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Visual Art

Our visual arts coverage is made possible in part by support from The Ford Family Foundation’s Visual Arts Program.

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VizArts Monthly

Thérèse Murdza’s paintings in the shape of sounds

From clouds to sounds, an artist’s path: “I hear a lot in the paintings … some movement, something that comes after and before and above and below. Like a cropped photograph or a clip from a melody, you know there is more.”

VizArts Monthly: Blossoms and pollen

April ushers in spring and plenty of new exhibits and shows. Jason N. Le rounds up some promising offerings from around the state.

Jordan Schnitzer gives $10 million to PSU’s school of art

The gift, which continues the Schnitzer family’s longtime support of Portland State University, will help fund a new home for the School of Art, support PSU’s Schnitzer Art Museum, and provide outdoor art and other enhancements on campus.

installation view of Policing Justice at PICA

‘Policing Justice’ at PICA

The group exhibition, curated by Cleo Davis and Nina Amstutz, brings together works by artists and organizations that highlight histories of oppression and resistance. Recounting and engaging with the past allows for the imagining of a more equitable future.

Abstract, brightly colored work with blue and red parentheses-like shapes at the center

Jordan Clark’s Portland is bright

The abstract paintings hum with an energy entirely befitting for their caffeine-centered display location – Stumptown Coffee Roasters.

News & Notes: Seattle’s new art museum

A $300 million gift of more than 200 artworks jump-starts the Seattle University Museum of Art. Plus: Maryhill Museum season begins, Asian American writers, Andrew Proctor returns, jazz at Milagro, Billie Holiday tribute night.

Photo First: Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum

K.B. Dixon takes a camera tour through the McMinnville museum, from the Spruce Goose to the world’s fastest jet to replicas of the Spirit of St. Louis and Apollo Lunar Rover & more.

gallery install view with white walls, television screens with headphones and various ephemera. On the upper right corner of the gallery wall is an led sign that reads 'artists talk shit'

Process and destiny at the Cooley Gallery

“Las Vegas Ikebana” celebrates five decades of friendship between Maren Hassinger and Senga Nengudi. On view are individual works, collaborations, and ephemera that reveal the richness of their creative intertwining.

installation view of what appears to be exploding wood and other organic materials

Weather as metaphor for everything

The exhibition “Strange Weather” at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at the University of Oregon brings together a diverse roster of artists and perspectives.

VizArts Monthly: Myths and meteorites

For March, Jason N. Le introduces a variety of exhibitions that, from different vantage points, consider how humans make sense of our world. The options range from monsters to machines to meteorites.

A monumental snore (with a wink)

What would happen if we turned grandiosity into a joke? Building big, artist Erik Geschke sculpts himself into the possibilities.

Songs from the Congo

Looking at “Black Artists of Oregon” and “Africa Fashion” at the Portland Art Museum.

three curved screens with projections of the surface of the sun

Soak up the sun: Georgie Friedman

“BREATHING-LIGHT,” on view at Oregon Contemporary, offers viewers the chance to surround themselves with the surface of the sun. Hannah Krafcik contemplates this perspectival flip.

The Cultural Landscape: Part 13

K.B. Dixon’s cultural-portrait series continues with black & white images of jazz drummer Ron Steen, multimedia artist Pamela Chipman, musical-theater leader Sharon Maroney, filmmaker Jim Blashfield, and author and environmentalist Allison Cobb.

VizArts Monthly: Paying attention

Commitment to New Year’s Resolutions may be waning but February’s art offerings remind us of the benefits of thoughtful attention and contemplation.

A painting’s long and personal journey

How Beauford Delaney’s “Twilight Street” got from 119 Waverly Place in New York’s Greenwich Village to the studio of art conservator Nina Olsson to the Portland Art Museum’s walls.

Human bust with hands over chest area, eyes look straight out at viewer with head against a broken mirror circle

Processing through photographs: Ebenezer Galluzzo

The photographer uses self-portraiture to explore trans identity and sacredness. His current exhibition at Blue Sky Gallery is a celebration of self and the journey it took to get here.

Chris Chandler at Elizabeth Leach Gallery

The large-scale geometric prints are inspired by 20th-century utopian design movements and offer viewers the chance to relish balance and formal flourish.

multi-colored patchwork sculpture with two tufts of multi-colored hair

Gina Herrera at after/time

The sculptor’s show is the second offering in the collective’s ‘After Image’ series. Herrera’s multi-colored, abstract sculptures made from found materials reflect on the cultural resonance of discards.

VizArts Monthly: New year, new art

The new year brings new exhibitions to galleries and art venues across the state. Jason N. Le introduces some highlights.

2023 in Review: The look of visual arts

From the Rothko Pavilion to Converge 45 to the Hallie Ford’s 25th anniversary and much more, a look at some of the highlights of Oregon’s year in the worlds of museums and visual art.

Helen Frankenthaler’s prints at OJMCHE

Seventeen prints, made between 1961 and 2005, showcase both the artist’s prowess in print media and the arc of the print renaissance in the United States.

painting with caterpillars and humanoid figures on a multi-leaf branch

Empathy and eros: Ralph Pugay’s ‘The Longest Journey’

The paintings and drawings in the artist’s solo exhibition at Adams and Ollman use humor as a vehicle for incisive social reflection. Drawing on social media feeds, they feature everything from human caterpillars to zebra surrogates.

plates, bowls and bird jars on display at White Lotus Gallery

Hank Murrow’s last clay show

After a lifetime of working with clay, “Fired Up” will showcase the artist’s last works in the medium. The show is at White Lotus Gallery in Eugene through December 30th.

Seattle Opera The Barber of Seville McCaw Hall Seattle Washington
Stumptown Stages Legally Blonde The Musical Winningstad Theatre Portland Oregon
Corrib Theatre From a Hole in the Ground Contemporary Irish Theatre Alberta House Portland Oregon
Kalakendra Indian Classical Instrumental Music First Congregational Church Portland Oregon
Portland Opera Puccini in Concert Keller Auditorium Portland Oregon
Portland Center Stage at the Armory Coriolanus Portland Oregon
Cascadia Composers May the Fourth be with you Bold new music for winds and piano Lincoln Recital Hall PSU Portland Oregon
Chamber Music Northwest Imani Winds and BodyVox Beautiful Everything The Reser Beaverton Oregon
Portland Columbia Symphony Adelante Voices of Tomorrow Beaverton and Gresham Oregon
Newport Visual and Performing Arts Newport Oregon Coast
Kalakendra Indian Classical Instrumental Music First Congregational Church Portland Oregon
Triangle Productions Perfect Arrangement Portland Oregon
NW Dance Project Moving Stories Newmark Theatre Portland Oregon
Oregon Repertory Singers Finding Light 50th Season Portland Oregon
Portland Playhouse Passing Strange Portland Oregon
Imago Theatre Carol Triffle Mission Gibbons Portland Oregon
Maryhill Museum of Art Goldendale Washington
Portland State University College of the Arts
Bonnie Bronson 2024 Fellow Wendy Red Star Reed College Reception Kaul Auditorium Foyer Portland Oregon
PassinArt Theatre and Portland Playhouse present Yohen Brunish Theatre Portland Oregon
Pacific Maritime Heritage Center Prosperity of the Sea Lincoln County Historical Society Newport Oregon Coast
Portland Art Museum Virtual Sneakers to Cutting Edge Kicks Portland Oregon
High Desert Museum Sasquatch Central Oregon
Oregon Cultural Trust donate
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