This BLACK MATTER, the 8th iteration in five years, has begun to build more than a community; we are a family of Black artists connecting and caring for each other. This coming together of voices tells boundless truths worthy of our candid consideration. BLACK MATTER speaks unapologetically of black life past, present, and future. We, as audiences, curators, and fellow artists, must rise to the responsibility of seeing them fully. Blackfish Gallery was born from the wisdom of solidarity.

Through mutual investment, Blackfish Gallery has thrived in Portland for 47 years. BLACK MATTER in this space asks us to invest ourselves into an expansive relationship with the artists and their voices. To invest meaningfully in their ideas, their skills, and their future, as essential threads in our cultural

fabric. To let ourselves be so moved, to show genuine love for the gifts they birth. LINK TO FULL STATEMENT

More Work by the Exhibiting Artists

Art is an ongoing conversation between human beings about the meaning of life. Through the use of social realist storytelling, color rich action painting, and sacred symbolism, my art strives to spark "meaning of life" conversations that question America's social constructs and contradictory moods concerning beauty, taste, race, and power.

More Work by Eddie Reed

Drawn to the human condition and thought-provoking art that forces its viewer to feel a sense of vulnerability. My work explores how closeness can both ground and unravel us — revealing the state of constant negotiation between connection and loss. It is less about depicting figures and more about revealing the inner pulse of being — the sensation of living within conflict, desire, and the endless attempt to reach toward another.

More Work by Mae Al-Jiboori