Wanna go to an opening tomorrow?

Thursday night from 7-9pm, one of the DMV's blue chip artists will be having a reception for his latest solo show. "With the Grain: Paintings by J.T. Kirkland" at the McLean Project for the Arts in McLean, VA. The exhibition will run until June 3 at their new/temporary location on Chain Bridge Rd.

Here's a blurb about the show:

This exhibition features multipart and shaped paintings on wood. Focusing on line, color, form and structure, J.T. Kirkland combines wood and paint into uniquely warm and abstract paintings in the minimalist vein.  Using grain of the wood as both guide and essential component, Kirkland incorporates and contrasts the organic nature of the material with the crisp intentionality of hard-edged blocks of color.

Linguini versus Spaghetti

MFA Thesis Exhibition Alternative Views

Q: What's one of the best places for both new collectors and experienced ones to "discover" new artists early on their careers?


A: Student art shows!

American University's MFA Thesis Exhibition Alternative Views Opens April 29, 2017

AU's Department of Art presents the work of their Masters of Fine Art Thesis candidates: Mills Brown, Aaron Eckstein, Yaroslav Koporulin, Sarah Norman, Sarah O'Donoghue, Jen Smith, and Zarina Zuparkhodjaeva. 

American University Department of Art presents the work of current first and second year Studio Art MFA candidates in a two-part exhibition. From April 1-April 19, MFA First year students present work completed during their first year, followed by the thesis presentation of MFA second year students from April 29-May 28. Collectively, these emerging artists represent study, experimentation, and reflection while also providing a window into each artist’s individual artistic practice.

Gallery Talk from 5-6 pm and Opening Reception from 6-8 pm in the museum on April 29.

While you're there, in the DMV's most beautiful museum space (with plenty of parking!) make sure that you see Frida Larios' Maya Alphabet of Modern Times (through May 28):

Maya Alphabet of Modern Times intends to re-codify a small part of the Maya mythic narrative, giving the artistic tradition new graphic form. In the Maya Alphabet of Modern Times typo-graphic works, Frida Larios, a native of El Salvador, has borrowed directly from the logo-graphic language of the ancestral Maya scribes, but speaking to and for the Indigenous Maya of today. Since finishing her master thesis in London in 2005, Larios has regenerated nearly 100 new designs that have been integrated into diverse media: books, works on paper, installations, sculptures, garments, jewels and toys. These new artifacts carry through the Pre-Columbian heritage to a contemporary audience of every age, thus intending that the Meso American script is preserved to see a new generation.

Also The Summerford Legacy:

Ben L. Summerford (1924-2015) taught at American University's Department of Art from 1951-1987. All of the artists in Summerford Legacy studied under Professor Summerford and took different aspects of his teaching to heart. Some stayed close to their artistic roots in AU's Department of Arts, and some used those roots to support far-flung but personal explorations. All of the artists exhibit the artistic integrity embodied by their teacher, and approach their art as an act of discovery. 

Free Parking: A salon-style conversation with former students of Ben L. Summerford.  April 27, 2017.  RSVP

Torpedo Factory Artists’ Association Welcomes Fifteen New Members

The Torpedo Factory Artists’ Association recently completed its Annual Membership Jury. From this process, fifteen new artists were selected as Associate Members. Congratulations to:  Ahmed Ansari, Veronica Barker-Barzel*, Ramon Camarillo, Cam Chapman, Dennis Crayon, Tsolmon Damba, Mary Beth Gaiarin, M. Alexander Gray*, Briana Hertzog, Yoon Sun Lim, Lizzy Lunday, Charlene Nield, Ciddi Sermin, Meg Talley, and Marine Weiss for being selected as the Torpedo Factory Artists Class of 2017.

The Annual Membership Jury process is conducted in two phases. The first phase evaluates the digital images submitted with each application. Steve Prince, Associate Professor and Artist in Residence at Allegheny College, served as the Phase I juror. In Phase II, artists are placed into one of two groups: two-dimensional or three-dimensional work. Artist work is then anonymously evaluated, both individually and collectively, by all three jurors for that group. There are no quotas or recommendations given to the jurors by the Torpedo Factory Artists’ Association.

For 2017, the jurors for two-dimensional jurors were: David Bellard, Creative Director, Social Marketing & Program Services at Rare Residency Program; Glen Kessler, Founder of The Compass Atelier; and Robert Yi, Director of George Washington University’s Corcoran Arts Continuing Education Program. The three-dimensional jurors were: Michael Janis, Co-director of Washington Glass School; Mary Cloonan, Professor of Ceramics, Adjunct, Towson University and Exhibitions Director at Baltimore Clayworks; and David Knopp, Towson Art Collective and Sculptors Inc.

The Newly Juried Artist exhibition is on display in Gallery 311 at the Torpedo Factory Art Center until April 30. There is a closing reception on April 30 from 3:00 pm - 5:00pm.

On a note of personal interest, waaay back in 1995 or 1996 I applied to this process and was soundly rejected! Another example of why artists need thick skins! Congrats to all the new members!

*Members of Printmakers Inc; a Torpedo Factory studio and workshop

Wanna be in an art show?

CALL FOR POSTCARDS / DEADLINE MAY 19TH

Wish You Were Here 16
A.I.R. Gallery's Annual Postcard Show

A.I.R. Gallery is pleased to announce its 16th annual postcard show, Wish You Were Here, which will take place in the entry gallery of our Plymouth Street location from May 25 - June 25, 2017. This inclusive event both raises valuable funds for A.I.R. programs and makes affordable artwork available to the public. Past Wish You Were Here exhibitions have included work by notable artists like Mary Beth Edelson, Dottie Attie, Mary Grigoriadis, and Barbara Zucker.

They invite artists from all over the world - female / male / cis / trans / gender nonconforming / neutral -  to participate by donating 1 postcard-sized work (4 x 6 inches) in any medium. Each original work is sold for $45 on a first come first serve basis and the buyer will take the work with them at the time of the sale. All proceeds go to benefit A.I.R. programming and are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law.

FREE ENTRY & ALL WORKS ACCEPTED!

For more information and to submit work for the annual postcard show, click here.

Deadline is May 19, 2017 at 6pm.

Wanna go to an opening tonight?

Jacob Kainen, High Noon II, 1980, oil on linen, 24" x 30"

JACOB KAINEN
&
ROMARE BEARDEN

Romare Bearden, Woman and Egret, 1975, collage and acrylic on board, 11 3/4" x 16"

April 15 - June 10, 2017

Opening on April 15, 2017, 6:00pm - 8:00pm at Hemphill


HEMPHILL1515 14th St NW
Washington DC 20005
tel 202.234.5601hemphillfinearts.com

Wanna go to a Friday night Opening?

Amazon Lady in Red Chair by Marcie-Wolf-Hubbard

Traveling in Place

April 10 - May 5

Paintings by Marcie Wolf-Hubbard

The Den Coffeehouse & Wine Bar at Politics and Prose

5015 CONN AVE NW, WASH, DC 

Artist’s Reception: April 14 (7–9pm)