PDX CONTEMPORARY ART is pleased to present, In This Garden, an exhibition of new paintings by Storm Tharp.
Grown from the desire to create monumental, improvisational works, these new paintings employ a calligraphic speed and deft mark-making to create large-scale abstractions of the garden. The quick and confident execution of these works come from years of experienced practice, but the result is the appearance of something effortless and light—a feeling akin to flying or dancing.
Returning to America after living in Japan, Tharp was able to spend many hours in his own garden— watching as flowers, planted decades before, began to spring back up through the brambles of winter. In the studio, he was driven by ideas of generosity and optimism in the face of the dark and troubling times we live in. The resulting works speak to the resiliency and the almost magic of plants in their ability to emerge after the harshness of winter. There is a glory found in the garden alongside a deep connection to its wellbeing.
Amidst the dark, web-like forms of branches, the paintings hold moments of airy brightness, illuminative washes of color, and intricate lines of vivid saturation. Containing within them the tension of both hope and lightness along with darkness and the lure of the unknown.
Storm Tharp has exhibited widely, having mounted solo exhibitions at PDX CONTEMPORARY ART, Galerie Bertrand (Geneva, Switzerland), Feldbuschweisner (Berlin, Germany), Nicole Klagsbrun Gallery (NewYork, NY), and the Herbert F. Johnson Museum at Cornell University (Ithaca, NY). In 2010, Storm Tharp exhibited in Whitney Biennial at the Whitney Museum of American Art (New York, NY). He has also participated in numerous two-person and group exhibitions at venues including Ochi Gallery (Ketchum, ID), James Harris Gallery (Seattle, WA), CANADA (New York, NY), The Cooley Gallery at Reed College (Portland, OR), Disjecta Contemporary Art Center (Portland, OR), Saatchi Gallery (London, UK), and the Portland Institute of Contemporary Art (Portland, OR).
His work is included in the collections of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery (Buffalo, NY), the Cleveland Museum of Art (Cleveland, OH) , the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art at Cornell University (Ithaca, NY), Museum of Contemporary Art (San Diego, CA), Portland Art Museum (Portland, OR), Portland Institute of Contemporary Art (Portland, OR), Reed College (Portland, OR), Saatchi Gallery (London, UK), and the Whitney Museum of American Art (New York, NY).
Mentions and reviews of Tharp’s work and exhibitions have been featured in Art in America, Artforum, ART PAPERS, Frieze, New American Paintings, Interview Magazine, Modern Painters, Shift Magazine (Japan), Daily Serving, The Daily Beast, Flavorwire, art ltd., Just Out, Visual Art Source, BOMB Magazine, The Oregonian, and Willamette Week.
Visitor information: Open Tuesday - Saturday 10:00am - 5:00pm
Cost: Free
Diversity: LGBTQIA+
Accessibility: Emotional Support Animals Allowed, Sensory Friendly, Wheelchair Accessible
Storm Tharp, Man is Not a Bird, 2021, gouache and flashe on paper, 75” x 49 3/4”
ALT Text: Large-scale painting on paper- dark, web-like forms of branches, the paintings hold moments of airy brightness, illuminative washes of color, and intricate lines of vivid saturation.