may 21.
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In the footsteps of Bowles
Gay Portland photographer
brings his Moroccan journey home"
by
M eg D aly
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P
aul Bowles once wrote that
his lens, it’s often from the
the “difference between
| back, adding to the abstract,
tourist and traveler is that
3 compositional feel. One of
the fonner accepts his own
5 the most striking, “Man and
civilization without question.”
I Sea,” shows a lone figure
Bowles, the famous American
003
2 clad in a hooded black robe
expatriate writer and musician
i facing the sea. A milky mist
who lived in Tangier for more than
rises off the water, while a
three decades, opined, “Not so the
stone jetty points toward the
traveler, who compares [his own civiliza-
f*
expansive horizon.
tion] with the others and rejects those
T he subject o f this photo, he
elements he finds not to his liking.”
explains, is an elderly man wearing a heavy,
Gay Portland artist Larry Cwik
traditional garment at dusk. “T he sea is
would likely constitute a traveler. T he
omnipresent in that part of Morocco,” says
self-taught artist has spent much of
Cwik, who hoped to capture the way
Larry Cwik knows
the past several years documenting
inhabitants live in sync with nature.
a good country
with photographs his exploration of
Cwik’s vision of Morocco is por
when he sees it
the land Bowles called home. His
trayed not through images of groups of
show Morocco is on display downtown at
people in action, but rather through a repetition
Gallery 500 through May 29.
of still lifes showing the patterns, themes and
Cwik (pronounced “swick”) first journeyed to
mixxls that captivated him. A six-minute video
Morocco in 1990 to find out for himself what
accompanies the photographs, and here the view
had drawn so many Western writers and artists—
er gets more of the expected sense of vibrancy
including notable queers— to the mysterious,
and activity one might asstxiiate with Morocco.
evocative country. Bowles and his wife, Jane
In addition to the main exhibit, Gallery 500
(both bisexual), Allen Ginshurg and William S.
A nnex is showing the collaborative work of
Burroughs all sojourned there in the 1950s.
Cwik and Portland State University art instmc-
Cwik, 45, has fallen in love with Morocco.
tor Darrell Sanders, titled Psychic Constructums
“I’ve had a joyous experience there,” he says.
Biomorphic Drawings. Here one can discern
His photo exhibit captures the intense brick
some o f the patterns also found in Morocco, like
and sandy hues of the arid, desert country. Two
the decorative textures applied to adobe walls.
prints from the A heam Valley could be mis
These colored pencil drawings began as an
taken for images of the American Southwest.
experiment between the two artists in an
But there is no mistaking the distinctively paint
attempt to reverse the pux:ess o f abstraction.
ed wcxxlen boats in “Boat, Asilah” and “Boy
Instead o f using an object or idea and then
with Boats, Asilah," the interiors of which mir
abstracting it, the artists started with random
ror the vibrant blue of the Mediterranean Sea.
thoughts and images and worked off one
Cwik, whose photos have been displayed at
another to create a form. Som e end pnxiucts,
galleries in Portland, New York, Madrid and
like “Tribal Mask” and “Aquatic Hannony,” are
other cities, often refers to his work as surreal
more recognizable than others. Individually
ist. In this series, he pays homage to one of his
and as a whole, the drawings convey a com
main influences, Giorgio de Chirico, in a
pelling sense of movement and journey.
haunting photo o f a street in Tafraoute. Wires,
It seems that Cwik, a la Bowles, does not
shadows, buildings and open sky cross paths at
accept his world at face value. He proves him
slightly off-kilter angles.
self to be a traveler in both art and in life. j n
Cwik s photos are stark and unpopulated, be
lying the frenetic atmosphere of markets and street
Morocco and pencil work Psychic Constructions
life in larger Moroccan cities. He says he traveled
Biomorphic Drawings are an display through May 29
to many smaller villages where there was “not a
at Gallery 500, 420 S.W . Washington St. *5 0 0 . '
soul in sight.” He also notes that Moroccans, while
notably friendly and kind, are camera shy.
Features Editor M eg D aly can he reached at
When Cwik does capture a human figure in
m egdaly@ justout. cam .
B ry a n t
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“Boy with Boats, Asilah” mirrors the vast blues of the Mediterranean
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