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Visual Art

Our visual arts coverage is made possible in part by support from The Ford Family Foundation’s Visual Arts Program.

For stories published before 2018, visit our archive site.

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VizArts Monthly

VizArts Monthly: Personal perceptions

August’s selections of art exhibitions and events highlight artists sharing their vision of the world with viewers. The results cover everything from beach debris to John Travolta.

U.S. chooses Jeffrey Gibson for Venice Biennale

Portland Art Museum and curator Kathleen Ash-Milby play key roles in spotlighting the first solo Indigenous artist at the U.S. Pavilion in the international art showcase’s 129-year history.

Art review: Animal magnetism

The group exhibit “Biomass,” in a Pearl District warehouse space, reunites a contemporary art community after a lengthy pause.

Producing the future at Parallax Art Center

The collaboratively curated group exhibition “Notes for Tomorrow” tackles complex issues and presents a “network of overlapping solutions.” The art, as well as its curatorial framing, is dense but ultimately rewarding.

The Cultural Landscape: Part 10

K.B. Dixon’s cultural-portrait series continues with All Classical’s Suzanne Nance, poet Carlos Reyes, playwright Andrea Stolowitz, visual artist James Minden, and flautist Amelia Lukas.

Lively ghosts and an artist rediscovered

At Hallie Ford Museum, the Tom Prochaska retrospective “Music for Ghosts” and a revival of works by the late Jim Hibbard traverse the thin line between traditional and contemporary.

Laura Ross-Paul: Breasts and beyond

The veteran Portland artist’s July show at NINE Gallery springs from her own breast cancer and the pioneering treatment she chose to defeat it.

VizArts Monthly: Collaboration and community

Summer is here! Jason N. Le’s round-up of July shows features group shows, retrospectives, and solo exhibitions inspired by everything from the otherworldly to the intimately personal.

Bush House Museum’s historical reboot

The Salem Art Association opens the Waldo Bogle Gallery in the Bush House and unveils the two latest paintings in Jeremy Okai Davis’s portrait series. The house’s original owner and namesake would not be pleased.

The Cultural Landscape: Part 9

K.B. Dixon’s culltural-portrait series continues with illustrator Kate Bingaman-Burt, artist Dan Gluibizzi, writers Cecily Wong and Aaron Galbreath, and Oregon Ballet Theatre’s Dani Rowe.

Derek Franklin: An artist in three acts

With his own small gallery in a shed, a show at Elizabeth Leach, and a key role in the Converge 45 biennial, the artist juggles “three ways I get to make magic out of dust.”

In memoriam: George Johanson

Remembering an artistic life well and truly lived: The Northwest artist died in October of 2022; his memorial service is June 11 at the World Forestry Center.

(Mis)remembering: VizArts Monthly

June’s art offerings explore the phenomena of memory in a variety of media including paint, performance, and piñata paper.

The vital art of reflecting on disease

Ruth Ross and others carry on a centuries-old tradition of depicting the realities and reflections of cancer and other diseases in their art.

Bonnie Lucas at ILY2

The retrospective “Bonnie Lucas 1978-2023” is the first show in ILY2’s new Pearl gallery space. Hannah Krafcik considers the coded meanings of the bejeweled and bedecked compositions.

Eva Lake shakes the tree

After a tumultuous few years, a recent self-curated show in her new home gave this venerable, multitalented artist a sense of agency and renewal.

Four chords and a dark mirror

Leslie Peterson Sapp’s vivid collage-paintings reflecting the moods of Film Noir echo a long creative history of borrowing and revising in music and art.

VizArts Monthly: Vibrancy in May

Warmer weather is here – at least for now! Celebrate by heading out to take in some art at any of these enticing offerings.

The Cultural Landscape: Part 8

Photographer K.B. Dixon continues his series of portraits of Oregon cultural leaders with parks activist Randy Gragg, playwright Lava Alapai, mixed-media artist Erik Geschke, writer Erica Berry, and choreographer/dancer Samuel Hobbs.

Jim Lommasson at the United Nations

The Portland photographer’s images and stories about survivors of genocidal wars open at U.N. headquarters in New York. Plus: Brenda Mallory at the Heard, Cynthia Lahti at the movies.

Henk Pander, Oregon art giant, dies at 85

The Dutch-born painter, whose work was often rooted in his childhood memories of Nazi occupation, explored the dark reaches and possibilities of the human condition.

VizArts Monthly: Forward Motion

April pushes us further into spring and there’s plenty of art to see all over the state. VizArts Monthly has recommendations for everything from paintings to recycled fabrics to suspended plant matter.

Frogs and Cherubs at Chefas Projects

Laura Burke’s solo exhibition “Bright blue his jacket is, and his boots are yellow” is a feast of color and charm. Jason N. Le reviews.

VizArts Monthly: Visions of spring

March may be starting off with some residual snow but spring is around the corner and there’s plenty of art to see in the meantime. Jason N. Le has the highlights in VizArts Monthly.

Portland Opera Puccini in Concert Keller Auditorium Portland Oregon
Portland Center Stage at the Armory Coriolanus Portland Oregon
Cascadia Composers May the Fourth be with you Bold new music for winds and piano Lincoln Recital Hall PSU Portland Oregon
Chamber Music Northwest Imani Winds and BodyVox Beautiful Everything The Reser Beaverton Oregon
Portland Columbia Symphony Adelante Voices of Tomorrow Beaverton and Gresham Oregon
Portland Baroque Orchestra Harmony of Nations Concert First Baptist Church Kaul Auditorium Reed College Portland Oregon
Newport Visual and Performing Arts Newport Oregon Coast
Kalakendra Indian Classical Instrumental Music First Congregational Church Portland Oregon
NW Dance Project Moving Stories Newmark Theatre Portland Oregon
Triangle Productions Perfect Arrangement Portland Oregon
Portland Playhouse Passing Strange Portland Oregon
Oregon Repertory Singers Finding Light 50th Season Portland Oregon
Imago Theatre Carol Triffle Mission Gibbons Portland Oregon
Maryhill Museum of Art Goldendale Washington
Portland State University College of the Arts
Bonnie Bronson 2024 Fellow Wendy Red Star Reed College Reception Kaul Auditorium Foyer Portland Oregon
PassinArt Theatre and Portland Playhouse present Yohen Brunish Theatre Portland Oregon
Pacific Maritime Heritage Center Prosperity of the Sea Lincoln County Historical Society Newport Oregon Coast
Portland Art Museum Virtual Sneakers to Cutting Edge Kicks Portland Oregon
High Desert Museum Sasquatch Central Oregon
Oregon Cultural Trust donate
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