Dan Tulk, Untitled, from the series Up in the Air, 2010.

>> Friday is the opening for an artist I met last summer while sweating in the July sun on a sidewalk before a show install. Sculptor Dan Tulk described his work as hard to describe. At the opening a few days later, I was able to get a better look at his finished pieces – layers of string around a series of equidistant nails, a stack of wood blocks forming a larger block that floated against the wall. These simple materials arranged in complex arrays interacted with the room’s light to cast clever shadows behind and around themselves. Each piece was also constructed in a way that required complete dismantling upon removal, making them fleeting structures. Unfortunately I am saddened to learn that in November, Tulk died in a car accident. He had been preparing new work for this month’s Coup d’Espace exhibition at Washington Project for the Arts, which has now become a memorial show honoring his life and artistic practice. Dan Tulk: Lines and Shadows opens Friday with a reception from 6 to 8 p.m.

>> Brave the Wintry Mix this Thursday at the Torpedo Factory Art Center’s 2nd Thursday Art Night. Pack in three receptions, a knitting circle, PLUS a DIY Snowflakes & Candy Buffet, as well as open studios, all under one roof. At Target Gallery, 21 artists face their Fears & Phobias through a variety of media and sources of irrational (and, rational) fears. Hear juror Lia Newman talk about narrowing the pool of 500 sweat-inducing images down to 22 pieces at 7 p.m. The Art League Gallery hosts a reception for the All-Media Membership Exhibit plus the 2012 Solo Preview, which previews the year’s upcoming solo exhibits.
The Art in Public Spaces Program hosts a reception for Connectivity: Threads of Community, a fiber exhibit that explores the influence of an artist’s personal connections on their overall artistic vision, located in the public spaces throughout the Center. Flex your fingers and join in the knitting circle to make hats for INOVA Alexandria Hospital’s NICU infants. 6 to 8 p.m.

>> What does it take to be the world’s best artist? Can that even be defined? This Friday, DC Art Center hosts the world’s first art decathlon to name the most swift, agile, and skilled artist in all the land (at least in the DC-metro area – it’s a big world out there!). Four semi-finalists – Shanthi Chandrasekar, Lee Gainer, Lisa Rosenstein, and Mary Woodall – chosen by DCAC’s Visual Arts Committee will compete in ten artistic areas: textiles/fiber art, painting, drawing, video, printmaking, photography, collage, sound, conceptual art, and sculpture. The artists were given six months to complete their work with commentators documenting their progress on the project’s blog. Friday’s reception from 7 to 9 p.m. marks the creative finish line. Work will then be judged by a panel of art professionals who will name BEST ARTIST EVAR! on February 5 at 5 p.m.

>> Back in the day, watching (and, laughing) as random photos were printed from strips of negatives in the camera shop’s window was always fun – if you were lucky you could see awkward family vacation photos or an errant drunk holiday party table dance. Don’t you miss those days? The Vivid Solutions DC Print Lab understands and offers a peak at their own customers’ photos with Second Look – Selections from a print lab’s archives. On display are images printed at the lab by many local and talented photographers including DCist’s own arts and films writer Pat Padua who, when he isn’t hanging with guidettes, has a knack for finding some of the more interesting people and places on Earth. Take a look at the entire show at the opening reception this Friday from 6 to 8 p.m.

>> Arlington Arts Center offers a double-punch on Friday with opening receptions for two new exhibitions. Under the curatorial eye of Jeffry Cudlin, 11 female, male, and transgendered artists investigate the current evolution surrounding female identity and gender in sports. SHE GOT GAME spotlights strong women and their objectification throughout sporting culture and features several performance events to mark on your calendar (February 11 and March 17). In a related subject, do you tend to be more dominant or submissive? Gillian Schroeder invites you to reflect on this tendency and engage in a few power struggles. herd involves interactive pieces that require the viewer to make that decision as they work together with the artist towards a goal. 6 to 9 p.m.

>> Honfleur Gallery’s Visual Audio incorporates two projects that focus on community identity through the adhesive properties of radio and local dialects. Radio Transmission Ark centers around the gallery’s own community of Anacostia featuring a daily radio transmission created with local residents, businesses, and youth. Resident artists Rob Peterson and Lindsay Reynolds, with several contributing artists plus students from the Hirshorn’s ArtLab+Noise Factory, will capture the area’s dialect through captured sounds and found media from within the community, which will be transmitted within the gallery as well as online. The Vernacular Preservation Society, lead by graphic designers Ryan Clifford and Joe Galbreath and their Baltimore-based foundation, present photographs and silkscreened prints exploring the culture-specific languages of Detroit, Rochester and Baltimore through historical signage. The project also serves as an archive to preserve the culture which is quickly being “modernized”. The opening reception for both shows is on Friday at 7 p.m.

>> Also on Friday, painter Paula Lantz leads you Into the Wild with abstracts recalling travels through South Africa, Botswana, and Zambia, bringing attention to the threatened beauty of the land and animals. The show opens with a reception at Touchstone Gallery from 6 to 8:30 p.m.

>> On Satuday, Hemphill Fine Arts hosts opening receptions for two new exhibits with themes of repetition and color. Franz Jantzen: Ostinato features kaleidoscopic patterns, layers, and repeating elements that together develop the overall work, much like the musical cadence of the show’s namesake. These patterns are complemented by the four large-scale paintings presented in the accompanying exhibit Willem de Looper: Paintings 1968-72. Created during the Washington Color School movement of the same period, Looper’s work consists of abstract washes of easy-on-the-eyes color that is, itself, the focus point of each piece. The opening reception is from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

>> It’s Capitol Hill Arts Workshop’s 40th birthday celebration and you’re all invited! Kicked off earlier this month, 40 Free Events in 40 Days explores the availability of art and its presence throughout our lives. Take a look at the entire schedule of events and register for as many as you can, including several this week.

>> This weekend, discover the French influence on our own movie industry with the National Gallery of Art’s weekend film selections. Film historian Richard Koszarski presents the series on Saturday with two ciné-concerts – Robin Hood at 2:30 p.m. and Alias Jimmy Valentine at 4:30 p.m. On Sunday, catch the 1930 Maurice Tourneur knife-throwing mystery Accusée, Levez-Vous! at 4:30 p.m. All films are free and screened in the Gallery’s East Building Auditorium and seating is on first-come, first-seated basis.

>> The Corcoran Gallery of Art honors Martin Luther King with a special MLK brunch at Todd Gray’s Muse on Sunday, free admission on Monday, plus a 30 percent off discount on all 30 Americans merchandise in the Corcoran Shop from Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Brunch reservations are required – call (202) 639-1786 to reserve your spot.

Art Notes:

• Tonight, New York-based artist Kara Walker, known for her room-size silhouette cut-outs, discusses the influence of Andy Warhol within her own artwork in the Hirshorn’s Ring Auditorium at 7 p.m. Talking about Andy is free (but, get their early for seats).
• Artists Selin Balci and Ryan Hoover will discuss their concurrent exhibits, Interact and Transform and Sculpting with Satellites, at Hamiltonian Gallery‘s Artist Talk on Thursday at 7 p.m.
• Catch the Harper-Lindholm closing reception at Harmon Art Lab Friday from 6 to 9 p.m.
• Bernardo Siles’ tranquil fields of color opens at Gallery plan b with a reception on Saturday from 6 to 8 p.m.
• Animator Jonathan Monaghan’s CGI film Sacrifice of the Mushroom Kings goes on display at Curator’s Office Saturday with a reception from 6:30 to 8 p.m.
• Don’t miss Laila Abdul-Hadi Jadalah’s Moving Landscapes at One Lounge on Tuesday, presented by Adah Rose Gallery, from 6 to 8 p.m.
• The Hamiltonian Artists Fellowship Program is now accepting applications for the 2012-2014 term (the deadline is February 28).