Roundabout

Atilt, Sunra and Garden Gate


  • Location - Newport Avenue and 14th Street
  • Artist - Mel Katz
  • Year Installed - 2002

Mel Katz's sculptures appear vaguely figurative, but the works are abstract, conceptual. Katz creates mixed-media works where lines appear to float. Katz’s father was a tailor and these pattern shapes are evident in all of Katz's work. Mel Katz’s body of work reflects his unique journey from painter to sculptor.

 

Katz was featured on Oregon Art Beat in 2009 and is the co-founder of Portland Center for the Visual Arts. The Portland Art Museum organized a retrospective exhibition on Mel’s work in 1988. Katz’s retirement exhibition at Portland State University in 1999 highlighted the importance he placed on mentorship. The exhibition featured works by 47 former students who were exhibiting artists and teachers, providing a visual cue to Katz's influence (as a teacher at PSU for almost 32 years). The Hallie Ford Museum organized a major retrospective on Mel Katz in 2015 titled Mel Katz: On and Off the Wall which included an accompanying exhibition that illustrated his creative process.

 

Katz’s work can be seen at the Portland Art Museum, Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, Seattle Art Museum, Tacoma Art Museum as well as public art collections in Oregon and Washington.