DOUGLAS F. COOLEY MEMORIAL ART GALLERY, REED COLLEGE EXHIBITIONS | CALLIGRAPHY INITIATIVE | K-12 OUTREACH | ABOUT | CONTACT | ART DEPARTMENT | REED HOME This fall at the Douglas F. Cooley Memorial Art Gallery, Reed College No Face, No Case: Portraiture’s Breaking September 9 – December 5, 2021 Part of the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art’s 2021 Time-Based Art Festival Organized by the curators of the No Face, No Case Collective The exhibition is open by appointment to the Reed community. Email cooley@reed.edu to schedule a visit. ARTISTS: Laura Aguilar; Nayland Blake; Georganne Deen; Omer Fast; Ann Hamilton; Jim Hodges; Y.Z. Kami; Mariko Mori; Yasumasa Morimura; Catherine Opie; Andres Serrano; Gary Simmons; and Nari Ward How do we relate to images of the self when the self is in a state of breakdown? How do we contend with artworks that claim to represent others? These are some of the central concerns of the Cooley Gallery exhibition No Face, No Case: Portraiture’s Breaking. Composed of painting, photography, sculpture, and video, the works in the exhibition confront portraiture’s complex historical status as a site of power, capital, and innocence. Made by a group of visionary artists between 1990 and 2005, the works in No Face, No Case demand a reconsideration of portraiture’s agency and legibility. The works also speak to police and government surveillance tactics intended to accuse individuals by capturing their faces. So while many of the works in No Face, No Case do not look or feel like portraiture, they all force an encounter with the broken self. The works in the exhibition weredonated to the Reed College Art Collection by the Peter Norton Collection. Peter Norton is a Reed College alumnus (class of ’65), emeritus trustee, celebrated arts patron, and philanthropist who became a serious art collector in the early 1990s, commissioning the work of LGBTQ+ and BIPOC artists during the AIDS crisis and the Culture Wars, and supporting major museum exhibitions—most notably the Black Male exhibition organized by Thelma Golden, which took place at the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1994. No Face, No Case: Portraiture’s Breaking was organized by the No Face No Case Collective—the students and faculty of the fall 2020 Reed College Art History course Making an Exhibition, including Cooley curator Stephanie Snyder.The collective carefully researched and considered the more than seventy works of art donated to the college by Norton. This included the identification of art historical, philosophical, and critical texts that influenced the conceptual underpinnings of Norton’s collecting project, and the exhibition. The curators’ experience of organizing Making an Exhibition was incontrovertibly influenced by the Covid-19 pandemic, and the national reckoning with anti-black racism that defined 2020. Working over Zoom, the curators struggled to communicate through the software’s often pixelated, uncanny environment. These conditions mirror the increasingly refracted, fragmentary, and violent nature of contemporary visual culture. Image: Georganne Deen A Child's Garden of Criticism, 1996 Oil and collage on linen Courtesy the Reed College Art Collection Photo: Nina Johnson THE DOUGLAS F. COOLEY MEMORIAL ART GALLERY, REED COLLEGE 3203 SE WOODSTOCK BLVD. PORTLAND, OREGON 97202-8199 HOURS: NOON TO 5 P.M., TUESDAY – SUNDAY, FREE LOCATED ON THE MAIN FLOOR OF THE REED LIBRARY The mission of the Douglas F. Cooley Memorial Art Gallery is to enhance the academic offerings of Reed College with a diverse range of scholarly exhibitions, lectures, and colloquia in its role as a teaching gallery. The gallery was established by a generous 1988 gift from Sue and Edward Cooley and John and Betty Gray "in support of the teaching of art history at Reed College, as part of an interdisciplinary educational experience that strengthens the art history component of Reed's distinctive humanities program." Exhibitions are coordinated in collaboration with Reed faculty members and courses, with attention to the needs and interests of the larger Portland and Northwest arts communities. A schedule of three to four exhibitions during the academic year brings to Reed and the Portland community work that would not otherwise be seen in the region. Stephanie Snyder John and Anne Hauberg Curator and Director Office: 503.777.7251 Fax: 503.788.6691 Cell: 503.367.7004 snyders[at]reed.edu Colleen Gotze Registrar and Program Coordinator Office: 503.517.7851 Fax: 503.788.6691 gotzec[at]reed.edu Greg MacNaughton Education Outreach Coordinator Calligraphy Initiative Coordinator Office: 503-517-7677 Cell: 503.929-3663 Fax: 503.788.6691 macnaugg[at]reed.edu Please email Registrar Colleen Gotze to be added to the Cooley Gallery announcement list and for general gallery questions.