PLACE

Exhibition: 6.11
June 18 – July 10, 2011
Opening Reception: June 18, 6p – 9p
Artists: Will Justice, James Mulvaney, Rebecca Steele, Ním Wunnan





Identitas, the Identity Store and Exchange
 Will Justice

Identitas, the Identity Store and Exchange is a participatory installation that plays off of the fact that it is an artwork that is to be presented in a mall. There’s something about the mall, the commercial center, and the retail phenomenon at large that naturally underscores processes of cultural self-definition or re-invention as this takes place within the context of commercial spaces, forms of consumptive conditioning, and finally, actual acts of commercial exchange. As a counterpoint, Identitas serves as a marketplace for facilitating literal substitutions of one’s own cultural and psycho-social makeup without involving a single commercial or material exchange of any kind.
 

Will Justice is an interdisciplinary artist and writer who is fundamentally rooted in the practice of conceptual art. He holds a B.A. in English from Roanoke College in Salem, Virginia as well as an M.F.A. in Digital Arts and New Media from the University of California at Santa Cruz. 




 
Extra Special Context
 Rebecca Steele

Extra Special Context is a historical research and curatorial experiment. The installation discusses the long-term historical use of the land that we now know as Pioneer Place Mall. The project will develop over time in the gallery and culminate in a publication.

 Rebecca Steele is a multi-disciplinary artist. She received her M.F.A. from PNCA.




Comfort Curtain
James Mulvaney
Comfort Curtain is a sculptural installation of a large steel curtain that appears to be hanging on the wall. The curtain is fabricated to resemble a patched quilt or blanket. The piece is formed and assembled from varying smaller sections of sheet material that are bolted together. The steel has been aged and looks gritty with the paint flaking off to reveal the decaying metal underneath. The curtain alludes to a form that was once strong but has since lost strength over time.

 James Mulvaney is a New York native currently residing in Portland. He studied sculpture at Alfred University, where he received his Bachelor’s in Fine Art.




Blind
Ním Wunnan
  Blind is the second part of Obscured, a series begun in July 2010. Blind consists of large-scale ink and graphite paintings on mylar and smaller format paintings on backing paper that explore journalistic images of extraordinary events, objects, and experiences. Blind is funded in part by the Regional Arts and Culture Council. 

Ním Wunnan graduated from the Glasgow School of Art. He has exhibited in Glasgow, Edinburgh, and London. He is a writer and the founder of Research Club in Portland, Oregon.