A Dialog about Hidden and Urgent issues in Contemporary Abstract Painting

Sunday, November 12, 2017

      

4 - 6 pm

 

Against the backdrop of Tim Doud's "Parthenogenesis" exhibition, Curator's Office @ Studio 1469  presents artists Rushern Baker IV, Tim Doud & Leslie Smith III in a chewy discussion moderated by Zoë Charlton about how artists are approaching abstraction in painting today.

Is abstraction an elitist commodity? Should it be perceived only aesthetically and formally?  What is the data hidden beneath its carefully orchestrated surfaces? How is the abstract art object the conveyor of social, spiritual, or political meaning?

"Abstraction is the separation of ideas from objects and, in art, the creation of forms that work against literal depiction; we often see abstraction itself as a form of distance. Historically, we know that it has also been used as a tool: most famously, the CIA co-opted Abstract Expressionism in an attempt to demonstrate our country's intellectual freedom and project an image of America to the outside world after World War II."  - Chloë Bass  "Can Abstraction Help Us Understand the Value of Black Lives?"  

The panel discussion aims to address numerous complex questions through each individual artist's own experience and their acute observations of the current contemporary art world.

 

Curator's Office @ Studio 1469  is one of Washington DC's "hidden gem" exhibition spaces located down an alley in the Columbia Heights neighborhood. It can be tricky to find the first time.  For a map and video showing directions, please Click Here.