Ross Blanchard

Arts, Uncategorized November 10, 2015

Theatre Troupe Seizes Control of Art Salon, Hurls Offenses At Audience

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By Ross Blanchard Photo by Reuben Broadfoot. Foreground: Corey O’Hara. Background: Evan Corcoran A few weeks ago at a Ford Gallery event in Southeast Portland, five actors slipped into the venue, seized the microphone from the event’s host during a presentation, and began to shout offenses at the startled and silented crowd. The art salon in PDX Magazine‘s Mechanical venuewas paying tribute to artist Olinka Broadfoot whose show had launched that evening in the Ford Gallery one floor above. Broadfoot had just delivered a talk about her exhibit and poet Dan Raphael had read, when a man in his early thirties, shaved head, and wearing a yellow nylon jacket burst onto the stage and wrested the microphone from the event’s host. “You are under review by us,” he shouted to the stunned crowd. Another man, dressed in a TSA-style uniform, walked through the audience and shone a flashlight in their faces as a third man pointed a video camera at them. “You don’t have to watch inactively any more,” the man on the stage continued. “You feel the discomfort of being watched and addressed, since you came prepared to watch and make yourselves comfortable in the shelter of the dark. Your presence…

Events September 9, 2014

Art Carts hits Hawthorne this weekend

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Look around your home for a moment. Who’s hanging on your walls these days? Still have your M.C. Escher print from college in the study? Any vintage liquor ads in the kitchen? It’s time to roll up Le Frou Frou and the Campari poster and hang some new art. If you’re anywhere near Portland this weekend, it’s the perfect time to start or add to your collection of works by local artists. Stop by the first annual Art Carts fair at the far east end of Hawthorne Boulevard in the East Portland Eagle Lodge’s parking lot (4904 SE Hawthorne Blvd.) on Saturday, September 13, for what may be Portland’s first art fair on wheels. As one of the major sponsors of this event, PDX Magazine believes every Portlander should have local art hanging in her home. And bringing local art out of the brick-and-mortar setting and into the neighborhoods in mobile galleries is a great way to introduce artists to the public. More than a dozen art carts will be present, and ours will offer a mix of original, one-of-a-kind works as well as affordable high-quality prints from a variety of artists including: Richard Melloy, Eli Lewis, Jennifer Mercede, Emily Kosta, Linda Rand, Gesine Kratzner, Kate Altermatt, Kelli MacConnell, Sylvia Mann…

Events August 23, 2014

‘Sex Ed’ to world premiere at Portland Film Festival

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The second annual Portland Film Festival kicks off Tuesday, August 26, at the Crystal Ballroom with the world premiere of its main film Sex Ed, a coming-of-age comedy directed by Isaac Feder and starring Haley Joel Osment. “I can’t wait to see this movie with a big audience,” says Feder about the premiere. “It’s going to be an unforgettable night. I’m psyched about Portland and the cast and crew are excited to come to Portland for this. Portland feels like the right place to play it—the right place to get the movie started.” Sex Ed is Feder’s first feature film, and he, Osment, and other actors in the film will be present for the premiere and the after party held at the same venue. Sex Ed is the story of a recent college graduate and aspiring educator Eddie (Osment), who settles for a position teaching an after-school detention class of middle-schoolers. Once Eddie discovers that the students are tragically misinformed about sex, he decides to instruct the class in sex education. And, of course, chaos ensues. But not exactly in the traditional story arc of your typical Hollywood movie. Sex Ed has all the ingredients of a Hollywood comedy; it’s…

Arts July 15, 2014

Richard Melloy’s ‘The Way I See It’ Opens at NWIPA Saturday

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Richard Melloy’s new exhibit The Way I See It opens at N.W.I.P.A. (6350 SE Foster Rd.) on Saturday, July 18, from 6 t 10 p.m. For the exhibit, the renowned painter has produced one of his riskiest collections yet. Melloy is a veteran artist and an inspiration for creative longevity. PDX Magazine wrote of Melloy in Issue No. 1: “[He’s] bullheaded enough not to quit and smart enough to adapt throughout a long career.” Melloy, 57, graduated from Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Washington with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts. He settled in Portland in the 1980s and was part of the nascent art scene in Northwest Portland that would go on to spawn the Pearl District. Now living in the Foster-Powell area in Southeast Portland, Melloy is a sought-after graphic designer, as well as a painter. “As a self-taught painter, it seems like everything I attempt is a risk,” says Melloy. “First, I decide where I want to begin the painting. Second, I figure out a way to paint it. Both the idea and the technique are never static so I am always open to change or refining it. Both processes push and pull until the painting arrives. I am…

Events, Featured June 3, 2014

Joshua Ferris and Narrative Mechanics

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By Ross Blanchard Above: PDX Magazine Editor-in-chief Ross Blanchard (left) and author Joshua Ferris at Dave Weich’s Narrative Mechanics event. A couple of Sundays ago Dave Weich, president of Sheepscot Creative, invited around a dozen guests to his home in Southeast Portland for his first Narrative Mechanics event. The gathering focused on interviews and discussions with strategic communicators. His first interviewee was Josh Ferris, who was in town on a book tour for his new novel To Rise Again at a Decent Hour.  This was not a “meet the author, ask him about his typewriter” scene at all. From the moment I entered Weich’s home, I could tell that something different was about to happen. So could the other guests, most of whom it appeared, like me, didn’t have much of a clue what was going on either. There was a camera crew, a small staff, a bartender. Guests were handed tarot-sized cards with inexplicable quotes on the back. We were given small round stickers and asked to place them below similar quotes on posters hung on the dining room walls. The meanings of these activities would be revealed later, I was told (they were). Then we were invited to have a drink, to…

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Video April 1, 2014

Keyon Gaskin Performance at Place, March 30, 2014

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At the closing event “You Can’t Ride the Bus for Free Forever” for Place (an installation gallery in Portland), Keyon Gaskin performs amidst the exhibit “Shit Balloons.” According to gallery owner Gabe Flores, the exhibit contributed to Place losing its lease at Pioneer Place Mall. The gallery closed March 30, 2014 after its lease was abruptly terminated.    

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Video March 14, 2014

Egyptian Ella

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“Egyptian Ella.” Belly Dancer Jenny Maena Breed joins Willo Sertain of Three For Silver (vox and accordion), James Delaney of The Jenny Finn Orchestra (bass), James Cook of Trashcan Joe (tenor guitar), Jason Reichert of Down Home Music (slide guitar), and others to perform Walter Doyle’s 1931 song at Delaney’s residence on 2/25/2014. Video by Ross Blanchard Discover more about these musicians at their respective websites: www.ThreeForSilver.com www.jennyfinnorchestra.com www.trashcanjoe.com www.facebook.com/downhomemusicband