In March, I stopped by Place, an installation gallery on the third floor of Pioneer Place Mall, to drop off copies of PDX Magazine and to say hello to the gallery’s owner Gabe Flores. My young boys who were with me were quickly drawn toward the mass of colorful balloons that were part of the main exhibit.Curtains of multi-colored latex balloons framed the installation, and many more rolled around on the floor. Along the back wall, a video played on a flat-screen television. In the video, a man in a dog costume walked along a trail. There were other artifacts in the exhibit too, and I made a mental note to return later to take it all in when my parking meter wasn’t running dangerously low. I did not know at the time that this innocuous-looking installation would be the last exhibit for Place and that it would figure prominently in the gallery’s demise. Shit Balloons is the name of the installation by artist John Dougherty. And, yes, from what we can ascertain, it contributed to Place losing its lease rather abruptly at the end of March. This exhibit, as well as two others: Paul Clay’s Parking Lot Dance and Michael...
