City Empties Out, But Galleries Full of Great Exhibitions

From Jana Petersen

Hanging in D.C. for Memorial Day Weekend? It’s the best of both worlds: empty sidewalks and plenty of activity within the gallery scene – a great prospect, especially if the weather is as unpredictable as it’s been.

Let’s start with the exhibit “Supernatural,” now at the Curator’s Office. Artist Ann Tarantino successfully delivers “airy” – not to be confused with simple or whimsical – pieces through the finely-tuned technique of using her breath to direct ink through a straw.

Tarantino’s art references systems, “from the delicate patterning of nervous tissue revealed through Golgi’s method of staining brain cells, to the emotional ties revealed through contemporary social networks, to the intricate web of parasitic and symbiotic relationships required to maintain healthy ecosystems and the labyrinthine streets of ancient cities” (Tarantino).

This weekend is also the second to last to see exhibits at Hemphill Fine Arts, Irvine Contemporary, Project 4, and Transformer Gallery. Understanding how overwhelming and paralyzing options can be, I’ve attempted to light-heartedly categorize each exhibit below — accompanied by a less-biased and more serious synopsis. Continue to scroll down to get the hours for each gallery.

For those who might be caught hiking in the Shenandoah any other weekend:

• “Anne Rowland” at Hemphill: “Anne Rowland’s complex photographic engagement with the farmland around her home in rural Virginia springs from an instinctual feeling for nature and the inherent melancholy of our intrusion upon it. In her collection and mending together of visual data, Rowland points to a place in the human brain that desires to commune with and care for the wilderness” (Hemphill).

For those who know what a “borg” is and can talk extensively about said topic:

• “Dataklysmos” at Irvine: “Dataklysmos” is an exhibition of new multimedia sculptures that show the world of data and the materiality of digital technology in new ways. The implication of the Brooklyn artist’s name [dNASAb] — “Disney-NASA-Borg” — is only the tip of the ice berg.

For those who otherwise might be sitting in a coffee shop pondering the boundaries of reality:

• “Liminal Light” at Project 4: “The show Liminal Light at Project 4 Gallery features artists who explore various means of representing reality and the boundaries beyond, bringing the viewer to the visual realm of the sublime. Using graphite, India ink, smoke and photo collage, the artists exploit the duality between black and white to reveal the spectrum of infinite shades of gray” (Project 4).

For those with attachment to Hawaii, white/black sand beaches, identity – any or all of the above:

• “This Is Hawaii’i” at Transformer: Indulge yourself remotely! This IS Hawai’i artists Solomon Enos, Puni Kukahiko, Carl F. K. Pao and Maika’i Tubbs explore — through site-specific installation, artistic actions and public programs — what it means to be “Hawaiian” in the 21st century.

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

Ann Loeb Bronfman Gallery DC Jewish Community Center 1529 16th Street NW 202.518.94	Check back for upcoming exhibitions. Gallery Hours: Sunday through Thursday, 10 am to 10 pm; Friday, 10 am to 4 pm.
Adamson Gallery 1515 14th Street NW 202.232.0707	Check back for upcoming exhibitions. Gallery Hours: Tuesday through Friday, 11:30 am to 5 pm; Saturday, noon to 5 pm.
Curator’s Office 1515 14th Street NW 202.387.100	“Ann Tarantino: SuperNatural”runs through June 25. Overview: “Supernatural” features “works on paper produced by airy means. Whether using her breath, paint sprayed from a bottle, or an air compressor, the end results reveal delicate tendrilly forms and marks that evoke a host of recognizable yet not-quite-nameable things that you are sure you have seen or felt in nature but cannot quite place.” Gallery Hours: Wednesday through Saturday, noon to 6 pm.
gallery plan b 1530 14th Street NW 202.234.2711	“Works by Gordon Binder, Works by Tanja Bos, Works by Beverly Ryan” May 18 to June 19. Overview: 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). Gallery Hours: Wednesday through Saturday, noon to 7 pm; Sunday, 1 to 5 pm
Hamiltonian Gallery 1353 U Street NW 202.332.1116	“Concurrent Exhibitions by Three Hamiltonian Fellows: Ryan Hoover, Jessica van Brakle, and Linda Vargas de la Hoz” runs to June 18.  Overview: 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? Gallery Hours: Tuesday through Saturday, noon to 6 pm.
Hemphill Fine Arts 1515 14th Street NW 202.234.5601	“Anne Rowland” runs through June 4. Overview: “Anne Rowland’s complex photographic engagement with the farmland around her home in rural Virginia springs from an instinctual feeling for nature and the inherent melancholy of our intrusion upon it. In her collection and mending together of visual data, Rowland points to a place in the human brain that desires to commune with and care for the wilderness” (Hemphill). Gallery Hours: Tuesday through Saturday, 10 am to 5 pm.
Irvine Contemporary 1412 14th Street NW 202.332.8767	“Dataklysmos”runs through June 4. Overview: “Dataklysmos” is an exhibition of new multimedia sculptures that show the world of data and the materiality of digital technology in new ways. The implication of the Brooklyn artist’s name [dNASAb] — “Disney-NASA-Borg” — is only the tip of the ice berg. Gallery Hours: Tuesdays through Saturdays, 11 am to 6 pm.
Joan Hisaoka Healing Arts Gallery Smith Farm Center for Healing and the Arts 1632 U Street NW 202.483.8600	“What Matters.” Judy Byron’s “What Matters” is on display 24-7during construction at the gallery. Overview: What matters? Too much? Not enough? Too difficult to articulate? In her installment, “What Matters,” Byron uses the dialogue that flows from the question to inspire and create six life-size models of the women she engages (life-size models currently on display). “What Matters” is an exploration of the elusive nature of this question and these women.
Lamont Bishop Gallery 1314 9th Street NW 202.232.4788	ChickenVilleruns to June 11. Overview: New works by Brandon Hill: “ChickenVille, as described by the artist, is a place defined as a jubilant mixture of Americana, technical proficiency of craft and ideas of pop-culture, sci-fi, lore and legend, all meeting on the same plateau.” (Lamont Bishop Gallery) Gallery Hours: Thursdays and Fridays, 5 to 9 pm; Saturday, 6 to 10 pm.
Long View Gallery 1234 9th Street NW 202.232.4788	“The Artists of the Washington Glass School: The First Ten Years” runs to June 19. Overview: Find out how students and teachers at the Washington Glass School have taken glass sculpture outside of its traditional form. Gallery Hours: Wednesday through Saturday, 11 am to 6 pm; Sunday, noon to 5 pm.
Project 4 Gallery 1353 U Street NW 202.232.4340	“Liminal Light” runs through June 4. Overview: “The show Liminal Light at Project 4 Gallery features artists who explore various means of representing reality and the boundaries beyond, bringing the viewer to the visual realm of the sublime. Using graphite, India ink, smoke and photo collage, the artists exploit the duality between black and white to reveal the spectrum of infinite shades of gray” (Project 4). Gallery Hours: Wednesday through Saturday, noon to 6 pm.
Transformer Gallery 1404 P Street NW 202.483.1102	“This IS Hawai’i”runs to June 5 at Transformer. Overview: This IS Hawai’i artists Solomon Enos, Puni Kukahiko, Carl F. K. Pao and Maika’i Tubbs explore — through site-specific installation, artistic actions and public programs — what it means to be “Hawaiian” in the 21st century. This exhibit is being co-hosted by the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. For a full list of Smithsonian hosted events, click here.