Policing Justice, Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (PICA), Portland, OR, February 23 – May 19, 2024
View of Calavera Copter (background-center) and Tear Gas Map of the United States of America in 2020 (foreground-right), photos by Mario Gallucci
February 23 – May 19, 2024
Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (PICA) 15 NE Hancock St. Portland, OR, 97212
Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (PICA) announces a major forthcoming exhibition Policing Justice. Guest curated by Nina Amstutz, Associate Professor of the History of Art and Architecture at the University of Oregon, and Cleo Davis, local social construct artist, designer, educator, historian, and community leader, this exhibition examines policing practices in Portland, Oregon, and their relationship to longer local and national histories of oppression through the lens of artists who call Portland their home and those who have witnessed and documented police brutality across the globe.
The extended George Floyd protests in 2020, which lasted longer in Portland than in any other city in America and were met with over 6000+ documented instances of police use of force, serve as a point of departure to explore Portland’s history of policing in relation to racial, environmental, spatial, and juvenile justice.
Local artists and activist groups reflect on these situated histories through a series of commissioned installations, including work by Don’t Shoot Portland, Master Artist Michael Bernard Stevenson Jr. in collaboration with Blue, and Cleo Davis and Kayin Talton Davis in collaboration with Robert Clarke and Kimberly Moreland. Complementing these regional collaborations, a selection of works on loan by Alfredo Jaar, Sandy Rodriguez, and Carrie Mae Weems will situate what happened in Portland in a national context. Policing Justice will also showcase a two-part video installation by the British research and arts organization Forensic Architecture, which includes an investigation into the Portland Police Bureau’s use of tear gas against protesters in 2020, and a new work produced for this exhibition, investigating the 2022 the murder of antifascist activist June Knightly, produced in collaboration with a number of June’s friends and fellow activists. The exhibition will be accompanied by an active programming schedule, including a symposium, film series, workshops, and panel discussions, which center on locally impacted communities.
Text: Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (PICA)