Man what a great month of shows (from Hirst to Tharp, Riswold and Julie Orser). Even considering the coverage from other publications there was simply no way to review it all and some worthy things got passed over. Here are some interesting small scale art shows that come down this weekend to consider checking out:



I liked Jim Neidhardt and Kerry Davis' "On Edge" in Blackfish Gallery's window. Paintings have this expectation of uninterrupted viewing imposed on them and I like how this sneaky installation just refuses to play the game… kinda like how Miles Davis would turn his back to the audience when performing.


Iverson's Survey

I also liked Carrie Iverson's PDX Window show, continuing a long tradition of having the most consistently interesting installations in the city (and not because Ive shown in it either). Titled, "Survey" the installations works on paper look like some sort of deep sea map while the xray reader has some strange gridded elements. As satellite location by GPS and GSM cell phones increasingly provide coordinates this seems like topical work. Its well executed but I'd like to see this taken farther in a bigger setting, which she has already done in Chicago.


Weinberg's photo of Devendra Banhart @ Sugar

At Sugar Gallery, which has gotten increasingly serious since their Roxanne Jackson show last year, New York photographer Elizabeth Weinberg put together a rewarding show of rock star scenery. She's pretty good at capturing the spleen, posturing, boredom, fun and outright fronting that goes on. Her photos of the Elliot Smith memorial wall on Sunset Blvd. were the most touching.

Also here are some other shows that end this weekend that have recieved some critical attention:

Storm Tharp at PDX (ends saturday, so don't be a punk... go see this)

Stephen Tamiesie at Pushdot (ends Saturday)

Jarrett Mitchell at Organism (ends Sunday & curated by yours truly)

Shawn Records at Bluesky (ends Saturday)