On display: February 7 – March 2, 2018 Reception: Thursday, March 1, 6–9 PM
Curated by Andrew D. Jankowski
*** Carla Rossi is Portland’s premier drag clown, the Ghost of White Privilege (and, as she would say, that’s funny because white privilege will never die), and Portland’s third best regional celebrity – second only to two. Whether due to soulful artistic need or a demonstrable lack of marketable skills, I share my body and skin and voice with Carla, occasionally letting her possess me to offer a clown’s take on whiteness, gender, and the American Dream as pursued by an immortal trickster demon. As a half-Native (Grand Ronde) and half-white gender-confused millennial whatsit, Carla functions as my Coyote, as the best way I know to critique whiteness and negotiate gender in the world and within myself. And for the last five or so of her eight years I've collected prints of Carla’s face every night after a show. Each print is taken with a Neutrogena™ makeup wipe, calmly massaged and pressed into my pores as I scream and struggle out of layers of tights, shapers, pads, glitter, glue, and tape. I've now accumulated around 200 prints providing evidence of this ephemeral entity – like Veronica’s veil, each offering a trace of Portland's clown queen and her evolution alongside an ever-changing city.
As part of closing reception for on March 1 from 6 - 8 PM, Carla Rossi will provide a keynote address about the artistic process and why she's too good for it.
Anthony Hudson is a multidisciplinary artist, performer, and filmmaker perhaps best known as Portland’s premier drag clown CARLA ROSSI, an immortal trickster whose attempts at realness almost always result in fantastic failure. Anthony & Carla host and program their LGBTQ film series QUEER HORROR bimonthly at the historic Hollywood Theatre, and Anthony’s new play STILL LOOKING FOR TIGER LILY is in process at Artists Repertory Theatre. Its companion piece, Anthony’s storytelling cabaret LOOKING FOR TIGER LILY, is making its New England premiere at Dartmouth College in April 2018. Find out more at TheCarlaRossi.com.
*** The Littman Gallery and White Gallery are student-run exhibition spaces at Portland State University. Our mission is to provide the tools for a critical experience of visual culture through direct exposure to a comprehensive program of contemporary art for students and community members. We envision the Littman and White Galleries as centers for cultural enrichment where an indispensable art experience is accessible to all perspectives and levels of education.
