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“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.”

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At the Hamiltonian Gallery: Magnolia Laurie’s “regarding the disregarded, to confuse the subject,” oil on panel 15” x 16”, 2011. (Image courtesy Hamiltonian Gallery)

Starting tonight it’s a busy weekend at the galleries in the Borderstan area. Three new exhibitions are opening and three more are closing. All three new exhibitions open with receptions with the artists and another exhibition closes with a party.

Mix It Up

Thursday. Two new exhibitions open Thursday evening with receptions — at Long View Gallery on 9th Street NW from 6:30 to 8:30 pm… and at 14th Street’s gallery plan b from 6 to 8 pm.

“Creative Process: Four Artists’ Expressions Through Uniquely Different Mediums” is coming to Long View tonight… while over at gallery plan b, “PODS” opens for a month run.

Friday. There is a closing reception for “ChickenVille” at the Lamont Bishop Gallery on 9th Street on Friday, June 24, from 6:30 to 10 pm.

Saturday. Then on Saturday head to Hamiltonian Gallery on U Street NW for a reception with 10 Hamiltonian Fellows as they open “Fellows Converge: Broadly Thinking,” the annual show of the Fellows. The party is from 7 to 9 pm on June 25.

Exhibitions Closing

Exhibitions are closing this weekend at Curator’s Office (Saturday), Lamont Bishop Gallery (closing reception Friday) and Transformer (Saturday).

Find out what’s showing at 12 galleries in the Logan-Shaw-U Street area below the fold.

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“Artist of the Washington Glass School” closes this Saturday, June 18, at Long View Gallery, 1234 9th Street NW.

From Jana Petersen

There are three galleries closing their current exhibits this weekend: Gallery plan b, Hamiltonian and Long View. See descriptions below to devise your divide and conquer plans.

Gallery plan b, “Works by Gordon Binder, Works by Tanja Bos, Works by Beverly Ryan”: Each artist in this exhibit chooses a different way to paint his/her environment. While Gordon Binder captures the world around him through natural landscapes and cityscapes, Tanja Bos uses ink and paper to create ethereal scenes “that seem to glow from within” (Gallery plan b) and Beverly Ryan’s “narrative paintings are populated with soul-searching figures amongst decorative and colorful patterns” (gallery plan b).

Hamiltonian Gallery, “Concurrent Exhibitions by Three Hamiltonian Fellows: Ryan Hoover, Jessica van Brakle, and Linda Vargas de la Hoz”: In this exhibit, each artists explores the notion of physical objects and space to paint a convergence that is not normally seen — a tent made out of a clothes jacket? What about furniture implanted with micro-controllers?

Long View Gallery: Find out how students and teachers at the Washington Glass School have taken glass sculpture outside of its traditional form.

Find out what’s showing at 12 galleries in the Logan-Shaw-U Street area below the fold.

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“Artists of the Washington Glass School” opens Thursday, May 19 at Longview Gallery, 1234 9th Street NW. Above is “The Three” by Elizabeth Ryland Mears and William Forrest. (Image courtesy Long View Gallery)

From Jana Petersen

Spring is in full swing; with that, many art galleries in the area are also “in full bloom.” Across the next week and a half, there are a bunch of galleries with new exhibitions, and with that, lots of associated activities. So, take out your day planner/calendar, and start planning ahead and marking down these events.

Hamiltonian Gallery will host an opening reception this Saturday, May 14 from 7 to 9 pm for its exhibit featuring Ryan Hoover, Jessica van Brankle and Lina Vargas de la Cruz, three Hamiltonian fellows. This exhibit draws from various content areas and materials to explore the notion of space and structure in very different ways.

This Saturday the 14th, an opening and reception at Hamiltonian… Thursday the 19th an opening and reception at Long View… coming on Saturday the 21st are openings at gallery plan b, Lamont Bishop and Transformer.

For example, Hoover’s installation comprises a series of mid-century furniture pieces embedded with micro-controllers that pull (live-time!) feeds from his email and social media streams to display on the furniture. Head to Hamiltonian to find out how van Brankle and de la Cruz understand and paint the notions of a “paved paradise” and “clothes and space,” respectively.

Looking ahead, Long View Gallery will have its opening reception for “Artists of the Washington Glass School: The First Ten Years” at 6:30 pm on Thursday, May 19. This exhibit features the works of over eleven artists who taught or were students at the renowned Washington Glass School, and strives to show how glass-making and glass sculptures have become a metaphorical and more creative art than its often traditional portrayal as standardized dining-ware.

These highlights are just a small taste of the different openings and associated events in the area. Stay tuned for more opening receptions next week; in the meantime, be sure to check out the full list below.

Find out what’s showing at 12 galleries in the Logan-Shaw-U Street area below the fold.

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"Dataklysmos”" is at Irvine Contemporary on 14th Street NW through June 4. Pictured: Unique sculpture, LED HD 720p screen, Digital Media Player and HD video, LEDs, welded steel, resin, phosphorescent silicon, plastic, fiber optics by artist dNASAb. (Courtesy Irvine Contemporary)

From Jana Petersen

This Saturday is the last call to see “Call and Response: Textures” and “Sketch” at the Hamiltonian Gallery and Transformer Gallery, respectively.

About “Call + Response: Textures” at Hamiltonian. “Call + Response: Textures” fittingly builds on the theme of “call and response,” a succession of two distinct phrases played by different musicians, in which the second phrase comments on or responds to the first. In the case of this exhibit, a writer provides the “call” in the form of a new, intense piece of short fiction or poetry, which incites an artistic installation, the “response.” The final result: harmony between two seemingly disparate worlds. Hamiltonian Gallery is at 1353 U Street NW.

About “Sketch” at Transformer. “Sketch” is an exhibition designed to highlight and investigate the creative processes and development of art through sketchbooks. “Sketch” features the sketchbooks of 16 local artists, all currently on display at Transformer, which is at 1404 P Street NW.

Each of these exhibits knocks down any wall of artistic convention, and embodies, if not demands, discourse, engagement and dialogue between two parties generally understood as distinct. “Call + Response” is an exhibit that is highly interactive among the artistic pairing (writer and visual artist). One work is the byproduct of another; one cannot stand on its own without the other.

Similarly, ”Sketch” is set up in a way that it demands participation from the viewer; though it has rounded out its opportunities for draw-ins from community members, the exhibit still presents the work of D.C. natives and is staged in a way that invites patrons to flip through each artist’s sketchbook as fast or as slow as the viewer wants.

Find out what’s showing at 12 galleries in the Logan-Shaw-U Street area below the fold.

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What’s showing at 11 galleries in the Dupont-Logan area?

Three galleries host opening receptions Saturday, March 12: gallery plan b, Hamiltonian Gallery and Project 4.

It’s also your last chance to see the group show at Long View Gallery and Lauren Rice’s “Heirlooms” at Transformer. Both exhibitions close this weekend.

Find out what’s showing at 11 galleries in the Logan-Shaw-U Street area below the fold.

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What’s showing at 11 galleries in the Dupont-Logan area?

With the spring weather starting to show up, take a stroll around Borderstan and see what’s on exhibit at local galleries. There are no openings (and receptions) this weekend.

But if you haven’t seen “Saturnalia” at Irvine Contemporary… checked out the excellent work of Paula Amt and Rod Glover at gallery plan b… or seen “Bound: Selin Balci & Katherine Mann” at the Hamiltonian Gallery, this is your last weekend to catch them.

Find out what’s showing at 11 galleries in the Logan-Shaw-U Street area below the fold.

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At gallery plan b through March 6: “Paintings by Paula Amt and Sculpture by Rod Glover” (Luis Gomez Photos)

What’s on exhibit at local galleries? There are no openings (and receptions) this weekend. But, here’s a tip: You have two more weekends to see these two exhibitions.

“Bound”

At Hamiltonian Gallery, 1353 U Street NW: “Bound: Selin Balci & Katherine Mann” is showing through Saturday, March 5: “Whether in Balci’s laboratory approach or Mann’s painterly exploration, both artists create vivid abstractions, ripe with notions of growth, wonder and subjugation. Within the context of aestheticism, both examine the limits of their medium, as well as notions of humanity within an expanded ecologic understanding of the living world.”

“Paintings by Paula Amt and Sculpture by Rod Glover”

At gallery plan b, 1530 14th Street NW: “Paintings by Paula Amt and Sculpture by Rod Glover” runs through Sunday, March 6: “Paula Amt’s paintings are about things that catch her eye — insignificant items or images are brought to significance as the looming, silhouetted subjects of her paintings. Rod Glover offers a very personal body of work with challenges to himself regarding materials and location.  He incorporates scorched wood and found items in a collection of assembled sculptures.” Amt is the gallery owner and Rod Glover is a partner in Home Rule, the 14th Street home goods store.

Find out what’s showing at 11 galleries in the Logan-Shaw-U Street area below the fold.

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Get the listings for 11 galleries in the U Street-Logan-Shaw area. (Luis Gomez Photos)

Two openings this week at area galleries and one next week. First, this week:

• Thursday, January 20 at Long View Gallery: Ernesto Santalla: “Symmetries” with a 6:30 to 8:30 pm reception. Long View is at 1234 9th Street NW.
• Saturday, January 22… “Bound: Selin Balci & Katherine Mann” opens at the Hamiltonian Gallery with a 7 to 9 pm reception, 1353 U Street NW:

Find out what’s opening next week at Ann Loeb Bronfman Gallery in the listings for 11 galleries below.

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At Irvine Contemporary: Melissa Ichiuji, “Nature’s Promise,” 2010. Fabric, wood, nylon, feathers, wallpaper, found objects, mixed media. 30 x 55 x 6 inches. (Courtesy Ivrine Contemporary)

“Saturnalia: New Work by Gallery Artists” opens Saturday, January 8 at Irvine Contemporary on 14th Street NW. The exhibition will include works by eight artists: Teo González, Melissa Ichiuji, Hedieh Javanshir Ilchi, Akemi Maegawa, Alexa Meade, Susana Raab, and Nicholas Kahn & Richard Selesnick. The opening reception is from 6 to 8 pm; the exhibition runs through February 12.

Exhibitions Closing

• “New Work” by Paula Crawford at the Long View closes tonight, Thursday, January 6 (at 1234 9th Street NW).
• Victoria F. Gaitan & Cecilia Paredes: “Foto Baroque” is at The Curator’s Office through Saturday, January 8 (at 1515 14th Street NW).

Another Week

• At the Hamiltonian Gallery through Saturday, January 15: Magnolia Laurie: “holding up” and Jon Bobby Benjamin: “going home” (at 1353 U Street NW). There is an artist talk on Wednesday, January 12 at 7 pm.
• “ALPTRAUM!” is at the Transformer through Saturday, January 15 (at 1404 P Street NW).

Check out the listings for exhibitions at 10 galleries in the Logan-Shaw-U Street area below — and find out what’s opening next weekend.

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