James McNeill Whistler, Harmony in Blue and Gold, The Peacock Room, Freer Gallery of Art.>> Before it came to its current home in Washington, D.C., The Peacock Room, originally designed by architect Thomas Jeckyll, traveled in 1904 from the London dining room of British shipowner Frederick R. Leyland to museum founder Charles Lang Freer’s home in Detroit, where he, too, used it as a display piece for his Asian ceramics collection. But not before a retaliatory move by artist James McNeill Whistler, whose painting La Princesse du pays de la porcelaine, hung above the fireplace, leading to the design of the room as you know it. You see, Whistler was commissioned by Leyland to make some adjustments to the wall color to balance the painting, and took the liberty to add some of his own, bolder ideas (hello, guilded peacock on the ceiling) in the process. But, he didn’t ask. He also had several wild parties without permission, which kind of pissed Leyland off, so there was this big thing about money. Whistler got shorted and Leyland was left with leather walls covered in Prussian-blue paint featuring two fighting peacocks telling the story of the room. Whistler even added the blue rug (man, people sure don’t fight dirty like they used to). Since 1919, The Peacock Room has resided in the Freer Gallery of Art in a dimly lit room to protect its details. Starting this Thursday, however, the museum will throw open the shutters from 12 to 5:30 p.m. every third Thursday of the month to provide visitors with a better view of “tonal subtleties and decorative variations” best highlighted in natural light. Don’t worry, the museum covered the windows with ultraviolet- and visible-light-filtering film to prevent fading. Stop by before 2 p.m. and talk to a docent or take an in-depth tour of the room at 2 p.m. and learn more about the artist. Free.
>> Chuck Brown, the Godfather of Go-Go, is the star of Thomas Sayers Ellis’ series of photographs, (Un)Lock It: the Percussive People in the Go-Go Pocket about the current history of Go-Go, that opened earlier this month at the Gallery at Vivid Solutions. On Saturday, Ellis, a former Go-Go percussionist, will conduct a short interview with Brown, who will then sign photographs which will be available for sale. 1 to 3 p.m., Free.
>> Also on Thursday, Annie Albagli discusses Greetings From Paradise, her current exhibit at Pleasant Plains Workshop at her Artist Talk. Find the supersecret VIP room and be interviewed for the ongoing Paradise project and share your own meaning. 7 to 9 p.m., Free.
>> Don’t forget your tickets for Thursday’s Phillips After 5 at The Phillips Collection. For just $12, view the works of Wassily Kandinsky and Frank Stella and a live performance by dance company Step Afrika!, plus food and a cash bar.
>> On Friday, Hillyer Art Space provides the Soapbox for three performance artists, Chukwuma Agubokwu, Chajana denHarder, and Wilmer Wilson IV, to increase exposure to the art form and explore boundaries, limits, and belonging, respectively. 7 to 9 p.m., $5 suggested donation.
>> Also on Friday, D.C artist Chris Bishop erases all the curves, transforming women and robots into the shattered forms of cubist paintings, with undertones of violence, vulnerability, and strength, in the latest edition of Art Crimes at The Dunes Gallery. 7 to 11:30 p.m., Free.
>> Joe Iurato relives the accomplishment of learning to walk, with a few reminders of the falls taken during the process, and how this product of work translates into other areas of our lives in when we pick ourselves back up in an act of self-restoration. Fall & Rise opens at Art Whino Saturday with a reception from 8 to 11 p.m. Free.
>> A trio of artists discusses the the rise of fame and awareness that accompanies artists’ progression in their careers in Delusions of Grandeur: Ascension, the latest show at Parish Gallery. Jamea Richmond-Edwards, Shaunté Gates, and Amber Robles-Gordon use motherhood, pop culture and fashion references to convey the act of rising to a higher level. Stop by the opening reception Friday night from 6 to 8 p.m., Free.
>> Then on Tuesday, head down to the Anacostia Community Museum for BK Adams’ one-man show, Exercise Your Mynd – BK Adams I Am Art. You probably already know his face from last year’s DCist Exposed Photography Show, so now get to know his art. This collection, curated by Portia James as part of the gallery’s Call & Response Community Creative Initiative, contains more than 50 works from his collection, all exemplifying his “100% mynd use” mantra to live creatively. Free.
>> There are only a few more weeks to enjoy the Corcoran Gallery of Art’s Free Summer Saturdays and absorb all the current exhibits as if you snuck in without paying.
>> The National Gallery of Art features selections from UCLA’s Annual Festival of Preservation as part of their free weekend filmfest. At 2 p.m., catch On the Vitaphone, 1928-1930, a selection of music and comic shorts, followed by a double-header at 4:30 p.m. with Soundies, a collection of musical shorts from the 1940s, and the 1946 Allan Dwan film Rendezvous with Annie. The films are screened in the Gallery’s East Building Auditorium, free of charge, with seating is on first-come, first-seated basis.
>> Artists in the D.C. Metro area are invited to apply for The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities (DCCAH) Art Bank FY 2012. Video and New Media artists should note that they are looking to expand the Art Bank Collection to include these technological forms, but all types of work will be equally considered. The deadline to submit up to ten images is September 30, 2011. Get the details and start the online application process right here (scroll down and click on “Active Programs”). There is no fee to apply.
