Though the galleries are usually slow in the summer, we still get the occasional rainstorm during the drought. And what better weekend to take a walk outside and sooth your overheated body than this one, which looks to be the blessed fever break from our soul-crushing heat wave? When you’re ready to hit the cool(er) Friday evening air, many of the city’s galleries will be open and waiting with heaven-sent A/C and thirst quenching libations.
>>Do It For The Art Ice Cream: It’s that time again. A number of the Dupont Circle galleries will be open for First Fridays. From 6 to 8 p.m. you can hop from shop to shop, perhaps stopping for some ice cream to cool you down along the way. Check out Gallery 10’s reception for the French mixed media artist Henry Dancer. His colorful abstract drawings and paintings will put some life in your balmy summer evening. Looking for an illustration for that epic poem you’re working on? Victoria Goro-Rapaport’s etchings at The Washington Printmaker’s Gallery might have what you need.
>>Say Hello to the Next Generation: Though not a First Friday participating gallery, Conner Contemporary Art in Dupont will be open from 6 to 8 p.m. tonight to give us a taste of the up-and-comers in modern art. Academy 2006 packs fifteen of the best and brightest art grads into the tiny gallery, with everything from sculpture to photography to video. Get there early before the beer is gone – it gets hot up in that joint.
>>Then Say It Again: As if one student show wasn’t enough, Irvine Contemporary dips into the new pool of talent and comes out with eleven worthy of space on their walls for Introductions2. A brief glance at their Web site thumbnails leaves me curious to see Courtney Jordan’s ink on mylar drawing (pictured) up close at their reception tonight from 6 to 8 p.m. Will it still look like a drafting sketch of the super-duper escalator tube of the future? I kind of hope so. While Conner follows up their show with a curator/artist Q & A podcast, available next week on iTunes, Irvine will be hosting a roundtable discussion with their artists at the gallery tomorrow at 2 p.m.
>>While You’re Out: Stop by to see an in memoriam text installation, some sobering war photography, questionable transformations (closes August 5), and giant heads.
