Cliff Notes
Each week, our regional Cliff Notes columnists Christine Miller, Rachel Elizabeth Jones, Sam Hiura, and Nia-Amina Minor pick the most exciting events and exhibitions on the West Coast.
Math Bass: Full Body Parentheses
lumber room, Portland, OR
April 13 to July 13, 2024
Entering Full Body Parentheses left me uncertain of what to expect. The dimly lit, curtained entryway with a moving spotlight made me question if I was about to view a performance or step onto a stage. Climbing the stairs I quickly realized I was part of the play.
Matt Bass’s Full Body Parentheses is an immersive sculptural and mixed media exhibition. The large-scale sculptures, especially when viewed with no one else in the gallery, made me feel like a character in a different dimension. While the sculptures had a weighty, fixed nature, Bass’ use of negative space, combined with the mural of an outdoor landscape, made the exhibition feel infinite. The exhibit blurs the lines between play as performance, experiencing the show as a performance, and transcending into another world as a performance.
Melanie Flood and Matt Morris: Designing Women
ILY2, Portland, OR
May 25 to July 13, 2024
I started Glitch Feminism by Legacy Russell a few years ago. Although it’s on my long list of unfinished books, the first few chapters left a lasting impression on my understanding of gender within a larger system. A glitch can disrupt the entire system. This book came to mind when viewing Designing Women at ILY2. The exhibition poses the question “who designed women?”
The gallery, adorned with pink satin bows from ceiling to floor, creates an enchanting backdrop for the two bodies of work. Flood’s high-resolution photographs of women and women’s items contrast with Morris’ organic paintings and textile works, offering an intriguing push and pull. Both bodies of work are abstract in their own ways, yet they specifically address set representations of gender, leaving me to question the definition of “woman,” if a definition is even needed.
Elizabeth Arzani: Desire Lines
Never Coffee Lab, Portland, OR
May 1 to June 30, 2024
Never Coffee Lab Southwest was one of the first places I saw art when I moved to Portland nearly six years ago. Intrigued by their curatorial practice and process, I always find their shows a beautiful addition to the shop’s stunning design. Elizabeth Arzani’s Desire Lines features works on paper and ceramic pieces. The exhibition explores constructing narratives from personal moments of curiosity and humor to create works that the artist describes as “maps.” The works made me think of how life’s processes turn into maps themselves, sparking contemplation about the physical form of my own existence.