Museum Exhibits
Opening at the
Corcoran February 23 is
“Pump Me Up: DC Subculture of the 1980s,” a show curated by graffiti historian and film producer Roger Gastman. The groundbreaking
exhibition looks at the cultural movements of go-go, punk, and graffiti that thrived
in DC in the 1980s—a decade otherwise blighted by crime and crack. Through April 7.
At the
National Gallery of Art,
“Pre-Raphaelites: Victorian Art and Design, 1848-1900” is the first major US show dedicated to a group of artists that included painters
Dante Gabriel Rossetti and John Everett Millais and designer/writer William Morris.
The exhibit, comprising more than 130 paintings, drawings, and sculptures, is accompanied
by a smaller one looking at the group’s designs for books.
Also at the
NGA,
“Faking It: Manipulated Photography Before Photoshop,” organized by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, encompasses 200-plus photographs showing
how artists played tricks on viewers without software. February 17 through May 5.
The
Phillips Collection explores the work of three artists and friends, two well-known and one less so, in
“Angels, Demons, and Savages: Pollock, Ossorio, Dubuffet.” The show reveals the personal and artistic relationships between the pair and aims
to highlight Alfonso Ossorio, whose body of work is often overlooked by art historians.
February 9 through May 12.
“Shooting Stars: Publicity Stills From Early Hollywood and Portraits by Andy Warhol,” opening at the
Corcoran February 9, explores fame and the silver screen through Polaroids and promotional
photographs of actors displayed alongside black-and-white works by Warhol. Through
April 21.
Opening February 2 at the
Freer Gallery of Art,
“Arts of Japan: Edo Aviary and Poetic License” includes two shows highlighting some of the Freer’s masterpieces from the Edo period,
which spanned the early 17th to late 19th centuries. “Edo Aviary” showcases spectacular
stylized paintings of birds, while “Poetic License” reveals how literary traditions
in Japanese culture influenced art. Through August 4.
Opening at the
National Museum of Women in the Arts February 15 is
“A World Apart: Anna Ancher and the Skagen Art Colony.” The show looks at Ancher, a Danish painter and a key figure in the Skagen group,
an Impressionist-influenced movement working in northern Denmark at the turn of the
20th century.
On display alongside the Anna Ancher show is
“Freya Grand: Minding the Landscape,” an exhibit of paintings by Grand, an artist living in Washington who is known for
monumental landscapes and murals documenting striking parts of the world from Ecuador
to Scotland. February 1 through May 5.
“Bound for Freedom’s Light: African Americans and the Civil War,” opening at the
National Portrait Gallery February 1, marks the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation by exploring
the experiences of activists and artists such as Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth,
and Frederick Douglass. Through 2013.
One of the features of the
Kennedy Center’s Nordic Cool festival is
“New Nordic—Architecture and Identity,” an exhibition from Copenhagen’s Louisiana Museum of Modern Art looking at Scandinavian
design and architecture. It runs February 20 through March 17 at the KenCen.
“Pageant of the Tsars: The Romanov Coronation Albums” opens at the
Hillwood Museum February 16, revealing ornate albums created over the reign of the Romanov dynasty.
Through June 8.
Gallery Shows
At
Studio Gallery through February 23 are
“Solo Show: Shadows,” featuring black-and-white mixed-media collages by Peter Karp, and
“Rough/Smooth/Evolving” by Trish Palasik, who crafts abstract figures in bronze.
The
Goethe-Institut displays
“Facing Democracy” through February 24, showing photography, art, and video by three artists documenting
the Occupy protests.
“Andrei Molodkin: Crude” continues at American University’s
Katzen Arts Center through March 17, featuring the Russian artist’s mixed-media installations filled
with crude oil.
Also at
Katzen Arts Center is
“Grisha Bruskin: H-Hour,” displaying a new
sculpture project exploring ideas about enemies. Through March
17.
“Andrea Way: Retrospective 1982-2012” is on
display at the same venue in a show looking at the local artist’s
intricately
detailed ink drawings on paper. Through March
17.
February 2 through March 3 at
Torpedo Factory’s Target Gallery,
“Fabricated: An Exhibition of Wearable Art” displays juried items fusing fashion and art.
At the
Fridge, DC artist Lisa Marie Thalhammer presents
“Intimate Network,” an exhibition of her paintings looking at intimacy and relationships. February 2
through 24.
“Jimmy Miracle: Wearing Ethereal” opens February 8 at
Flashpoint, displaying sculptures and
photographs based around found items. Through March
9.
Connersmith has three shows open February 9 through March 30.
“Lincoln Schatz: The Network” reveals the digital portrait of 89 different power players that Schatz first unveiled
at the National Portrait Gallery late last year.
“Benjamin Kelley: New Sculpture” explores themes of violence and industrial America through “recontextualized” found
objects, while
“Coble/Riley: Watermarks” presents
performance-based videos filmed in an icy stretch of
Sweden.
Art Events
The
Hillwood Museum celebrates French culture with
La Chandeleur, also known as crepe day, February 2.
Phillips After 5 returns February 7, this time with a carnival theme honoring Brazilian artist Sandra
Cinto.
The
Bethesda Art Walk is February 8.
Gallery 65 in Mclean has its grand opening February 16.
VisArts in Rockville celebrates the
Lunar New Year February 16.
Designer
Charlotte Moss discusses her work at the
Hillwood Museum February 20.
Jeanne Silverthorne discusses the installation of her work at the
Phillips Collection’s Intersections series
February
28.
