The opening reception for the 10th Northwest Biennial was a success. Despite the changing inclement weather over the past week (lots of snow/sleet) the museum staff managed to pull off a rather sharply installed exhibition chock-full of thought-provoking work. I traveled north with three wonderful friends to experience my first-ever museum presentation in the region since I relocated here a decade ago. It was warming to hear TAM Director Stephanie A. Stebich note "Many of us came from places all over the globe, but we got to the Northwest as fast as we could".
It was great to meet some of my fellow exhibitors or catch up with colleagues (Benjamin Love, Laura Hughes, Wendy Given, Kirk Lybecker, Jeff Jahn, Matt McCormick, Henry Tsang, Allison Hyde and Kelly Neidig). Works that resonated with me most were those by Susie Lee, Joshua Zirschky and Wendy Given (depth of subject/time) - though there was certainly a broadly appealing cross-section broken into sub themes of sorts as well. I'd like more time with works by Dana Claxton, Anna Gray + Ryan Wilson Paulsen, Paul Pauper, Paul Rucker and Reza Safavi which boasts well for the more conceptual basis for the work included.
The biennial as a whole is far from a quick read of what's going on in the region. In fact, it asks more questions of the audience than the usual group show affair. The catalogue is yet forthcoming and I really appreciated Mr. Hushka's welcoming remarks -- we are all looking forward to his additional essay/materials as they arrive. I felt that my work was hung just so, very focal, with just the right amount of white punctuation and balance between Jahn's almost impossible green mountainous and pointy wall collar and Lybecker's precise depiction of an abandoned industrial space. In this particular grouping on view at the museum, there are six never before seen images, and four that have been shown (2010-11). I am mostly honored to have been selected for this particular biennial (it's #10 after all - my number) as it focused on (sense of) place as one of its specific central mantras - and that, of course, drives this current work. So, there..and there too!
