Presented by Disjecta Contemporary Art Center, Portland2014 is a major biennial exhibition celebrating artists who are defining and advancing contemporary art practices. Portland2014 will include exhibitions, events and performances in multiple locations throughout Portland from March 8 through April 27, 2014. Exhibitions in Disjecta’s 6,000-square-foot building in North Portland, Upfor Gallery in the Pearl District, White Box, University of Oregon, Portland in Old Town/China Town, and The Best Art Gallery in Portland in Northeast Portland, will be complemented through a series of public artworks, interventions and a Saturday Series of public lectures and panels designed to engage diverse audiences by activating new contexts for contemporary art throughout the city.

Portland2014 continues the tradition of the Oregon Biennial inaugurated by the Portland Art Museum in 1949. Oregon artists lost a longstanding platform for career advancement following the final iteration of the Museum’s Biennial in 2006. In 2010, Disjecta reintroduced the Biennial, curated by Linfield College Gallery Director Cris Moss. The exhibition spanned nine venues throughout Portland and included 19 Oregon artists. Portland2012 presented the work of 24 artists at five venues and was curated by Prudence F. Roberts, former curator of American Art at the Portland Art Museum. The curator’s vision is a key component of the exhibition, and as the first non-regional curator of the Biennial, Hunt’s perspective promises to engage artists and audiences in new ways.

Portland2014 is supported by The Ford Family Foundation, Oregon Cultural Trust, The Kinsman Foundation, Oregon Arts Commission, The Robert Lehman Foundation, Travel Portland, The Regional Arts & Culture Council, Deschutes Brewery and Sign Wizards, as well as our partnering venues Upfor Gallery, White Box, University of Oregon, Portland, and The Best Art Gallery in Portland

ABOUT THE CURATOR

Amanda Hunt is currently a curator at LAXART, Los Angeles. She has worked at galleries and institutions including Whitechapel Gallery, London; Friedrich Petzel Gallery, New York; the Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, San Francisco; and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. In 2012, Hunt worked on two major arts initiatives in Los Angeles: Pacific Standard Time Performance and Public Art Festival, co-produced by LAXART and the Getty Research Institute, and Made in L.A. 2012, the first Los Angeles biennial organized by the Hammer Museum in collaboration with LAXART. Hunt also served as Curatorial Assistant at the Los Angeles City Pavilion produced by Walead Beshty as part of the 9th Shanghai Biennale, and most recently curated Steffani Jemison’s first solo exhibition in Los Angeles.

ABOUT DISJECTA

Disjecta Contemporary Art Center builds ambitious programs that promote artists and engage communities. Disjecta presents forward-thinking work from visual and performing artists. We provide a professional platform in which artists can realize their best work and engage new audiences. Dynamic programs showcase new work and fuel collaborations between artists, curators, and viewers that impact and intervene in the larger contemporary arts dialogue. Disjecta exacts equal rigor from local and national artists, while keenly recognizing and supporting the talent of the region.

ARTISTS

Zachary Davis

Modou Dieng

Alex Mackin Dolan

Jessica Jackson Hutchins

Evan La Londe 

Ellen Lesperance

D.E. May 

Christopher Michlig

Abra Ancliffe

Publication Studio

Ralph Pugay

Kelly Rauer

Blair Saxon-Hill 

Richard Thompson

> via biennial.disjecta.org