About the new name
Disjecta Contemporary Art Center is changing its name to Oregon Center for Contemporary Art, while clarifying its purpose and vision.
Oregon Contemporary is a space dedicated to art, community, and the exponential possibilities of contemporary art.
“Art can be a lens that changes how we see and understand the world, each other, and ourselves,” says Oregon Contemporary’s executive and artistic director, Blake Shell. “Contemporary art is art that is relevant to our present moment, art that challenges contemporary ideas, structures, and narratives. Contemporary art can create community as well as space for an inner dialogue, with the power to expand us and our world.”
Oregon Contemporary’s new symbol is an O (symbolizing Oregon and Oregon Contemporary’s large, bowl-like gallery space) raised to the power of x (inspired by John Cage’s advice to break all rules by “leaving plenty of room for ‘x’ quantities”).
According to Shell, “The new name and symbol speak to the caliber of art presented at Oregon Contemporary and project our vision for the future of the organization: reaching new audiences while increasing equity and accessibility.”
Oregon Contemporary has been a nonprofit organization since 2005, and has occupied its current 12,000-square-foot building in North Portland since 2008. It has been home to the Portland Biennial since 2010. The Biennial, which originated at the Portland Art Museum in 1949, is a major survey of Oregon artists who define and advance the state’s contemporary arts landscape. Oregon Contemporary’s Curator in Residence (CiR) program, started in 2011, is the first of its kind in the region. This program brings challenging regional, national, and international work to Portland, inspiring local audiences while creating new connections throughout the arts community worldwide.
Thank you to Jelly Helm of Studio Jelly, Adam McIsaac of Sibley House, our board of directors, and our supporters for making this next phase possible. We look forward to seeing everyone in person soon. We are grateful not only to have weathered the majority of the pandemic with government support, but also to be able to reopen with a new name and brand thanks to significant in-kind donations of labor as well as our usual individual donations.
Open House – June 26th, 5-8pm
On June 26th, we will host our first open-house event as Oregon Contemporary, with work on view throughout the building and in the courtyard.
Time Being will be on display, with works by Bean Gilsdorf, Lisa Jarrett, Jaleesa Johnston, Elizabeth Malaska, Maya Vivas, and Samantha Wall. The exhibition runs June 18 through August 8, and is curated by Oregon Contemporary’s executive and artistic director, Blake Shell. Stretched, lengthened, squished, time-looped, mediated, frozen, layered, and ever-changing—the figures and bodily parts in this exhibition reflect on humanity’s relationship with time, history, and identity.
Our Special on Loan program brings Louise Bourgeois’s Eye Benches III to the courtyard. These sculptural works in the shape of free-floating eyes are functional benches for the public to enjoy. Carved out of granite by Italian stonemasons, they were made by the artist when she was over eighty years old. Bourgeois (1911–2010) has inspired many young students to make art that is feminist in nature, although she considered her own work to be “pre-gender.” The New York Times described her work as sharing “a set of repeated themes, centered on the human body and its need for nurture and protection in a frightening world.” We will host the benches throughout the summer of 2021.
Our partner tenants will be open for the day. Stop by Carnation Contemporary, Mario Gallucci Photo, Open Space, Small Talk Collective, and Well Well Projects for exhibitions and performances.
Our new café will be open, with beer, wine, kombucha, and coffee selections curated by Mayfly as well as a few choice snacks for sale. The café will be open regularly during Oregon Contemporary’s exhibition and event hours, to give visitors a place to relax, catch up with friends, and read books from the shop.