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New artwork from the Hsu sisters of Exit Clov is on display at DCAC under the name "imoM." |
This year’s Wall Mountables at the DC Arts Center holds some true surprises. At first glance, this annual fundraising show looks like round two of Artomatic—with less walking, fewer bands, and of course, much less space. Stick around awhile though, and you start to appreciate the wealth of talent hanging side-by-side salon-style: some new faces, some familiar, and some touching and brilliant work.
A new project of Exit Clov's Hsu sisters called imoM, which stands for “in memory of Ming,” fills two squares of space with soft, colorful, enchanting collages. About 15 images are printed on notecards, and two are printed larger at 12 x 18”. Most mesmerizing are the depictions of flower vases using colorful shreds of text-filled paper, displaying varying sizes of letters and words like “anxiety” and the upside-down and cropped “calm” (pictured right). ImoM works are not created by the Hsu sisters themselves, but by their Dad, Ming-Yen Hsu, who died in May of last year after a thirty-seven year battle with a recurring brain tumor. Emily Hsu spoke to us over the weekend about why she and her sister decided to begin the imoM project.
Throughout his life, he loved making visual art, including collages, watercolors and pastels, and would spend many leisurely evenings and weekends in his basement studio. He always had a dream of sharing his art with more people in the form of greeting cards and poster prints, which is what we've started to do with imoM. We really regret that we weren't able to get this started earlier when he was still around, because nothing made him happier than to have people enjoy his artwork. His style matched his personality and his perspective on life, which was very zen-like and innocent—he never expected more from life than life itself.
Work by Matthew Smith at 1460 Wall Mountables |
Near Hsu’s touching display of work hangs the photography of DCist Exposed winner Matthew Smith, who also recently displayed at Artomatic. Smith’s work in Artomatic combined everyday objects and activities in a minimalist and geometric display, and his three pieces in Wall Mountables are a further exploration of these ideas. One side of each dual frame photograph (pictured left) is stark white with a silhouetted object—two pieces of steak, Rudolf Flesh’s book How to Write, Speak and Think More Effectively, and computer memory cards. The other side shows a man’s body moving among a still, domestic background—rolling in bed and standing on a dirty kitchen floor. Smith aims “to represent the awkwardness of the human experience (maybe only my own experience?) as both 'flesh-and-bones' and as a social/technological construct that is artificial and meaningless.” His use of contrasting images both creates and resolves a sense of tension within the work, and also provides interesting juxtapositions both in content and form. After a browse through Smith’s Flickr page, one can see this artist has a bounty of interesting work and a great eye—leaving us quite intrigued to see how this series evolves, and what he will do next.
Another striking display is that of Hannah Rosenstein’s Katrina Heartbreak #1 and Katrina Heartbreak #2. Rosenstein’s work is what makes Wall Mountables such a unique annual event by giving everyone the opportunity to fill a 2 x 2 foot square with whatever they choose. While the work is not necessarily top-notch in execution, its honesty is moving, and its subject matter is heartbreaking. The two pieces include collaged, ruined, waterlogged photos, notebook scraps and a page from the ever-changing address book of a Katrina victim. It’s not often that something leaves us so speechless.
1460 Wall Mountables will be on display through August 31 at DC Arts Center, 2438 18th Street NW, Washington DC. Open Wednesday though Sunday, 2 p.m. to 7 p.m.
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