Juried by Leila Grothe, Operations Manager at the Ruth Arts Foundation and Jordan Martin, the former Curatorial Production Manager at the Washington Project for the Arts (WPA), and curated by Tie Jojima is Curator of Global Contemporary Art at The Phillips Collection and Tsedaye Makonnen, an award-winning interdisciplinary artist, the current exhibition "Tomorrow the Sun Will Rise" at The Phillips Collection continues the refreshing newish approach by the Phillips to become a local museum who looks in its own backyard to showcase our area's artists.
The call for artists received about 1,500 entries, which is more than enough proof for the hunger that area artists have for this kind of call. And I am about to confess that until today, I had no idea that this call for artists existed, and I suspect that had I received a news release or any indication that the call was active, once announced her they would have probably received 3,000 entries!
Of the 1,500 entries, 56 works were selected by the jurors, and it includes a refreshing number of "new" artists - and when I say "new", I mean new to me, which counts for something after almost 40 years of being around the DMV visual art scene and curating over 200 exhibitions. On the other hand, there are a lot of "out of town" artists from Baltimore, which is technically not the DMV, and so.... Anyway, back to the "new" artists: This is GOOD and my kudos to the Phillips and the jurors and curators for being able to reach deep into the local area and giving these new artists a showcase at one of the planet's most distinguished venues!
Also noted that the jurors, when they liked someone's work, opted for including more than one work by that artist, which is unusual, as jurors often opt for adding more artists, rather than multiple works from one.
There are also some well-known DMV area artists such as Alexandra Silverthorne, Mary Early, Cianne Fragione, Leslie Holt, Joey Mánlapaz, Gail Shaw-Clemons and others, but the vast majority are refreshing new names.
I was especially taken in by Baltimore's Mark Armbruster's entry titled “How long will it take for the sea level to rise two feet? I mean, think about it, if your ice cube melts in your glass it doesn’t overflow; it’s displacement. I mean, this is some of the things they’re talking about mathematically and scientifically..."
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| How long will it take for the sea level to rise two feet? I mean, think about it, if your ice cube melts in your glass it doesn’t overflow; it’s displacement. I mean, this is some of the things they’re talking about mathematically and scientifically... by Mark Armbruster |
I gotta admit that I am a sucker for artists who not only create great art, but also take the time to come up with great titles that transport the art from the visual to the mentally sublime... well done Mr. Armbruster!
Paloma Vianey from DC has a couple of pieces in the show, both of which show not only well-honed painting skills, but also intelligent presentation.
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| Chamarra No. 30: Viva México by Paloma Vianey 30 x 26 x 0.5 Medium: Oil on canvas and zipper |
Finally, I was also very impressed by Aishwariya Chandrasekar's small but packed with visual action embroideries on cotton cloth.
The artists in the show are:
Negar Ahkami, Arlington, VA
Sobia Ahmad, Silver Spring, MD
Mark Armbruster, Baltimore, MD
Hannah Atallah, Baltimore, MD
Aliana Grace Bailey, Baltimore, MD
Sasha Baskin, Baltimore, MD
Diego Borgsdorf, Washington, DC
Kara Braciale, Falls Church, VA
Danyela June Brown, Washington, DC
Thea Canlas, Baltimore, MD
Adam Chamy, Washington, DC
Christina Chan, Washington, DC
Aishwariya Chandrasekar, Columbia, MD
Alexandra Chiou, Arlington, VA
Se Jong Cho, Baltimore, MD
C.S. Corbin, Washington, DC
Pamela Crockett, Baltimore, MD
Mary Early, Washington, DC
Erin Fostel, Baltimore, MD
Cianne Fragione, Washington, DC
Emily Francisco, Washington, DC
Kyle Hackett, Washington, DC
Leslie Holt, Takoma Park, MD
Kei Ito, Baltimore, MD
Savannah Faith Jackson, Washington, DC
Omari Jesse, Washington, DC
David Joo, Alexandria, VA
Khin, Washington, DC
Don Kimes, Rockville, MD
Sharon Cheuk Wun Lee, Washington, DC
Madyha Leghari, Hyattsville, MD
Ringo Lisko, Baltimore, MD
Joey Mánlapaz, Washington, DC
Aynex Mercado, Frederick, MD
Margaret Murphy, Baltimore, MD
Danielle Mysliwiec, Takoma Park, MD
Abdulrahman Naanseh, Fairfax, VA
Javaid Nayyar, Washington, DC
Jhon Ochoa, Chevy Chase, MD
Katie O’Keefe, Baltimore, MD
Nami Oshiro, Falls Church, VA
Mojdeh Rezaeipour, Oakton, VA
Gail Shaw-Clemons, Washington, DC
Alexandra Silverthorne, Washington, DC
Anne C. Smith, Washington, DC
Bria Sterling-Wilson, Owings Mills, MD
Melissa Sutherland Moss, Baltimore, MD
Paloma Vianey, Washington, DC
This special exhibition is on through September 20th.
