Back in the Swing with Down + Out!

New Show Opens This Week

23 Sandy Gallery is pleased to host a traveling exhibition organized by wall space gallery in Seattle and juried by Carol McCusker, Curator of Photography at the Museum of Photographic Arts in San Diego, California. New Directions 2010, Down + Out seeks to challenge our notions of our visual landscape. Curated from over 1,000 submitted images, and a pool of 200 talented artists, the field has been narrowed to a select group of images to showcase imaginative vertical and horizontal perspectives.

The idea behind Down + Out brings to mind a quote from art historian, Albert Boime, who described a “magisterial gaze” that gave early Americans, through painting and printmaking, a view at one with God, hence, manifest destiny. The idea of distance, of visual space, may simply be the romance of the road, or curiosity about what lies just out of sight—an American impulse from early pioneers to Jack Kerouac.

Down + Out features 42 photographers including four from Portland: Chris Bennett, Heidi Bertman, Jeffrey Krolick and Duc Ly. The show will also feature a strong international contingent, including artists from Mexico, England, Israel and Argentina.

One artist to watch in this show is Alejandro Cartagena. This Mexican photographer, whose work documenting suburban sprawl near Mexico City, was one of my favorites at last year's Photolucida portfolio review event. He also is a finalist for the book prize for this year's Critical Mass competition. Here's an artist who will be fun to watch as his career takes off!

Click here to preview a full online catalog for Down + Out.

Credit line for attached image: Crossings – Suzhou Alley No. 5 © Andrew Binkley

William Stafford

Birthday Celebrations Continue


Every January, people around Oregon and the world gather for commemorative readings to celebrate the former Oregon poet laureate William Stafford's birthday. Events continue through the end of January in places like Portland, Bend, Santa Barbara, New York and even as far away as Glasgow, Scotland. Find complete event information at Stafford's web site here. One very promising event in Portland tomorrow evening features gallery friend Kirsten Rian at 7:00 p.m. at PSU.

William Stafford is a perennially inspiring poet for book artists everywhere. To celebrate his birthday, 23 Sandy has created our first Curated Collection, a slide show on our web site featuring artist books and broadsides from gallery inventory that feature the words of the beloved poet—plus a couple from his equally talented son, Kim Stafford.

Click here to view a slide show of the William Stafford works that we carry in the gallery.

And, while we have you, 23 Sandy is still closed for winter break, reopening a week from today with Down + Out, a juried show of contemporary photography. If you'd like to purchase any of the Stafford works just give us a jingle (contact info here). We're around throughout the next week and would be happy to help. Thanks for your patience during our break from the gallery and from cyberspace.

Image credit: A Ritual to Read to Each Other. Poetry by William Stafford. Limited edition artist book by Susan Lowdermilk.

Weekend Update

One Big First Weekend!



Whew. It is going to be a very busy weekend! This month’s First Weekend will be a special one. First off, First Thursday and First Friday are really on the second week of January due to the New Year’s Holiday.

First Thursday, January 7
Now that 23 Sandy is a member of PADA we are open late for First Thursday each month. We are thrilled to see so many intrepid gallery goers visit the gallery on such a busy night. Stop by on your way to the Pearl. We’ll be open until 8:00 p.m.

First Friday, January 8
This month’s First Friday will be a big one! Join us tomorrow night from 5-8:00 p.m. for a special closing reception and awards ceremony for The Assignment. Many of the artists featured in this exhibition will be in Portland that weekend to attend the College Book Arts Association annual meeting. They will make their way to 23 Sandy on Friday evening to celebrate the show and honor the best of the best with special awards. One book will win the Purchase Prize Award. That book will be purchased by the gallery and donated to the John Wilson Special Collections room at the Multnomah County Library. Several other awards will be given as well. So, stop by for the festivities.

The Last Saturday
This Saturday, the 9th is also the last day to catch The Assignment. Be sure to see it before the gallery closes for the rest of the month. We will re-open on Thursday February 4th with a very exciting photography show called Down + Out.

Remember, you can view a complete online catalog for The Assignment here.

Happy gallery going!

Image Credit: After Cleo, 5 to 7 by Portland artist Poppy Dully

Artist Spotlight

Shu-Ju Wang

23 Sandy is pleased to announce that we are now carrying artist books and paintings by Portland artist, Shu-Ju Wang. This multi-talented, and prolific talent just happens to be one of the very first book artists that we met upon moving to town and you might remember her solo show in the gallery last year.

Known as well for her paintings as for her artist books, Shu-Ju has a unique painting style that is narrative and sweet and complex all at the same time. Her brilliant colors using gouache and acrylic paints leap off the paper and entrance you with their detail.

Shu-Ju tells us, "I'm inspired and influenced by Persian and Mughal miniatures, medieval art, illuminated manuscripts, Islamic art, East and Central Asian art, and also the Abstract Expressionists. I tend to work with a flat or very compressed perspective..."

You can preview her paintings here, but truly, you’ll enjoy even them more if you stop by the gallery and take a look in person.

Shu-Ju, who was born in Taiwan, creates artist books that almost always involve Gocco printing, which is a type of screen printing. She is considered on of the country’s foremost experts on Gocco printing and previously published a magazine on Gocco called Pudding. A regular workshop teacher in Portland, her artist books are widely collected in libraries and museum collections across the country.

Some of her most exciting recent work has been with senior citizens. Shu-Ju received a 2008 Regional Arts and Culture Council Grant to work one-on-one with four seniors suffering from various stages and forms of memory loss. She met with each senior over a period of several months. Together, they painted or editioned suites of Gocco prints. Then based on the work they did together, back in my studio, Shu-Ju designed and editioned a book. Each senior and her family received 7 copies of their book, and Shu-Ju retained 13 of each title. When the project, as it was defined, came to an end, she decided to start Relay Replay Press, dedicated to working with seniors with dementia to create artist's books that illuminate the creative lives of the elderly.

Preview Shu-Ju’s artist books in inventory here.

Workshop Announcement

Flag Books: Interplay of Image and Text with Karen Hanmer
Sunday, March 7, 2010, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

23 Sandy is pleased to announce a flag book workshop with Chicago book artist Karen Hanmer. Karen will have a show in the gallery in March and while she is here we thought we should have her show us this wildly popular, kinetic book binding structure that was invented by Hedi Kyle. This is going to be a fun one, please join us!

Complete information about this workshop and registration can be found here.

Registration Deadline: February 1, 2010

New Directions: Down + Out Jury Results

Congratulations Are In Order!

23 Sandy will very excited to host New Directions: Down + Out, the annual juried photography show from wall space gallery in Seattle. This exciting show will hang here at 23 Sandy in February following it's Seattle premier in January. This year's juror, Carol McCusker, Curator of Photography at the Museum of Photographic Arts (MoPA) in San Diego, was seeking photographs presenting two points of view: looking down from a high vantage point, and looking out to a vanishing horizon.

Congratulations to the 42 photographers who were accepted into the show including four from Portland: Chris Bennett, Heidi Bertman, Jeffrey Krolick and Duc Ly. The show will also feature a strong international contingent, including artists from Mexico, England, Israel and Argentina.

Check out the entire roster of artists and a few more images here at wall space's blog.

Above image: © Charles Blackburn (Seattle, WA)

A View from Santa's Sleigh

Ho Ho Ho and Merry Christmas!

We would like to wish you a Merry Christmas and share a view only seen by Santa this time of year. North IV (Noon), a color photograph by artist Jennifer Schlessinger, is one of the featured images for our February show New Directions: Down and Out.

New Directions, the annual juried photography show at wall space gallery in Seattle, seeks to discover new talent in the world of photography. 23 Sandy is very pleased to host the fourth annual New Directions in February after its Seattle premier. This year's juror is Carol McCusker, PhD, Curator of Photography at the Museum of Photographic Arts (MoPA) in San Diego. The photographs will present two points of view: looking down from a high vantage point, and looking out to a vanishing horizon.

New Directions: Down and Out will be our first exhibit of the new year, scheduled for February 4-27, 2010. Be sure to check back for more information on this upcoming exhibit. And, just like last year the gallery will be closed for winter break from January 10th through February 3rd.

Happy Holidays!

Credit line for attached image: North IV (Noon)©Jennifer Schlessinger

Holiday Schedule

Holiday Hours

23 Sandy Gallery will be open on December 24 for last minute shopping or a relaxing browse before the big day! We will also be open our regular hours on New Years Eve. The Gallery will be closed on December 25, 2009 and January 1, 2010.

Please also note that January's First Thursday and Friday will be held on Second Thursday and Friday due to the holiday. 23 Sandy will feature a closing reception and awards ceremony for our current exhibit, The Assignment, on Friday, January 8 from 5:00-8:00 p.m. Please join us for the festivities. We are also open late on Thursday, January 7.

Be on the lookout for info on our upcoming February exhibit, New Directions: Down and Out.

T-BAG Tonight!

T-BAG (Thursday Book Arts Gathering) is a group of Portland-area book artists, who meet the third Thursday of each month. It's an opportunity to meet other book artists, see their studios and their work. Everyone is invited to join us for this casual monthly event. Feel free to bring some of your own recent work (completed or in progress), to share with the group as this is also a good opportunity to show off and get valuable feedback. There are no minutes, agendas or dues, just great company and art. All who work with books or in the book arts are invited.

This month 23 Sandy is hosting the group in the gallery. We’ll meet at 6:30 pm on Thursday, December 17, 2009. (We will get back to our usual 7:00 pm start time in January!) The current exhibit is The Assignment, a juried show organized in conjunction with the College Book Art Association (CBAA). It’s a chance not only to see some great books, but also to feed your brain with the assignments, parameters and jumping-off places that inspired them. We also want to see what you've been up to, so please bring your own work and ideas to share with the group.23 Sandy Gallery is at 623 NE 23^rd Ave, three doors north of Sandy Boulevard. More info and a map to the gallery here.

To stay informed of T-BAG and other book arts events in the Pacific Northwest you should join the NWBookArtsList at: www.groups.yahoo.com/group/NWBookArtsList.

Remember, T-BAG meetings and events are only announced on the NWBookArtsList. No other emails or invitations are sent out. So, if you want to join us, join the list! T-BAG is sponsored by the NW chapter of the Guild of Bookworkers.

Guild of Bookworkers National Exhibit in Seattle

Be Sure to Visit the Marking Time Exhibition

The current Guild of Book Workers (GBW) national exhibit, Marking Time, opened in Minneapolis this May, and is currently touring the country. For those of you who have been patiently waiting for it to arrive here in the Pacific Northwest, your wait is over! The exhibit has finally opened at the Suzzallo/Allen Library at the University of Washington, in Seattle. Marking Time will be on display through February 19, 2010.

The books will be displayed in three separate locations within the Suzzallo/Allen Library. Through January 6, only two parts of the exhibition will be open. Between January 6 and February 19, all three parts of the exhibition will be on display. Please note that the Special Collections Lobby exhibition space has shorter hours than the Suzzallo/Allen Library and is not open on Saturdays. Be sure to check the exact hours and exhibition schedule by clicking here. If you’re not familiar with the University of Washington campus, the Library website provides a map and other information.

Several of our favorite gallery artists are featured in the Marking Time exhibit. Click here to see their work in the show.

You can also click on the names below to see their work that we carry in the gallery. Or better yet, stop by the gallery and take a look.

Alicia Bailey
Susan Collard
Karen Hanmer
Andrew Huot
Sue Huggins Leopard
Sarah Smith (currently in The Assignment)
Jessica Spring
Shu-Ju Wang

Congratulations to all of our local and gallery artists who are featured in this very important exhibition.

Image credit: A Short Course in Recollection by our very own Sue Collard.