NATIONALE

FAREWELL, FRIENDS

5408miles — Sun, 27 May 2012 19:10:39 -0700

Time to say goodbye to William Damiano’s creatures. What a good time we had.

STUDIO VISIT + SNEAK PEEK

5408miles — Sun, 27 May 2012 19:04:00 -0700

Very exciting: Rikki Rothenberg’s exhibition opens Wednesday. Reception First Friday.

First photograph © Kathleen Keogh.

FOXES AND GENUINE DOGS, IT'S A WHOLE NEW WORLD

5408miles — Fri, 25 May 2012 18:06:09 -0700

In order of appearance: Patricia Poodle Stats, Patricia Poodle Costumes 1, Fox Family Movie Project, Fox Family Football, Fox Family 1,000,000, Fox Family Sgt Peppers.

All work 2012, ink and watercolors on paper, dimensions variable. Please email info@nationale.us for a price list and visit our website for more images.

William Damiano’s solo exhibition closes this Sunday May 27th, 6 p.m.

CONGRATS, OLO

5408miles — Thu, 24 May 2012 18:01:00 -0700

Congratulations to Heather Sielaff of Olo for being featured on Cool Hunting. We’re looking forwards to adding a couple old favorites to our small selection in the coming weeks…

Currently in stock by OLO: Nationale 6/7, Jmaes, Leisure Nomad, and the rose/cedarwood argan oil hair tonic ($34-45).

PLAYLIST + REMAINING STORIES FROM OUR MIR04

5408miles — Thu, 24 May 2012 17:14:00 -0700

SMOKING HORSE PRINT:

Signed/numbered, limited edition 11.5” x 17” prints, $10, printed at Container Corps

“About five years ago I was walking down Burnside near Old Town and spotted a beat-up playing card on the ground. Staring at me faceup was the Joker, which I thought was kinda funny. But it was the image on the flip side that blew me away—a black and white portrait of a horse framed in bright red. Twenty minutes later I was drinking a cup of coffee at the Half & Half, my favorite hangout back then. I had the coveted window seat. Don’t know if it was the warm magic hour sunlight or the coffee was especially good that day, but I was inspired to take out my pencil and eraser and doctor the card as you see here.”

CERAMIC BUCK HEAD:

Made by Gretchen Vaudt, $12

“When I was a little kid, I joined the Manikiki Nation Y-Indian Guides, along with my little brother and pop. We’d meet once a month with other tribal members to make crafts, play games, tell stories and eat pepperoni pizza. I remember going camping once—canoeing, too—and learning how to start a fire by rubbing two sticks together. As part of my membership, I got a patch (which my mom sewed onto my suede fringe vest), a colorful headband, and a new name—Running Deer. I was proud of my name because I thought it sounded fast and cool. I even burned it into a piece of wood with my wood burning kit I got for Christmas that year. I’ve liked all things deer ever since, especially these ceramic pieces made by Portland artist Gretchen Vaudt. Her Native American name, by the way, is Hanging Possum—bestowed by the Boys & Girls Club of St. Cloud, Minnesota when she was 10.”

BUCKMAN BOW & ARROW SET:

Made by Brendan Budge, $45

“I met my friend Brendan about 10 years ago, not long after he had emigrated from Appalachia, his motherland. In his Buckman neighborhood apartment, the one that towers over Sassy’s, he dreams up—and then makes entirely by hand—the coolest shit. Take his bow and arrow sets, for example. He delivered these to me on a drizzly afternoon while we were standing in line ordering burritos at Robo Taco. After we filled our bellies, I asked him to step outside and demonstrate the flyness of his latest creation. He moved to the edge of the curb, waited for a few cars to pass, then shot an arrow clear across Morrison Ave. Brendan makes his bow and arrow sets out of hickory, birch, cherry and walnut. Note that he caps each arrow with a rubber thingy, so you don’t hurt yourself.”

All images/text © Norm Sajovie (MIR04)

LIVE, LOVE, LAUGH, BUT DON'T FORGET TO CRY

5408miles — Sun, 20 May 2012 13:33:05 -0700

BETWEEN HERE AND THERE

5408miles — Sat, 19 May 2012 16:42:00 -0700

We’ve been waiting a while for Delaney Allen’s book to be re-printed after the first edition sold out, and it’s now done. Publication studio did an amazing job (yay for their new printer). Love the new, soft gray cover.

Between Here and There by Delaney Allen: A semi-autobiographical account of the final year of a long distance relationship. Combining photographic imagery and personal emails, the book depicts love in all its powerful and tragic nature. Selected by Bruno Ceschel to be on the 2010 “best of” book list in Photo-Eye Magazine. Introduction by Sydney S. Kim.

$25
102 pp.
8.25” x 9.35”

GUTS

5408miles — Fri, 18 May 2012 18:31:21 -0700

Come get your free, limited edition, and generally awesome Brad Adkins poster, we have a few in. It’s an announcement for a show Adkins is curating next month at Ditch Project in Springfield, OR. Awesome line-up + you have nothing to lose.

TOM GREENWOOD

5408miles — Thu, 17 May 2012 19:07:00 -0700

Forgot to post a big thank you to Tom Greenwood (of Jackie-O) for performing here a couple weeks ago and sharing his experience from his recent time in Paris. It was such a special night. Vanessa Renwick was here and also talked about her experience in Paris, Norm was here, Jessi and Ilyas were here, Rikki was here. Hell, even Brad Adkins showed up!

Before going back to LA, Tom left us a few limited edition recordings of his “Live in Tokyo” with Tetuzi Akiyama CDs, $10 (ed. 25). Come get one. It’s quiet and perfect.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS: JUNE EVENTS

5408miles — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:13:08 -0700

WOOLLY MAMMOTH COMES TO DINNER | DANCE PERFORMANCE

Friday June 8th, 2012
7pm
$3 | Free for our members

Woolly Mammoth Comes to Dinner is an aesthetically-inclined, trans-pop-culture, dance-therapy performance group formed in Portland, OR in 2006 by Katie Arrants, Kathleen Keogh, and Rikki Rothenberg. Together hey have performed in venues ranging from burned-out buildings to black box theaters to downtown alleyways. Traversing between hilarious absurdity and a dark intensity, they bring audiences to the precipice of tantalizing confusion.

“Woolly Mammoth Comes to Dinner have been refining a kind of awkward-sexy that is starting to be amazing. They are mining the discomfort of attraction-repulsion schemes, working with a turn-on simultaneously negated. I like that Woolly has the courage to be ugly with their body positions, voices and makeup. It’s high fashion. It’s somebody’s obsession – the power of humiliation and boldness. It’s a come-hither confrontation. The twinge of uneasy moments are not just exploited but extended and explored. (…) Woolly has been building a language of such moments.” —Seth Nehil for PICA.

This will be the group’s fifth performance at Nationale and the second one featuring all three founding members (Katie Arrants lives and works in Seattle, WA).

Image © Allison Halter

ALLIE HANKINS | DANCE PERFORMANCE

Saturday June 23rd, 2012
7pm
$3 | Free for our members

Like a Sun That Pours Forth Light but Never Warmth unfolds against a backdrop of gold-bathed muscle and lurid color. Sourcing pivotal moments from Vaslav Nijinsky’s life and dance history, Allie Hankins constructs an amalgamation of herself and several of Nijinsky’s most poignant roles. Steering imitation into the realm of transformation and self-discovery, she confronts isolation, desire, and movement’s capacity to engender lust, repugnance, confusion and elation.

Allie Hankins currently performs as a member of the Seattle-based performance group Salt Horse, and was the movement designer for Implied Violence’s The Dorothy K.—with which she toured to New York’s New Island Festival and Austria’s Donau Festival.

Image © Tim Summers

M♥MS

5408miles — Sun, 13 May 2012 13:10:00 -0700

With Danielle, Teryl, and Blair. Photo John Brody (2010).

LIZ HARRIS SHIRTS

5408miles — Sun, 13 May 2012 12:12:00 -0700

Welcome home to Liz Harris who was on tour for way too long. She came in to say hi this week and dropped off some of her signature shirts (sz XS-M, $20).

LOOK WHO WENT TO MARTINIQUE

5408miles — Sat, 12 May 2012 16:13:12 -0700

Turns out the zip code for SE Portland is the same as the one for Fort-de-France, Martinique. Good for you, shoes, a bit of sun before more sun.

Our fourth summer carrying these authentic espadrilles, made by French artisans using traditional methods. Sizes 36 through 46 currently in stock, $36. Get them tight…

CARSON ELLIS FOR THE ST JOHN'S BIZARRE

5408miles — Fri, 11 May 2012 17:40:00 -0700

Featuring, in her own words, Carson Ellis’ contribution to the “Posters for Events in St. Johns that Feature the St. Johns Bridge” genre.

The bizarre is this weekend, hope you can make it!

FROM OUR MERCHANT IN RESIDENCE, NORM SAJOVIE

5408miles — Fri, 11 May 2012 14:46:07 -0700

HOBO NIGHT LIGHTS (hand-punched tin can night lights, assorted designs, all profits donated to Sisters of the Road; $6).

“I started making these for friends and family several years ago after reading about hobo symbols, those secret codes hobos and train hoppers would scrawl in chalk or coal near railyards, alerting their fellow travelers where they could find shelter, a free meal, or run into trouble. They’re a cinch to make. I punch holes in empty spaghetti sauce cans from Trader Joes—the ones that are lined gold. Those glow really nice when you stick a small candle inside. I like to light ‘em up at night when I’m sitting on the porch drinking a beer or listening to records.”—Norm Sajovie

JON RAYMOND ||| RAIN DRAGON

5408miles — Fri, 11 May 2012 13:19:00 -0700

Our members were lucky back in the spring of 2010 when Jon Raymond did a reading at Nationale of what was at the time work in progress. Two years later, Rain Dragon is here and, having just finished reading the novel, I can say that it was well worth the wait. Bloomsbury, $16, with a cover illustration from an other local fave, Patrick Long.

To understand what Raymond’s getting at here, you have to first consider his long history with regionalism. The climate and nature and temperament of the Pacific Northwest is as necessary to his writing as words and punctuation. Somewhere around the time that the characters of Rain Dragon pull away from the earth and enter an artificial, ironclad cocoon of corporate-speak and stale chain-store coffee, it becomes apparent what Raymond is doing. When we meet them, Damon and Amy are pioneers, traveling a great distance to come to the fertile Northwest in search of a new beginning, some sort of reclaimed innocence that the giants of American literature, from Whitman and Hawthorne onward, have insisted is possible. Soon enough, human desires—a need for security and familiarity—intercede, and, as the pioneers discovered, all this lush, gorgeous beauty has to make way for progress.

A lesser author would phrase what happens next in Rain Dragon as a spoiling of Eden, a tragic fall of man. Raymond understands that the truth is more complex, and infinitely more interesting, than that. This is not an up-or-down proposition. The thing about beauty and novelty and balance is that we get used to it. We take it for granted. We’re always looking for the next paradise, so we can make ourselves tired of it again, and move on.

—Paul Constant for The Stranger

Find a bit more about the novel in this great interview for Plazm. Jon’s previous books, Livibility and The Half Life, are back in stock. And stay tuned as Jon will be our next Merchant in Residence. Can’t wait to see what inspires him!

SO MUCH NEW MUSIC IN

5408miles — Sat, 05 May 2012 18:07:00 -0700

Four new fun tapes from Gnar. Includes Adrian Orange, Four Songs, $5; R Steevie Moore, Grease, $7; Young Prisms, Four Hours (Away), $5; and White Fang, Positive Feedback, $5:

MayMay’s beautiful self-titled debut EP from 2008 is now available on the Japanese label Flau and, for you Portland fans, at Nationale ($10). MayMay is Laurel Simmons:

It was so great to welcome Neal Morgan last month for his performance at Nationale. We now have his new record, In the Yard, in both tapes and LP format ($5-12):

GROUPER + TINY VIPERS = MIRRORING, Foreign Body, LP $15 on Kranky:

GROUPER + ILYAS AHMED = VISITOR EP, $15 (rare, Social Music Club):

We unfortunately no longer ship LPs.

THUMBS UP, INDEED

5408miles — Sat, 05 May 2012 15:35:00 -0700

What an honor to finally meet this month’s artist, William Damiano, and his amazing grand-mother, Odette, who moved here from France after WWII. Had so much fun hearing her speak and, as the wise French woman she is, she made sure to get some Marseille soap before leaving.

Also thank you to everyone who showed up and made last night a successful, if early, First Friday. Should Jeremy’s dog, Nolte, become our mascot?

BACK IN STOCK

5408miles — Sat, 05 May 2012 14:01:00 -0700

TELL MUM EVERYTHING IS OK #5, $20

LIBBY COLE ODE TO GODARD TOTES FOR NATIONALE, $20

WILDER QUARTERLY #2, $18.95

PAPIER D’ARMÉNIE CANDLES, LA ROSE, $42 (price increase per Papier d’Arménie due to hike in essential oils and wax costs).

THE NEIGHBORHOOD & SPREADING THE WORD

5408miles — Thu, 03 May 2012 16:54:00 -0700

So yes, a lot is going on these days in our Inner South East neighborhood and it will be exciting to see what happens in the next couple years as the area continues to develop. In the meantime, a few folks are getting organized and have updated a map of First Friday happenings, and a First Friday Facebook page as well. Hopefully this effort will help promote our neighborhood at a time when Visual Arts listings have become so hard to get despite abiding to everyone’s press deadlines (thank you nonetheless to the Portland Mercury’s online listing, the Oregonian’s A & E section, and portland or us now in helping us reach out to larger audiences).

Events of note tomorrow night: we have new neighbors upstairs at the 811 mall and they’ve asked none other than Jason Brown of Half/Dozen, to curate their space with a great opening line-up: Calvin Ross Carl, Ashley Sloan, and Nathanael Thayer Moss??? Uh, yes please! Also upstairs, a black and white photography group show at Black Box gallery. Downstairs: Bombshell Vintage, Aequanimitas, and Julia Barbee are all staying open late, Brent Wear shows at Redux, and fashion photographer Natasha Estelle takes over HAUNT. On E Burnside: Carl Diehl’s Drone Kitsch opens at Half/Dozen, film art by Stephen Scott Smith at Machus, Julianna Swaney at Lille, and just a bit further south: W+K12 at Union/Pine and the amazing Amy Bernstein and Emily Nachison in a group show at Worksound.

But be assured, the good tunes will be at Nationale as we will be playing William Damiano’s favorite radio station: WILD 107.5!