Something From Nothing
23 Sandy Gallery is pleased to present Something from Nothing, paintings by Chris Haberman January 3 through February 2, 2008. Inspired by comic books, curbside discards and popular culture, Haberman creates intense, vibrant pieces so literate that you wonder if they are paintings or poetry. Haberman’s paintings are sometimes autobiographical, but most often offer up complex commentaries on pop culture, politics or current social issues. He is not afraid to create art about hot button issues ranging from AIDS to religion to Wal-Mart.
Haberman’s favorite inspiration is his fast-changing hometown. He grew up in Portland and earned a masters degree in creative writing from PSU. It wasn’t until his last year of graduate school that he discovered painting and since then has become adept at crossing genres. His visual poetry paintings are multi-layered convergences of figures and words so complex that it is hard to look at his paintings and see the same thing twice. In his one-man show at 23 Sandy Gallery Haberman promises to create several dimensional paintings on post-consumer found objects ranging from cabinet doors to a poker table demonstrating his mission to make “something from nothing.”
Chris Haberman is a published poet, painter, musician and arts activist. He curates art exhibits at several venues around Portland including the new Olympic Mills building. This summer he organized the Foster Street Artwalk and is currently organizing the upcoming Artist Clean Up and ArtPal events. And still, this busy guy somehow manages to paint almost every day.
Artist Statement/Biography
Chris Haberman is a working writer, painter and musician native to the Portland area. He has shown artwork around town for the last six years. Aside from painting, he has published poetry, journalism and fiction; being awarded the Tom Doulis Fiction award, the Wilma Morrison award for excellence in journalism and is a member to the Academy of American Poets.
All of Chris Haberman’s artwork is created on found (post-consumer materials) objects, given or “found” on the streets and alleyways of Portland, OR, a discarded cabinet door, a table top or the occasional battered street sign quickly becomes the backdrop for a integrated puzzle of human figures. The multitude of images pushed together with words, objects and figures reflects the complexity of our modern life. The images created are “folk-art” in nature, a spontaneous layering of bright color and art material (paint, glue, charcoal, ink pen, oil stick, lipstick, etc. ) reflecting people, politics, the region, pop-culture, media, music, film and literature.
