(upper playground, 5th and couch, portland, or)
i was recently in portland to see the my friends' band play and got to spend some time perusing art in downtown portland. my friend is from the east coast, land of uninspired apparel, and wanted to pick up a sweatshirt at upper playground. i was on board because i'd yet to visit the urban clothing mecca, and was pumped to see the gallery space i'd heard so much about. its a small space, but efficiently used, with lots of natural light and an amazing amount of pull in the west coast art scene. they get artists that i would give my left pinky toe to show at fenario. their current show, "from the desk of whatserface," features art by mel kadel (who's work i hadn't seen before but instantly fell for), travis millard and michael sieben. i also picked up a great t-shirt and flirted mercilously with the sales girl. good times, good times.
(compound, 5th and couch, portland, or)
we then strolled across the street to compound gallery, where the brightly colored scarves drew my in like a magpie to tinsel, only to paralize me with fear with their price tags. the upstairs gallery space was a pleasant surprise. the first room was full of prints leaning on the walls like presents under a christmas tree. i was stopped dead in my tracks (and the further poached with jealousy) when i saw an original jen lobo painting of a jellyfish and it was explained to me that jen is a good friend of the manager, and the pieces were created for him for various shows he curated. holy shite, i want that man's little black book. they're having an art sale in mid december which i will not be missing. when i get the details, i'll post them. if you're in the area get your ass down there, because this guys collection is hands-shaking good.
(jen lobo, the devil whale, oil on wood, not the piece i saw at compound, but one of my favorites)
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