Last weekend, for the second time, Portland’s art community descended over the ever-glamorous Jupiter Hotel for a room-hopping art fair. Featuring galleries from all over the country and an international list of artists – including Marcel Dzama, Marc Bell and Libby Black – the Affair brought much needed exposure to the sometimes provincial-feeling scene.
Each artist was given a room in which to display, but it wasn’t just art on the walls. While some galleries chose to depend on the Jupiter’s sleek modernism by simply hanging work, others chose to take full advantage of the space, some going so far as to remove furniture or bring their own plants (nice job, Compound).
While the Affair was again a great success artistically, the real victory was getting the opportunity to see the beautiful Jupiter Hotel rooms decorated with more than the tossed-aside Kate Spade handbag of some blitzed advertising executive.