I'm a big Gilbert and George fan and I'm very happy with the one on permanent display at the Portland Art Museum but I found this Adrian Searle review interesting. So now that all the newspapers are terrified of running offensive cartoons only Gilbert and George can lampoon sacred things?

Also, closer to Portland the Oregonian has been running amuck with visual arts coverage, admirably calling for free days at the museum and talking to city commissioner Sam Adams (but how much does Adams really know about good art?… supporting lots of crappy art and shoddy organizations is just as stifling as no support). Then the O managed to write about Red 76's Ghosttown without mentioning they have national reach... they even have a show at Yerba Beuna in the spring. Yes, the O's coverage is all very populist (possibly to the exclusion of not giving credit to major accomplishments) but that is what the Oregonian does best and I'm glad they are foregrounding art as a major civic issue. Its editors and writers see that the city seems to be reinventing its self image and art seems to be where the action is… even politically.

Also, a new visual arts publication, Visual Codec, has been officially on line for nearly one week and I had fun meeting some of them at the Lowbrow Lounge on First Thursday. Visual Codec is dedicated to increasing the flow of visual art information between Vancouver BC, Seattle and Portland. And yes I wrote an exhaustive but no where near complete anatomy of the Portland art scene for them. I like how the massive # of links make it a kind of index or primer for what is going on here, the web is definitely evolving language.

Finally, Port would like to officially welcome three new sponsors; the Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Gallery 114 and the brand new Sugar gallery. You can check out their links to the right. Thank you sponsors, your support is invaluable.

Why are people afraid of cartoons? What is going on in this world? Speaking of cartoons... artists Daniel Duford and Seamus Heffernan are having a 'Comic Strip Battle' on Tuesday (Valentines Day) at PNCA at 12:30 PM until 1:30 PM. They will be creating comics that insult each other, whoever does the best WINS!

Sorry to plug an event on here, but it should be fantastic, and I thought some of you would like to attend. Oh yeah, and Willamette Week cartoonist Ryan Alexander-Tanner will be "hosting/refereeing."