- Stacey Rozich
- Stacey Rozich’s “Trespassing Lands,” on view at Compound Gallery
It’s the fourth day of the week for the first time this month, and that means people are headed West of the river to see some art. There’re a boatload of openings that fall on First Thursday this month, and I’d like to tell you about a few of them.
After the jump are flowers with teeth, photos of all the odd, ceremonious things we do at weddings, hyper-stylized Japanese psychedelia, creepy (but charming) folklore vignettes, digital art produced with homemade software, and cybernetic sentiments trapped in clay.
Lookin’ like this’ll be a good one!
Jeff Proctor has done illustration work for Nike, Zoo York, Mogwai, and The Black Keys (amongst many other clients), and for his solo show at Breeze Block Gallery, Flora and Fascia, he’s getting away from the brand names to take on a challenge from curator Paige Prendergast. “Bring some beauty into [your] typically gory watercolors,” directed Prendergast. Above is the result of the challenge, and below is a poster Proctor made for Hobo with a Shotgun. Oh, also! Apparently there will be “a bed made of cats.” Mkay? 6-10 pm, 323 NW 6th Ave.
- Jeff Proctor
Bill McCullough‘s Technicolor Life “explores the ritual of weddings in the United States.” On view at Blue Sky Gallery, the “color series” came about through the photographer’s professional “access to the personalities and pageantry of wedding celebrations.” 6-9 pm, 122 NW 8th Ave.
- Hr-Fm
Hellion Gallery brought in Japanese illustrator Hr-Fm, whose work has appeared in comics, video games, and apparel (I’d tell you more, but there’s just not a whole lot out there written in English). The work looks pretty nice, despite the lack of details surrounding the show. Additionally, Blaine Fontana will be in attendance signing his new art book, Amalgamate, and a window display by Angel Davis will be debuted. 6 pm, 19 NW 5th Ave, #208 (above Hamburger Mary’s).
- Stacey Rozich
You might recognize Seattle-based Stacey Rozich‘s illustrations from the work she’s done for The Stranger, FADER, K Records, and others— and tonight at Compound Gallery, her newest series, The Stories They Told Us, will go public. “The vignettes,” writes the artist, “while built on a foundation of multicultural folklore, employ these graphic details to evoke a feeling of nostalgia and familiarity.” Rozich further explains the series, saying the works get at “the relationship we have with spiritual, religious, and indigenous figures, and how they present themselves through ancestral allegories or vague memories of childhood bedtime stories.” 7-10 pm, 107 NW 5th Ave.
Back in the 1980s, Mark Wilson began writing computer programs to generate art. As things go, he’s still at it, and his newest exhibition, Code Matrix, opens up tonight at Augen Gallery DeSoto. Geometric, colorful, and art-historical. 5:30-8:30 pm, 716 NW Davis.
Upper Playground’s Fifty24PDX is turning five, and they want you to come to High Five!, their big birthday bash. Participating artists are listed on the above handbill. I’m pretty stoked to see new work from Meredith Dittmar, whose “Digital Biology” is shown below. Major bonus: “Cold beers from Red Hook will help you wash down the wild game burgers from Over the Top Burger.” Um, yeah they will! 6-10 pm, 23 NW 5th Ave.
- Fifty24PDX