Kenny Scharf's Columns Come of Age

In yesterday’s Oregonian, columnist Margie Boulé lamented the presence in Portland of many kitschy roadside attractions or lowbrow icons, á la Route 66 plaster dinosaurs or Hollywood’s eponymous hillside sign. But I’d like to nominate a public art project that has become an increasing favorite of mine, albeit not necessarily a lowbrow work: Kenny Scharf’s colorful tiki totems at Jamison Square along Northwest 11th Avenue between Marshall and Lovejoy.

Although I confess to not being a fan of most public art (the chained logs at the base of the ODS Tower particularly come to mind), Scharf’s columns are definitely an exception. But I didn't always feel that way.

Scharf is one of the most internationally known artists whose work appears in Portland’s public realm. He was a contemporary of such 80s icons as Jean-Michelle Basquiat, Keith Haring and Julian Schnabel. Scharf was brought here by Portlander Paige Powell, former Interview magazine associate editor and one of Andy Warhol’s closest friends by the time he died, as the inaugural project from the now defunct Pearl Arts Foundation.

Despite Scharf’s pedigree, however, the totems didn’t go over extraordinarily well at first. When the 30-foot-high "Tikitotmoniki", as they’re officially known, were first unveiled in 2001, the surrounding neighborhood was situated on the very edge of existing Pearl development (perhaps beyond). Standing there all but alone, Scharf’s totems looked silly and yet somehow a little sad as well, like a comedian performing standup before a near-empty room of disinterested patrons. What’s more, some grumbled that we should be supporting local artists instead of a Reagan-era New York has-been.

As art critic D.K. Row pointed out recently in an Oregonian survey of local public art, “the whimsical Popsicle pieces have evolved into visionary works,” and “…symbolize the values of this upscale oasis filled with high-end retail stores, restaurants, condos, fashionable singles and yoga studios.” But I think they go further than that.

Unlike most public art I’ve ever seen, Scharf’s totems have a disarming sense of fun to them, yet at the same time they are conceptually substantive as well. Tikitotmoniki not only takes its obvious cue from Polynesian culture, wildly popular during the midcentury era of Trader Vik’s, but the artwork also is a nod to a local artistic tradition: Native American totems.

Stylistically, the totems and their greater Pop Art context can be likened to the postmodern architectural movement that more or less crested around the same time (give or take a decade), making Tikitotmoniki a cousin of the gaudy Portland Building downtown, with its faux garland-clad, birthday gift-like façade. But this comparison goes to show that such tongue-in-cheek whimsy plays better as public art than as architecture. As one friend put it to me, architecture is the meal and public art is dessert.

And as Boulé reminded us, in a city that eschews fanciful gestures in its buildings, I think artwork like this is all the more important.

Comments

[hunter]

kudos to Homer Williams. It was his idea to cover the catenary poles with a work of art.

[Keith]

The first time I came across these - what a delight! This project should be studied to understand how it so successfully came into being. As you noted, public art is so rarely engaging, or even interesting.

(Wegman's in the park blocks - ish.)

[Jason]

As these first arrived eyes rolled, ah the plastic! Ah the misappropriation! Ah the foolery!

They are dumb. But, why do we have to be smart all the time?

Look at the kids, shrieking with delight in the Jamison Fountain, hoards of them piling out of SUVs, grinning, squealing, falling down, grandparents clicking digis, nice grass, nice chairs, sunshine, limited traffic, streetcar rumble, splash. Then the four totems, cockeyed cartoon obelisks, peering down, growling. Yikes!

The kids love 'em. And that's the final word.