Yayoi Kusama has left the building after a record-breaking run, but the Hirshhorn is as busy as ever, with major artist appearances in June. And just down the street, a promising new venue will make its debut.
(Ai Weiwei Studios)
AI WEIWEI: TRACE @ THE HIRSHHORN
Back in 2012, the Hirshhorn’s survey of work by the Chinese dissident artist Ai Wewei was a must-see, but because Chinese authorities had confiscated his passport, he was unable to attend his own exhibit. Next month the Hirshhorn exhibits new and recent works including a large-scalepiece made of Legos that was originally commissioned for an installation at Alcatraz. And this time the artist will be here. Mark your calendars for June 27, when the artist will give his first public appearance in D.C.
Trace runs from June 28, 2017 through January 1, 2018. Ai will deliver the annual James T. Demetrion Lecture on June 27 in the Hirshhorn’s Ring Auditorium. Free tickets will be released online June 19.
Sky TV installation (Courtesy of the Hirshhorn)
SUMMER OF YOKO @ THE HIRSHHORN
It would lead the June calendar in almost any other month, but along with the 10th annual installation of Yoko Ono’s “Wish Tree for Washington, D.C.,” the museum will host the local debut of the interactive exhibit, “My Mommy is Beautiful” and reinstall the artist’s 1966 piece “Sky TV for Washington, D.C.” This will culminate in Ono leading a group of musicians (including local heroes) in a day-long concert of her music in September.
The WIsh Tree and My Mommy is Beautiful open at the Hirshhorn on June 17.
Landscape, 2013 Installation in Glasgow. Courtesy of the artist and The Modern Institute/Toby Webster Ltd, Glasgow Photography: Patrick Jameson
NICHOLAS PARTY @ THE HIRSHHORN
Swiss artist Nicholas Party makes his local solo debut this summer with “sunrise, sunset,” a mural that he will paint directly onto the Hirshhorn’s nearly 400-foot ring. Party is known for “vibrant wall murals and canvas paintings that, when combined, transform gallery spaces into immersive, surreal environments,” and one imagines that, much as after-hours events were held around Doug AItken’s Song 1, a film projected onto the museum’s ring in 2012, there will be a party.
June 7-October 1 at the Hirshhorn.
(Courtesy Artechouse)
XYZT ABSTRACT LANDSCAPES @ ARTECHOUSE
Down the street from the Hirshhorn, a new arts venue is opening up, and it’ll making its debut with an impressive collection of 10 interactive installations by French artists Adrien B and Claire M. While the work is impressive enough on its own, the art patron transforms the various digital installations as light responds to body movements. Dancing is encouraged, and in the evening liquor will be served. Stay tuned for a preview tomorrow.
June 1-September 3 at ARTECHOUSE, 1238 Maryland Ave SW. $15. Buy tickets here.
Val Lewton, Big Red (Courtesy of the Katzen Arts Center)
VAL LEWTON: FROM HOLLYWOOD TO BREEZEWOOD @ AMERICAN UNIVERSITY & ADDISON/RIPLEY
The son of legendary Hollywood producer Val Lewton (the mastermind behind Cat People and other classic, atmospheric horror in the 1940s), Val Lewton was a painter who moved to Washington to work as an exhibit designer at the Smithsonian American Art Museum (then the National Collection of Fine Arts). American University and Addison/Ripley will both be showing work by Lewton, who died in 2015.
June 18 – August 13, 2017 at American University.
Danielle Scruggs, Mom, 2015. (Courtesy of Flashpoint)
DANIELLE SCRUGGS: MIGRATIONS @ FLASHPOINT
During the Great Migration, Danielle Scruggs’ family of sharecropper sand farmers moved from Arkansas and Mississippi to Illinois. In this exhibit, the photographer uses archival family photos and contemporary portraits of her family to place them in the context of how “these relocations and cultural shifts affected both her own family members’ lives and the lives of thousands of Black families in America.”
June 10-30 at Flashpoint, 916 G St. NW
DNA, by Amer Robles-Gordon (WPA/Honfleur)
11TH ANNUAL EAST OF THE RIVER EXHIBIT @ HONFLEUR
This annual show showcases emerging visual artists from from Wards 7 and 8, and features new mixed-media work from Asha Elana Casey, Sheila Crider, and Amber Robles-Gordon that explore spirituality, identity, and repetition.
June 16—August 5 at Honfleur Gallery, 1241 Good Hope Road SE. Opening reception on June 17 from 2—5 p.m.
