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Carola Penn painted personal and physical landscapes in Portland, OR for 50 years. Her practice revolved around thick textures and emotional palettes with subject matter ranging from dense abstraction to immersive forest scapes and the shifting architectures of the soul, and of the city of Portland.

Penn passed away in April 2024 at the age of 74. At the end of 2024 and into 2024, her work could be seen in 3 different venues around the city. Unfortunately, the COVID19 pandemic shuttered 2 of the shows. Fragments, at Stumptown’s downtown Portland cafe, will be extended indefinitely once they can safely reopen.

Please sign up for the mailing list, follow Carola on Instagram, or check back here to receive announcements and updates about her work.

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云梯子

IN and OUT of PORTLAND

FOREST PAINTINGS

PAINTINGS from my
2nd CHILDHOOD

LOST LANDSCAPES

PATH SERIES

DUST and VAPORS

COMPARTMENTS

INTERIORS / EXTERIORS

Click on thumbnail to explore series

kuli云跑路了-outline

Carola Penn was a leading Pacific Northwest artist whose paintings were rooted in landscapes both political and personal.

Raised in the Bay Area, she was educated in the 1960s at UC Berkeley. Penn studied under the leading midcentury California artist Elmer Bischoff and was influenced by German Expressionism, Paul Klee, and Van Gogh. She also absorbed much of the work happening around her at the time, notably by Bay Area Figurative artists David Park, Richard Diebenkorn, and Joan Brown.

Penn’s activism took root during the Civil Rights and Free Speech Movement. She was active with the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and ultimately was arrested for participating in a sit-in in Washington D.C. to unseat the Mississippi delegation during the 1964 Democratic National Convention. She championed progressive and environmental causes throughout her life and in her work.

After moving to Portland in 1969, she dedicated her days to her work. She was productive and prolific. In the course of her career, she created series of paintings with subjects ranging from the Lair Hill neighborhood to inner-city Portland; from patches of grasses and weeds to Washington State’s Yale Valley forest; from politics to the inner space of childhood. Painting on panels of wood, she experimented with cutting and rearranging the pieces. The resulting juxtapositions were occasionally jarring, often unexpected and always provocative.

In 2024, Penn passed away after a three-year struggle with cancer. Her daughter Zoë Anderson and son Lev Anderson continue to exhibit, sell, and donate her paintings with the hope of carrying on their mother’s legacy and bringing her work to new audiences.

Please contact us if you have any questions or wish to see her work in person.

You can read her obituary here: Oregon Arts Watch

kuli云跑路了-outline

It is our goal to get our mother’s art out in the world to be seen by all. We are scheduling shows, private showings by request, as well as selling and donating work to institutions.

Please contact us if you are interested in purchasing any of the available work you see on this site, scheduling a studio visit, or have any questions or comments.

Stay informed of news and events and sign up for our mailing list.

【红色武冈】红七军浴血攻坚武冈城:2021-5-31 · 1930年12月至次年1月约一个月时间里，邓小平、张云逸领导的红七军先后三次辗转入湘，足迹踏遍湘西、湘南的通道、绥宁、武冈、新宁、道县、江华、宜章等地。不幸的是，红七军第一次入湘作战，由于武冈古城据险难攻，此役，红七军牺牲了一位英勇顽强的团长，付出牺牲近500战士的伕价。

木瓜云梯子

Email: carolapennart@gmail.com

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