Golden Rule - FEBRUARY 2011 - INVITATION TO SLEEP

FEBRUARY: AN INVITATION TO SLEEP BY EMILY COUNTS, AMANDA LUNA & ALEXIS POWELL 07/03/2010

First Friday Opening Reception: February 4, 2011, 7-10 p.m.
Golden Rule Gallery, 811 E. Burnside, Suite 122, Portland, OR 97214
Show runs February 4th, 2011 through February 27th, 2011
Email us for details about how to spend the night!

Golden Rule volunteer Sara Beniamino and canine companion Wally bask in the glow of our dream-inspiring environment for the month.

SHOW STATEMENTby Rafaela Castaldo

Our art showcase for the month combines February fantasies of romance with the darker side of this month of love: the symptoms of sleepfulness or sleeplessness brought on by seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Through embodiment of dreamlike--or nightmarish--impressions recreated through concrete documentation in the form of artistic impulse (in the name of L-O-V-E), the documenters find themselves through the construction of their interdisciplinary work. Their products function as instruments providing an opportunity for audience and artist alike to determine an inherent psychological truth: this is a month of great restfulness and restlessness.

Emily Counts’ haunting ceramic sculptures of houseplants, lanterns and log pedestals bridge the gap between interior and exterior lands. Traditionally a large-scale installation artist, Counts' pieces utilize repetitive motifs that establish symbolic vocabulary in order to explore themes of identity, sexuality, metamorphosis, mythology and the psychology of space. Her process incorporates revisiting childhood memories and their continued fascination into adulthood by way of creating physical landscapes to make concrete the psychic landscapes of the mind.

Sally England contributes an expansive floor-to-ceiling soft sculpture installation of macrame-knotted rope interwoven with electroluminescent wire in a shape reminiscent of a medieval badge. England's piece asks us to question our relationship with domestic onjects and to challenge strict divisions between the categories of interior design, art and craft.

Amanda Luna’s 2D contributions to the show evidence her use of art to self-soothe by way of visualizing and textualizing the inside jokes she has within herself about the world around her. Working from a linguistic and semiotic perspective wherein pictures and words are used to determine hierarchies of meaning in life, Luna's work explores personal identity and the creation of internal and external safe spaces. Traditionally a small-scale non-archival artist, Luna's new work evidences a move towards more mature technical and conceptual expression. Though the subject matter remains the same--Chanel no. 5 bottles, baskets of fruit, Mona Lisa in multiples, and almost indiscernible silhouettes of people near and far--the path to get there has changed.

Alexis Powell recreates scenes from her own vivid dreams and nightmares with multimedia stop-animations incorporating cut-outs from vintage magazines with recordings from her music projects Festival and Heresay and Hyperbole. Select animations will be looped in the space to encourage viewers to interpret meaning behind dreams and to questions notions of fantasm. Still images from her videos will be available for purchase.

The multimedia work in this exhibit finds synthesis not only through its common dream themes, but through its contextualization within our carefully curated concept shop/gallery environment. This month we feature our walk-in closet of silk lingerie and lounge wear, cozy sweaters and flannels, and other clothes so comfy they might move out of the bedroom and into the street. In addition to locally made artisan furniture, we've brought in the one critical element needed to bring it all together: a bed. Trustworthy individuals--or couples, or threesomes--can self-select to spend the night in our gallery if they commit to not steal from us and to, in turn, let us steal their dreams in our dream diary in order to further advance Powell's dream video work.

For more information about this show, the artist, or to get details on spending the night and recording dreams at Golden Rule in February, visit us anytime between 12-6 p.m., 7-days-a-week, at 811 E. Burnside, Suite 122 (around back), Portland, OR. 87212, or give us a call at (503) 477-5124. We'll have a sleep-schedule calendar for you to sign up on, and we'll ask for three informal personal references--friends, parents, partners, teachers, employers, members of the clergy, etc.--who can attest to your good character. If you pass our background test we'll give you the key. You bring the sheets.

Still from, 'Dream I,' by Alexis Powell (2010). Digital Video, 02:16

For addition information about the art and artists, including pricing and availability inquiries, please contact Wynde Dyer at info@goldenruleportland.com or by calling (503) 863-1545.

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SHOW STATEMENTby Rafaela Castaldo

EMILY COUNTS

SALLY ENGLAND

AMANDA LUNA