Erik ReeL, #2481 Jangled, acrylic on canvas, 48 x 54 inches, 2023
Reception: September 7, 2023, from 6-8 pm
Hours: Monday - Friday 10 am-4 pm or by appointment
Erik ReeL, with guest Narci Lee, fashion design
Curated by Rhonda P. Hill
An exhibition of exuberantly colored paintings and upcycled fashion will be presented from 28 August to 28 September at the Portland world headquarters of PLACE, winner of the Architecture MasterPrize, Landscape and Urban Design, Firm of the Year. There will be an opening reception for the artists and curator during Portland’s First Thursdays on the evening of 7 September from 6-8 pm.
ReeL’s large, colorful paintings will be accompanied by fashion designed by performance artist and fashion designer, Narci Lee, using upcycled clothing plus recycled cloth altered by ReeL.
Inspired by ideas discussed in ReeL’s book, Pterodactyl Cries: Art, Abstraction, and Apocalypse (2021), the exhibition presents a unique combination of work designed specifically for this show.
ReeL says, “If we are going to survive as a species, we need to be more radically ecological.” Narci Lee points out that upcycling is about “keeping fabric alive, giving fabric a new life, a new meaning, it lengthens the life-cycle, countering the time it takes to biodegrade.”
Originally from Seattle, ReeL and his wife, the curator, Rhonda P. Hill, are recent transplants to Portland. This will be ReeL’s first exhibition in Portland, and his first show in the Pacific Northwest in 36 years.
Rhonda Hill is an independent curator specializing in exhibitions involving ecologically conscious fashion and founder of the fashion intelligence platform EDGE (EDGExpo.com) promoting designers who push for zero-waste practices and production streams, fully circular systems, and the highest aesthetic standards and product quality. Rhonda lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband, Erik ReeL.
Narci Lee is a zero-waste fashion designer and performance artist based in Ventura, California. Her designs have been exhibited at the realART Gallery in Agoura Hills, California, seen on the runways of art museum's fashion events and in boutiques and wardrobe collections throughout the country. Her performance work has engaged audiences for years at John M. White’s celebrated 5x5x5 performance art series in Ventura, California. She lives in Ventura with her husband, Jason Russell.
Erik ReeL is a Seattle-born visual artist and writer living in Portland. ReeL's art is represented in collections based in Buenos Aires, Berlin, Chicago, Dubai, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Houston, Indianapolis, London, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York City, Oakland, Paris, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, San Diego, Santa Fe, Seattle, and Seoul. ReeL’s work is part of an international turn toward improvisational abstraction that includes artists such as Jadé Fadojutimi, Amy Sillman, Julie Mehrutu, Laura Owens, Albert Oehlen, and Liliane Tomasko while frequently featuring ecological thinking and themes.