PORT (2 unread)

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  Venice Biennale 2013 Part I

  Posted: 19-June-2013, 1:21pm EDT by Guest

  In a world full of major recurring events... only the Venice Biennale holds the record for being a persistent affair since 1895, slightly edging out the modern Olympic Games, which started in 1896 and the first World's Fair in Brussels in 1897.
  
  This year is seen as a kind of return to the event as a catalog of humanity so there is a sort of anthropological thread that runs through the anchor show at the Arsenale (Over 200 countries also have separate pavilions and there are countless other exhibitions both official and unsanctioned as well.
  
  Mack McFarland was kind enough to send us hundreds of snaps, which we will edit down into something more digestible. First off, he's sent us to the Arsenale's "The Encyclopedic Palace" and the curatorial pacing of the exhibition by Gioni really comes through in the photos. Group shows like this are difficult to pull off without looking like the midway of some county fair so you'll see how he used a lot of earthy installations or ones that mimic a crowd of people to set up a kind of festival atmosphere without too much busking. -Jeff Jahn
  
  
  (All photos Mack Mcfarland) The keystone of the exhibition is Marino Auriti's The Encyclopedic Palace ... a proposed model from the 1950's for a tower that would house, "The Encyclopedic Palace of the World." The finished building would put the range of human achievements on display.
  
  
  
  
  
  Not the easiest thing to do in the art world...
  
  
  
  J.D. 'Okhai Ojeikere
  
  
  
  Roberto Cuoghi's Belinda (2013)
  
  
  
  Jakub Julian Ziolkowski went all Cthulhu on painting, obliquely presenting mankind as the solar system's nastiest pink monster
  
  
  
  Neil Beloufa
  
  
  
  Camille Henrot's Grosse Fatigue. That's right the Internet WAS created to facilitate the worship of cats...
  
  
  Dahn Vo's Untitled (Christmas Rome 2012) 2013. True, drape art is all the rage this year but this one made of velvet is perhaps the best one Ive seen.
  
  
  
  
  Dahn Vo brought in a the skeleton of a church from Vietnam
  
  
  
  
  Onetime Portlander Jessica Jackson Hutchins... it is a kick to see her work at Venice... esp when I think about this early review of her furniture art which is now her calling card.
  
  
  
  
  Jessica Jackson Hutchins
  
  
  
  
  Helen Marten
  
  
  
  
  Matthew Monahan's Sight Unseen. It is always good to have something that looks like someone hailing a cab in any group show... it makes the New Yorkers feel at home.
  
  
  
  
  Sinichi Sawada
  
  
  
  
  Matt Mullican
  
  
  
  
  Mark Leckey's work... addresses lowering the bar
  
  
  
  
  Rosemarie Trockel works selected by Cyndy Sherman... we should see more of this sort of thing (artists curating others withing larger group shows)
  
  
  
  Rosemarie Trockel
  
  
  
  
  Ryan Trecartin's Not Yet Titled 2013
  
  
  
  
  Pawel Althamer's Venetians
  
  
  
  
  Pawel Althemer
  
  
  
  Otto Piene
  
  
  
  Walter De Maria
  
  
  
  Watch for part II
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  June 20th and 21st Openings & Events

  Posted: 19-June-2013, 6:24pm EDT by Emily Cappa

  

  
  Beatles expert Scott Freiman will be at the Hollywood Theatre on Thursday. He has studied the band from an early age and will be presenting his multimedia lecture, "Deconstructing Sgt. Pepper," to the theatre for a second time. Freiman combines his career as a composer, producer, and educator with his in-depth knowledge of The Beatles to bring an event that is part film, part concert, and part lecture.

  For more information, watch his trailer .

  
  "Deconstructing Sgt. Pepper" | Scott Freiman
  June 20th | 7 PM | $10
  Hollywood Theatre | 4122 NE Sandy Blvd, 97212

  

  
  The Low-Residency MFA in Visual Studies hosts an evening lecture with 2013 Artist-in-Residence Sarah McNeil.

  Sarah McNeil tells stories with sculptural installation and contemporary animation. Growing up in a family of antique auctioneers in a small town on the coast of Maine, she inherited a love of handcrafted objects, historic artifacts & the richly layered narratives behind them.

  
  Sarah McNeil Lecture
  June 20th | 6:30-8:30 PM
  Museum of Contemporary Craft - The Lab | 724 NW Davis St. Portland, OR, 97209

  
  subrosadance.com

  
  SubRosa Dance Collective invites you to witness their collection of 15+ dance works that speak to the emotional and physical webs woven throughout the rooms they live in. Living the Room unfolds on and amid the inanimate inhabitants found within rooms, our furniture. Diverse dance styles, soundscapes and pieces are used to convey a story that is both elusive and familiar. SubRosa colletive was born in 2011 by the members' desires to create dance that is both provocative and approachable.

  
  Living the Room | SubRosa Dance Collective
  June 20th & 21st | 7 PM
  $9-$20 sliding scale
  Bamboo Grove Salon | 134 SE Taylor St

  
  Photo by Jeff Jahn

  
  FalseFront is pleased to present Implied Structures, the first solo exhibition of paintings by Jason Vance Dickason.

  Implied Structures consists of recent work that continues Dickason's survey into oil painting utilizing the fundamental ideas of line and shape, contrast, and the physical manipulation of the medium on surface. Characterized by a tension between the formal structure contained within composition and the process that creates them, opaque and transparent layers of paint are applied and with time, they reveal more optically complex structures. Meaning and form are transmitted and transfixed, solely presenting the viewer a contemplation of paint and surface.

  
  Implied Structures |Jason Vance Dickason
  June 21 - July 14, 2013
  Opening Reception | June 21 | 7 -10 PM
  FalseFront | 4518 NE 32nd Avenue Portland, OR 97211

• 

  Monday Links

  Posted: 17-June-2013, 1:07pm EDT by Jeff Jahn

  We've got one of our classic June log jams of content for you with no less than four major pieces coming your way in the next two weeks. The first should be here soon (it involved a lot of geological maps etc. to double check). Till then here are some links:
  
  Indoor fracking installation creates debate in London... gotta love how Londoners are willing to debate about fracking themselves indoors.
  
  Occupier protesters at Basel are forcibly evicted from an Art Favela installation.
  
  How James Turrell knocked the art world off its feet in the Times.
  
  Still this re-installation at the Whitney illustrates why I will always choose Robert Irwin over his one time friend Turrell... there's less magician's showmanship and far more content.
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  Friday links

  Posted: 14-June-2013, 2:06pm EDT by Jeff Jahn

  We've got a fantastic major art historical essay for you soon but to tide you over here are some links:
  
  In Basel, artists like Huang Yong Ping are responding to a world of conflict... by recreating Bin Laden's final compound. This is one of Ping's best efforts.
  
  I really like how Painting in Place is literally repositioning painting. Obviously this is nothing new (is it ever in painting?) but it seems to be a bit of pushback against the market and the sometimes nagging feeling that the art world has disengaged itself from the rest of the world. We should do this in Portland, bank presidents check your walls... I'll be calling.
  
  Michigan's Attorney General opines that Detroit's public art collection held in trust by the museum can't be sold to settle the city's debts. This isn't over yet but this condition of being held as in "charitable trust" for the public is a key argument.
  
  I like how the British can give some guff to their visual art world without being threatened... here's a cartoon featuring Jeremy Deller and most of the figures from British history. PORT is actively seeking a cartoonist BTW email me at Jeff (at) Portlandart.net.
• 

  June 13th and 15th Openings & Events

  Posted: 13-June-2013, 3:38am EDT by Emily Cappa

  
  
  
  
  On Thursday, June 13, The Northwest Film Center is thrilled to present STRESS POSITION, the latest work by Vancouver, B.C.-based filmmaker A.J. Bond.

  Inspired by a flippant remark about the treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Bond made a bet with close friend and longtime collaborator actor David Amito to see which of them could withstand a week of psychological torture at the hands of the other.

  Shot in an avant-garde "torture chamber" in an isolated warehouse, what begins as a bizarre and darkly humorous reality TV scenario quickly spirals out of control, testing the limits of their friendship and exposing the connection between filmmaking and torture.
  

  CLICK for Trailer

  
  CLICK for Advanced Tickets
  
  
  
  
  STRESS POSITION | A.J. Bond
  Screening | June 13th | 7 PM
  Northwest Film Center's Whitsell Auditorium Portland Art Museum | 1219 SW Park Avenue, Portland, OR
  Admission | $9 General | $8 Students, Seniors | $6 Child
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  The Douglas F. Cooley Memorial Art Gallery at Reed College, is presenting a one-day video installation by Portland artist, author, and PLAZM editor Tiffany Lee Brown in conjunction with her installation, Anakena: The Easter Island Project.

  Anakena: the Easter Island Project is the culmination of Brown's interdisciplinary artwork spanning five years, seven cities, and the island of Rapa Nui. The project explores the human urge to create and procreate, and our potential to transform through art, collaboration, and ritual. The installation will document transformative process and show the "seeds" of creativity.
  
  
  
  Anakena: The Easter Island Project | PLAZM editor Tiffany Lee Brown
  Douglas F. Cooley Memorial Art Gallery, Reed College | 3203 SE Woodstock Blvd., Portland, OR 97202
  Reception & one-day video installation | June 15 | 1-4 PM
  Conversation with the artist | 3 PM | Reed College Library Lobby
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Internal Server Error is an intensive survey of artist Felicity Fenton's personal web usage. In A Short History of a Browser, Fenton hand-drafted her daily web history every night for the month of April. For Offline, she compiled dictionaries, encyclopedias, phone books, user manuals, notebooks, old letters, junk mail, maps, mixed tapes, manuals, photos, take out menus, paper bills, and post-it notes to create a tactile version of her internet usage and to pay homage to all things analogue.
  
  
  
  Internal Server Error | Felicity Fenton
  Opening Reception | June 15th | 5-9 PM
  June 15 - August 3, 2013
  White gallery @ Place | 3rd floor of Pioneer Place mall, 700 SW 5th Ave, Portland, Oregon
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  L-R
  Steve Brown
  Nebula Award, 2013
  single channel video, sound
  RT: 07:18

  Steve Brown
  Hair Monitor, 2013
  single channel video, sound
  RT: 05:35

  
  Closing on the 16th is Here Come the Warm Jets, the 2013 graduates of PSU's MFA in Contemporary Art Practice/Studio group exhibition. The show is curated by Jeanine Jablonski, owner and director of Fourteen30 Contemporary. The artist included are as followed, Rene Allen, Leif Anderson, Steve Brown, Will Bryant, & Mami Takahashi.

  PSU's two-year, full-residency MFA in Contemporary Art Practice/Studio degree program is dedicated to interdisciplinary exploration through the experience of making. Students are supported in a range of production disciplines as they as they consider the multiple ways art can live in and beyond the studio.
  
  
  
  Here Come the Warm Jets | 2013 Master of Fine Arts in Contemporary Art Practice/Studio Graduate Exhibition | Curated by Jeanine Jablonski
  June 6 - 16, 2013 | Exhibition hours, Thursday - Saturday | 12-5 PM
  Upfor Contemporary Art (Opening fall 2013) | 929 NW Flanders Street

• 

  Monday Links

  Posted: 10-June-2013, 6:11am EDT by Jeff Jahn

  Jerry Saltz is in LOVE with the Met's new rearrangement of its European painting galleries. To tell the truth I kinda enjoy getting completely lost whenever I go to the Met and I love Jerry's bit about so many museums creating galleries that make you smell the foodcourt.
  
  When an early internet art piece's archaic code no longer works is the piece compromised if it is brought up to the new standards? Since the internet is in many ways an active performance venue whose rules make its inter-netting possible I think it is ok for now. When the internet is repaced by something else I think that update might be a far thornier issue. As it stands there are still people playing Zork on various platforms but it was a game not an art piece.
  
  Edward Winkleman and Elizabeth Dee on the place of mid level art dealers in the world of the megadealers.
• 

  First Weekend in June 2013

  Posted: 7-June-2013, 3:31pm EDT by Emily Cappa

  
  [eutecticgallery.com]
  

  Contemporary wood fired sculptures are on display at Eutectic Gallery by Richard Brandt, John George Larson, & Brad McLemore.

  "The passage of time and the story of the sensuous human experience lay on my work. I erode, then build again, reminiscent objects from the past, cycled through the fire, to the future to erode again." Richard Brandt is inspired by his passion for adventure, experimentation, and the discovery of his true nature. The utensils for tea and his love for the land guide his forms and pace.

  John George Larson is a painter and wood fire ceramic artist from southwest Minnesota. He discovered clay at age fourteen as a means of expression and as an alternative way of exploring fundamental physics. John is currently building his fifth wood kiln and maintains his studio in Milan Minnesota. He uses native clays and other indigenous materials to create his works. Under a constant spell to discover the truth, the resulting works are an exploration into the magnification of the object as metaphor and the physical and mental limitations of the human body.

  McLemore is a Portland based ceramic professor, and this shows through his work. Guiding students in the observational of natural and human-made structures, his work is formally designed and abstract. His objects currently on display at Eutectic are relics of industrial design. They have been lost, decayed or edited over time, and remain fragments of a greater, discarded system. Organized to implicate utility, the somewhat awkward forms are not tools, yet try to charm with a certain hand-hewn conviction.

  COGnitiohn | Richard Brandt, John George Larson, & Brad McLemore
  Opening Reception | June 7th | 6-8P M
  June 7 ? July 28
  Eutectic Gallery | 1930 NE Oregon St. PDX, OR | entrance on 20th

  
  

  
  

  Friday June 7th 20 artists at Portland Storage will have their annual open studios. This is always a lively event.

  Portland Storage Open Studios
  June 7th | 5 - 9PM
  215 SE Morrison Street

  

  Tonight, galleryHomeland kicks off Weird Shift Con with The Long Share, an exhibition in keeping with the conference of shifted reality that it supports.

  "The Conference, an aggregate of interdisciplinary investigations, presentations, performances and puzzles that promise to implode, sinter and splinter (ir)reality prismatically into many new streams for retrieval and report."

  "The Long Share exhibit (including works by Peter Claugh, Julia Oldham, Tom Sherman, Stephen Slappe, Soda Jerk, Weird-Fiction and others!) to additional amenities, including the Research Commons, the PDF Library, the dossiers, and the Map Room, paired with fine coffee and edibles, will provide other itineraries betwixt and between the scheduled events." It should be wierd.

  Opening Reception: The Long Share | June 7th | 6:00-9:00
  Weird Shift Con: The Conference. June 14-16, 2013
  galleryHomeland, 2505 SE 11th Ave, Portland, OR 97202

  
  
  

  
  
  www.12x16gallery.com
  Maryann Fielder, Bartenders at Rooftop Happy Hour, Acrylic on canvas, 40x30 inches, 2013

  Previously known for her boldly colored paintings, Maryann Fielder is launching an exhibit at 12x16 Gallery of black and white drawings and paintings. Working in this limited palette allowed Fielder to experiment with contrast and subtlety in line and form. Fielder's new sculptures will also be on display.

  All of these works, inspired by her impromptu sketches of Portland subjects, continue her exploration of the figure.

  
  

  Everything is Black and White | Maryann Fielder
  First Friday Reception | June 7th | 6-9 PM
  Artists Reception | June 9th | 2-4 PM
  June 6 - 30, 2013
  12x16 Gallery | 8235 SE 13th Ave. No. 5. Portland, Oregon 97202

  
  
  
  

  
  
  
  nationale.us/marie-koetje-all-in-2013

  In All In, her first solo exhibition at Nationale, Marie Koetje playfully questions formal similarities between the still life and the void of the computer screen. Her display of colorful, painted compositions displaces the gallery's physical boundaries distorting the viewers' conception of space and time.

  Koetje accentuates this illusion of unstable three-dimensionality by layering her canvases with boldly colored geometric shapes and patterns, spray-painted mists, and thick, childish squiggles. Through our constant seduction by the infinite pixels within our iPhone or laptop screens, modern life has fragmented into a constant choreography between the dueling aesthetics of fact and fiction.

  
  All In | Marie Koetje
  Opening Reception | June 7th | 6-9 PM
  June 5 - July 7, 2013
  NATIONALE | 811 E Burnside. Portland, Oregon
  
  

  
  
  

  At Adams and Ollman Moons of a Dewdrop is a collaborative exhibition by artists Paul Swenbeck and Joy Feasley. With shared interests in geology, science fiction, and fringe belief systems, the two artists experiment across a variety of media to create an otherworldly experience rooted in art history as well as craft and folk traditions.

  Together, the artists' work forms a supernatural cabinet of curiosities that offers an alternative to mainstream values and belief systems. They look for both questions and answers in uncommon real and imagined places. This is their third collaborative exhibition.

  MOONS OF A DEWDROP | Paul Swenbeck and Joy Feasley
  June 5 - July 7, 2013
  Opening Reception | June 7 | 6-9 PM
  | 811 E Burnside #213 in Portland, Oregon

  
  
  

  
  
  www.gallery6pdx.com

  Audrey Smith, a collage artist from Towson, Maryland began experimenting with collage after discovering the work of Max Ernst and the Dada art movement. Smith says, "Collage and assemblage marries what I love about painting and sculpture, and it creates for me a constant challenge as I explore new methods and materials." Smith's collages are small works brightly filled with juxtaposing birds, anatomical drawings and often topped with polka dots.

  Scrapped, Fragmented, and Glued | Audrey Smith
  June 7-30, 2013
  Artist Reception | June 7th | 5-8 PM
  gallery 6 | 131 NE 6th Ave. Portland, OR 97232

  
  
  
  
  As a culmination of the Building Visions Series, Recess Gallery presents Latino Art Now. Portland has earned a reputation for being somewhat lily white but instead of simply shrug their shoulders Recess points to a broader community in our midst and will feature a street party and tamale taste off.

  The exhibition features: Chris Beanes, Alejandro Ceballos, Claire Barrera, Julia Carrillo, Paul Clay, Edgar Frias, Hector Hernandez, Mark Martinez, Michael Martinez, Jeremy Neldon, Kirk Rea, and Sergio Torres.

  Opening Street Party | Saturday June 8th, 3:00-9:00pm
  Tamale Taste off voting Saturday June 8th 3:00-5:30pm
  RECESS Gallery
  1127 SE 10th Avenue
  

• 

  June 2013 First Thursday

  Posted: 4-June-2013, 10:34pm EDT by Emily Cappa

  
  Merridawn Duckler
  www.blackfish.com/exhibitions/ritual-show

  
  "Ritual, The Show" has transformed Blackfish gallery space. An exhibit created by Blackfish member Merridawn Duckler and guest artist Geordie Duckler, invites visitors to partake in three separate experiences that combine ritual and art.

  Blackfish is also hosting "Ritual," a companion, group exhibition of works in various media that explore ideas about ritual.

  
  Ritual, the Show | Merridawn Duckler, Geordie Duckler
  Ritual Group Exhibition | Artists
  First Thursday Opening | June 6, 2013 | 6-9 PM
  June 4 - 29, 2013
  Blackfish Gallery | 420 NW 9th Ave. | Portland, OR 97209
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Klaus Moje, Chromatic Evolution 1 & 2, 2013
  fused, kilnformed, ground and polished glass, 47.5 x 72 x 1.375inches (installed)
  Photo: M. Endo
  www.bullseyegallery.com

  
  Many have tried to explain color through poetic characterizations and elaborate analytical and organizational systems. Despite these efforts, conversations about color remain subjective with little tie to hard fact.

  In conjunction with BECon 2013, Bullseye Gallery presents Chroma-Culture, an exhibition focused on color, featuring fifteen artists from around the world. Color is subjective, explained scientifically as the sensation of the visual spectrum. It is a physical process in which electromagnetic waves of a particular length stimulate receptors within the eye. Within are brain, we transform this into color and form.

  Each of the Chroma-Culture artists, using kilnformed glass, approaches color in unique ways, making works that tackle the visual, psychological, symbolic, and cultural implications of color.

  
  Chroma-Culture
  May 01 - June 29, 2013
  Bullseye Gallery | 300 NW 13th Avenue, Portland, OR 97209
  
  
  
  
  

  
  Victoria Haven
  Breathless (detail), 2013
  acrylic, linen, panel and graphite
  variable
  [pdxcontemporaryart.com]

  
  PDX Contemporary will hold their summer group exhibition, Range . Summer is a time of exploration. Time to roam and discover something new. This group show is wide and beautiful in artistic expression.

  
  Range
  June 4 - 29, 2013
  PDX Contemporary | 925 NW Flanders St, Portland, OR 97209
  
  
  
  
  

  Artist Marisa Green will be exhibiting a show of new cut paper works at Gallery 135, including a collaborative portrait series with photographer Christian Columbres. At the center of these pieces is "Intersect," an 8'x3'x5' suspended paper installation. Two isosceles tetrahedron shapes will hang suspended in mid air, intersecting at the center point. These shapes will be made up of over 1,850 individually suspended paper tetrahedrons. Like two people crossing paths in life, these shapes independent of one another, will be represented by two different shades of gray. At the point of intersection, a kaleidoscope of color will emerge, symbolizing a coming together of the two forms. These two energies forever alter one another, and their journey continue.

  
  "Intersect"| Marisa Green
  First Thursday Opening | June 6 | 6-9 PM
  June 6-28, 2013
  Gallery 135 |135 NW Park Ave. Portland, OR 97209
  
  
  
  
  

  
  [www.pdx.edu]

  
  PSU's Art Practices' BFA Program 2012-13 presents the work of its fourteen graduating art students. Their diverse practices span across sculpture, painting, drawing, video, installation, photography, print and digital media. Walk sign is on displays the culminating projects of each student's BFA Thesis, presented across PSU's campus art galleries (Autzen, Neuberger Hall Window Display Cases, MK Gallery, and AB Lobby Gallery, Littman and White Galleries).

  Artists exhibiting work in the Littman Gallery include Adi Dov, Alexander Florence, Joe Medrano, Christine Wagner and Rosana Ybarra. Rana Young will have a solo exhibition in the White Gallery.

  
  walk sign is on | PSU BFA Thesis Exhibition 2013
  First Thursday Opening | June 6 | 4-7 PM
  June 3-14, 2013
  Littman and White Galleries: PSU Smith Hall, Room 250 |1825 SW Broadway Portland, OR 97217
  
  
  
  
  

  
  yourewelcomebfa.com/

  
  The University of Oregon Department of Art and Digital Arts 2013 BFA of Fine Arts Exhibition,YOU'RE WELCOME is currently on display at White Gallery. The exhibition focuses on subtle narratives and the exploration of personal identity through a mix of large-scale installations with detailed illustrative compositions.

  
  YOU'RE WELCOME | University of Oregon Department of Art and Digital Arts Program 2013 Bachelor of Fine Arts Exhibition
  First Thursday Opening | June 6 | 6-9 p.m.
  May 21 - June 29, 2013
  White Box | 24 NW First Avenue, Portland, OR 97209

• 

  Sunny Southern Links

  Posted: 4-June-2013, 5:05pm EDT by Jeff Jahn

  Adrain Searle gives his review of the Venice Biennale. I make no secret that I prefer the more unvarnished edge of British arts writing (it IS where I got my start) and there is always something classic about the British take on Venice.
  
  Then there is the huge Miami Convention Center design competition pitting Rem Koolhaas' OMA team vs. BIG. To these eyes it is OMA's stunning integrations of indoor/outdoor park spaces and creative parking/shipping solutions that sets it apart. Art Basel Miami Beach would be so much more enjoyable with such interplay. The current and very old school design makes visitors feel like rats running a maze.
  
  Benjamin Sutton kicks off part one of a five part series on light and space art with a look at the current leaders in the field.
  
  ... and the Huffington Post wraps up their Venice blogging with some parting remarks.
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  Eight Years of PORT

  Posted: 2-June-2013, 2:01am EDT by Jeff Jahn

  
  
  It is hard to believe, but June marks PORT's 8th anniversary as Portland's most fearlessly critical and in depth source of visual arts discourse and information.
  
  We've gone from those early days in 2005, when people wondered if the internet was even an effective place for art criticism... to 2007 with notice from the Walker Art Center and an Art in America Round Table. For 2012 alone we boasted over 1.3 million unique readers and a nod from the Wall Street Journal.
  
  One of the things I'm most proud of is the way the site has allowed a group of writers to articulate themselves as a variety of strong voices and we have interviewed the likes of Catherine Opie, Ed Ruscha, Ai Wei Wei, Okwui Enwezor, Richard Serra and Critical Art Ensemble (just last month). What's more we have a backbone, noted for independent critical analysis of institutions and regional tropes and are often first to point out major turning points like PNCA's eventually successful bid for the 511 building or OCAC's new Vollum Center. We often break stories, like the Portland Art Museum's new identity and PICA's Precipice Fund.
  
  Criticism isn't simply a description or a parroting back of the artist's statement, which does nothing to improve the state of the arts. Instead, we ask difficult questions and pursue an understanding of the way art operates and comes into being.
  
  Ultimately, it is this commitment to defining and relevant reviews + essays that are at the heart of what we do. Here are ten examples that that celebrate what PORT does:
  
  Storm Tharp 2007
  
  William Kentridge 2007
  
  Rothko's Portland 2009
  
  Alfredo Jaar and Carsten Holler 2011
  
  No Painting Left Behind 2011
  
  Interior Margins 2012
  
  Folkert de Jong 2013
  
  We pay especially close attention to developing artists like Travis Fitzgerald and Gary Robbins or Chase Biado because criticism brings feedback at a crucial time.
  
  There is something about criticism that makes the discussion broader, more present and sharper for everyone. Criticism, especially that with a finer edge actually can motivate discussion. That type of true criticism is inherently inconvenient and perhaps the best corrective to the constant packaging and pure public relations that even art is subject too. Criticism helps us step back from ourselves and re-examine our priorities and experiences through a different understanding. A "Critic" brings experience beyond opinion, often sussing out the more arcane motivations and effects of art. It all takes time... in the case of PORT (a community of writers) it takes 8 years.