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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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“Bosco del Cedreo”by German photographer, Georg Kuettinger. (Courtesy Project 4 Gallery)
From Luis Gomez. You can follow Luis on Twitter @LuisGomezPhotos and at One Photograph A Day.
On Saturday February 11, meet photographer Georg Kuettinger who will be having a solo show at Project 4 Gallery, 1353 U Street NW. Kuettinger, who has a degree in Architecture, has been working in photography since 2004. His work has been seen in Germany, Amsterdam, Korea and Belgium and has been reviewed in several publications such as SZ-Magazine, Bite! Magazine and Arts and Architecture.
Kuettinger has created a beautiful body of work of landscape panoramas that become a portrait of a scene. Individual images become one, with different rhythms and characteristics. His work is based on observing, constructing and creating, surprising the viewer with a totally new image.
“Kuettinger’s photos achieve a sense of familiarity and timelessness. Although human existence is absent from Kuettinger’s work, the viewer is transported into his invented scenes. His dream-like panoramas create a portrait of the landscape surpassing the limitations of static space or time. The result is a combination of reality, perception, and imagination.” (Project 4 Gallery)
The opening reception is Saturday, February 11 f 6 to 8:30 pm.
Margaret Boozer, “White Detritus,” porcelain, stoneware, magnets 24″ x 21″ x 1″ (Courtesy Project 4)
From Eliza French. Follow her on Twitter @elizaenbref; email her at [email protected].
“In Season” runs through January 7 at Project 4, 1353 U Street NW. Participating artists are Margaret Boozer, Beau Chamberlain, Christine Gray, Lisa Kellner, Tricia Keightley, Thomas Müller, Ellington Robinson, Foon Sham, Jill Townsley and Paul Villinski.
Last Saturday night, Project 4 opened it doors for its end-of-year exhibit, “In Season.” The show features 22 works by 10 artists featured at the gallery earlier this year.
Casual visitors, friends of the artists and gallery, and potential buyers mingled together at the opening with artists Foon Sham and Ellington Robinson along with the gallery’s owner and director.
The gallery’s two floors house a wide array of artistic styles, from precisely crafted wooden vessels to acrylic paintings to butterflies fashioned from aluminum can. For most of the artists featured in the show, the medium contributes as much – or more – to a work’s meanings as the subject matter does.
Christine Gray, “Daisy Drain,” watercolor on paper 21.5 x 14.5″ (Courtesy Project 4)
The works on the main floor exemplify this approach. Margaret Boozer’s “White Detritus,” an arrangement comprised of circular pieces of found material (porcelain, stoneware, and magnets) draws the viewer in as the repeated circular form allows the varying textures and subtle complexities of the material to play of one another. Similarly, Foon Sham exploits the tension between nature and manmade objects. One works of his contains fragments of rocks and a phonebook set against a background of a linear pencil-drawn pattern.
Upstairs, the works are more figurative but no less evocative. In Jill Townsley’s haunting series of photographs “Fulford in Fog,” the obscured landscape background becomes a brooding and startlingly captivating subject.
Other pieces hold a more whimsical appeal. Four child-like watercolor images on sheets of deckle-edge paper are strung up and hung by metallic binder clips in “Giraffe, Flower, Majestic, Flower” by Thomas Müller. Christine Gray most fully realizes both the whimsy and melancholy nostalgia that pervades many works in the show. In her watercolor “Daisy Drain,” daisies droop in a surrealistic melt against a framework “God’s Eyes,” the Popsicle stick and yarn contraptions viewers will recognize from elementary school craft projects.
Whether you want to reconnect with your childhood or to buy a piece for yourself or as a gift, you can stop by Project 4 before January 7 to see “In Season.”
Evan Reed’s “Strasse Spirale” of acrylic resin and wood at Project 4 Gallery. (Image courtesy Project 4)
From Jana Petersen
Irvine Contemporary: To commemorate the time Irvine has spent on 14th street and the artists that have been featured within its walls, Irvine will be opening an exhibit appropriately titled “Tribute” this Saturday. (Irvine won’t be moving until August 30.)
The artists who will be featured in this first round of “Tribute” (the second round comes July 23) are Edward del Rosario, Teo Gonzalez, Kahn & Selesnick, Shawne Major, James Marshall, Robert Mellor, Phil Nesmoth and Marla Rutherford. There will be an opening reception this Saturday, June 11, at 6 pm with the artists, so be sure to stop by.
Project 4 will also be opening an exhibit this weekend titled, “Evan Reed: Traveling past PROUN.” PROUN (pronounced pr-oo-n) means “project for the affirmation of the ‘new’ ” — and as such, “his work is informed by architectonic structures and driven by his penchant for the fantastical and visionary.” (Project 4)
“The viewer encounters familiar representational forms in an unfamiliar presentation while experiencing Reed’s art. He plays with their sense of space, perspective, place, and time. Without strong references to the past or future the viewer is forced to exist purely in the present with the art.” (Project 4). The opening reception is this Friday, June 10, at 6:30 pm.
Find out what’s showing at 12 galleries in the Logan-Shaw-U Street area below the fold.
Three exhibitions are closing weekend while two more are opening. (Luis Gomez Photos)
From Jana Petersen
Irvine Contemporary and Project 4 Gallery have opening receptions this Saturday night. Challenge reality — and the realm of possibility — with a visit to each.
“Dataklysmos,” opening this Saturday at Irvine Contemporary, 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.
“Liminal Light” at Project 4 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.”
Also, it’s closing weekend for exhibitions at three local galleries:
- “Nicholas & Sheila Pye: Amend” closes Saturday, April 30, at the Curator’s Office on 14th Street NW.
- “The Polaroid Retrospective II” closes Saturday, April 30, at Lamont Bishop Gallery on 9th Street NW.
- “REVIVE” closes Sunday, May 1, at Long View Gallery on 9th Street NW.
Find out what’s showing at 12 galleries in the Logan-Shaw-U Street area below the fold.
Heidi Fowler is one of the artists in GREEN WORKS. Pictured piece (48″ x 48″) made of recycled plastic bottle caps, junk mail, magazine pages, glue on panel. (Image courtesy of Project 4 Gallery)
From Jana Petersen
Don’t let the ominous forecast keep you from celebrating Earth Day this Friday — consider ringing it in indoors. You read correctly – indoors. Project 4 Gallery will commemorate Earth Day and, fittingly, the end to its run of “GREEN WORKS,” an exhibit highlighting the convergence of man-made objects and nature, with a panel discussion of green experts and entrepreneurs this Friday at 6:30 pm.
“GREEN WORKS” features artists Heidi Fowler, Sayaka Ganz, Julia Anne Goodman and Duncan Johnson who, according to Project 4, “remove paint from their palette and look to the recycling bin for their medium and inspiration.” Fowler, Ganz, Goodman and Johnson use man-made and found objects like bottle caps, plastic utensils, wood carved from construction sites, junk mail (to name a few) to “create extraordinary pieces that capture the grace and beauty of the natural world.”
Avid recyclers, environmentalists, and creative minds alike — head down to Project 4 between 6:30 and 9:30 pm this Friday, April 22, for a final glimpse of the exhibit and conversation around the green movement.
Find out what’s showing at 12 galleries in the Logan-Shaw-U Street area below the fold.
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.
“DriveBy” opens this Saturday at U Street’s Project 4 Gallery. Above: “Burning Billboard” by Michael Salter, 2007, Digital Drawing (face mounted to acrylic). (Courtesy Project 4 Gallery)
Two new exhibitions open this Saturday in the neighborhood:
“Heirlooms” opens at Transformer, 1404 P Street NW, with an open house from 1 to 7 pm (artist talk at 2 pm): “Transformer is proud to present the installation work of Detroit-based artist Lauren Rice in her first DC solo exhibition. Similar to set designs for theatrical events, the landscapes Rice creates in her sculptural work are fantastical — elements appear to collapse, levitate, burst and grow within the gallery space. With Heirlooms, Rice references gardens and flowers, while simultaneously vulgarizing their traditional preconceptions as feminine and romantic.”
“drive by” opens with a 6:30 pm reception at Project 4 Gallery, 1353 U Street NW: “The show Drive By at Project 4 Gallery features six artists, whose drawings, paintings, collages and video art offer unexpected insight into the common scenes we observe while moving through the structures of an urban and suburban landscape. People play a periphery role in the artwork and are frequently absent altogether.”
Find out what’s showing at 11 galleries in the Logan-Shaw-U Street area below the fold.
Listings for 10 galleries in the Borderstan area. (Luis Gomez Photos)
The weekend after Thanksgiving is usually a good time to see a show or take in a gallery exhibition. Lots of people have departed by plane, train, automobile or bus. So if you are in the neighborhood, here are two closings and an opening at local galleries (and check out the listings for seven other area galleries below),
- Thomas Muller’s “Neither Here Nor There” closes Saturday, Nov. 27 at Project 4 Gallery, 1353 U St. NW: “Through sculpture and other media, Muller creates time-based installations that question the existence of an object or an idea in time, memory, and language.”
- Scott Brooks’ “We the People” closes Sunday, Nov. 28 at Long View Gallery, 1234 9th St. NW: “Scott Brooks’ work reflects the political and economic turmoil that take up the head space of those who are paying attention. ‘We The People’ maintains the detailed figures and story-telling themes Brooks has become known for allbeit on a much larger scale. In the past, Brooks’ message was often subtle, hidden in his elaborate tableaus. In contrast, ‘We The People’ blatently speaks to the pop-culture obsessed and politically charged landscape in which Brooks lives today.”
- At gallery plan b, 1530 14th St. NW, the Year End Group Show opens Friday, Nov. 26, with artist reception on Saturday, Dec. 4.
Listings for exhibitions at Bronfman Gallery, Curator’s Office, Hamiltonian Gallery, Hemphill Fine Arts, Irvine Contemporary, Long View Gallery, Project 4 and Transformer Gallery are below.
Listings for 10 galleries in the Logan-U Street area. (Luis Gomez Photos)
Through Saturday, you can view Matthew Black’s “Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence: Identity Writ Large” at The Joan Hisaoka Healing Arts Gallery on U Street NW. The gallery has extended its hours for FotoWeek DC and Cecile Oreste has the story about Black’s first solo show.
There are only a couple of more weeks to see Scott Brooks’ “We the People” at Long View Gallery and Thomas Muller’s “Neither Here Nor There” at Project 4. Exhibitions at Bronfman Gallery, Curator’s Office, gallery plan b, Hamiltonian Gallery, Hemphill Fine Arts, Irvine Contemporary and Transformer Gallery are below the fold.
Get galleries listings for the 14th and U corridor. (Luis Gomez Photos)
Saturday is the last day to catch “Eric Hibit: Picture Cohesion” at Curator’s Office, 1515 14th St. NW. It’s also your last chance to see “Michael Benson: Images from… Beyond: Visions of Our Solar System” at Long View Gallery on 9th St. NW. Hours are in the listing below the fold.
Project 4 Gallery, 1353 U St. NW, presents “neither here nor there” featuring work from Thomas Müller. The exhibition starts Saturday and runs until Nov. 27.
Below the fold: listings for these galleries plus Irvine Contemporary, Ann Loeb Bronfman Gallery (DC Jewish Community Center), Transformer Gallery, Hamiltonian Gallery, Joan Hisaoka Healing Arts Gallery and gallery plan b.
(more…)
“Had a Little Faith” by Beau Chamberlain: His exhibit, “Landmarks,” opens Saturday at Project 4 Gallery on U Street NW. (Project 4 Gallery)
Check out the city’s free Art Bus service on Saturday evening with service to H Street NW, 14th Street NW and U Street NW.
Some great new exhibits and opening receptions at galleries on 14th and U Streets this weekend:
- Transformer Gallery, 1404 P Street NW: Meet Rebecca Key at the Friday opening reception for her show, “Archetype.” On Saturday at 2 pm, she will give an artist talk.
- Project 4, 1353 U Street NW: Catch the Saturday opening reception, 6 to 8 30 pm, for Beau Chamberlain’s “Landmarks.”
- Gallery plan b, 1515 14th Street NW: The opening reception is Saturday from 6 to 8 pm for a joint exhibit with works by Chad Andrews and Gail Vollrath: “Relative: Recent Paintings and Drawings.”
- Irvine Contemporary, 1412 14th Street NW: Several opening activities on Saturday for “Phil Nesmith: Flow” and “Bruno Perillo, Uniform.” Preview from 1 to 4 pm and artists talks at 4 and 5 pm. Opening reception 6 to 8 pm.
- Curator’s Office, 1515 14th Street NW, Suite 201: Eric Hibit’s “Picture Cohesion” opens Saturday with a reception from 6 to 8 pm.
Get the details about all the galleries in the Dupont-Logan-U Street area below the fold.
Project 4 Gallery, 1353 U Street NW: Artist Hedieh Ilchi viewing Julie Hughes’s installation. (Vincent Gallegos)
From new Borderstan contributor Vincent Gallegos…
“The Fantastical” is a group show that opened March 20 at Project 4 Gallery, 1353 U Street NW. Artists are Justin Gibbens, Julie Hughes, Mel Kadel, Jordan Kasey and Sophie Ruspoli. Photos taken at opening reception; show runs through April 17. Project 4 has details.
See more of Vincent’s photos of the opening reception. See what City Paper says about Vincent.
Vincent Gallegos is president of VGDA Design, a web design studio in Dupont Circle. He blogs about art, design and creative living while helping local businesses develop their online presence. You can visit his blog at or reach him directly at [email protected].
