Wanna go to an opening this Saturday?

Apronology.

It’s defined as “the study of the art of the apron,” and it’s a word that appeals to Virginia-based artist Trudi VanDyke, curator of the upcoming mixed media exhibit “Personal Armor: Artists’ Concepts of Aprons” at BlackRock Center for the Arts.

“I thought that was just a hoot,” said VanDyke, an independent curator, consultant and juror who is also an adjunct professor of art management at George Mason University, a freelance writer on the arts and the former director of both the Ellipse Arts Center in Arlington and Alexandria’s Torpedo Factory. “But I like to work with themes that artists can interpret independently – and I’m always on the lookout for artists whose work I admire, because I want to see how their work might come together in the show.”

In this show, which runs from Wednesday, January 06, 2010 through Friday, January 29, 2010, the work of 31 artists from Maryland, DC, Virginia, Colorado, Florida, South Carolina and Pennsylvania reflect on the common theme of the apron – with intriguing results.

“What does the apron represent?” muses VanDyke. “There are a lot of feminist statements in the work: for some artists it represented how they’d been held back by the apron, the Father Knows Best sort of theme.”

Other artists used the apron to represent their own apron-wearing mothers; VanDyke says even the plight of battered women comes to light in the exhibit. Wood, wire, glass and metal make appearances, along with more unusual media, and the moods run from sentimental to mysterious to whimsical.

VanDyke points out that the Artist Reception will be held on Saturday, January 9, from 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. She hopes art lovers will gather to learn more about this unusual and interesting show – whether they themselves wear aprons or not.

Personal Armor: Artists’ Concepts of Aprons
Wednesday, January 06, 2010 through Friday, January 29, 2010
BlackRock Center for the Arts
Gallery Hours: Monday to Friday 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Saturday 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
Admission is free
Artist Reception Saturday, January 9, from 5:30 - 7:30 p.m.