The fall art season got off to a solid start Thursday, September 3 with a number of outstanding First Thursday exhibitions. Russo Lee was our first destination where we took in work by Laura Domela and Gabe Fernandez.
It is easy to admire the tightly controlled representational works by Fernandez. They are special, not despite of, but because of the mundane subject matter: old car parked in a dark corner, a forgotten toy, an old radio. When I looked long enough to penetrate beneath the precision, what I felt was a suggestion of emotion, memory, and mood.
Parking would soon be at a premium in the Pearl District as multiple streets were marked off for the impending set up of Art in The Pearl, which opens Saturday. A “Doris Day” spot was in reach, however even if we won’t be competing in Portland’s parallel parking competition anytime soon.
Kirk Weller’s creative landscapes lured us into Laura Vincent Gallery where a number of artists had gathered. We spoke with artist Jef Gunn, who said he had taught Kirk an encaustic and discussed paint blending technique that he has since run away with.
Kirk’s is a contemporary take on landscapes, as much about the process as the place. Yet unlike the work of James Lavadour (PDX Contemporary), at least in some cases, there are real places behind the paint. Gunn pointed out the balancing act of fine control and abandonment. When the artist layered wax with two types of medium that don’t blend, the deliberate intent only resolves through physicality, heat and a touch of randomness. Such is the case with Rain on the Uncompahgre, 2026 which references a location in Colorado.
The next stop was Froelick Gallery where Lis Pardoe was having her inaugural show and Orlando Almanza displayed works completed on a recent residency in Vermont.
There are clear points of contrast and congruence between these artist’s work. Both depict scenes of family and familiarity, both are composed of contrived scenes with some measures of surrealism extending through memory. And then Orlando’s work is warm, Lis’ mystical. That seems to be a departure for Pardoe as earlier work had been bathed in warm tones. Embracing memory, tradition and perhaps even a peek into the future, this personal, dreamy figurative work provides a glimpse into the personal life and personality of this promising artist.
Next door at Augen Gallery, Morgan Walker’s work revealed itself more gradually, rewarding a little time and attention. Gallerist Bob Kochs explanation that the subject matter all came from the life of the artist invited us into the paintings and the stories. The monkeys depicted may seem like an exotic or imagined destination, but were adopted by a family member in Louisiana following the production of an early Tarzan movie.
Last, but not least, Clint Brown, Don Bailey and Jerry Svoboda at Blackfish Gallery included enormous and haunting charcoal drawings by Clint. Even if the subject matter is not something for many living rooms in Portland, the mastery of the human figure is unmistakable and well worth a trip to the gallery. Two of the standouts are a grouping of a couple, a cart and a dog that seems to be of the WPA-era, but could very well represent a contemporary scene in a West Coast city. The other is a skeletal figure using a virtual reality device and reaching into the void as it seems we are all destined to do if we don’t make a conscious effort to step out of our contemporary paradigm.
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