Blue Sky Announces 2013 Pacific Northwest Photography Viewing Drawers Program
I'm pleased to announce that my series Quite Normal has been juried in to the Blue Sky Viewing Drawers Program.
Blue Sky, the Oregon Center for the Photographic Arts, announced the names of 68 artists selected for inclusion in its 2013 Pacific Northwest Photography Viewing Drawers Program ("Drawers").
Debuting on First Thursday, April 4, 2013 and coinciding with Portland Photo Month, each artist will be represented by 10 original photographic prints or objects from a single body of work in a dedicated archival, flat file drawer at Blue Sky through March 2014.
The complete list of artists selected from more than 160 submissions includes:
Bobby Abrahamson * Jody Ake * Nathan Anderson * Adam Bacher
Raymond Bidegain * Scott Binkley * Nancy Butler * Michael Cardiello
Brad Carlile * Adrain Chesser * Teresa Christiansen * Kevin Clark
Larry Clark * Susan de Witt * Hal Gage * Clarke Galusha * Raethel Geary
Richard Gehrke * Nicole Gelinas * Barbara Gilson * Joseph Glasgow
Lauren Grabelle * Edward Hamilton * Kate Harnedy * Stewart Harvey
Zane Healy * Carol Isaak * Ryota Kajita * John Kane * Bob Keefer
Ann Kendellen * Angelina Kidd * Heidi Kirkpatrick * Tarrah Krajnak
Bonnie Landis * Larry Larsen * Frank Lavelle * Jim Leisy * Stuart Allen Levy
Fritz Liedtke * Jim Lommasson * Stuart McCall * Robbie McClaran
George Olson * Robert Pallesen * Stepanka Peterka * Alexis Pike
David Pollock * Douglas Prior * Christopher Rauschenberg * Mark Reid
Jenny Riffle * Jim Riswold * Rich Rollins * Paul Romaniuk * Michael Sell
Brandon Sorg * Andrew Stanbridge * Travis Stanton * Elizabeth Stone
Mary Stroud * Jonathan Taylor * Michael Van Buskirk * Terri Warpinski
Kevin Wildermuth * David Wyatt * Carol Yarrow * Kristin Zabawa
selected photographers from the Portland Grid Project
Jurors Diana Millar and Ed Marquand were equally impressed by the diversity of subject matter as well as the quality of technique apparent among this year's cohort of artists.
"Seeing ten images by each photographer gave us a good idea of a consistency of vision and a sense of breadth of creative ambition. I'm pleased by the group we ended up with, and look forward to seeing the pieces in person. The diversity of approaches, techniques, and artistic interests reveals a rich photo culture in the Northwest--but I'm not going to claim that any Northwest style exists. Dedicated artists doing their work. That's what these photographers are up to." - Ed Marquand
"While the geographic distribution of the participants covered thousands of miles, ranging from the rough Alaskan tundra, down through the lush green forests of British Columbia and Orgeon, and east to the mountains of Montana, a common theme emerged from many of the photographers who submitted to the Drawers: the exploration of the local. I'm encouraged to see many of the submissions looking at the 'local,' their images telling stories that are close to home. By doing so, this invokes a deeper investigation that is rich and deliberate, thus inviting the audience into their world and proving that the still photographic image can still be a powerful storytelling medium." - Diana Millar
About the 2013 jurors:
Ed Marquand is Creative Director and President of Marquand Books, a producer of distinctive, award-winning books for museums and art book publishers in the United States and abroad. His museum clients include the American Folk Art Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Seattle Art Museum, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Crystal Bridges Museum of Art, Portland Art Museum, National Portrait Gallery, National Museum of the American Indian, Dallas Art Museum, Museum of Fine Arts Boston, and the High Art Museum. His publishing clients include Abrams, Chronicle Books, Princeton University Press, University of Washington Press, University of California Press, Rizzoli, and Yale University Press. He has written several books, including Hector Acebes, Portraits in Africa 1948-1952, distributed by University of Washington Press, and The Devil's Mischief, Abbeville Press. He is also the Founder of Mighty Tieton, an incubator for artisan businesses in Tieton, Washington.
Diana Millar is the co-owner and gallery director at Lúz Gallery in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. In 2009, she co-founded Lúz with her partner, photographer Quinton Gordon. As director of the gallery, she has hosted and supported exhibitions by both emerging and established international artists including the featured artists from Diffusion IV. In the fall of 2012, Diana and Quinton will expand their vision and open Lúz Studio, which will bring the gallery, workshops and an open studio under one roof. Their new studio and gallery will also be the home of Reciprocity Editions, a small imprint owned by Millar and Gordon, with a focus on creating fine press and handmade artists books. Millar was a reviewer at Photolucida's Portfolio Reviews in 2011 and PhotoNOLA in 2012. She has served on public art selection committees, and as a juror for numerous exhibitions including Critical Mass 2011 and 2012.
About the Drawers:
Blue Sky established the Pacific Northwest Photography Viewing Drawers program in 2007 to feature a juried, public archive of original prints by contemporary photographers based in the region. Visitors to Blue Sky's galleries in Portland are welcome to enjoy work in the Drawers by simply opening any one of the flat file drawers, or by asking the Gallery Attendant for assistance. The Drawers program has quickly become a favorite aspect of Blue Sky's ongoing programming, available to approximately 20,000 visitors annually. For 2012, to coincide with the newly inaugurated Portland Photo Month (every April), Blue Sky expanded the geographic scope of the Drawers to include photographers from Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, British Columbia, and Alaska. Artists provide prices for all prints that are for sale.
Blue Sky Gallery
122 NW 8th
Portland, Oregon 97209
Noon - 5 pm Tuesday through Sunday
(503) 225-0210