Fresh Brew inaugural exhibit @ Stephanie Chefas Projects

On October 23, Stephanie Chefas Projects made its Portland debut with the inaugural exhibit “Fresh Brew”. The gallery was a long time in the making whereas Chefas has been teaming up with various west coast galleries over the past few years to curate shows featuring some of the contemporary art world’s best and brightest. The show’s name was practically overflowing with entendre being it was a debut exhibit featuring “fresh” work (or “brew” if you will) from some of Chefas’ favorite artists. Additionally, Portland is the city of “brew”--i.e. coffee and beer--and being a new home for Chefas it represents a fresh begining. In Portland, she’s found a genuinely progressive city that’s flanked by natural beauty and bursting at the seams with creativity.

The emphasis at Stephanie Chefas Projects is apparent as soon as you scope its location on the second floor of a renovated building in the heart of up-and-coming Produce Row. That same emphasis is cemented as soon as you walk through the door of the gallery. This is about the art and nothing but the art. Exuded instantly is a passion for quality work that the modest collector can still afford. The space itself is open in the best way possible and represents minimalism at its finest--white walls, wood floors, two wooden pillars and virtually nothing else to distract the spectator from the work.

Highlights of the show included Peter Gronquist’s newest artistic direction: a hypnotic three-dimensional sanded window painting that plays with light and feels like a departure from his previous work but still emanates with his workmanlike spirit. Also featured were two jaw-dropping tapestries from Erin Riley where she used selfie photos as her muse. Riley’s intricacy seems almost unfathomable when viewed in person. Souther Salazar maintains his identifiable, brilliant style with a new work that begs for multiple viewings given his flair for detail and distinctive use of color. Jesse Hazelip, Brian Donnelly, Christine Wu, Meryl Pataky, Shawn Huckins, and Michael Alm are just a few of the twenty artists who brought their “A” game and made the show a must-see event.

October 23rd - November 30th, 2015 Stephanie Chefas Projects 305 SE 3rd Ave #202 Portland, OR 97214 www.stephaniechefas.com