“James Fredrick Boo Dog Jackson is a Gemini,” reads a painted sign on the left wall of the MK Gallery.
Next to the sign, a painting of an expectant brown dog, with its tongue hanging out and a tennis ball nearby, draws the eyes of art students, teachers and passers-by. But the woman asking them if they want pancakes from inside the gallery may be more distracting.
Amy Steel isn’t just there to serve breakfast-the paintings, along with the two other projects in the gallery, represent her thesis exhibition as part of Portland State’s Masters of Fine Arts program.
Steel’s installation, Good Morning. Nice to Meet You, along with Kate Simmons’ Household Predictions and Fanciful Remedies in the Autzen Gallery, is the first round of seven graduate thesis exhibitions going on this month and next. While MFA thesis openings in the past have seemed more like a casual studio tour than a formal affair, the clean presentation and well-planned process evident in this first round are an indication of the challenging year the MFA students are finishing this spring, and growing competition at the program expands.
Thus far, the exhibitions also illustrate the clear distinction between the work of students in Professor Harrell Fletcher’s new MFA program, which focuses on the concept of social practice that Fletcher uses as a basis for his own work, and MFA students in the traditional studio program.
Physical, lush and exhilarating, Simmons’ exhibit in the Autzen is impeccably finished and clean. The caramelized sugar dripped from the wooden bedstead in “Means for Restoring a Wounded Surface” is static and looks delicious. But no one was doing any eating; you wouldn’t want to disturb its perfectly visual presence.
The work is compelling, and the gallery is silent, which seems more or less appropriate, as a fitting bracket for the long, solitary hours Simmons clearly spent on each piece of art.
In contrast, Steel outfitted her gallery by installing curtain rods and handmade bright-yellow curtains, matching yellow cushioned chairs with shiny metal feet, a table with metal legs and a white cloth, a garbage pail, a mini fridge and paper plates. There to serve breakfast every morning, Steel chats about her art with the people who wander in, all the while working steadily behind her snack cart.
One project is installed on each wall: the dogs of Sewell Crest Park, simple paintings with wallpaper pattern backgrounds that Steel adapted from photographs she took at the dog run, along with matching painted descriptions from the dogs’ owners, occupy one side. “A Penny for Your Thoughts,” a sound recording with accompanying booklet and full-size color drawings from a collaborative project with Gary Wiseman, fills another. And Steel’s snack cart, hand built and set on wheels, along with a book Steel published of the drawings she’s received in return for handing out popcorn and coffee, are on another. Amy Steel herself is there every morning making pancakes and inviting anyone passing through to sample the fruit, orange juice and coffee she has laid out for them.
Like furniture in a new house, Steel’s work isn’t settled quite yet. Some descriptions still need to be hung, and an artist’s statement and more postcards need to be set out. There were very few forks but plenty of plastic knives.
On Tuesday morning, Steel was wrestling with a new type of pancake batter that took some getting used to. She seemed nervous, or maybe tired, but the people coming in–some old friends, others looking for information–seemed more reassuring than tiring. The exhibition, while complete, was meant as a display of process rather than finished work, with the artist learning from being in the gallery and patrons learning by becoming part of the conversation.
GOOD MORNING
Good Morning. Nice to Meet You is up at the MK Gallery until April 18 on the second floor of the Art Building on Fifth Avenue and Jackson Street. The opening reception is from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursday, April 10, and Amy Steel will be in the gallery Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., “or until the pancake mix runs out.” Chef Ezra Duke will join her on Mondays and Fridays for extra-special breakfast concoctions. This Friday: vegan waffles!
HOUSEHOLD PREDICTIONS
Be sure to see Kate Simmons’ Household Predictions and Fanciful Remedies in the Autzen Gallery on the second floor of Neuberger Hall, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday until April 18. Opening reception on April 10 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.