Roger Ballen, "Untitled"

South-Africa based artist Roger Ballen will present the U.S. debut of nine images from his new series this month at QPCA. Acclaimed for his documentary portraits of the small villages of South Africa, Ballen has recently begun taking a more directorial approach. In addition to his new images, Ballen will be showing select works from his Outland and Shadow Chamber series, in which he initially began to explore the theatrical methods that allow his subjects to become active participants in the making of his photographs. There will be a book signing in the gallery following Ballen's May 7 lecture at PICA. For those up north, visit the QPCA website for the Seattle lecture date.

Opening Reception • 6-9pm • May 1
Quality Pictures Contemporary Art • 916 NW Hoyt • 503.227.5060
Artist lecture • 7pm • May 7 • $5
PICA • 224 NW 13th AVE



Amanda Wojick, "Among" (fg)

Known for her small to mid-sized "intricate" sculpture, Amanda Wojick is switching to a "macro" view for sight line this month at Elizabeth Leach. The installation features four large-scale works, separate but intimately thematically related, using both drawing and sculpture to explore shape, form, and optical illusion.

Opening Reception • 6-9pm • May 1
Elizabeth Leach • 417 NW 9th • 503.224.0521



Zeitgeist installation view

In April, Pulliam Deffenbaugh explored the roots of modern NW regionalism. For the month of May, the gallery presents Zeitgeist, an exhibition that explores Portland's rapidly changing artistic landscape over the past 20 years, a period which has seen considerable growth both in Portland itself and for Portland-based artists. The show highlights "the concerns and influences of this generation." Featured artists include James Boulton, Daniel Peterson, Anna Fidler, Raul Mendez, Kay French, Ty Ennis, and PORT's own Jeff Jahn & Katherine Bovee.

Opening Reception • 5:30-8pm • May 1
Pulliam Deffenbaugh • 929 NW Flanders St. • 503.228.6665



Margot Voorhies Thompson, "Words in Motion 5"

Laura Russo Gallery will be exhibiting Inventing/Adapting, a series by Margot Voorhies Thompson. Her work explores "the relationships between calligraphic forms and language." Using indecipherable script, Thompson breaks down the meaning of language, expressing "lyrical form" in place of symbolism.

Opening Reception • 5-8pm • May 1
Laura Russo Gallery • 805 NW 21st AVE • 503.226.2754



Dane B. Wilson, from "Flow"

This month, Rake Art presents Flow, a solo exhibition of paintings and drawings by Dane B. Wilson. The project began as an exercise in Wilson's desire to return to the medium of drawing, taking the familiar "light of the eastern High Sierras" from his more abstract work into an exploration of alpine landscape. The 200' long drawing scroll project culminated in the series of paintings presented here.

Opening Reception • 6-9pm • May 1
Rake Art Gallery • 325 NW 6th AVE • 503.914.6391

A pretty strong First Thursday again, and good crowds. Nell Warren at PDX has a very promising debut solo exhibition- weird, stylized landscapes that look very fun to make. Her conservative color palette makes it safe territory for Jane Beebe and Co., but here's hoping it gets even weirder.

Amanda Wojick's strong moments are in the smaller wall pieces and the stacked red piece "Among." It's a spare enough offering to leave me thirsty for more which is, I suppose, a good thing.

The group show at Pulliam Deffenbaugh is obnoxious in its lack of premise ("Here's some artists who aren't dead!"), but features strong work from Brian Borrello, Ty Ennis, and Daniel Peterson, as well as PORT papa Jeff Jahn and a totally awesome tripped-out Anna Fidler piece that makes great use of the techniques she honed making years of underwater collage scenes. I'm staying tuned for more great stuff from her, but in general the show is disconnected and tame to a fault.

I loved one piece in Wojick's show but it wasn't "Among" which felt like a Nerf Anthony Caro. Still, I really love how Amanda thinks but somehow this already felt a bit dated... this is a transitional show for her. Id love to see her do a full installation.

As far as Zeitgeist show goes I think there is more of a biographical element to the show's selection process (esp. daniel Peterson's work). The premise is pretty solid... its a 20th anniverary show for the gallery and they are showing some of what/who has changed in the portland landscape while looking at the gallery roster as well. To really show the changes in Portland you have to show a lot of installation art (probably our dominant genre) and no commercial gallery in Portland is large enough to even attempt a survey of such. Also, its tough to sell. Only Chandra Bocci and Laura Fritz seem capable of finding buyers for installtions in Portland. That will change but it doesnt keep it from being annoying.