From the collection of Stuart Marshall Bloch and Ambassador Julia Chang Bloch

Congressional Bank is featuring the inspirational works of five distinguished African-American artists to celebrate Black History Month. The Bank is pleased to present an exhibition of powerful pieces from the collection of Stuart Marshall Bloch and Ambassador Julia Chang Bloch that will set the stage to publicly honor the culture of these artists.

"The Freedom Place Collection: Works by artists, Romare Bearden, Benny Andrews, Alma Thomas, Robert Freeman, and Richard Yarde" will be on display at the Congressional Bank branch located at 2101 K. St. NW, Washington, D.C. from February 8 - March 30, 2018 during the business hours of 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. 

The Freedom Place Collection was amassed, and is owned, by Washington residents Stuart Marshall Bloch, Founding Chairman of Congressional Bank, and Ambassador Julia Chang Bloch, president of the US-China Education Trust and United States Ambassador to Nepal, 1989-1993. The Blochs have been collecting works of African-American artists for over 45 years, and this exhibit highlights the culmination of their efforts. The name of the collection refers to the Freedom Place stop along the Underground Railroad, once located near the Bloch's former home where they lived forever 30 years.

 

Mr. Bloch plays a prominent role in supporting the Washington area community and is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Black Student Fund since 1976.  He was a founding editor of the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review.  Mr. and Ambassador Bloch endowed the FY Chang (HLS-1917) scholars program at The Harvard Law School. They also created and endowed the Distinguished Alumni Lecture Series at the University of Miami.  Stuart Bloch was the original patron (and landlord) of Zenith Square and Zenith Gallery back in 1978.

We are all very fortunate that the Bloch's want to share their wonderful collection with the Washington community and more.

Where: 2101 K Street NW, Washington DC 20037  

Show Dates: February 8 - March 30, 2018

Information: Margery Goldberg, 202-783-2963 art@zenithgallery.com 

Congressional Bank Hours: Monday - Friday, 9 am - 5 pm

Call for artists

Deadline: March 30th, 2018. 

VisArts invites artists working in all media to apply for 2019 Solo Exhibitions in the Gibbs Street Gallery and Common Ground Gallery. 

The Gibbs Street Gallery offers exhibitions that explore the breadth of contemporary art featuring emerging to mid-career artists. Exhibits reflect a wide range of media and experimental approaches that offer the viewer unexpected interactions with art. The gallery is approximately 1,100 square feet with 16 ft. ceilings. It is on the street level with floor to ceiling windows along one wall. International, national and local artists are welcome to apply. The Common Ground Gallery features exhibitions that reflect the creative pursuits of artists from our community. The gallery is located on the second floor and is approximately 300 square feet. 

Artists must live in the Mid-Atlantic region to apply for a solo exhibition in this gallery. Applicants who have participated in a solo exhibition at VisArts within the past two years are not eligible to apply. 

Website: https://visarts.submittable.com/submit/98811/call-for-solo-exhibition-2019

An art fair coming to the DMV this fall

From the press release:

After Wowing Art Lovers in New York and Miami, Superfine! Brings its Unique, Inclusive Take on Art Fairs to DC This Fall 

More a haven for emerging contemporary art than a typical art fair, Superfine! is a sophisticated yet approachable means for real people to discover real, meaningful art, and to connect directly with artists and their representatives. Superfine! founders Alex Mitow and James Miille have devised a tried and tested non-traditional formula to build a better and more inclusive art market. Each fair is a unique cultural experience designed to inspire and inform while also providing a fun atmosphere where everyone's inner collector can shine. Following editions in Miami and New York that have succeeded in building new collectors while connecting established ones to the cream of the crop in emerging art, Superfine! DC will launch this fall at Union Market’s Dock 5 event venue in the historic Union Market neighborhood. 

 CLICK HERE FOR DC TEASER VIDEO

Superfine! DC will take place from October 31st to November 4th at the 13,000+ square foot Dock 5 venue at Union Market, a center of art and sophistication in DC’s urban core. The fair will host 85 exhibitors exhibiting under four exhibition platforms (Emerge, Elevate, Explore, and Establish).

One of the few leading contemporary art fairs open to both solo artists and galleries, Superfine! DC also recognizes the advent of non-traditional exhibition platforms such as mobile curatorial programs, artist-led galleries, and artist collectives. The fair’s Explore platform was designed to create space for 20 exhibitors that fit these criteria to exhibit within 16-linear-foot “mini-booths”, each creating unique multi-artist narrative presentations. 24 traditional brick-and-mortar galleries hailing from the DC metro area and around the globe will exhibit under the fair’s Establish platform. Solo artists new to Superfine! may choose 6’ wall spaces as part of the Emerge platform, where young collectors can have a field day discovering emerging artists with all work priced below a cap of $5,000. Artists may also apply to the Elevate platform, which will span 24 solo positions including past Superfine! exhibiting artists and first timers. Approachability is the name of the game at Superfine! with more than 70% of the artwork in the fair priced under $5,000 and each exhibitor also required to present multiple works in the under $1,000 price range. The overarching goal is to create a brisk art market open to all, where even the newest collector can find and take home work that speaks to them. 

Fair director Alex Mitow notes that “It is incredibly important to us that Superfine! DC embodies the capital’s unique position as a global city with rapidly swelling local pride in its arts and culture. With this fall’s fair, Superfine! will present a new, exciting, and approachable option for DC’s broad
range of art enthusiasts wherein they can discover and collect not only the best of the DC metro area, but also the best in global contemporary art.” The fair's release also notes that:

The typical exhibitor breakdown of a Superfine! fair is around 50% local, with the remainder hailing from as many as 20 different countries as well as the entire United States and Canada. Also unique among art fairs is the exceptionally high number of female artists and curators represented in the fair, who make up more than 60% of each fair’s exhibitor list.

As you dear constant readers know, I've been doing art fairs for over a decade now, and have seen multiple organizers try to decipher the DMV's art scene to run a successful art fair along the Miami and New York models - they have all failed so far or just given up (Art DC from the Art Miami family of fairs, and (e)merge). 

The folks who run Pulse and the worldwide set of Affordable Art Fairs also explored the capital region, but probably came to the conclusion that although the area has the second highest concentration of disposable income in the US, it is just not an "art conscious" or "art buying" public (my words, not Ramsay Art Fairs, LLC).

Don't misinterpret my words - the DMV has an amazing art scene, and our artists are amongst the best and most innovative on the planet, regardless of the narrative that some push about this being a backwater of the art world - it is simply not true and misinformed.

But this is a political town.

The main stream press could care less that (as an example), the group of once glass artists who "broke away" (no pun intendedd) from the vessel and the craft of glass as craft, and forced it to become just another substrate, are nearly all DMV artists. Or that the heart of the worldwide Glass Secessionism movement ticks in the DMV, or that the much maligned Artomatic is the world's largest open art show.

Politics is it... not art.

My best to these brave art warriors trying to break the mold again - I hope that you do well and that the fair is a success; good luck getting the Washington Post to notice you.

Trawick Prize Application Now Open - $10,000 Top Prize

The deadline to apply is Friday, April 6.

The 2018 Trawick Prize: Bethesda Contemporary Art Awards application is now available! 

Applicants must be 18 years of age or older and permanent, full-time residents of Maryland, Virginia or Washington, D.C. All original 2-D and 3-D fine art including painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, fiber art, digital, mixed media and video will be accepted. The jury will select up to 10 finalists for a group exhibition in Bethesda in September 2018. For more information and to apply:http://www.bethesda.org/bethesda/trawick-application

Prizes:

• Best in Show - $10,000
• Second Place - $2,000
• Third Place - $1,000
• Young Artist (must be born after April 6, 1988 to be eligible for this category) - $1,000

2018 Judges:

• Christopher Bedford, Director, The Baltimore Museum of Art
• Valerie Fletcher, Independent Art Historian & Senior Curator Emerita, Hirshhorn Museum
• Michael Jones McKean, Artist & Associate Professor, Sculpture & Extended Media, Virginia Commonwealth University  

Deadline: February 22, 2018

REVEALED is an all-media exhibition that aims to examine the relevance and value of self-portraiture, through the individual artist’s varied approach to self-representation. 

The exhibition is open to all artists, national and international, over 18 years of age. The exhibition is juried by Nicole Down, Program Manager for Halcyon Arts Lab. 

Entry Fee: $25 for three artworks; $10 for each additional piece. 

Awards: Juror’s Choice $100; Director’s Choice $75. 

Apply Here: https://hillyerartspace.submittable.com/submit/106273/revealed

Amy Sherald at the David C. Driskell Center

Amy Sherald will be at the David C. Driskell Center in conversation with Dorothy Kosinski, Director of The Phillips Collection on March 29th at 6:30pm. 

This is a free, ticketed event and tickets will be available tomorrow, February 15th at noon on The Phillips Collection's website.

Parking is available at meters or at the Union Lane Garage adjacent to Cole Student Activities Building. Free parking is available at Lot 1 after 4PM.

Come to this opening next week!

Zenith Gallery

1429 Iris St. NW, Washington, DC 20012-1409

Show Dates: February 14 - March 24, 2018

Meet the Artists Reception: Wednesday, February 14, 500-8:00 pm

Artist Talk: Saturday, February 17, 2:00 -6:00 pm

More Talks to be announced

FEATURING ARTISTS: F. Lennox Campello, Suzanne Codi, Chas Colburn, Lea Craigie-Marshall, Eric Ehlenberger, Connie Fleres, Margery E. Goldberg, Philip Hazard, Nancy Nesvet, Alison Sigethy, Tim Tate, Erwin Timmers, Mary Voytek, and Michael Young.

Zenith Gallery’s 70s-90s shows often featured neon artists.  To celebrate its 40th anniversary year, Zenith brings back the work of those artists and new ones using varied forms of light technology and mixed media in their work.  New technologies added to older ones present the best in artwork featuring artificial light at Zenith’s new show, Light Up Your heArt. 

Reaching global heights, neon launched within cities especially in Times Square and Las Vegas as signage. In more recent times, there was a resurgence of neon and light art that propelled artists to incorporate or use neon as the main medium in their works. Since the enhancement of technology, this has created a new frontier within the medium, encouraged by the  development with LED lights and video. 

This year marks the 40th anniversary of Zenith Gallery and to celebrate this milestone, we are hosting a series of exhibitions at our two locations; the 1111 sculpture space in Downtown DC and the Iris Street gallery off upper 16th street in the Shepherd Park Neighborhood. Downtown will host a retrospective of the three different locations of Zenith while, Iris St will host exhibits of artists that have been represented by Zenith gallery for decades and others we have recently are thrilled to be representing now. Zenith Gallery continues to be dedicated to finding the unusual and the extremely well-done art over our 40-year history. We like our arts and crafts unique,  with our art well crafted and our craft well art’ed! 

See ya there!

Artist As Entrepreneur Boot Camp

February 24–25, 10:00 AM - 4:00 PMAmerican University Museum
Alper Initiative for Washington Art
4400 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington, DC 20016

Cost: Free, Registration is Required. Click Here!

 

Through the support of the Stephen & Palmina Pace Foundation, New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) in partnership with the American University Museum is pleased to offer a free of charge opportunity for visual artists to participate in the Artist as Entrepreneur Boot Camp program. This two-day-long program will review the fundamental principles of sustainability – and ultimately profitability – in the arts. Topics will include strategic planning, finance, and marketing. Through a blend of formal lectures, breakout groups, and one-on-one meetings, participants will develop a flexible and dynamic “action plan,” and other entrepreneurial tools to serve as a blueprint for their practice or specific projects.

Our first international art fair!

As I've noted before, we're doing our very first international art fair and showcasing the spectacular work of DMV artist Amy Lin at the Investec Cape Town Art Fair in South Africa!

I am pleased to share that the official online preview of the Investec Cape Town Art Fair on Artsy has launched to collectors and art enthusiasts in 190+ countries. Starting this week, coverage of the fair is live at artsy.net/investec-cape-town-art-fair-2018 and on the Artsy app for iPhone and iPad.

Check out Amy's work here!

Or visit: http://artsy.net/show/alida-anderson-art-projects-alida-anderson-art-projects-at-investec-cape-town-art-fair-2018

@Artsy

Zenith Gallery: Celebrating 40 Years in the Nation's Capital!

40 years for an independent fine arts gallery is like a million years in "gallery years"!

 40th ANNIVERSARY EXHIBITION

In the Beginning -The Rhode Island Years 1978-1986

Zenith Gallery
Show dates: January 23- April 28, 2018
At 1111 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington DC 20004
Meet the Artists Reception: Wednesday February 7, 5:00 - 8:00 PM

Featuring Artists: Beatriz Blanco, Chas Colburn, Robert Freeman, Margery Goldberg, Stephen Hansen, Susan Klebanoff, Carol Newmyer, Guenther Riess, Ramon Santiago, Sica, and Ellen Sinel.

40 years in any business is a long time, 40 years in the Art Gallery business is a lifetime! To celebrate Zenith's 40th Anniversary we will be hosting a series of three different exhibitions at the Eleven Eleven Pennsylvania Avenue Sculpture Space, each representing different eras in the history of Zenith marked by location of the gallery, which moved several times over the course of 40 years.  

First of the In the Beginning series will embody the life of Zenith and its artists during the formative years at Rhode Island Avenue. Here is where it all started... when in March of 1978 wood sculptor and gallery owner, Margery Goldberg opened the doors to a 50,000 square-foot complex which became an artists' community and haven known as Zenith Square. 

Art Scam Alert!

Beware of this mutant trying to rip off artists - if you want to know how these scams work, click here and look around...

From: George Barbara georgebarbara678@gmail.com

Hello There,
          My name is George Barbara from New Jersey. I actually observed my wife has been viewing your website on my laptop and i guess she likes your piece of work. I'm also impressed and amazed to have seen your various works too,  You are doing a great job. I would like to purchase one of your Paintings [Name of a painting here], as a surprise to my wife on our anniversary. Also, let me know if you accept check as mode of Payment.

Thanks and best regards
George.

Amy Lin in the house!

Hard-working artist Amy Lin (represented locally by Addison Ripley Fine Art in Georgetown) has two shows opening in the next few weeks and if you are nearby you should make time to go see her latest work!

Cape Town Art Fair

February 16-18

Cape Town International Convention Centre

1 Lower Long Street, Cape Town, 8001

Alida Anderson Art Projects is exhibiting her art in a solo booth (#TT7) at the Cape Town Art Fair next week. The gallery has a few free tickets left so please let Amy know if you or any of your friends are interested in coming.

Info about the fair:  http://www.investeccapetownartfair.co.za

Images of her work:  http://amylinart.com/CapeTown/CapeTown_port.html

and...

Parallel Lives

March 1-April 15

Athenaeum

201 Prince Street

Alexandria, VA 22314

This group show is curated by Brigitte Reyes of Reyes + Davis. Amy will still be in South Africa and will miss the show but if anyone goes and takes photos please send them to her!

- The opening reception is on March 4 from 4-6pm.

- The artists talk will be on April 15 at 3pm and moderated by my good friend and great DMV curator Laura Roulet.

Hirshhorn To Unveil Hiroshi Sugimoto-Designed Lobby and Coffee Bar

After two years of design and three months of construction, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden will unveil its transformed lobby Friday, Feb. 23, reimagined by acclaimed Japanese artist Hiroshi Sugimoto. The new space will also feature the specialty coffee bar Dolcezza Coffee & Gelato at Hirshhorn, the museum's first permanent food and beverage offering, and the only locally owned café on the National Mall.   

In reenvisioning the Hirshhorn's ground floor, Sugimoto and his Tokyo-based architectural firm New Material Research Laboratory (NMRL) looked to symbolize what is unique about both the building and the collection, ideally creating a space that functions simultaneously as sculpture, furniture and conceptual art. The artist-made furnishings are inspired by the fundamental shape of the Hirshhorn - the circle - and the ways in which the shape appears in nature, specifically the chaotic roots of a medieval Japanese tree that now form the lobby's central tables.

 

Art and coffee fans can preview the space during special museum hours Feb. 13, 14 and 15, 6:30 p.m.-9 p.m., when the Hirshhorn will be open late to celebrate the opening of both "Brand New: Art and Commodity in the 1980s" and a three-night-only restaging of an iconic  1988 outdoor projection created by artist Krzysztof Wodiczko.

 

Starting Feb. 23, Dolcezza Coffee & Gelato at Hirshhorn will be open 8 a.m.-5 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. on weekends, offering an inspiring destination for early-morning coffee and creative collaboration.  

 

The new space will feature:

• Twin glass-top tables crafted from the roots of a 700-year-old Japanese nutmeg tree, discovered by Sugimoto in Japan 15 years ago.
• Dramatic 20-foot metal coffee bar of tin and brushed brass, with tin diamond patterns inspired by innovative fireproofing techniques used in 1930s Tokyo. The menu behind the bar will use a font designed by Sugimoto specifically for Dolcezza.
• Spacious seating with white and brushed-brass benches and chairs. Sugimoto's bench legs feature large blocks of optical glass - the same used in camera lenses - a nod to his celebrated photography career. The chairs are inspired by the helicoid shape of DNA, blending natural and manmade spirals.
• Striking brushed-brass and granite welcome desks, mirroring the original brass of the building's twin entryways.
• Prismatic light sculpture "Your oceanic feeling" (2015) by noted Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson, hanging from the ceiling and spanning 12 feet in circumference.
• An open and elevated feel with views down to the National Mall, thanks to the removal of a dark film covering the lobby's 3,300-square-foot windows.
• Free Wi-Fi throughout

Dolcezza Coffee & Gelato at Hirshhorn will offer:

• Seasonal and handcrafted gelato
• Specialty espresso drinks from a Modbar system
• Pour-over and iced coffee
• Gourmet sweet and savory pastries

Call for Exhibit Proposals

Deadline: Sunday, April 1, 2018

 

Artists wishing to be considered for an exhibit in the Howard County Arts Council galleries (located in Ellicott City, Maryland) are invited to submit a general exhibit application. The HCAC Exhibits Committee meets quarterly to review applications and select artists for the exhibit space. Artists, ages 18 and older, working in all media and styles including time-based and installation artists, are encouraged to apply either individually or as a group. The Committee also welcomes proposals from curators and organizations. 

Detailed entry guidelines are available at http://hocoarts.submittable.com/submit/, for pick-up at the Howard County Center for the Arts, or by mail by calling 410-313-2787 or emailing exhibits@hocoarts.org.

 

The next deadline for submissions is Sunday, April 1, 2018.

 

Pam Perna
Community and Web Relations Director
Howard County Arts Council8510 High Ridge Road
Ellicott City, MD 21043 p: 410.313.ARTS
f: 410.313.2790

Opportunity for Solo Shows

Deadline: March 30th, 2018

VisArts invites artists working in all media to apply for 2019 Solo Exhibitions in the Gibbs Street Gallery and Common Ground Gallery.

The Gibbs Street Gallery offers exhibitions that explore the breadth of contemporary art featuring emerging to mid-career artists. Exhibits reflect a wide range of media and experimental approaches that offer the viewer unexpected interactions with art.

The gallery is approximately 1,100 square feet with 16 ft. ceilings. It is on the street level with floor to ceiling windows along one wall. International, national and local artists are welcome to apply. The Common Ground Gallery features exhibitions that reflect the creative pursuits of artists from our community.

The gallery is located on the second floor and is approximately 300 square feet. Artists must live in the Mid-Atlantic region to apply for a solo exhibition in this gallery.

Applicants who have participated in a solo exhibition at VisArts within the past two years are not eligible to apply.

Website: https://visarts.submittable.com/submit/98811/call-for-solo-exhibition-2019

Wanna go to a triple opening tomorrow

Artists & Makers Studios Presents
Be Still with Sheryl Massaro & Coriolana Simon
The Dress as Icon with Alexandra Michaels
Revisioning the Flip Doll: Exploring Our Connections curated by Erika Cleveland

Artists & Makers Studios on Parklawn in Rockville is proud to present three gallery exhibits for the month of February along with artists’ open studios. “Be Still” with Sheryl Massaro and Coriolana Simon explores the still life through their painting and photography. “The Dress as Icon” with Alexandra Michaels takes on the universal

symbol for women with mixed media paintings that contain within them an aspect of female experiences. 

“Revisioning the Flip Doll: Exploring Our Connections” with Erika Cleveland, juried artists, and flip dolls created by women at the N. Street Homeless shelter as part of an ongoing series of workshops - re-imagines the flip doll to show commonalities despite differences, and to explore all the ways in which people are united. 

Words out Loud in the Compass Atelier, from 7-8pm with Philip Wexler, Roger Bradbury and Jason Gebhardt will be followed by an open mic. Resident artists’ open studios will round out the evening for visitors at Parklawn.

Be Still with Sheryl Massaro & Coriolana Simon
The Dress as Icon with Alexandra Michaels
Revisioning the Flip Doll: Exploring Our Connections
Opening Reception
6:00 PM – 9:00 PM, Friday, February 2nd, 2018
Artists & Makers Studios
11810 Parklawn Dr., Suite 210
Rockville, MD 20852

The Trawick Prize: Bethesda Contemporary Art Awards

Deadline to Apply: April 6, 2018

 

Best in Show will be awarded $10,000 & all finalists featured at Gallery B in Sept. 2018

The Trawick Prize: Bethesda Contemporary Art Awards is a visual art prize produced by the Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District that honors artists from Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. The annual juried competition awards $14,000 in prize monies to selected artists and features the work of the finalists in a group exhibition.

The 2018 competition will be juried by Christopher Bedford, Valerie Fletcher and Michael Jones McKean. 

Artists must be 18 years of age or older and permanent, full-time residents of Maryland, Virginia or Washington, D.C. The selected artwork will be on exhibit in June 2018 at Gallery B in downtown Bethesda, MD.

To apply, please visit http://www.bethesda.org/bethesda/trawick-application

New art space about to debut in the DMV

The WaPo does something that it seldom does: discuss a vibrant new (about to open soon) art space in the District!

The idea is to provide studio space to about 40 serious working artists, and in doing so create a community of artists and a destination for curators, collectors and visiting artists. They have even found an honest-to-goodness industrial space to house it: a two-story brick building in Eckington between the Rhode Island and NoMa Metro stops, not far from Catholic University and Union Market and abutting the Branch trail. The Phillips Collection, Halcyon, Studio Visit, Hamiltonian and the Washington Project for the Arts have also signed on as partners.

Read the cool piece by Tara Bahrampour right here!

And after you read it, pleeeeeazzze comment on the story, so that the WaPo editors see that there are readers (they multiply each comment by 1500 readers - don't ask me where they got that formula).

Hirshhorn To Restage Krzysztof Wodiczko Projection

The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden has announced the restaging of "Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, D.C.," an iconic large-scale, outdoor projection by acclaimed American artist Krzysztof Wodiczko (b. 1943, Warsaw), on view Feb. 13-15, 6:30-9 p.m. for the first time since its original three-night display 30 years ago. The work coincides with "Brand New: Art and Commodity in the 1980s," a new exhibition exploring the collision of art and marketing in the 1980s opening Feb. 14. The comprehensive group show will also include Wodiczko's renowned "Homeless Vehicle No. 5." (1988-89), a device designed to provide homeless individuals - who were growing in numbers at the end of the decade - with some form of autonomy, containing shelter, a sink and storage.

After viewing the projection, visitors can explore "Brand New" during special late hours Feb. 13-15, from 6:30 to 9 p.m., and join Wodiczko and the Guerrilla Girls for a public artist talk on "Brand New" and the art of the '80s, Feb. 13. On Feb. 14, the museum will host a wide-ranging conversation on monuments, art and the First Amendment, in partnership with the bipartisan Philadelphia-based National Constitution Center, Gallery Guides will also be on the National Mall and in the museum's lobby all three nights to answer questions and host conversations about the work.

The celebrated three-story-tall installation, commissioned by the Hirshhorn and created specifically for its uniquely curved architecture, debuted in 1988 as part of the museum's "WORKS" program, which ran from 1987 to 1993 and featured a series of temporary, site-specific exhibitions by artists such as Sol Lewitt, Ann Hamilton, Matt Mullican and Alfredo Jaar installed throughout the museum's grounds and plaza. Wodiczko's work, "Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, D.C.," referenced widespread '80s debates around the 1988 Presidential election's political rhetoric, reproductive rights and the death penalty, by alluding to the power of mass media to convey ideologies at a time when cable TV was changing the media paradigm.

Wodiczko was at the forefront of a new interest in public art, and his work, including "Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, D.C.," reflects an increased political awareness in the art of the period, spurred by forces such as the rise of homelessness, the AIDS epidemic and the polarization of U.S. politics. Using recognizable imagery - body parts, figures, guns and money - Wodiczko's large-scale projections are open to interpretation by the communities who experience them, and in the political and social climate where they are installed. His large iconic images borrow from film and advertisements of the day, which used oversized pictures to elicit an emotional reaction in the viewer, and by projecting on monuments and other public institutions, he raised awareness around contemporary social issues.

 

"The 30-year-old projection appears to me today strangely familiar and at once unbearably relevant," Wodiczko said. "I wrote in 1988 that, more than ever before, the meaning of our monuments depends on our active role in turning them into sites of memory and critical evaluation of history as well as places of public discourse and action. It remains vitally true."

"We are honored to present Wodiczko's 'Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, D.C.' nearly 30 years after it premiered to Washington audiences," said Hirshhorn Director Melissa Chiu. "This projection is a significant public artwork from the 1980s. It exemplifies themes explored in 'Brand New,' and highlights the reaction of artists to the seismic shifts in economy, politics and technology that transformed the decade."

The Sustainable Clothed Body: Embroidery on Garments For Mending & Embellishment

Tuesdays, February 6 – 27
6:30 – 9:00 pm, American University Museum

Join all kinds of creative kindred spirits for a new class at the Alper Initiative for Washington Art: The Sustainable Clothed Body: Embroidery on Garments For Mending & Embellishment.

The super-talented artist Kate Kretz teaches clothing embroidery and embellishment on Tuesday evenings in the Alper Space. Cost is $200 for the 4-week class. Materials are provided.

Registration and more information online: www.tinyurl.com/AUMtix

You can find Kate Kretz's amazing artwork at katekretz.com