25.7.09

MERCURY

I stole this from my friend Paige, who runs the Breeze Block Gallery. She was kind enough to mention my friend and I who, painted one of the murals mentioned in the article. . . In anycase, I am excited to hear Portland is making some moves for the better. . . .


Check out the Mercury article that just came out about the new mural laws in town...we gots interviewed :) For more info on mural laws in Portland, check here: http://www.news4neighbors.net/article.pl?sid=05/12/20/177253 or see p. 46 in print

In 2003, Clear Channel sued Portland for allowing large public paintings (murals) while giving billboards the thumbs down—up until then mural laws were relatively lax. In an effort to keep billboards out, the city was forced by the media giant to regulate murals under the city's sign code. The new regulations quickly made one thing clear: Artists and sign codes don't mix. The code is long and approval of signage is required, but most importantly, the code just wasn't designed to regulate murals.

The Original Art Mural Project, the proposed remedy to the mural's troubling legal identity, is scheduled for implementation on August 1. While still red tape, it's better than the sign code—it involves fees, a neighborhood review to approve location and mural content, and an inspection of the final product. So it's partly cloudy out for murals, but a few walls peek through the cloud coverage, either from the pre-Clear Channel days or through the cracks of the waning sign-code era.

I've designed a little walking trip to show off some of these murals. (While the first mural on the walk isn't in a public space, it's still well worth a looksie.) Start inside Bishops Barbershop on SE Hawthorne, where Shepard Fairey—the designer behind the iconic Obama "Hope" poster campaign—put up multiples of the "Obey" face, framing a menacing red communist star. Further down SE Hawthorne at the corner of 35th is a piece by Jesse Reno in which two faces tangle into a reptilian creature, caught in fields of turbulence and a brush-slashed atmosphere.

Continue north to Belmont where you'll head west until you reach the Belmont Garage, between 32nd and 31st. Suer and Raskoe have the west-facing wall right now, using the space for a green-faced boy who points with a twiggy arm toward a splintering of abstract shapes. Facing the street is a paste-up of a plump geisha crowned with skull-handled hairpins—part of a collaboration between Japan's Imaone, Tenga, and Shohei, which wraps around the wall in black-and-white characters. (Paige Prendergast of Breeze Block Gallery curated these murals.)

Now make your way to the Goodfoot on SE 28th and Stark, where you'll be taking a beer break. The Goodfoot's open-air smoking lounge displays permanent works by locals Jason Brown, Chris Haberman, Derek Olsen, Klutch, and Jesse Reno. Haberman packed a shotgun shell with multi-colored faces and unloaded on this wall, while Klutch painted a tidy flowing braid of grasses over the room's red basecoat. After you've beered yourself, keep going north on 28th until you pass yet another Bishops location—between Davis and Everett—then turn around and look up. You'll see the abstract works of Seak (Germany), Daim (Germany), and Joker (Portland)—this mural dates back to 2003, and is something of a landmark.

From here, head down to NE 7th, between Burnside and Couch, where you'll find a noteworthy piece by Brazil's Herbert Baglione, whose art is on the July cover of Juxtapoz magazine. On a background of golden floral bursts, a fat woman lies horizontally with an androgynous figure emerging from her belly, a face like a nesting doll's, with arms held up in a dramatic "O."

While it's not entirely clear if all of these murals are fully legal, the city is taking the right approach: getting a new law on the books and turning a semi-blind eye to murals that lack a permit. This isn't to say that acquiring a mural permit under the new program won't be a pain—especially when community reviews tend to churn out works that are both safe and mediocre. As Paige Prendergast puts it, "Public art should be the voice of a city... don't we love that Portland is weird? Then we should have some weird public art."

8.7.09

PRINTS-STORE

Are here, and the store is now up and running through my site. I have put up the two prints I mentioned on here before, and there is also a handful of original drawings, such as this one, up for grabs. Click here to visit the shop.

Thanks for the support!

PAINT UPDATE

It's been a little while. Thought I would give an update on my slow progress.

GARDENS

My friend and I went to the Japanese Gardens a little bit ago. I was too lazy to go through the photos sooner, but here are a couple






KATOE AND BOX

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HUNG FAR LO

I was able to explore this abandon historical building the other day. It wasn't the most exciting empty space, but I thought I would share this with you folks, since I guess its a Portland landmark in China Town. . . .





3.7.09

STORE/PRINTS

On Monday, (July 6th) I will be releasing two prints that are a limited edition of 20, each signed and numbered. These will be available directly through my website, as I will be adding a shop section to the site this weekend.

These are the prints that will be available, and in the mean time, other prints are always available at Wallove.com.

Take care folks!!!

FUNGI

Found this pretty cool stuff. . .