March 2010

Greetings to one and all
It seems that spring is showing its first buds of life so I thought it was time to get busy and write something new.
I am a featured artist at Cannibals Gallery on NW 21st for the month of March so please go take a look and drop me a note. I appreciate your feed back.
Also showing at Cannibals in March is the Octogenarian show with the work of Selma Grossman.
Grossmans takes her clues from her rich Jewish heritage, her many years living abroad, pattern and line. I also had the pleasure of seeing the Portland Art Museums show “Disquieted”
Well known contemporary artists investigate the world we live in and deal with the issues of war, sexism, race, class, and the horrors of the modern age. I enjoyed the show and was taken in by the small sculpture of Ron Mueks, “Crouching Boy in Mirror” and the two paintings by Takashi Murakami and his team. The Disquieted exhibition runs from Feburary 20th to May 16th, 2010.
On view from March 4th to 27th at Laura Russo Gallery are paintings by Lucinda Parker and Rene Rickabaugh. I enjoyed Parkers smaller works the best and found them more intimate. Rickabaugh work is fanatically detailed. It is as if he has gone down to the subatomic level for his inspiration in his jewel like creations. All this great art can be seen at the following places.
Cannibals Gallery 518 NW 21st Portland, OR. 503-224-2663
Portland Art Museum
1219 SW Park Ave Portland, OR. 503-226-2811 info@pam.org
Laura Russo Gallery
805 NW 21st Portland, OR. 503-226-2754

Shoes and boots have been around since man wandered out across the savanna and began his migration across the face of earth. Evidence and records from early civilizations around the globe all show evidence of foot covering. The shoe is mentioned several times in the Bible and the Hebrews used it in binding a bargain or a deal. The shoe and foot has been altered, bound, fetishsized, painted, tattooed, and worshiped. Shoes and boots represent rank, social class, and career. Shoes have influenced culture. Corporations like Nike and Adidas have made fortunes from the manufacturing of shoes. I prefer a good old work boot. Generally made from sturdy leather uppers and non-leather outsoles and sometimes with steel toes, they provide heavy wear and high traction. Work boots are commonly used for protection in industrial settings, construction, mining, logging and other workplaces. My painting is of a pair I own and wear quite often. They compliment my levi 501’s, tux pants and a kilt.

Greetings from Pump House Studios.
These last few weeks have been a rowdy blizzard of parties, art events, music and just good old fashioned hard work.

So I will offer up the highlights for your reading pleasure.
I have seen the Portland Art Museum’s “China Design Now” a fine showing of China’s government propaganda and design that was created for the Olympic games of 2008.
On view from Aug. 22 – Nov. 29, 2009.

Raphael’s “Women With the Veil” a beautiful painting is on view from Oct. 24. 2009 – Jan. 3, 2010. I also enjoyed “Word and Image/ Word as Image”. A clever exhibition of the relationships between words and images. In the showing are works from Ed Ruscha (he’s one of my favorites) Warhol, Albrecht Durer, Kathe Kollwitz, Robert Rauschenberg and so many others all from the permanent collection. This show is on view from Aug. 22 – Nov. 29 .

No visit to the Portland Art Museum is complete without a look at John De Andrea’s “Dying Gaul” from 1984. On Sunday, Nov. 8 . I had the good luck to see Philip Glass’s “Orphee” at the Portland Opera at the Keller Auditorium. This was a triumph and a nice feather for the Portland Opera to add to its cap. I was pleased to see a contemporary set and costume. I loved the way the issue of the mirrors was handled with the use of body doubles.

The film I recently enjoyed which had a lot to say about how we live our lives is “ The Gleaners and I “ by Agnes Varda. This documentary is about scavengers, recyclers, the passage of time, love and great art. You can get this film on NetFlix. I give it a thumbs up.

Wishing you all the best in life.
Your Artist in Residence,
Jason Berlin.

October Galleries

Greetings from Pump House studios
This month of October 2009 I have art work at the following shows/galleries
www.launchpadgallery.org/family
open-call group show about family of all types-lost, found, past, present, blood and otherwise About the Show With our 8th bi-annual open-call non-juried group show, we have enthusiastically and apprehensively invited 117 artists to explore what family means to them. The theme is a complicated one. Everyone has issues with family. Where we come from, who we are, who we want to become (and who we fear we will become) and where we each belong. All of these things are tied in a messy Gordian knot, laced together with a heavy braid of blood, sex, history, birth, death, adventure, childhood, friendship, loss and so much more
October 2nd - November 1st, 2009 Opening First Friday, October 2nd6pm-12amFREE! ALL AGES!! 534 SE Oak Street(1 blk N. or Stark, 1/2 blk E. of Grand) open Hours Wednesday-Saturday 12-4pm

Cannibals Gallery
518 NW 21st
Portland, OR 97201-1107
(503-224-bone)
Wed – Sunday 12- 5pm

3rd Annual Treasures of the Surreal Madre Art Show at Studio 11
- Happening October 9-November 1, 2009 with artist reception Second Saturday, October 10, from 5-9pm. The show is juried this year by Kristin Shauck, artist and art instructor. It is being held at Studio 11, 453-A Eleventh St., Astoria, OR. Also, come take a tour of all the other galleries in town having openings on Second Saturday.

Wishing you all the best for October and the coming year
Warmly Jason Berlin

Quick Mart

The Lyle super-sized quick-mart and Laundromat
Lyle Washington

gum

Gum
I like gum and I like to chew it. It freshens your breath after to much coffee. Chewing gum is relaxing. There is nothing better than a good snap and pop. The first chewing gum manufactured in the United States was Black Jack patented February 14th, 1871. Gum or gum like substances have been chewed from the beginning of time. The Greeks chewed a mastic gum resin from the bark of the Mastic tree. The Maya chewed chicle, “sticky stuff”. Early European settlers prized it for its subtle flavor and high sugar content. The ancient word is still used, "chicle" being a common name for chewing gum in Spanish and "chiclete" being the Brazilian Portuguese name. New England indians chewed a gum-like resin from spruce trees that was sold in chunks in the eastern states. Sweetened paraffin wax was all the rage in the 1850s. The oldest piece of gum is nine thousand years old. People on average chew three hundred sticks of gum a year and most gum is purchased between Halloween and Christmas. Today gum comes in many different shapes and flavors and sometimes it is even medicated but my all-time favorite gum is the gum of my childhood. The ball bubble gum in the glass ball vending machine.

paintings

Greetings
Some pictures of new painting I have been working on enjoy.