Whatever gets your synapses firing, July’s got you covered. This month is packed with shows that run the gamut, from a rare exhibition of the the father of Japanese Conceptual art to the Salem Art Fair and Festival. If you’ve only got one day to peep some art and can’t make it to Salem, the annual open studios at the NW Marine Artworks studio will have the most artists under one roof in Portland. And if you’re hungry, head on down to Carnation Contemporary on July 6 for their opening that features a Culinaria event at Disjecta – sandwiches and art together! Honorable mentions for this month are the Paris 1900:City of Entertainment exhibit at PAM and the Recent Grads show at Blackfish.

Yutaka Matsuzawa: Curated by Alan Longino and Reiko Tomii

Through August 18, 2019
Thursday – Sunday, 12–6pm
Yale Union
800 SE 10th Ave

Considered the father of Japanese conceptual art, Yutaka Matsuzawa was born in 1922 in Shimo Suwa in central Japan. Matsuzawa studied architecture during World War II; the devastation caused by the firebombing of Tokyo in March of 1945 made a significant impression on him. Proclaiming that he wished “to create an architecture of invisibility,” he gave up architecture and became a poet an a painter. His desire to express the invisible brought him to the realm of conceptual art, but he “transcended” it in ways that were not fully appreciated by Western audiences. Influential in his time, he was rarely exhibited in the West. This will be the first major exhibition for Matsuzawa in the US, accompanied by an edition of 500 copies of his QUANTUM ART MANIFESTO. This exhibition was curated by art historian Alan Longino and Reiko Tomii, a scholar and curator who worked with Matsuzawa before his death in 2006.

It’s Summer

Through August 31
PDX Contemporary
925 NW Flanders

This two-month long group show is a veritable who’s-who of the Portland contemporary art scene. Eschewing a theme, PDX Contemporary has instead asked the participating 28 artists to submit work that reflects the current moment in their studio – what they’re thinking and making in the summer of 2019. Expect a wide range of ideas and approaches from the following artists: Anna Gray + Ryan Wilson Paulsen, Natalie Ball, Tina Beebe, Nick Blosser, Iván Carmona, Amjad Faur, Bean Finneran, Jacques Flechemuller, Ellen George, Peter Gronquist, Victoria Haven, Elizabeth Knight, James Lavadour, Nancy Lorenz, Jeffry Mitchell, Megan Murphy, Jenene Nagy, Georgina Reskala, Joe Rudko, Tad Savinar, Adam Sorensen, Barbara Stafford, Andy Stout, Storm Tharp, Molly Vidor, Nell Warren, and Heather Watkins.

Dialogue: Robert Pokorny

Through August 11
Ampersand
2916 NE Alberta Street

These 24 new paintings by Robert Pokorny pop with color and energy while retaining a sharp sense of control. The show’s title, “Dialogue,” refers in part to the relationship between these paintings and Pokorny’s book, Drawings. Raw linen takes the place of his signature Kraft Muscletone paper. This show means to “glimpse the flow of creative energy, the conversation between a book of sketches made over the better part of a year and the paintings that refine their message.” Beyond that, the show represents the dialogue of collaboration between the artist and the gallery – exploring how the books published through Ampersand’s imprint can stir new creation, not just record existing work.

Antigen: William Matheson

Through July 30
Nationale
3360 SE Division

William Matheson’s fourth solo exhibition at Nationale meditates on loss, memory, and the desire to preserve aspects of life when faced with personal loss and the threat of societal collapse. After the 2016 death of a close family member, Matheson started collecting photographs and ephemera, gathering objects that went on to inspire this set of paintings. The photos that became subjects remain as images in a larger world, framed by glowing computer screens or the yellowed borders of an old photograph, accompanied by a deep indigo which Nationale likens to the “nocturnal haze of memory.” The show seeks a conversation with deep-seated fears and death, rather than running from them.

Bloom Tomb: Jessie Weitzel Le Grand

Carnation Contemporary
8371 N Interstate Ave

July 6–July 28
Special event July 6 6-9pm

Jessie Weitzel Le Grand presents her work as artifacts imported from the imaginary town Ny By (pronounced knee-bee). As the sole Ny By importer, Le Grand ups her game for this show to include sandwiches and bouquets in the culinary and floral traditions of Ny By. Bloom Tomb coincides with a Culinaria event at Disjecta, with which Carnation Contemporary shares a building. Culinaria is an ongoing series that “pairs artists and chefs to create unique community events, providing opportunities for collaboration, creative risk-taking, and the exchange of new ideas between two very different creative realms.” On July 6, Le Grand’s work will be paired with food and drink in Disjecta’s Gallery 2 space, with both the art and the food centered on themes of layering and stacking (making sandwiches the obvious choice).

Trash Hackers

July 17 – August 17, 2019.
Paragon Arts Gallery at PCC Cascade
815 N. Killingsworth St.

Trash Hackers is a collective of local artists who attempt to disrupt the ongoing flow of products and materials into landfills, taking what would otherwise be considered plastic waste and pushing it to form what they call “atmospheric, otherworldly expanses.” Utilitarian and abstract sculptures made entirely from recycled plastic will fill the gallery forcing viewers to reconsider the use of discarded material. Interested in “solution oriented strategies,” the collective will invite the public to collect and donate clean, recyclable plastic to the space. They will also present ShredCore, a demonstration of shredding plastic to prepare it for recycling on Saturday, August 3. The exhibition is presented by the founding members of Trash Hackers Collective: Darcy Neal, Midori Hirose, Emma Prichard, Francesca Frattaroli, and Alice Rotsztain.

re:Presence, a solo exhibition of Portland artist Collin Richard will be happening in conjunction with the Trash Hackers show. Richard’s work centers on what Paragon calls “an exploration of environmental epistemics.” His interdisciplinary approach includes includes sculpture, performance, printmaking, video, photography, and language. The work in this show will address our relationship to nature and what alienates us from it.

Opening Reception
Friday, July 19th, 2019 @ 4 – 7 p.m.

Artists Talk:
Saturday, August 3rd, 2019, at 2 p.m.

Salem Art Fair and Festival and Salem Salon 100

Friday July 19th–Sunday July 21st
Bush’s Pasture Park
600 Mission St. SE
Salem, OR 97302
$10 for full pass, $5 for single day pass

Salem Salon 100
July 5 – August 24th
Bush Barn Art Center & Annex
600 Mission St. SE Salem, OR 97302
Free Admission

The 70th annual Salem Art Fair will fill our state’s capital with activities, exhibitions, and music later this month. Featuring more than 200 artists and two performance stages, the festival’s ticket price helps support the arts in Salem and beyond. While you’re there, you can also catch the Salem Salon 100 show at the Bush Barn Art Center. A non-juried exhibition, it celebrates the work of artists of all levels working within a 75-mile radius of Salem. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a higher concentration of the arts in Salem at any other time of the year.

NW Marine Artworks Open Studios

2:00 PM – 8:00 PM, Saturday, July 20, 2019
NW Marine Art Works
2516 NW 29th, Portland, Oregon 97210

This is the third annual public event for this large, private studio space occupied by more than 100 local artists working in most any media you can think of including painting, ceramics, photography, sculpture, dance, theatre, jewelry, and textiles. In addition to the resident artists, visiting artists will be present from the North Coast Seed Building, River St. Studios, and the Carton Service Building in an effort to represent a broad selection of Portland’s current fine art community. Family friendly activities will accompany the art-crawl, including live music, minigolf, a kids’ painting table, and food carts.