Jenny Sidhu Mullins, Spiritual Accessories No. 2 (detail), 2011, graphite, flocking powder on Japanese paper, 36 x 27 inches.We were saddened to hear of Irvine Contemporary‘s upcoming departure from their 14th Street gallery after five years of solid exhibitions; rent increases and an unstable economy as factors are affecting yet another gallery in our area. Two near-final exhibits — Artist Tribute Exhibition 1, currently on view, and Artist Tribute Exhibition 2, opening July 23 — serve as tributes to their artists and community before the gallery closes that location for good on August 30. Though details of the gallery’s move and transition — if there even is one in D.C. — are still being worked out, exhibits have been planned through the fall. Be sure to visit the gallery this summer and we’ll keep you updated with details as soon as we get them.
This week’s art roundup includes monkeys, symbolism, boobs, interaction, a celebration and a fight, so let’s get started:
>> Do you compost? Are you a good person? Haven’t you always wanted a monkey? Okay, I threw that last one in there, but you know you answered yes. Test your purity and monkey-interest level in the slot-machine-like interactive sculpture The New American Spiritual Tent, part of Jenny Sidhu’s American Temple, opening at Flashpoint Gallery on Saturday. With the purity test, Mullins explores the idea of spirituality as a product, describing the irony of the reaction against consumer culture manifested in more consumerism. In her series Spiritual Accessories, portraits of monkeys with human qualities, Mullins combines minute graphite renderings with candy-colored chakras to demonstrate the complex role of spirituality in America. The exhibition opens with a reception on Saturday from 5 to 7 p.m. On July 20, Flashpoint Gallery will partner with The Pink Line Project to present a Pink Panel @ Flashpoint with the artist. Free.
>> The Washington Glass School celebrates their first decade with Artists of The Washington Glass School – The First Ten Years at Longview Gallery on Thursday, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. While it acknowledges the integration of glass into contemporary art over the past ten years, the collection of work is intended to instigate the new directions contemporary glass is currently exploring and features well-known WGS artists Tim Tate, Michael Janis, Erwin Timmers and more. 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. On Sunday, stop by between 2 and 5 p.m. to have some cake, learn about their classes, meet the instructors and help celebrate the school’s tenth anniversary. Free.
>> Also on Thursday, Washington Project for the Arts and videokitchen.tv presents Blood, Boobs & Beast, a documentary by John Kinhard on B-horror filmmaker Don Dohler, who started making wholesome sci-fi films in the Baltimore area in 1976. The screening will occur within the WPA’s current Coup d’Espace installation The Final Girl Exhibition + Video Store, which meditates on the horror and psychedelic film genres. 6 to 8 p.m. Free.
>> The work of mid-century animal artist Walter Addison, whose work has not been seen by the public in thirty years, opens at Susan Calloway Fine Arts on Friday. A Walk on the Wild Side: The Animal Art of Walter Addison, conveys the artist’s affinity for animals (including monkeys) through a variety of media, from drawings and watercolors to oils and sculpture. Addison always worked from live animals, which allowed him to study the anatomy, musculature and movement of numerous species — he also kept a house full of wild and domesticated animals, including raccoons, skunks, dogs and cats. The reception is from 6 to 8 p.m. Free.
>> Become a prisoner of art at the Soundry for a 24-hour visual art and performance lock-in. Report to Cell Block 315 on Friday at 6 p.m. for hard time and create a work of art from scratch in either solitary confinement or collaborate with cell mates in general population. Prisoners are released at 6 p.m. Saturday — earning early-release for good behavior if projects are completed sooner. Visiting hours begin at 8 p.m. Saturday, when the art prisoners share their raw, sleep-deprived works at the opening reception. $45 for non-Soundry members to participate in the lock-in, but the opening reception is free and open to everyone.
>> CultureScape, curated by Isabel Manalo, signifies an evolution of personal experience through change and evolution with respect to location and identity of artists Bridget Sue Lambert, Mei Mei Chang, Hedieh J. Ilchi, Lisa Blas and Elise Richman, who draw on their states of existence and environmental influences to define the inspiration behind their art and the diversity of their mediums. The opening reception is on Saturday from 5 to 7 p.m. at Addison/Ripley Fine Art. Free.
>> Hemphill Fine Arts hosts Workingman Collective: Prospects and Provisions, a collection of projects demonstrating possible relationships between ideas and implementation, including Swing, a double swing set that physically engages the viewer while potted plants positioned on mounted steel arms filter the air of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Stop by the opening reception Saturday from 6:30 to 8:30 and test your ping pong skill against the projection of a ping pong champion. Free.
>> Artist Amber Robles-Gordon explores combinations of patterns, colors and materials that also resonate cultural identity with Caribbean, Latin-American and African-American influences in her new solo project Wired, opening with a reception at Pleasant Plains Workshop this Saturday. 6 to 9 p.m. Free.
>> Seattle artist Chris Sheridan takes an in-depth look at the role magic and religion played in our early societies compared to contemporary thinking in Shadows, Persona, and Trickery, a series of paintings heavily layered with symbolism and deception. Opening reception at Art Whino Gallery Saturday from 6 p.m. to 12 a.m. Arrive early with sketchbooks and pencils for a live-model sketching session from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., and stick around for a live musical performance by Ghosts of Handsome Skin beginning at 9 p.m. Free.
>> The National Gallery of Art presents another installment of films this weekend with Samuel Fuller’s 1955 film House of Bamboo, which features footage of Frank Lloyd Wright’s now-demolished Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, and Jubal, Delmar Daves’ 1956 Western featuring spectacular Technicolor CinemaScope landscapes at 4:30 p.m. Sunday. The films are screened free-of-charge in the Gallery’s East Building Auditorium and seating is on a first-come, first-seated basis.
>> The Corcoran Gallery of Art is serving up a double-header on Saturday with an opening and food. Now at the Corcoran continues with Chris Martin: Painting Big, the artist’s first solo museum exhibition and the first exhibition of his work in Washington, D.C. This three-part presentation features a site-specific installation of monumental 26-feet high paintings creating a vibrant “room” of color and pattern in the Corcoran’s central atrium, a dense assemblage of small paintings in the Rotunda, and a selection of his large-scale paintings of the past nine years. Then, join local restaurateurs Todd and Ellen Gray for the opening of Todd Grady’s Muse at the Corcoran in the Gallery’s community Atrium. Muse will offer handcrafted, seasonal options with a focus on sustainable and local ingredients, many sourced from nearby FreshFarm Market, by the White House, an a to-go style concept. Preview the menu (PDF) before you go. Both events are part of the Gallery’s Free Summer Saturdays, so take advantage of free admission.
>> Also on Saturday, Heiner Contemporary hosts an Artist’s Talk with Elizabeth Huey as she discusses her solo exhibition Elizabeth Huey: Polychromatic Projection, a collection of new paintings, installation and video exploring the drama of discovery and complexity of social interaction on view through July 2. 5 p.m. Free.
>> Super Art Fight declares Generational Warfare at Red Palace on Saturday night, with a triple-matched fight card pairing established Super Art Fight all-stars against a new generation of talent in full-contact, Pictionary, pro-wrestling cage-match style. This is not the family game night your mom had in mind. Tickets are on sale now for $15; get ’em before they sell out.
>> Art Soiree brings back their Sunday editions with biweekly photo exhibits of global destinations, kicking off this week with an opening at Cities Restaurant & Lounge. Take a trip Around the World with Ira Peppercorn’s photographs of world cities with a focus on vibrancy, color, and a sense of place while grooving to a performance by DJ Manifesto. 8 p.m. to 12 a.m., $10. RSVP.
