Barbara Black and Angela Passalacqua discuss works from their new show (February 2021) at Blackfish Gallery in Portland, Oregon's Pearl District. Poet Merridawn Duckler reads a short piece, entitled "art or love, equally.

Ekphrastic Poetry! and the Slow Regard of Hidden Things

Gem by gem, the “Ekphrastic Poetry!” video builds at each moment, uncovering new meanings in Myra Clark’s art installation “The Slow Regard of Hidden Things” on view at Blackfish Gallery in Portland, Oregon in January 2021. Debby Schauffler, Jessica Lynn Skinner, and Michelle Delaine Williams plumb the language of hidden things as only poets can, reveling in the use of their art form to paint new and evocative images based on Clark's art. Also featured is Emma Waite and her virtuoso piano accompaniment, serving as bookends for each of the poetry readings.

Watching the second video of this series, "The Slow Regard of Hidden Things and Music of Hildegard von Bingen," is also recommended for the full context of the show in relation to the ekphrastic poetry offered in this final video of this three-part series

“The Slow Regard of Hidden Things” is an installation by Portland (OR) artist Myra Clark. It is a quiet oasis in the midst of today’s news and events. Simultaneously, the artist’s deep introspection is very timely about what it means to be a white, middle-class woman who is an artist, wife, and mother. Pairing the ethereal music of Hildegard von Bingen, 12th-Century mystic, abbess, artist, composer, philosopher, and theologian, Sarah Faux matches the songs to the exhibit perfectly. Clark’s resulting artist talk captures the interplay of the individual and the collective context for making art in the US culture at this time.

“The Slow Regard of Hidden Things” is on view throughout January 2021 at Blackfish Gallery in Portland, Oregon’s Pearl District (420 NW Ninth Avenue).

Visit www.blackfish.com for more information about artist Myra Clark, a virtual tour, and photographs of this exhibit.special music by Hildegard von Bingen)