On Tuesday, Nov. 14, at 11.30 a.m. Joseph Gallivan interviews gallerist Jane Beebe about painter James Lavadour’s new show Planet Waves which is on now at PDX Contemporary Art through Nov. 28. Beebe talks about Lavadour’s use of color, the role of landscape in his abstract expressionism, and the way he works impulsively, tearing the paper from the pins on the easel. Lavadour from Umatilla is considered one of the best Native American painters working today. Beebe talks about the collectors who are attracted to his work at art fairs like the recent Armory Show which Beebe attended in New York https://www.thearmoryshow.com/
This show was recorded on a Zoom H2N recorder on November 2, and edited by new KBOO volunteer Liam Gallivan, and engineered by Ray Bodwell https://kboo.fm/blog/55224
FROM THE PRESS RELEASE:
WHO: James Lavadour
WHAT: Planet Waves
WHEN: November 1 - November 28, 2023
WHERE: PDX CONTEMPORARY ART
1825 NW Vaughn Street, Suite B, Portland, OR 97209
HOURS: 10:00 am – 5:00 pm, Tuesday – Saturday, and by appointment
ADMISSION: Free
EXHIBITION NOTES:
PDX CONTEMPORARY ART is pleased to
present Planet Waves, an exhibition of new
works on paper by artist James Lavadour.
Much like his works on panel, these
paintings are made over months and
sometimes years, adding and scraping
away paint to create dynamic abstractions
which reference the landscape.
James Lavadour lives and works on the
Umatilla Reservation near Pendleton,
Oregon. He begins each day in the studio,
rising before the sun, to get started on
work. Just when the sun begins to rise, the
Artist leaves his studio to go for a walk or a
drive to witness the land waking up. Although Lavadour’s paintings are not based on direct observation,
the time spent looking, hearing, and feeling the natural world that surrounds him—his Native land—
deeply informs his work.
Lavadour speaks about being one with the land. His physical, process-oriented practice is one that
yields abstract expressionist paintings; accumulations of marks through addition and subtraction are
acts of nature in the same way that geological events are acts of nature.
Among the awards and fellowships Lavadour has received over the course of his career are the 2019
Hallie Ford Fellowship Award from The Ford Family Foundation, an Honorary Doctorate of Human
Letters from Eastern Oregon University, the Eiteljorg Museum Artist Fellowship, the Award for Visual Arts
from the Flintridge Foundation, the Joan Mitchell Award, the Seattle Art Museum’s Betty Bowen
Memorial Recognition Award, and numerous large commissions throughout the Pacific Northwest. A
selection of his exhibitions include solo shows at Cumberland Gallery (Nashville, TN), PDX
CONTEMPORARY ART (Portland, OR), Grover/Thurston Gallery (Seattle, WA), Gail Severn Gallery
(Ketchum, ID), Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art (Indianapolis, IN), Maryhill
Museum of Art (Goldendale, WA), and the Portland Art Museum (Portland, OR), among others. Lavadour
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Kill: November 29, 2023
###
Contact: Jane Beebe 503-222-0063 info@pdxcontemporaryart.com
James Lavadour, JAMES LAVADOUR 1997-2023 II, 2023, oil on paper, 18” x 24”
has also been a part of group exhibitions at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art (Bentonville, AR),
the Smithsonian Institute National Museum of the American Indian (Washington, DC), Tacoma Art
Museum (Tacoma, WA), Boise Art Museum (Boise, ID), and the National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa,
Canada), the National Museum of the American Indian (New York, NY), and Toledo Art Museum (Toledo,
OH). James Lavadour’s work was also featured as one of only 102 artists selected for the Crystal
Bridges Museum of American Art’s seminal survey exhibition, State of the Art: Discovering American Art
Now and at the 55th Venice Biennale in Personal Structures.
Lavadour’s works are included in the collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art (New York, NY),
Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian (Washington, DC), Crystal Bridges Museum of
American Art (Bentonville, AR), Seattle Art Museum (Seattle, WA), Portland Art Museum (Portland, OR),
Tacoma Art Museum (Tacoma, WA), Boise Art Museum (Boise, ID), Crocker Art Museum (Sacramento,
CA), the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art (Indianapolis, IN), the Hallie Ford
Museum of Art (Salem, OR), The Hood Museum (Hanover, NH), The Heard Museum (Phoenix, AZ), the
corporate collections of Bank of America and Microsoft, as well as numerous other public and private
collections.
Lavadour has been the subject of many publications, articles, and reviews, including pieces in Artforum,
The Oregonian, Oregon Arts Watch, Willamette Week, Village Voice, The New York Times, art ltd., The
Stranger, Portland Mercury, The Seattle Times, Artweek, and Art in America.
KBOO and your money
It's fall pledge drive time and we need your money. KBOO is 55 years old, a difficult age.
Art Focus on K-B-O-O Portland is the show where artists talk about their work. I want to remind you that KBOO is a volunteer-powered community platform. That means we are funded by you, the listener.
If you are enjoying the program, please show your support by making a contribution today, or better yet become a monthly sustaining member.
Just go to kboo.fm/give or text K-B-O-O to 44-321."
To hear previous episodes of Art Focus or any of our KBOO public affairs programming, just go to KBOO dot F-M or listen on iTunes, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Joseph Gallivan has been a reporter since 1990. He has covered music for the London Independent, Technology for the New York Post, and arts and culture for the Portland Tribune, where he is currently a Feature Writer. He is the author of two novels, "Oi, Ref!" and "England All Over" which are available on Amazon.com
- KBOO