Brad Carlile Photo Blog

The Vaux Swifts have returned to Portland Oregon!  The 2008 seasons is building quickly.  There were about 1,000 or so birds at sunset on Labor Day.  Click below to see the video I took on September 1, 2008:

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Chapman School in Northwest Portland can host up to 35,000! so we are only at the start of 2-3 weeks of fun.

Chapman Elementary School is located at: 1445 NW 26th Ave, Portland, OR. Look in the back of the school. Most people view from the the hill (close to where 27th and pettygrove would meet, if they did).

For more into on the Vaux Swifts: http://www.audubonportland.org/backyardwildlife/brochures/vauxsswiftvaux-swifts-brad-carlile_portland-oregon

<update: I’ve also put a version of the table below at: www.bradcarlile.com/bio/context.html >

Explorations of time and space are important to many artists. One of the early photographic pioneers of exploration is Eadweard Muybridge (1830-1904). Those in Portland are fortunate to have the opportunity to see a nice collection of vintage Muybridge collotypes from Animal Locomotion at Hartman Fine Art (154 NW 8th, Portland OR).

I wrote a bit about this show at my fairly regular First Thursday Blog postings. PORT’s Arcy Douglass also wrote about Muybridge & Cubists in this posting. But I want to go further and show how Muybridge’s work fits into time/space explorations with other artists (Futurists, Cubists, Impressionists, and various photographic techniques).

One way to look at this wide variety of artists is in terms of subject movement, perspective movement, illumination movement, time scale, and representational method. I’ll also show how my various fits into this framework.

If you were wondering why I chose two seemingly different attributes under representation.  I took a cue from Mondrian, who reduced painting’s long-held “Disegno e Colore” to just lines and colors.  In the simplist terms we have two representation possiblities (line & color). Side note: Historically, Italians used “Disegno e Colore” to describe the act of painting. To them, Disegno meant both “design” and “drawing.” Colore to them meant both “color” and physically applying paint.

Above I mentioned that these are artists that explore time/space, that was a bit of an over statement. I think that cubists were much more interested in capturing the full extent or feeling of the subject and go beyond straight representation, so in that manner they are more about exploring space, subject, and the feeling of an object.

As I mentioned one of my favorites from the Muybridge show was, “Plate 765″ (1887). This is because we not only view each as an image but when standing back they all together from an combined image that is also interesting.

BTW, All of my work is created in film on camera without digital creation or manipulation.

Tags: art, my art, photography

Last fall I just missed the three-person show at Hasted/Hunt (NYC) that Gerald Slota was in. Missed it by a week. Slota’s new show at Quality Pictures (916 NW Hoyt, Portland, OR) was a chance for us to see some of his work.

Gerald Slota, "Crack-House" (detail)

Gerald Slota photographs look like constructed images from many sources.  The are manipulated by a variety of photographic (non-photoshop) techniques. The textures and colors have a sense of mystery and un-knowing. They take one into one turn of reality and then hang on to a contradiction. The press release said “drenched in color.” Bring it on.

BE Schellinger, "Chi-Shifter" (detail)

Also at Quality Pictures (916 NW Hoyt, Portland, OR), I enjoyed B. E. Schellinger’s “Chi-Shifters” paintings more than his recent works on paper. These paintings build on his previous work. These abstract works resonate with life and interesting layerings of colors that angles that are both lead the eye along and contract and shift those thoughts. Some of the lines almost form objects and then they fade back to the abstract. He starts with representation and then verges them to the abstract. Does all relate to using ones chi energies to shape-shift? Or is it the undulations of one’s shifting chi? Maybe to difficult to explain to the western mind?

Lee Kelly, the long-celebrated Northwest artist, has a wonderful show called “Doubtful Sound” at Elizabeth Leach Gallery (17 NW 9th, Portland OR).

Lee Kelly, "Fall & Winter"

This show has a lot of early work (both paintings and sculptures) from Lee’s 50-year career. There are some very stunning works at this show. I really liked “Fall & Winter” it vibrates and delightfully slides dances like a jazz combo in my mind. I liked the sculptures but I need to take more time with them to get more of a feel.

I also stopped by to see Nick Blosser’s “Off Road” show of small landscapes
in egg tempura and watercolor at PDX Contemporary Art (925 NW Flanders, Portland OR). These landscapes subtley edge into the abstract. Maybe these intimate images were a bit to subtle for me that day. Eva Lake has posted a 10 min video interview with Nick Blosser.

Blue Sky Gallery (122 NW 8th Ave, Portland OR) had its typical two shows. I had the exact opposite take of Chas Bowie’s That’s a Negative blog on this show.

Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine “Boda Boda” show was more impressive to me. The compositions built on and played with the subjects. I think it shows us how we all are regardless of our jobs, even if we were bicycle delivery men in Uganda. I tire of work in Africa that tries to make it look exotic or preserve derisive myths of the “dark inaccessible continent”. We are one people, different places, different roles, somehow all trying to make it through.

Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine, "Boda Boda with pig"

I really felt Donald Weber’s work has been done for a long time. I’ve seen this sort of documentary style for too long. Nothing new here, go to the fringes and wait for the sour moments. I’m not sure the execution and dark prints really added any feeling to the work. It feels more than a snapshots.

Eadweard Muybridge (1830-1904) had an obsession with time and its image. So you can understand my long-time attraction to his work. You can see a nice collection of vintage Muybridge collotypes from Animal Locomotion at Hartman Fine Art (154 NW 8th, Portland OR). To the uninitiated Muybride’s motion studies look like images from a strip of film. They are not, they were created in 1880’s with multiple cameras. and these experiments led to the invention of motion-pictures. The images I like best are those that show the motion but also have a larger existence. They go beyond this let moved or this jiggled and really form a larger image or patter of movement. An example of what I mean is the image below.

Eadweard Muybridge, "Plate 765" (1887)

A new larger pattern is created by differences and similarities when viewed as a whole.

Has anyone ever read the book “River of Shadows” by Rebecca Solnit? It was recommended to me and I’ve been meaning to pick it up if it is any good. Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

We only got a quick look at Robert Yoder’s show at Froelick Gallery (714 NW Davis, Portland OR). They were closing early for filming to some such.

Robert Yoder, "Clover"

I liked the cut-up construction of vinyl, reflective tape, magazine pages, and his drawing. I need to go back to spend more time with the work Robert Yoder was selected as a finalist for the 2008 Neddy Artist Fellowship.

At Augen Gallery (716 NW Davis, Portland OR) is a group show featuring three decades of photographs from the NYC underground. Think Iggy, Burroughs, Clash, Ramones, Warhol, This show will be a hit with those with a nastalgic bent. Subject matter may trump photograph in this show, regardless it would have been more fun to look at them at some downtown bar during the day when the Alphabets were nasty. Celebrity (even under-ground celebrity) images always have this problem, as we can be swayed by average photographs because we are over-invested in the subject.  As another example I’ll point to an average photograph but a powerful subject from the real Apollo 13 contact sheets.  (see http://www.apolloarchive.com/apollo_gallery.html, then click on Apollo 13, then S70-35747 by Ed Hengeveld “The three crewmen of the Apollo 13 mission are photographed during the first day of their post-flight debriefing activity at the Manned Spacecraft Center”, average photo but think about the subject)

Belushi in NYC

Ben Young had a work I enjoyed at Tractor Gallery ( 328 NW Broadway, Portland OR). Oh I didn’t ask and didn’t read anything so I’m not sure of its deeper meaning or its influences. Keep spending your allowance

Ben Young, "Allowance"

…and THANKS AGAIN to whoever left the 3D glass with the art car!

Tags: 1st Thur, art, photography, Portland

Portland Pecha Kucha "Shift" 4

This Tuesday night, I attended Portland’s 4th installment of Pecha Kucha (some say it happens in 120 cities world wide).   Pecha Kucha is a night filled with concise presentations each limited to 20 slides in only 6 min 40 seconds.  Yep no time to sleep as each images is only on screen for 20 seconds and automatically progressed without the speaker’s control.

How to pronounce? Guess you have to be an insider to know. Here goes: “peh-chu ku-cha” for the more western way and pea-chaatch-ka (for a more of a japanese way, where it was started)

Portland Pecha Kucha "Shift" session 4

The 6:40 presentation format is often applied to a variety of creative subjects. Some are meant to be inspirational, while others promote ideas, sell your design-ware, or simply take a wacky view.

The first on I saw was Andrew Brahe’s presentation on Maya Lin’s Confluence project. Which is building sevens sites along the Columbia River basin in Washington/Oregon.

Pecha Kucha Portland - the crowd at Shift

Diane Jacob’s did a presentation on her art installation at Disjecta and the required minimum-sentencing laws.

Bill Dieter’s showed his company’s design work.  Terrazign is working on NASA’s  vertical treadmill.  It provided some good good eye candy.

I had to leave during Severin “Hulk” Villiger’s presention on his love of scooters.

I only saw four of the presentations, so I don’t really have a true feel on Portland’s take on this power-point in sonnet structure meets speed-dating format.

For more details see:
http://www.pecha-kucha.org/cities/portland-oregon
http://www.projectcityscope.org/

I’ll be at the next one to have some laughs and hopefully get inspired and drink a few more beers.

…hopefully I’ll post some images from last week’s 1st Thursday before the week is out. Now back to fiberglassing a sink… ah the fumes… .. . . .. .  .                  . .       .  ..  .  ….. . .     .

Tags: Portland

My solo show at Galerie Maurer in Munich was covered in the PhotoMedia magazine Summer 2008 edition. In lead of the “People” section it says…

Brad Carlile's show at Galerie Maurer (Munich) covered in Photomedia

Cover of Photomedia summer 2008

“Eighteen images from “Passage Perceptions,” a series by Portland-based photographer Brad Carlile, were on display in downtown Munich’s Galerie Maurer from February 1 to March 8. The 30- x 40-inch prints were created on film without digital manipulation. In these works, Carlile explores the realities of impermanence in light, color, and the passage of time, resulting in vivid natural colors.”
– PhotoMedia, Summer 2008 edition, page 14.

It was a great show thanks to the hard work of Wolfgang Maurer. Half of the images were sold. Those in Germany can still contact Wolfgang to obtain other images of mine.

Also in the same Photomedia issue is a 2-page spread on our friend Rosanne Olson’s book “This Is Who I Am: Our Beauty in All Shapes and Sizes“. It has a photograph of each woman and their stories. It has 54 portraits of women of all ages (19 to 95) and from all over the country. Rosanne is a friend and you can read about our breakfast with here at: http://bradcarlile.com/blog/misc/breakfast-with-rosanne-olson-photograher-this-is-who-i-am/

For more information on this project see: http://bodyimagebook.com

Tags: art, my art, photography

After seeing a variety of gallery shows this past 1st Thurs, we came back and found that the art car had a gift! MANY THANKS!

Art Car with gift of 3d Glasses

Yes, 3D glasses with a wonderful note written on them that said:

“Look at your car through these”

They had a great effect, so we took this combined portrait: 3D glasses, car, and me.

After trying the 3d glasses for the 1st time

Many many thanks to whoever left them!!!

In the next couple of days I’ll post images from the various gallery shows for this months 1st Thursday openings in Portland.

Tags: 1st Thur, Art Car, Portland

My art car has been spotted from outer space!  It now joins the great wall of china as something that can be seen in outer space

Art Car seen from Outer Space

I was showing a friend my new GPS-enabled phone and zooming in to a parking lot where I sometimes park, low and behold there was the art car from over a year ago captured by satellite imagery on google maps!

Art Car in Parking Lot

OK, honestly I know that these maps are a mix of satellite & plane images, but I’d like to think that this one was shot from outer space.

Last Saturday (19-Jul), King Black Acid played @ Doug Fir after a 3 year hiatus.

The previous lineup was always known as KBA to local fans. Actually the name for the latest incarnation of KBA is properly called “King Black Acid and the Sacred Heart“. So the new acronym is KBASH(?)

This new version is led by KBA frontman and creator Daniel Riddle and features Jeff Trapp on guitars, Joseph Trump on drums, Thom Rusnak on bass, Rich Landar on keyboard. I’ve seen Dan Riddle play around Portland for the past 15+ years in various bands such as “Hitting Birth” and “KBA.”

Hard to make too many comments about a band starting out and trying to hit a groove all at the same time. In the past, I remember that Daniel continually tweaked sounds and songs, so I expect an evolution. At this show, what we heard was just solid rock.  I was really hoping for a bit more inventive sound and some pushing into new territory.  For the next show, I’d like to hear what music should sound like in 2011. I think they are capable of doing much more,  so we’ll have see where they take us.

KBA’s previous work had some great mesmerizing atmospheric-psych jams that reminded many of the better parts of the later Pink Floyd sound. They played one song I really liked from the previous KBA CD “Loves a Long Song“.

There were a couple of interview’s with Daniel Riddle in both the Portland Mercury and the Willamette Week.

Tags: Music, Portland

On Jörg Colberg’s weblog about fine-art photography there is a translated interview with Hilla Becher, which, unfortunately, only appears to be available in German. He translated some of the passages that struck him…

Q: You spent your life photographing industrial memorials: Hundreds of furnaces, hundreds of water towers, hundreds of coal bunkers. Is this about being complete?

A: At the end of his life, Bernd often said: Hilla, we haven’t finished the job. And then we almost started fighting because I said: What do you think? We can’t finish our job, since it’s infinite.

Q: Was it difficult for him to accept this?

A: I think it was. He never managed to tell me what he meant by “finished”. We knew we would not be able to photograph everything. In Russia, for example, it turned out to be too difficult, we did not manage to get permission to work there.

Q: Were there family photos at the Becher’s house, for example at Christmas?

A: That didn’t exist with Bernd, but I always had a small camera on me. It was important for me, to keep memories.

for a lot more and Bernd thoughts on photography vs. sketching see: http://www.jmcolberg.com/weblog/2008/07/an_interview_with_hilla_becher_1.html

The original interview in German is at: http://sz-magazin.sueddeutsche.de/texte/anzeigen/24539

UPDATE: a translation of the full interview is now at: http://www.jmcolberg.com/weblog/2008/07/of_course_we_were_freaks_an_in.html

Tags: art, photography

Somebody woke up o the wrong side of the bed… the wrong side of the contemporary art bed that is.

Jed Perl wrote this latest attack in “Postcards from Nowhere” for the The New Republic (Published: Wednesday, June 25, 2008)

I found his attacks to bounce around a bit, cherry pick, and lack some clear arguments for some of his political, metaphysical and stylistic attacks.  He starts out spearing a variety of recent shows:

I have not had much of anything to say after visiting a number of widely discussed events: the 2008 Whitney Biennial; the opening show at the New Museum of Contemporary Art (aptly titled “Unmonumental: The Object in the 21st Century“); the survey of Japanese artist Takashi Murakami at the Brooklyn Museum; the Olafur Eliasson show at the Museum of Modern Art; the exhibition of Jeff Koons’s sculpture on the roof of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I have had thoughts, sure; but they are the thoughts of an anthropologist rather than a museumgoer, of a student of the art world rather than a person who has had an encounter with a work of art. What there is to discuss is not visual experiences so much as visual stunts, which are frequently mind-boggling in their size and complexity.

Clearly he thinks the emperors have no clothes:

It is the artists, and a certain line of thinking about art, that have given the people with the cash permission to buy and sell what amounts to nothing, and to do so for ever larger and more insane sums of money. All this sensational commerce is fueled by the anti-aesthetics that were born nearly a century ago among the Dadaists, and have by now morphed into the laissez-faire aesthetics that give collectors sanction to regard one of Jeff Koons’s stainless-steel balloon animals as simultaneously a camp joke and a modern equivalent of a Tang dynasty horse.

…he goes on to say can’t even hear what they are saying…

Those who defend Murakami–and Koons and Hirst–may want to argue that what we have here is nothing more than a new version of the old search for a personal style. Some may even argue that Mondrian’s primary colors and right angles are no less a look, a logo, than Koons’s shiny chromium surfaces and curvaceous forms. The difference is that for Mondrian a style is a dynamic principle, not a fixed attitude. (I cannot believe that I must make a distinction between Mondrian and Koons, but this is where we are.) An artist’s style is a vocabulary, the medium through which something is expressed. The more expressive the artist becomes, the richer the possibilities of that vocabulary turn out to be. To the extent that Koons or Murakami can be said to have a style, it is a frozen style, an inert vocabulary.

Then he attacks the institutions…

For Matthew Barney, Richard Prince, and now Cai Guo-Qiang, having a retrospective at the Guggenheim is like being a Visigoth who has been given the keys to Rome. At the Guggenheim, the staff no longer curates exhibitions. They simply invite an artist to come in and rape the place.

…and we are not spared either…

A work of art–any work of art–is a particularity. The trouble with so much of the work at BCAM and the other contemporary art extravaganzas is that it trades in generalities that are passed off as universalities. I do not really believe that the educated audience that surveys the work of Koons at BCAM and the Metropolitan, or the work of Murakami at the Brooklyn Museum, sees some deep meaning in these overblown comic-book heroes and factory-produced baubles. A lot of the visitors to these shows have a knowing, ironic look fixed on their faces. They can see that what is presented as art with a universalist message is really just global marketing swill–but these trumped-up universalities have a way of eclipsing everything else.

For a lot more, read the whole thing at the link at the top.

Tags: art