Jenny Freestone, Grass IV, Landscape, 2010, Washington Printmakers Gallery, Lithograph, 10×14, Edition of 20>> On Saturday afternoon, Washington Printmakers Gallery hosts an opening for New Prints by Jenny Freestone, a collection of lithographs and intaglio prints. Her use of drypoint, photogravure, etching and aquatint techniques create complex and delicate prints with lots of depth and dimension. 1 to 4 p.m., Free. Come back on Saturday, May 21 from 12 to 1 p.m. for an informal Q&A session with the artist.
>> Tonight is the first of three gallery talks centered around Next at the Corcoran: BFA Class of 2011, currently on view. Corcoran curator Sarah Newman and three Fine Art students kick-start the series, followed by talks on May 11 with students from Fine Art Photography and Photojournalism and May 18 featuring Graphic Design and Digital Media Design students. Admission to the gallery talks and the Next exhibit is free.
>> Get your tickets for Thursday’s Phillips After Five and take a Roman Holiday, without the expensive airfare, courtesy of The Phillips Collection. Allow yourself to be serenaded while sampling Italian treats and wine, learn some Italian in a 20-minute cramming session, note the newest Italian trends modeled by Neiman Marcus Mazza Gallerie and enter the sweepstakes to win your own, actual Roman Holiday. At 6 and 7 p.m., hear a discussion of artist Philip Guston’s works in Roma, on view through May 15. Be sure to check out the evening’s schedule and buy your tickets online. 5 to 8:30 p.m.
>> Photographer Adam Golfer examines the connection between the German and Jewish people more than 60 years after the fall of the Third Reich in his series kin*, opening Thursday at the Goethe-Institute. kin* is a photographic investigation into the unique relationship between Golfer, the Jewish grandson of Holocaust survivors, and Germany as a people and culture. The photographs focus on the German youth of Golfer’s generation and the shifting face of the landscape, both representing an ever-changing idea of what Germany is in the 21st century. 6 to 8 p.m. with opening remarks by the artist. Free, but please RSVP.
>> Studio Gallery launches their First Friday reception with Protect. Nurture. Release., a solo show by Jacqui Crocetta, and a duo showing of work by Angelika Wamsler and Suzanne Yurdin. Crocetta’s fearless application of paint to canvas intuitively balances the line between chaos and control to experience the “letting go” that is necessary to realize human potential. Wamsler’s a flow of different light and deep is a subjective expression of the abstract world through her own thoughts, emotions and subconscious elements and includes still life, landscape and human figure. The New Abstract Paintings by Yurdin reflect her interpretation of the Italian countryside through Tuscany and The Marches, with Provence landscapes also represented. 6 to 8 p.m., Free. Come back for the artists’ reception on Saturday, May 14 from 6 to 8 p.m.
>> Just around the corner, Hillyer Art Space explores interconnectivity and identity in two shows opening Friday. Brent Crothers’ sculptures in Still Waking Up wrestle with the issues surrounding and connecting humanity today, while in Know Place, Khanh Le examines his hyphenated identity as a Vietnamese-American through the use of reconfigured images that represent a place that can not really be found. The work debuts with a double-opening Friday from 6 to 9 p.m. $5 donation requested.
>> Touchstone Gallery also hosts a dual opening on Friday for Marcia Coppel and Harvey Kupferberg. Coppel’s Life Is Too Serious is a collection of light-filled color within a framework of drawings. Her paintings capture the colors of Mexico in whimsical, laid-back cafe scenes that emanate the warmth of Mexican beaches and swirly summer sunsets. The photographs in Kupferberg’s Infrared: The Invisible Light, on the other hand, captures the light our eyes can’t see. Kupferberg uses infrared-sensitive film and filters which allow only the wavelengths lower than 720 nm that produce darkened skies and glowing foliage. Seasons, time of day, position of the sun and other atmospheric conditions all contribute to the tonal range of an infrared photograph, all of which are displayed in this collection. 6 to 8:30 p.m., Free.
>> One of the best ways to get over a fear is to face it head on. So if you always make sure the closet doors are shut tight and leap into bed fast at night, then Pleasant Plains Workshop is here to help. We Are Monsters explores and celebrates everything monster with work by a large group of fearless, pencil- and paint-brush-yielding artists, opening with a reception on Friday from 7 to 9 p.m.
>> Like I said, airfare is expensive, and so are movies — lucky for you, the Smithsonian is free. Stop by the National Gallery of Art for their weekend filmfest in the Gallery’s East Building Auditorium for a few hours of international escapism. Start with Eric Rohmer, Supporting Evidence, a documentary on the French filmmaker, on Saturday at 2:30 p.m., followed by Rendezvous in Paris at 4 p.m. On Sunday at 4:30 p.m., the Gallery will screen the German-subtitled The Marquise of O, an adaptation of Heinrich von Kleist’s 1808 novella and Rohmer’s first period film. Screenings are free, with first-come, first-served seating.
>> It’s the best Peep Show in town, and you can even bring the kids. Artisphere and Artomatic have partnered to bring highlights from the 5th Annual Washington Post PEEPS® Diorama Contest to Artisphere starting with an open house from 12 to 4 p.m on Saturday. Tour the PEEPS® dioramas and enter to win one of three PEEPS® gift baskets and even receive a special PEEPS® gift bags for yourself. Bring the kids back next weekend for tours and diorama workshops. Free.
>> The O Street Studios are busy this weekend with open houses, workshops, discussions, and performances, starting with a panel discussion on Thursday at 7 p.m. Elizabeth Ward of The Pink Line Project will lead the conversation on Affordable, Effective Working Space for Artists in D.C. The group of twenty artists open their doors to the public bright and early Saturday at 11 a.m. and provide a first-person view of the studios and art-making process. At 2 p.m., Bittersweet Creative offers a screenprinting demo. On Sunday, catch a performance by Emma Jaster and Matt Pearson at 12 p.m. Studios are open both days until 5 p.m., Free.
>> The Brentwood Arts Exchange celebrates the start of their second year with Big Ideas, a series of large-scale paintings by Sondra N. Arkin and Susan Finson and a mural-sized mixed media drawing by Ellyn Weiss. The artists expand their work in a collaborative site-specific interative installation Community Spirit, which was assembled on-site from dozens of hand-made elements — evocative of industrial detritus and recycled machinery — taking form in response to the gallery space as well as the art works that surround it. The show opens with a reception on Saturday from 5 to 8 p.m., Free.
>> Morton Fine Art presents The Sweet Turning of the Page, a solo exhibition of new scroll artworks and drawings by artist Hadieh Shafie. The exhibit includes a variety of mediums, including drawings and wall-mounted scroll artwork pieces comprised of hundreds of strips of paper meticulously rolled into scrolls. Her repetitive use of “eshghe”, the Farsi word for love, echo influences of Islamic art and craft, while the concentric forms of text and material take direct inspiration from the dance of the whirling dervish. Meet the artist at the opening reception Friday from 6 to 8 p.m. Free.
>> It’s a long drive to Louisville, but a short Metro ride to Shaw. Stay in town and celebrate the 127th renewal of “the greatest two minutes in sports” at Long View Gallery’s Derby Day Party. Wear your seersucker and Derby hats (required), sip on bottomless mint juleps, and watch the horsies run on the big screens. Advance tickets are $75 ($100 at the door). Contributions support Pediatric Care, an organization that helps children affected and effected with HIV/AIDS. 5 to 8 p.m.
>> Del Ray Artisans and the T.C. Williams High School Art Department jointly present the 14th Annual Student Art Show at the Del Ray Artisans gallery on Friday. The 15 students, inducted into the National Art Honor Society upon recommendation by their art teachers after completing a minimum of two years of high school art study, have demonstrated exemplary achievement, many of whom will continue to study art at the college level, and much of the work on exhibit was featured in their winning college admission portfolios. 7 to 10 p.m. Free.
>> Ed Cooper’s emotional plein air landscapes reflects the subtleties of early morning and late afternoon light and color and the interplay of sun and shade on trees, water, and grass. Ed Cooper/Recent Works opens at Susan Calloway Fine Arts on Friday with a reception from 6 to 8 p.m., Free.
>> The Torpedo Factory Art Center celebrates Flora & Fauna with a garden party at their Spring Open House Friday evening. Live music, sparkling wine and treats, “Green Tag Specials” from participating artists, and a hands-on traditional Japanese crane project benefitting Doctors Without Borders in honor of those devastated by the natural disasters in Japan. 6 to 9 p.m., Free.
>> Gallery 555dc brings back Champagne Saturday with Edgy, a collection of mixed media paintings by Anne Marchand and ceramics by Sabri Ben-Achour. The reception runs from 12 to 5 p.m. with artist talks starting at 3 p.m. Free.
>> Network, the latest exhibit at Addison/Ripley Fine Art, is a collection of interconnected, diverse work focusing on the systems that link us all together. Network is on view from today through June 11th.
Art Notes:
- Tonight, learn how to protect your growing art collection at the Kreeger Museum‘s Roundtable: Safeguarding Your Treasures, with topics ranging from conservation and protection from environmental factors to appraisals and lending to museums. Free, but call (202-338-3552) to reserve your spot.
- Saturday is the grand opening of the Alexandria Art Market, hosted by Del Ray Artisans. Get your monthly dose of art every first Saturday of May, June, July, August, September and November 2011. 10-4 p.m., rain or shine. Free.
- Artist Matt Sesow will be hosting Sesow Virtual Open Studio sessions live from his Washington, D.C. studio on Mondays from 11-11:30 a.m. Tune in to see his latest paintings and ask questions in this unique open studio format.
- Thursday’s Art Soiree at Cities Lounge features photographs by Andrea Gagne and artwork by Nena Depaz, with music by Derrick Grissette. 8 p.m., $10, with RSVP.
- The Studio Arts Department of the Smithsonian Resident Associate Program is now enrolling for summer session classes beginning in June and July. Take a look at their course catalog and sign yourself up! It’s a great way to get out of the summer heat, learn something a new medium or technique, and make new connections.
