Feldman Gallery + Project Space Hosts Exhibition Curated by PICA’s Kristan Kennedy
December 07, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 7, 2010
CONTACT:
Leslie Miller, External Relations Specialist
Pacific Northwest College of Art
lmiller@pnca.edu 503 821 8959
Becca Biggs, Director of Communications and Public Programs
Pacific Northwest College of Art
bbiggs@pnca.edu 971 255 5511
Feldman Gallery + Project Space Hosts Exhibition Curated by PICA’s Kristan Kennedy
Exhibition | Between my head and my hand, there is always the face of death.
Curated by Kristan Kennedy
January 17, 2011 – March 26, 2011
Opening Reception
Thursday, February 3, 2011 6:00 pm
PNCA Main Campus Building, Feldman Gallery + Project Space, 1241 NW Johnson St.
PORTLAND, OR – December 7, 2010 – Pacific Northwest College of Art is pleased to present Between my head and my hand, there is always the face of death. in the Feldman Gallery + Project Space, an exhibition curated by the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art’s Visual Art Curator, Kristan Kennedy. Featuring work by international artists Amy Bessone, Grant Barnhart, Kaye Donachie, Merlin James, Tala Madani, Elena Pankova and Norbert Schwontkowski, Between my head and my hand, there is always the face of death. offers a contemporary look at figurative painting styles.
“To be of the body is to be of flesh and bone, but what is it to be a representation or a stand-in for the body? The exhibition gathers together work in which the body is a painting, a shell, a gesture, a cartoon, a mask. Less portrait and more portrayal, the paintings run from the highly sexualized and political to the austere and academic. When together, these pieces represent the kind of pictorial freedom ushered in by post-modernism, and furthermore, the figure post-Picabia,” explains curator Kristan Kennedy.
A range of techniques are represented in the exhibition, including Russian-born artist Elena Pankova’s untitled face paintings, composed through the abstract layering of crude geometric strokes of primary colors and presented in a grouping together with a houseplant. Alongside Pankova’s face paintings, British painter Kaye Donachie’s subject is more directly referential. I Kissed The Moon and Cried suggests the likeness and poetry of German Expressionist poet Henriette Hardenberg, and modulates between delicate painting techniques and heavily applied bright and dark colors in a more representational manner. All seven of the artists in the exhibition render the human form with a reverence for the architecture and meaning of the body, and their distinctly different styles represent a variety of motivation and influence.
The exhibition is co-presented by the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art and will be on view January 17–March 26, 2011 at Feldman Gallery + Project Space, open 9am–7pm daily on the campus of Pacific Northwest College of Art.
About Feldman Gallery + Project Space
The Philip Feldman Gallery + Project Space is dedicated to the work of national and international contemporary artists. Mounting six exhibits a year for eight-week runs, visiting artists are invited to lecture or participate in student workshops and studio visits, and each show culminates in a First Thursday opening and a Gallery Talk given by the artist and open to the public. Students participate in all aspects of the show, from details of curation to logistics of installation. Through Philip Feldman Gallery exhibitions and events, PNCA collaborates with other art institutions such as the Cooley Gallery at Reed College, and the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art.
About Pacific Northwest College of Art
Since its founding in 1909, Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA) has become a leader in innovative educational programs that connect students to a global perspective in the visual arts and design. In addition to its nine Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees, PNCA offers graduate education with an MFA in Visual Studies and an MFA in Collaborative Design, as well as an MFA in Applied Craft and Design developed in collaboration with Oregon College of Art and Craft.
PNCA is actively involved in Portland’s cultural life through exhibitions and a vibrant public program of lectures and internationally recognized visiting artists, designers and creative thinkers. With the support of PNCA+FIVE (Ford Institute for Visual Education), the College has a partnership with the nationally acclaimed Museum of Contemporary Craft. For more information, visit www.pnca.edu.