Bas-Relief, Kerry Davis & Anna Daedalus
Friday, December 2
Opening Reception
6–9 PM
Friday, January 6
First Friday Reception
6–9 PM
Saturday, January 28
Reading with Kaia Sand and Allison Cobb
7 PM
Bas-Relief casts photograms and found objects in concrete to become a present-day ruin and late-capitalist artifact. As much dirge as outcry, it excavates a contemporary geo-eco-political narrative through layers of state-sanctioned violence and a planet under the gun.
In a co-creative dialogue with the artists, Portland poets Kaia Sand and Allison Cobb have written an exploratory essay for the Bas-Relief exhibition catalogue. Allison and Kaia will give a reading on January 28. The limited edition catalogue is $5.00.
Exhibition Hours:
Through February 25
Friday & Saturday, 12–5 PM and by appointment
Bas-Relief is supported in part by a grant from the Regional Arts and Culture Council.
Above Center:
Bas-Relief Strata; 68 x 155 x 8 inches; Cement, photograms, found objects/imagery
Above Left:
Hoodie Totem, Banded; 80 x 20 x 8 inches; Cement, found objects/imagery
Above Right:
Hoodie Totem, Chained; 83 x 20 x 13 inches; Cement, found objects/imagery
Following a through line from imperialism to torture, terrorism and the acceptance of violence on the street, Bas-Relief also bears witness to the environmental crisis brought on by global consumer culture, commodification of the planet and perpetual resource wars.
Architectural relief carvings of stone and other materials have historically related epic cultural narratives. Bas-Relief utilizes cement—the building block of empires—as both form and function. It stills the information frenzy, concretizes our contemporary catastrophic narrative and embodies the weight of our collective grief and rage. As an anticipatory ruin, the project contains elements of our current epoch, the Anthropocene. Millions of years hence, researchers may well identify the epoch by such markers as radioactive material, plastic and chicken bones.
Bas-Relief is what may be buried in the future. By looking at what is/was, we can index the decline of the empire and see the imprint of our own steps as we lay ruin to Earth and each other.
Other collaborations by these artists:
Above:
Billionaire; 90 x 93 x 6 inches; American flags, cement, found objects/imagery
Exhibition catalogue, 4 panel, color photos and exploratory essay by Portland poets Kaia Sand and Allison Cobb. Price $5
