Artist Talk: Jeffry Mitchell & Iván Carmona at the Belluschi Pavilion

Art + Community in Conversation with Jeffry Mitchell & Iván Carmona
RSVP for Free Event here
When: Sat., June 15, 2024
Time: 4:30 p.m.
Location: Marylhurst Campus, Belluschi Pavilion
17600 Pacific Hwy
Lake Oswego, OR

The next installment of Art + Community in Conversation will host artists and partners, Jeffry Mitchell and Iván Carmona in the Belluschi Pavilion, an architectural gem by influential modernist architect, Pietro Belluschi, sited at the Marylhurst University Campus in Lake Oswego.

Art + Community in Conversation is one of the Arts Council of Lake Oswego’s free arts education programs. This content-rich and dynamic series is led and guided by curators, artists, scholars, writers, and thinkers, and offers an opportunity for community members to engage in lively, inclusive, and informal dialogue with regional artists. Our goal is to present a diversity of artistic styles and celebrate various cultural identities that are typically underrepresented.

Jeffry Mitchell’s primary medium is ceramic and he is well versed in its traditions around the globe (references to Early American glazes, Pennsylvania Dutch pickle jars, asymmetrical Japanese aesthetic decisions and Chinese Foo Dogs abound). His pieces radiate an exuberant, unbridled immediacy. Mitchell seeks to tap into and broadcast a sense of vitality whether it be joyful or colored with a more complex mix of emotions. This throughline can be seen in the thick, dripping glazes, the unabashed appropriation of decorative motifs and an unmistakable suffusion of playfulness. He is represented by PDX Contemporary Art in Portland, Oregon, and has had numerous solo and group exhibitions at Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, the Walker Art Center, and the Portland Art Museum, among many others.

As a boy, Iván Carmona learned about Modernism through magazines and TV documentaries. It was there that he was introduced to the work of Isamu Noguchi and Alexander Calder, and began to recognize their forms in the natural world around him. The mountains and forests of Puerto Rico became sculptural constructions and swaying mobiles in his mind, and through his own visual language, he hopes to communicate these intimate moments in a manner accessible to a larger audience. Looking back at a particular moment, Iván may remember a specific shape, color, or feeling. By working with clay, a product of nature, he is able to make the immaterial physical. The unifying effect of flat, rich color helps to amplify the presence of even the smallest object, and serves to highlight its curves, angles, and planes. Each of his works pulls the past forward into a new body for the present to see. By creating these physical manifestations, he can remember, reflect upon, and share his histories with the world. He is represented by PDX Contemporary Art in Portland, Oregon and has had numerous solo and group exhibitions and public art commissions. 

The Belluschi Pavilion is a signature Northwest modern small house created by acclaimed architect Pietro Belluschi for a private family, then donated to Marylhurst as a hospitable new site for learning. This 911-square-foot wood and glass house was completed in 1951 and restored in 2015. According to Oregon Live, “the post-WWII “minimum house” was one of only a few Belluschi-designed residences still standing unaltered, and the only one of its kind in Lake Oswego.” The house combines original Willamina brick and kitchen appliances and cabinets with new materials, nested among the verdant foliage that is omnipresent in the Lake Oswego area. Join us for this rare opportunity to hear from brilliant artists, Jeffry Mitchell and Iván Carmona, in this singular setting.

Art + Community in Conversation series is made possible through the generous support of Josie Mendoza and Hugh Mackworth.

Thanks to the artists and PDX Contemporary Art, Marylhurst, and the surrounding creative communities who support our work.