First Thursday Opening Reception: March 7, 5-8pm
Panel Discussion: March 8, 5-7pm — Movers, Shakers & Founders: Original Artists Who Made Blackfish Blackfish
Blackfish as a pioneering gallery in the Pearl along with one of the developers whose vision brought it all to life.
Artists Talk with Ruri and Jana Demartini: March 17, 2pm
MARCH 6-30 • MAIN GALLERY
Looking Back
A Blackfish Founders Group Show
Since 1979, our artist owned and operated gallery has been a hub of the Pearl District art community. The gallery has been home to dozens of artists working in a wide variety of genres, mediums, materials and motifs, Looking Back offers an opportunity to celebrate the wide-ranging work of some of Blackfish Gallery’s founding members including Barbara Black, Steve Soihl, Kanetaka Ikeda, and Paul Missal.
A) Kanetaka Ikeda — Parts of Cosmic Tree: Seeds #3, 2020, mixed media assemblage, 33" x 38" x 23"
B) Paul Missal — Raven Speaks, 2023, charcoal, graphite, acrylic on paper, 19" x 24"
C) Robert R. Dozono — War is Not the Answer, oil, garbage/canvas, 60" x 96" x 4"
D) William Moore — Cerveteri, 2001, copper, bronze, purple heart, dendritic common opal, 11" x 7" x 4.25"
E) Judy Cooke — Zoot, 2021, oil, pencil, wax and aluminum on wood, 28.5" x 19.5" x 1"
(Courtesy of the Artist and Elizabeth Leach Gallery)
F) Christy Wyckoff — Night Oak, 1997, colored pencil on slate roofing tile, 11.5" x 32.75"
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GALLERY 2
The Unseen
— Ruri —
Ruri — All Flowing Into the Ocean, Anagama fired clay, La Borne local clay, Yakishime yohen, 5" x 12" x 11.5"
In The Unseen, we are lead through what Ruri calls “soul scenery” to a place where we can experience the connection between our material selves and less tangible truths. Her characteristically rock-ribbed soft slab clay sculptures and vessels are coiled, pinched, combined with wood, ink, and washi to realize unseen forms—forms that may bring us peace. Rooted in inspiration drawn from her mother's passing, The Unseen communicates a familiar story in a novel language that resonates with us all.
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JAMES HIBBARD GALLERY
Printmaking through the Years
— Jana Demartini —
Jana Demartini — Precious II, color lithograph, 21.25" x 15"
Artist Jana Demartini has always viewed drawing as her main medium for creating images. Her body of work speaks to her fluidity with the direct mark-making that drawing affords. However, printmaking captured her attention early in her artistic career. Mentored by James Hibbard at PSU, Demartini has always explored the artistic opportunities that printmaking affords. This show demonstrates the poignant results of this decades-long journey of making prints.
Ruri
Jana Demartini
Blackfishers Doing Cool Stuff
See what Blackfish Artists are involved with outside the gallery this month.