Foundry Gallery
Foundry Gallery, a nonprofit, artist-owned cooperative gallery, hosts an annual art-raffle party fundraiser where attendees have the opportunity to win artwork as their number is drawn. Tickets for the event are $200 and guarantee a work of art valued at least $300. The raffle and party is held on July 22 at Foundry, located in north Shaw off U Street. Raffle participants place their number in an actual rotating drum, like ones seen in the televised segments where lottery numbers are drawn by an attendant. The gallery offers ticketholders the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the artwork in advance with a complimentary catalogue featuring regional artists.
Each ticketholder will take home a piece of original artwork. However, for those who prefer not to rely solely on the rotating drum to finalize their selection, ticketholders who pay a supplemental fee may elect to participate in an additional drawing which may give them the possibility of having first dibs on choosing the work they want from the entire selection. Tickets for the event can be purchased at www.foundrygallery.org.
Hamiltonian
Two concurrent exhibitions at Hamiltonian Gallery demonstrate that looks are most definitely deceiving. Scratch under the surface and a different reality is revealed. Rives Wiley’s “How to Be Photo-Synthetic” and Ellen Xu’s “Chimerical” deconstruct appearances and ask the viewer whether or not they truly wish to delineate between reality and fantasy.
Wiley critiques what the artist calls America’s “cult of contemporary wellness.” Wiley contends that wellness-center advertising campaigns, in particular the images seen on social media of bright rooms and plant-centered diets with blurred backgrounds, only appear to provide balance and restoration; in fact, the artist contends, the commercialization of the wellness center is merely a “sanatorium disguised as a temple to healing and peace.”
On the other hand, Xu draws the viewer into her work only to provide a surprise denouement. In her film “Partner,” the perfect love story seems to unfold until one realizes that the male protagonist has merely imagined meeting, falling in love and partnering with his female counterpart. Ultimately, Xu asks, “When you struggle to differentiate between what is real and what is not, which one are you more willing to accept: reality or fantasy?”
Hemphill Fine Arts
Hemphill presents “CMD+F,” a three-person exhibition featuring digitally created media and installation work. Accomplished professionals whom Hemphill describes as new media artists – Rachel Schmidt, Tommy Bobo and James Huckenpahler – have created work for the exhibition which explores “the means by which we seek to know more about ourselves, what is here and what is beyond.” Schmidt, a recent resident at Taipei, Taiwan’s artist village, attempts to recreate her time there using a light and sound installation. In contrast, Bobo could be considered a “light sculptor” as he manipulates projected light to create colorful forms through refraction. Huckenpahler takes traditional photography in a new direction, using portraits from the Brady-Handy collection of the American Civil War. The artist digitally manipulates the images until they become “an eerie pop-futurist fusion of human portraits and tech-distortion.”
Gallery Neptune & Brown
Every summer, Gallery Neptune & Brown curates a group exhibition of work which tends to reflect the aestival season with works that beam bright, colorful and warm palettes. This year’s exhibition features the work of local artists Janis Goodman and Cianne Fragione along with work with internationally renowned artists Mel Bochner, Erick Johnson, Wolf Kahn, Oleg Kudryashov, David X Levine, Bridget Riley, James Siena and Jowita Wyszomirska. Viewers should expect to find painting, drawing and printmaking by these established artists.
According to the gallery, the overall selection of works “explores movement, color, form and texture.” Indeed, Janis Goodman’s found objects complement the work of David X Levine as the artists’ two-dimensional works create the illusion of motion, with bright colored abstract objects seemingly moving in every direction across the picture plane. Bridget Riley’s “Fold” (2004) has summerlike colors of blue, green and warm beige, while golden yellow leaf-like forms stream ever upwards and capture the excitement and revelry of the season.
Touchstone
In “Religions of the World,” Dee Levinson presents a body of work that explores the first prophets of the ancient world. The series represents a culmination of ideas and process for the artist, dating as far back as 1991 when she explored Rome and photographed that which interested her most – the ancient sculptures, the Forum, the Borghese Gardens, the Palatine Hill and the Eternal City’s contemporary inhabitants. In her statement about the series, Levinson states that her “brush strokes transform plainly colored sculptures and allow us to enter a world of color and myth.” For example, Levinson’s rendition of “Khafra-Horus” from stone sculpture to colorful, two-dimensional painting brings to life the ancient Egyptian king believed to have lived two millennia before the birth of Christ. The exhibition also includes figures from other religious traditions including Christianity and Judaism.
Exhibitions on View
Charles Krause Reporting Fine Art
New Location: Dacha Loft Building
1602 Seventh St. NW, Second Floor
202-638-3612 | www.charleskrausereporting.com
Hours: Weekends, 1-6 p.m.
Exhibition schedule TBD
Gallery Neptune & Brown
1530 14th St. NW
202-986-1200 | www.neptunefineart.com
Hours: Wed. to Sat., 12-7 p.m.
Through July 21
Group exhibition “Rhythm and Blues”
Foundry Gallery
2118 Eighth St. NW
202-232-0203 | www.foundrygallery.org
Hours: Wed. to Sun., 1-7 p.m.
Art Raffle and Fundraiser Party
Preview: Saturday, July 7, 5-8 p.m. (open to public)
Raffle and Party: Sunday, July 22, 2-5 p.m. (ticketed event)
Hamiltonian Gallery
1353 U St. NW
202-332-1116 | www.hamiltoniangallery.com
Hours: Tues. to Sat., 12-6 p.m.
Through Aug. 11
Rives Wiley, “How to Be Photo-Synthetic,” and Ellen Xu, “Chimerical”
Hemphill Fine Arts
1515 14th St. NW
202-234-5601 | www.hemphillfinearts.com
Hours: Tues. to Sat., 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
August hours: Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Through Aug. 10
Tommy Bobo, James Huckenpahler and Rachel Schmidt, “CMD+F”
Long View Gallery
1234 Ninth St. NW
202-232-4788 | www.longviewgallerydc.com
Hours: Wed. to Sat., 11 a.m.-6 p.m.
Group exhibition “ReFresh VIII” (featuring new work by gallery favorites)
Opening reception: Thurs., July 12, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Touchstone Gallery
901 New York Ave. NW
202-347-2787 | www.touchstonegallery.com
Hours: Wed. to Fri., 11 a.m.-6 p.m. | Weekends, 12-5 p.m.
Through July 30
Gallery A: Group exhibition “Landscapes of the World”
Galleries B & C: Dee Levinson, “Religions of the World”
Opening reception: Sat., July 14, 2-4 p.m.
Phil Hutinet is the publisher of East City Art, dedicated to DC’s visual arts. For more information visit www.eastcityart.com.
