Launch Pad Gallery: Featuring the work of local emerging artists.

Hindsight is 20/20: Love in Retrospect


Opening Second Friday
February 10, 2012
7pm-12am

music & performance by
DMLH
Mother Bunch
Alessandra Rose
Max Sympathy & B.A.T.

Food Drive for Oregon Food Bank- please bring a can or other food item

Images and much more info at Portlandloveshow.com



Dear Love show Artists and Fans,

After 6 years of producing a huge show with hundreds of Artists, lots of moving parts, expensive permits, and myriad details to address, we at the Love show are taking a break from it all and trying something new, and we’d like you to come along!

We’re giving birth to TWIN SHOWS

One is Physical- an alumni show featuring work by past Launch Pad artists and curators and Love show stalwarts, returning to it’s humble roots at Launch Pad

The Other Virtual- an open-call show unshackled from space limitations and available to all, all on-line at http://portlandloveshow.com

Even though the large format, open-call show of the past few years isn’t going to happen with the Love Show this year, with your help we are determined to create art opportunities that will foster some honest work about love, and to share a meeting place where we can celebrate all of you who made previous Love shows great. We are eager to have you participate in these twin Love shows and make them awesome, and return to the rollicking hugeness next year!!

ABOUT THE ALUMNI SHOW

Since space at Launch Pad is pretty limited these days, we’re not able to do our usual open call group show, so we’ve decided to invite artists who we’ve worked with extensively over the past 6 years of our existence, because it’s important to acknowledge that it is THE ARTISTS who make Launch Pad the place that it is.

In a further embrace of nostalgia, artists are invited to tune their work for this years Love show a little more specifically: hindsight is 20/20, or maybe sometimes it’s not- what have you learned from your brushes with love, both good and bad, sweet and sour? Do the good old days look a little rosier than they actually were? Or possibly you’ve been weighed down by past baggage that kept you from appreciating a good thing. The past informs the present, and yet the passing of time seems to soften some details and bring others into razor-sharp focus. We’ve invited our artists to make work for this show that responds to a love that they’ve known or know, to lessons that they’ve learned while looking back.

For more info about the Alumni show visit:
http://portlandloveshow.com/love-in-retrospect/

BENEFIT INFO

We are partnering once again with a worthy cause to try and use our collective might to do some good!

We’re collecting cans of food for the Oregon Food Bank at the opening and for the duration of the show. Tell your friends, tell your boss, tell your grocery store… Let’s feed some hungry folks together- you never know, the people who benefit from the food bank are often closer to you than you think.

Silk Painting Workshop, hosted by Asher Katz!

Launch Pad is proud to host another fantastic workshop by Asher Katz! Join us for a fun & educational afternoon with:

Introduction to Silk Painting
Thursday, February 2nd at 12:30 PM!

There is simply nothing like painting on silk. As a medium, its characteristics are totally unique. For many who have never tried it, exploring methods of silk painting opens new and exciting creative doors; it offers alternative ways of approaching and thinking about painting. This class explores tradition techniques of silk painting, including the use of resists, dyes vs. paints, antifusants, batik, shibori, discharge, and more. You will not believe the range of possibilities! Each student will have the opportunity to paint a silk hoop using any (or many) of the processes covered. If you have never painted on silk, or if you are curious about furthering your repertoire as a silk artist, you will not want to miss this class!

Asher Katz has been teaching similar workshops for Jacquard Products, “the silkscreen experts,” for several years, and is qualified as both a silkscreen artist and technician. (Check out www.jacquardproducts.com for more info!)

READY TO TRY IT OUT FOR YOURSELF??

For a mere $5 you can create your very own silk painting! All materials are provided for you. Just bring your creativity!

If you’d like to participate, please e-mail info@launchpadgallery.org to register. (registration fee is due at the time of the workshop)

We look forward to seeing you there!

Launch Pad closed 12/9

So sorry folks, but Launch Pad will be closed today! : (
Come back tomorrow from 12-4 to check out the latest show with large-scale paintings by Paula Keyth!

Launch Pad’s Super-Awesome Volunteer Meet-Up!

Hello Fabulous Launch Pad Volunteers (and future volunteers)!

The holidays are fast approaching. And we want to share a little holiday cheer with all of you! Please join us for a fun-filled volunteer gathering here at Launch Pad Gallery. Share your thoughts & ideas for the coming year, and enjoy some festive treats!

 

MEET-UP!

Wednesday, November 23rd @ 7 PM!

(join us upstairs!)

 

Launch Pad is proud to have so many dedicated volunteers, like yourselves, that help keep us thriving! And we want to show our appreciation, and get to know you better, with our regular volunteer meet-ups.

Meet-ups are a great opportunity for our volunteers to get to know one another, bring in new recruits, and generally have a smashing good time! They also provide us with a wonderful opportunity to find out what YOU have to say about working at Launch Pad. We want to know what keeps you coming back, and what we can do to make your volunteer experience the best it can be. And it’s a great excuse to party! ; )

We hope you’ll join for the festivities!

Thank you again for all you do! Launch Pad Loves You!

Sincerely,
The Launch Pad Team

Launch Pad hosts a Silkscreen Printing Workshop!

Ever wondered about silkscreen printing? Want to learn how it works and try it out? Or are you an experienced silk screener interested in further applications for your silkscreen?

JOIN US
November 25th at 12:30 PM for a comprehensive silkscreening workshop!

***A second session will be held on Saturday the 26th at 12:30 PM***

Silkscreening is a unique printing process with unlimited possibilities. Whether you’re a painter, drawer, mixed-media artist, sculptor or fashion-designer, this class is guaranteed to have something to offer you. We’ll cover everything from basic mono-printing and screen-stenciling to polychromatic printing and photo-stencils, the traditional CYMK process, positive and negative space printing, screen maintenance and substrate possibilities.

Also, get the lowdown on the plethora of silkscreen mediums available, including varieties of inks, drawing fluid, screen filler, discharge mediums, resists, color magnet and more!

Asher Katz has been teaching similar workshops for Jacquard Products, “the silkscreen experts,” for several years, and is qualified as both a silkscreen artist and technician. (Check out www.jacquardproducts.com). Jacquard has been kind enough to sponsor this class, so it is free to anyone interested in attending.

WANT TO TRY IT FOR YOURSELF??
After the lecture and demonstration (approximately 1.5 hours) will be a hands-on silkscreen workshop! For a mere $5 you can make a print to take home with you. All inks, screens and and mediums are provided. All you need to do is bring a substrate to print on (e.g., a t-shirt, pillowcase, sheet of artist’s paper, panel of wood, canvas–whatever you would like).

(Space for the hands-on workshop is limited! If you’d like to participate, please e-mail info@launchpadgallery.org to register. The $5 registration fee will be due at time of the workshop.)

We look forward to seeing you there!

BYTE ME 2012


2012 is a year filled with anticipation… Will our planet come to a sudden end? Will the world economy crumble? Will Obama get re-elected? Who knows? Who cares? BYTE ME, 2012 can take your mind off of all these difficult questions for a few hours.

The event showcases installations and artwork by Portland artists that highlight the use of technology in different ways.

CLOSING RECEPTION!

Saturday
January 28th
6PM – 11PM

 

About the Show

The centerpiece is the world premiere of the installation T,E.D. (Transformations, Emotional Deconstruction), created by Sean Hathaway ( mupeg.org ), with music by Carlos Severe Marcelin ( SevereEnterprises.com ). This large work features 80 customized Teddy Ruxpin dolls wired together, delivering real-time emotional content from the internet in discreet 1-minute “packages” based on the Emotion Wheel developed by the psychologist Robert Plutchik. Additional interactive real-time input can also be received from text messaging or an on-site user interface.  For more information about the T,E.D. installation click here.

Additional Exhibits

Reality Bytes, by Libbey White  ( facebook.com/libbey.white )
An interactive augmented reality kiosk projects a unique scene for every block held up to a camera. The virtual scene appears overlaid on a video stream of the block, and responds to movement by changing shape and appearance.

Creeper, by Donald Delmar Davis  ( dorkbotpdx.org/node/9 )
A Braitenberg inspired neural network in the form of a wall of disassociated eyes that follow objects in the room. While a single cds cell is not capable of providing meaningful image data, a sufficiently large network of cells should be able to make distinctions. Especially if combined with motion.

Maxwell, by Mark Medonis ( dorkbotpdx.org/wiki/mmedonis )
A robot head and torso, suspended from the ceiling, watching the crowd. If he detects a face looking at him, he will make it known, he is watching… always watching.

The One-Sided Pendulum, by Donald Delmar Davis  ( dorkbotpdx.org/node/9 )
The one sided pendulum is a meditation on American politics since Nixon

The Modern World, a video game by Donald Delmar Davis  ( dorkbotpdx.org/node/9 )
In the modern world you use your freedom ™ controller to move right, left, vote and protest. The object of the game is to prevent the senseless destruction happening right before you.

Paintings with a Bytey theme
Works by Jonas Nash ( jonasnash.com ) and Cameron Adamez

Transmutations

Big thanks to Lost Lockets
http://www.myspace.com/lostlockets for playing at the opening


About the Artist

Paula Keyth’s work is alchemical in the most basic sense: In the paintings, feline, human and piscine forms turn hybrid; shapes shift, co-mingle, or appear from the ether; figures become abstract and vice versa. From beneath surface, ghostly images reveal themselves, emerging from an earthly prison. Inspired by Francisco Goya’s black paintings, the figures often deal with the darker side of the human condition, cruelty, and the fear of the unknown.

Paula Keyth began as an experimental painter creating textures with splatters, swirls, and drips, much in the spirit of William Turner. Over the course of time, figures began to emerge. In her words, “The paintings begin as mere strokes until images start to form, making their own conversations. I am merely an assistant, I let the paint tell me what to do.”

Another painter, who has inspired her work with his raw and direct approach, is Francis Bacon. She explains: “the accidents of the paint are as important as the rendering of the image. I want to paint with lucidity, while remaining in an unconscious state.” Walking the tightrope between abstract expressionism and figurative paintings, she creates images that are at once monstrous and beautiful.

When asked about the ‘Transmutation’ series specifically, she sums it up: “In short, it’s about the alteration of one species into another; In spite of differences, we can all feel. I want to meld together different conversations that tell the same story. The story is in the paintings.”

Paula Keyth grew up in New York City. She has also lived and studied art in England, San Francisco, Rome, and Portland. Pulling from her multifold experiences, she attempts to assemble the dark pieces of the past. She is driven by dreams, music, poetry and insanity.

-Paula Keyth, paulakeyth.weebly.com

The Wall & Other Paintings

Big Thanks to
Jedadiah Bernards for performing at the opening


 

About the Artist

In my work I explore twentieth century history and parables from my own life.  My work is informed by fiction and non-fiction as well as memory.  Generally, mood and concept are ascribed suitable found imagery or still life objects as a jumping off point.

In my application of paint I marry discordant, energetic smears of diluted paints with controlled purposeful mark making.  My favorite brushes mirror my application of paint, bristle brushes are used during loose portions of painting because it is uncontrollable, whereas soft synthetic brushes are used for controlled marks.  The works go through several iterations between loose and controlled before being determined complete.

My current work seeks to find unconventional beauty in concepts deemed unsavory, from friendly totalitarian states to stalled vehicles as stand in for man on his way to heaven…  Rather than brazen statement, the collected works are meant to illicit a subtle pervasive mood in the viewer.

What We Carried

Big thanks to Ronny Hermiz and Zeyad Polus for playing at the opening


A collaborative project conceived by Jim Lommasson and Oregon Iraqi Refugees. The exhibit will include photographs and writing and paintings by Farooq Hassan and Samir Khurshid.

ABOUT THE SHOW

 

What We Carried: Fragments from the Cradle of Civilization is about leaving one’s homeland. Portland Photographer/Writer Jim Lommasson is currently photographing and interviewing Iraqi refugees and immigrants who have fled to the U.S. since 1990. This project dovetails with Lommasson’s visual and oral history of returning American soldiers from the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars called Exit Wounds. Lommasson feels that there is another side of the story that needs to be told, about those who have left their homeland and are now resettling around the world. Lommasson is photographing those few important personal items that have survived the long journey from Iraq to the U.S. The journey may take months, sometime even years, and includes refugee camps, piles of documents and possibly a few bribes. After photographing the objects, Lommasson asks the participants to write about the significance of their objects on the finished photographs.

 

 ABOUT THE ARTISTS

 

Jim Lommasson is a freelance photographer and writer living in Portland, Oregon. Lommasson received the Dorothea Lange–Paul Taylor Prize from The Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University for his first book, Shadow Boxers: Sweat, Sacrifice & The Will To Survive In American Boxing Gyms.  In 2009 Oregon State University Press published Lommasson’s Oaks Park Pentimento: Portland’s Lost and Found Carousel. He is currently working on a book and traveling exhibition about American Veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars, and their lives after their return from war, called Exit Wounds: Soldiers’ Stories – Life After iraq and Afghanistan. The book will include Lommasson’s photographs, and photographs and writing by the participants. He was awarded a Regional Arts and Culture Council (RACC) Project Grant for What We Carried, and is a 2012 Oregon Humanities Conversation Grant Recipient for his public discussion “Life after War: Photography and Oral Histories of Coming Home.”

Farook Hassanwas born in Basrah, Iraq in 1939. He graduated from the Fine Arts Institute from Baghdad 1960, and from the Fine Arts Acadamy from Rome, Italy 1980. He has held many solo and joint exhibitions locally and internationally. His art work bestows the ancient city of Hatra’s Queens, moons, suns, a magical and mystical feel in today’s artistic median. His thought process, technical painting experience, and clear foresight of the future has given his artwork originality in the Iraqi artistic community.

Samir Khurshid, a well known artist from northern Iraq, was born in 1978, and studied at the University of Technology in Iraq. He painted 83 portraits of Saddam Hussein before the American forces ousted Saddam from office. All of the paintings were eventually burned. He then painted portraits for American soldiers to make ends meet until the Iraqi opposition learned about his work and his life was threatened. He escaped to Turkey, where he lived for five years before coming to Portland. Khurshid is now settled and supported here in North Portland at the Falcon Art Community where he continues to make and show his art.

For more information & images visit:  http://theoregoniraqirefugeeproject.blogspot.com/


What We Carried: Fragments from the Cradle of Civilization is funded in part by The Regional Arts and Culture Council

 

LIVES: Past and Still


 

Opening Reception

SECOND Friday, September 9th!

6 PM – 12 AM

 


 

About the Show

 

The poet Wordsworth once said that life is measured in “spots of time”. This show and its contents are the remnants of those spots, moments of the past and present together.  First stemming from the talented Anna Magruder, this show began with a desire to pair two intuitive artists that both shared the precision of realism.   I have admired Anna and her work since I first met her and visited her studio a few years ago.  The idea of the show came from her, the theme, the idea of still life integrated with her forms, and the general private process of how she makes art.  She shared this show idea with her co-artist Nicholas Orr, who also works from “models” and “still life”, using a combination of real life and still life (actual models, items and photographs), just like Anna.  The pairing seemed very automatic and real, two highly skilled painters, showing the window of the soul of their characters (and the process of their art) – one stemming from antiquity and history, the other in the world of a magical realism; but both capturing the stillness and beauty of humanity.  Enjoy the works and natural beauty of both these artists, two of my all time Portland favorites, as they explore history, mythology and the character driven classicism of still life.

–Guest curator and artist, Chris Haberman, August, 2011

 

About The Artists

Anna Magruder

Alternating between still lives and paintings of people inspired by found photos, this show explores the magic and beauty of the fleeting moments and objects that leave indelible imprints on our lives. Whether we have emotional, aesthetic or financial attachments to objects, they can inspire us, remind us of someone or something important or simply set the mood in a space. Anna takes a fresh look at some of her favorite items collected over the years to discover how new relationships between them reshape what they mean and say. And by recreating scenes from past lives, she opens the door to new possibilities and stories that may or may not reflect the sentiment of the moment. After all, a glimpse into someone’s bygone memory can only take us so far, but curiosity about who they were or what they were doing can lead us down the magical path of our own imagination.

Anna Magruder is a Portland, Oregon artist and illustrator. In 2009, after 14 years working as a graphic designer, Anna decided to take a leap of faith and leave design to focus on oil painting and illustration. People and faces are her favorite subjects. Drifting between realism and surrealism, she enjoys recreating vintage America, re-imagining the lives and stories of characters on canvas, or just exploring the emotional color of faces in the crowd.

To view Anna’s artwork visit www.annamagruder.com.

 

Nicholas C. Orr

Nicholas C. Orr was born On April 29th 1979. At a very young age Nicholas saw the world differently. Along with being the youngest of three he just didn’t relate with the straight forward thinking of his family; He always saw the other side of the mirror as well. In 1985 Nicholas and his family made the transition from Jamaica to the United States; they moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Through his diligence, Nicholas was accepted into a performing arts program in High School and later won a scholarship to the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, Michigan.

When Nicholas started college he began to understand why he loved art as much as he did; He could use his skills to tell stories and convey emotions for people to live in. He majored in Illustration and got his BFA in 2002. After graduating he moved to Los Angeles, California where he went on to become a freelance Graphic Designer and Artist. He spent his time fine-tuning his craft and figuring out what story he wanted to tell with it. After five years of shows and design work Nicholas decided to make another big change and moved to Portland, Oregon in 2007. He is now starting to gather up his knowledge and experience to make a new life for himself.

My art is what I like to call a reflection of what something looks like on the inside. I feel like there is so much information about things hidden behind the surfs; all you have to do is look for it. In most of my paintings I feel as though I’m giving the viewer an all access pass to a person’s or thing’s inner beauty and emotion; At least how I see them. Rarely do we get the chance to just look someone in the eye without either you or them feeling a little uncomfortable about it; you lose the connection. With the way the future is coming and coming fast there probably will never be a chance for that connection to happen again. The world now communicates with cell phones and instant messaging, practically void of direct human contact.

When I paint, I paint with every stroke building over the next like I’m forming a person’s personality from the inside out. This is why I mostly paint with oil sticks. They’re very physical, earthy and raw. It all comes together in the end to make a powerful image. Other times I use Gouache. It brings a totally different feel as it is softer and yet has the ability to get thick and meaty all at the same time, which most people tend to be.

My paintings are like a summary of a thought or person, an overall view of what they could be. Now you could stare for hours without feeling awkward. You can get to know the person in the painting and understand them through their eyes and body-language. There is just so much beauty in things but, sadly, it doesn’t seem like they notice most of the time. My paintings slow you down. They make you want to get to know things again.

Where I Hang My Hat

 


One Night Only!

First Friday, August 5th

6 PM – 12 AM

featuring performances by:
The T Sisters
bellacodas

&
Best Available Technology featuring Max Sympathy

Check out this video of their performance at Friday’s show!

 


 

About the Show

Where I Hang My Hat features homeless and at-risk artists who will explore the meaning of home and their experiences living in transition.  The Launch Pad Gallery, in collaboration with Outside In is hosting a one night event on Friday August 5, 2011 at 6 pm.

The goal of the event is to provide artists struggling with poverty and physical and mental health challenges with a venue to display their work.   We have artists that live on our streets and Outside In believes they are producing art that is beautiful and should be seen by other people.  100% of the sale of art pieces will go to the artists.

The show was envisioned by Kara Edge, a Mental Health Therapist in Outside In’s Clinic.  Seeing the value of art as a therapeutic and esteem-enhancing tool, Kara saw the benefits her clients experienced when their art was showed publicly: “I was getting inspired by artwork our clients were doing and I wanted them to have a venue to see how they inspire others.”

Kara Edge and Ben Pink, Director of Launch Pad Gallery will curate the show.  The public is invited to participate in an interactive, collaborative piece. Community artists, clients from Outside In and event attendees will work in collaboration to explore “What  is Home?” in an art installation.   A temporary structure will be constructed and event attendees can explore and participate in their own meaning of home.

The event is free to attend.  Donations are encouraged. Outside In can happily accept the following items: athletic socks, new hygiene supplies and backpacks.  Join us for a night of music, food and art fun!

Sponsors include Oregon Brush Clearing and Roadside Attraction.

 


Outside In provides services and support to more than 10,000 people in poverty each year.  For 42 years, we have provided safety off the streets, meals, and skilled counselors.  An on-site transitional housing program delivers one of the most successful outcomes in the nation.  Access to medical and mental health services, a nationally recognized job training center, a thriving education program and drug and alcohol treatment groups work to move people towards improved health and self-sufficiency.

For more information, please visit www.OutsideIn.org.

‘In the Pines’ Closing Reception THIS SATURDAY!!

Missed the opening of our awesome June show? Want to meet the artist and ask her all about her work?

Come down to Launch Pad Gallery this Saturday, June 25th, from 12 – 4 PM!

 

The artist of this month’s fantastic landscape paintings, Kendra Larson, will be there to answer your questions first-hand & talk about her process.

http://www.kendralarson.com/

And featuring live music by Christopher Buckingham to top it all off!

We hope you’ll join us for this wonderful opportunity!
Sincerely,
~The Launch Pad Crew

Portals: Surreal & Visionary Artists


Opening Reception

First Friday, July 1st

6 PM – 12 AM 

featuring Rare Soul and Funk by
DJ PHILADELPHIA FREEDOM

 

Live Painting at the Opening!


Portals

Four surreal & visionary artists paint live, exploring the concept of portal.  Join us opening night for art, music, food & drink.

Curated by Rick Curtis.

 

Participating Artists:

Andrew Zeutzius
J Slattum
Jasmine Star
Nemo Boko.

 

About the Show:

The artist creates a doorway through which the spectator can pass through, to experience another reality outside of the banal entanglements of day to day life. The painting becomes a portal to larger things, greater perceptions, dreams & emotions.

What gives the artist this special talent to stop us in our tracks, and stumble into their inner world, and what is the purpose of this apparent gift?

I believe the artist is a conduit of sorts through which we can better see ourselves, or obfuscate ourselves, if we so choose. Their work transmits volumes of information, far more than words are able to convey, even the artists own words.

How does the artist reflect our world? Can their work change us or themselves in any fundamental way?

 

About the Artists:

Andrew Zeutius
Self-taught artist, musician, and poet, born and raised in Green Bay, WI and now resides in and calls Portland, OR home. I have been co-creating, experimenting, exploring, probing and communing with the properties of art ever since I could put crayon to paper. I was always seeking endlessly for my niche, ideal modality of self- expression, or means to suite my seemingly endless patience and attention to detail. At an early age I was exposed to the depth of optical illusions, the playful ambitions of Pointillism, Stippling and various expressionist and surrealist techniques.

Little did I know after much soul searching, this would be the modality in which you see before you now. That I would choose to express my ambitions, my interest in presenting what I call metaphysical quantum expressions of the depth and color of various aspects of our human experience. The efforts I create are my translations or interpretations of the energy that I see within and around everyone and everything in our lives and the universe. In keeping my compositions simple I am able to explore the greater depths of complexity in these experiences that are spiritual, philosophical, sensual and transcendental. The list of properties goes on and on.

The efforts I create of course have weight and meaning specific to myself , for you the viewer its is imperative that you find yourself in my work. Take your time for once in your life, move forward and back, breath deep, slow your heart rate. Look into the piece then your own mind. Concern yourself not with what I am saying or what the person next to you is saying or seeing unless it resonates with you. Just see yourself. Grasp your full enjoyment of where you are in the art in front you. I humbly thank you for taking the time to view my work and I hope it brought some new answers, questions or choices to your path in life.

J Slattum
J. Slattum is a self-taught outsider artist, his work entering a visionary surreal world with topics ranging from mythological science-fiction and metaphysics, to humanity’s potential and politics. After a near-death experience in 2007, Slattum fell into a world of paint, inspired by a personal enlightenment. Working from his studio in Portland, Oregon, his work is collected internationally, thanks to a deep online following.

“Not places but versions of our world, twisting and turning, flying and learning… These snippets, all in your mind, doorways and portals to another find… A lucid validity in another land, tiny life on a grain of sand, Sliding through fingers of a clocks hand. Decisions and Decisions. Visions of Visions… This is what I see.”

I believe, the Artist Shaman sees the world through a different window. A universe of information behind every thing we observe- stories, emotions, and magic. Seeking enlightenment, a vortex-mind driven by curiosity or anything that answers that philosophical “Why?” of the Universe.

Inspiration is bountiful as I look at humanity and our potential, whether we squander or strive, dive or fly. There’s so much positive I portray in my work, to inspire. There’s also an equal, balancing, amount of negative I enjoy mocking and bringing forward to challenge my viewer. Constructive Anger.

In my work, it is not art unless it creates a universe of thought in the mind of the viewer.

Jasmine Star
Jasmine Star’s work describes an inner reality wrought with sharply contrasting colors and perceptions that sometimes bend and break physical laws. From paintings of austere beauty to haunting, and at times frightening forays into her subconscious, with symbols reflecting her own personal story, the viewer is left either touched by their surreal beauty or moved by their depth.

Nemo Boko
I am an artist deeply inspired by the mythic traditions of the world. I draw inspiration from ethnographic journals, museum catalogs, nature and ancient ruins. I feel that there is a connection between ancient tribal art and the mythic building blocks of human creativity. By exploring the myths and archetypes found around the world, one can begin to piece together the subconscious dream landscape of visual symbolism and chart its transformation through time, while empowering the modern with the primal fire of atavistic aesthetics.

I grew up in Miami and developed a love for exploring cultural diversity. I went to college to learn to become an international negotiator by triple majoring in Politics, Religion and East Asian Studies.  After leaving my political career in Washington, DC, jaded but with priceless experiences, I moved to Boulder, CO to relax and find a new direction. A visionary experience set me on the path of art where I began to reintegrate my political aim of tolerance and diplomacy with my aesthetic love of tribal and magical images.

ATTENTION: New Gallery Hours!

Hello art lovers!

As you may have noticed, Launch Pad is going through some changes!  But we’ll do our best to keep you informed and up to date on the latest developments.  And here’s one now:

Starting THIS WEEK, Launch Pad is changing our regular gallery hours.  Our NEW hours are now

THURSDAY – SATURDAY from 12 – 4 PM!

And, as always, you are welcome to schedule an APPOINTMENT with our friendly staff of volunteers if you are unable to visit during our regular hours.

REMEMBER: Launch Pad Gallery is part of a cooperative space!  Please do not visit outside of our regular gallery hours unless you have an appointment.  We don’t want to disturb the other wonderful folks who call our space home.  : )

In The Pines


Opening Reception

First Friday, June 3rd

6pm-12am

 

Live music by

The Eventuals & Ghost Montrose


 

Yellowstone

 

CURATORS STATEMENT

Mountain ranges, lakes seemingly on fire, views of the night sky shimmer. Kendra Larson paints the land, paints the sky. Landscape painting for Larson is about the awe, about the chaos and immenseness of the natural world.
-Charles Siegfried

 

ABOUT THE SHOW:

Landscape painting has historically helped clarify each generation’s understanding of Place. In other words, the social and political atmosphere is reflected in our art and the way in which we depict our world.  My work is a collection of paintings that function within this tradition. By meditating on a natural world through technological, mystical, and art-historical nods, I am reflecting a generation marked by the uncertainty and nostalgia brought on by globalization. With the recent global financial collapse and rebuilding of infrastructure, the building materials I weave into my paintings have taken on complex new meaning. The playful, magical, and emotional quality of this work ultimately helps to shed new light on what we call landscape painting. My paintings are a discovery of an unforeseen sense of Place and a questioning of evolving perception. Though I am working within the grand tradition of representational landscape painting, there is a point where I draw out and highlight the material properties of paint through shifting its application. I enjoy landscape painting because each piece can be full of personality and abundant with unforeseen opportunity. The subtle poetry, complicated color, and unique compositions make the process of painting exciting. My fascination with nature stems from an interest in contemporary film noir, literature on the woods, and research of natural phenomena. In my art practice, I find that chaos, awe and fear are revealed in ways I could not plan when I begin a piece.

 

ABOUT THE ARTIST:

Larson received her MFA in Painting at University of Wisconsin, Madison and has shown her work in venues including: Lewis and Clark College (Portland, OR), the University of Minnesota’s Nash Gallery (Minneapolis, MN), and Overture Center for the Art (Madison, WI). Her work has appeared in publications such as The Bear Deluxe and Tree Sap Magazine. 

She is a past Caldera (Sisters, Oregon) and New Pacific Studios (Masterton, New Zealand) resident who teaches at Willamette University.

www.kendralarson.com

Life & Death Closing Reception!

Missed the First Friday opening & want to meet the artists? You’re in luck!

Quin Sweetman & Joe Sneed are hosting a closing reception for their show
‘Life & Death: Two Approaches to Painting People’
This coming Saturday, April 30th from 2-4 PM!

Join us for refreshments & fantastic art!  Don’t miss this wonderful opportunity to meet the artists in person & chat with them about their work!

2-4 pm Saturday April 30th @ Launch Pad Gallery
534 SE Oak Street

prismACTIVISM!


CLICK TO VISIT DMLH’S PAGE FOR THE SHOW FOR BIO’S, LINKS AND MUSIC

 


 

prismACTIVISM is what I call the brilliant spectrum of creation that spreads when our life energy is focused through action. Translated through the story of my life this spectrum includes the products of creative work, relationships built through doing, and stories that grow with each telling. Each with its own brilliant hue, these refractions of energy illuminate my daily reality. In this light I learn what my purpose is, why I have chosen to live this way and what roads i may take to continue this path of beauty.

prismACTIVISM is a process of community interaction. Each work of creation shared is a voice in cultural dialog. Each message received creates multiple strands of reality, paths born in the act of communication. The byproduct of our action remains in the gallery, or lives in audio and visual media, what we remember for years to come, echoes of the initial conversation.

prismACTIVISM is the guiding principle in my life, the methodical madness that keeps me sane in a crazy world.
For 10 years I have been actively seeking out, building and engaging a morphing community of creative people. This began in the small town of Bristol, Vermont, where I worked with a small collective to grow a one-night art show into an annual 5 day multimedia festival.  My work continues to this day in Portland, where I produce events that
bring different forms of music (including my own) together with art and other media.

prismACTIVISM is my approach to the Hip-Hop music I write, record and perform. Rap, the vocal element of Hip-Hop culture, is how I currently refract my inspiration into a receivable spectrum. I have been rapping for ten
years and recording it for six,, on my own and with frequent collaborators.  In that time I have come to understand my voice as a powerful tool for self-expression, understanding and development, as well as conversation,
community engagement and acceptance. In the past two years I have shared my voice throughout the country with the Watch It Grow DIY arts tour, guerrilla street performances with the bike community in Portland, and a multitude of club, house and gallery shows in many states.

I am very grateful to have the opportunity to present an album that has grown with all of these experiences, and with it, a creative response from my community. Each work has been created inspired by, to comment
on, in response to or simply while engaging this set of songs. I hope that this simple exercise in community conversation will offer a rainbow of inspiration and perception, as an entry point for many to engage the
dialog.

Thank you,
Daniel M Landolt-Hoene
DMLH

Featured Artists:

 

Alex Connor
Amelia Kaplan
Ania Palinska
Ashley Costa
Chris Truax
David Walker
Evan Posdamer
Grant Johnson
Jessamyn Patterson
Joel Andrich
Jolyn Fry
Katie Donahugh
Lea Littleleaf
Leah Violet
Madelyn Hampton
Matt Scholsky
MiShelzey Tuffias
Nina Posdamer
Sam Arneson
Schel Harris
Vanessa Gonzalez
& DMLH

 

 

For more information about the show check out the website at:  http://prismactivism.blogspot.com

Calling all volunteers! Launch Pad Gallery needs YOU!

Calling all volunteers!

Launch Pad Gallery is having a gathering for our volunteers: old & new.  Join us this Saturday April 16th from 3-4 PM for coffee, tea & good company!

 

Meet your fellow gallery volunteers & share your experiences. Never worked with Launch Pad before, but want to participate? Come find out how you can be one of our trusty helpers!

Volunteers are what keep this gallery going, and we can’t thank you enough.  WE NEED YOU! : D

So, see you this Saturday!

 

Cheers,
From all of us at Launch Pad Gallery

Check out the facebook event page and RSVP:
http://www.facebook.com/LaunchPadGallery#!/event.php?eid=202388676461633

534 SE OAK ST
Portland, OR 97214
http://www.launchpadgallery.org/

Open Hours
Wednesday-Saturday, 12-4pm
& by appointment
and by appointment.

FOR THE LOVE OF ART Craft Show & Trunk Sale!

For the Love of Art!

Launch Pad Gallery & The Egg Art Collective team up with
Sara McCormick of Infinite Creature Designs to bring you:

For the Love of Art

Pre-Valentine’s Craft Show & Trunk Sale!

Saturday, January 29th from 11AM – 6 PM
at Launch Pad Gallery!

Featuring fine art, clothing, jewelry, & gifts by a collection of truly brilliant local artisans!

Come in from the cold and shop for amazing art & fabulous gifts, while enjoying hot drinks & tasty treats in a unique gallery setting.

We’re so excited to bring these folks together. This is a truly amazing group of artists who LOVE what they do, and want to share their work with the world. And now we want to share them with YOU!

 
 

UPDATE!

There’s a new addition to our wonderful show! The Portrait Booth Project will be here!
http://pixelgrain.org/portraitbooth/

“The Portrait Booth Project is a live photographic homage to the intimate, quirky and often amazing portrait photography of the early 20th Century.”

 
 

Artists include:

* Faith Hats – Hand made in Portland Oregon from 100% recycled materials
* Appetite – Hand-printed/handmade goods
* Vince & Sabrina – Handmade Porcelain Leaf Jewelry and Stoneware Leaves
* Bonus Pants – Underwear with a Sense of Humor
* Jasmine Star – Fine Art Originals & Reproductions
* Eden Kitty – Eclectic items for the eccentric spirit
* Brent Wear – Paintings and whatnot
* Lolly-Tots – Handmade Funky Hats and Accessories
* Tease Recyclewear – One-of-a-kind, eco-friendly fashions
* Littleput Books – Photo blocks & decorative banners
* Uniko Jewelry – One of a kind pendants for that one of a kind person
* Cyclical Design – Recycled vintage hardware and leather bracelets
* Birds of Oregon Lockets – Colorful art lockets & antique chain necklaces
* And more…!

ONE DAY ONLY!

Join us on Saturday, January 29th from 11 AM – 6 PM.

@ Launch Pad Gallery

534 SE Oak St. (next to Andy & Bax off of SE Grand)

Check out the event page on Facebook for updates, links to artists’ websites & more!
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=120141091388641

—–

And speaking of Launch Pad!

Check out Chris Haberman & Scott Chase’s brilliant show ‘The Good, The Bad & The Ugly’. It’s showing now at Launch Pad Gallery! The 29th is the LAST DAY of the show, so don’t forget to take advantage of this great opportunity.

You can check out their amazing iconic portraits while munching on sweet treats & shopping for sweet deals at the same time! It’s a win-win!

The Portrait Booth Project

Portraits Portraiture by Brubaker and Co. see more »

The Portrait Booth Project

6th Annual Portland Love show call to artists

The Love Show is back!
Launch Pad teams up with Jason Brown and Chris Haberman (Po’Boy Gallery, Peoples Gallery) and Gallery Homeland to present this years show at the Historic Ford Building.

Now in it’s 6th year, the Portland Love show seeks to shine some light on the complicated discoball that is love, dark facets and all. With the Hallmark/florist/jewelry/chocolate conspiracy focusing so much attention (and cash) on romance and sex every February, we aim to create a visual dialogue about love in it’s many incarnations and interpretations, be it self-love, sorrow, lust, confusion, hope, bitterness, gentleness, deception, romance, imagination, jealousy, true love, young love, love lost, parental, filial, adversarial love, the surrounding abundance of love or love as the unknown….

Let’s all look a little deeper and remind ourselves and the public that there’s so much more to love. You are invited to explore the theme anyway you choose and in any media; how it fits into the show doesn’t have to be obvious to anyone else other than you.

Please read over the details below and sign up at

http://portlandloveshow.com/2011-sign-up/

QUESTIONS:
2011@portlandloveshow.com
503 427 8704


LOCATION

Gallery Homeland at the Ford Building
2505 Southeast 11th Avenue #136
Portland, OR 97202
Google place page


IMPORTANT DATES

Please review the dates below BEFORE signing up. If you know that the drop off/pick up dates are going to be a conflict, make your plans now! We have a lot of artists to coordinate!

SHOW DATES:
February 12th-March 12th, 2010

ART DROP OFF:
February 4-5, 2011
Times/location to be determined

OPENING:
Saturday the 12th, Feb. 2010, 7pm-12am

OUT OF TOWN ARTISTS- CLICK HERE!

WORK PICK-UP (tentative):
February 27, 28, 2011
Times/location to be determined


DAY YOU FORFEIT YOUR PIECE IF YOU DON’T PICK IT UP:
March 14th, 2011


ARTWORK DETAILS

  • one piece per artist only, any media, 4 ft x 4ft max (please, don’t all make work this big!!) li>
  • strong>Wired & ready to hang (not pinned to the wall, not clips, not a cleat, no saw-tooth- a WIRE please- See How-To Here, we can consult with you if you need help with this part)
  • Labeled in a removable fashion with your TITLE, NAME, ADDRESS, PHONE & EMAIL (taping a business card to the back is a good idea

TERMS FOR SALES & EXHIBITING

  • You do not need to sell your work, but if you do, here’s the basic breakdown:
  • We will take a 40% commission on work sold
  • You are showing your work at your own risk. While we will handle your work with the highest degree of care, the Ford building is a public space housing many businesses and we cannot control access. Theft hasn’t been a problem there or at any past Love show, but it’s always a possibility.
  • Artists will be paid within 30 days of the CLOSE of the show, if not sooner. (I will personally strive to pay everyone ASAP, as I know we all need the money)
  • You MUST pick up your piece at the end of the show. The best days to pick up are February 28th and March 1st, when we will have staff there to assist you, and the work will still be on the wall.

    If you fail to pick up your work during those times, we will be forced to find storage for it, increasing the likely hood that it will be damaged exponentially, and you will need to schedule an appointment to come get it at our convenience. PLEASE don’t make this difficult for us or you- arrange to pick up your work on the days we ask.

    Your work becomes property of the Love Show on March 14th, 2011, to do whatever we want with it.
    Furthermore, artists who abandon their work without communicating with us will not be welcome in future Love shows or Launch Pad group shows.


BENEFIT INFO

The Love Show is partnering once again with a worthy cause to try and use our collective might to do some good!

We’re collecting cans of food for the Oregon Food Bank at the opening and for the duration of the show. Tell your friends, tell your boss, tell your grocery store… Let’s feed some hungry folks together- you never know, the people who benefit from the food bank are often closer to you than you think.



FOR OUT OF TOWN ARTISTS
How awesome to have you in this show! Last year we had quite a few people mail in work from near and far, and it’s a treat to have you involved! Help us by carefully reading the following information.

Here are the specifics that apply to you:

  • You pay shipping both ways, please.
    Pre-printed mailing labels are the most convenient method & it’s a good idea to include tracking capabilities and insurance. Feel free to include business cards or show cards for us to put out.

    If your piece doesn’t sell, I will strive to mail your piece back to you within two weeks of the close of the show. I’ll try to include some show cards as well for your files. Please be sure to include a removable label on your piece, and make your $10.00 check out to ‘Launch Pad Gallery’

  • NOTE: You must get the work to me on time, by FRIDAY February 5th at the latest!!Because the gallery hours are sparse, I would like you to mail your piece to my home address:

    Launch Pad Gallery
    c/o Ben Pinkowitz
    5217 NE 14th Pl.
    Portland, OR 97211

    I will email you when I’ve received it.
    Thanks so much! It’s like Christmas in February when all the art arrives!
    (If you feel like it, include a note about how you heard about this show)

click to go back to where you were

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

BIG THANKS TO:
DJ DEENA B &

COUNT KELLAM

Invite friends to the show with this Easy Facebook Event


About the Show

“I met Scott earlier this year when he moved into our building. He was a big, friendly, kinda hairy guy hailing from a place I mock on a regular basis: The Couv (Vancouver, Washington). We talked and laughed and drank and became friends, although he was from Vantucky. Then he lost his laboring warehouse job. We became better friends and his sharp tongue and obvious intellect and charisma won me over.

One day he asked me if I would give him some paint so he could make art. He told me he liked to draw but had never painted before. I gave him what he asked (black and white paint and a board). Scott returned the next day with a completed work – a well rendered portrait of “The Oil Man” from the film There Will Be Blood. I was simply amazed that this “laborer” and boasting former “stone mason” had created this shadowy and emotive realistic painting. “Bullshit” I said. “You’ve painted before.” He swore he hadn’t. No art school, no painting, no hours bent at the artisan bench, just contrasting paints, a shoddy piece of plywood , a pit-bull at his feet, and obviously a true hidden talent. Scott began to paint more and his subjects were things he loved from movies and life: characters, athletes, icons. His simple contrast was quick and skilled, capturing the photo he worked from but integrating his style – not trying to make the picture perfect, but making it his own. He truly didn’t give a shit about the “art world” or what he “should” paint. He just painted. He sold works over the summer, gaining a few collectors, having a solo show in a restaurant and was a part of several group shows. Every time I showed his work people were attracted to its familiarity and its grit. His work is never reminded of someone who has been painting only a few months. One guy actually asked me if the artist was an old woman.

We talked about having a show together and at this time I really felt like an “art” brother to him. He regularly went out late, picking up girls, drinking, hanging out – when really all I wanted him to do was paint. “Start painting,” I said to him one day. “Stop fucking.” “Okay, I’ll try,” he said.

This series is based upon Scott’s choice of characters, and his development as a new artist. I am proud to have been his mentor in this self-discovery and I am always amazed at his commitment and courage to try this out so quickly. He doesn’t use a grid to make the characters, everything is done by hand from a photograph. Our responses to these photos were not shared with each other until this show. This is our examination of icons that reflect the bright and shadowy parts of life – The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.”

Chris Haberman
December, 2010

Chris Haberman Bio


“Through out history people are remembered for their actions and recognized by their portraits. When I started this series I tried to divide figures past and present into categories (Good/Bad/Ugly) but found many of the icons I had chosen fit more than one of these groups. This evolved into me finding figures whose actions fit all three categories. With the subjects selected Chris and I painted portraits of each icon though our different and unique artistic filters. Our goal is to invoke the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly in each figure though these portraits.

I chose to paint with Chris Haberman for my first show because he is a good friend, a mentor and a great artist. His style is unique and creates a colorful contrast to my style while still capturing the depth of our subjects though a single portrait.”

Scott Chase
December, 2010
Scott Chase Bio


Featured Icons

CHARLES BUKOWSKI, FIDEL CASTRO, MICHAEL JACKSON, ELVIS PRESLEY, GRIGORI RASPUTIN, AUDREY HEPBURN, DR. JOHN MCLOUGHLIN, CRAZY HORSE, VINCENT VAN GOGH, ERNEST HEMINGWAY, MARK TWAIN, ALICE COOPER, EVEL KNIEVAL, CHE GUEVERA, LADY GAGA, JAMES BROWN, G.G. ALLIN, DOC HOLIDAY, MIKE TYSON, WILLIE NELSON, JOHNNY CASH, TIGER WOODS ,NOTORIOUS B.I.G., MARILYN MONROE, FRIDA KAHLO, CHARLIE PARKER, HUNTER S. THOMPSON, JESUS CHRIST, BABE RUTH


Unsold work will be available for purchase via Paypal on January 11th, 2011


CALL TO ARTISTS: DECEMBER AT LAUNCH PAD

Criminales Todos

A juried group show responding to the criminalization of race.

Submissions Deadline:
Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Opening:
Friday, December 10, 2010

The Safe Communities Project and Portland Central America Solidarity Committee are calling all artists to submit pieces to be presented at the upcoming art exhibit CRIMINALES TODOS, starting December 10, 2010.

CRIMINALES TODOS is a travelling community art exhibit aiming to inspire an ongoing dialogue and examination of the social, political and cultural issues related to the criminalization of communities of color. From post-Civil War vagrancy laws targeting newly freed African Americans in the South, to police rounding up Japanese Americans and sending them to internment camps during WWII, to SB1070 targeting Latinos in Arizona; the history of police targeting communities of color has deep roots in American history.

In times of increased police surveillance, tightened border control and the implementation of anti-immigrant and racist laws across the country, we encourage artists to engage in a conversation about the devastating repercussions of policing and the militarization in our local communities.

Click Here for Submission Guidelines



FACING FEAR ARTISTS: CLICK FOR PICK UP TIMES

Work pickup from the gallery:
November 28/29/30, between 12-4pm

If you CAN’T Pick up your work during the allotted times (BAD!!!), you will need to email us to set something up. Expect to work with our scheduling needs on this. We put up these dates at the start of the show, so there shouldn’t be any surprises here….

DAY YOUR WORK CEASES TO BE YOURS IF YOU DON’T PICK IT UP!!!!
December 11th, 2010

Please please please DON’T abandon your work here.
Artists who fail communicate and abandon artwork with us will be added to the Launch Pad NO-SHOW black list and dis-invited to participate in future shows here. You gotta respect your work and the gallery enough to retrieve it. If you don’t want to keep it, you take care of throwing away.

What a great show! Thanks so much!

Nice review on PDX Art Critic of “I AM HUNTING, YOU ARE HUNTED”

Read it HERE

See work from the show at http://launchpadgallery.org/theodore-holdt/

Make the Air Thick Dance Performance, July 30-August 1, 2010

Please join us for our first-ever full-length dance performance, staged right in the gallery!

We are thrilled to work with Choreographer/Dancer Danielle Ross to present Make the Air Thick, a series of vignettes exploring relationships, need, and “our shared understanding of what we need to feel full”. The piece has been created specifically for our space and is set to live musical performance- not to be missed!

Seating is limited, so consider buying your tickets ahead of time on-line or making a reservation.

Details, performers and ticket purchases can all be found at http://launchpadgallery.org/dance/

Make the Air Thick Make the air thick

Launch Pad is closed today, Saturday, April 24th

Sorry for the inconvenience.
We will be open again on Wednesday, April 24th for normal gallery hours.

As always, feel free to

call or email us to set up an appointment.

Have a gorgeous day!

Upcoming- New Work by Camaroonian artist Franklin Ghong Kwa

FamilyJoin us for our next First Friday opening on April 2nd, 2010.

Kwa will be debuting 2 new bodies of work about family and community life in his first show with Launch Pad, and he’s bringing in some of his talented friends to share music with you at the opening.

Read more about the show HERE

Launch Pad is Closed for New Years Day

Please join us Saturday, January 2nd for our normal business hours, 12pm-4pm.

Happy New Year!

Current submissons to Light Sensitive Materials

The Submission deadline has come and gone for our first juried show!
Selections will be announced Friday, November 27 in the evening- check back for results, and peruse all the wonderful work they’ve had to choose from below:

(note- some submissions aren’t publicly viewable to non-group members- join the Flickr group to see them all)

Click on the little expand box in the lower right hand portion of the screen for a full-screen view

FAMILY ARTISTS!! Visit the resource page if you have questions….

That’s all I wanted to say!

Jeremy Okai Davis’ Show reviewed in the Willamette Week! Click here to read!!

October group show is FULL! Click here for information about the show

Jolyn Fry artist talk and final day to see the show extended hours- June 28, 1pm


Artist Talk

Sunday June 28 at 1pm
Free! Please come!


Also, we will be open extended hours from 1-5pm- don’t miss your chance to see this incredible show!

First Friday- June 5th!! Paintings by Jolyn Fry and Ritchie Young (of Loch Lomond)

Please Come!
More information about the show HERE
Emailable Web invite

“Well Finished” reviewed by DK Row in The Oregonian

Thanks to DK Row for making it out to the gallery and giving us a nice review.

Read it here: http://www.oregonlive.com/art/index.ssf/2009/05/review_dinh_q_le_at_elizabeth.html

Hire Gallery Director Ben Pink…

Hey All,

I’m looking for two things currently: 1) decently paid, emotionally non-destructive & legal part-time work & 2) a benefactor to pitch in money to help Launch Pad stay afloat.

If any of you can offer either of these things or leads, please please do so.

Thanks!

benpink@launchpadgallery.org

Ben Pink Interview on Art Focus: KBOO 90.7 FM

Tune in and listen to Launch Pad director Ben Pink this Tuesday, March 3rd at 11:30am on Art Focus.

Curator and artist Eva Lake will undoubtedly uncover some interesting details about the Love Show, Launch Pad and who knows what else….

Listen to the interview HERE

Love Show Photo’s….

I’ll be posting Love Show Photo Links here– send me an email at loveshow4@launchpadgallery.org with a link to your love show photo’s online and I’ll add it to the list:


Jeremy Okai Davis on flickr


Richard Schemmerer on Pdx Art


Windy Wahlke on flickr

The 4th annual Portland Love show is NOT at Launch Pad!

It’s at Olympic Mills!

Read more HERE!

web poster vertical

Love Show 2009 Artists- Please Read!

If your name is listed on our site here and you haven’t gotten an email from us, CHECK YOUR JUNKMAIL/SPAM FOLDER.

You can find all of the details about the show that you need at http://launchpadgallery.org/loveshow4-resources Please read thought the entire document!

Email loveshow4@launchpadgallery.org with questions

The Love show is CLOSED!! For REAL this time.

Coming in at 266 280 people (!), the Love show is now closed. I’m sorry if you missed it, but really, you had nearly a year to sign-up!

Please send an email to loveshow4@launchpadgallery.org to volunteer and we will happily include you.

Thanks, and get EXCITED! Love Show 09 is going to ROCK!!!

(Read about this years show HERE)
web poster vertical

THE GALLERY WILL BE CLOSED TODAY, WEDNESDAY DEC. 17 DUE TO BAD WEATHER

Our volunteer commutes in to town and it’s too lousy for her to come in for just three hours. That pretty much says it all. Come back on Thursday!

Love, benpink (currently in NYC)

PRETTY GIRL HOLIDAY SALE!!! Nov. 21-22 only! Not to be Missed!

Fantastic opportunity to get your shopping done early and locally! Now in it’s tenth year, the vendors in the Pretty Girl Holiday sale have been hand picked by the Egg’s own Kirsten Moore (aka piperewan designs- you’ve seen her beautiful hand-made silk flowers and corsets at the top of the stairs)

Featuring locally produced handmade clothes, jewelry, glass, art, ceramics, felt, crochet, knitting, yarn, hats, faux fur, metal, paper, bath and body, elixirs, perfume, collage, soap, screen printing, lamps, purses, paintings, handbags, amigurumi, home decor, pillows, buttons, flowers, cards, gifts.

Click for a complete vendor list and more information!
untitled-1.jpg

Mark Your Calendars


Artists’ Reception/Sale

Friday November 21st, 6pm-9pm

Sale
Saturday November 22nd, 11am-5pm

THE EGG Art Collective (Launch Pad)
534 SE Oak street
(at grand & 6th)
Portland, Oregon.

Dreams Show information for artists

If you are an artist in the show but haven’t gotten the recent emails about the dreams show, or you’ve accidentally deleted them, please read these important messages on the group archive here

ARTWORK PICK UP DATES/TIMES
Saturday-Monday, November 1-3, 12-6pm

TEA PARTY/CLOSING RECEPTION, Sunday August 31st

Sunday, August 31st, 4:30pm-6:30pm

We will be having our semi-regular tea party in the gallery with Artist Molly Jochem providing the snacks and beverages- it’s up to you to provide the scintillating conversation. As always, this event is FREE AND ALL-AGES

Artist Jennifer Gleach will be present to talk about her work and available to help decode some of the stories in her fabric collage installation, “ARE YOU STILL IN THE SAME PLACE?”

***PUBLIC ART OPPORTUNITY, Gresham, Oregon– DEADLINE: Wednesday, September 17, 2008***

***PUBLIC ART OPPORTUNITY, Gresham, Oregon***

CENTER FOR THE ARTS , GRESHAM, OREGON

DESCRIPTION
The Regional Arts & Culture Council in Portland, Oregon, invites artists/teams residing in the United States to submit qualifications to create multiple freestanding sculptures for the new Center for the Arts Community Plaza in Gresham, Oregon.

ELIGIBILITY: Artists/teams residing in the United States.

PROJECT BUDGET: The art budget is $175,000 including all related costs for design, fabrication and installation.

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS: Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Project Overview

Gresham, Oregon, has grown from a sleepy farming and lumber village founded in 1905 to Oregon’s fourth largest city. With record population growth in the past decade, Gresham has outgrown the shadow of Portland and is evolving from a commuter town to a bustling, multicultural community seeking a distinct identity of its own. “Let’s make Gresham a destination for the arts in the 21st century. The Center for the Arts can be the nucleus around which the arts can foster livability for generations to come…a showplace for learning, performing and sharing the joy the arts bring to all of us.”
– Charles Becker, Former Mayor, City of Gresham

The long term goal for the Gresham Center for the Arts is for it to encompass four distinct elements: (1) the Plaza which is the focus of the first phase of the project and will be flanked by large open lawn areas until the buildings are constructed over the next 3 to 10 years; (2) an Events Center, a multi-purpose building with a first-floor conference center/community meeting place and second-floor black box theater space; (3) a Proscenium Theater for community performing arts events as well as national touring acts such as Broadway shows, comedy, music, magic and dance; (4) the Festival Street on NE 3rd Street, which runs along the north edge of the site, and will be redesigned to allow the plaza to flow out into the right-of-way. The plaza will be under construction in September 2008 with a completion date of August 2009.

The Art Committee is seeking one artist/team to create multiple artworks for the north end of the plaza that are inventive and innovative interpretations of the arts. Artists who work in any durable sculpture media will be considered. Power, water and drainage will be provided to the location of the art. The use of these utilities is at the discretion of the selected artist and should not be viewed as an expectation or requirement.

How to Apply

All materials must be submitted online, via CaFÉ™. For complete details, download the Call for Artist s from www.racc.org or go to www.callforentry.org, register a username and password, navigate to “Apply to Calls” and search for “Gresham Center for the Arts: Portland, Oregon.”

Additional Information

If you have questions or need any additional information please contact:

Peggy Kendellen
Public Art Manager
Regional Arts & Culture Council
108 NW 9th, Suite 300
Portland, OR 97209
503.823.4196
pkendellen@racc.org
www.racc.org

Studio Space available- CHEAP! Tenants needed by August 1st

Hey all,

I’ve had many requests for studio space over the past three years, and never been able to help out- we still have no space at the gallery, but I have a dear artist friend who will be renting out spaces in a warehouse downtown for between $100 and $125 per month. The building is right near the Everett station loft galleries and major transportation access, and the current tenants are really great. Please email via the contact page with a little bit about yourself and I will forward the data on to her.

Cheers!

Paintings by JAIK FAULK at Launch Pad: Opening Friday, April 4th, 6pm-12am

Jaik Faulk webcard

Free! All Ages!! Open to the public!!!

LIVE MUSIC AT 9:30PM…. Be there to support the artist and check out his band: the Black Globes

Who say this about their music:
“Hard driving drums, wicked bass hooks and out of control angular guitar. The black globes play experimental garage rock that Thurston Moore would find despicable. Sometimes furious at other times echo-y and drifting, they may well be a fire hazard in any space going vessel.”

MEET THE ARTIST: David Stein closing reception/TRUNK SALE: Sunday March 30, 11am-3pm

Feed your inner art patron/hedonist with a Post-Easter shopping extravaganza! Celebrate the end of Winter by looking at cool art, meeting people, and buying awesome handmade stuff at the Egg… bring a friend and an open heart, you will not be disappointed.

Launch Pad Gallery (in the Egg)
TRUNK SALE/CLOSING EVENT
SUNDAY March 30th

11am-3pm
534 SE Oak st
ALL AGES! Free Coffee!!

Fashions by
Faith Jennings Designs
Piper Ewan

Art by
Brent Wear
(Stay Tuned for a much anticipated solo show at Launch Pad this May)

Meet artist David Stein between 2 – 3pm and have a last look at Lord Have Mercy
Remember, the art lives on, but the Murals are only temporary…

Installation View

Launch Pad Gallery featured in the Oregonian… Woo HOO!

Hey!

We were featured on the front page of the Living section of the Oregonian today, along with the 100th Monkey Studios and Working Artists LLC, and I been getting calls all day as a result; exposure, yeah!!

Read the article here: “Making art, creating community” by Rachel Neugarten

If you read the article and you are intrigued, please come on down for our openings- you are truly welcome here!

For whatever reason, they only listed our address and phone number, so if you are looking for either of the other fine organizations listed in the article, here’s their data:

100th Monkey Studios
110 SE 16th Ave
Portland, OR 97214
(503) 232-3457

Working Artists LLC
2211 NW Front Avenue, Suite 102
Portland OR 97209
503.445.1268

(Thanks, Rachel!)

P.S.
a few details that need clarification:

- Ben Pink lives and has lived in NE Portland for the past 8 years, in the so-called Alberta Arts district, not in SE Portland- the GALLERY is in SE Portland. Gotta be true to my neighborhood, you know?

- Launch Pad’s main focus is on presenting solo shows 8 months out the year.While we are very proud of and well-known for our over-the-top open-call group shows, we only do two of them a year, with two invitational group shows usually co-curated with another artist or group.