This content was published: March 23, 2023. Phone numbers, email addresses, and other information may have changed.
Gallery talk connected to ‘A Joyous Grief’ exhibition with Molly Alloy & Michael Espinoza March 24
Photos and story by James Hill
The Paragon Art Gallery at the Cascade Campus is hosting “Art for Trans Solidarity” 5-7 p.m., Friday, March 24. Join artists Molly and Michael to tour the exhibition and enjoy live music!
And, join staff next Friday, March 31, for a conversation with AIDS activist Malcom Gregory Scott (ACT UP and more!), hosted by Michael Espinoza. Gather at 5:30, conversation 6-7:30 pm.
All events are free and open to the public. Gallery open hours are Wed-Fri, noon-7 & Sat, noon-5. Come check out the exhibition and read on for more details.
A Joyous Grief: Molly Alloy & Michael Espinoza
Entwining two practices that reach towards queer ancestors, this exhibition vibrates with the vitality of queer solidarity in action.
- Exhibition Dates: February 24 – April 8, 2023
- Art for Trans Solidarity! Friday, March 24, 5 – 7 p.m. Tour the exhibition with the artists and enjoy live music!
Conversation: Michael Espinoza and Malcom Gregory Scott, on AIDS and Activism, Friday, March 31, gather at 5:30, talk 6-7:30 p.m.
Conversation: Using Peer Relationships to Grow an Art Practice (date and time to be announced)
- Gallery Hours:
Wednesdays – Fridays, 12 – 7 pm, Saturdays, 12 – 5 pm
24/7 view at 815 N. Killingsworth, Portland, OR 97217
- All events are free and open to the public.
Artists Michael Espinoza and Molly Alloy have assembled duets about embodiment, care, queer family, vulnerability and survival. This exhibition looks at the contrivance and absurdity of binaries, especially between two restrictive, compulsory genders, and between aliveness and death. The simple conceit of framing a binary relationship between the artworks of these two nonbinary artists marries two practices which are at once divergent and disarmingly related. Formal choices echo between the works, conceptual elements mirror, and tension playfully (promiscuously) produce new dimensions. This show takes root in the deeply fulfilling personal connection these two enbies share, and brings audiences into the sense of discovery it elicits in their work and in their lives.
This exhibition, and related programming, seek to honor and reassert the urgent need for queer and trans spaces and relationships. The work in this show calls forth chosen ancestors within a legacy of queer and trans survival. The artists name water, the land, trees, beavers, Michel Foucault, living long term AIDS survivor Malcom Gregory Scott, and the unfathomable multitudes of queer and trans relatives past, present, and future. Joy and grief are framed in opposition by dominant culture, but in trans and queer family making those feelings are entwined. Entwining two practices that reach towards queer ancestors, this exhibition vibrates with the vitality of queer solidarity in action.
About the Artists:
Molly Alloy (they/them, b. 1981 St. Louis, MO/ Osage land) is a multi-disciplinary artist living and working within the positionality of a queer, non-binary, trans, white settler, and that of a spouse and parent. Alloy’s sculptures claim driftwood and leather as remnants of ancestral presence which they shape into material contemplations of collective queer immortality. As a founding Codirector of Five Oaks Museum, on Tualatin Kalapuya land, they orient their work towards the protection of body, land, truth, justice, and community. Alloy holds a Bachelor of Science in Studio Art from Skidmore College and a Master of Fine Art from Pacific Northwest College of Art. They have exhibited in group and solo shows nationally, and have been the recipient of the 2004 Margaret Mergentine Award for Excellence in Fiber Arts, the 2017 Artist in Residence of the Oregon Bee Project, and a 2019 residency with PLAYA Summer Lake.
Michael Espinoza (they/them, b. 1984 Colorado Springs, CO/ Cheyenne, Ute & Lipan Apache land) is a non-binary, multi-racial, multi-disciplinary artist whose work embodies and embraces the undone artistic practices of Queer Ancestors lost to persecution, disease, fatal sadness, and closets. Currently, their practice borrows strategies from embroidery, quilting, digital media, sculpture and photography to explore sex and sexuality, intersectional identities, intimacy, the body, and contact with the dead. They have previously exhibited live performance, site-specific installation, and video. Their work can be found in public art collections, digital spaces, domestic and international group shows, and the many spaces intended for queer joy.
Websites: www.michaelespinozaart.com, www.mollyalloy.com
Instagram: @michaelespinozaart, @mollyalloy
TikTok: @queer.practice
Hashtags: #queerimmortality #enbies
About Paragon Arts Gallery:
Paragon Arts Gallery is an educational showcase committed to exhibiting work of high artistic quality. Our versatile gallery is located at 815 North Killingsworth, at Portland Community College’s Cascade Campus. Mindful of our role as a member of the Humboldt community, we are especially committed to engaging community members in our space.
About the PCC Art Galleries:
Portland Community College is home to four art galleries: the North View Gallery, the Paragon Arts Gallery, the Helzer Gallery and the Southeast Gallery, each located on one of our four comprehensive campus locations in Portland, Oregon. The Art Galleries are dedicated to supporting education and community building through the arts.
About James Hill
James G. Hill, an award-winning journalist and public relations writer, is the Director of Public Relations at Portland Community College. A graduate of Portland State University, James has worked as a section editor for the Newberg Graphic... more »