Amazing Projects Across the Pond

Launch Pad, Jennifer Mercede, and Donations to P:ear

We have to say that Launch Pad Gallery is one of the most loving and supportive spaces in PDX. There constant stretch to exceed above and beyond for its artists seems to have no bounds. With the main goal of supporting Portlands young and emerging artists, Launch Pad seems to be on target most of the time. This Friday Jennifer Mercede shows new work in her first solo show Outpour. Launch Pad is always a welcoming spot to drop by see some great work and meet some fun people. Also stop by and try your luck with a grand raffle that supports Portland's other loving arts group and youth center P;earRead more from Mr Pink's press release.

From the Desk of Mr. Ben Pink

Hey folks!

Please join us this friday for the opening of our ultra-
awesome May show...

"Outpour"
brightly colored, large-scale, text-heavy, ultra-active
urban paintings

by beloved Portland Artist
Jennifer Mercede
in her First Solo Gallery show!!!
RIGHT ON!!

OPENING RECEPTION
First Friday, May 4th, 6pm - 12am

DJ Dr Yes 6 - 9pm
DJ Acidwash 9 - 12am

Launch Pad Gallery
534 SE Oak ST
by Andy and Bax

This event is FREE, ALL-AGES and TOO COOL for NO ONE.

Along with the usual business of cheap drinks, nice
folks, excellent art, a trunk sale upstairs,and music
by our own DJ Dr Yes,  this month we are happy to bring you
DJ Acidwash and friends, who has promised to bring the ultra-
obscure DANCE PARTY tracks that you Launchpadlings so deparately
crave, so bring your dancing shoes.

AND...

in the interest of doing good, Launch Pad and Jennifer Mercede
will unveil... The First-ever Launch Pad Art Raffle!!!!!

For the low price of $1, you could win a fantastic painting by
Jennifer Mercede! Or a coupon for 25% off of any piece in the show!
That's right, even the expensive one that you super love! and best
of all, all proceeds from the raffle will be
donated to P:ear

(go to www.pearmentor.org to find out why we love them and how you
can get involved) Make sure you get your tickets early, the winners
will be drawn at 9:45 pm...

Disjecta Heads For The Hills

Well well well, as if we didn't see this one coming. We all love the arts. We all love art promotors, artists, institutions, and wonderful spaces, but when it comes down to it, its what is actually getting done. For over two years Disjecta has been a host to a few dynamite exhibitions. These exhibitions have always been brought in from an outside source. With no solid crew it has always been the talk...Who is programming Disjecta? Sure we have seen some great rock shows there, but where is this grand vision? How long do we have to wait to see some true visual arts programming. I love Portland! I really do. We have some of the hardest working artists and organizations in the country. However, we have to tally the facts and look at what is actually getting done. Byran Suereth does work hard, its just that nothing has really seemed to come of it. The public has been hanging on for quite sometime now, waiting for that moment when they really hit it out of the park, and well only a few shows have stood out. Check out http://blogtown.portlandmercury.com/ to see some of the comments written. Every is wanting to see some good come of this organization, but will it ever happen. It looks as though Disjecta's support from Portland is circling the drain. Disjecta we wish you luck.

Is it Farewell Dear Templeton?

Disjecta has some startling news—we may say goodbye to the Templeton Building! Yes, it’s true. After nearly two years of programming the immense building, testing the premise of “large-scale contemporary art center”, working with the city, raising money and bringing together tenants we have come to a crossroads: Remain in limbo as the building owner, Lance Robbins, puts the Templeton up for sale; or choose a new location to serve the mission of the organization with immediacy and stability.

Well, we haven’t quite decided yet, to tell you the truth. The issues and decision making process surrounding the development of the Templeton are very complex. It’s a difficult decision to walk away from the Templeton. I love the building, the location, the vitality it could bring to the city. I love the concept of getting foothold in the neighborhood before the Bridgehead casts its juggernaut shadow. Sometimes, though, enough is enough. We’ve accomplished all our goals. We’ve raised our money. We’ve put together one of the strongest business models possible. So, instead of waiting for a decision from the ever-shifting building owner, we began looking at other opportunities. And, alas, we have found several intriguing alternatives.

We’re not prepared to make any decisions just yet however. But consider this fair warning—we may leave the Templeton—either being forced out by the sale of the building, or choosing to exit for a better, more secure opportunity elsewhere. Either way, we are prepared and good things are on the horizon. We thought you should know…after all, your support has meant more to us than you could possibly imagine. And I promise we will provide Portland with large scale, year-round, completely gorgeous contemporary visual and performing art space in the very near future.

In the meantime, please join us this Wednesday for one of the last (for now or for ever) shows at the Templeton—The Marvelous Rob Scheps Big Band. This is a guaranteed party. And the lecture on May 30th with meteoric art superstars Lead Pencil Studio is a must see.

If you have questions about the status of the Templeton, want to ask how this could come to pass, or want to know what the future holds, please call me. I’d love to hear from you.

My best,
Bryan Suereth

DC Takes on the World

DOUZ AND MILLE

Rody Douzoglou

We were fortunate enough to catch up with Rody Douzoglou, one of artDC's major contributor. Rody is the Director of Douz and Mille, co-organizer for the Diva Art Fair, as well as the Director of the New Media section of the artDC Fair. I have to say that I spent a majority of my time admiring the galleries and the artists who helped bring this section together, making it the best of the fair. On top of pulling off one hell of an amazing set of exhibitions at the fair, Rody also opened up "Left To My Own Devices" a grand show at her space in DC. Tomas Rivas shows some truly amazing works. His delicate sculptures, wall pieces, and installations have been presented around the world and its no contest why. Douz and Mille has been seen with Tomas's work at many of the best international art fairs. They seem to know who is hot at the moment and right now its Tomas Rivas. For more information please visit their site www.douzandmille.com



artDC provided some of the greatest known and unknown galleries across the country and globe. I can't really say that John Pollard is an unknown gallerist. He can be seen at every major art fair in the country. We have run into him four or more times in the past four months. During the Armory show weekend, we caught up with him at the Scope Art Fair. He was already making deals with some of the biggest collections in the country, as well as just completing a sale with David Byrne and Cindy Sherman. Keep on kicking ass John!

ada is a small artist run gallery exhibiting contemporary fine art in Richmond Virginia since June of 2003. Specializing in emerging and mid career artists , ada exhibits national & international artists each month , many of whom are from Virginia and the Mid-Atlantic region.new exhibits monthly. free admission.

about the director/curator
John Pollard received his MFA in painting from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1992 and his BA in Studio Art from the University of Virginia in 1988.

For more information visit www.adagallery.com

Darlene Charneco sets the viewer up with tiny fantasy landscapes based off
of gaming platforms.  Darlene pulls it off nicely with her piece Ava D's
Pleasure Garden Game, showing with ADA Gallery.  I have been following Darlene's work for sometime
and have never been disappointed.   She seems to be one of the newest additions to the ADA Gallery and we
are happy to see them presenting here across the country.

Wonderful recreation of the american flag in this painting cleverly titled " Flower Bag"
Painting by Nina Barasso. Presented by our friends at ADA Gallery

Wonderful sculpture by Lauren Clay.




Steve Gibson presents luscious painterly sculptures with Artcore at artDC. These pieces really made me feel as though a Lucian Freud painting had suddenly become 3D. These were just a few of the rather nice installations presented at the fair.

DC takes on the World

Marc de Puechredon presents work by Raphaele Shirley at the artDC fair in Washington DC.

Artist Raphaele Shirley standing in her installation "Elevation in Time"

Marc de Puechredon with his artist Raphaele Shirley

I took my time walking about the fair, but always found myself back at the New Media wing of the fair. The reason was that at art fairs everyone wants to cover cost. This includes every fair even Portland. So some of the things that get left behind or simplified is video and sound installations. There was such amazing work there I would say out of the three hours I was there, I spent a third of it at the New Media wing. First I went to visit Marc de Puechredon. They’re a wonderful gallery located in Basel Switzerland and the co-organizers of the first off shoot fair for Art Basel Switzerland, Scope Basel, opening the first week of June. They had two lovely pieces they were exhibiting. Elevation in Time is a sound and light installation created by artists Raphaele Shirley. The concept is that the viewer steps into this wonderfully crafted stationary elevator. Once inside the installation senses your presence and bombards you with a series of sound and light experiences. Truly nothing compares to it other than the emotions one might have walking though a James Turrell exhibition. The other striking piece was “Lauberornrennen Im Sommer” , translating to “Downhill Sking in Summer”. With this video, artists Daniel Zimmermann recreates a ski course out of two lanes of 2x 4’s, and using stop motion, soars down the course past cows and through barbed wire fences to beat the record time all of which is covered by famed sports commentators from around the region. There was always a crowd around watching and cheering for the race. Zimmermann has also presented a very large installation for the gallery based on the downhill piece. Marc de Puechredon always has an eye for the more cutting edge artists, and with this fair has really pulled it off. There were so many other great booths such as the fellas of The Daily Constitutional, Derek Coté and John Henry Blatte, Douz and Mille with their wonderful video installation by Angela Bonadies, Powerhouse Projects, and the musings of The Perpetual Art Machine. There is a message I saw here at the artDC fair, If you want the collectors, if you want the attention you really have to raise the bar and make them ravenous for what your city has to offer.

DC Takes on the World

No Representation - Curated by Molly Ruppert, Sondra N. Arkin, Ellyn Weiss, and Pilippa P.B. Hughes. Above is two of the nicest pieces in the show. Untitled Blue form by Andres Tremols and All Real All Steel, by Nooni Reatig.

artDC—with 80 international galleries from across the globe, and a host of curators, museum directors, educators and arts professionals tapped to share knowledge—seeks to reach a new generation of arts enthusiasts who join the world’s passionate buyers of painting, prints, sculpture, photography, and new media works. This is the tag which greets you as you first walk into the convention center which hosted the very first international art fair artDC. I have to say I was rather shocked when I first heard from one of the coordinators and organizers of the fair, Rody Douzoglou, that this is the first international art fair for DC. One would think with all the money flowing through the city that they would have been just as far along as there sister city, New York. Well I guess not. Gallery Homeland had a chance to check out the show and spend a good amount of time talking with the coordinators.

Welcome to PDX Art Speak

Well it would seem that yet another art blog has been created. The PDX Art Speak site will be used to document on a regular basis the art happenings, not only in Portland Oregon, but across the country and beyond. There are so many events, projects, and openings happening all of the time. Some have nothing to do with Portland, while others have everything to do with our fine arts community. Portland has started the ball rolling. More and more over the years, I have witnessed the fame that Portland so very much deserves. Every time I make another journey out East, it seems there is another Portland artists or gallery featured there. Every major art fair in this country has one of our finest presenting there. There are so many organizations, artists, and independent spaces that have slowly come to realize the potential Portland has. We also have some of the best promoters that we could ask for. With folks like Jeff Jahn, Kristen Kennedy, Nan Curtis, TJ Norris, Gavin Shettler, and Stephanie Snyder, how could we go wrong. I know I am leaving out a whole list of names and you all know how you are. Our local papers do there best to cover what is happening around us in the art world. Due to lack of space, time restraints, and restrictions to write about national and international events, a void is created. With the help of many of our artists and arts writers, we will help fill that void. We will do our best to keep you posted on some of the best damn events of the year, so bare with us.