MFA VS Alums, Faculty and Friends in 2019 Portland Biennial

Congratulations to all of the artists in the 2019 Portland Biennial at Disjecta! The roster is packed with MFA Visual Studies and PNCA alums, mentors, friends and faculty among the 18 selected artists.

We're so proud of these members of the PNCA community including: Demian DinéYazhi with their project R.I.S.E.: Radical Indigenous Survivance & Empowerment, Ka'ila Farrell-Smith, Anthony Hudson, Garrick Imatani, rubén garcía marrufo(VS '17), Sara Siestreem, Sharita Towne with Black Life Experimental Research Group, and Lou Watson.

This fifth Biennial is co-curated by Yaelle S. Amir, Elisheba Johnson and Ashley Stull Meyers.

From Disjecta:

The Portland2019 Biennial will present a survey of work by Oregon-based artists whose practices are rooted in a rigorous approach to socio-political commentary, presenting diverse perspectives on historical and contemporary narratives unique to the Pacific Northwest. The exhibition will focus on the nuanced thematics of site, diaspora, and the multifaceted histories of the region as told in eighteen projects. These gestures will address the continuous migration and erasure of communities from the Oregon landscape and, in some cases, serve as an act of preservation and remembrance for their stories. The exhibition will also reflect a layered view of Oregon’s current landscape – observing and commenting on some of the structures and landmarks that populate the state to formative ends. Such objects influence perceptions of the state of Oregon (and the city of Portland) within the country’s pop-cultural imagination and lingering fascination with Manifest Destiny. The selected artists were chosen as those whose current studio practices have been influenced by their relationships to community, landscape, and local politics.

Congratulations to all of the artists!

Natalie Ball (Chiloquin, OR); Adam Bateman (Ashland, OR); Jovencio de la Paz (Eugene, OR); Demian DinéYazhi with R.I.S.E (Portland, OR); Dru Donovan (Portland, OR); Ka'ila Farrell-Smith (Modoc Point, OR); Harriet Tubman Center for Expanded Curatorial Practice (Portland, OR); Sabina Haque (Portland, OR); Anthony Hudson (Portland, OR); Garrick Imatani (Portland, OR); Colin Ives (Eugene, OR); rubén garcía marrufo (Portland, OR); Jess Perlitz (Portland, OR); Vanessa Renwick (Portland, OR); Sara Siestreem (Portland, OR); Sharita Towne (Portland, OR); Lou Watson (Portland, OR); Lynn Yarne (Portland, OR).