photo credit Sarah Henderson
Interview with Jeff Jahn
RS:
How did you get involved with the Feldman Gallery and what is your connection to Minus Space?
JJ:
A couple of years ago, gallery director Mack McFarland invited me to propose some show ideas for the Feldman... and summer programming being somewhat opportunistic we took the opportunity to work with the only space devoted to reductive/perceptual art in the USA, Minus Space. Director Matthew Deleget and I have talked about doing something for years.
My connection to Minus Space goes back many years, we have similar interests like Donald Judd, Ellsworth Kelly and the fact that very distilled work was being made way before the so-called Minimalists and continues to this day with Terry Haggerty, Gerhard Richter and Mark Grotjahn. Every age has a different rationale for removing distracting non essential elements, those reasons are inherently polymorphic, being tied to their times. Highly distilled and refined work will always hold some attraction in an imperfect often cruel world. By not engaging in the polarized moralizing of the age, abstraction can be an inherently peaceful time-out... or in the case of Mussolini it can be twisted to fascist or brutal ends so I'm careful about that sort of thing. Order for order's sake is too fascist for me. I like work that is made with a generous spirit of intent.
The best reductive art resists both a purely detached Epicurean attitude or an autocratic ideology. Neutrality is not easy to achieve but highly reductive or elementally distilled art at least has a shot at it. What's more, distillation helps us focus on what is really important, Americans are wasteful gluttons and reductive work does provide a counterpoint. There is something more intimate about a reductive language.
Reductive art removes non essential information. Here is a parallel thought, if the absence of pain is in itself a kind of pleasure then the absence or reduction of the world's inherent demands and drama has a similar effect. It also gives us perspective on the flawed world we might accept as a given. It's why abstraction has this idealistic connotation. Though my interests are not limited just what some call “minimal art” I do appreciate clarity in the presentation of work, it leaves no margin for error and the risks involved accentuate the lack of hedging in the work. That said Jason Rhoades is the antithesis of these ideas and I was one of the people working to bring him out to Portland when he died tragically.
I want to be clear so people don't misread this string of minimalistic shows I've presented recently... one can't apply one set of aesthetic criteria to all art. I prefer variety but only if it is highly accomplished.
Presenting a widespread so-called minimalistic program that has been; historical, scholarly, contemporary and personal has been my goal in doing the Donald Judd, Vection and now M5 shows.
I wanted to present a level of programattic focus we just don't see much in Portland. Bruce Guenther has been doing a great job of coherent programming with this summer of drawing, linking R. Crumb, Sol LeWitt and Mark Grotjahn as well.
I'm kinda proud of him for busting his ass like this, He has curated more in the last year than in the previous 5 combined. I hope he isn't going to retire too soon.
RS:
What was the process of picking the theme, the art and the artists for this exhibit; what goes through a curators mind in the planning stages?
JJ:
The process changes depending on the show. In a general sense a curator is a caretaker or custodian for the integrity of art. In the case of this show I wanted to present work from both Minus Space and the Northwest that had a certain commonality that will play well together in the Feldman space. Since so many local artists are doing reductive art I felt picking two elder statesmen like Francis Celentano and Mel Katz would have the best effect.
To engage even a small sample of the younger local scene would have required an immense space. Both Celentano and Katz are in a way precedents or father's of what Minus Space does. Celentano is one of the original 60's op-artists and Mel Katz is the former professor of Steve Karlik, one of the first artist's Minus Space ever showed. The point being this is a classic summer group show, a mixer for both Brooklyn and New York. It's a small planet and we should try to be good neighbors and get to know each other.
RS:How did you decide on the way to display the Art pieces and how satisfied are you with the outcome?
JJ:
Different pieces have certain spatial demands under which to operate properly. For example Patricia Zarate's piece requires a corner and since the Feldman Gallery only has one corner that was where it had to go, though the specifics of how it occupied that corner went through a lot of permutations. Ultimately we felt a purely symmetrical installation was deadening when we were installing it so it's asymmetrical.
Rosanna Martinez's piece is about harnessing the implied energy of separate architectural elements like two walls or columns so we used it to illustrate the opposing structural corners of the room. I love that piece, its a lot like Love or a strong relationship... it's about coming together in a very honest way that allows for integrity on both sides.
Don Voisine's piece was so strong it could hold the largest wall in the room by itself. Sadly, I’m probably the only curator in the Pacific Northwest who would do that... Michael Darling would have done that but he just left SAM. I wish other curators would take a less cluttered approach, but they don't. Every Oregon, Portland and Northwest Biennial I've ever seen was too overcrowded and rambling. This show is a bit of a provocation to my peers, STOP OVERHANGING SHOWS, especially abstraction.
The M5 show looks good, it's subtly bold.
RS:
Does each piece tell a story or is it up to the viewer to decide their meaning?
JJ:
It's always up to the viewer in visual art... if an artist wants to purely tell their story they are in the wrong medium... they should write a novella or make a movie. Linear and or time based media can unfold but a lot of visual art is designed to magnify interpretive potentials rather than focus it like a lot of film or literature does.
RS:
How big of an influence is Donald Judd on you and the artists in this exhibit?
JJ:
You would have to ask them. Some of them like Steve Karlik, Mel Katz or Nacy White have obvious connections as their work is all about the indeterminate relationship of wall and floor... or equalizing and destabilizing all planes in the room if you will. Judd's use of materials is very influential as well. It goes well beyond art and into kitchen counter tops etc. Artists like Don Voisine, probably not as much, he's a painter and unlike Judd (who quit painting) has found a way to make it work for himself. Voisine's work is more related to Malevich, Albers and Mondrian, whom Judd was interested in.
For myself, Judd is without question one of the greatest of artists... he was hypercritical, uncompromising, innovative, yet pragmatic and found a way to make more ideal situations for the art he liked. He supported other artists as well. To be great you have to be generous beyond the execution of your own whims. Judd Helped out John Wesley, Roni Horn and Robert Irwin etc.
"Judd" exhibit
RS: He once said that he is striving for autonomy what does that mean to you?
JJ:
Judd had such integrity and was almost always better at installing his art better than his collectors or institutions who were more about showing what they had, rather than showing the work to its best advantage. Judd's quest for autonomy was a simple quest for integrity, even after his inevitable death.
Artists today are perhaps too accommodating. I hope that like Judd I'm siding with the integrity of art. People think he had a huge ego but if you take a closer look what he had a much larger super-ego. It's a subtle but importance distinction. It means sacrificing that selfish ego for integrity's sake. It's all about the art.
RS: What is the relevance of abstraction and minimalism in this day and age?
JJ:
In a world where everything is co-opted with some agenda it can be a neutral zone devoted to sensitive contemplation of something other than ourselves. We need big picture thinking and that requires abstract thought. To be an effective abstract thinker it helps to think about abstractions which have very little specific agenda... it reveals our expectations. Understanding our true expectations is the path to understanding human nature.
RS:
Is minimalism a trend that returns from time to time or is there an innate need in humans that wants to be expressed through it?
JJ:
Minimalism doesn’t exist... it was a convenient art historical term applied to a group of artists in the 60's. Anyone who wants to be an minimalist or claims to be minimal is just fetishing the end product... rather than the thought that Judd, Flavin, Martin, Kelly and Tuttle are about.
That said “minimalism” is a misnomer that is definitely here to stay. The term can be used if it is acknowledged as a poor stand in... used in the absence of some better catchphrase.
RS:
In this show you are mixing different but similar art styles can you describe the differences between minimalism, perceptual and reductive art and their purpose and place in the bigger picture of art history?
JJ:
It's about an economy of expression where nothing is unnecessary. Minimalism, doesn’t exist except as a lazy shorthand. The “Perceptual” is a term engaged with how we see the word but in M5's case it is a hyper focused or distilled perceptual notion. Reductive denoted distillation as well. In all cases here the work is comprised of only what is necessary.
RS:
Do the artists in your show relate to each other also on a personal level, what I mean is there a community feeling?
JJ:
You would have to ask them but yes I believe there is commonality here. All of these artists are the real deal, all are very good editors of their work and would immediately recognize that in each other's work beyond some personal connection. Steve Karlik is connected to all of the Minus Space artists and Mel Katz on a personal level.
RS:
What about the Portland Art community. How does it fit into the international scene or does it?
JJ:
Like any interesting art city Portland is comprised of many layers. Many Portland artists are very international in their interests and activities. Yet Portland's scene is different because it would have to be. The attraction is that the artists here like the human scale and ethics of the city. This is expressed in unexpected ways.
For example, there is a lot more empathy in Portand's art but that's not the case for everyone here... just a higher ratio than other US cities.
RS:
You had an exhibit titled “Vection” yourself at NAAU. What was it about and how do you feel being on the other side of the equation as the Artist?
JJ:
You capitalized “Artists” in your question... there's no critic/curator vs. artist or us/them situation all artists should develop their curatorial and critical chops. At this point all of these roles are like breathing for me. Ive been painting since age 6 and doing art deco styled stained glass windows since 8, had my first art gallery representation and sold a bit of art at age 20 while still in college. I'm an accomplished musician but for some reason I've kept that side a bit more private (Im surprisngly shy in odd ways, Im an introvert with a very thick extroverted suit of armor)... but yeah I unserstand the creative process . Vection was about exploring design as mediated by man made materials and nature.
Human beings act just like bacteria... we spread, consume and change space and raw materials. I simply held a mirror up to that activity. Vection was about how we spread, define, waste, consume and influence space. It was very well received, Im very grateful for the accolades but I did it mostly for my own curiousity's sake. After just doing a Judd show it took some balls to make work.
Overall, Im happy that Vection connected, and the response told me I'm probably a little better artist than I thought (someone even considered buying some of the installation work)... still I dont have a careerist attitude about my own work. I always want to be the most relevant curator and critic possible, my art and music are for me and a few close friends. Im a thinker and catalyst first.
Honestly Vection was only slightly different than curation. I essentially curated my self. I determined what the show was about then created work to see if my assumptions would change upon seeing the real thing in comparison to the idea. Technically I'm more of a curator and critic who makes art to keep myself honest. I don't keep up a studio practice so I'm not committed to showing work that I make in any way unless it satisfies the curator and critic in me. Im very restrained and empirical in many ways... it's all a big experiment for the eyes and body while the brain tries to make sense of it all. Additionally, I don't want to be one of those curators or critics who never makes work.
For example, the world's top wine critic, Robert Parker,got into wine-making with his Willamette Valley Winery Beau Freres for the same reason. If you divorce yourself from the active part of the art equation you risk being irrelevant. As a curator and critic I always take great pains to doing something relevant, even if it angers some people. Being provocative is sometime key to being relevant, but their has to be a rigorous rationale behind that provocation or its just an exercise in attention. There has to be an intellectual curiousity fueling the show.
Some artists are convinced they are more relevant than they are, they have this attitude that the world owes them some sort of recognition. It doesn't work that way. I try to give credit to those who make work that transcends their own personal soap operas... I simply shine a light on those who are actively communicating in a more generous way and it makes the work stronger and more useful to all of us.
"Vection" exhibit
RS:
You also are the founder of “Port”. How has Port's mission or influence changed since its conception?
JJ:
When Jenn (Armbrust) and I started PORT it was an off hand side project and at most I thought we might have 10,000 readers per month. Now we have over 135,000 per month, the Whitey Museum provided links to our articles for the 2010 biennial's web page and we are one of the most read art sites on the internet. We dont have big #'s compared to a porn site but for an art site based in Portland Oregon PORT is surprising. There is a lot of interest in Portland's art scene. Portland is more important than we give ourselves credit for. To a degree America's future is related to Portland's present.
For example, on a person level... I find this odd... but Im a legitimate pioneer in internet based arts writing and I enjoy providing a platform for other arts writers. PORT has always been confederacy, Im not a very controlling editor so much as a publisher who empowers others rather than simply assigning projects. Also, we are a trade publication not a generalist one and our audience cares about visual art deeply, which means we can indulge our varying interests and explore ideas with a different kind of depth and rigor than newspapers or the weeklies. We also care about the health of the art scene so we don't just gawk at money or the absurdities of art. That said, we aren't really that similar to most personal blogs either.
There is a sense a sense that we are all local guides and experts sharing info about a very particular part of the world. I only recruit writers who have a worldy outlook.
Let's just say none of us saw PORT's importance coming, we simply felt it was an idea worth pursuing and it took on a life of its own... To be more blunt, I think it is arguable that PORT is the most influential art publication in the history of the Pacific Northwest because our international reach is so generous and in-depth.
PORT is very focused and has been from the outset... it is about visual art and some major architectural projects. We don't do performance, music, fashion or literature. All of our writers have an interest in those things but our focus is very specialized.
RS:
Where do you see Portland as an Art city and yourself 10 years from now?
JJ:
I predicted it but never really expected to be right about Portland becoming as serious an art city as it has become. Our institutions will continue to close the sophistication gap I see between our best artists and their programming. The issue is how sophisticated will the patrons in town become?
That is what is needed for the next step. If the Portland Art Museum has to do car shows in 10 years I'll be disappointed. That said I believe a few very serious patrons will relocate to Portland and change the game institutionally. The artists create an oasis and that in turn makes it attractive to certain types of people... aka adventurous contemporary collectors. All of our collectors are on the conservative side right now but that is to be expected. Someone will take it upon themselves to change that dynamic.
Myself, well I've already done things well beyond what people thought were possible. I hate the fact that I end up setting the bar so often but my next projects will once again redefine expectations of excellence in Portland. I'm not boasting, it's just where do you go after Donald Judd? I'm committed to this very special city (which is redefining America's root level expectations BTW) and lately it has been nice to receive a wave of appreciation for it but fact is Portland should find a way to support independent curators and alternative spaces more. Right now there is almost no support. Currently, Portland focuses on community as an abstraction or catch all phrase. Id like to see it support individuals who create community through acts of excellence... That is the next step.
big thank you to Jeff for his insideful and informative interview
Jeff Jahn
contact at
www.JeffJahn.com
check out
Port
at
www.portlandart.net
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