Remember that Saturday is the very last day of the 2008 DCist Exposed Photography Show. Civilian Art Projects is open today through Saturday, 2 to 6 p.m. Many of the artists will be at the gallery between 4 and 6 p.m. Saturday to toast the last day, so please come by and say hello. Contact heather [at] dcist.com if you’re interested in purcashing any of the images in the show.
In more Smithsonian turnover news, Ned Rifkin announced earlier this week that he would resign next month from his position as Undersecretary for Art. Although only in his current position for four years, he was chief curator of the Hirshhorn from 1986 to 1991, and later became its director, from 2001 to 2005. Thankfully, there doesn’t seem to be any scandal underlying this resignation; as Rifkin told the Post, “No one who loves art wants to be an administrator. I am at the point in my life where I am going to be careful about the next job. What is important is the fit.” Instead of replacing Rifkin, the Smithsonian will put the five art museums he oversaw under the helm of Acting Under Secretary for History and Culture Richard Kurin, with the intent, it seems, for ongoing restructuring and filling of the Smithsonian’s large handful of empty or temporarily filled positions.
>> Fashionista Alert! This week, the Adamson Gallery hosts two receptions for The Sartorialist, an exhibition of prints by Scott Schuman. Noted fashion blogger Schuman also contributes to style.com, GQ, and Italian VOGUE, and has been named by TIME magazine as one of 100 most important influences on design. The exhibit presents Schuman’s striking and quirky blog-featured photographs in an art world setting. This juxtaposition promises to fit well with Schuman’s photographs, which, while they appear to be the result of staged high fashion shoots, are actually images of passersby. The opening reception will be this Saturday from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.; with an additional reception with the artist on Wednesday, March 19 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
>> Opening today at the Hirshhorn is a solo exhibition by New York abstract painter Amy Sillman. Sillman has won several prestigious art fellowships in her time, from the Guggenheim, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Elaine de Kooning Memorial Fund, among others. The exhibit runs through July 6, and features many of her most recent large-scale paintings, which reference sculpture and explore the idea of coupling. This Friday at 12:30 p.m., head to the Hirshhorn’s information desk to see Sillman speaking about her work in person.
