Normally the term "thrift art" conjures up images of badly painted canvases of someone's pet or grandparent's farmhouse. In fact there are many online galleries (and some "real life" galleries as well) that specialize in just such dubious artwork. Chicago-based photographer Brian Ulrich is bringing a whole new meaning to the term with the series he just finished showing at Portland's Pacific Northwest gallery. Through his large scale photographs taken in thrift shops, Ulrich explores "not only the everyday activities of shopping, but the economic, cultural, social, and political implications of commercialism and the roles we play in self-destruction, over-consumption, and as targets of marketing and advertising." And some of the shops depicted in his work look like just the kind of places I'm dying to find. Great stuff!