Site icon BikePortland

Bikes as art, all over the city

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward


Cycle Seen art show openings-13.jpg
Patrick Barber takes in bike photographs
at the Tea Zone in Northwest Portland.
More photos here
(Photos © J. Maus)

It seems like everywhere you turn in Portland these days you see bikes.

As if near daily bike parades and rides weren’t enough to convince Portlanders that this city is absolutely bike-crazy, the Cycle Seen: Picturing Portland’s Bike Culture photo and art exhibition is now on display in nine different cafes, bike shops and art galleries throughout the city.

Cycle Seen art show openings-6.jpg
Artist Shawn Granton standing in front of his work at opening night.
Cycle Seen art show openings-4.jpg
Cycle Seen director Rachel Siegel.

Cycle Seen is the brainchild of artist and educator Rachel Siegel. Siegel (and her crew of volunteers) has spent the last year putting together the exhibition. With a grant from the Regional Arts and Culture Council, they have put together an impressive collection of bike-inspired photography and art.

Cycle Seen art show openings-7.jpg
Detail from Erin Gallagher’s Hawthorne Route.

Each of the show’s nine locations features a different theme. I was at opening night of two of the locations (The Tea Zone and the Independent Publishing Resource Center) earlier this month.

At the Tea Zone, the theme of photographs is “Cycle Zone”. Not to be missed is Ken Simms’ uncanny Droplets photo (detail of it here) where thousands of tiny rain droplets capture the reflection of a bike outside a window.

At the IPRC, Siegel put together a sampling of hand-drawn bike posters and illustrations by local artists. Stencil artist Tiago DeJerk’s distinctive work hangs alongside the whimsical illustrations of Shawn Granton, and a beautiful painting of the Hawthorne Bridge by artist Erin Gallagher (in photo above).

A list of the locations and their themes are listed below. The exhibition runs through July 2nd. Learn more at CycleSeen.org.

This Saturday (6/28), Cycle Seen and Stumptown Roasters are hosting a silent auction of selected prints from the exhibit. The money raised will go to Bikes to Rwanda. Check details below:

Switch to Desktop View with Comments