DISJECTA PRESENTS:
In Site
A new project by Karl Burkheimer

February 26 - March 26, 2011
Opening Reception: Februrary 26, 2011 from 6-10pm
Gallery Hours: Fri-Sun 12-5pm

Disjecta Interdisciplinary Art Center is pleased to present In Site, new work by Portland artist Karl Burkheimer. Drawing from a wide range of interests and influences including extensive travel in the Middle East, design and construction of Japanese tea houses, and the utter love of making, Burkheimer’s project for Disjecta is his most ambitious work to date.

Burkheimer's sculptural installation will essentially occupy the entire cavernous 3500 square foot gallery space. Its sheer size would leave little room for an audience, however In Site addresses the nature of experience by becoming the very ground one walks upon. The explicit functions of the gallery, of artwork even, are turned inside out as the piece becomes the environment without adhering to doctrines of performance or purpose. In Site takes the form of a giant, planked walkway, a ramp, a barrier, yet the work suggests an unknown or esoteric use and results in an object that challenges associations and expectations of image, object, and architecture. The haptic experience of the viewer will ultimately complete the piece.

Please join us for an opening reception with the artist on February 26 from 6-10 pm. In Site will be on exhibit from February 26-March 26, 2011 at Disjecta, 8371 N Interstate Ave., Portland, Oregon. Regular gallery hours are Friday-Sunday 12-5pm and by appointment. This project is funded in part by the Oregon Arts Commission.

About the Artist:
Karl Burkheimer is an Associate Professor and Department Head of the wood program at Oregon College of Art and Craft in Portland, Oregon as well as a faculty member and mentor in the OCAC/PNCA Applied Craft and Design MFA program. He earned an MFA from Virginia Commonwealth University and a Bachelor of Environmental Design in Architecture from North Carolina State University. Prior to joining the faculty at OCAC, Karl taught design at Virginia Commonwealth University's branch campus in Qatar. His work has been exhibited throughout the United States and has received several awards of recognition, including the 2001 Virginia Museum Professional Fellowship as well as a nomination for the Henry Art Museum's Brink Award. Most recently, Burkheimer's work has been shown at the Museum of Contemporary Craft in Portland as part of the exhibition "Call + Response." His critical writing has been published in Ceramics Monthly magazine.

Curator-in-Residence:
Jenene Nagy, Portland-based curator and visual artist, has been appointed Disjecta’s first Curator-in-Residence. Throughout the 2011-2012 exhibition season, Nagy will present a series of solo shows featuring installation, site-specific and project-based works including many artists who have not had major exhibitions in Portland previously. Nagy is currently co-curator, with Josh Smith, of TILT Export:, an independent arts initiative that works in partnership with a variety of venues to produce exhibitions.

The Curator-in-Residence program is the first of its kind in the region and allows for significant engagement with a broad range of artists. Rotated on an annual cycle, the program provides an opportunity for emerging local and national curatorial talent to develop and expand the scope of their practice through a series of exhibitions in Disjecta’s dynamic 3,500 square foot space.