In its second year, Forest for the Trees, curated by gallerist Matt Wagner and artist Gage Hamilton, brought together 20 international and local artists in Portland for a few days of mural painting intended to encourage the growth of public art in a city already known for its creative flair. Unlike other street art festivals around the world, Forest for the Trees had a notable presence of artists you wouldn’t necessarily put in the street art or graffiti camps.
Mary Iverson, a Washington state-based artist known for her collage-infused landscape paintings, painted a wall alongside Blaine Fontana, who is primarily recognized for his painting and design work, and Jshea, who has garnered attention for his miniature sculptures. These artists joined the likes of Curiot, whose deity-like monster characters populate walls everywhere from his native Mexico City to Berlin, and Faith47, a South African painter and active muralist. Take a look at the first part of our recap and stay tuned for more FFTT photos tomorrow. Portland readers, you can check out the murals in person by following this map.
Curiot:
Blaine Fontana:
Faith47:
Gage Hamilton:
Jeremy Nichols:
Jshea:
Mary Iverson:
Maryanna Hoggatt
Mateu Valasco:
Based in Mexico City, 
A new exhibit opening today at the Fort Wayne Museum of Art aims to take a snap shot of the ever growing New Contemporary "school". It's class? Many will be familiar to Hi-Fructose readers: Andrew Hem (HF Vol. 21 cover artist), Curiot (Hf Vol. 29), Ekundayo (HF Vol. 9), Erik Jones (HF Vol. 27 cover artist), Kwon Kyungyup (HF Vol. 24), Natalia Fabia (HF Vol. 22), Scott Radke (Hf Vol. 6), Yoskay Yamamoto (HF Vol. 8), and Yosuke Ueno (HF Vol. 10), to name a few. The exhibition will also include an abstract installation by artist Brett Amory (HF Vol. 20). "Invisible College", which is co-curated by the museum's Josef Zimmerman and Thinkspace Gallery in Los Angeles, presents New Contemporary as a movement that is both traditionally inspired and non traditional. See more after the jump.
Despite some drizzly weather, Portland is looking a little more colorful this week. As of August 24th, the nonprofit mural festival Forest for the Trees, previously 
The word "mythological" is often used to describe the work of Mexican artist