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Painted portrait of American tennis player and professional golfer Althea Gibson. She holds a tennis racket and is set against a pastel salmon pink background

Just Playin' Around

Downtown

When

Jan. 21–Apr. 26, 2025

Tuesday through Saturday, Times vary

Free

Where

Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at Portland State University

1855 SW Broadway
Portland, OR 97201

The following description was submitted by the event organizer.

The Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at PSU is pleased to present Just Playin’ Around, featuring the work of Derrick Adams, Calvin Chen, Jeremy Okai Davis, Latoya Lovely, Jillian Mayer, Takashi Murakami, Jeremy Rotsztain, Heidi Schwegler, Joshua Sin, Matthew Earl Williams, and Erwin Wurm. All events are free to the public.

Play and humor have deep but often unacknowledged roles in the history of art. Like art, play exists outside of logic and utility, yet both are universal across human history and cultures. Many artists acknowledge that playfulness is necessary for making art, allowing them to think flexibly, take risks and achieve states of creative flow. Playfulness and humor in art can also be a crucial form of subversion and resistance, especially for artists whose identities and subject matters challenge societal norms and conventions.

“The artists in this exhibition show us how play is a form of freedom, and art and artists can’t exist without freedom,” said Nancy and Theo Downes-Le Guin, co-curators of the exhibition. “These connections between play, art, and freedom are worth serious consideration. But we didn’t want this exhibition to explore play in art just as an idea–the experience should be fun and participatory. We hope people are going to find a lot to laugh about and think about in Just Playin’ Around.”

During the exhibition's fourteen-week run, JSMA at PSU will host various free programs, including public exhibition tours with the curators, storytime for families, and a Conversation with Artists and Curators. Featured artists Heidi Schwegler and Joshua Sin will be in conversation with curators Nancy Downes-Le Guin and Theo Downes-Le Guin. Information on all exhibition events and updates is available on the JSMA at the PSU website.

Conversation with Artists and Curators: January 23, 4–5 PM
Opening Reception: January 23, 5–7 PM

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Just Playin’ Around is curated by Nancy Downes-Le Guin and Theo Downes-Le Guin. The Ford Family Foundation, The Reser Family Foundation, the Jackson Foundation, Elements Roofing, the Richard and Helen Phillips Charitable Fund, and the JSMA Exhibition Circle support this exhibition.

Image Credit: Jeremy Okai Davis, Crown (Althea Gibson), 2023, Acrylic on canvas, 48 x 36 inches, Collection of the Salem Convention Center, Salem, OR, Image Courtesy of the artist and Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Portland, OR