Conversation with Artists & Curators: Thursday, January 23, 4–5 PM
Opening Reception: Thursday, January 23, 5–7 PM
RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/just-playin-around-exhibition-events-3912453
The Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at PSU is pleased to present Just Playin’ Around, featuring the work of Derrick Adams, Calvin Chen, Jeremy Okai Davis, Latoya Lovely, Jillian Mayer, Takashi Murakami, Jeremy Rotsztain, Heidi Schwegler, Joshua Sin, Matthew Earl Williams, and Erwin Wurm. The exhibition is on view from January 21 through April 26, 2025, with a panel discussion and opening reception on Thursday, January 23, at JSMA at PSU, 1855 SW Broadway, in Portland, Oregon. All events are free to the public.
Play and humor have deep but often unacknowledged roles in the history of art. Like art, play exists outside of the realms of logic and utility; yet both are universal across human history and cultures. Many artists acknowledge that playfulness is a necessary state for making art, allowing them to think flexibly, to take risks and to achieve states of creative flow. Playfulness and humor in art can also be a crucial form of subversion and resistance, especially for artists whose identities and subject matters challenge societal norms and conventions.
“The artists in this exhibition show us how play is a form of freedom, and art and artists can’t exist without freedom,” said Nancy and Theo Downes-Le Guin, co-curators of the exhibition. “These connections between play, art, and freedom are worth serious consideration. But we didn’t want this exhibition to explore play in art just as an idea–the experience should be fun and participatory. We hope people are going to find a lot to laugh about and think about in Just Playin’ Around.”
During the fourteen-week run of the exhibition, JSMA at PSU will host a variety of free programs, including public exhibition tours with the curators, storytime for families, and a Conversation with Artists and Curators. Featured artists Heidi Schwegler and Joshua Sin will be in conversation with curators Nancy Downes-Le Guin and Theo Downes-Le Guin on January 23rd at 4 PM. Information on all exhibition events and updates are available on the JSMA at PSU website: pdx.edu/museum-of-art/
Just Playin’ Around is curated by Nancy Downes-Le Guin and Theo Downes-Le Guin. This exhibition is supported by The Ford Family Foundation, The Reser Family Foundation, the Jackson Foundation, Elements Roofing, the Richard and Helen Phillips Charitable Fund, and the JSMA Exhibition Circle.
Image Credit: Jeremy Okai Davis, Crown (Althea Gibson), 2023, Acrylic on canvas, 48 x 36 inches, Collection of the Salem Convention Center, Salem, OR, Image Courtesy of the artist and Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Portland, OR
Organizer
The Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at PSU aspires to create an environment that sparks creativity, shares perspectives, and stirs curiosity.