Opening on the same night as Space//Form in Portland, artist Mike Maxwell (pictured on the right above with Jocelyn Duke, Mark Dean Veca and Hellion owner Matt Wagner) curated a group exhibition at Hellion Gallery. Taking the exhibition’s title Live Free from the regular series of podcast interviews with fellow artists and creatives, and also his own ethos on life (see Mike’s tattooed knuckles in one of our pictures below), Maxwell brought together a selection of artists he has interviewed over time. With the podcast series running over 80 deep so far, Mike had a wealth of artists to draw upon for the exhibit.
Participating artists include Brett Amory, Jason Barrr, Pakayla Biehn, Jason Botkin, Kelsey Brookes, Ana Brown, Niko Burke, Fred Caron, Paul Chatem, Joshua Clay, Jocelyn Duke, Carly Ealy, PJ Fidler, Blaine Fontana, Mike Giant, Charles Glaubitz, Bob Green, Ben Grillo, Robert Hardgrave, Sergio Hernandez, Michael Hsiung, Mel Kadel, Joshua Krause, Ti Kunkit, Kevin Ledo, Freddy Lockhart, Kirsten McCrea, Travis Millard, Michael Page, Alex Pardee, Justin Parker, Daryll Peirce, Dave Persue, Kevin Peterson, Rafa Reyes, Issac Randonzz, Johnny “KMNDZ” Rodriguez, Lisa Romero, Brent Sandor, Skinner, Ryan Jacob Smith, Kevin Earl Taylor, Duncan Trussell, Ben Walker, Peat Wollaeger, Jasmine Worth, and Mark Dean Veca.
We especially enjoyed works by Mark Dean Veca, Jocelyn Duke, Kelsey Brooks, Brett Amory, Mike Giant, Blaine Fontana, Michael C. Hsuing and of course Mike Maxwell‘s pieces too. Following the opening of the shows, Mike and I parted ways and agreed that curating group shows in the same city at the same time was definitely to be considered for the future!
If you haven’t checked out the Live Free Podcast series previously, then give it a try. Mike’s easy going personality prompts interesting dialogue with the artists he chats with – it’s well worth checking out.
