In 2003, Clear Channel sued Portland for allowing
large public paintings (murals) while giving billboards the thumbs
down—up until then mural laws were relatively lax. In an effort
to keep billboards out, the city was forced by the media giant to
regulate murals under the city’s sign code. The new regulations quickly
made one thing clear: Artists and sign codes don’t mix. The code is
long and approval of signage is required, but most importantly, the
code just wasn’t designed to regulate murals.
The Original Art Mural Project, the proposed remedy to the mural’s
troubling legal identity, is scheduled for implementation on August 1.
While still red tape, it’s better than the sign code—it involves
fees, a neighborhood review to approve location and mural content, and
an inspection of the final product. So it’s partly cloudy out for
murals, but a few walls peek through the cloud coverage, either from
the pre-Clear Channel days or through the cracks of the waning
sign-code era.
I’ve designed a little walking trip to show off some of these
murals. (While the first mural on the walk isn’t in a public space,
it’s still well worth a looksie.) Start inside Bishops Barbershop on SE
Hawthorne, where Shepard Fairey—the designer behind the iconic
Obama “Hope” poster campaign—put up multiples of the “Obey” face,
framing a menacing red communist star. Further down SE Hawthorne at the
corner of 35th is a piece by Jesse Reno in which two faces tangle into
a reptilian creature, caught in fields of turbulence and a
brush-slashed atmosphere.
Continue north to Belmont where you’ll head west until you reach the
Belmont Garage, between 32nd and 31st. Suer and Raskoe have the
west-facing wall right now, using the space for a green-faced boy who
points with a twiggy arm toward a splintering of abstract shapes.
Facing the street is a paste-up of a plump geisha crowned with
skull-handled hairpins—part of a collaboration between Japan’s
Imaone, Tenga, and Shohei, which wraps around the wall in
black-and-white characters. (Paige Prendergast of Breeze Block Gallery
curated these murals.)
Now make your way to the Goodfoot on SE 28th and Stark, where you’ll
be taking a beer break. The Goodfoot’s open-air smoking lounge displays
permanent works by locals Jason Brown, Chris Haberman, Derek Olsen,
Klutch, and Jesse Reno. Haberman packed a shotgun shell with
multi-colored faces and unloaded on this wall, while Klutch painted a
tidy flowing braid of grasses over the room’s red basecoat. After
you’ve beered yourself, keep going north on 28th until you pass yet
another Bishops location—between Davis and Everett—then
turn around and look up. You’ll see the abstract works of Seak
(Germany), Daim (Germany), and Joker (Portland)—this mural dates
back to 2003, and is something of a landmark.
From here, head down to NE 7th, between Burnside and Couch, where
you’ll find a noteworthy piece by Brazil’s Herbert Baglione, whose art
is on the July cover of Juxtapoz magazine. On a background of
golden floral bursts, a fat woman lies horizontally with an androgynous
figure emerging from her belly, a face like a nesting doll’s, with arms
held up in a dramatic “O.”
While it’s not entirely clear if all of these murals are fully
legal, the city is taking the right approach: getting a new law on the
books and turning a semi-blind eye to murals that lack a permit. This
isn’t to say that acquiring a mural permit under the new program won’t
be a pain—especially when community reviews tend to churn out
works that are both safe and mediocre. As Paige Prendergast puts it,
“Public art should be the voice of a city… don’t we love that
Portland is weird? Then we should have some weird public art.”
I like this but I wish it had more pictures/map graphics.
I own the Belmont Garage and Paige Prendergast of Breeze Block Gallery has never curated any of the murals. My friend Ashley Montague is the curator and has been for the last 9+ years. Where did you get your information?
@Cravedog– When I asked Paige about the Belmont Garage and the current pieces on display, she wrote the following in an email response:
“The Belmont Garage is privately owned and curated by a handful of people in town. I curated the two walls you are referring to. Raskoe and Suer are close friends of mine and Breeze Block artists as well – long history with two these guys, lots of shows and murals at Breeze Block.”
Maybe Ashley and Paige worked together on it?
This is correct – Ashley gave permission for Paige to curate and bring these artists to the wall. Ashley Montague has been the main curator of this wall for 9+ years as cravedog said above.
Hi Matt,
Thanks for the quick response. I will speak with Ashley and get back to you.
For the record, the garage is not curated by a handful of people as Paige suggests. Ashley Montague is the man behind the curtain and has been for many years. Its too bad he did not get any credit.
wish there were more spots in portland like the belmont garage……….its refreshing to see great mural work revolving on those walls………..but the article is letting folks know where to
find great mural work all around town………lets not miss the point………….this is a positive write -up……..its nice to see someone writing about these kind of murals and the style of art they represent……………
the breeze block gallery and the artists are all a big joke, all the breeze block gallery does is sell expensive spray paint to high school kids, they don’t promote art, let alone sell or curate art around the city.
As a small business, we are fortunate to have worked hard and run a successful gallery for the last three years. Even in the best economic times, something has to pay the rent, and for us sometimes that’s art supplies. We enjoy selling spray paint to mural and gallery artists but do not make that the forefront of our goals or reputation as a gallery. We are thankful to have talented artists for our monthly art shows and be involved in and supported by our local community. -Paige Prendergast, owner and curator