Riot Grrrl Today: Alien She Finally Comes to Portland

Saturday, August 01, 2015

Hilary Devaney, GoLocalPDX Contributor

Image courtesy of PNCA

Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA) and Museum of Contemporary Craft will be hosting the traveling exhibition Alien She. The exhibition features seven artists influenced by the Riot Grrrl movement that emerged in the early 1990s in the Pacific Northwest and Washington D.C. The works span multiple disciplines and mediums – including sculpture, installation, fiber, video, documentary film, photography, drawing, printmaking, new media, social practice, curation, music, writing, and performance – playing out the versatility of the DIY ethic that the movement promoted. The exhibition will feature past and new works by these artists, telling a visual story of their individual creative trajectories.

Riot Grrl developed as a response to the pervasive and often violent sexism, racism, and homophobia in both the punk music scene as well as the dominant culture in America. Its power drew from the necessity of creating a network and community that reflects the values and experiences of teen and twenty-something young women and queer people. It was sustained through zines, letters, local meetings, regional conferences, homemade videos, and later, chat rooms, listservs, and message boards. The movement grew to such a point that it’s opened chapters across the U.S. and in at least twenty-six other countries. Its influence is seen today with the Russian collective Pussy Riot’s political activism, Tavi Gevinson’s online teen-contributor-based magazine Rookie (which she started at 15), and the rise of Girls Rock Camps around the world, among others.

Photo documentation of The Swan Tool, performance by Miranda July, 2001, photograph by David Nakamoto

For the Portland exhibition, New Jersey Riot Grrrl Jessica Funaro is editing a new mega-zine in which contributors such as Donna Dresch of Team Dresch, Khaela Maricich of The Blow, and Lisa Schonberg, AKA Drummer, are invited to make pages on how the ideas and community surrounding Riot Grrrl are impacting life today. Chloe Eudaly, Independent Publishing Resource Center co-founder and owner of Reading Frenzy, will organize a library of contemporary local zines for the exhibition's zine section, showcasing the evolution of Riot Grrrl politics in the present. A spotlight on the history of Bitch Magazine, which presents a feminist response to popular culture and began as a self-published zine, will include some of the very first issues of the critically acclaimed magazine.

Alien She opens September 3, 2015 and runs through January 9, 2016 at PNCA venues including the 511 Gallery and Museum of Contemporary Craft.

Related Slideshow: Party Report: 1st Thursday at PNCA’s new Pearl District Home

Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA) hosted its first First Thursday event on March 5, from 6-9 p.m, at theire new campus flagship, the Arlene and Harold Schnitzer Center for Art and Design.

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Angela and Aaron

PICA's Angela Mattox and OPB's Aaron Scott.

PNCA’s first First Thursday attracted hundreds of people, involved lots of refreshments (popcorn and wine) and was an opportunity for the public to explore the school’s art galleries and student projects. The gallery currently features "Gathering Autonomy: Justseeds Artists’ Cooperative," a cooperative of 30 artists whose work focuses on radical social, environmental, and political topics. There was also work from PNCA students, alumni, and faculty presented at the gallery on the third floor. And there was lots of banging from a community drum circle.