Weekend East City Event Round Up

| EVENTS |

This weekend it's all on H.

City Gallery opens "Light and Allusion" glass by Nancy Donnelly and oil paintings by Jill Finsen.  If you are feeling somewhat down, the bright cheerful colors of this exhibit will cheer you up instantly.  Don't miss it!

This is the last weekend to get to G Fine Art to see A. B. Miner's "Naked".  If you've ever wondered what gender reassignment feels like, this exhibit will make you feel the transformation.

Studio H presents Ellen Cornett “Juxtapositions” May 15 through June 14, 2010

| ART OPENINGS |

Opening Reception: Saturday, May 15th: 6-9pm

Cornett's work begins with words—often short stories, operas or fairytales. But once she begins painting or drawing, she ceases thinking in terms of written or spoken language and allows her subconscious to dictate the content and direction of her work. She enjoys the contrast between very precisely executed drawings of people and objects and their improbable juxtaposition.

In this juxtaposition of characters and objects, Cornett explores the uncertain and the illogical in life through her pastels and her drawings. "Eventually, something clicks. I aim to create work that is evocative whose meaning is ambiguous. As in life, there is more than one truth, more than one answer and in my work there is more than one narrative."

The people who model for Cornett are her good friends, and the props she uses are either personal treasures or things she has made herself. The meaning conveyed by both the props and the people change constantly in Cornett's work and even from day to day. "Today's meaning is not what it may be tomorrow. My relationship to these people and these things is mutable and unfixed. Pictures can express that changeability and ambiguity in a way that words, for me, cannot." explains Cornett.

Theatrical in nature, Cornett's paintings and artistic process set the scene of a performance. She sews the costumes and assembles the props, positions the models and arranges the decor. Then she records the tale on paper.

One of Cornett's favorite tales is the transformational story of Pinocchio from a puppet into human boy. This story has inspired Cornett to use scraps of wood, fabric and papier-mâché, to construct her own troupe of marionettes. Juan Carlos, Ratscina and even Cornett herself are cast as actors in different stories. As retold by Cornett, Pinocchio grows up to become Juan Carlos, a tango instructor. Ratscina began as a feral rat for a painting about the Pied Piper, but listening to the voice of her subconscious, Cornett drew Ratscina as a debutante. Another important actor in Cornett's imagery is Mary Lou, a faceless rag doll she was given at birth. She is Cornett's doppelganger and a tool of memory, her stand-in and her alternate.

For more information about Studio H Gallery and Workshop, please visit www.studiohdc.com. Studio H is located at 408 H Street NE second floor Washington, DC 20002.  Hours are by appointment.

Conner Contemporary Art presents: JANET BIGGS, Nobody Rides for Free and MARY COBLE: Source May 15 through July 3, 2010

| ART OPENINGS |

Opening reception/performance Saturday, May 15th: 6-8pm

Conner Contemporary Art is pleased to announce two concurrent solo exhibitions featuring new video and photographs by Janet Biggs (New York, NY) and performance and video by Mary Coble (Washington, DC). Nobody Rides for Free is Biggs' first solo exhibition with the gallery; Source marks Mary Coble's third exhibition with the gallery.

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JANET BIGGS: Nobody Rides for Free

In new video and photographs, Biggs delves into the desire to explore remote lands. To create this work, the artist embarked on an expedition in the high Arctic, traveling aboard an ice-class, 2-masted schooner, built in 1910. During the voyage, Biggs filmed Fade to White, focusing on a crew member as he navigated the ship through iceberg filled seas, and paddled a kayak past glacier walls and polar bears.

As she photographed the explorer, Biggs tested her own will and endurance. The visual tension of her uncompromising imagery bespeaks their mutual struggle to maintain balance and purpose. Yet, the video also reveals the use of extensive rigging, exposing the myth of the solitary white male explorer. Biggs explains, "The desire to hold onto the notion of the 'great white north' as a blank space awaiting interpretation only reinforces the idea of the colonial polar hero. The 'virgin' north has now been mapped, surveyed, and mined, but increased knowledge has not replaced endless fantasies of discovery."

Loss and change are implicit in the video's title, Fade to White, which refers to an editing technique used to evoke death or transcendence. Biggs integrated her Arctic imagery with sound and video footage of counter tenor John Kelly, whose age, androgyny, and mournful voice parallel the vanishing Arctic landscape and signal the waning of male dominance.

Vanishing Point, the artist's recent video, featuring biker Leslie Porterfield and the Harlem Addicts Rehabilitation Center Choir, will be on view in the media room.

Forthcoming exhibitions include The Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, NC (November 2010) and the Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa, FL (survey, traveling, spring 2011).

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MARY COBLE: Source

In Source, Coble presents three new videos, mixed media work, and a live endurance performance (to occur in the gallery courtyard during the exhibition opening). In all of these pieces, Coble addresses themes of purification and renewal in actions focused on the element of water. In her videos, the artist explores subjective states of uncertainty and futility. In her performance, she will raise social awareness about water quality and availability in the local and global communities. The exhibition demonstrates the depth and dimension of Coble's art, which ranges from personal introspection to experience shared through public interaction.

Coble's videos: Stand, Fall, and Swim document the artist's endurance-based activities in a secluded lake. Working in an introspective mode, she explores what making work means to her personally, confronting challenges and opening up to discoveries that arise with that making. Her lone pursuits convey apprehension and doubt associated with uncertain journeys. These videos are Coble's most Romantic works to date, as their natural setting, and her struggle against the elements, recall 19th century landscape painting.

Endurance is a consistent methodological factor in Coble's videos as well as her live gallery performance. In each work, she also embraces water as a medium. The natural setting for her videos underscores the importance of the environment to the global water supply. The performance demonstrates that the abundance of water in DC doesn't insure its quality. In the videos, water visibly affects Coble outwardly, as she makes an inward journey. Her performance calls attention to the internal effects of water quality. Whereas the videos reveal the artist's self-examination, the performance takes its departure from her experience as a member of a larger community, and propels her outward into that community. To gather her material, the artist went door-to-door, collecting water samples from residences in all of DC's 8 wards (over 127 neighborhoods). Coble crossed demographic boundaries to emphasize that water quality has differential effects across populations. The artist's actions at the gallery will create a communal source of clean water, a condition which has historically given rise to gathering places.

Coble's work is in the collection of The Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC.
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Mary Coble's performance will begin at 2pm on Saturday, May 15th and culminate during the opening reception (6-8pm).

Additional information may be found at: http://www.connercontemporary.com.
Conner Contemporary Art 1358 Florida Ave, NE Washington, DC 20002
For further information or images, please contact the gallery: 202-588-8750 or info@connercontemporary.com

Brentwood Arts Exchange Exhibition: Beyond Boundaries – The Art of Shanye Huang from April 24 through May 28, 2010

| ART OPENINGS |

Opening Reception:  Saturday, May 1.  5:00 – 8:00pm

The Brentwood Arts Exchange celebrates Asian Pacific American Heritage Month with its second exhibition Beyond Boundaries – The Art of Shanye Huang.  Huang’s vibrant, colorful painting and installation works bridge the Zhuang folkloric heritage of Guangxi , China with Western color field traditions, and the disciplined skills of Chinese academic painting.

Chinese-American artist Shanye Huang grew up in the autonomous Guangxi Zhuang region of southwest China ; where the Vietnamese border and rugged terrain have made it a frontier of Chinese civilization for over two thousand years.  Populated by sixteen ethnic minorities, the area is known for vibrant folk arts, embroidery, love songs and poetry,  that all endure as significant parts of everyday life.

Huang’s bold, vibrant paintings, abundant in detail and extravagant in color, emanate from  deeply ingrained Zhuang musical traditions and move forward strongly within the forms of contemporary abstraction and off-the-canvas painting installations.  Using Chinese calligraphic forms merged with English words and set into colorfield-like canvases layered with folkloric symbols, Huang sets forth images that move viewers directly to his experience of East meeting West, yin and yang.

The exhibition Beyond Boundaries offers a unique change to experience a contemporary, cross-cultural perspective on traditions little known outside of China. Be sure to save time to explore his monumental painting Tapestry of Dreams.

Contact:  Phil Davis 301-277-2863 or phil.davis@pgparks.com.  Brentwood Arts Exchange at Gateway Arts Center 3901 Rhode Island Ave Brentwood, MD 20722

Talked About...

  | EVENTS |


Anacostia was the Center of the DC art world this past weekend:
Via Anacostia Now and Worn Magazine   

Gina Clapp's Show "Magical Realism" at City Gallery was reviewed in DC Art News:
City Gallery A New Cooperative Gallery by Bruce McKaig

Is that Tom Sherwood chatting with Rod Glover at Studio H?
click here

The Cultural Development Corporation Announces 30 Affordable Artist Apartments in NOMA

| ARTIST RESIDENCES |

The Cultural Development Corporation (CuDC) has partnered with The Cohen Companies and Union Place Phase I, LLC to develop 30 affordable live/work  housing units for artists and their families at the Loree Grand — 250 K Street NE, in the NoMa (North of Massachusetts Ave) area of Washington, DC.  These dwellings are (arguably) at the western end of the H Street Corridor two blocks from the NY Ave Metro station and a few blocks away from Union Station.  In the near future, residents will also be two blocks away from the H street NE streetcar line.

Live/work artist housing are apartments that are primarily designed for living, with studio/work space as an ancillary use. Employees and walk-in trade are regulated by a Home Occupation Permit. 

The building, the Loree Grand at Union Place, with move-in beginning June 2010, features 30 affordable live/work apartments designated for artists, arts administrators and educators. Unit sizes include: studios, 1-bedrooms, 2-bedrooms and 2-bedrooms with dens. Amenities include: in-unit washer and dryer, granite countertops and stainless steel appliances and entryways with direct street access (on select units). In addition, the building houses a state-of–the-art gym, courtyard, roof garden and retail. Units range from 596 to 1362 square feet. Nine of the units, located on 3rd Street, feature entryways with direct street access as either walk-down or walk-up units. Units are priced to be affordable to households earning a maximum of 80% ofArea Median Income (AMI). Area Median Income (AMI) is the annual median income level for the Washington, DC metropolitan area, as calculated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The 2009 AMI for the DC metro area is $102,000 for a four person household.

The CuDC will lease units on a first come, first served basis. Interested households may begin submitting applications at 8 a.m. on Monday, May 17, 2010. CuDC will continue to accept applications until 5 p.m. on Friday, May 28, 2010. Applications may be mailed or hand-delivered to 916 G Street NW, Washington, DC 20001. CuDC’s offices are open Monday – Friday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays from 12 p.m. – 6 p.m.

On Saturday, May 8th from 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. the CuDC will host an Open House at the Loree Grand. To see the units in person, send your RSVP to housing@culturaldc.org.

All apartments will be leased to eligible households on a first come, first served basis. Prospective tenants may download applications here (NOTE: The CuDC will ask you to fill out a short survey before the download begins and Adobe Acrobat Reader will be required to view the document).
 

Applications will be accepted beginning May 17, 2010 at 8am until 5 pm on Friday, May 28, 2010. 
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Update via the CuDC

Please note the deadline change:

Applications will be accepted beginning May 17, 2010 at 8am until 5 PM Monday May 24, 2010.
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Applications sent via facsimile or email will not be accepted. Applications may be mailed or hand-delivered to CuDC’s offices at 916 G Street NW during regular business hours. Regular business hours are: Monday through Friday from 10am to 6pm; Saturdays from 12 to 6pm. Standard postal mail is generally received by 4 pm.

Contact the Cultural Development Corporation:
Email housing@culturaldc.org
phone 202.315.1324.
916 G St NW, Washington, DC 20001
www.culturaldc.org

City Gallery Presents Light and Allusion May 1 through May 29, 2010

| ART OPENINGS |

Opening Reception: Saturday May 1 from 6PM to 9PM

City Gallery’s May exhibition “Light and Allusion” showcases Nancy Donnelly’s elegant glass art and Jill Finsen’s whimsically primitive paintings executed in oil paint. The opening reception with the artists is Saturday, May 1, 6:00–9:00 PM. The public is invited to attend.

Fascination with color is apparent in the work of both these artists. These pieces sing out - they raise the possibility that good humor can be engendered by color alone. Allusive of the natural world, they are at the same time direct and accessible. Surface is paramount to the success of these art pieces—the smoothness of the glass contrasts with layered textures in the paintings. The colors of glass and paintings complement each other and pull the exhibit in new and exciting visual directions.

Both artists find negative space crucial to this effect, moments of rest that energize each work. Donnelly and Finsen’s works provide tension between familiarity and abstraction and at the same time question placement within imagined space.

Having read deeply in anthropological literature, Donnelly is convinced that the images that keep our attention, images we keep coming back to again and again, strike toward our common basis in ancient humanity—images of nature, of our creativity, of striving, and of community.

With allusions to the works of early 20th century American painters and the Fauvists, Finsen’s paintings are a journey, from representation to abstraction and from visible hues and shapes to more psychologically charged compositions.

The exhibit runs From May 1 through May 29.

Additional information may be found at: www.citygallerydc.com For further information or images, please contact the gallery at 202.468.5277 or info@citygallery.com.

City Gallery is located at 804 H ST NE second floor, Washington, DC 20002. Gallery hours are Fridays and Saturday 1-5pm.

Weekend East City Event Round Up

| EVENTS |

Weekend East City Event Round Up:

Friday
The Gallery at Vivid Solutions : Happy Hour Friday April 16 from 5:30pm to 7:30pm
2208 MLK Jr Ave SE Washington DC 20020

Saturday
Rosetta DeBerardinis Artist Talk at the Corner Art Store Saturday April 17 at 7PM
900 South Carolina Ave, SE Washington DC 20003

Studio H presents Rod Glover "Ungrounded" Saturday April 17 from 6PM to 9PM
408 H Street NE second floor Washington, DC 20002

Won't it be great when the trolley line links all of of these venues?  In the future it is supposed to cross the 11th street bridge from Anacostia through the Hill over to H Street NE.  Click here to see what we're talking about!

Open Drawing at CHAW

  | CLASSES |

Open drawing at CHAW

New 6-week session starts April 17

"Working from the Figure" --an open studio where artists can work from the nude model without instruction--continues Saturdays in April and May.  Six sessions are planned for Saturdays from 1:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Here are the Dates:

1) April 17, 2010
2) May 1, 2010
3) May 8, 2010
4) May 15, 2010
5) May 22, 2010
6) May 29, 2010

Location: Capitol Hill Arts Workshop, 535 7th St SE Washington DC 20003
$20/session drop-in.  Register Now! Call (202) 547-6839 or visit www.chaw.org

The Gallery at Vivid Solutions : Happy Hour Friday April 16 @ 5:30-7:30pm

  | EVENTS |

Swing by The Gallery at Vivid Solutions between 5-7:30pm this Friday and meet the artist of the current show, Brad Ulreich.  Enjoy happy hour on Them! They will have wine and a fantastic deal on 11 x 20 limited edition prints (series of seven) of his large scale works. The exhibit closes April 23rd.

Address: 2208 MLK Jr Ave SE Washington DC 20020 Press/Questions: bferraro@archdc.org Phone 202-365-8392

Rosetta DeBerardinis Artist Talk at the Corner Art Store

  | EVENTS |

Rosetta DeBerardinis will be holding an artist talk this Saturday, April 17 at 7PM at the Corner Art Store.

Born and raised in New York City, visual artist Rosetta DeBerardinis is completing her final year of residency at School 33 Art Center in Baltimore. Upon its completion she plans to return to DC where she will continue to create large abstract paintings, urban drawings and mixed media sculptures. Her work has been exhibited and sold at commercial galleries and art venues throughout the United States and in China, India, Croatia and Japan. Her museum credentials include The Corcoran Gallery of Art, The Dallas Women’s Museum, and the City Museum of Varazdin in Croatia and the African American Museum in Dallas. In 2003, she was nominated by art critic Barbara Rose, David Rubin and other jurors to represent the United States as a lifetime member on its team for the Florence, Italy Biennale.

DeBerardinis uses color as a material. Her work is a culmination of abstract expressionism, gestural, action painting and color field. Creating work up to 9 feet in height she does not fear the blank canvas nor is she intimidated by its large spatial plane. Using various tools and instruments to apply pigment; her gloved hand is her most tool.

For the past decade, DeBerardinis has worked hard to build her artistic credentials but also remains an organized and detailed business woman. She teaches marketing and businesses classes to artists under her subsidiary, ‘Beyond the Easel’. She has taught under the auspices of Art Exposure, the Warehouse Gallery, and Lucinda Gallery and for the Black Artists of D.C. She led guided tours on a monthly basis during gallery openings in the District of Columbia and Bethesda, Maryland for five years. In 2007, Liquitex, the original manufacturer of acrylic paint awarded her Artist of the Month: January, for her creative use of the pigment. DeBerardinis has been featured in several magazines, newspapers, blogs, U-tube interviews and gallery and museum catalogues, including the book Thinking About Art.

DeBerardinis received her undergraduate degree from Vassar College, a master’s from the University of the District of Columbia and a juris doctorate from the University Of Baltimore School Of Law. She has also completed coursework at Rice University, Fashion Institute of Technology and The London School of Social Research. Her interest in art began at age five when she was enrolled in the Saturday art program at Pratt Institute in New York City.

The Corner Art Store is located at 900 South Carolina Ave, SE Washington DC 20003.  For more information call 202.544.5807, email: swantelier@earthlink.net or visit www.cornerstorearts.org/

Jim Magner Interview with Hill Artist Will Fleishell

  | INTERVIEWS |

Originally published in the April 2010 Hill Rag

Artist Profile: Will Fleishell

by Jim Magner 

Art has always been about describing the look and feel of life: the warmth of the sun on your face and the air you breathe. It is about capturing the passion of today and the vision of tomorrow.

Art is a matter of creativity. It’s also a matter of craftsmanship. They both matter very much to Will Fleishell. He has been putting the two together since he was a child…on Capitol Hill. It’s a family tradition. His great great grandfather came here from Germany as a stone carver in the 1860’s to work on the grand building. His father is still active here as a professional artist.

Will is an engraver with the Department of Treasury and can be as precise as that exacting craft can demand—you have seen his handiwork on stamps and currency. That carries over to the incredible and increasingly rare quality of prints he does in his Capitol Hill studio with a 150 year old printing press—itself a work of art. His engravings are, fittingly, of the Rhinelandish, or Dutch, style rather than Italian, and he loves to engrave tiny emblems and portraits of houses. His creations include doorplates for Smithsonian exhibits and Oprah’s personal seal and bookplates.

But that’s just the beginning. He does figurative life drawing at the Capitol Hill Art League, and paints portraits and landscapes. It is all done very much in traditional styles. He loves the detail, lighting and drama of Baroque art, yet can still reach for the contemplative stillness and dignity of earlier classical periods. 

Will graduated from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in 1983 but has been an artist since birth. It’s a way of seeing, and a matter of passion: capturing the visual splendor of everything around us - the visual splendor that is us - reflecting it in ways that no mirror could. He is exhibiting through the newly opened City Gallery on H Street NE. See www.citygallery.com for artist schedules. He can be reached at wfrootofallevil@netzero.com

Interview reproduced by kind permission of Jim Magner.  Jim Magner is a Capitol Hill artist and writer. He can be reached at artandthecity05@aol.com

Four Big Saturday Openings

| ART OPENINGS |

There are four big openings this Saturday on the Hill and H ST NE showing a wide range of work from Clapp's classical rendition of still life through watercolor to Carucci & Pouwels contemporary interpretation of architecture to Jenkin's & Conlon's gritty street art.

All shows are this Saturday, April, 10 as follows:

•CHAL- All Members All Media Show   5PM-7PM 
•The Fridge- Group Show Back in Black   7PM-11PM
•City Gallery Gina Clapp Magical Realism  6PM-9PM
•Evolve Urban Arts Project - Matthew Carucci & Jerome Pouwels There, Not There 4PM-8PM

CHAW Spring II Session Registration has Begun

| CLASSES |

New classes are now forming for CHAW's Spring II session running April 12 - June 5, 2010.  In addition to  favorite classes such as Social Dance, Pottery, Painting, Drawing, Tap, Ballet and Photography, CHAW offers some exciting new additions to the schedule such as "Beginning Sewing", "Demi-Couture Sewing" and "Flat to 3D" sculpture.

For a complete catalogue of classes or to register, visit www.chaw.org or call 202-547-6839.

The Fridge: "Black in Black" April 10 - May 9, 2010

| ART OPENINGS |

The Fridge DC presents:
Black in Black
Tim Conlon & Mark Jenkins
April 10 - May 9, 2010

Opening Reception: 
Saturday, April 10, 2010 
7PM-11PM

Washington, DC - The Fridge DC is proud to present Black in Black, a collaboration between Tim Conlon and Mark Jenkins. Artwork will include sculpture, paintings and prints. Conlon and Jenkins will also create an outdoor installation. Black in Black fuses the artists’ two distinct styles: Conlon typically uses a gamut of color, whereas Jenkins prefers a transparent, muted range. Jenkins and Conlon settled on ‘shades of black’ to allow their styles to merge in their collaborativeworks. Many of the pieces portray a dark-sided humor that the two artists share. Works include a tree growing out of a dead newspaper box, a baby controlling a pair of police officer legs, and The Blaster (pictured above) seemingly at war with the rest of the show.

About The Artists
Tim Conlon (Washington DC) is a graffiti artist known internationally for his large-scale murals and graffiti art. His style humorously incorporates pop culture icons and characters. His work has been featured in various media, including LA Times, NPR, and The Washington Post. His exhibits include Recognize at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery (2008) and most recently he curated Bombs Away in Berlin (2009).

Mark Jenkins (Washington DC) is an artist whose focus has been on creating street installations. Projects include homeless polar bears, tape babies, parking meter lollipops and traffic circle merry-go-rounds. Jenkins has exhibited internationally in major cities including London, Sao Paulo, Moscow, and Tokyo.

The Fridge DC 516 8th St SE (Rear Alley) Washington DC 20003 www.thefridgedc.com

All Media Show by the Capitol Hill Art League April 10 - April 30, 2010

  | ART OPENINGS |

Opening on Reception: Saturday April 10, 2010 from 5PM to 7PM

The Capitol Hill Art League (CHAL), a program of the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop (CHAW), will open its next exhibit on Saturday, April 10th, 2010, 5-7 PM at CHAW, 545 7th Street SE with a reception and gallery talk for the public.   The show’s juror is Berthold Schmutzhart.  Admission to the opening and exhibit is free.   The all-media, no-theme show of original art work continues through April 30th.  Gallery hours are: 9:30AM-9:00 PM (M-Th), 9:30AM-6:00 PM (F), and 9:00AM-2:00 PM (Sat).

Juror Berthold Schmutzhart, who is returning to CHAL for the April show, has been Professor Emeritus of the Corcoran School of Art since 1994.  He has over fifty years of teaching experience as a sculpture and drawing professor. He is an art historian alumnus of the Academy for Applied Art in Vienna, Austria and has exhibited in over eighty local and international exhibitions.  Schmutzhart’s gallery talks have proved to be very popular in his previous visits to CHAL/CHAW.

Also, on April 10th, immediately following the opening at 7 PM, CHAW is presenting a concert of newly-choreographed works by Alvin Mayes and music with Nicole Lamm, Soprano, and Jesse Crites, Guitarist.  Admission to the hour-long concert is $10 at the door.  

For more information about CHAL visit www.caphillartleague.org the concert, and other CHAW events, visit www.chaw.org or call:  202-547-6839.