visual
arts listings for the week of August 22-28
BY LISA
LAMBERT
To
be considered for listings, send information at least two weeks in advance
to Visual Arts, WW, 822 SW 10th Ave., Portland, OR 97205. Fax: 243-1115.
Berbati's Pan
Berbati's has turned to lighter, friendlier art of late, starting with its chalk-art show. Now we have Deadlines, doodles over newspaper clippings that comment on current issues. ECS. has created a goofy satire of industry and wholesome living. He draws headdresses on business leaders in a photo identifying corporate types as chiefs. He gives a man holding a Vietnamese child a thought bubble about the ever-diminishing age of Asian sex workers. While his pieces on industry and globalization will probably receive nods of agreement, there's no telling how people will respond to him taking on Portland's sacred cow: The Oregonian's Living section. Dead-lines is dead funny. 10 SW 3rd Ave., 756-7044. Closes Aug. 31.
Pulliam Deffenbaugh Broadway
Don't expect to be moved. Made curious,
yes. Delighted, even. Deborah Mersky's ink on paper and gouaches are full
of amazing details. Mainly, she works in black and white and then washes
her works with color. The pieces imply that they are symbolic of, well,
something. In Two Blue Birds, ribbons weave through eyelets punched
in bird wings. In My Mecca, turtles with gorgeously designed shells
are stamped onto heavy red paper above a peacock. The natural images (birds,
turtles and flowers) recur in every piece. Often they hang like charms
on ribbons. In the Duck Decoy series, drawings cover pages from an encyclopedia,
the text's ink looking as if it's mixed with the artist's ink. Still,
there is a wall between the audience and the artist. Mersky won't let
us in. She's given us clues to what her images mean, but not complete
honesty. 507 SW Broadway, 228-8208. Closes Sept. 1.
Gallery Untitled
These pieces would make great zine covers. In Alexis Zielkes' Behind
My Eyes, projected transparencies in light boxes are simple, coy,
clever, moderately stylized and highly personal. Blurry and confusing
colors (primarily blue and orange) soaking the images of faces and landscapes,
achieving the same effect as looking at old negatives. Flight works
the best, where the repeated blue image is either a mountain with a bird
flying nearby or a nose with hardened mucus falling from it. Zielkes seems
on the brink of making captivating work, finding the right recipe of expressing
what sits behind her eyes with her technical skill. 723 NW 18th Ave.
Closes Sept. 4.
ONDA
Viewers have one more week to see the work that was the talk of July's
Last Thursday. Sonia Kasparian's mixed-media, three-dimensional art takes
on God, womanhood and nests. She's created large, mesh, freestanding sculptures
that look as if they might float away, as well as heavier wall pieces.
The gallery had to put in an extra curtained wall in order to hang all
of the pieces in the collection, called Archetypes and Everyday Icons
(who doesn't love Jung?). Look for Perils and Pitfalls Along the Path,
in which railroad and crucifixion images show the darker sides of faith.
2215 NE Alberta St., 493-1909. Closes Aug. 28.
Realm 8
The photography show Bitchin' takes up every inch
of available wall space in the piercing, tattoos and "lifewares" store.
Kari Pero's black-and-white photos are erotic without getting graphic.
In one of the photos of the Breathed series, a woman's face is
distorted and granular, like a silhouette on concrete, but her eyes and
brows let us know we are looking straight at her face. The best work,
a collection of photos that look like vintage snapshots of '20 flappers,
hangs in the back. 3312 SE Belmont St., 963-1762. Closes Sept. 12.
Most galleries are open Tuesday through Saturday; some have more limited hours or require an appointment. Call ahead for times.
Each week our gallery listings cover a different part of the Portland art scene. The first week of each month will include First Thursday information; the second offers reviews; the third a city guide; the fourth Last Thursday.