Magic Hours: Essays on Creators and Creation Is a Book of Essays About Things!

The First Thursday artwalk is going down tonight on the west side. After the jump are expanded details on my top picks of the night, but first, here's a quick rundown of the highlights: Damien Gilley's Decoy opens at PNCA's Manuel Izquierdo Sculpture Gallery (pictured above); local musician and illustrator Tara Jane Oneil is showing her visual works at the Independent Publishing Resource Center ("musical entertainment" is promised); Blue Sky Gallery brought in London's Danny Treacy, who makes costumes out of discarded clothing, then puts on these get-ups and photographs himself; Pony Club's Satan is Real is a group show inspired by "ouiji boards, D&D and heavy metal albums [which were believed to possess] an enormous amount of occult power, capable of perverting young minds"; Lizard Lounge presents xyxx, "a visual conversation between two iPhones and two lovers"; and Adam Sorensen's New Westerns opens at PDX Contemporary.

London-based artist Danny Treacy searches his surroundings for discarded clothing to construct suggestive, haunting costumes. Treacy then dresses himself in what he creates and, by making striking life-sized self-portraits, he becomes "Them."The "suits" he fabricates are born out of the discovery of what's been left behind by others, and ultimately allow Treacy to become something uncertain: evocative figures which seemingly transgress race, gender, and even reality.
"Somewhere in the process of collecting the clothing, of de-construction, re-creating, stitching, wearing and standing in the clothing, each stage done by myself, I feel that in the final image I disappear, not revealing anything of myself, the antithesis of self-portraiture."

Tonight from 7-9 pm, the Independent Publishing Resource Center (917 SW Oak St #218) presents the illustrations of Tara Jane Oneil. A little information about Oneil and her work, if you're unfamiliar:
Tara Jane ONeil is a musician and visual artist based in portland. Her work innately crosses genres and boundaries—drawings that morph from natural forms to linear abstractions, melodic songcraft melded with experimental noise. Though they spring from the same source, each piece takes a distinct form—several genies emerging from a single lamp.

Lizard Lounge (1323 NW Irving St) is hosting Kimberly Warner and David McLaughlin's xyxx, which opens tonight from 7-10 pm. Here's what the couple has to say about their work:
xyxx is a living visual, open ended love letter between two slightly twisted lovers who would rather take pictures with their iphones than talk on them. We have one premise: all images are shot and manipulated with the iphone and iphone apps only. No computers. No photoshop. We started playing ping pong with snaps throughout our days via email whether we were half a world apart or walking next to each other in our neighborhood. Where conversations can be routine, an image is much more intimate. It’s letting someone behind your eye and saying right now, this second, this is my world. This is what i see, how I feel, and what I want to share with you. Somedays it’s a game of exquisite corpse. Somedays it’s a quiet conversation. An ever evolving game of tag with no rules or expectations other than to simply be present.

Pony Club (625 NW Everett St #105) presents Satan is Real with an opening reception from 6-10 pm. Pony Club co-owner Dave Nuss describes the show:
It's an homage to the "Satanic Panic" of the mid-80's titled "Satan is Real." Basically, the show will pay tribute to a paranoid time in American history when a large cross-section of the population were convinced that mundane objects, such as ouiji boards, D&D and heavy metal albums possessed an enormous amount of occult power, capable of perverting young minds. "Satan is Real" will depict this impressionable aesthetic, featuring artists such as Ben Marra, Bald Eagles, John Brodowski, Ted May, John Porcellino, Tim Root and many more.

Damien Gilley's Decoy opens tonight from 6-9 pm at PNCA's Manuel Izquierdo Sculpture Gallery (825 NW 13th).

Last but not least, Adam Sorensen's New Westerns opens tonight from 6-8 pm at PDX Contemporary (925 NW Flanders).
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