Three Portland Gallery Haunts for October

Guardino Gallery, Alberta District
The season is upon us when we begin to wonder who is among us. At least you may feel that way when you leave the Day of the Dead Group show at Guardino Gallery. It’s easy to lose track of time in this exhibit, there’s a great deal of otherworldly art to take in. A good place to start would be this print by Mexico-born artist Hector Marquez. He describes it as a depiction of Mother Earth meets Our Lady of Guadalupe, which has historical precedence when the Spanish arrived ready to give our Earth mother a new aura. 

Make no bones about it, you don’t have to be from a Latin country to enjoy Dia de los Muertos or to participate in this group show. Wayne Jiang prepared several works in oil including the charming Impressionism Bones Visit the Museum. There’s also a variety of work in wood, ceramic, and more at a wide range of prices. This gallery does an excellent job of making every work available on its website for perusal and purchase. It’s on view until October 22 so there’s a little time left to bring your favorite work home and show it off for the November 1 holiday. 

Side Street Arts, Sunnyside
Anna Magruder’s whimsical portraits of reimagined vintage America and Jeanne Cardana’s felted wool animals both wow at this slightly off-the-trail spot. Anna uses old photographs as inspiration when she adds life and color for engaging works for the wall. The furry friends that line the window gallery are irresistible to both children and animals, but please don’t touch them. They are really works of art. We were especially fond of the turtle emerging from its shell (which appears to still be available). 

Gallery 114, Pearl District
Jeff Leake, Kanani Miyamoto, and Will Kendall fill this space with personality. Surrealism meets history painting provides detailed narratives on canvas in When You Were Silent. An incredible amount of both thought and effort accompanies these engaging pieces on odd-shaped canvases that appear to be priced quite reasonably for what they are. 

Several large two and three-dimensional combo works by Miyamoto fill additional walls in this show which she uses to represent her community and the beauty of intersectional identities. 

Last but not least, Kendall uses old punk rock show posters to make a collage base for graffiti-style artwork he applies to the surface. He told us he created this body of work specifically for the show. The combination of text, graphic arts, and drawing creates a successful taming of organically created walls of urban texture.