Happy Birthday, Blue Sky Gallery!

Book by David Pace

Over the years, Photolucida has collaborated with Blue Sky Gallery on a number of exhibitions and projects. Blue Sky has offered solo exhibitions to Critical Mass finalists each of the last few years, and their exhibition lineup often includes photographers who have been part of our programming here at Photolucida. We love seeing these connections happen. It’s always a treat to see Critical Mass and Portfolio Reviews photographers showcasing their work in Blue Sky’s stunning exhibition space.

This year is Blue Sky’s 40th Anniversary. For 40 years, they’ve shown the best new photography from the U.S. and abroad. To celebrate, the gallery has produced monographs highlighting 36 of the artists they’ve exhibited over the years. A number of Critical Mass and Portfolio Reviews photographers (Patricia Galagan, M. Bruce Hall, David Pace, M. Alexis Pike, and Shawn Records) are represented in these lovely and affordable new books, so we thought we’d share the news here on our blog.

In the words of series editor Christopher Rauschenberg, “We’ve got portraits, landscapes, street photography and family rituals, mythologies, quirkiness and pathology. We’ve got bachelors, Haitian workers, Moslem youth, synchronized swimmers, people dressed as the statue of liberty, people holding snapshots, and people scarily dressed in rubbish. We have pictures from Russia, Cuba, Mexico, India, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Burkina Faso, small town Oregon, and Canadian suburbs. We’ve got projects about prison cells, proms, English gardens, Judaism, weddings, museums, and AIDS. We’ve got blueprints, pre-Photoshop shenanigans, plastic camera pictures, stereographs, photographic sculpture, scanners used as cameras, pictures made with hand-held fishtank cameras, and trees seen from every direction at once. Half of the books are by women artists and all of them are great.” Book previews and more information may be found here.

In related news, the Portland Art Museum is highlighting Blue Sky’s anniversary with a special exhibition (through January 11th). See a preview of the exhibit here. Interested in learning more about Blue Sky Gallery and photography in Oregon? Oregon Public Broadcasting just produced a great Art Beat episode about the history of photography in the region: “Darkroom to Digital: Oregon Art Beat Special”.

Book by Patricia Galagan