Californium 98 by Langley Spurlock, 39″ x 9″ x 5″ archival pigment print on skateboard
>> Are you ready for some football? Tonight at the Lamont Bishop Gallery, the Blonde and Brunette football teams will take each other on in an ArtJamz event to raise money for Alzheimer’s research. Instead of trading black and blue on the field, they’ll put it on canvas in this fun evening event. Tickets are $65 with $10 going to Alzheimer’s Association. 6:30 to 10 p.m.
>> If you can’t make it on Wednesday, you’ll get two more chances to flex your creative muscles by attending “Creative Spirits”, another ArtJamz event taking place on Thursday and Friday evenings from 6:30 to 10 p.m. at the Lamont Bishop Gallery. Enjoy all-you-can-drink beer, wine and vitaminwater, as well as hors d’oeuvres and music. The painting you create on that 22×28″ canvas is yours to keep. Silly Halloween costumes are encouraged, but if you come as Van Gogh, please don’t actually cut your ear off. Tickets are $65.
>> Irvine Contemporary is hosting an exhibition of photographs by Moby from his recent series Destroyed. The photos were taken while Moby was on tour and are a companion project to his most recent album. They are also featured in his new book of the same title. The opening preview reception will be on Thursday from 2 to 6 p.m. with the artist in attendance, while the official public opening will be on Saturday from 6 to 8 p.m. R.S.V.P. to rsvp[@]irvinecontemporary.com is required for the preview reception.
>> Thursday night offers a chance to see an exhibition of photographic work by our very own Pat Padua alongside the paintings of L.M. Smith at the L2 Lounge. In So Empty Inside, Pat’s photographs were made using an iPhone as well as Hernard 3-D Title Letters that were popular in the 1960s. The letters were used as a way to title photographs, film or slides so you could recall where the image was taken. In this case, Pat used the portable, loosely organized letters to quickly create his textual and photographic compositions. Exhibiting in the same space is Still Life 2011 by L.M. Smith. Using natural light and flashlights, Smith projects shadows from everyday objects onto a canvas to create her still life paintings. The result is a mix of easily recognizable images as well as those that may be a bit of a head scratcher. 6 to 9 p.m.
>> The Corcoran Gallery of Art is hosting a lecture on Friday at 6 p.m. with Amanda Nelsen at the Rare Book School at the University of Virginia. Agents of Change will discuss Paperworks: Incipit Vita Nova, a 16-foot-long, 200-pound work that was created in collaboration with over 100 members of the Wellesley College community. Free. Pre-registration is encouraged.
>> Music and art go together like bacon and all other foods ever created, so you can bet that the first event of Strathmore Manion’s Friday Night Eclectic, “Rock, Paper, Zombies”, will be a great way to spend an evening. Local bands Bellflur and Mittenfields, as well as Devin Ocampo from Medications, will perform in this homage to Washington, D.C. gig poster artist Rich Bernett. Bernett’s work will be on display in the Mansion galleries alongside work by fellow poster designers Itty Bitty Press, John Poster and Fire Studio. Music will be provided by Kathryn Dagley. Attendees are encouraged to dress in costume, the best of which will win a gig poster by Rich and two free tickets to every Friday Night Eclectic concert this season. Tickets are $10 in advance, $12 at the door. 8:30 p.m.
>> The DC Craft Mafia will hold its fall show, The Monster Craft Mash, in Logan Circle on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the parking lot of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. The work of 40 artisans will be featured. It’s free to attend, but I’m sure you’ll be able to find something to spend some money on.
>> Chemistry nerds rejoice! On Saturday from 4 to 6 p.m., Studio Gallery is hosting an opening reception for the third part of the Secrets of Elements series featuring the collaboration between chemist-artist Langley Spurlock and poet John Martin Tarrat. Spurlock uses acrylic, ink, glass, wood, papers, metals, gases, beeswax and silk to create multi-dimensional pieces that explore the mysteries and secrets of an unfinished universe. Tarrat’s haikus bring to mind the hidden nature of colors, smells and heavenly bodies.
>> As a part of their ongoing cinema series, The National Gallery of Art will be showing a handful of films this weekend in the East Building Auditorium. On Saturday, at 12:30 p.m. Andy Warhol’s Space will be screened; while at 2:30 p.m., Le Cinéma Fantastique series continues with La Chute de la Maison Usher preceded by Edgar Allan Poe: Histoires Extraordinaires by Eric Rohmer. At 4:30 p.m., Jean Renoir’s film The Testament of Doctor Cordelier will be shown. Sunday offers a couple more films in Le Cinéma Fantastique series with Duelle and Voyage à Travers l’Impossible at 4:30 p.m.
>> Mississippi gulf coast artist Lori K. Gordon will be teaching a couple of collage workshops on Saturday and Sunday at Del Ray Artisans Gallery from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday participants will learn about the techniques Gordon used in her latest series of collages and then will spend the rest of the day creating small scale collages using paper. Sunday participants will learn more advanced techniques and will create larger, more complex collages. One day attendance: $115 for DRA members, $130 for non-members. $15 supply fee. Two day attendance: $210 for DRA members, $240 for non-members. $25 supply fee.
>> The Torpedo Factory Art Center will have a costume and dance party on Saturday from 8 to 11 p.m. “Dia de los Muertos: The Art of Remembrance” will feature live music, dancing, cash bar and a costume contest. Also on display in the entrance hall of the Target Gallery is an exhibition of altars made by local and regional artists. Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door, and can be reserved by contacting events[@]torpedofactory.com or 703-838-4565 x2.
>> Saturday offers yet another Halloween party — this time, it’s “Surreal DC: A Magical Halloween Masquerade” presented by Artomatic, Naaga Events and iStrategyLabs. The party aims to bring together members of the D.C. arts and technology communities and will feature live music, art, dancing, as well as another opportunity to show off your costume making skills. Tickets are $25 and include open bar. 8 p.m. to 2 a.m.
>> On Tuesday, spend the evening at the Corcoran Gallery of Art listening to Richard Thompson, comic artist and illustrator of the Washington Post’s “Poor Richard’s Almanac”, as he discusses the world of comic strips and some of his favorites. 7 p.m. Tickets for members $15, tickets for non-members $20.
