Ellen George
We are telling everyone we see about Fresh Trouble (4246 SE Belmont), this year’s warehouse show spilling over with a generous slice of Portland’s most interesting artists. It’s not too late to get into some trouble. There will be an open house on Friday eve from 6-9 PM and Saturdays and Sundays from 12-5 through October 9.
Curator-on-a-roll, Jeff Jahn (fresh off his Inertia show at Gallery 500) writes little poems playing with the words “fresh” and “trouble” that are beside the point. He may be trying to create a “Sensation,” but he needn’t. This is a solid show with good strong work that will stand on it’s own two pedestals, sans hype.
Our highlights:
TJ Norris’ “clear-cut”…the HO-sized white trees on the grid on the concrete floor…little ghosties. We’d never seen work like this from Norris before, but maybe we weren’t looking in all the right places. Now his upcoming show at Chambers Gallery is all the more exciting.
Katherine Bovee and Philippe Blanc’s “Legacy Boxed version #2″, simulated monitors, disc drives, cords and outlets crafted from corrugated cardboard and rope. We’d seen pics, heard tell of it, but seeing the execution of this brilliant concept makes the drive over to Belmont necessary.
Matthew Picton’s topographical relief “EXPE6ET” which was as visually interesting as the shock of recognition was strong upon ID’ing the material: florescent light diffuser grids.
…and curator Jeff Jahn’s extravagent drip castle, “I am Switzerland.”
Did we like Paige Saez’ “I Miss You” as much or more than the heralded Cao Fei’s “Cosplayers”? Yes, we did. Go Paige!
Question to answer: is that petrified cat pee? And we need to spend more time with Joe Macca’s epistolary piece and get to the bottom of Bruce Conkle and aluminum foil.
P.S. Don’t miss jumping in the big weenie. It doesn’t take a seven-year-old to show you how it’s done. But it helps.
WHAT TO DO NOW?