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Critical analyses of contemporary art through exhibition reviews
Heirloomed pleasure as self-examination: Louise Bourgeois and Isabelle Albuquerque at lumber room in Portland, OR
An two person show explores the narrative women’s bodies hold.
Interiors and exteriors: Black life and the archive
A group exhibition in Seattle showcases the complexity and duality of identity present both in the exteriors and interiors of…
You are the space between: Joe Park at Elizabeth Leach Gallery in Portland, OR
Intricate paintings explore a world where energy and matter are porous and fluid.
Every day altars: Andrea Castillo’s Counter Space makes the familiar sacred
Andrea Castillo’s solo exhibition Counter Space was a tender and radical tribute to the immigrant-run storefronts that shaped the artist’s…
The body as a place: Recent Grads at Blackfish Gallery in Portland, OR
A group exhibition with work by graduates from thirteen Oregon universities examines the connection between bodies and nature.
Food for thought: Consider the Oyster at Anthony Meier in Mill Valley, CA
A group exhibition takes inspiration from MFK Fisher’s iconic book.
Photography plus time equals something else: Sara J. Winston at Blue Sky Gallery
A photographer documents her journey with chronic illness.
Diasporic Dreamscapes in American Gurl: home—land at The Museum of Contemporary Art
The two channel video installation American Gurl: home—land brings together women and femmes from across the African diaspora; ruminating on…
A living narrative: Silicon Forest at Oregon State University’s PRAx
An exhibition in Corvallis, OR, acts as a living conversation between researchers, artists, and the public.
Monument Eternal: Alice Coltrane at the Hammer Museum
A 10,000 square foot exhibition honors the legacy of the incomparable musician.
A space for all: Just Playin’ Around at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at Portland State University
A museum show offers a rare opportunity to experience joy during politically chaotic times.
The stories we tell: Joe Bun Keo at Specialist Gallery in Seattle
A punny exhibition examines humor’s role in processing trauma.
Finding signals in the noise: Waste Scenes at Oregon Contemporary in Portland
An exhibition explores the results of an art residency at a waste recycling facility in Philadelphia.
Exceeding the camera’s limits: Rite This Instant at Solas Gallery reviewed
In Rite: This Instant, a modest group show dedicated to Polaroids at Seattle’s Solas Gallery, C. Meier, Annie Reierson, and…
John Waters is the worst: how his humor shows us our own absurdity at Rena Bransten Gallery in San Francisco
The “Sultan of Sleaze” takes viewers on a journey of laughs and life lessons.
This Clay Too: a gesture of collective care in San Francisco’s Tenderloin
Featuring ceramic work made by community members and artists in the Tenderloin, This Clay Too altogether propose alternative visions of…
Manifest Destiny and rewriting the history of powerful men: Out of Site at the Autry Museum of the American West in Los Angeles
In Los Angeles, an exhibition questions the history of powerful men erasing atrocities.
Waves of meaning: Turning the Page at Pier 24 Photography in San Francisco
A photography exhibition both spatial and haptic marks the end of an era in San Francisco.
The city is a prism: Mark Ruwedel’s images of Los Angeles
Exploring the natural landscapes of an urban empire.
“Makeshift Memorials, Small Revolutions” at KADIST, San Francisco
How have art and community changed since the Covid-19 pandemic? Writer Melika Sebihi reviews “Makeshift Memorials, Small Revolutions” at KADIST…
The space we occupy: Lee Materazzi at Quint Gallery
What is accident versus intent? Artist Lee Materazzi’s exuberant creative practice sprawls across the gallery walls in her new exhibition…
I (Don’t) Want to Believe: Trevor Paglen at Altman Siegel
What is real? Max Blue explores the role of belief and evidence in photography
Ghost in the screen: General Magic at the Fulcrum Press in Los Angeles
Hannah Sage Kay reviews “General Magic” at the Fulcrum Press in Los Angeles, searching for the ghost in the apparatus…
Biennial as an Act of Love: the seventh Oregon Artists’ Biennial
Oregon Contemporary takes the notion of care and applies it to the biennial model
The emancipatory potential of photography: Eileen Cowin and Jonesy at California Museum of Photography reviewed
Kristina Newhouse reviews Eileen Cowin and Jonesy’s Telling Them Apart, finding that collaborative exhibition is fruitful ground for exploring and…
New horizons in landscape photography: Forecast at SF Camerawork
This year’s annual juried photography exhibition activates landscape in new and nuanced ways.
Hidden bodies, hoards of feeling: Math Bass at lumber room
An exhibition of objects challenges our understanding of our bodies.
The Weight of lightness: Jenene Nagy at Helzer Gallery
Jenene Nagy’s exhibition, The Weight, is a welcome dialogue of artistic concept inextricably connected to a profound commitment to artistic…
How to say friendship: Maren Hassinger and Senga Nengudi at Cooley Gallery
An exhibition documents the world-building collaboration of two artists across the country and over fifty years.
Self-actualizing in the stone: Joan Nelson’s New Works at Adams and Ollman
Kaya Noteboom on Joan Nelson’s New Works at Adams and Ollman.
Instantaneous and durational: Chao-Chen Yang at Cascadia Art Museum
The first survey of the career of twentieth-century Seattle artist Chao-Chen Yang is a signal contribution to the rich and…
Capturing a slow sublime: Sun You at Ditch Projects
Sun You’s performance-informed clay sculptures invite chaos and chance into her practice, creating space for her imagination to run wild.…
Expanding small universes: Made in L.A. 2023 at the Hammer Museum
Lack of curatorial edits creates a lush exhibit that may be lost on those without the capacity to absorb it…
Looking Outward: Bay Area Now 9 at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
The ninth iteration of Bay Area Now at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts asks of-the-moment questions about knowledge production…
A Question of Hu: The Narrative Art of Hung Liu
Through her process, subject, and material choices, Liu uplifts subjects that historically would not have the socioeconomic power or privilege…
Textile as transcript: Adriene Cruz in Converge 45’s Social Forms: Art as Global Citizenship
Vibrant, mixed media textile works honor the history of Black women.
Who do you carry with you? Malcolm Peacock at SE Cooper Contemporary
Through audio, participatory sculpture, and memory, the exhibit poses the salient questions: “who are you carrying with you?”
Painting Toward Life: Jesse Murry at Reed College
Painting as a matter of life or death.
Political agitation through reflection: Zarouhie Abdalian at KADIST San Francisco
A group exhibition from KADIST’s collection demonstrated how artists make powerful political statements by abstracting language and material.
Metamorphosis Happens Every Morning: Danielle Mckinney at Night Gallery
With an arresting sense of empathy, Danielle Mckinney’s exhibition “Metamorphic” asks: “what does rest look like for Black women?”
When We Were Here Last: Muzae Sesay at pt. 2
Muzae Sesay’s latest solo exhibition, When We Were Here Last, prompts a contemplation of personal and public history.
Emotional Rhythms: Jeffrey Gibson at Jessica Silverman
Melika Sebihi reviews Jeffrey Gibson’s ONCE MORE WITH FEELING on view at Jessica Silverman Gallery in San Francisco.
Emily Yong Beck: Spoonful of Sugar at New Image Art, Los Angeles
In Spoonful of Sugar, Emily Yong Beck asks: What is beneath the veil of beauty that we buy into?
The Casual Intimacy of Women Caring for Women: Anne Buckwalter at Friends Indeed and Rebecca Camacho Presents
In the two-venue exhibition, Buckwalter’s domestic scenes have a revolutionary proposition: what would a world of care and support for…
The Power of Discrete Things: Ricki Dwyer at Anglim/Trimble in San Francisco
Ricki Dwyer’s vast textiles and small sculptures examine the gravity of human relationships.
Flirting With the Uncontrollable: Peter Gronquist at Winston Wächter Fine Art in Seattle
Felted wool, steel, river rocks, and sound combine to illustrate the vulnerability of all life.
We Vessels of Existence: Jesse Mockrin at Night Gallery
Religious images question the multifaceted nature of human lives.
Who Do I Think I Am? Lynn Hershman Leeson at Altman Siegel
A multi-media artist on the West Coast gets up close and personal with their viewers, unsettling the notion of a…
Balancing Buoyancy and Desolation: Emily Kepulis at Lolo Pass
A painter meditates on the impending and preventable horror of environmental destruction.
Support, Opportunity, and Liberation: Month of Sundays at Eugene Contemporary Art
An ambitious group exhibition steps in to show the world that liberation requires both trouble and quietude.
Mixed Feelings for Strange Fruit: Genevieve Gaignard at Vielmetter Los Angeles
A daring but imperfect exhibition challenges notions of racism and colorism.
Srijon Chowdhury’s “Groundhog Day” at SE Cooper Contemporary
A Portland-based painter conjures the otherworldly to meditate on the shrouded interiority of his subjects.
Unknowable Spaces: William Matheson’s “Dissipatio” at Nationale
Evocative oil paintings on jute canvas trouble the perception of figure-ground relationships.
Joke’s on Us: Hugo Montoya’s “Florida Man” at Et al.
Through found objects and wry humor, Hugo Montoya reveals problematic cultural stereotypes.
Compendium of Scars: Pained Vistas at Photographic Center Northwest
Eleven artists depict landscapes framed by conflict, trauma, and beauty.
The Importance of Meaningless Things: Sara Cwynar at ICA LA
At ICA LA, Cwynar probes what we can learn from our fickle taste and consumerism.
Each One of Us Was Fastened to the Other: Josh Smith and Vanessa Woods at the Center for Photographic Art in Carmel, CA
A wife and husband artist duo explore their identities as artists and parents.
Photographing the Surreality of Western Landscapes: Ingeborg Gerdes at Blue Sky Gallery
The German-American photographer applied street photography tactics to documenting rural Western United States.
Insatiable Exuberance: Daisy May Sheff at Ratio 3
When you walk into Ratio 3, one of the first artworks you encounter doesn’t initially seem like it’s part of…
An Archive for End Times: Invisible Labor in Taryn Tomasello’s “As Long As It Doesn’t Spread”
Monuments to pandemic isolation reconsider the archival impulse
The Mesmerizing Secrets of Mundane Objects: Mariel Capanna Overlook at Adams and Ollman
An enigmatic painter draws her viewers into her impermanent abstractions, invites them to consider everyday materiality.
FROM THE ARCHIVES | Imagining Caregiving as Constant: Contact Traces at the Wattis Institute
A group exhibition in San Francisco exposes lapses, performances, and vital acts of care.
FROM THE ARCHIVES | Residential Intimacies: Shoccara Marcus Choreographs the Past and the Present at Wa Na Wari
Shoccara Marcus’s photographs highlight the complex nuances of relationships.
FROM THE ARCHIVES | Disco as a Communal Site of Pleasure: Coady Brown’s nightlife paintings at Shulamit Nazarian
Gabrielle Lawrence interprets Coady Brown’s vibrant paintings through her favorite disco songs.
FROM THE ARCHIVES | New Images for an Old Struggle: Jacob Lawrence at Seattle Art Museum
Lawrence’s research into this nation’s early years point the way to reckoning with past and present social crises.
FROM THE ARCHIVES | Going Through the Motions: Speculations on Birth in Patricia Piccinini’s The Awakening
A surreal birthing video situates viewers in an uncomfortable, yet fruitful space.
Resurrecting a Twentieth Century Cabaret Artist to Resist Oppression Today: Witch’s Kitchen by Shana Lutker and Active Cultures
An LA-based non-profit creates a novel space to remind audiences how communities can come together.
Artists Fill San Francisco’s Cliff House with Warnings of Environmental Disaster: “Lands End” Reviewed
Jutting out from the rugged coastline at Lands End, near barbed Seal Rock and the remains of the Sutro Baths,…
The Politics of Nature: Ansel Adams In Our Time at Portland Art Museum
Contemporary artists reposition Ansel Adams’s famous landscape photography.
The Boundless Light of Black Children: Barbara Earl Thomas’s “Geographies of Innocence” at Seattle Art Museum
Intricately cut paper reveals the joy of Black children in vibrant colors.
Disco as a Communal Site of Pleasure: Coady Brown’s nightlife paintings at Shulamit Nazarian
Gabrielle Lawrence interprets Coady Brown’s vibrant paintings through her favorite disco songs.
For the Love of Friends: Jonathan Berger at Adams and Ollman
A poetic installation chronicles the friendships made by a community living in tunnels under Manhattan.
Lessons from the Forest: Arboreal at / Gallery
A group show in San Francisco examines the many interconnected lessons we can learn from plants.
Imagining Caregiving as Constant: Contact Traces at the Wattis Institute
A group exhibition in San Francisco exposes lapses, performances, and vital acts of care.
Residential Intimacies: Shoccara Marcus Choreographs the Past and the Present at Wa Na Wari
Shoccara Marcus’s photographs highlight the complex nuances of relationships.
An Expansive Examination of Life and Death: Ameh Egwuh at Rele Gallery
An artist contemplates life, death, and the afterlife through unexpectedly cheerful symbols.
Going Through the Motions: Speculations on Birth in Patricia Piccinini’s The Awakening
A surreal birthing video situates viewers in an uncomfortable, yet fruitful space.
Neon Abundance Highlights Our Lack of Substance: Energy Drink at Museum of Museums
A wholly artificial environment satirizes our superficial world.
Drawing Moments of Everyday Life with a Typewriter: Lenka Clayton at Catharine Clark Gallery
Clayton uses typewriter keys to illustrate the minutiae of life in the pandemic.
Antifascist Climate Noir: Ryan Pierce at Elizabeth Leach Gallery
Chaotic scenes paint a cheeky and surreal image of capitalist futures.
New Images for an Old Struggle: Jacob Lawrence at Seattle Art Museum
Lawrence’s research into this nation’s early years point the way to reckoning with past and present social crises.
Shared Dreams of the Sea: Bonny Nahmias at Root Division
Sending dreams through the mail connects strangers with their unconscious and each other.
The Meaning in Everything: Synchronicity at Roberts Projects
A group exhibition embraces serendipity in everyday life.
Collective Grieving Through an Interactive Website
Performative practices offer the possibility of a more connected community mourning.
Facing Pervasive Trauma with Humor and Hope: Christine Sun Kim at François Ghebaly
Charcoal drawings process the social trauma of being deaf.
Black Life Exploited for White Lies: Ilana Harris-Babou’s Long Con at Jacob Lawrence Gallery
Satire and collage expose capitalist strategies of using Black bodies to exploit spiritual, mental, and physical health.
Know Thyself, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Fordism: Jeamin Cha at Kadist San Francisco
An exhibition stalled by the global pandemic examines mental heath under late capitalism.
Searching for a More Perfect Union: Tannaz Farsi at HOLDING Contemporary
Textural and material poetics question notions of citizenship and belonging.
Documenting the Changing Self: Melanie Flood at Fourteen30 Contemporary
Flood’s photographs suggest a changing self located within a difficult but perhaps all too common history, at once revealed and…
All the Strings that Bind: Patty Chang at Friends Indeed and Cushion Works
Chang’s work displays a longstanding preoccupation with the boundaries and trace appearances of the body.