From ArtSee. Email contact[AT]artseedc.com and follow ArtSee @ArtSeeinDC on Twitter.

“The Salon of Little Deaths.” (Courtesy Hamiltonian)

Landscape painting is the perennial genre of art. Reaching back to the Minoans of 1500 BCE, scenes depicting natural landscapes have been universally desirable to people of both the past and the present.

Matthew Mann and Milana Braslavsky breath new life into landscape painting and still life in their exhibition, The “Salon of Little Deaths,” on view at Hamiltonian Gallery now until June 15.

Mann, who earned a Hamiltonian Artist Fellowship in 2011, uses surrealist techniques reminiscent of Magritte, in his sometimes comical, always visually intriguing oil paintings that depict lush green trees in fields of incandescent color.

Brasklavsky, who currently works and lives in Baltimore, takes brilliantly alluring photographs of fruit, set against the backdrop of monochrome linens. Revealing the carnal quality of oranges, peaches and melons, Brasklavsky’s photographs are equally as seductive as the paintings of 17th Century Spanish painter Juan Sánchez Cotán, whose eerily realistic “Quince, Cabbage, Melon, and Cucumber” has delighted and beguiled viewers for more than 400 years.

Mann and Brasklavsky will be at Hamiltonian Gallery on Friday, May 17 from 7 to 8 pm, discussing their works in “The Salon of Little Deaths.”

Bringing the Art in DC to You – Roxanne Goldberg

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Scott Brooks: “twisted and offbeat, sentimental and disturbing.” (Luis Gomez Photos)

Last week, Mid City Artists opened their most recent exhibition at Art17, and ArtSee brought you and exclusive interview with Regina Miele.

Now, as Mid City Spring Open Studios nears on May 18 and 19, ArtSee brings you yet another exclusive. Scott G. Brooks, one of DC’s most recognizable figurative painters discusses the inspiration for his artwork, self-described as “twisted and offbeat, sentimental and disturbing.”

ArtSee: What is the last show you saw that inspired you?

Brooks:  It’s always inspiring to me to see what other people are doing. A lot of the work I see is online now a days, just sifting through those pages. The blogs mostly, like there’s just a lot of contemporary art blogs that I subscribe to, like Hi-Fructose, Juxtapoz, Arrested Motion.

ArtSee: What is the greatest inspiration for your art?

Brooks: My work is always figurative so I’m always on a search for inspiration, sometimes it’s unexpected and something happens in the news or you read about something and that will inspire me. And humor. I try to get in some humor because the themes are dark so I try to add some humor. So depending on the situation, there always is something that makes me smile and other people smile.

ArtSee: Who is your favorite artist?

Brooks: There’s a lot. Dave Cooper is fantastic. He’s very figurative but he comes from a comic book background so his work has that comic book sensibility but they’re dirty and fun and his technique and style are a lot of fun, very rich. Here in DC, Eric Sanberg is fantastic. He’s an amazing figurative painter. His themes are fun and kind of twisted. We’re friends and I really respect his skill.

ArtSee: Do you have a favorite place to see art in DC?

Brooks: National Gallery. Whenever I have a break, that’s where I’ll go to re-charge a bit. I’m looking forward to seeing the Pre-Raphaelites show but I haven’t been over there yet. I think it’s very similar [to my work], that’s an area and style and a look and a feel that I strive for. The Pre-Raphaelites and the Victorians are really inspirational to me.

Brook’s studio will be open to the public as part of the Mid City Artists Spring Studio Tours May 18 and 19.

Bringing the Art in DC to You – Roxanne Goldberg

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Regina Miele’s “Mid-City Blue.” (Courtesy Regina Miele)

In anticipation of Mid City Artists at Art17, ArtSee spoke with artist Regina Miele about her artistic practice as a Mid City artist.

ArtSee: What are you most looking forward to at Art17?

Regina Miele: I was over there hanging the show with Brian [Petro] and Marie Ringwald the other day. One of the things I look forward to the most, is seeing every one. It sounds so simple. I also really like getting a hometown response to my work.

ArtSee: Can you tell us more about your painting in Art17, Mid-City Blue?

Miele: Over the entire time I’ve been in the [Mid City] neighborhood, I’ve been painting views of the rooftops and things I’ve been walking past everyday and the enormous change that has occurred in that area. That painting is of an actual house on T Street between 13th and 14th. I’ve always found it really beautiful and interesting.

There is something particular in the decay, especially now that everything on every side of it is completely redone and gentrified. One aspect I’ve always been exploring in my work, is what is the idea of beauty. I like taking something that someone would just drive by and then render it beautifully with a traditional medium like oil painting.

ArtSee: How has being a Mid City Artist impacted your art career?

Miele: The biggest thing it has done for me over the years, it has made me a lot more open to having my work seen kind of in a half-finished, un-finished, in-the-middle-of-thinking-it-out state. And the open studios are very valuable in having people who are not critics. It’s a much more laid back venue than the opening of a gallery show. I think the feedback is more honest than it would be in a gallery situation. The opportunities to talk about my work and process helps with hashing out my own ideas. What people may not realize about artists, I’ll do a lot of writing before a body of work. It can take a year to 18 months and there is something very important to getting feedback, even if its feedback you’re not thrilled to hear.

The Details:

• What: Mid City at Art17 opening reception
• When: Thursday, May 2 at 6 pm
• Where: Art 17, Coldwell Banker, 1606 17th Street NW

Bringing the Art in DC to You – Roxanne Goldberg

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Frank Barbara. (Courtesy of Smith Center)

Perhaps no other DC enterprise knows this supreme truth better than Joan Hisaoka Healing Arts Gallery, which opens its new exhibition, “Alchemical Vessels,” this Friday, April 26, at 7 p.m.

An inspiring collection of ceramic vessels by 125 artists were hand-selected by a team of 16 guest curators. Each unique bowl has the capacity to hold more than additional objects.

Chosen for their symbolic ability to create space where healing can take place, these bowls represent the therapeutic work performed within the greater space between the Smith Center’s walls.

“Alchemical Vessels” encourages gallery visitors to engage in an important dialogue about healing and transformation through the arts, by displaying bowls made in the visage of each artist’s personal aesthetic and medium. Collectively, the bowls draw inspiration from ideas about holding, open communities, circles of care, sacred spaces, nourishment, and alchemical vessels.

The Details

• What: ”Alchemical Vessels” opening reception
• When: Friday, April 26,  7 to 9 pm
•  Where: Joan Hisaoka Healing Arts Gallery, 1632 U Street NW

Bringing the Art in DC to You – Roxanne Goldberg

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DC Advocates for the Arts. (Courtesy DC Advocates for the Arts)

From ArtSee. Email contact[AT]artseedc.com and follow ArtSee @ArtSeeinDC on Twitter.

This week is all about the arts in DC, or it should be.  Just yesterday was Arts Advocacy Day, a day dedicated to supporting and celebrating the arts. As previously posted, many organizations were a small piece of the day, but there is one that is mobilizing the efforts to encourage people in DC to do more to increase arts funding and garner additional support from law makers. DC Advocates for the Arts, a non-profit organization that exists to support public policy on the participation of the arts within the DC community at large, is one of them.

Recently, DC Advocates for the Arts has ramped up their mailings to entice people to give back to their cause, increasing arts funding, by writing to their local government officials, including the mayor. In this plea, it states the fundamental issue with the proposed mayoral budget or 2013;

“The mayor’s recently proposed budget cuts arts funding by $6 million dollars. The DC Arts Commission is amongst the smallest agencies in the city, and while some agencies could easily absorb a $6 million dollar cut, this would cut DC’s arts agency in half.”

The group is asking for additional funding to the tune of $11 million dollars, a sum we think should be obtainable. In order or this to happen though, lawmakers and DC will have to continue making the arts a priority. DC Advocates for the Arts also has a brand new website where you can find additional information about their efforts and how to write a letter of your own to support an increase in arts funding, click here for more details.

Bringing the Art in DC to You – Roxanne Goldberg

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Steven Cushner. (Courtesy Hemphill Fine Arts)

On Monday, April 8, Yo-Yo Ma delivered the 26th Annual Nancy Hanks Lecture on Arts and Public Policy.

Joining a long tradition of individuals who are passionate about and influential in the intersection between public policy and the arts, such as actors Alec Baldwin and Robert Redford, playwright Wendy Wasserstein, and poet Maya Angelou, Ma gave a persuasive argument for arts as the principle core to education, healing and better collaboration in society in his lecture titled, “Art for Life’s Sake: A Roadmap from One Citizen Musician.”

ArtSee and Hillyer Art Space continue the conversation with Art AdvocaSee TONIGHT, Wednesday, April 17 from 6 pm to 8 pm at Dupont Circle’s Hillyer Art Space.

Represented by Hemphilll Fine Arts, painter Steven Cushner, is inspired by the human instinct to identify patterns in daily life. Panda Head Magzine founder, Morgan Hungerford West, recently completed the 7th issue of her online magazine, which became a collaborative effort between nearly 70 photographers, illustrators, chefs, stylists and local shops.

The Fridge DC Assistant Gallery Director, Emma Fisher, successfully produced the five-week arts festival, Fresh Produce last fall, when she worked with more than 60 artists and five art collectives including Impossible Theater Company and Bourgeon Writes.

Cushner, West, and Fisher will be on a panel to discuss advocacy through their unique niches within the art world—as an artist, online magazine founder, and gallery director. Joining the panelists will be DC-based artists Matthew Malone, Leah Appel, Jerry Truong, James Campbell and Brian Petro.

Art AdvocaSee is TONIGHT, Wednesday, April 17, 6:00- 8:00 PM at Hillyer Art Space, 9 Hillyer Court NW.

Bringing the Art in DC to You – Roxanne Goldberg

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A piece in the “LUX” exhibition. (Courtesy Hillyer Art Space)

In the corner of the Members’ Gallery at Hillyer Art Space, an illuminated geometric structure made of polystyrene, radiates glowing white light.

Luminescence pulses with the vibrancy of life and extends into the viewer’s immediate space, inviting the plastic work’s human counterpart to reveal elements of his inner soul, to expose what is typically hidden under his hard and restrictive shell.

Hsin-Hsi Chen’s new series, “LUX,” explores the optical and cognitive effects of light and shadow when juxtaposed with illusionary or surreal light. Her study successfully elicits questions of fact versus fiction and confronts the opposing duo’s interplay within everyday life.

Just as it is at times perplexing to distinguish the corporeal shadows made by paper folds from the phantom darkness developed by diligent pencil shading, it is often difficult, sometimes confusing or impossible, to separate authenticity from fraud.

In “LUX,” pencil drawings, paper and wood objects, and a polystyrene structure engage in dialogue with one another, creating a visual progression marking Chen’s artistic process — from two to three-dimensions — as well as posing intriguing questions concerning illusionary and real space in everyday life.

Details

• “LUX” is on display at Hillyer Art Space until April 30, 2013.
• Tuesday through Friday, noon to 6 pm; and Monday and Saturday, noon to 5 pm; closed Sunday.
• 9 Hillyer Court NW.

Bringing the Art in DC to You – Roxanne Goldberg

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Fawna Xiao’s “Glacier #1″ (Courtesy Fawna Xiao)

As the cherry blossoms begin to bloom, so does DC’s spring art schedule, beginning with this month’s round of First Friday openings.

On the top of ArtSee’s list of must-see shows this month, stands Contemporary Wing’s “MUMBO SAUCE.” Curated by Lauren Gentile, Contemporary Wing owner, and Roger Gastman, curator of the Corcoran Gallery of Art’s recent exhibition, “PUMP ME UP – D.C. subculture of the 1980s,” this survey of artists with roots as deeply embedded in Washington, D.C. as is the sweet and tangy sauce that the show derives its name from, “MUMBO SAUCE” explores the relationships and experiences shared by people working and living in this strange little city that is the nation’s Capital.

The Foundry Gallery’s exhibition “OUTLOUD,” features the work of 12 artists who began painting together twelve years ago. Exploring themes of non-representation and intuition, these works have a beautiful airiness that translates into both a calming aesthetic, and a curious emotive awareness.

On the cutting edge of the DC emerging art scene, Hillyer Art Space opens this Friday with Heather Day’s “Sideways” and Fawna Xiao’s “LOST LAND.” Though employing very different visual modes, works of paint, fiber and line by Day and print abstract landscapes by Xiao ebb and flow with one another to create an environment that challenges the eye to focus on details while simultaneously absorbing the greater image.

Bringing the Art in DC to You – Roxanne Goldberg

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Garth Fry’s work is at Hillyer Art Space. (Courtesy ArtSee)

Garth Fry pushes the limit in his solo show at Hillyer Art Space by taking his delicate technique of coiled paper to the next level with both large and small scale exhibitions. In “A deeper look inside” Fry revisits this technique with an emphasis on the viewing experience, focusing on the ethereal, delicate properties of paper coils.

The imagery he creates with paper coils are inspired by events that have occurred through Garth’s everyday life; from everyday occurrences to life changing moments. His discovery of the technique has evolved from a routine life event when he discovered a natural coil on some torn paper in his studio and immediately appreciated it’s aesthetic value.

Fry’s earlier work depicts more objective subject matter using coils, but in his exhibition, “A deeper look inside,” he abstracts the form, focusing on the impact of the medium.

The solo exhibition at Hillyer Art Space, which closes this Friday March 29, showcases Fry’s push to enhance his work by reexamining the coiled paper technique and by creating works that can be viewed independently while providing an impactful viewing experience for the viewer.

“A deeper look inside” is open until Friday, March 29, at Hillyer Art Space, 9 Hillyer Court NW in Dupont Circle. Hillyer Art Space is open noon to 6 pm Tuesday through Friday, and noon to 5 pm Monday and Saturday.

Bringing the art in DC to you – Roxanne.

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“Nothing Rhymes With Orange” opens Saturday, March 23. (Photo courtesy Project 4 Gallery)

Language is a powerful force — it’s capable of challenging our preconceived notions, toying with our beliefs and persuading us to consider the outside viewpoint.

However, when language is pulled out of the abstract realm and positioned directly in front of us in our three-dimensional corporeal world, the viewer’s engagement with the power of language is revolutionized, as he must learn to navigate, to experiment with and decipher object-forms in space.

Thomas Muller’s ”Nothing Rhymes With Orange,” opening this Saturday, March 23 at Project 4 Gallery located in the U Street Corridor, compels the viewer to confront the interior architecture of letterforms by removing contextual limitations of language.

“¡buenos dias!” is spelled out and sits as large, block letters on the floor. Other phrases, such as “The man in the gray flannel suit has fallen over!” are positioned in a circle, some letters literally toppling over, creating a physical and intellectual engagement with the forms.

In a vein similar to the work of Liam Gillick, associated with the 1990’s Young British Artists, the viewer first experiences the piece from a purely visual level. He then is persuaded to physically engage with the work, slowly moving to an experience that requires reading and attempted comprehension of both the language and the aesthetic. The words are finally pushed back into their abstract realm when the viewer can conclude the work’s meaning.

“Nothing Rhymes With Orange” opens Saturday, March 23, with a public reception from 6 to 8:30 pm, and runs through April 27.

Project 4 is located at 1353 U Street NW, Suite 302. It is open Wednesday through Saturday from noon until 6 pm.

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