>>Project 4 opens a new exhibit this Saturday with the abstract scenes of Christine Gray (pictured right). She twists around the inequities that result from the hyper-perfectionism of the Martha Stewart brave new world we’re told everyday living should be. Her paintings are created by first building models (“modest micro-sculptures”) with craft and other simple items, then translating those models with her paintbrush. See them at the reception, 6 to 8:30 p.m.
>> Tonight take in a new experience: the newly renovated Ippaku-tei teahouse at the Embassy of Japan will host its first art exhibition with artist Shinji Turner-Yamamoto’s installation Three Windows: Sun, Moon, Star, organized by the Japanese Information & Culture Center. The piece was actually created in 1960 to celebrate relations between Japan and the United States and was just brought to the Embassy from Kyoto. Go see the three rooms of the exhibit (along with their Japanese garden) at the reception tonight from 6 to 7 p.m. UPDATE: This event is sold out. You can also see Turner-Yamamoto’s work in the ongoing exhibit at Georgetown’s Shigeko Bork Mu Project until April 25, as well as the Arlington Arts Center, where the artist worked with young science students in the Global Tree Project: Seeding.
>> This Saturday from 6 to 8 p.m., the Randall Scott Gallery holds an opening for Lu Zhang’s first solo exhibition, titled Meditation, Time and Seduction. Baltimore’s Lu Zhang creates intimate, detailed, and often playful black and white drawings using ink, graphite and even tar. Her work (pictured below) appears to arrive in a meditative manner, with lines and shapes free-flowing onto the paper and panel surfaces. Though abstract in nature, Zhang’s drawings reference the intricate headdresses and costumes worn by Chinese Opera characters, as well as the inherently wise and solidly masculine characteristics of the figures.
>> Hyattsville has been advertising itself as an arts district for awhile now. How true this is remains to be seen. This Saturday, however, they are holding their first Downtown Hyattsville Arts Festival, which will feature 35 artists, live entertainment, and, of course, food. The festival runs from 12 to 5 p.m., and is being held on Longfellow St. and Route 1 at the West Hyattsville Metro stop.
