Julian V.L. Gaines
Russo Lee Gallery presents Under the Flag by Julian V.L. Gaines. This exhibition is a kinetic body of work on canvas that forces the viewer to physically lift the American flag to reveal the stories painted underneath.
Originally from Chicago, Julian V.L. Gaines now lives and works in Portland, Oregon. He received his BFA in Painting from Northern Michigan University in 2015. Gaines collaborated with Nike to create the collection Game Worn. As part of the sneaker release, he led a weeklong workshop that included art classes at Chicago’s South Shore Cultural Center. Gaines has received editorials from Northern Magazine, Hypebeast, and The New York Times. In December 2020, his artwork was featured on the cover of New York Magazine. His work has been exhibited at Art Basel and featured in an exhibition with Steven Harvey Fine Art Projects in New York.
The Portland Art Museum recently acquired two pieces from our August exhibitions. A large diptych by Julian V.L. Gaines and an interactive multimedia wall sculpture by Bill Will.
“Under the Flag” is on display at Portland’s Russo Lee Gallery and runs through Aug. 27. The exhibition is by Oregon artist Julian Gaines. It forces the viewer to physically lift an American flag to reveal the work behind it.
With Under the Flag at the Russo Lee Gallery, the artist confronts blackface, local history, and the meaning of the American Flag.
In a cavernous studio on a weed farm in Forest Grove, Ore., about halfway between Portland and the Tillamook State Forest, Julian Gaines, an artist born and raised in Chicagoland, is creating a body of work devoted to Black American life.