The artdc Gallery gives back to supporting artists with a patrons’ exhibit.
HYATTSVILLE, MD (December 3, 2009) – The artdc Gallery will feature a Patron Members’ Exhibition from December 6, 2009, to January 3, 2010. A reception, open studio, and cash-and-carry event, titled “Cool Yule Arty Party,” will be held on Saturday, December 12, 2009, from noon to 6 p.m. The doors open at 11am!
The gallery is located at The Lustine Center, 5710 Baltimore Ave., Hyattsville, Maryland 20781. Gallery visits are by appointment.
“This is a great way to give back to the patron members who support artdc’s discussion forum and other projects,” said gallery director and artist Jesse Cohen. “You’ll see an amazing variety of work in a broad range of mediums. If you’re looking to build your collection–or start one–this show brings together talented established and emerging artists in the metro DC area who offer unique, top-quality work at recession-friendly prices.”
On the same day, the “Cool Yule Arty Party” will also feature performances by 4 bands and a Legal Lecture by John Mason, and the amazing work from a fine group of local vendors selling their hand made Fine Art and Holiday Craft Items. The group is diverse ranging from DC Conspiracy graphic novelists to artists, and stunning crafters. Come support your local art scene and economy. Works in the Art Fair and Patron’s show are commission free. Continue reading
We had a tremendous reception for Michael Winger’s, “I cure myself…” We had a good number of people passionate about supporting a strong gathering of creativity. To celebrate, we were pleased to present 2 fascinating groups, the DCIC and Anorak. Find details about the bands can be found here. DCIC and Anorak both explored the limits and boundaries of creativity and improvisation in the moment. We thought the music was a fantastic addition to the artist’s reception. Patrons came to view the work, then stayed to enjoy the sounds gushing out of the studio.
“I cure myself…” is an exhibition developed by Michael Winger, a man, and an artist on a pathway to find solace in world where the medical system leaves you asking questions with an unsure fate for one’s health and well being. He’s been on a journey to cure his own bouts with Cancer. Through this process he’s developed art based on natural products, and the process is as important as the final out come of the objects.
On November 8th, a group of artists including Lauren Pond, Grayson Heck, and Jesse Cohen met at the Gallery to aid Michael in developing a one-o-a-kind gallery installation.
This work is an example great spiritual enlightenment.
We’ll have a limited supply of extra materials for you to build your own nest.
We would be honored to have you view this work before our Fringe Jazz Concert the same night. Details on the music can be found here.
Before developing this exhibition we wanted to get a better handle on Installation art, so we turned to the net, and read this link. Specifically, they write, “Installation art describes an artistic genre of site-specific, three-dimensional works designed to transform the perception of a space.” The end of that line is important, …designed to transform the perception of a space. That’s what the installation at “I cure myself…” does. You walk in, and there’s a perception of energy, peace, and tranquility.
We had a very positive time at the closing reception for Sculpture: 301. We has the opportunity to meet a large portion of the UMD art grad students. It was a warm crowd and they seemed excited about the show and our desire to collaborate. To us, there’s nothing like sharing tremendous art with the public, and this show certain gave us that opportunity. We send our thanks to Steven Jones for his curatorial energy!
Dates: October 4 – November 8th, 2009
Reception: October 30th 6:30pm to 9:30pm
The works for the Sculpture:301 show are all recent work by artists who live, work, or go to school in the neighborhood. This show will introduce these young and mid-career artist to the artdc Gallery. The work runs a gamut of styles and materials but are tied together by a level of craft and a certain wit.
Two pieces fall in the figurative side of sculpture, Greyson Heck’s “Mixed Emotion’s” and Zac Jackson’s “What” explore how the face can convey a gut reaction. “What?”‘s latex noses and mouth slowly and rhythmically repeating a silent phrase over and over to you, and after a few minutes with the piece, your own mouth with start mimicking the work trying to decipher what it is calling out. Greyson’s two cast pieces are frozen in a pose full of expression, but more of a death mask of angst rather than joy.
Sculptors Sarah Laing and Jack Henry both use simple found objects as a starting point, and end on different planets. Laing’s small cast bronze mushroom grows from the wall like a forgotten fungus, but its simplicity and perfection in the metal acts as a frame asking the viewer to reconsider the toadstool as an object of possible beauty. In contrast to Laing’s simple object protruding quietly from the wall, Jack’s wall seems to vomit out bright colors and shapes which beakon the viewer. On closer inspection you make out the source of the shapes; a collection of trash and found kitsch. It is only the work of the artist that has transformed dollar store junk and side of the road debris into something that the viewer can explore as pretty.
December will be an exciting month. We look forward to the positive things that will come to the artdc Gallery in the year to come. To celebrate, we will give back to the artists who support our activities by offering a Patrons’ Exhibition. Patrons are invited to submit 5 works of art, and we’ll pick at least one or more from each patron. Here’s where it gets exciting: we’ll allow patrons to submit another artist’s work with their approval if the patron chooses to be a curator rather than an exhibitor.
What’s so great about the this show? The month of December will include a Hyattsville open studio day, which attracts great attention, on December 12th. We had a similar event in May during the arts festival and managed to sell over 20 works of art! This was unheard of as far as I’m concerned. We’d like to develop the same kind of energy.
It would be our goal to hang at least 50 works of art.
There will a lot going on during the reception. In addition to our Patrons’ show, we’re planning a cash and carry event, during which we’d also like to schedule lectures and performances to make this an amazing experience.
Become a patron of artdc and exhibit your work in our annual Patrons’ Show at the artdc Gallery in Hyattsville!
Our reception was a powerful event with an unrepeatable atmosphere due to the art and the brave patrons that fought back roads to work their way past the tremendous emergency presence from the fire across the street. We made the best of a tough situation, and Steve, Antoinette, and I were so pleased to see friends, art collectors and dealers visit our reception. At “Pinned,” we had a wide range of work, and we were pleased to find a great number of people who asked many questions about our work and what it means to us.
We decided to add to the atmosphere by Inviting Grayson Brown to play our event. Some of you may know him from David Fogel’s “X” events. Some said that the rhythmic energy of the lights from multiple emergency response vehicles added to an environment where art and music mixed.
There was a fire across the street from our gallery minutes before the artist’s reception. A warehouse burst into flames producing a brilliant blaze with a significant amount of smoke with the scent ranging from burnt plastic to burn rubber. This is a first for us to witness a natural disaster during a gallery reception. Something tells me that our higher powers were playing a game with us. Rain is one thing, but who sends fire? Luckily the warehouse was not occupied as far as we know, there were no injuries. After the smell had permeated the gallery, we started to look around for a short in a wire, only to see the smoke developing from the warehouse. As the smoke grew, our shock increased.
Check out these intense images. I rattled off to many, it’s close to 2am after the fire, but I wanted to get this up on the site so you can have a feeling for our situation. More later…
We’re pleased to be in MD as the artdc Gallery in Hyattsville. The space is a little over 950 square feet or so. 500 is set up as an art gallery, and the rest is a studio and storage room. The space is unique with a lot of auto showroom memorabilia. The gallery is curated by Fine Art Ventures, LLC, and the studio is used by resident artists like an art gym. It’s a group studio where several artists share the same space keeping it active and affordable. Every time we visit the studio and gallery, it evokes a sense of awe. The fact that we’re in this amazing space is so exciting. Look at these windows!
(check out the amazing tall windows, can you imagine painting in this kind of light?)
(Here we can see the original entrance to the space when it was a show room. See the yellow tiled arrow. Yes. Yes. I know, why not show the actual walls where the art is hung? We haven’t had the opening reception for “Pinned.” yet, so we can’t give it all away!)
Then we have the studio space which is gorgeous, clean, and full of great work space. It’s exciting to see artists active here!
(see Adam Eig’s Steel Gazelle Sculpture as inspiration!)
Look at this space, just screaming to be occupied by mass creative force! We plan on filling the space with more benches, and acquireing some group use equipment! I look forward to seeing what’s next!
We met at the gallery in the morning to finish the install of “Pinned.” The final details included the addition of number pins to correspond with the price list. Here’s a quick preview of works by Antoinette and Ceci:
Antoinette Wysocki
Title: “MMMme”
Price: $1600
Ceci Cole McInturff
Note the number pins. It took some real research to find these amazing little number pins. We’ve had quite a few discussions on the subject; to label or to number. Often the discussion leads to the question do we want to feed the viewer information as they look at the work, or do we want them to expereince the art first? Personally, we think it’s extremely important to let the viewer expereince the art on it’s own, free from attachment to the artist’s name, title, or statement, then make it information available through the price list or statement binder. Several guest curators have thought the opposite, and did not want to make the viewers work by flipping through a the price list. We look forward to more discussion on the subject.
Around 1pm we left the gallery for lunch. Around 3:30pm, Amy and I left to make Cheryl Edward’s Art Auction Benifit for Gonzaga‘s basketball team at Lavinia Wohlfarth‘s gallery. I donated two photographs to aid the cause, and we figured we’d get there early to help, however, Cheryl’s team was so organized, there was nothing to do, so a small group went to restaraunt across the street for an early dinner.
(Photo of the crowd at the auction)
The event was a success, they were able to raise a good chunk of cash and move a significant amount of art. As far as I know, this is Cheryl’s 3rd auction that she’s planned. One for MOCA, one for the development of our gallery space, and now this event. With each event, the expereince keeps improving.
(Cheryl and Vinni working discussing the details in Cheryl’s painting of the team. #52 is her son!)
The painting sold and the price was split by two collectors who then donated the work to the school since they thought it was only appropriate that they should own this painting of their team in action. We left for the night with a positive feeling. I’ve always that that altruism in art donation is limited since you feel good knowing you’ve helped out a good cause. Both of my photos sold, and that means a lot!
