Founded in 2015 by Zemie Barr and Shannon O’Connor, Wolff Gallery was an independent commercial gallery based in Portland, Oregon. What started as a pop-up exhibition in a friend’s living room eventually turned into a permanent gallery space in Old Town in 2016. In 2017, we moved to our final storefront space in the Kerns neighborhood before closing in December 2019. Our mission was to prioritize the exhibition of work by female and other traditionally underrepresented artists, as well as artists who embrace the personal as political. Over our run of four years we put on twenty-eight exhibitions and worked with an even larger number of talented artists and makers.
The Wolff Gallery bathroom
Exhibitions:
Leslie Dorcus: Oh My Clumsy Heart // August 29, 2015, SW Portland living room
(de)Constructed: Forming New Photographic Realities - Jamila Clarke & Annie Oldenburg // January 8–29, 2016, Port City Gallery
Love to Hate - Audra Osborne, Jamila Clarke, Jason Horvath, Jenny Olsen, Jo Lundberg, Karen Schmid, Leslie Dorcus, Mary Harding, Shannon Rowland, Thomas Mack, Zemie Barr // Feb 13-27, 2016, Portland Cider House
Now I Am Myself - Audra Osborne, Briana Cerezo, Calethia DeConto, Jamila Clarke, and Lauren Crow // April 7–May 13, 2016
Alyson Provax: Out There // June 2–July 3, 2016
Jenny Olsen: North // July 7-31, 2016
Jo Lundberg: Sentient Spaces: The DSM-5 Illustrated // August 4–28, 2016
Liz Mares: Rhetorical Geometry // September 1–October 29, 2016
Jamila Clarke: The Stories People Tell // November 3–December 31, 2016
Leslie Dorcus: ENSNARED//EMBRACED // January 5–February 25, 2017
Zemula Fleming: The Narrow View // March 2–April 29, 2017
Amanda Dawn Potter: To Raze is to Raise // May 4–July 1, 2017
Wolff Gallery's Last Night in Old Town with limited edition print release by Alyson Provax // July 6, 2017
Calethia DeConto: Gently Wild // August 4–September 30, 2017
Tyler Mackie: The Bleed is Working // October 3–November 25, 2017
Field of View: Sonya Hamilton, David Lechner, Olga Shchepina, Larry Supnet, and Dawn Westover. Facilitated by Carissa Burkett and Lauren Moran, curated by Zemula Barr // November 28–December 30, 2017
Dorothy Glenn: Generous Mystery // January 3–February 25, 2018
Smith Eliot: Ghost Ships // February 28–April 29, 2018
Alyson Provax: you I everything else // May 2–July 1, 2018
M3AT: Fragmented Fruits // July 4–September 2, 2018
LeBrie Rich: Grocery // September 5–October 28, 2018
Tara Murino-Brault: Illuminations // October 31–December 30, 2018
Field of View 2018 Artist Residency Exhibition: Alma Bate, Job Erickson, John Griffiths, and Michael Sherman // January 2–February 24, 2019
Rumors by Small Talk Collective - Audra Osborne, Briana Cerezo, Jennifer Timmer Trail, Kelli Pennington, Kristina Hruska, Leslie Hickey, and Marico Fayre // February 27–April 28, 2019
Rachel Mulder: Self-Portrait Party // May 1–June 30, 2019
Stephanie Hatch: She Was/Is // July 3–September 1, 2019
Jen Brown: The Allegories // September 6–October 27, 2019
Erika Rier: Pageant // November 1–December 22, 2019
Press:
Jennifer Rabin’s review of Now I Am Myself for Willamette Week - April 2016
Willamette Week Fall Arts Guide feature on Wolff Gallery by Jennifer Rabin - September 2016
Wolff Gallery featured on KGW News - September 2016
Think Out Loud interview with Zemie Barr and Jamila Clarke - November 2016
Hannah Krafcik on Field of View for Oregon Arts Watch - November 2017
Creative Chronicle interview with Zemie Barr and Shannon O’Connor - February 2018
Emma Luthy’s review of Grocery by LeBrie Rich in Portland Monthly - September 2018