February is the month of love and Oregon snow! (Did you hear it might snow soon?) Have you asked someone to be your valentine yet? Whether it be a romantic date, a handmade card, ‘galentines,’ or even flowers for your mom, remember to show love for the people in your life this February. Let’s embrace this month of love and show these artists and galleries our love for art!
In Portland, experience a love of portraiture with Storm Tharp’s Company at PDX Contemporary or the love of mundane objects turned extraordinary at Elizabeth Leach Gallery. Shower the recently reopened Russo Lee Gallery with love this month and go see Roll Hardy’s Portland scenery paintings. In Salem, celebrate Black history month with Salem Art Association’s exhibition of Jeremy Okai Davis’ portraits in Reenvisioned: Contemporary Portraits of Our Black Ancestors. In Eugene, you can strengthen your love for the natural world of the Pacific Northwest with Mark Clarke’s paintings on display at Karin Clarke Gallery.

Recent Paintings
Roll Hardy
February 6- March 1
Russo Lee Gallery
805 NW 21st Ave, Portland, OR 97210
Russo Lee is thrilled to reopen this month. A fire in August 2024 forced the gallery to close for several months while they dealt with smoke damage. Recent Paintings by Roll Hardy is the first exhibition on display in the newly renovated and restored gallery. Roll Hardy created his latest paintings by exploring the Portland metro area by bicycle, choosing subjects and scenes for their “gritty ephemeral beauty.” All of Hardy’s paintings are mysterious and evocative, capturing places that are defined as being somewhere and nowhere at all. Also on display are Fay Jones’ nine large-scale paintings based on her love of movie stills in her exhibition, aptly titled, Stills. Russo Lee deserves all our love this month.

Company
Storm Tharp
February 5- March 1
PDX Contemporary
1881 NW Vaughn Street, Portland, OR 9720
Storm Tharp’s paintings in Company employ his signature figurative abstraction to portraits rendered in warm hues of orange, salmon, coral, and persimmon. The vibrant figures stand out against their achromatic backgrounds. The paintings’ limited context make the subjects simultaneously intimate and dramatically spot-lit. Shown together, the paintings share a space where theatricality, honesty, abstraction, and representation coincide.

Everyday Alchemy
Group Exhibition
February 6- March 1
Elizabeth Leach Gallery
417 NW 9th Ave, Portland, OR 97209
Nine artists – Hunter Braithwaite, Bonnie Bronson, Ann Hamilton, Malia Jensen, Isaac Layman, Jess Perlitz, Robert Rauschenberg, Mark R. Smith, and Donald Sultan – draw inspiration from daily interactions for their work on view in Elizabeth Leach Gallery’s newest group exhibition. The nature of the quotidian interactions vary including the work’s subject or the use of humble materials such as cardboard, mud, or clothing. The artists transform the mundane into extraordinary and engaging objects such as Isaac Layman’s photographic portraits of Amazon boxes. Discover a new love for overlooked and boring objects with Everyday Alchemy.

Second Wave
Jay Heikes
January 24- February 22
Adams and Ollman
418 NW 8th Ave, Portland, OR 97209
Jay Heikes explores the relationship between human progress and extinction in his new exhibition at Adams and Ollman, Second Wave. A central question is how progress and decline transpire simultaneously, launching us both forward and bringing us to the brink of collapse. A soundscape created by homemade musical materials including string, ceramic whistles, and a finger piano express this tumultuous precarity. Paintings placed around the gallery serve double duty, acting both as acoustic panels and as a sculptural installation of music stands featuring prints of musical scores.

Witches of the West
Curated by Danielle Krysa
January 24- February 22
Chefas Projects
134 SE Taylor St Suite 203, Portland, OR 97214
Witches of the West is a group exhibition featuring five female artists from the west coast. The work – Alexis Mixter’s intricate pyrography, Jennifer Ament’s and Meghan Hildebrand’s bold paintings, the miniature worlds created by Shannon Taylor, and Danielle Krysa’s embellished collages – all emit powerful, defiant energy. Nature is also a prominent theme, encompassing mystical aspects of natural materials and phenomena including wood, water, flowers, fire, and gold. Positive energy, humor, beauty, and magic are central to the work created by these west coast witches.

Member Show 2025: 5th Year Anniversary
Various Artists
February 6- March 1
Sidestreet Arts
140 SE 28th Ave, Portland, OR 97214
Originally Sidestreet Gallery was Reta Larsen’s retail store which sold a variety of holiday goods featuring local artists. After her retirement, Reta Larsen and Michael Pratt had a new vision for the space, and created a cooperative gallery which has been going strong for five years. Artists featured in this exhibition include Jaclyn Evalds, Melody Bush, Dawn Panttaja, and many more. Jaclyn Evalds speaks through stars, plants, insects, and animal friends with her oil paintings and embroideries. Former library aide Melody Bush carves into books by hand one page at a time, revealing intricate layers. Dawn Panttaja creates sculptures of the female form in all of her beauty and adornments. All participating artists have gained valuable experience, business skills, and personal- and business-related connections. Show your love for local artists and an important cooperative gallery that has been indispensable to the southeast Kerns community.

Reenvisioned: Contemporary Portraits of Our Black Ancestors
Jeremy Okai Davis
January 10- February 23
Salem Art Association
600 Mission St SE, Salem, OR 97302
In effort to reinvent and reimagine the Bush House Museum, the Salem Art Association commissioned Jeremy Okai Davis to paint a series of ten portraits of Oregon Black pioneers. The project was initiated in recognition of the harm that the historical house’s original owner and namesake, Asahel Bush, inflicted on people of color. The portraits depict a selection of Black pioneers whose contributions to Oregon history have been overlooked previously. Celebrate Black History Month with Jeremy Okai Davis and Salem Art Association.

Michael Brophy’s Reach: The Hanford Series
Michael Brophy
February 1- April 27
Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art
1430 Johnson Lane, Eugene, OR 97403-1223
Painter Michael Brophy visited the decommissioned nuclear production plant in Hanford, Washington in 2017. From this experience, Brophy created nine paintings that reference the site’s nine nuclear reactors and serve as documentation of his visit. This exhibit is part of what the press release identifies as Brophy’s “Northwest ethos,” examining our regional history through the lens of exploration and the relationship between native peoples, settlers, and contemporary residents. Learn about the history of the region and the nuclear production plant of the Pacific Northwest in Brophy’s highly detailed paintings.

Selected Paintings from the Estate of Mark Clarke
January 29- March 29
Karin Clarke Gallery
760 Willamette St, Eugene, OR 97401
Selected Paintings from the Estate of Mark Clarke brings attention to prominent Pacific Northwest artist, Mark Clarke, father of gallery’s namesake Karin Clarke. In this exhibition, Clarke’s paintings of Oregon landscapes, figurative pieces, and abstract experimental pieces highlight his gift for composition. Living in the Willamette Valley his entire life, Clarke was passionately inspired by the contours, colors, and moods of the surrounding landscapes. The medium of the paintings range, including acrylic, watercolor, and collage. Most of the frames were built and painted by the artist himself. Also on view in the gallery are three new metallic animal sculptures by Jud Turner.

Man on the Land
Tyler Stoll
February 1- 23
Well Well Projects
8371 N Interstate Ave #1, Portland, OR 97217
Tyler Stoll reimagines land artist Robert Smithson’s Mirror Displacements in Well Well Projects newest exhibition, Man on the Land. In 1969, Robert Smithson created Yucatan Mirror Displacements by installing 12-inch square mirrors that reflected the surrounding environment and shattered the forms of the landscape by creating multiples of the environment. In place of Smithson’s mirrors, Stoll uses homemade cardboard cutouts of John Travolta as Danny Zuko from the iconic film, Grease. Alongside the cattle ranch on the High Plains of Wyoming, this humorous juxtaposition pokes fun at the romantic narratives of the American West. Plan a date to explore the romance of the American West during this month of love.
Wow. No mention of Mark Dunst’s wonderful exhibition at Laura Vincent’s? Or did I miss something?