Eugene weekly., January 06, 2011, Page 22, Image 22

visual arts
BY SUZI STEFFEN
A Weekly Year
Portraits and more at the Oregon Arts Alliance
W
hen Robert Tomlinson saw the
cover of the July 1, 2010, Eugene
Weekly, he knew that he wanted
to do something with the cover photo. Now
it’s part of a show opening during the First
Friday Art Walk on Jan. 7.
The image of two young homeless girls,
shot by EW graphic artist/photographer
Trask Bedortha for Camilla Mortensen’s
story “The Dispossessed,” impressed
Tomlinson, director of Oregon Arts Alliance
(formerly Oregon Crafted). The twin
girls, Cassie and Britteny Moss, sparked
Tomlinson’s thoughts about planning a
photography exhibit for the OAA’s new
gallery space in the former Fenario. “I
wanted to fi nd a context in which to exhibit
them,” he says. In addition, Tomlinson has
long looked at the time around a new year,
or the turning of the year, “as a time of
refl ection, to look back and examine all of
the changes that happened.”
Combine that with a request to the EW
advertising department, which passed on
the idea to EW art director Todd Cooper, and
the wheels started spinning a few months
ago. Tomlinson helped narrow down
some of the selections from Cooper’s and
Bedortha’s many, many photos, especially
portraits, from 2010, but he says that “the
T guys” made the fi nal selections, ending
up with 26 images. Cooper and Bedortha
sent the images (some digital, some Actual
Film, if you can imagine, including a couple
of Polaroid shots) to Mpix.com for high-
quality printing, Oregon Gallery did the
framing, and Oregon Arts Alliance took
care of the hanging.
Cooper and Bedortha, both hired
originally as graphic artists, say they both
enjoy working in a variety of media and
picked up photography along with their
other artistic and design pursuits. Cooper
says “We’re just graphic monkeys that can
work a camera,” and they both say they’re
not expecting to get some kind of big career
break from the show (though Bedortha
jokes about moving to N.Y. with the fame
he’ll garner).
The images, almost entirely portraits
from special issues like Chow! and from the
regular cover stories, give a picture both of
Eugene and the people who visit our town.
In the former category, steampunk party
host (and artist) Joe Mross vies for attention
with the twin girls, a powerful shot of
Thomas Mapfumo and a locally infamous
image of Rocky Maselli of Osteria Sfi zio
(you will not see his actual face; vegetarians
and meat-eaters alike probably know what
photo I’m talking about if I just say “pig”).
The visitors, often politicians like then-
gubernatorial candidate John Kitzhaber,
also include activist and Honor the Earth
Aaron S. (Ogre)
by Trask Bedortha
Thomas Mapfumo
by Todd Cooper
director Winona LaDuke and Haitian
economist Jean André Victor.
The OAA space and the opening also
feature two other shows — a wall of
photographs from PhotoZone artists and a
sculpture show, “Sculpture: Rock, Paper,
Stone, Wood, Glass, Bronze & Clay.”
As for the EW photos, the framed images
won’t be for sale, but viewers can order
prints at the gallery. The $100 price covers
the gallery’s costs (and the OAA cut down
on its normal commission for this portion
of the show), with the vast majority going
to Looking Glass. Looking Glass serves
at-risk youth and families in Lane County,
including services for homeless youth
and families like the twins who caught
Tomlinson’s eye in the fi rst place.
“The Year (Right Here) in ReviEW”
opens during the First Friday Art Walk,
5:30-8 pm Friday, Jan. 7. The show runs
through Jan. 29.
ew
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18 JANUARY 6, 2011
EUGENE WEEKLY
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