifacts such as stones from her childhood home, or the ashes of her deceased cat. Entombed in layers of deep resin, they act as fossils or relics of places and times past. A closeness with the small and obscure can be seen in the artist’s detailed depictions of nature, and the vulnerable qualities of it’s inhabitants. Through scenes of dripping landscapes and insecure displaced characters, she illustrates a world draped in memories, remorse, and fragile realities. Seen through pastel washes and shiny candy coatings of resins, the works evoke both contempt and hope. At once gentle and cruel, sweet and unsettling, they resonate a playful yet haunted quality.
Though she began seriously showing her work only 3 years ago, Kendra’s paintings have already been exhibited and sold around the world. She currently lives in Portland, OR where she paints, daydreams, and paints some more.
