PDX CONTEMPORARY ART is pleased to present Planet Waves, an exhibition of new works on paper by artist James Lavadour. Much like his works on panel, these paintings are made over months and sometimes years, adding and scraping away paint to create dynamic abstractions which reference the landscape.
James Lavadour lives and works on the Umatilla Reservation near Pendleton, Oregon. He begins each day in the studio, rising before the sun, to get started on work. Just when the sun begins to rise, the Artist leaves his studio to go for a walk or a drive to witness the land waking up. Although Lavadour’s paintings are not based on direct observation, the time spent looking, hearing, and feeling the natural world that surrounds him—his Native land— deeply informs his work.
Lavadour speaks about being one with the land. His physical, process-oriented practice is one that yields abstract expressionist paintings; accumulations of marks through addition and subtraction are acts of nature in the same way that geological events are acts of nature.
Also available to view are new works on panel.
Organizer
Opened in 1996, PDX CONTEMPORARY ART continues to be one of the most forward-thinking commercial galleries in the West. Representing artists both local and international, owner Jane Beebe exhibits artwork that is both intellectually and visually satisfying. Our newest space is in a revitalized quonset hut and part of a Skylab project to develop a creative community on the edge of industrial northwest Portland.