PDX Art: Stark Naked photography

PDX Art: Stark Naked photography by Richard Schemmerer

prints available at

launchitnow@aol.com

PDX Art: Interview with Jane Wood owner of Victory Gallery

Art by


Martin Mohr

Hi Jane thanks for doing this

What is your background and what inspired you to open an art gallery?

I was born and raised in San Francisco; the liberal western renegade city of the art world, I had access to much that inspired me.

Although my time spent in Art School was important the pivotal developments as a person and an artist was more a result of my collaborations with other emerging artists. After school I spent time living in New York, Los Angeles and New Orleans where I participated in group projects, film and curating full-time



Where is it and what is your objective with the space?

Victory Gallery is located in the Park Blocks, on the corner of Everett & 8th, which is quickly becoming the new creative corridor in Portland. Victory is a new breed of gallery dedicated to inspiring and nurturing both emerging artists and emerging collectors. Focusing exclusively on the work of a select group of surfacing and mid-career international artists Victory is trying to elevate Portland’s art offerings.

What role can art play in our daily lives?

Art dominates and enriches my life in a way that is hard to put into words. I realize that is not the case for everyone but I don’t think life would be worth living for me personally without creative expression. I see art everywhere including cracks in the sidewalk.



How do you keep up with art trends and how does that translate into your selection of artists?

I don’t really follow trends but I do look for creative movements that seem obvious if you read follow and immerse yourself with art on a global scale with awareness of history and context.



What mind set and understanding is needed to become a collector of art?

I think there are many mindsets and different perspectives on collecting art that are valid. I often think of the early days when I traded work with friends and colleagues or chose to buy art instead of eating dinner and the weight and joy of these decisions. I have a lot of respect for anyone that prioritizes supporting fine artist on any scale and hope to be in a position to build and preserve my own collection to share with future audiences.

Who are your art heroes?

Gerhard Richter, SWOON, Jack White



Who has the power to declare a traditional art form dead and why would anyone do such a thing?

I don’t think people should make large inflexible declarations about art or about life. Opinions are valuable and interesting but judgments are not.



Where do you feel Portland stands as an art city and what could elevate that standing?

Unfortunately while I feel that Portland is forward thinking on many fronts I feel that the art culture of is literally standing still. The exceptions of course are the academic shows and collaborative relationships built around art, business and design.

Most of the galleries that are successful or established (and success for an Art Gallery can sometimes just be about survival) are high end, blue chip galleries, focusing primarily on local and regional established artists. Only in the last 10 years smaller, younger, underground galleries focusing on alternative artwork sprung up, trying to create a new art community that can compare with bigger rival cities like San Francisco, LA and New York.
But because of how small it is, Portland will never be that and cannot support a dozen trendy low-end galleries unless they offer more than just trends. So many interesting galleries have come and gone over the last 5 years that it does seem a bit crazy to attempt another new gallery in this economy. I want to break the mold and help Portland make its mark as more than the capital of eco friendly, bike-riding, design minded foodies. Although I too am all of these things there is a world of important, dynamic and relevant art created beyond our region.

As design minded and forward thinking as people are in this town they don’t spend money freely without feeling a connection or comprehension of why something is valuable to them. Victory gallery is looking to make that connection for collectors and first time buyers with talented international artists that we know are important, unique and collectible. There is something very exciting about being the first Portlander to own a Gijs van Lith painting!

If you would compare art made in the USA and that of Europe where would you pin point the differences?

I cannot pin point the differences because all good art is relevant as is some bad art. Cultural and historical contexts will always be different. Art is a product of how and where we live and who we are.



What is this new art exhibit all about and who is in it?

Martin Mohr is a talented and young German Artist whose work is truly his own. He focuses on abstracted environments or dreamlike images with a dark edge.



Where are the boundaries of today’s paintings and practice?

I am not sure because I avoid most boundaries as in my mind they are akin to creative limitations.



How have your international artists been received here in Portland?

Our artists have been received very well. We have had positive feedback from other curators’ critics and the academic community. As our following is growing rapidly we hope that we will find new strategies for profit and expansion. Currently I am looking for investors to help offset the cost of shipping and artist travel. It is so important to have the artist here to participate in the show and be part of our community.



What emotion do you look forward to be evoked in a painting?

I look forward to a heightened state of emotion more than a specific category of emotion. It may be a cliché but I feel it in my gut when work moves me. I can be equally moved by the feelings of profound sadness, fear or awe.



Who are the greatest dead painters living on?

Willem de Kooning, Cy Twombly



Who are the greatest living painters in your eyes?

Peter Doig, Per Kirkeby, Gijs Van Lith, Martin Mohr & Annemieke Alberts



What is the hope and vision you have for Victory gallery?

I want to put Portland on the map by elevating the reach or art and artists in our community to reflect a global perspective. I want Victory to act as a vehicle for the artists I believe in to get the praise and audience they deserve in the US. I hope Victory Gallery’s artists will enrich the community and provide opportunities for growth and expansion in other US and European cities. The ultimate goal of Victory’s expansion is to provide a partnership and exchange of international art and artists.


more info at

www.Victorygallery.com

PDX Art: Jost Münster at Victory Gallery, Portland

PDX Art: Jost Münster at Victory Gallery



"Doppelgänger"

featuring German artist Jost Münster


is yet another stand out exhibit at Victory Gallery

Jost Münster takes the established notions of abstract and minimalistic art and reinvents them for the 21st Century

more info at
www.victorygallery.com

PDX Art: Glen Fogel and his apocalyptic moment at PICA, institude for Contemporary Art

PDX Art: Glen Fogel and his apocalyptic moment

The new PICA facilities fit the bill well to display Glen Fogel's latest video installation "With me ...you" about an incident that would all of us make feel uncomfortable. A priced family heirloom is lost and this makes this display more poinent then it would be otherwise. Something has disappeared, a piece of pride but life moves on as if this new altered reality had been planned all along.

more info at

http://www.glenfogel.com

www.pica.org

PDX Art: Heidi Schwegler at Chambers Gallery

PDX Art: Heidi Schwegler at Chambers Gallery

What is the know world? I guess it is what we are told it is when we are children. From then on we recreate and try to confirm these ideas over and over in our mind. The known world is also about what's unseen or unknowable and Heidi uses stand-ins to entice us to contemplate her contemplative pieces of Art to self reflect on that notion.

PDX Art: Deborah Horrell at Elizabeth Leach Gallery

PDX Art: Deborah Horrell at Elizabeth Leach

Not to be upstaged by Ryan Peirce Deborah Horrell uses the saccharine beauty of her objectified creations to point her finger right into our eyes who stare at the sculptors in awe. "Celebrating beauty" offers a magnifying glass into our psyche who is addicted to the extremes of life and its replays.
The circle of beauty and decay offers us no escape neither does Deborah but her art reminds us that all that counts is what we focused our attention on.

more info at

www.elizabethleach.com

PDX Art: Wayne Bund at PLACE, Portland

Wayne Bund at PLACE, Portland


"MIMESIS"

a process based art exhibit in process

Wayne asks who do you want to be like in fantasy land what arch type is slumbering in you like a monster waiting to be awakened. This photographic exploration allows a lucky few to go on this excursion and to fulfill their childhood or maybe even their adulthood dream.

“MIMESIS is about mimicking reality … mimicking what exists in life versus what lives in the realms of imagination.” Wayne states in an interview with PQ Mounthly

His camera seems to search for the magic in life as we live in a more and more gentrified and ordinary World.

interview to follow

PDX Art: Interview with New York artist Scooter LaForge

Scooter LaForge is one of the most creative and promising artists living today

more about his art at

http://www.scooterlaforge.com/

photo credit

Allison Michael Orenstein

Art by ScooterLaForce

The Pride Review interview with

Scooter LaForge

Hi Scooter thanks for doing this




How important is childhood in the development of an artist and when did you know that this was your path?


My childhood was made me who I am today... I was a horrible kid... My childhood has 100 percent with the things I create today. I lived in a total fantasy world as a child. I pretended every single day that I was someone else and was somewhere else. My bedroom was a crazy mess. I painted murals all over the walls at a young age. My parents would freak. I wish I had photos. One mural I remember, I painted these African Dolls all over the wall, kind of like tribes men. I can remember my mom and dad seeing this and seeing the looks on their faces, they were not to pleased.


What do you like about the art of Picasso or Matisse?

I LOVE both of them so much... Matisse was 12 years older than Picasso... and I know Picasso adored Matisse. Picasso used to steal ideas from Matisse in hoped to get his attention. Their stories are so great.... Matisse loved fabrics... Picasso loved flesh. I have had a competitive painter friends and it drives creativity. I love surrounding myself with other artists.


How did you develop your style and how difficult was it to stick with it?

I meditate, and I know this sounds weird, but, I sleep with my paintings. Usually when I am stuck on a painting and I don't know what direction I am going in I will lay it next to me and during the night ideas come into my head and I keep a pad by my bed. Oil paint has so many millions of different ways to use them and I try to discover new ways that no one has ever done. My painting style is on going... I think it will always change...


It seems times are more ready for sexually explicit art , do you agree?

Yes Agreed. A man is driven by sex and visuals. I sometimes get a wild hair and have to paint a fantasy. We all do it, it is who we are a men!

What’s your stand on labels like pornography?

Labels in general are so limiting. I was recently told by a very gay art establishment that my work was "too gay" to show. Go figure. But, of course I will get a show in this gallery... I love a challenge.

What is your dark side and what is you lightest angle?

My dark side is myself... I can really tear myself down and convince myself that I am a no talent piece of shit. This was really bad when I was using drugs and booze, thank GOD those days are over. I do still have bad days where I feel I can not do anything right and I am the furthest thing from perfect. I am my own worst enemy. There is always light at the end of the tunnel and things always work out. I have to say when I have my "lightest angel" is when another human being is moved, good or bad from a painting I make. I remember one day I was carrying a painting down the street and a woman stopped me and said, "that is one of the scariest paintings I have seen in my life". It was a painting of a monster that I did. That comment made my day.


You seem to be attracted to somewhat socially disturbing characters how come?

All my friends are kind of socially disturbing. They are funner and much more interesting to be around. I have always hung around beautiful misfits. I am a total misfit.


What makes you feel uncomfortable and where do you blossom?

I have found lots of things make me feel uncomfortable. I have learned to just live with the feeling of being uncomfortable. I grow from being in the uncomfortable times in my life. Having creative disagreements is uncomfortable, but, they are blessings. I take in the view point that the other person has and put it in my pocket and usually use it at another time! I blossom most when I am sitting in a quiet room at a drawing table drawing another human being's portrait. This is my favorite thing in the world to do.

What is your relationship to paint?

I have a MAD LOVE AFFAIR with oil paint. I actually bow down and worship or meditate to my painting table and ask for the paint to give me a ground breaking painting before I start the work. I totally respect the colors and take responsibility for every color choice and every mark I make on a canvas.



How do you feel about posing and exposing yourself for other artists / slash photographers?

I love exposing myself to other artists. The collaboration between two artists for me, is where I learn so much about myself and different creative ideas come up that I would have not thought about before. One artist/photographer who I have worked with for years in particular is right on my wave length. He and I are like brothers and we have gotten into many fights over the years. We always seem to come back together again. Right now he and I are not speaking........


What is your stance on relationship and gay marriage and love?

I love being in a relationship... I am a one man, man. I also love the idea of marriage.

What is your involvement with Patricia Fields?

I am so LUCKY to be a part of that crowd. SOOO many talented artists work in that store. It is a magical place and a perfect platform for me to have my tee shirts. Patricia is so supportive of my work, she really gets it and supports it. I feel the tee shirt collection found it's perfect home at Pat's boutique.

Do you feel that hand painting your art on clothing is breaking new ground?

Not really, Warhol, Matisse, Basquiat (who used to sell at Patricia Field's store) and many many many other artist painted on clothes. I LOVE making the tees shirts.. to me they are mini canvases that I get to create on a daily basis.



You also seem to be willing to collaborate which is unusual for an artist. Can you tell us about a couple of them?

Collaborating is what opens up my world to new techniques, ideas, thoughts and personalities. I have to say my most favorite collaborating to date is working with fashion designer David Dalrymple. He is a mad insane genius. We come from two totally different world's but, inside are very alike. Sometime our final product is very awkward, which I LOVE, and sometimes it is perfection.



Under which circumstances would you move back to San Francisco and where would you love to live besides NY?

San Francisco is the most MAGICAL CITY in the world, but, when I stepped foot of the plane when I arrived in New York City, I felt I was home. I would love to live in Mexico City for a hot ass minute. I love the art work that comes out of that town.



“Once something exists, you cannot deny its existence, regardless of whether you like it or not.”
Is a quote of yours. Are you revering to the ones past and do you believe in some kind of Karma?

It is total Karma. It is just a message about being aware of one's self.

Tell us about your latest art exhibit and what exciting things you have planned for the rest of the year?

I am getting set for my very first one man show at Munch Gallery here in Manhattan. The Gallery Owner has given me the WHOLE GALLERY to take over. I am so excited and working on pieces that are very different from what I have shown in the past. The show is set for late October of this year.


Do you think that one day you will be collected and displayed in a big fat museum as one of the greatest artists of the 21st century. I think you will?

YES. I defiantly think that day will come. I just hope I am alive to see it.



Thanks so much Scooter

PDX Art: Oregon College of Art and Craft (OCAC) exhibit

OCAC, Oregon College of Art and Craft

2012 OCAC Exit Show, the thesis work of the school's students.

The show opened on Friday, May 18, 2012 in the gallery space at 539 NW 10th Ave and runs through May 31.

Exhibited work represents ideas in media ranging from painting, ceramic, metal, wood, fiber, book arts and photography.

more info at




http://www.ocac.edu/