Gallery Show

Composed of only a few physical elements, the installation will explore the increasingly blurred lines between craft and trade, industry and art. Focusing on experimentation and process, Dyne promises to bend, and even shatter, her glass panes during the course of the installation - as well as viewers' conceptions of the craft museum experience. The exhibition will also draw attention to the raw materiality of glass and its role in the public's everyday lives.

The installation explores the physical and material properties of glass in one of its most common forms: the window pane. The exhibition will display one large sheet of industrially-produced skyscraper glass and two wall-sized photographs of the warehouse in which the panes are produced. The pane, mounted on a wall, will slowly bend under its own weight, changing the light's reflection over time. The panes are typically installed in major office buildings around the world. The Museum will provide a complimentary brochure for the exhibition featuring essays by Kathy High, Robert Slifkin and Namita Gupta Wiggers. Please see the Museum website for more information.

Zimbabwe Artists Project
Olympic Mills Commerce Center
107 SE Washington Street, Suite 162
Portland, OR 97214

For Immediate Release

July 11, 2008
Kill date: August 2, 2008

Contact: Heather MacKenzie, Dick Adams, Mary Lind
(503)232-7057
coordinator@zimbabweartistsproject.org
www.zimbabweartistsproject.org

Portland, Oregon. On Friday, August 1, 2008, Zimbabwe Artists Project will host an opening for a month-long exhibit in the Olympic Mills Commerce Building, in conjunction with First Fridays in inner southeast Portland. The event will be from 5:00-9:00pm and is free and open to the public. During the event, there will be music courtesy of Wood Vibrations as well as snacks and beverages. This event is for all ages.

Overview:

Zimbabwe Artists Project has been actively exhibiting art in the Portland community for nearly a decade, so it's not surprising if the artwork is familiar to many. This August marks our first year of residence in the Olympic Mills Commerce Center. In conjunction with First Friday in inner southeast Portland, we are excited to celebrate this anniversary with an exhibit throughout the main floor gallery space of the OMCC.

This exhibit will feature artwork made in Zimbabwe by over 100 artists, the majority women, from the rural community of Weya. Accompanying their artwork will be photographs of the artists and the stories that they tell.

Through the artwork from Weya, ZAP promotes a dialogue within our own communities about Zimbabwe's history and culture, as well as about the artists' lives. The photographs of the artists and the stories that accompany each piece of art offer connections with real Zimbabwean people. Stereotypes of plighted masses give way to images of rural African women as strong, creative, and fully capable human beings.

At this exhibit, we will explore specific issues that ZAP faces in Zimbabwe: social structure and gender, HIV/AIDS and health, special needs and projects, Weya systems of values and beliefs, etc. In dialogue with art, the artists, and our own communities here in Portland, we hope to continue to foster new awareness and new ideas to promote equity, dignity and social progress.

For more information, please contact us at 503-232-7057 or visit our website at www.zimbabweartistsproject.org.

The opening reception for our Fourth National Juried Fiber Arts Show. This show includes artists working in a variety of fiber media, both 2-d and 3-d. After visiting Sixth Street, enjoy the art walk at downtown Vancouver's other art galleries.

Friday, August 1, 2008 from 6:00pm to 9:00pm is The 100th Monkey Studio 1st Friday art opening and is free and open to the public.

During the evening there will be live music provided by local Portland teen band, The Vegaleague. This event is for all ages. The show will hang in the studio from 8/4/08-8/29/08.

Artists participating in this show responded to the call for art focusing on the theme of Mischief. Artists work varies depending on their own personal experiences.

Artists in this show include:

John Henry Angell
Rita Alves
Jessica Breedlove
Caitlin Dinsmore
Andrea Drake
Max Drake
Brian Drowns
Billy Dyson
Mina Bella Kreiter
Joy Leising
Nicole Linde
Kevin Quirke
Shelly Setera
Beth Ann Short
A. Sailboat
Sandra Voss

Focusing on work from a local collection and several museums, this exhibition provides a sampling of ceramics by the late Gertrud and Otto Natzler. The Natzlers – who became internationally known for their distinct lava and crater glazes and elegant yet simple pots, bowls, vases and other hand-thrown vessels – produced over 25,000 works together out of their Los Angeles-based studio between 1935 and 1971. This exhibition celebrates the Natzlers’ richly textured, colorful work and pays tribute to the lives of two important leaders in the history of modern ceramics. The exhibition also explores their influence on contemporary ceramics and includes work by Adam Silverman and Jeremy Briddell. Selected audio recordings, archival photographs and films will be available in the exhibition gallery. See the Museum website for more information.

In honoring of this magnificent yet endangered ecosystem, over 35 artists of all ages created this wooly seascape, an intersection of higher geometry and handicraft. Come and celebrate & enjoy this wonderful work, other local artists, music & treats.

Featuring works in a wide variety of disciplines, the exhibition focuses on pieces which operate simultaneously as art, craft and design. In development since early 2006 by guest co-curators and internationally-recognized design leader Steven Skov Holt and art historian Mara Holt Skov, the exhibition is the first of its kind to present a definitive look at this new, distinct object class.

Drawing on Marcel Duchamp's concept of the "readymade" - art objects created from found objects - the Skov Holts push boundaries of traditional craft, attempting to provide a fuller understanding of materiality and making. With work as diverse as Cat Chow's Bonded, a dress made entirely of one continuous zipper, and Jason Rogenes' towers crafted from polystyrene, Manuf®actured provokes as many questions as it answers, illuminating issues such as over-abundance, re-appropriation, the relationship between creator and creation and environmental awareness through thought-provoking reuse. The exhibition includes work by 17 artists from the U.S., England, France and the Netherlands, including: Hrafnhildur Arnardottir, Boris Bally, Harriete Estel Berman, Jerry Bleem, Constantin & Laurene Boym, Cat Chow, Sonya Clark, Mitra Fabian, Hella Jongerius, Livia Marin, Régis Mayot, Devorah Sperber, Jason Rogenes, Laura Splan, Marcel Wanders and Dominic Wilcox. Please see the Museum website for more information.