Jen DeNike, still from "Flag Girls"

Quality Pictures presents Jen DeNike's Flag Girls, the first video installation in their "Video Trifecta" series. Recreating a found 1918 postcard depicting women wrapped in the American colonial flag, DeNike's Flag Girls are able to free themselves from the flag's "oppressive hold," humming the national anthem as they unwrap themselves and exit off-stage nude. The video has been well received in England and New York, described in the Guardian as "a suggestion of American nationhood perhaps being transfixed by almost terminal self-doubt."

Opening reception • 6-9pm • October 2
Quality Pictures Contemporary Art • 916 NW Hoyt • 503.227.5060



Brenden Clenaghen, "Sleep"

Brenden Clenaghen is debuting a new style this month at Pulliam Deffenbaugh. Formerly working in a contemporary fresco technique with joint compound and acrylics, Clenaghen's new work utilizes Yupo, a Japanese polypropylene paper that resembles rice paper, but with added durability. We Became continues his exploration of "ambiguity, post-modern romanticism and spiritual transcendence," but with greater figural implications and a stronger narrative than his earlier work.

Opening reception • 5:30-8pm • October 2
Pulliam Deffenbaugh • 929 NW Flanders • 503.228.6665



David Stein, "Black Bears on 101"

David Stein's "highly detailed bizarre narratives" will be on view at Mark Woolley. No New Aspirations takes you on a stroll through the surreal landscapes and strange characters of Stein's imagination, each image with its own story to uncover.

Opening reception • 6-9pm • October 2
Mark Woolley • 817 SW 2nd • 503.224.5475




Evaporation / Percolation, a retrospective of 20 years of Lucinda Parker's painting and drawings, will be on view at PNCA through November 14. In addition to a tour through Parker's "process, progress, and passions," the exhibit will unveil her recent large-scale commission for a new Gerding Edlen Development project in Bellevue, WA. The show is happening in conjunction with PNCA's alumni weekend, where Parker will be featured as Homecoming lecturer (free and open to the public).

Opening reception • 6-8pm • October 2
Artist lecture • 6pm • October 3
PNCA Swigert Commons • 1241 NW Johnson • 503.226.4391



Mark Smith at Elizabeth Leach Gallery

In The Sojourn, Mark Smith develops the narrative of the journey to and from a sacred destination. He explores travel, the journey, and its rewards and complications through universal symbols. Utilizing found fabric and two- and three-dimensional mixed media, Smith presents figures who experience "a familiar sense of paranoia and loss of control throughout their travels."

Opening reception • 6-9pm • October 2
Elizabeth Leach • 417 NW 9th • 503.224.0521



Gregory Grenon, "When the Reverse Happens"

Well known Northwest painter Gregory Grenon is showing Coloring Temperament at Laura Russo this month. Seeking to express the "temperament" of his subject through color, Grenon's often darkly haunting portraits of women have been viewed as either misogynistic or an expression of the uglier truth of human nature.

Opening reception • 5-8pm • October 2
Laura Russo Gallery • 805 NW 21st • 503.226.2754



Kristie Louderbough

Stumptown downtown presents Corporeal Appetite, featuring new work by Taryn Tomasello, Kristie Louderbough, and Chris Mullins. Using materials from paint to found objects, each artist constructs an intimate exploration of (un)conventional beauty.

Opening reception • 6-8pm • October 2
Stumptown • 128 SW 3rd • 503.295.6144




Fix Design Studio presents Show2008, a biennial exhibit that showcases the "unusual and stimulating" work of over 45 designers/fabricators/makers. Hosted by PSU.

First Thursday reception • 6-9pm • October 2
PSU • 1914 SW Park (Broadway & Hall) • Shattuck Hall