Untitled, Mongolia, 2012 by Jacob Aue Sobol/Magnum Photos>> If you haven’t checked out the new Leica store in D.C. yet, this may be a good opportunity to do just that—there will be an opening reception tonight from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. for an exhibition featuring black and white photographs taken by Jacob Aue Sobol with the new Leica M Monochrom camera. Arrivals and Departures will include photographs taken while Sobol traveled on the Trans-Siberian Railway through Moscow, the Mongolian desert and ultimately on to Beijing. In addition to the opening reception there will be a lecture with Sobol tomorrow from 3 to 5 p.m. and again from 6 to 8 p.m. RSVP is required; send an email to RSVP [@] Leicacamerausa.com indicating which time you would like to attend.
>> Another opening reception taking place this evening will be at Eleven Eleven SculptureSpace at 1111 Pennsylvania Avenue NW. Material Power: Pure Metal is a solo show by Robert T. Cole presented by Zenith Gallery featuring bronze and stainless steel sculptures, metal furniture, and figurative reliefs. Come meet the artist from 5 to 8 p.m.
>> The pollution in the Anacostia River is a constant reminder of how much work still needs to be done to restore it to its former glory. But maybe we need a more dramatic wake up call—and a movie that will be shown at the Textile Museum tomorrow evening may do just that. From 6:30 to 10 p.m. PM @ The TM: Creature Feature will screen The Host, a film about a chemical waste dump in the Han River which causes a water monster to grow and terrorize Seoul. Now I’m not saying that that could happen here but, you know, it’s probably something to think about. Tickets required; $15 fee includes one complimentary drink.
>> If you’re looking to learn more about local private art collections, then Off The Wall: Established Contemporary at the Contemporary Wing may be a good place to start. The exhibition will feature work from Nan Goldin, Andy Warhol, Kara Walker, Shinique Smith, Damien Hirst, and Tracey Emin. The opening reception will be tomorrow evening from 6 to 8 p.m.
>> Art Enables will be hosting an exhibition at Art17 in Dupont Circle featuring work by Nonja Tiller, Egbert Evans, Paul Lewis, and Max Poznerzon. An opening reception for Humans and Other Animals will be held tomorrow evening from 6 to 8 p.m.
>> It’s always fun when an art exhibition encourages the viewers to get involved and create their own art. That is exactly what the people at Artisphere hope you’ll do when you check out Kevin Krapf’s Retratos Compartidos/Shared Portraits. Visitors are invited to use a special double-sided drawing table to create their own portraits that will then be displayed on the walls in the exhibit. Tomorrow evening from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. will be an opening reception as well as an artist talk with juror Kristina Bilonick at 6 p.m.
>> Randall Scott Projects will host an opening reception for untitled no. 2 on Friday from 6 to 8 p.m. It will feature work by Chris Anthony, Jen Davis, Marco Delogu, Valintina de’Mathà, David DiMichele, Christopher Griffith, Julia Fullerton-Batten, Jenny Okun, and Craig Roper.
>> Foodies! Friday evening from 6:30 to 8 p.m. is your chance to sit in on a discussion between Johnnetta B. Cole and world-renowned Chef Marcus Samuelsson. The National Museum of African Art event will take place at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Ring Auditorium. While it is free please arrive early as it is first come, first seated.
>> The free films at the National Gallery of Art this weekend include Whistle Down the Wind preceded by Mackeson Stout Commercials on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. as a part of the Gallery’s annual preservation series From Vault to Screen: Recent Preservation. Stick around until 4 p.m. for The Battle of Algiers by Italian filmmaker Gillo Pontecorvo. On Sunday at 4:30 p.m. the gallery will show The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Philip Kaufman. Before the film there will be a discussion about Kaufman by Annette Insdorf, author of Philip Kaufman (2012), director of undergraduate film studies at Columbia University, and a professor in the Graduate Film Division of the School of the Arts. She will sign copies of her book at 3:45 p.m. As always the films are shown in the Gallery’s East Building Auditorium.
