Portland2014: A Biennial of Contemporary Art
March 8–April 27, 2014
Disjecta Contemporary Art Center
8371 N Interstate Avenue
Portland, OR 97217
www.disjecta.org
www.biennial.disjecta.org
Zachary Davis / Modou Dieng & Devon A. VanHouten-Maldonado / Alex Mackin Dolan / Travis Fitzgerald / Jessica Jackson Hutchins / Evan La Londe / Ellen Lesperance / D.E. May / Christopher Michlig & John Zerzan / Personal Libraries Library / Publication Studio / Ralph Pugay / Kelly Rauer / Blair Saxon-Hill / Richard Thompson
Curator: Amanda Hunt
The Portland2014 Biennial, organized by Disjecta Contemporary Art Center, opens on March 8, 2014 in Portland, Oregon. This year’s iteration departs from the previous two editions by naming a non-regional curator, Los Angeles-based Amanda Hunt, to lead the project. Hunt has selected 15 Oregon-based artists for the exhibition, focusing on the interplay of contemporary practices without the imposition of a specific theme or overarching concept. Instead, the selected artists, working in associative ways and across a range of media, will create site-generative installations and public programs that situate a regional dialogue in broad terms.
Portland2014 focuses on collaborative activities relevant to this section of the American West Coast in order to consider how information is shared and disseminated, both here and elsewhere, via artistic production today. Another essential component of the exhibition includes a series of public forums set to unfold as community oriented-conversations, performances, screenings and lectures from local practitioners.
Portland2014 will be staged across the city, from satellite venues to billboards, with Disjecta’s 6,000-square-foot exhibition space as the key venue. Other participating sites include Upfor Gallery and The White Box at the University of Oregon, Portland.
Portland2014 curator Amanda Hunt is based in Los Angeles, where she is a curator at LA><ART. A graduate of the Curatorial Practice Program at California College of the Arts in San Francisco, she has worked at various galleries and institutions including Whitechapel Gallery, London; Friedrich Petzel Gallery, New York; the Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, San Francisco; and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Financial support for Portland2014 has been generously provided by The Ford Family Foundation, Oregon Cultural Trust, The Kinsman Foundation, Oregon Arts Commission, The Robert Lehman Foundation and Travel Portland.
Founded in 2000, Disjecta Contemporary Art Center builds ambitious programs that promote artists and engage communities. These dynamic programs showcase new work and fuel collaborations between artists, curators and viewers that impact and intervene in the larger contemporary arts dialogue. Disjecta exacts equal rigor from local and national artists, while keenly recognizing and supporting the talent of the region.
The Portland Biennial is a major survey of art that recognizes artists working to define and advance contemporary practices across Oregon. Portland2014 continues the tradition of the Oregon Biennial, begun by the Portland Art Museum in 1949. With the end of PAM’s Biennial in 2006, Oregon artists lost a longstanding platform for career advancement. Disjecta reintroduced the Biennial in 2010, curated by Linfield College Gallery Director Cris Moss. The exhibition spanned nine venues throughout Portland and included 19 Oregon artists. Portland2012 presented the work of 24 artists at five venues and was curated by Prudence F. Roberts, former curator of American Art at the Portland Art Museum.
