At the Arlington Arts Center until March 28,Collectors Select illustrates the varying perspectives and preferences not only of the D.C. area’s most prominent art collectors, but of all art viewers. Eight collectors -- Philip Barlow, Julian Fore, Philipa Hughes, Daniel Levinas, Heather & Tony Podesta, and Henry L. Thaggert -- curated individual spaces of the AAC, with each collector’s space representing the ideas that drive their personal collections and their interest in art. By seeing contemporary art through these eight pairs of eyes, viewers experience a variety of work – work that is geometric, gritty, mysterious, beautiful, calculated, orderly and disturbing.

Daniel Levinas selected Argentinean artist Leon Ferrari, who recently won the coveted Golden Lion Award at the Venice Biennale. Ferrari creates the world’s largest mail art –unfolded burgundy-inked blueprints hung with black binder clips. The work is intended to be copied, folded and mailed worldwide. “Bairro” depicts a neighborhood viewed from above, complete with gardens, bedrooms, furniture, and people milling about among linear and curved wall divisions. The blueprints, which represent the political and military oppression in 1980s Argentina, appear innocent from afar. However, the details reveal oddities. In one area, approximately fifty seated men and women watch an empty bed surrounded by a horseshoe of panelists. In other areas, individuals walk in single file with little interaction, winding through mazes of bathtubs, beds, desks, kitchens, cars and toilets. While the artist is depicting a particular historical period, the work also relates to the seemingly aimless but orderly nature of humans as we go to work, obey traffic laws, drive en masse, and conform to societal rules.

Photo of Leon Ferrari's Heliographs courtesy of Hatchets and Skewers.

Philipa Hughes selected local graffiti artist Tim Conlon. His work is displayed in the Tiffany Gallery, which has one full wall of colorful stained glass that forms an interesting contrast with Conlon’s bold graffiti. The left and right walls of the gallery are almost entirely graf-covered. Numerous canvases are interspersed throughout the design of the side walls, creating an ingenious way for the AAC to sell Conlon’s site-specific work. Purchasers receive their painted canvas along with a glossy 8x10” photo of the entire wall. The wall opposite the stained glass is graffitied in a paler hue, leaving a thick white stripe to display Conlon’s smaller work. The highlight of the smaller works is a wood frame with contents labeled “Evidence,” including discarded spray caps and gloves, presumably remnants from a police incident.

In the lower level of the AAC, Henry L. Thaggert’s selected artists, Bradley McCallum and Jacqueline Tarry, display their compelling yet disturbing video work. The four videos on view at AAC depict the interracial husband-and-wife pair engaged in a variety of performances, including a blood transfusion and a razorblade haircut. Cut’s audio is audible throughout the room, so all viewers hear the cringe worthy sounds of razor against flesh and hair follicles. The remaining videos’ sound is heard through individual headphones. The work, one of which shows Tarry caressing her bare and excessively pregnant belly, fills the room with a disturbing and almost spooky vibe. While the content of the videos is almost mundane – a haircut, a medical procedure, a pregnancy – the way each piece is shot communicates a mood that is anything but boring.

Photo of Tim Conlon's RAMS courtesy of Hatchets and Skewers.

Collectors Select is on view at Arlington Arts Center until March 29. AAC is located at 3550 Wilson Blvd., one block from the orange line at the Virginia Square stop. AAC is open Tuesday – Saturday from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.