The artwork of Brent Wear will be on display at Launch Pad Gallery for the month of May. If you are familiar with Brent’s work, you likely associate him with birds, birds in hats, birds in pants, otters, trains and the like; unlike his signature found-wood, character-driven work, this show is completely abstract, spatially deep and elegantly finished in dark wood frames.

Read an interview with Brent Wear

Launch Pad Gallery invites you to come out and join them for the opening festivities which include: Live music (starting around 10 pm) by The Rostropobitches, an all-womens side project of the Portland Cello Project, sets by DJ Nealie Neal, DJ B.Hill, Mr. Romo, and special guests The Merce Cunningham Duo

Show Opens: Friday May 2, 2008 from 6pm-12am
On Display: Through June 1st, 2008

Tom Keating will be displaying work at the Press Club on 25th and Clinton through the month of May. Although the piece above will not be there, many paintings of the same style will. The Press Club invites you to come out tonight from 7 to 10 pm.

Check out Tom’s drawings set to animation.

Jesse Reno will be live-painting an 8′ x 8′ indoor wall for the duration of his opening at Destroy Store tonight. The opening will feature never-before seen work from the artist. Destroy Store has worked with Jesse to produce a new series of t-shirts based on Jesse’s drawings (please see image above).

Show Opens: Friday May 2nd from 7-10 PM
On Display: Through May, 2008

Featuring the work of local Portland muralists over the past 20 years. (Please see partial list of participating artists. There will be more.) This show is a snapshot of extant mural work around Portland and a showcase for new work by local muralists.

Since 1998, there has been no easily accessible path to public murals in Portland. On the heels of the 2007 legal decision by Judge Michael Marcus deeming mural art legally sound, there is word that the city will soon open most walls to a simple mural permitting process. In exuberant display, local muralists show work & anticipate the opportunity of painting legally on public walls. In this show there will be photos sketches, original work and documentation of some of your favorite Portland murals places…Outside In, The Musicians Union, Community Cycling Center, S.C.R.A.P.

Participating Artists:

Charlotte Lewis, Ping Khaw, Mike Hensley, Robin Corbo, Emily Lutz, Charlie Alan Kraft, Sara Stout, Sheri Love, Jennifer Mercede, Larry Kangas, Joe Cotter, Kolieha Bush, Mark Meltzer, Asa Kennedy, Jay Meer, Eileen Belanger, Nicholas M. Olmsted, Chris Haberman, Kenny Spurlock, Jason Coatney, William Floyd, Rin Carroll Jackson, John Early, Laura Bender, Mark Larsen, Angelina Marino, Joel Heidel, Jesse Valesquez, Joanne Oleksiak, Bruce Orr, Carol Forté, Tom Cramer, Josh Wallace, Kate Sullivan, Eric Klanton, Jan York, William Park, Ryan Shanks, Donna Guardino and others

Read an Interview with Joe Cotter!

Opening Reception: First Friday, May 2, 5-9PM
Closing Party/Paint Off: June 28, NOON - 6
Show Runs Through: June 28, 2008

This Thursday, May 1st from 6-9pm PiP Gallery will unleash a one-night-only show featuring 576 works completed by 24 artists over the course of 24 hours. The artists are at the gallery working as I type, having at started 11am today. They will remain at the gallery until 11am tomorrow morning when they can finally get some much earned sleep. You can check in on the progress of the project at: 24hoursinportland.blogspot.com.

Pieces will be priced starting at $24.00 each.

Participating Artists

Jackie Avery, Kendra Binney, Brett Bowers, Angie Burr, Jennifer Conshue, Ryan Dobrowski, Katherine Langlands, John Larsen, Michelle McKay, Erin Patterson, Ben Pink, Nic Schaefer, Erika Sears, Brett Superstar, Anna Todaro, Alisha Wessler, Vicki Wilson, Heidi Wirz, Johnna Wells, Lynn Yarne, and more!

Please note that PiP Gallery will only be open for First Thursday in May, as they are closing their doors to do some rearranging, reopening on Thursday, June 5th.

Birthplace/Origin/Year:
Born 1973 in Kansas City, Missouri.

Time in Portland:
Just over ten years.

Education:
Parsons School of Design (New York, NY) and the University of Kansas, Lawrence.

How long have you been making art and why?

Really since I was a kid. Both my parents make art, so I was surrounded by materials and plenty of inspiration. My parents encouraged my art making, although I’m not sure they realized I would do something crazy like make a living off it. The reason why I make art is still kind of a mystery to me - I just reached a point where I couldn’t stop, and here I am.

Someone once told me you were the ‘Bird’ artist of Portland. How do you respond to that, since you have created such a familiar iconic family of characters in your paintings?

Ah, the birds. I have a sort of love/hate relationship with them. Sometimes I get mad at them, I blow them up, put them in the middle of a tornado, or some other form of destructive situation. The funny thing is, they aren’t birds at all, they are actually vessels for other creatures. The little round ‘cute’ ones that is. They are toys, benign and somewhat familiar. I use them almost as a point of reference, as a guide to hopefully draw the viewer in and hopefully have a more profound experience. But in answer to your question, I don’t really like being thought of as being the ‘bird’ artist of Portland. Lots of people paint birds in their own way, especially in Portland, where bird related art is everywhere. Bird art has been happening since humans started to make images. I just happen to be fascinated by them, so I include them in my work quite a bit. But I do hope people notice that there is quite a bit more going on my work than just the birds.

Your show for May at Launchpad Gallery doesn’t have any characters, it’s an abstract show. Are you going in another direction or exploring more depth of your backgrounds?

I am, definitely. Or perhaps I’m going back to my roots as a painter would be more accurate. There were a lot of contributing factors involved. But the clearest reason for the show was that I simply needed to make abstract paintings again. A lot of the character-driven work I do starts as an abstract painting, and then I add the characters into the environment. For awhile, I thought adding the characters would somehow make the paintings more interesting, but the frustrating part was that often the background was upstaged by the characters. Another factor was my movement to more illustrative images that were telling a story. I wanted to separate the two realms and just make paintings for the sake of painting without a plot or composition in mind. But to be totally honest I felt I was starting to lose the joy of making paintings. Last year was an especially difficult time for my art in which I had a conflict with another artist over content, which was a horrible, exhausting and soul crushing experience. It made me really rethink what I was doing, and whether or not it was working, or if it was worth it at all. It was a very confusing and frustrating time for me and I second guessed myself a lot. So in another sense, and possibly the most important one…..doing a series of abstracts is helping me heal up wounds and to move forward with a confidence, closure, and a fresh take on what I’m doing. In other words, it’s really good for my soul right now.

Bird Eclipse

Your studio is within ear shot of March Fourth Marching Band. It must be quite an experience to paint with a full band next to you. Has it had an impact on your work?

Absolutely! I love being near such a creative high energy troupe as March Fourth. Most of the other inhabitants of The Egg (the warehouse where my studio and Launchpad Gallery is located) run away when M4 shows up to rehearse. Sometimes I actually show up to work then, because it’s fun, and I can shut my studio door so it is not too deafening. Not quite like seeing them live, though. They have also made an appearance in my paintings, and I have become good friends with many of the members. I am also taking drum lessons right now so in a few years, who knows? I still have a lot of learning to do!

What motivates you to create art?

I see it as a way of conveying emotions and feelings I can’t express in words or any other form. I just happened to have honed in on painting. It crosses the language barrier, and that is important to me. I wish more people would learn to appreciate the importance of having art in their lives. Life would be pretty dull and I would dare to say impossible without it.

In a week, how much of your time is spent making art?

If I could evenly spread it out it would be about 6 hours a day. But for me it comes in fits and spurts, so I just try and make myself available to paint. Some days I have a marathon paint session that lasts into the wee hours of the morning. Other times I just have to go for a walk or bike ride. But, I’m a workaholic, and still learning to take days off where I don’t go to studio under any circumstances.

When did you first want to be an artist, or when did you first realize you were one?

I was pretty young would say in junior high. I was an awkward dork, and the only thing I was really good at. So i have always taken solace in my art. I think it really only hit I after I had a few shows under my belt and had my work out exposed for the world to see. But it snuck up on me, though I think in the back of my mind, the desire to call myself an artist was always there.

Do you find yourself more attracted to work that is not like your own, or work that has similarities to yours?

I actually find myself myself looking more often at photography than painting, even though I can’t take a decent photo for the life of me. But, I’m also drawn to work that would be considered in a similar vein to my own. But really I like and admire all kinds of work, much of which looks nothing like what I make.

In Chair with Lamp 2

Where do your creatures come from? And what’s up with the super long white pants?

I don’t know. Sometimes I actually think I have some sort of mental retardation that comes out in the form of helicopter birds, cupcakes, and animals pretending to be other animals. And then there is Bird Pants Man. He came to me not long after I started making the toy birds. It was in a way inspired by my grandpa, who would wear his pants above his bellybutton. So it was the magical combo of grandpa with a bird protruding from the waistline. Solo yeah, that’s kinda where the creatures come from.

Did you go to art school, and if so, are you satisfied with the experience vs. teaching yourself or being classically trained? (Vice versa for those that did not attend art school.)

I did attend art school, though I never graduated. I had some great instructors, and some that were awful. I don’t regret going and I would never discourage anyone from going. My one regret, however was that I wish I had taken a few years off before I went. I felt like I was too young and lacked the focus to get the most out the experience.

I’ve heard you speak of publishing a book with your art? What are your current plans?

I am currently working on a narrative picture book that will feature a lot of my iconic characters. It is sort of a series of misadventures that somehow all end up working out ok (pretty autobiographical, I might add). As soon as I recover from this abstract show its back to work on the project; although I can’t put a definite date on when it will be finished, my hope is by the fall. But it will be done when it wants to be

You are a hat and moustache man. How many hats are you wearing right now?

I have cut down to one today due to the lovely weather, but I’m a two hat guy in the winter. And sometimes I will wear a stocking hat well into May, and sometimes June. Usually an intervention occurs and I put on a summer hat. But yes, hats are a problem for me, and I collect them. The mustache is a new thing for me, but I am enjoying it thoroughly. But not as much as the hats, which is probably a good thing.

Thanks Brent. Keep rocking. Good luck on your show!!

The artwork of Brent Wear will appear at Launchpad Gallery during the month of May. Opening reception is Friday, May 2, 5 PM - Midnight

Images of and by Brent Wear

Please contact newcolony {AT} hotmail {DOT} com for more information.

Eclectica
3409 SE Hawthorne Blvd
Portland, OR 97214
503.238.3923
eclecticaclothing.com

From the well known McMenamin’s art walls to a continuing battle with billboard giant Clear Channel, Portland muralist Joe Cotter found time to speak to ARTPDX about his career and the mural code battle that has been shrouding Portland’s public muralists.

Birthplace/Origin/Year:
Boston, Massachusetts, 1949

Time in Portland:
Moved to Portland in 1977. Live in Eagle Creek now.

Education:
3 years University of Massachusetts in journalism. Life drawing at PSU.

Influences/Favorite Artists/Movements:

I’ve been influenced by every artist I’ve read about or with whom I’ve worked. Of course some stand out. As far as murals go, European cave painters, Diego Rivera, Orozco, Isaka Shamsud Din. For painting in general, Kandinski, and Bruegel. For sculpture, Michelangelo, Kolieha Bush, Nano Lopez.

How long have you been making art and why?

As far back as I can remember, but since about 1982 as a professional artist.

To my understanding, you have spent 9 years working on Mural Defense in Portland. Why take on such a large project?

The mural situation deteriorated in 1997-1998 due to litigation from the billboard company AK Media (now Clear Channel) but I was doing a lot of interior art for McMenamins at the time and wasn’t aware of the problem. The word got around at some point and when Mark Meltzer asked me to testify in 2000 for a mural on the new Outside In building, I jumped at the opportunity, having no idea at the time what it would turn into. The following year I filed a Friend of the Court brief with the Oregon Court of Appeals in the AK Media v City of Portland case and that continues to this day and on into the foreseeable future. Fortunately, there has been a lot of support from others like the Director of Outside In, Kathy Oliver and Attorney Michael Rose, as well as number of people working on this issue including Joanne Oleksiak and Mark Meltzer. I can’t list them all here but they come from the mural community at large, the legal community, those people who support art in general and those who are concerned with the pervasive influence of the corporate media.

Do you think your fight against the mural code has been overall successful?

Yes. In the seven years between 1998 and 2005 when the RACC program was implemented, no legal murals were painted. We did get the Foster Road mural on Restaurant Russia approved as a sign in 2003 but it wasn’t painted until 2006. The RACC program passed out of the Portland City Council in December 2004, and made it possible to paint some murals but it was never seen as a permanent solution. The fact is, Clear Channel challenged the constitutionality of the RACC program in court before even one mural was painted in 2005. That gave us the opportunity to intervene in the case and get involved in a new trial in October of 2006. We got positive language in Judge Michael Marcus’s Opinion in May of last year and we are now in negotiations with the City of Portland to implement a mural permitting process. This new program will permit murals in most parts of the City but with some restrictions, particularly in design overlay zones. Historic and Conservation Districts as well as landmark buildings will be off limits to this program. The RACC program will continue to provide a channel for exceptional murals that fall outside of this process and should continue to be a source of funds but we are hoping to find other funding sources as well. There has been an increase in communication and awareness between some in the local mural community and other national and international groups due to this struggle.

I was told you did murals outside of Multnomah County because of the lack of a mural code. With the code changing, will you continue to decorate more rural areas?

The first mural I painted on was called “Struggle and Hope” designed by Bill Garnett and painted on the Riverway Inn in Portland in 1988. We painted a mural called “For the People” on Outside In over the next two years. I began to work for McMenamins in 1990 and painted a lot of interior murals in Portland , Salem and the surrounding area but no Portland exterior murals. The Artback Artists Cooperative was started in 1992 in Estacada with mural artists Jenny Joyce, Kolieha Bush and myself among others. We have painted 15 murals in Estacada since 1994. I am the lead artist for this year’s mural on the Trails Restaurant and Bar. The Art scene has taken off in Estacada over the years and we now have a very active Coop gallery, The Spiral Gallery, as well as a three day Summer Celebration that takes place the weekend we are painting the mural. This year it is July 25-27 and it always has a great lineup of music on Friday night and Saturday as well as food and art booths. There is also a percent for art program and an Arts Commission. The Artback artists range from teenagers to people in their sixties and we plan to keep painting murals until we drop.

What is the largest structure you’ve ever worked on? How much time did the project take to complete?

The largest murals I have worked on were approaching 2,000 square feet. One was an Artback mural with Jenny Joyce as lead artist. It was almost 25 feet high and 80 feet long. The mural on the Musicians Union in Portland was coordinated by lead artist Isaka Shamsud Din and we painted it in 2006. It was 100 feet long and about 19 feet high. The other artists on that mural were Baba Wague Diakite and Hector Hernandez. We each designed and painted a space 25 by 19 feet. The largest mural on which I was lead artist was an Artback mural painted in 1996 called “The Cycle of Wood.” It was 1,500 square feet. The longest time I have ever spent on a mural was over a two year period.

Portland Musicians Union Mural - 2006

You have a long history in Portland. Do you feel your artwork at its source is tied to the region?

Yes, I didn’t decide to do art for a living until I moved here. Much of my subject matter is local in origin.

Do you consider yourself a folk artist?

That’s difficult to say. Although I am essentially self taught I have done a lot of research into many forms of art. I was particularly intrigued with abstract art and spent considerable time absorbed in the theoretical writings of Kandinsky. The interesting thing about abstract work is that the composition is exposed free of the judgment implicit in representational work concerning the quality of the representation. Much of my work these days is figurative but I try to keep abstract compositional elements in mind. We had a lot of life drawing classes at our studio in Estacada between 1994 and about 2000 and I don’t think an artist can do too much life drawing. If the definition of a folk artist is one who lacks a formal art education then I guess I’m a folk artist but I don’t identify my work with the style commonly referred to as folk art. Then again if one is doing community murals then there is an attention to the community, the folk.

What is your biggest challenge personally as it pertains to making your work?

I’ve been extremely fortunate to have been working for McMenamins all these years and we have a great deal of latitude when it comes to subject matter. The biggest challenge for a mural artist, particularly one who paints community murals is being paid enough to devote the time necessary to do a quality mural and pay the bills at the same time. Artists in general do not make nearly enough and community murals are notorious for being under funded. While adequate funding doesn’t guarantee quality it increases the odds.

Does the term ‘Clear Channel’ make you wince every time you hear it?

Clear Channel! Arrrrrrrrrrgh!

Thank you Joe. It is a pleasure to know you.

Thank you Chris. The feeling’s mutual.

Mr. Cotter is one of many artists for the historical Portland Mural Show, opening May 2nd at the Olympic Mills Commerce Center (1st SE Washington), 5-9 PM. More info: myspace.com/olympicmillsart

Diesel Fuel Prints presents the U.S. debut of works by Pierre Dacruoix.

Saturday April 26, 2008 from 6-10 pm

Tom Keating and Shirak Agresta teamed up to produce a four minute animatic that is set to the music of Radiohead. For those of you who don’t know (like me) an animatic is merely a rough draft of and animation - one step beyond a storyboard.

Tom and Shirak are competing in an online contest to produce a music video for Radiohead. If you like what you see above, Click here and give this animation 5 stars!