Moxie’s (2400 E Burnside) Spring Sale runs through May 16 with 15% off everything in store with the exception of visual art. Find Jordache and LTB jean, goods from master remixers PreLoved, Covet, and more. Handbags, dresses, jewelry, tops, every little thing they do is right on (and won’t break the bank).

One of Portland’s most interesting architects has been doing loads of work elsewhere…including New York’s Museum of Arts and Design, the Seattle Art Museum expansion, and the Clyfford Still Museum, but for those of us in Portland who don’t work in the Wieden + Kennedy building he designed, (which also houses Caldera, Literary Arts, and PICA) the closest we’ve been to his work lately was a beautiful show of his process drawings at PDX Contemporary Art.

The dry spell is about to end. Brad Cloepfil and his firm Allied Works will be doing the renovation of the 511 Building (that big old Federal building on Broadway right across Davis from the DeSoto Building) that PNCA just acquired. We Can’t Wait.

Tonight, Portland Spaces editor Randy Gragg chats with Cloepfil for the next installment of the Bright Lights discussion series sponsored by City Club of Portland and Portland Spaces. For Bright Lights, Cloepfil will present a sampling of recent work as well as talk about, “ideas about architecture, urbanism, landscape, and historic preservation.”

Bright Lights starts at 6 PM at Jimmy Mak’s (221 NW 10th).

Tonight opens the next chapter in several overlapping stories. TJ Norris’ INFINITUS is both the next in the Couture series of exhibitions at New American Art Union and the third installation in Norris’ Tribryd series. It is also the first solo show in two years from an artist who has been an active and visionary gallerist (Soundvision), arts writer, curator of some of Portland’s best group shows in recent years, and multivariate maker whose work incorporates object, sound, photo, video, and….

The Couture series gives over the entire New American Art Union space to a single artist to realize an installation. Norris is building a vision of worldaround city, a non-stop, nature-burying monolithic city from horizon to shining horizon.

“INFINITUS” includes an extended soundtrack commissioned from the French electro-acoustic composer, Christian Renou titled, “Land of Confusion.”
The exhibition opens tonight, May 10, with a reception from 6-9 PM at New American Art Union (922 SE Ankeny) and runs through June 22.

Flutter(3948 N Mississippi) celebrates its anniversary with a soiree this Thursday, May 8 from 5-9 PM. Besides music, food, and drink, the party will be populated by models in Frocky Jack Morgan.

Our newest Point-of-View photo editorial features spring looks from Portland-based independent designer Holly Stalder with knits by Precious (Laura Irwin) shot by Peter Ben Pigao (13bdesign.com) in the new studio Holly shares with Laura in back of the 811 E Burnside building (in the former Stand Up Comedy space).

Are your ears ringing? Because Lucky’s talking about you. (Thanks Modi of IDOM for the scan.) Lucky Magazine, you know, the magazine about shopping, has shopped Portland, and writer Emily Hsieh calls out a heaping dose of our favorite independent boutiques. Among those included in the piece are Amalee, Canoe, Flutter, Hazel Grayslayer (jewelry designer Hazel Cox’s new studio shop in the 811 E Burnside building next door to the former Denwave space), Hermitage, Idom, Life + Limb, Lille Boutique, Liza Rietz and A Broken Spoke, Mario’s, Moule, Nolita, Odessa, Olio United, Seaplane, Stand Up Comedy, The English Dept., and Una. Whew!

One of the hardest working women in Portland fashion, Elizabeth Dye, designer, shop owner (The English Dept.), fashion writer, and bride’s best friend, is throwing her Spring Summer Fashion Show to coincide with The English Dept.’s (1124 SW Alder) third anniversary on Friday, May 9 at 7 PM. It’s not a huge space so RSVP at 503 224 0724 to reserve a spot.

A poster girl for her own work, Dye always looks smashing, modern with a nod to vintage. Her collections have often had a wistful pinch of nostalgia to them, incorporating shapes and details (yoke, ruffle, piping) from other eras, but somehow always feel quite contemporary. We’re looking forward to seeing what Dye does next.

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As of last week, Portland-based Nau closed it’s doors. This company, staffed by heavy hitters from the apparel industry, aimed to build sustainability into their business of manufacturing and retailing low-key, fashion-conscious apparel for the active/outdoor life. They donated a part of every sale to good causes, and just opened a couple mores stores (including one in SF) with one scheduled to open on NW 23rd in the coming months. The shutdown was abrupt. And we’re more than a little annoyed that news coverage seems to be blaming the close on Nau attempting to do well by doing good. Nau of course points to the tough economy.

The only real silver lining is that you can get a pair of organic cotton jeans (and they just introduced this denim) for only $69 because their selling off remaining inventory (outerwear, layering pieces, for men and women) at 50% off on their website.

We’ve been thinking a lot about history, particularly art history, how it is that we now what we now about the people, the work, and events we know about. It’s so interesting to look at not the artists but the selectors: gallerists, curators, collectors, influencers, writers. He painted it, she talked about it, he bought it, she wrote about it, wrote about it again, and wrote about it again when he donated it to the Museum. It’s such a complex equation that yes, includes the good hard work, talent, vision, ambition of the artist, but is moved many degrees in multiple directions by the motivations, choices, actions of so many other players.

And too, consider selector events (and the motivations of their organizers) that either take measure of the times or make an assertion and to greater or lesser degree, mark those whose work we’ll be talking about in years to come. The Armory Show, say. Or here in Portland, the Oregon Biennial or something like Jeff Jahn’s Best Coast. Gallery-based survey exhibitions too can make interesting statements, ask us to consider some work more seriously or in a different light (or in relation to the work of that by contemporaries), and introduce us to artists we may not know. And they do their part in selecting with a capital S.

So it is with interest that we consider some of the artists we consider important in Portland, and whether, when we (or you) look back to write the history of the next 25 years of art in the city, these few will still be on our radar (if so, why? if not, why?) or relegated to distant memories.

Some of these artists are featured in Pulliam Deffenbaugh’s (929 NW Flanders) current exhibition, “Zeitgeist: a changing landscape.” It’s a good snapshot, through a particular lens, of Portland art now featuring a dozen Portland-based artists. The gallery sees this as presenting recent “highlights” in recognition of the general amping up of the visual arts in Portland, highlights like work by Ty Ennis, Anna Fidler, and Katherine Bovee, whose whose pinata tram (”Tram”) is characteristic of her work that is smart enough to explain itself to you (even though it may deliver several explanations, toying with you ambiguously just to keep things interesting) as well as deliver an immediate visual punch that can take your breath away…think “Save Point” at Disjecta or “Rainbow” at Fresh Trouble. Bovee rocks.

Featured artists include the above, Brian Borrello, James Boulton, G. Lewis Clevenger, Kay French, Richard Hoyen, Jeff Jahn, Raul Mendez, and Daniel Peterson. The show opens tonight, Thursday May 1 with a reception from 5:30-8 PM. Check it.

For his first column in the April edition of Elle magazine, Creative Director Joe Zee draws from his fashion career spanning over 20 years to lend his opinion to some of this seasons most prevalent runway looks he feels should be taken with a grain of salt. Jumpsuits made the list. I was not too surprised; the mere mention of jumpsuits can conjure up a myriad of issues and images that don’t help its reputation. Namely mechanics, the ever-present threat of anatomic definition in your nether regions, and last but certainly not least the problems that arise when faced with the need to use a public bathroom. Mr. Zee does not even venture to give specifics, besides “Unless you’re a mechanic, there’s really no room for a jumpsuit in your closet” (pg.102)

I was saddened to read this, and couldn’t disagree more. In the past couple of seasons, jumpsuit sightings have been teetering between few to nil’, so seeing so many in the spring/summer collections in such a variety was inspiring. And despite the sanitation issues, their not all bad. The one linen jumpsuit I own from Mango circa 2003 fits perfectly into today’s safari look, and its recent reintroduction to my wardrobe initially came only from a need for comfort on a particularly bloated Friday morning. In addition to the plus of comfort, I can almost guarantee collecting multiple positive comments ranging from mild appreciation to shock and awe, immediately followed by a “Where did you get that?” each time I wear it. And more often than not, jumpsuits offer the same luxury as the perfect summer dress, the ability to dress it up or dress it down. Furthermore, if jumpsuits were thought to be unsalable, chances are a majority of designers would opt to not. It is no fluke that many designers from Versace, Stella McCartney and YSL would choose them to grace their runways if there wasn’t hope of being embraced. Local designers Janeane Marie of Love and Memory and Rachel Mara also chose to send jumpsuits out this past weekend in the Portland Mercury fashion show, to great acclaim.

Despite his earlier comment, Joe Zee does give some advice to those willing to venture into onesie land. “…keep it sexy. Wear it unzipped like a V-neck and put a belt around it to give it a waist.” Good advice, but it might be easier to inspire confidence in your readers if you don’t admonish the very thing you are advising on.

My suggestion? Just do it! Jumpsuits are one of the must have garments of the upcoming sunny season. Check out your favorite vintage shop, they are bound to have some bright, floral and over the top attention grabbing pieces. Some minor adjustments may be needed if the aforementioned problem should arise, but in this town you can’t swing a tape measure without hitting a designer/seamstress/crafter. Support the local scene, and get your jumpsuit on!

–Valerie Mathus
Valerie is a Portland-based fashion designer.

[Listen:  Jump by Van Halen.]