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Cameron Hawkey
Posted inVisual Art

Crafting Pinocchio Spotlights the Stop-Motion Animation That Made the Movie Come Alive

Portland Art Museum presents an up-close view of Guillermo del Toro’s unique vision and ShadowMachine’s masterful craft.
Avatar photo Cameron Hawkey

Who hasn’t shared the frustrations of poor Pinocchio: He’s self aware, with a will to live, left on his own to decide what’s right and wrong? The story reminds us of what French poet Rimbaud said of being an artist: “Too bad for the wood that finds itself a violin.”  Those who have seen Guillermo […]

Posted inVisual Art

Portland Art Museum Scores a Rare View, Not Just of Frida Kahlo, but the Interconnected History of Mexican Modernism

Avatar photo Cameron Hawkey

Diego Rivera, Landscape with Cacti PHOTO BY GERARDO SUTER, COURTESY OF THE PORTLAND ART MUSEUM Standing in front of Landscape with Cacti, a massive landscape oil painting that muralist Diego Rivera painted in 1931, feels like standing with friends in happy company—if your friends happen to be five-feet-tall cacti on canvas. They meander over a […]

Posted inSpring Arts Preview 2022

Portland Art Museum Scores a Rare View, Not Just of Frida Kahlo, but the Interconnected History of Mexican Modernism

Avatar photo Cameron Hawkey

Standing in front of Landscape with Cacti, a massive landscape oil painting that muralist Diego Rivera painted in 1931, feels like standing with friends in happy company—if your friends happen to be five-feet-tall cacti on canvas. They meander over a sunny hill, prickly arms open in greeting. I found refuge in this golden-yellow landscape as […]

Posted inVisual Art

Portland Art Museum’s Hank Willis Thomas Retrospective Invokes Black Joy: The Strongest Force In the Universe

Avatar photo Cameron Hawkey

“Crossroads,” 2012. Chromogenic print, plexiglas, and Lumisty film © HANK WILLIS THOMAS During a boozy opening night dialogue with Danielle McCoy and Ragen Fykes of Wieden+Kennedy, and assistant professor Dr. Derrais Carter from the Pacific Northwest College of Art, Carter asked conceptual artist Hank Willis Thomas how he got someone to give themselves a Nike […]

Posted inVisual Art

Introducing Try Harder PDX: Portland’s Only Serious Art Blog?

Avatar photo Cameron Hawkey

Mercury Staff Last fall the anonymously written Try Harder PDX, a website (tryharderpdx.com) claiming to be “Portland’s only serious source for art criticism,” surfaced online. The pieces on the review blog bounced from brainy walkthroughs of shows to surprisingly detailed criticisms of local nonprofits, schools, and galleries. The writing, though sometimes incendiary, became an immediate […]

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