Blackfish Gallery

Blackfish Gallery Blackfish Gallery, owned & operated by working artists since 1979
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This is the last week to view the special exhibition Many Bridges centering on east -west cultural exchange-- artistic b...
05/27/2026

This is the last week to view the special exhibition Many Bridges centering on east -west cultural exchange-- artistic bridges connecting places, people, and multiple heritages that creatively contributes to diversity and harmony.

Featured artist:

Miyajima Masayuki

Artist Statement
Why, in both the East and the West, are we, as makers, users, viewers, and collectors, so deeply impressed by ceramics made hundreds of years ago?
Naturally, preservation and survival have left what is available for us to experience. Within these, even the shards and fragments stimulate our imaginations.
I think about the potters and makers of long ago and wonder about how they approached their work and what they thought about while working at the wheel.
I would be happy if I could, in some small way, make a connection to that work from long ago.

Masayuki Miyajima
Pitcher
Iron Rich Stoneware Clay, Carved, White Slip
Cone 9 Gas Reduction
7.5” x 7” x 5.5”

Masayuki Miyajima
Vase
Porcelain, Inlaid, Grasses Pattern
Cone 9 Gas Reduction
11” x 5” x 5”

Coming in June.Blackfish Gallery is honored to present BLACK MATTER, now in its eighth iteration, which has grown into m...
05/26/2026

Coming in June.

Blackfish Gallery is honored to present BLACK MATTER, now in its eighth iteration, which has grown into more than an exhibition—it’s a sustained act of community-building among Black artists in Oregon. What has emerged is not only a network, but a family grounded in care, connection, and creative exchange.

Rooted in the legacy of creative autonomy that has defined Blackfish Gallery for nearly five decades, BLACK MATTER invites audiences to invest deeply in the artists and their work. It calls for a relationship built on attention, respect, and genuine engagement with the ideas and futures these artists are shaping.

This exhibition resists the limitations often placed on Black artistic expression. Rather than centering narratives of trauma or political agendas, BLACK MATTER creates space for Black artists to exist fully and freely—exploring abstraction, intimacy, joy, memory, and contradiction on their own terms.

The works presented here are diverse in form and approach, united not by a single theme but by a shared commitment to self-definition and honesty. Together, they form a living archive of contemporary Black voices—expansive, evolving, and rooted in presence.

BLACK MATTER is both an invitation and a call to action: to witness without assumption, to engage without reduction, and to recognize Black artistic expression as vital to our cultural landscape.

BLACK MATTER artists:
Ebony Frison
Nia Musiba
Jocelyn Rice
Philip A Robinson
Melanie Stevens

Blackfish artists:
Eddie Reed
Mae Al-Jiboori

Image:
Melanie Stevens
Reflection II: Charles In Form
Linocut Print
23” x 30”
2023


This month Blackfish Gallery celebrates Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islanders Heritage (AANHPI) month b...
05/26/2026

This month Blackfish Gallery celebrates Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islanders Heritage (AANHPI) month by presenting the special exhibition Many Bridges. The exhibition will feature the work of Mashiko ceramic artists from Japan, local Portland AANHPI artists, AANHPI Blackfish member artists, as well as interpretations of the theme by Blackfish members in the James Hibbard Gallery show “BFG Artists Connecting With Bridges” Up through May 30th.
Don’t miss it!

Images:

Merridawn Duckler:
“Cliché Interrupted By An Object, Series1”
text on paper, mixed media
11” x 14”
2026

Noah Alexander Isaac Stein:
All Father’s Ravens / Source, Spirit, and Flesh / Anattā
Oil and wax on panel
9″ x 12″
NFS
2025

Jerry Svoboda:
Gratitude for Joe
27” x 19”
2026

Jana Demartini:
Quaint Reality
color pencil
18” x 15”

Myra Clark:
Moonboat
Acrylic on wood panel
18” x 14”

Today! May 24th from 3-5pm!Don’t miss the Closing reception of MANY BRIDGES - with koto performance by Masumi Timson at ...
05/24/2026

Today! May 24th from 3-5pm!
Don’t miss the Closing reception of MANY BRIDGES - with koto performance by Masumi Timson at Blackfish Gallery.

About Masumi:
Masumi provides a variety of musical sessions, depending on your musical and performance requirements:solo performance, collaboration with the Shakuhachi (Japanese traditional bamboo flute), or other western instruments such as piano, flute, violin, and harmonica etc. She greatly enjoys the unique musical experience of collaborating with other instruments from different parts of the world, which brings cultures together and helps develop cultural awareness – reminding us that music is boundless, and that we can bring peace to the world through music. In addition to her solo performances with musical groups and artists both in Japan and the USA, Masumi instructs the Koto Club at Willamette University and teaches and records at her own home studio in Salem, Oregon.
Masumi has performed in multicultural festivals, exhibitions and shows, corporate and promotional events, weddings, funerals, public libraries, schools, retirement homes, assisted living and care facilities, museums, nature and park settings, and restaurants. She often performs and presents Koto music demonstrations at the Portland Japanese Garden in Oregon.

There is still one more week to enjoy our special invitational exhibition, titled “Many Bridges” honoring Asian American...
05/23/2026

There is still one more week to enjoy our special invitational exhibition, titled “Many Bridges” honoring Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islanders Heritage Month. The exhibition features ten Mashiko ceramic artists from Japan and ten local AANHPI artists. On view through May 30th.

Image:
Ryo Suzuki
Altered Vessel
Stoneware, with trail glazing
4.5" x 15" x 7"

島岡 桂／KEI SHIMAOKA“I create my pieces mainly using the Jomon inlay technique, which I inherited from my predecessor, Tats...
05/23/2026

島岡 桂／KEI SHIMAOKA
“I create my pieces mainly using the Jomon inlay technique, which I inherited from my predecessor, Tatsuzo Shimaoka.
Recently, I have had more opportunities to fire in a variety of wood-fired kilns in a variety of locations, and I have come to enjoy mixing clays and glazes that suit them.
I think the variety of clays and glazes I use has also increased over the years. Inevitably, the patterns have become simpler, and I have come to consider the balance between the clay, glaze, and pattern.
I create pottery through trial and error with various clays, glazes, firing methods, etc., and although it seems like the challenges are increasing each time, I feel that this is also what makes this job so interesting, and I immerse myself in pottery every day.”
Image 1:
Guitar
In the invitational exhibition Many Bridges, celebrating and honoring Asian Americans, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islanders. On view through May 30th. Curated by Blackfish member Ruri.

Palmarin Merges draws inspiration from the palengke, or open-air market inBantog, Pangasinan, recalling her memories of ...
05/22/2026

Palmarin Merges draws inspiration from the palengke, or open-air market in
Bantog, Pangasinan, recalling her memories of visiting with her mother in the
Philippines. Amidst the bustle, she noticed piles of handmade bathmats stitched
from old clothes — humble, utilitarian, deeply human objects. Through community
workshops, she invites participants to transform their own unused or discarded
garments into woven bathmats, creating abstract self-portraits through color,
pattern, and fabric.

Merges is one of ten local artists participating in our Many Bridges Exhibition celebrating AANHPI Heritage Month

Images:
Palengke Party Mat: Black Stripey w/O,u
mixed media collage
15” x 21” (horizontal) 2026

Palengke Party Mat: A-side Nuclear, B-side woven from old love letter
mixed media collage
15” x 21” (horizontal) 2026

Come see the Many Bridges exhibition celebrating and honoring AANHPI Heritage Month. Yuji Hiratsuka, is among the twenty...
05/22/2026

Come see the Many Bridges exhibition celebrating and honoring AANHPI Heritage Month. Yuji Hiratsuka, is among the twenty artists that make up the exhibition.

Hiratsuka's work examines metaphor using the human form. Hiratsuka pairs the figure with garments, fruit, vegetables, furniture, animals, etc. reminiscent of traditional Japanese Ukiyo-e prints, but also expressive of contemporary western society.

Images:
Thorn Angel
Intaglio
36 x 24”
2023

Hort Club Sale
Intaglio and Chine Collé
24 x 18”(image)
2024

Address

938 NW Everett
Portland, OR
97209

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Tuesday 11am - 5pm
Wednesday 11am - 5pm
Thursday 11am - 5pm
Friday 11am - 5pm
Saturday 11am - 5pm

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+15032242634

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