After Hours: Social Rituals

Works on Paper by Christina Girardi Curated by Barbara Januszkiewicz

After Hours: Social Rituals

Opening Speakeasy Sat. Oct 22, 6-9 pm Plus Open Art Studios at 34zeo9 Art Studios and Micro Gallery

The urban watering hole is visually comforting and enticing. There exists a constant familiarity of the physical and symbolic bar, through its creation of pockets of intimacy within a fluid public space. 

Girardi explores the visual and social subjects of the bar through drawings made on-site and from photos of bars she has collected from her social encounters. Through these mixed media drawings, she makes an attempt to mimic and recollect setting, sound, color, and taste of the aesthetics surrounding these memories created through the social habits of today’s young urban and suburban populations. By mixing different media such as charcoal, pastel, gouache, and watercolor, this series not only remains fluid and colorful, like the setting’s main subject, but also honors the craft and versatility of modern bar mixology. By combining seemingly juxtaposed or even redundant ingredients (mediums) in an innovative manner, the visuals mimic the works of art created by the bartenders and mixologists to complete this liquid social ritual. 


“ After Hours: Social Rituals”, says Barbara Januszkiewicz, curator, “is seeing more than just original artwork done by Christina Girardi , it is a reflection on today’s sense of community. Sense of place is not a static concept; rather, it evolves and develops over time, reflecting the spectrum of social values within and around the community. Ms. Girardi's art is about this connection that we have with our hangouts, the bar scene. 

It is about socializing today, outside of work, school, or the apartment, a context that spans from the first pubs to the 21st-century, a location now more prolific and diverse than ever, for many social engagements. 

The Speakeasy event Oct 22 6-9 pm offers an art performance that ties in the fine art context with a non-traditional interdisciplinary expression. This Micro Speakeasy offer a live, unscripted performance bartender who will offer dialogues and spontaneity to audience participation.

Landmarks: Washington Sculpture Group

The King Street Gallery presents work from the Washington Sculptors Group in Landmarks. The exhibit opens October 24, with a reception and gallery talk October 27. Dr. Claudia Rousseau, professor of art history at Montgomery College, curated the exhibition. 

Landmarks explores the concept of a landmark in all its possible meanings: from political landmarks to totems to moments of historical change. Montgomery College invited members of the Washington Sculptors Group to submit works that expressed this concept in sculpture. Dr. Rousseau curated the exhibition, choosing works based on a variety of interpretations of landmark. 

The Washington Sculptors Group (WSG) fosters the exchange of ideas among sculptors, collectors, and the public. The organization curates exhibitions in the DC area and beyond. WSG also organizes artists' panels, presentations, workshops, and social gatherings. WSG received the Mayor's Arts Award for Excellence in Service to the Arts in 2004. 

Exhibiting artists include Jan Paul Acton, c.l. bigelow, Alan Binstock, Nizette Brennan, Jacqui Crocett, Alonzo Davis, Joel D’Orazio, Kate Doyle, Jeffery Cooper, Annie Farrar, Martin Feldman, Mary Annella Mimi Frank, Marilyn Geldzahler, Linda Hesh, Penny Jacoby, Craig Kraft, Ruth Lozner, Rosemary Luckett, Gordon Lyon, Joan Mayfield, Kass McGowan, Rob Muir, Iris Posner, Christopher Romer, Mike Shaffer, Diane Szczepaniak, L. S. Watson, Roy Ysla, and Julie Zirlin. 

Landmarks: Washington Sculpture Group runs October 24–November 22 at the King Street Gallery. A gallery talk occurs October 27 from 5–6 p.m. A reception follows from 6–8 p.m. 

The event is located at the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation Arts Center. For more information, visit http://cms.montgomerycollege.edu/arts-tpss/exhibitions/. 

Free and open to the public.

Cuban by Ancestry...

Below is the video that is embedded in my most recent video work...



As I usually do, I've used the "cracks" on the background wall to (employing the Navy's Falcon Codes) double encrypt a background message (also using Ogham)... more on the show later...

"Cuban by Ancestry, But American by the Grace of God."
Charcoal and Conte and Embedded Video. 18x24 inches, circa 2016.

"Cuban by Ancestry, But American by the Grace of God."
Charcoal and Conte and Embedded Video. 18x24 inches, circa 2016.

"Cuban by Ancestry, But American by the Grace of God."
Charcoal and Conte and Embedded Video. 18x24 inches, circa 2016.

"Cuban by Ancestry, But American by the Grace of God."
Charcoal and Conte and Embedded Video. 18x24 inches, circa 2016.

Opportunities for Artists

Deadline: Midnight, November 27, 2016.


Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art’s (MOCA) annual juried exhibition, New Waves 2017. Cash prizes awarded. Juror: Ken Harman is a curator and gallerist based in San Francisco, CA. He is the owner of two galleries, Hashimoto Contemporary and Spoke Art, which have locations in San Francisco and New York City. Previously, Harman was the online editor for Hi-Fructose Magazine where his writings appeared in multiple print and online features. Submissions currently open. 


Website: http://www.virginiamoca.org/new-waves-2017

Life imitating Art... or ripoff?

This is the most recent Lowe's ad on TV.


This is a still from that ad:

And this is a still from DMV artist Kathryn Cornelius' 2005 video "Resolve"

Life imitating art? Or Lowe's imitating Cornelius?


Just sayin'

PHOTO '16 at Multiple Exposures

October 2016 issue of Washingtonian magazine

“Curators from the Hirshhorn or National Gallery would rather take a cab to Dulles Airport to look at emerging artists in Berlin than they would take a cab to Adams Morgan to look at emerging artists here,” says Lennox Campello, an artist and former gallery owner. “They don’t do a good job of tending their own back garden.”

The current issue of Washingtonian magazine has a terrific article on ubercollectors Mera and Donald Rubell and the powerful impact they've had upon the DMV's art scene and the even more tectonic impact they're about to deliver with their plans for The Randall School:

The Rubells partnered with Telesis, a developer in DC, to buy the old school from the Corcoran for $6.5 million. Twenty percent of the apartments will be reserved for affordable housing, including live/work space for artists. The museum, which will occupy the Randall building, is to house part of the Rubells’ art collection. 

Says Telesis president Marilyn Melkonian: “It will be a total change and regeneration of that whole part of the neighborhood.”

Read the article by Brendan L. Smith here.