We’re happy to announce that DCist’s Arts Editor Kelly Rand has published a book!

Jet packs, hover boards and robot maids. That future has yet to come true. But The New Future, now on view at DCAC, gives us a glimpse into what our next future holds, while reflecting on what didn’t come to pass. Curated by Kristina Bilonick, the exhibit brings together a collection of four artists and their eclectic mix of old and new, pointing out disappointment in what could have been and small wisps of…

To say D.C. is not known for its fashion sense is an understatement. The people in our fine city get slammed again and again for their inability to dress themselves in anything other than career wear. Luckily this holiday shopping season offers a little incentive in the form of trunk shows for those of us who’d like to look better and help us score some spiffy new duds. As gifts, of course. Trunk shows are…

While the name might promise simple sweetness and pleasantries, the exhibit You Catch More Flies with Honey…, now on display at Carroll Square Gallery, is not simple or superficial. Curated by Hemphill Fine Arts, the exhibit features five artists in the first annual OPTIMA exhibition, which showcases artists whose works have natural connections and form dynamic relationships when viewed together. Bright color infuses the gallery as each artist uses a cheerful color palette to hide…

“Politics and sex.” That is how Arie Mandelbaum, speaking in English as best he could, simply explained his work during the opening of his first U.S. show, at Honfleur Gallery. And while Mandelbaum’s work exhibited in Die Umwelt can easily be divided into these two self-identified categories, they contain much more than these simple explanations and speak to his experiences. A critically acclaimed artist in Europe, Mandelbaum’s career is dotted with numerous accolades. His work…

Hemphill Fine Arts opened two shows this past weekend, showcasing James Huckenpahler’s digital prints in Mindless Pleasures and David Byrne’s furniture design in Furnishing the Self – Upholstering the Soul (Chairs). And while both shows are housed in the same gallery space, they displayed art at opposite ends of the spectrum in both medium and in feel. The first of the two shows at Hemphill is Huckenpahler’s computer art presented in Mindless Pleasures. His work…

During the 1960s the feminist movement gained momentum as it actively questioned gender norms and confronted oppressive stereotypes. By-products of the time included a number of women’s art collectives, such as the Art Workers Coalition (AWC) and the Women Artists in Revolution (WAR), all giving voice to women questioning their place and role in the world. WACK!, currently on view at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, derives its name from the various…

David Macaulay, the self proclaimed “explainer of things,” has been drawing and illustrating architecture for the past 30 years. In The Art of Drawing Architecture, the National Building Museum showcases Macaulay’s knack for deconstructing buildings and showing their many layers from various perspectives. Preferring simple materials, such as pen and ink, Macaulay recreates vast spaces on single sheets of paper. Spanning his career, the exhibit starts by documenting his most recent work, Mosque, a book…

As a Japanese immigrant growing up in West Virginia, Hiroyuki Hamada spoke little English. Frustrated by the inability to communicate, Hamada started to create his own language through art. Now on view at the Randall Scott Gallery, is a collection of this language and an exploration of texture, form and composition. Hamada uses various materials to create large two and three-dimensional artwork. Many of the pieces take several years to finish. Layering the numerous materials…

Written by DCist contributor Kelly Rand With Leonardo DiCaprio riding around in a hybrid car and Al Gore winning an Oscar for An Inconvenient Truth, “green” seems to be all the rage these days. But glass artist Erwin Timmers was “green” before “green” was cool. Co-founder and director of the Washington Glass School and Studio, Timmers experiments with firing techniques to incorporate discarded tempered glass into his art, giving it new life and diverting it…