Call for Entries: Off the Plain

OFF THE PLAIN: Contemporary NW Photography
Curated by TJ Norris


WHO: All Northwest-based Artists [ OR, WA, ID, AK, MT + NoCal ]
WHERE: Place (http://www.placepdx.com)
Pioneer Place Mall, 3rd Fl, Downtown Portland, OR

SUBMISSION DEADLINE: Now through February 17th (no late entries)
EXHIBITION: mid April-June 2013
ENTRY FEE: $10, Up to 6 images per artist
(fee used for any associated printed material)

WHAT: Seeking contemporary photographic-based work in various formats, other than traditional 2D.


‘Off the Plain’ will feature up to a dozen Northwest-based contemporary artists who have developed photographic works that stretch beyond traditional two-dimensional formats.

As an examination of the great Northwest as a physical location for exploration and experimentation, this show will offer work that is outside the norm, peeling back one thin layer of what is happening right now in this vast elusive and beautiful region. By offering camera-based work that is beyond 2D, audiences will experience a greater appreciation for the photographic arts.

The exhibition will open in April 2013 which is Photography Month in Portland, OR (see: Photolucida). In this call for entries we wish to review works that utilize and play on space, form and dimension. These may include: sculptural work, assemblage, 3D imaging, installation, kinetic work, multi-paneled pieces, book arts, lightboxes, tableaux, holography/lenticular, moving images or projections (the gallery is equipped with a single projector), and the like. The work must be primarily photographic in nature and somehow inform or activate a sense of space. Up to a dozen artists will be selected from this call for entries who focus on mass, volume and change/shift in their photographic work.

The artists in this show command the ability to forgo the generic conventions of the medium. Subject matter will vary from abstraction to conceptual to narrative, though each artist included will be represented by up to five pieces each (depending on scale and context) in the sizable exhibition space - all created within the past three years. The public will be invited to a round table discussion about the “geometric ergonomics of photography in the 21st century” - artists from the exhibition will be selected to participate. If funds are available a printed brochure or catalogue will also be available. A larger built-in international audience of photographic-based professionals will be in Portland to participate in Photolucida’s events, and this will become a focal part of this biennial fair. Partial funding graciously provided by the Regional Arts & Culture Council.


SITE: http://offtheplain.tumblr.com/


TO ENTER:
1.) Submit $10 entry fee through PayPal as a Gift to: tjnorris_@_gmail_com

2.) Prepare up to six images and email to the same address. The images should be 72dpi and no larger than 1200 pixels in any dimension. Please send all images within a single email and name them as follows: norris_01.jpg, norris_02.jpg, etc…..

3.) In this email please include your resume (5 pgs max) as a .PDF (preferred) or .DOC file.

All applicants will be notified no later than March 1, 2013.

ABOUT THE CURATOR:
Interdisciplinary artist TJ Norris has curated critically acclaimed exhibitions for museums, galleries and alternative sites in OR, MA, MN, NY and DC including: Tufts Aidekman Arts Center, Linfield College Art Gallery, SUNY Binghamton Art Museum, Newspace Center for Photography and the Smithsonian. He has also written for ArtNews, Willamette Week, Art Ltd. Magazine, Enzyme, Signal to Noise Magazine and many others. His contemporary art practice in the photographic realm spans three decades.



*** SHIPPING/DELIVERY: Participating artists are fully responsible for all costs associated with delivering/shipping their work to and from the gallery (dates tba) including all insurance. All artwork is fully insured while on site at Place. Thanks for your understanding and cooperation.