Preview: Mona Superhero – The End of the Summer Series Portrait Show @ Mother Foucault’s Bookshop [PDX]

It was a decade ago when I first encountered the work of Portland artist, Mona Superhero and it’s remained as impressive to me as it did back then. A friend of mine who knows her had posted a piece that she had purchased from Mona on her Facebook page. The image was of a nude woman squatting in a frog-like pose; her head some sort of sci-fi droid/discoball orb with a backdrop comprised of psychedelic geometric gemstone formations, a few scattered stars, and a pair of hot pink palm trees. I had an immediate and visceral response to it, but my mind was blown in a completely separate capacity once I learned that this artwork was constructed entirely from duct tape.

Using her trusty exacto knife to carve meticulous relief cuts through layers upon layers of tape, Miss Mona has honed her craft rendering one brilliant image after another. It’s easy to get drawn in and be fascinated by her methods, but whenever there is no further merit to something beyond its initial novelty, the appeal can dissipate quickly. It’s something that we’ve seen endless times before, but with Mona there’s a much richer value at play. She isn’t simply creating with tape because it’s “quirky” or unorthodox, but because she has found her medium and it’s one that uniquely benefits the pieces and yields the most affecting results. Miles Davis has been famously quoted as claiming that, “It’s not the notes you play, it’s the notes you don’t play.” A similar perspective could be applied to which components Superhero chooses to extract or allow to remain within her compositions. She possesses an awareness of exactly what will provide life to her subjects in greater dimension. While there are aspects that could arguably be interpreted as “crafty” or surgical within the process, they remain in service to a larger vision. The artwork breathes. There is life to it. Over the years since first encountering her work, I’ve actually seen a couple other people utilize tape in somewhat similar efforts, but never with anywhere near her results. There is something intangible that separates the Portlander and her work. It is the soul behind these pieces that make them art and it is her ability to conjure that life from her medium that makes her an artist.

From a distance, Mona Superhero seems like a gem shining brightly in one very specific community, but I’m the sort that has a compulsion to try and broaden awareness for the things that I love, whether the creators behind them are reasonably content or otherwise. Basically, if I feel like something deserves to be seen and/or heard, then I’m going to do my job to force it into your sensory holes with the best of my ability. If you ever read my post from 2015 about the time that I won a contest that Mona held for an original portrait of a loved one, then you may recall me stating how it, “capture[d] the likeness and essence of my son, even more so than a lot of the photographs that I’ve taken of him.” Adding, “Perhaps the weirdest thing about this piece is that it actually looks even more like him than the source image that Mona wound up using for it as reference, and she’s never actually met us before.” I still remember so clearly how I felt opening that package, hypnotized in awe as the breath evacuated my lungs.

Photographs will never do the art justice, but those of you who will be in the Portland area this weekend will have the opportunity to catch Mona‘s work in person. This Friday, Septemer 23rd, Superhero will be unveiling a new collection aptly titled “The End Of The Summer Series Portrait Show” at Mother Foucault’s Bookshop. This series consists of portraits of area locals that the artist created — and continues to create — spanning from just days before summer officially hit, until now. Among her subjects are former T.S.O.L. frontman, Joe Wood and Sean Croghan of Crackerbash. Although I’ve already seen dozens of finished portraits, the insatiable tape wizard is literally still making these things, as I expect she will continue to be, right up until the opening. A common theme in the past has been intricate backdrops full of mesmerizing pattern and design. These relatively small-scale portraits abandon that for bold, solid colors that allow the subjects to really pop off the canvas. Beyond the remarkable skill being showcased, this series reflects a rich community full of life; each individual contributing something of value to the greater whole. There’s something almost voyeuristic about peering into this world, but even more so, there’s something universal about it.

Make sure to follow Mona Superhero‘s Instagram account to catch the process and the progress as the show approaches. Due to demand, many of the pieces are being made available as prints, some of which can be ordered now via her website, MonaSuperhero.com.

Check out preview images for the exhibit below the following event details…

WHAT:

‘The End Of The Summer Series Portrait Show’
new works by Mona Superhero

WHEN:

Opening:
Friday, September 23rd, 2022
6pm-9pm

WHERE:

Mother Foucault’s Bookshop
523 SE Morrison St
Portland, OR 97214
Phone: (503) 236-2665 

ADDITIONAL INFO:

Opening is ALL AGES w/NO COVER
Artist will be in attendance
“There will be booze and rekkids playing”
A selection of prints along with original portrait miniatures will be available
Venue hours: Daily from noon – 6pm
Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1156722321550235