Josh White / Gagosian Gallery Chris Burden The conceptual artist Chris Burden died last week, 44 years after getting shot in the arm for art. One of performance art’s forerunners, Burden leaves behind a legacy of boundary-pushing, occasionally bleakly playful pieces. His early work was odd and violent and self-destructive—take “Five Day Locker Piece,” which […]
Megan Burbank
Posted inBooks
At Beacon Sound, Jessica Hopper Talks R. Kelly, Bad Reviews, and Bjork
Beacon Sound is a lovely record store, but on Sunday evening, it was transformed into a cramped, sweaty box during Jessica Hopper’s packed reading from The First Collection of Criticism by a Living Female Rock Critic. And you know what? I was fine with it. It’s wonderful to see this many beardos and baby feminists […]
Posted inTheater & Performance
This Week in Art: Art Parties, Rock Critic Jessica Hopper, and More Plays About Drones
Elizabeth Leach Gallery An assemblage by MK Guth, up now at Elizabeth Leach Gallery. Robert Ham spoke to Jessica Hopper about her new book, The First Collection of Criticism by a Living Female Rock Critic, calling her “one of the sharpest and most fiery writers working today, filling column inches with deeply felt and unabashedly […]
Posted inComedy
Comedian/Filmmaker Bobcat Goldthwait, As You’ve Never Seen Him Before!
Bobcat Goldthwait, filmmaker and shouty-mouthed comic, is headed to town tomorrow night to restore the Bossanova Ballroom to its Bridgetown glory (or as CLOSE TO IT as possible, ugh, next year is SO FAR AWAY), and I’d like to take this opportunity to correct a commonly held assumption about ol’ Bobcat. See, if you know […]
Posted inTheater & Performance
Good Night, Sweet Prince! Northwest Classical Theatre Company To End Residency in Portland After 17 Years
Jason Maniccia Melissa Whitney and Brenan Dwyer in NWCTC’s Maids’ Tragedy in December. This week, Clara Hillier of Portland’s theater-nerd staple, Northwest Classical Theatre Company, sent a press release announcing the company’s final performance in its present configuration, writing that their latest show, Good Night Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet), “will be the final production for […]
Posted inFeature
How to Pick the Perfect Summer Book
Books to Stick Your Nose in, For Every Reader
Books to stick your nose in this summer, for every reader.
Posted inArt
Chaos and Splendor
PICA Celebrates 20 Years of Contemporary Art in Portland
PICA celebrates 20 years of contemporary art in Portland.
Posted inTheater & Performance
Rob Spillman and Anne Washburn Among PEN Literary Award Winners
Portland Playhouse Nerd update! All but a few of this year’s PEN Literary Award winners were announced today, and two have ties to Portland. Rob Spillman, editor at Portland/Brooklyn-based Tin House , won the Nora Magid Award for Editing, for “including a wide range of writers, seeking new and unpublished voices, and being on the […]
Posted inArtsy
Closing Soon: Heidi Schwegler’s Sculptures of Doom at the Art Gym
The Art Gym at Marylhurst University Yep, that’s a cage. By all appearances, the Art Gym at Marylhurst University is a weird place to visit if you live in Portland. It’s inconvenient (a car helps; so does the 35 bus, which goes straight to the campus), and there’s plenty of great art right here in […]
Posted inComedy
Last Days of Bridgetown: Baron Vaughn, BFFs, and Other Revelations
Win Goodbody I saw Baron Vaughn perform three times at Bridgetown. I am fine with this. How are we doing, guys? This year’s Bridgetown Comedy Festival came to an end last night, which means I’m punchy and sleep-deprived and prone to inappropriate, retroactive laughter today. Maybe you fared better. Here’s what made it all worth […]
Posted inComedy
Oreos for Breakfast, Veganism for Superiority: Highlights from Bridgetown’s All-Lady Showcase
Jason Traeger Janeane Garofalo, hero. If curtsying lessons are a thing, I would like to take them from Jen Seaman. Comics are tic-y people, but the LA-based stand-up’s adorably 19th-century curtsying interludes were a true highlight as she hosted Saturday night’s Hey Ladies! showcase to a packed Bossanova Ballroom at Bridgetown. Seaman’s quippy set covered […]
Posted inComedy
Bridgetown, Day 2: Jessica Williams and Phoebe Robinson’s Blaria LIVE!
Caroline Smith Jessica Williams and Phoebe Robinson, HILARIOUS FRIENDS, co-hosting Blaria LIVE! Individually, Phoebe Robinson and The Daily Show‘s Jessica Williams are two of the funniest ladies around, and together, they are a dream team of hilarity and friendship. This was on display for all in the depths of the Doug Fir last night, where […]