Fontanelle Gallery Circa 2009


 

 Fontanelle Gallery offered many outstanding shows from 2008 -2010 to Portland Oregon residents and visitors alike.
This used to be their website.
Content is mostly from the site's 2009 archived pages.

The Gallery closed in 2010.

205 SW PINE STREET
PORTLAND OR 97204
mail@fontnanellegallery.com
503.274.7668.
OPEN HOURS WED - SAT 12-6

 



 

Fontanelle Gallery: Closing!



Juliana Bright's "Here Mama, Here It Is"

Matt Stangel | Jan 15, 2010

After a year and a half in business, Fontanelle Gallery will close at the end of the month. The press release announcing Fontanelle's closure was admittedly sad, though positive overall, emphasizing a capital of success built over the course of the gallery's run.

Yesterday afternoon I stopped by Fontanelle and talked to Jess Fogel, co-owner and director of the gallery. She maintained the positivity of her press release, but admitted that the weakened economy "played a big part" in the closing— adding that her and co-owner Leslie Miller are parting on good terms, both looking forward to future projects. Fogel wasn't ready to disclose the specifics of her future plans at the time of our chat.

The upside?— there's still art on the walls, if only for a few more weeks. Fontanelle's current exhibit, Our Songs of Experience, features works on paper by Juliana Bright. Not only do Bright's watercolors capture the spirit of Fontanelle (which often hosted illustrative works), but they also make an unexpected literary reference, paying homage to William Blake's Songs of Experience. This Blake reference does a lot to inform Bright's stylistic choices; the artist appears to draw inspiration from the illustrations accompanying Blake's poems.

Additional silver lining— Fontanelle's existence is well documented in Fontanelle: Year One, a book containing images of the art displayed during the gallery's first year in business (including essays by the featured artists).

Fontanelle (205 SW Pine Street) will host a closing party on the 22nd, from 7-9 pm.

 

 

What a disappointment to learn that the gallery was closing. I always would drop in to see what they were exhibiting whenever I was in Portland seeing clients for the progressive IT company I work for on the East coast. The most memorable exhibit I can remember was "Nothing". To this day I can recall that experience. The art was amazing - I especially like the sculpture entitled "The experience of nothing begins here..." A group of strangers spontaneously began discussing the idea of nothing, and the philosophic context of scholarly arguments related to nothing. Reminds me of this post by Rev Sale. That conversation had an impact on me because it was so enjoyable even though it was about nothing. Several years ago, my client took me to an opening at the Fontanelle. And ever since that time I would visit the gallery when I was in town. Their closing forced me to expand my gallery viewing which has been rewarding.



Some Archived POSTS 2008-2009

August 2008 - The Grand Opening!

We are thrilled to be settling into our brand new digs and to announce the grand opening of Fontanelle Gallery in donwtown Portland Or! You are invited to juin us for cupcakes and champagne to kick off our first exhibition All I Can Do is Dream

September 2008 - We are officially open! Yay!

The opening Party All I Can Do is Dream was totally awesome!
Friends and lovers and hometown heroes showed up to give us hugs and high fives. We had 200+ people come through, as well as five bouquets flowers, 148 cupcakes, and 15 bottles of champagne. You guys are rad!

October 2008 - Parlour Shop!

We are hard at work searching the world over to find the creme for our Parlour Shop!Expect to see inky octopus pillows from Wonder Thunder of Seattle, Knitted animal brooches from Sarah McNeil of Melbourne, spectacular prints from Julia Pott of London, and crazy sexy cooldrawings from Cat Lauigan of Brooklyn in the very near future!

December 21, 2008 - Fontanelle is closed for the holidays!

We have returned to the homeland for friends and family and fun!
Please join us when we reopen in 2009 with an Oregon Painting Society redux and special new performance on January 8th!
Posted by Fontanelle

December 11, 2008 - NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS

Jess is still in Berlin! She just went to the Bongout showroom this evening for the opening of Alles Muss Raus, a rad group show! If you have any special Berlin gems of knowledge, please pass them along!

Online Parlour
The Parlour is online! Get cozy! Support awesome artists and artist-run spaces! Keep the community alive with your love and support!

Oregon Painting Society
Performing at Rotture this Friday, December 12th 9pm!
315 SE 3rd Avenue, Portland, Oregon!
http://www.rotture.com

Prints for PICA
We are delighted for their sixth year printmaking marathon and benefit art sale. PICA has invited a tons of Fontanelle's friends and family to participate in the art making, including Leslie! Oh my! The benefit sale takes place Sat., Dec 13th 6-9pm. Check out PICA's website for more details.
http://www.pica.org/programs/detail.aspx?eventid=456

Posted by Fontanelle

Friday, January 30, 2009

October 31, 2008 - Daniel Long in the Oregonian

We were psyched to read Brian Libby's great review of Daniel's show in today's Arts and Entertainment section of the Oregonian! I Heard It Through The Grapevine has been such a fun exhibition and we hope that you'll have the chance to come see it before it comes down!

Saturday, January 31, 2009

January 6th, 2009 - 2009 Calendars are here!


Nicole J. Georges' Queer Animal Kingdom calendaris as adorable as it is enlightening. Rejoice in the happiness of companionship and love as you flip through the super sweet drawings that fill each page along with reminders for each of your favorite holidays. A true bargain at only $9 each, you might even want to frame the drawings at the end of the year!

Claire Nereim takes a different approach to the calendar year! She presents us with the Seasonal Fruits of California! One ripening fruit for each month of the year! This isn't a traditional calendar with dates that will change from year to year, but instead is a lovely full-color silkscreen print that you will enjoy for years to come! $45 each.

Posted by Fontanelle

 



 

 

The Parlour Shop is a division of Fontanelle Gallery, a cozy gallery space located in downtown Portland, OR.

Fontanelle collaborates with artists who share our aesthetic sensibilities and lifestyle, steeped in DIY culture and an appreciation for history. Our gallery program focuses on works on paper, installation, sculpture, and artworks that utilize traditional craft techniques but yield a modern result.

The Parlour Shop is our in-house boutique, offering prints, editions, publications, and original artwork by artists from Portland as well as hand selected pieces from around the world.

JANUARY OPEN HOURS:
BY APPOINTMENT OR BY CHANCE
Email us if you want to stop in
mail@fontanellegallery.com

 



OUR SONGS OF EXPERIENCE
Julianna Bright
December 3rd, 2009 - January 30th, 2010

Preview Wednesday, December 2nd, 6-8pm
Opening reception Thursday, December 5rd, 6-9pm
With special musical performance by the Golden Bears 7:30pm

Fontanelle Gallery is pleased to present Our Songs of Experience, an exhibition featuring new work in watercolor and ink by Portland-based artist Julianna Bright.

Julianna's lively watercolor and ink drawings feature a delicate allegorical narrative, punctuated with mothers, daughters, rabbits, and specters of death. Bringing to mind works by William Blake and Henry Darger, Bright investigates her own philosophies through a world of fables where children hold the key to unlocking emotions of hunger, vigor and truth.

Julianna will perform with her band The Golden Bears on opening night, Thursday, December 3rd at 7:30pm. The band will be playing songs from the new, yet to be released album, 'Our Songs of Experience' whose lyrical content was developed alongside the paintings for this show. Local clothing designer Jess Beebe will costume the band for the performance.

Julianna Bright was born in Los Angeles, CA and spent many years in Orange County and the Bay Area where she received a Bachelor of Arts from UC Berkeley. In 1995, she relocated to Portland, OR, where she currently lives and works. She has previously exhibited at galleries such as Charmingwall in New York, Needles & Pens in San Francisco, Motel Gallery in Portland, and Tinlark Gallery in Hollywood, CA.

Our Songs of Experience will be on view at Fontanelle Gallery, 205 SW Pine Street (between 2nd and 3rd Avenue) December 2, 2009 - January 30, 2010. Please contact the gallery for more information.

 



Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Queer Gaze

Today, Tuesday, November 17th, from 11:30am - noon PST, I will join the illustrious Eva Lake on KBOO's ART FOCUS program. We will be discussing the exhibition itself, touching on the history of feminist art and queer culture, as well as a more in depth discussion of several of the pieces in the show. You can tune in, here in Portland on 90.7fm or stream it live online http://www.kboo.org/.

Tomorrow, Wednesday, November 18th, from noon - 1:00pm PST, Lorenzo Triburgo, Megan Holmes, and I will join Chris Haberman for a live broadcast webTV interview on PDX ART SCENE. We will be talking about Fontanelle and Queer Gaze. Lorenzo and Megan will each have a chance to talk about their works in the show. http://www.pdxartscene.com/index.php/artscene-tv/art-talk


Lastly, please join us this Thursday, November 19th, from 8pm - 10pm at Fontanelle for another look at Queer Gaze. We're hosting a party, with live musical performances by Play/Start and Boy Joy.

The exhibition will be on view for a couple more weeks. If you are not here in Portland, fear not, for a virtual peek at the exhibition is available on our website

Preview Wednesday:
November 4th, 6-8pm
Opening reception:
Thursday, November 5th, 6-9pm

Musical performances Thursday:
November 19th, 8pm

The Fontanelle Gallery press release reads:

“Fontanelle Gallery is pleased to present Queer Gaze, a group photography exhibition featuring images of queer people by queer photographers. This show offers a new examination and response to theories of “male gaze”, as originally described by Laura Mulvey as the cinematic depiction of voyeurism and objectification of a female by a heterosexual male viewer. Queer Gaze explores the gaze from woman to woman or queer to queer, as well as the way that many photographers use their own visage or that of their friends to subvert traditional expectations of portraiture.

The act of taking ownership of one’s own identity and personal beliefs and how these beliefs are enacted in the public realm is a political act that helps shape modern feminism. Here we present a collection of perspectives and experiences that will be at once informative and titillating, while also empowering.

Feminist photographers exploring the theory of male gaze have often turned the camera on themselves, demanding that viewers take notice of their role of dominance in how they are presented and viewed. By utilizing elements of masquerade, role-playing and societal commentary as devices to investigate identity through self-portraiture, many photographers are able to explore their own personal politics. Clearly, the issue of self-representation is not restricted to literal self-portraiture. The issue is not what one looks like, but how and by whom one is represented.”

 

 



 

GOOD HERB
New work by Jess Hirsch
October 1st-31st, 2009

Fontanelle Gallery is pleased to present Good Herb, an exhibition featuring new drawings and installation by Portland artist Jess Hirsch.

Hirsch crafts delicately rendered pencil drawings of alternative medicine practitioners, healers, shamans, and the herbs that they harvest from the wild for medicinal use. Hirsch's drawings and sculptures serve as a referential library that represents the vivid imagery discovered within the text of her investigative research. The depictions are not intended to romanticize the exotic, nor convey anthropological studies, but rather document the practices that appeal to Hirsch for personal exploration.

Good Herb is a journey into alternative medicine through academic research, experimentation, as well as trial and error. Research has been developed from oral accounts, group meditations, books on Native American medicine and Mexican Curanderismo, YouTube tutorials for preparing herbs, and seeking advice from local practitioners. This project encourages self-education and the many facets of alternative health care available to the public for little or no cost. Health insurance is not required.

Fontanelle will host a special Healing Skillshare Workshop at the gallery on Saturday, October 17th at 2pm.

Jess Hirsch was born in Minnesota and received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Lewis and Clark University in 2007. She has exhibited at Milepost 5, Gallery Homeland, and The Artistry in Portland. She is co-founder of Homeschool, a nomadic art gallery based in Portland, and co-creator of the Portland Healing Project, a healing workshop series and online resource for artists and low-income families to find affordable healthcare through alternative medicine.

 



 

LESBIAN ART SHOW
Azsa West & Mary McAllister
June 4-27, 2009

Fontanelle Gallery presents Lesbian Art Show, a Dada-inspired exhibition that explores lesbian culture and features mixed media collage, drawings, sculpture, and installation, by Azsa West and Mary McAllister.

Azsa West and Mary McAllister cohabitate in majestic Portland, Oregon where they met and fell in love. They belong to a group of talented young comrades who inspire each other through conversation, ambition, and creativity. Their activities are infused with the desire to strive towards a unique and personal definition of being lesbian. West and McAllister are interested in documenting this ethos, from studying its roots as represented in historical literature and photography, to producing and participating in contemporary queer culture.

Lesbian Art Show represents the timeless and chaotic style of Dada, the intimacies of Left Bank lesbians in the 1920s, and the revolutionary spirit of queer ephemera combined with personal experiences from a recent European adventure, lesbian lifestyles, strange habits, the need for order and documentation, large type, and perhaps most importantly, true love. The works on view often utilize textual diagrams to illustrate ideas. Through graphs, maps, exquisite corpse, and Venn diagrams, they deliver their observations and revelations. In addition, there will be an installation constructed collaboratively with Aubree Bernier-Clarke, and finessed with respect for historical representation and compassion for community.

Azsa West attended California College of the Arts and the Pasadena Art Center where she studied art direction, photography and book arts. She is currently an art director at Wieden+Kennedy in Portland and recently had several drawings featured in Girls Like Us Magazine published out of Amsterdam. Mary McAllister studied photography and printmaking at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts. She is one of the co-founders and dj’s of Gaycation, a popular monthly dance party in Portland.

 



 

BIG BEAUTIFUL COLOR
Mark Warren Jacques

February 5-28, 2009

Fontanelle Gallery presents Big Beautiful Color, an exhibition featuring interactive installation, painting, and sculpture by Portland artist Mark Warren Jacques.

Mark Warren Jacques lives within a web of art makers, musicians, skateboarders, and backyard revolutionaries. This close-knit community thrives on representing a sort of whimsy that harnesses the energy of idealism and is rooted in earthy spirituality. Lest you conclude that he lives in a world of naïvete, Jacques will surprise you with his gusto to love, question, and commit himself to the realities of hard work, ambition, and responsibility to his community.

For his exhibition Big Beautiful Color, Jacques will construct an interactive large-scale teepee of cast-off slatboard set atop a colorful platform and against a backdrop of multi-hued streamers. Visitors to the exhibition will be invited to enter the teepee where atmospheric psych jams, recorded by his housemate Blake Anthony Ray Miller, will filter from tape deck to a vintage Alamo amplifier. Within these walls, there is a smooth transition between the bustle of the downtown streets and a more transcendent space where one can leave their cares behind and enter a world of inspired meditation. 

In addition to the installation, fourteen new paintings and sculptures will fill the gallery space. Imagery includes prismatic symbols of nature, metaphysical acculturation, and a celebration of the spiritual universe that connects all of us – from our local collectives to a global community.

At the opening, there will be a peaceful protest enacted by distributing picket signs, hand printed locally by Keeganmeegan Press, each carrying slogans mixing Jacques’ own artistic and political ideals.

Mark Warren Jacques studied art at the Columbus College of Art and Design in Columbus, OH. He is a member of the Together Gallery collective in Portland’s Alberta Arts District and has upcoming solo exhibitions at Rare Device in San Francisco and Little Bird Gallery in Los Angeles.

 



 

ALL SHOWS Past & Present

 

QUEER GAZE
Sarah Baley, Erica Beckman, Tammy Rae Carland, Zackary Drucker & A.L. Steiner , Luke Gilford, Grit Hachmeister, Megan Holmes, Angela Jimenez, Molly Landreth, Amos Mac, Finn Paul, Emily Roysdon, Eric Sellers, Lorenzo Triburgo, and Azsa West.
November 5-28, 2009

GOOD HERB
Jess Hirsch
October 1st - 31st, 2009

REAL LIFE AND OTHER MYTHS
Coral Silverman
September 3rd - 26th, 2009

THE ART OF TOURING
Alissa Anderson (Vetiver), Hannah Mae Blair, Sharon Cheslow, Mia Clarke (Electrelane), Jem Cohen, Erika Spring Forster (Au Revoir Simone), Rebecca Gates, Emma Gaze (Electrelane), Megan Holmes, Andy Moor (The Ex), Tara Jane Oneil, Jean Smith (Mecca Normal).
August 6th - 29th, 2009

MIDORI HIROSE & JOSH ORION KERMIET
Midori Hirose & Josh Orion Kermiet
July 2 - August 1, 2009

LESBIAN ART SHOW.
Azsa West & Mary McAllister
June 4th - 27th, 2009

IF I WEREN'T HERE, THEY WOULD BE
Shawn William Creeden
May 7th - 30th, 2009

A HUNTER'S RETURN TO THE GOOD COUNTRY
Jessie Bean, Amy Chan, Rachel Denny, Jessica Polka, Brieana Ruais, Michael Russem and Wesley Younie.
April 2nd - 30th, 2009

LONG LIVE THE EPHEMERAL
Curated by Ryan Jacob Smith
March 5 - 28, 2009

BIG BEAUTIFUL COLOR
Mark Warren
February 5 - 28, 2009     

OREGON PAINTING SOCIETY
Ana Briseno, Birch Cooper, Liam Drain, Barbara Kinzle, Brenna Murphy, Julia Perry, Molly Pringle, Nate Shapiro, Eliza Sohn, and Jason Traeger.
December 2008 - January 31, 2009

AUTUMN SWEATER
Dana Dart-McLean, Mark Delong, Hollie Dzama, Jess Fogel, Nicole Georges, Jess Hirsch, Denise Kupferschmidt, Jason Overby, Dawn Riddle, Suzanne Sattler, Suzannah Sinclair, and Josh Slater.
November 5-29, 2008

I HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE
Daniel Long
October 1 – November 1, 2008

ALL I CAN DO IS DREAM
Lisa Beyer, Kristie Louderbough, Meg Peterson, and Shanon Schollian
September 4 - October 27, 2008

 

 

FontanelleGallery.com