Physical Education

Cold Flow, A Slower FountAin

HOLDING Contemporary will host its first project that transforms the gallery space into an artist workshop for the performance-based group, Physical Education. Organized by Ashley Stull Meyers, Cold Flow, A Slower Fountain is a chaotic reflection on moving in this era of physical and functional distance. Cold Flow, A Slower Fountain will function as an evolving workshop and public events will occur in-person and online on Twitch on November 5, December 3, and December 18.

Details about events:

Physical Education invites you to the opening of our ongoing transformative exhibition, Cold Flow, A Slower Fountain at Holding Contemporary.

For the past 5 years, PE has released shirts and other merch items covered with iconic type print 'PHYSICAL EDUCATION.' This year, as part of this exhibit, PE will be creating one-of-a-kind pieces, imbued with moments and memories from their archive cultivated over their seven year relationship.

PE invites you to bring your own piece of clothing, to be turned into PE memorabilia that you can take on with you at a discount, or shop from PE's gift shop.

Merch purchases can be sent via Venmo to @takahiro-yamamoto

The space is open from 6-9 pm on November 5th, December 3, and December 18 and we'd love to see you.

PE will also stream video work at 8pm PT via Twitch, also viewable on site.

For this project Physical Education poses the question: What comes from the passing of? Formerly based in Portland, OR, Physical Education currently maintains their individual and collective practices from the disparate locations of Oregon, New York, and abroad. Their method for collective making now exists through a web of virtual platforms, analog material sharing, and co-crafted performance that seeks to find communion in relational gestures when separated by time and physical proximity.

This presentation of new work at Holding Contemporary will function as a seven-week artist laboratory, within which an exhibition will take shape at the pace of PE’s experimentation and questioning. The work will reference their conversations about reduplicatives, material stressors and how do we?, and will take the form of cumulations of gradually growing wall installations and live-streamed performance(s), on view to the public at three intervals—November 5, December 3, December 18. Times will be available in advance of each event on our website, and visit https://www.twitch.tv/physical_education_life to view.

Physical Education (P.E.) is comprised of dance and performance artists keyon gaskin, Allie Hankins, Lu Yim, and Takahiro Yamamoto. P.E.’s vision is to offer performance audiences, artists of all mediums, and curious individuals, immersive methods of engaging with dance and performance. P.E. acknowledges and scrutinizes the perceived illegibility and messiness of the performing body. P.E. organizes and hosts READING GROUPS, LECTURES, curated PERFORMANCES, AEROBICS/MOVEMENT classes, and straight-up sweat-it-out DANCE PARTIES. P.E.’s motivation is to inspire critical dialogue between individuals of varying mediums and practices while deepening their connection to performance and their sense of embodiment.

Ashley Stull Meyers is a writer, editor, and culture worker. She has curated exhibitions and public programming for a diverse set of arts institutions along the west coast, including those in San Francisco, CA, Oakland, CA, Seattle, WA, and Portland, OR. She has been in academic residency at the Bemis Center for Contemporary Art (Omaha, NE) and the Banff Centre (Banff, Alberta). She has served as Northwest Editor for Art Practical and has contributed writing to Bomb Magazine, Rhizome, Arts.Black and SFAQ/NYAQ. In 2017 Stull Meyers was named Director and Curator of The Art Gym and Belluschi Pavilion at Marylhurst University, and the following year was made co-curator of the 2019 Portland Biennial. Currently, she is Program Director for the Multicultural Resource Center at Reed College, and contracting as an Independent Curator.

HOLDING Contemporary presents exhibitions and programs by visual artists across disciplines. Through our curatorial vision and alternative community-driven business model we seek to challenge the economic and social privilege of the art world.

Supported in part by The Ford Family Foundation.