HAMZA WALKER LECTURE AT PSU, Monday Dec 1st

Since 1994, Hamza Walker has served as Director of Education/Associate Curator for The Renaissance Society at The University of Chicago - a non-collecting museum devoted to contemporary art. His most recent group exhibitions include

Black Is, Black Ain’t, 2008
Meanwhile in Baghdad…, 2008
All the Pretty Corpses, 2005
The Here and Now, 2005
A Perfect Union…more or less, 2004
New Video, New Europe: A Survey of East European Video, 2004

Monographic exhibitions include

Katerina Seda: It Doesn’t Matter, 2008
Katharina Grosse: Atoms Inside Balloons, 2007
Scott Short: A Survey, 2007
Mai-Thu Perret, 2006
Peter Welz, 2005

He was the recipient of the 1999 Norton Curatorial Grant and the 2005 Walter Hopps Award for curatorial achievement. In addition to serving on numerous panels and juries in Europe and the United States, he has written for numerous catalogues, magazines and journals such as Artforum and Parkett.

Stephanie Smith Lecture at PSU, Monday Nov 17th

Stephanie Smith is Director of Collections and Exhibitions and Curator of Contemporary Art at the University of Chicago’s Smart Museum of Art. We had a great Question and Answer session with Smith after the lecture.

Smith’s traveling exhibit, Beyond Green: Toward a Sustainable Art, is currently in the Hoffman Gallery of Contemporary Art until December 7th. The gallery is open Tuesday through Sunday, 11-4 PM at Lewis and Clark College where parking is free!

Adaption, conceived and organized by Smith, is at the Henry Art Gallery's Stroum Gallery in Seattle, WA, November 22, 2008 – March 22, 2009.

Portland in the desert!
A group of 7 MFA students and 1 professor drove down to Joshua Tree for the High Desert Test Sites. Andrea Zittel is a founder of this project, and through meeting her when she gave a lecture here at the beginning of the term, she invited us to come down, see the art and camp on her land for the weekend! More photos of this trip to come on PSU's art deptartment flickr page

Now we're printing!

The Poster Committee is up and running this term...we're screen-printing each poster for our free monday night lecture series...
Each part of these posters is a collaborative effort of a small group of MFA students...it's an honor and an excercize!

Fall term Reviews

Second-year student reviews will be held from 10:00 to 3:30 on Friday, October 31 in AB 200 (location may be changed so stay tuned). Please submit your digital images to Helen Reed by October 29. More info to follow.

Andrea Zittel Lecture Was Packed!

Andrea Zittel, our first visiting artist of the year, lectured to an overflow crowd in PMMNLS's new location in Shattuck Hall 212.

2008-2009 Monday Night Lecture Series

We are very excited about this year's Monday Night Lecture Series. Here is a list of who is to come:

Fall 2008

October 13 Andrea Zittel

October 20 Buster Simpson

October 27 Matt McCormick

November 3 Darren O'Donnell

November 10 Courtney Fink

November 17 Stephanie Smith

November 24 Matthew Higgs

December 1 Hamza Walker

Winter 2009

January 5 Lucky Dragons

January 12 Daniel Bozhkov

January 19 Holiday (no lecture)

January 26 Michael Brophy

February 2 Edgar Arceneaux

February 9 Julie Ault

February 16 Mark Beasley

February 23 Althea Thauberger

March 2 Modou Dieng

March 9 J. Morgan Puett

Spring 2009

March 30 MK Guth

April 6 Michael Rakowitz

April 13 Larry Sultan

April 20 Neighborhood Public Radio

April 27 Doug Blandy

May 4 Mark Dion

May 11 Frances Stark

May 18 Mierle Laderman Ukeles

PMMNLS Archives

Missed seeing your favorite artist speak at the PMMNLS? Want to see them again? Stop by the PICA Resource Room (open Monday through Friday from 10 AM until 6 PM) and watch past PMMNLS lectures by Dan Attoe; Julia Bryan-Wilson; Yan Chung-Hsien; Anne Daems; Bill Daniel; Jim Drain; Kate Fowle; Jo Jackson; Chris Johanson; Arnold Kemp; Jeffry Mitchell; Frédéric Paul; Vanessa Renwick; Simparch, Steven Badgett; Edie Tsong; and Kathryn Van Dyke. Looking for someone else? Contact PICA for availability.

Neighborhood Projects at TBA

Neighborhood Projects seeks volunteers, laborers, eagle eyes, listeners, and interested citizens to participate in neighborhood-generated public projects.

Immaterialized at Disjecta

PSU MFA students and alumni will be showing their work at Disjecta during the month of July.

Artists:
Gordon Barnes & Shelby Davis
Ryan Burghard & Dean Spella
Justin Gorman
Damien Gilley
Rebecca Steele
Makerlab (Paige Saez, Anselm Hook, Marlin Pohlman, Ben Foote)


Curated by Damien Gilley
Exhibition Sponsored by Dr. Greg Carroll

Gallery Hours: 12-5PM Saturdays & Sundays

8317 N Interstate Avenue, Portland (across from Kenton Max Stop)

PSU on NPR

Neighborhood Public Radio that is. The audio from our visit with NPR at the Whitney Biennial is now available on line! It is in the NPR Jukebox under "Whitney Biennial-March 20"

Here is a link.

"Neighborhood Public Radio is an independent, artist-run radio project committed to providing an alternative media platform for artists, activists, musicians, and community members. Our motto: If it's in the neighborhood and it makes noise .. we hope to put it on the air."

Kind of like National Public Radio but without all of that pesky corporate sponsorship!

Visiting Artist - Edgar Heap of Birds

This is an image of Edgar Heap of Birds on the air with Cyrus for Art Talk A.M. Heap of Birds told us about the signs he made for Oregon that have now been donated to RACC and will soon be permanently placed in the downtown Park Blocks near campus. Later that day Heap of Birds lectured and gave a few studio visits.

2008 Spring Candidacy Reviews

Below are the dates for the end-of-term candidacy reviews for first-year MFA students. These are of longer duration than the prior reviews so they will be spread over two days. If there is a problem with your assigned time-slot please try and find someone to trade with and then let me know.

You will have 20 minutes in which to present your current work and research (again, please organize your power-points beforehand so we don't loose time between presentations), followed by 15-20 minutes of discussion. You may include a review of work you have done over the course of the year or concentrate on what you have done this quarter.

Either way, you also must present a brief proposal for the work and research you plan to engage in during your second year (and over the summer!). Please post your proposal on your blog (or put hard copy in faculty mailboxes if you prefer) a week before your review date.

A good proposal does not attempt to determine the outcome of the work or the writing you will do during your second year. Rather it lays out the fundamental issues, concerns, ideas, questions and influences that are the driving force behind the work and research in which you have been engaged and which will shape your activity and production in the second year.

Friday, June 6
10:00 - 10:40 Avalon Kalin
10:45 - 11:25 Bethany Hays
11:30 - 12:10 Sandy Sampson
12:15 break
1:00 - 1:40 Cyrus W. Smith
1:45 - 2:25 Damien Gilley
2:30 - 3:10 Laurel Kurtz

Tuesday, June 10
10:00 - 10:40 Rebecca Shelley
10:45 - 11:25 Eric Steen
11:30 - 12:10 Varinthorn Christopher
12:15 break
1:00 - 1:40 Steve Baggs
1:45 - 2:25 Katy Asher
2:30 - 3:10 Vanessa Calvert

Please see the 2007-08 MFA handbook for further info on the Candidacy Review and let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Thanks, Pat

Video Show Hours in Autzen Gallery

This has changed before and may change again.

MONDAY-FRIDAY 12pm-6pm

(Thurs. open til 9pm)

Or call me at 805 451-8808 for apointment if those hours don't work.

Regine Basha

It was a pleasure to have Regine Basha this week. She had some great insight into our newly formed Social Practice program drawn from her own experience in the first year of a graduate program at Bard College, and from her experience working with artists who use the social as a medium. To learn more, give a listen to our radio interview on Art Talk Am on the Radio, where we talked about social engagement, platforms, and the role of the curator.

Dinner With Marie Watt!

After a great lecture we all retired to AB330 for yet another great dinner (this time made by Amy and Varithorn). And as is our tradition, after we all had a little dinner under our belts we relaxed with more conversation. Marie was very generous, knowledgeable and easy in her candor. It is too bad the room isn't a little more photogenic - just imagine you were there!

Storm Tharp

Storm Tharp speaks to a full house !

Our Trip To New York

Last week all the MFA students traveled to New York to visit the Whitney Biennial and some galleries. I (Eric Steen) think I can speak for all of us when I say that we really had a blast and that the experience was enlightening in more ways than one. For me, the visit demystified what I thought was some supernatural and unreachable New Yorkness. I've read parts of William De Kooning's biography, and he felt small behind the shadow the French Surrealists. But then the war started and the French artists travelled to New York. All of a sudden de Kooning realized that these artists were human just as he was, and maybe in some ways he felt more empowered by his own work - that maybe he too had something to offer. Being in New York made me realize that our group has a lot to offer.


Here's Varinthorn...up to no good.

I would like to mention a couple galleries that I thought had some interesting things happening. On the 5th floor of the New Museum was a space called the "museum as hub." The New Museum has teamed up with four other museums around the globe and are launching various projects about their neighborhoods. It doesn't seem like these museums are collaborating in any sense other than briefly talking together and coming up with a theme. They are calling each other partners. There was a drawing on a wall on the 5th floor that diagrammed an artists neighborhood project. There were arrows pointing to how one person or event led to the next event - some of the events included dinners or community education. This was a simple way to document an extensive project visually for an art space. I know that there are all sorts of artists and collectives working on projects similar to this and I think it's a great thing that museums are attempting to take on these projects. The New Museum made these projects seem very official, like an artwork on a white wall, but I really can't find too much information on their website that pinpoints exactly what the "museum as hub" project is - they sort of beat around the bush with it. I understand that the name implies that the museum will serve as, well, a hub for launching neighborhood based projects, but I don't know how well this is communicated on the website. I think it's a cool start though.



Another great start is the Environmental Performance Actions (EPA) at Exit Art. The EPA was their first attempt at a new program they are calling Social-Environmental Aesthetics (SEA). This show consisted mainly of formal displays of artist projects that have used the social realm to address environmental concerns. Future Farmers and Amnity Works were a part of the show, as were about 30 other groups or artists. When viewing the show, you would look at a picture and then read the text which described in some detail an artist project. For example Rapid Response posted signs, guerilla style, that read "Global Warming" at Exxon gas stations. You would read about the project and look at the image or two posted on the wall. There was really a nice conglomeration of projects and being that this is the first time Exit Art has done this, and that I think I heard them say SEA will permanently take their underground gallery space, I really look forward to seeing what comes next. As an artist, ideally it would be great if the space could be used for more of a hands on learning, some sort of didactic showcase...
Here's the Exit Art people talking with us:


Some other major highlights and unforgettable moments of the trip include:
- Being on Neighborhood Public Radio (NPR) at the Whitney Biennial for about an hour. We got to talk about our art projects and our MFA program on air.


Here's a snippet of Cyrus and Sandy on air. This really does no justice for our show though:


- Listening to Matthew Higgs from White Columns talk about his hope for a social revolution in the arts. He believes that if every nonprofit supported another nonprofit the entire system for the arts would be revolutionized. From what I had seen, White Columns seems to be taking steps in a great direction - and interestingly enough their budget has doubled since he's started working there three years ago. Some other galleries that we visited felt like they too needed a jumpstart to get back on track. There was a real freshness and energy here.



-Katy overheard the people at the Sculpture Center say "oh look, they're all sitting down, that's so West Coast" when we were all sitting on the floor listening to the curator talk. Then, the other person at the counter said, "Maybe they'll all sing Koombaya." Some of us thought that was funny.

-The Coco Fusco performance at the Whitney was quite a treat. Fusco critiqued the use of female sexuality as an art of interrogation and "tactical creativity."

-There was a nice place around the corner from our hotel, I think they call it Honey Space. It has been converted into an art gallery but it apparently is just some building with unfinished construction. So the gallery is always open, it has no door and people could probably steal the artwork really easily. Posie's band played a show there during their last night. I guess it's closing. Here's some images of the place and a table that was in an upstairs gallery/studio:


Other pictures around the city:
This guy sells Obama tees: myspace.com/sarahandandytees

A fun but expensive bar: the Trailer Park

Graffiti Wall

A shop in Chinatown

PSU MFA NYC TRIP ITINERARY

TUESDAY 18TH

Depart: Portland International Airport, Jet Blue, Flight #166, 11:55 PM

WEDNESDAY 19TH

Arrive: JFK International Airport, 7:57 AM

Check in:

Leo House
332 W 23rd Street (between 8th and 9th Avenue)
New York, NY 10011-2289
Phone: 212.929.1010

1st Destination: New Museum (meet with Massimiliano Gioni, Senior
Curator @ 2:00 PM, museum tour)

New Museum
235 Bowery
New York, NY 10002
Phone: 212.219.1222
http://www.newmuseum.org/

2nd Destination: The Drawing Center (meet with João Ribas, Curator @ 4:30 PM)

The Drawing Center
35 Wooster Street
New York, NY, 10013
Phone: 212.219.2166
http://www.drawingcenter.org/

3rd Destination: Artists Space (meet with Hillary Wiedemann, Gallery
Manager @ 6:00 PM)

Artists Space
38 Greene Street 3rd Floor
New York, NY 10013
Phone: 212.226.3970
http://www.artistsspace.org/

THURSDAY 20TH

1st Destination: Whitney Museum (meet with Kim Conaty, Biennial Coordinator @ 11:00 AM)

Whitney Museum of American Art
945 Madison Avenue (at 75th Street)
New York, NY 10021
Phone: 1-800-WHITNEY or (1-800-944-8639)
http://www.whitney.org/

2nd Destination: Whitney Biennial at The Park Avenue Armory

Park Avenue Armory
643 Park Avenue (at 67th Street)
New York, NY 10021
Phone: 212.616.3930
http://www.armoryonpark.org

FRIDAY 21ST

1st Destination: White Columns (meet with Matthew Higgs, Curator/
Director @ 11:00 AM)

White Columns
320 West 13th Street (Enter on Horatio Street, between Hudson and 8th Avenue)
New York, NY 10014
Phone: 212.924.4212
http://whitecolumns.org/

2nd Destination: Exit Art (meet with Lauren Rosati, Assistant Curator
@ 2:00 PM)

Exit Art
475 10th Avenue
New York, NY 10018
Phone: 212.966.7745
http://www.exitart.org/

3rd Destination: Chelsea Galleries, Art Centers, and Museums

After Exit Art visit return to Chelsea to visit galleries, art
centers, and museums independently.
Chelsea Gallery Guide: http://chelseaartgalleries.com/

SATURDAY 22ND

Depart: Leo House at 10:30 AM

1st Destination: Sculpture Center (meet with Nickolas Roudane, Member
and Visitor Services Manager @ 11:00 AM)

Sculpture Center
14-19 Purves Street (off of Jackson Ave. between Jackson and Thomson Ave)
Long Island City, NY 11101
Phone: 718.361.1750
http://www.sculpture-center.org/

2nd Destination: P.S. 1 - Independent (curators are not present on
Saturdays. P.S. 1 opens @ 12:00 PM)

P.S. 1
22-25 Jackson Avenue at the intersection of 46th Avenue
Long Island City, NY 11101
Phone: 718.784.2084
http://www.ps1.org/

3rd Destination: Pierogi (meet with Joe Amrheim, Curator/Director @ 2:00 PM)

Pierogi
177 North 9th Street
Brooklyn, NY 11211
Phone: 718.599.2144
http://www.pierogi2000.com/

4th Destination: Momenta Art (meet with Eric Heist, co-Curator/
co-Director @ 3:15 PM)

Momenta Art
359 Bedford Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11211
Phone: 718.218.8058
http://www.momentaart.org/

5th Destination: Brooklyn/ Williamsburg galleries, art centers, and museums
Brooklyn/Williamsburg Gallery Guide:
http://www.freewilliamsburg.com/galleries.html

SUNDAY 23RD

Check out of Leo House

Open Day

Depart: JFK International Airport, Jet Blue, Flight # 165, 7:20 PM

Arrive: Portland International Airport, 11:00 PM

POSSIBLE EVENING ACTIVITIES

Wednesday 19th

Matt Mullican performance - Whitney Biennial @ The Armory
8:00 PM
- North Hall
Link: http://whitney.org/www/2008biennial/www/?section=artists&page=artist_mullican

Thursday 20th

Leslie Thornton - "Peggy and Fred in Hell: At the Armory" 16mm transferred to video. black and white with sound: 90 minutes.
7:00 PM - 4th Floor Screening Room
Link: http://whitney.org/www/2008biennial/www/?section=artists&page=artist_thornton

Friday 21st

Whitney After Hours at the Whitney Museum - Innovative Art and Performance 6:00 to 9:00 PM, Pay what you wish
Link: http://whitney.org/www/afterhours/index.jsp

Coco Fusco performance - Whitney Biennale at The Park Avenue Armory
7:00 PM - Company Room F
Link: http://whitney.org/www/2008biennial/www/?section=artists&page=artist_fusco


Metropolitan Museum of Art is open until 9:00 PM on Friday and Saturday evenings: http://www.metmuseum.org/visitor/index.asp?HomePageLink=visitor_l

Performance event at Exit Art. Performance entitled "Somehow" by resident performance group, Trickster Theater. They will be performing within the "Brainwave" exhibition beginning at 8:00 PM: http://www.exitart.org/

Saturday 22nd

Fritz Haeg performance/event - Whitney Biennial at The Park Avenue Armory
2:00 to 4:00 PM - Drill Hall
Link: http://whitney.org/www/2008biennial/www/?section=artists&page=artist_haeg

Coco Fusco performance - Whitney Biennial @ The Armory
7:00 PM - Company Room F
Link: http://whitney.org/www/2008biennial/www/?section=artists&page=artist_fusco

2008 MFA Exhbition Schedule

AUTZEN GALLERY

April 7-18
Kate Simmons, MFA Exhibition, "Household Predictions and Fanciful Remedies"
Opening Reception Thurs, April 10, 6-8p.

April 28-May 9
Kevin Nagler, MFA Exhibition, "Video Show"
Opening Reception Thurs, May 1, 6-8p.

May 19-30
Posie Currin, MFA Exhibition, "Things In and Of Themselves"
Opening Reception Thurs, May 22, 6-8p.

June 9-20
Amber Moss-Jensen, MFA Exhibition
Opening Reception, Thurs June 12, 6-8p.

MK GALLERY

April 7-18
Amy Steel, MFA Exhibition, "Good Morning"
Opening Reception Thurs, April 10, 6-8p.

April 28-May 9
Shelby Davis, MFA Exhibition, "This All Happens, More or Less"
Opening Reception Thurs, May 1, 6-8p.

May 19-30
Joel Garcia, MFA Exhibition
Opening Reception Thurs, May 22, 6-8p.

Winter Reviews, More Specifically

Friday, March 14 - Presentations
9:00 am Laurel Kurtz (via Skype)
9:20 Damien Gilley
9:40 Eric Steen
10:00 Cyrus Smith
10:20 Rebecca Shelly
10:40 Sandy Sampson
11:20 Avalon Kalin
11:40 Bethany Hays
12:00 Varinthorn Christopher
12:20 Vanessa Calvert
12:40 Steve Baggs
1:00 Katy Asher

Monday, March 17 - Studio Visits
9:00 Kate Simmons
9:45 Shelby Davis
10:30 Emilie-Rose Currin
11:15 Kevin Nagler
12:00 Joel Garcia
12:45 Amber Moss-Jensen
1:30 Amy Steele

Winter Term Reviews

End of term reviews will be as follows:

Friday, March 14, 9 am - 1 pm, First-year students, 10 minute presentations followed by discussion. AB 200 (location may change, please stay tuned).

Monday, March 17, 9 am - 2 pm, Second-year students, studio visits with faculty.

dave hickey

bruce conkle clued me into this lecture on $ in the art world.

Working History Exhibit and More Artist Talks at Reed

From January 22 - March 2, 2008, the Douglas F. Cooley Memorial Art Gallery presents Working History, African American Objects, an exploration of African American art and material culture that exhibits contemporary African American art alongside historical ephemera. The exhibition is curated by Cooley Gallery director and curator Stephanie Snyder from U.S. collections, artists' studios, and regional archives.

Working History, African American Objects includes contemporary art created during the last twenty years, a time during which material and theoretical examinations of culture, politics, history, and identity came to the fore in American art. Each artist in Working History considers historical objects, forms, and narratives, often migrating subjects across disciplines, as when Kianga Ford collaborates with an abstract mathematician and a statistician in order to consider various definitions of race in American history.

ARTIST TALKS AND EVENTS

Nick Cave
Friday, February 15, 6:30 p.m.
Vollum Lounge, Reed College
Followed by a reception at the Cooley from 8:00-10:00 p.m

Io Palmer
Friday, February 22, 6:30 p.m.
Eliot Hall room 314, Reed College
Followed by a walk-though at the Cooley Gallery

Faith Ringgold
Sunday, February 24, 3:00 p.m.
Kaul Auditorium, Reed College

Kianga Ford
Wednesday, February 27, 6:30 p.m.
Eliot Hall room 314, Reed College
Followed by a walk-though at the Cooley Gallery

MFA Candidates 2008 Exhibitions

Gallery Director Jenene Nagy (jenene@pdx.edu) has posted the exhibition schedule for the 2008 MFA candidates.

April 7-18 Kate Simmons (Autzen), Amy Steele (MK Gallery)
April 28-May 9 Kevin Nagler (Autzen), Shelby Davis (MK)
May 19-30 Emilie-Rose Currin (Autzen), Joel Garcia (MK)
June 9-27 Amber Moss-Jensen (Autzen)

Feb. 15 Artist press packet (statement, image, current resume) to Jenene.
Mar 1 Announcement card design (jpgs, front & back of card) to Jenene
(see www.overnightprints.com for specs)

Please see posting in the mailroom for installation dates.

PORT

Here's a little comment on the University museum situation in town on PORT. Maybe PSU does need to bump it up a little. It probably isn't as simple as Jeff makes it out to be, but It would be cool to have a better show space for the MFA exhibitions. That's for sure.