Victory — not the concept, but the statue at State Place and 17th Street NW — is the Ghost of Christmas Past. Freedom — the Eastward-facing statue atop the Capitol Dome; not that thing that The Terrorists hate us for — is the Ghost of Christmas Present. And the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come arrives draped in the inky robes of Grief. This stunt-casting of local landmarks as Charles Dickens’ familiar trio of…

Artistic duo Nicholas Kahn and Richard Selesnick have a specialty matched by few contemporary artists. They create worlds — historical yet relevant, real yet fantastical — and document those worlds through staged photography, installation, and found objects. This is intellectual art at its best. Kahn and Selesnick’s most recent creation, Eisbergfreistadt, is on view at Irvine Contemporary until December 8, and tells the story of the post-World War I Baltic port town of Lubeck,…

Written by DCist contributor Morgan Hargrave These days, we are not used to seeing reminders of war in our everyday lives. With a new exhibit that opened this weekend, the Smithsonian American Art Museum takes us back to a time when it would have been hard to forget, even for a moment, that we had soldiers dying overseas. Over the Top is a collection of American posters created during World War I to advertise so-called…

We would like to take a moment to thank this week’s advertisers on DCist. AMEX Urban Adventures, because big cities are full of little adventures. Rogue Wave, playing the Black Cat on November 5th. World War Z, perfect as Halloween is coming up. Ambition Facing West, at the H Street Playhouse. Travelzoo, with its Top 20 list on travel deals. DC Vote, with an event on October 23rd (that’s next Tuesday!). Busted Tees, where they’re…

In England, being named poet laureate is a lot like being named to the U.S. Supreme Court: once there, you’re there for life. More importantly, you’re expected to be the living, breathing embodiment of a tradition, of an institution constructed entirely of words, texts, precedent. And, though you aren’t expected to wear robes when performing your job, you are expected to pen occasional verses on the birth of a royal or on the opening of…

Today we bring you a Photo of the Photo of the Day, a little meta-action, if you will. Flickr user akkleis took this shot of the viewfinder image of the World War II Memorial on her friend’s Rollei. The developing “mistake” that caused the film strip impression on the right only adds to the feel. EXIF….

Folk art is a debatable curiosity. In terms of painting, on the one side huddles a mass that does not understand why so much fuss is made over artists that cannot “paint well.” On the other side is an audience that clamors at how well these artists cannot paint. Spurious claims about the reinvention of painting are casually tossed about. What should never be in question about folk art is its quality: it is neither…

>> The woman NPR crowned the “Queen of the Acoustic Guitar,” Kaki King, takes the 9:30’s stage tonight opening for the John Butler Trio. When DCist saw her play last year at Jammin Java, we were floored by “the wild, jazzy, and melodic ‘voice’ of her guitar.” $20 will get you in the door for a great double bill. >> The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay author Michael Chabon will be at the 6th…

I recently meandered over from the School of Communications, where I teach at American University (disclaimer 1), to the art department, from where I graduated a couple years ago, back when it was still largely a painting program (disclaimer 2) to check it out the MFA Thesis Exhibitions. I’d heard a few accounts already; the word “postmodern” lumped in a few times. But it’s easy to be a bit skeptical of a dismissive comment that…

MONDAY: Cullen Murphy, the Atlantic’s managing editor, will be at Politics and Prose to talk about his new book Are We Rome? Murphy is of course referring to spreading corruption in Washington, our imperialist tendencies and the outsourcing of government work to private contractors. Personally, we’d rather read a book comparing our government with a different empire, but we won’t hold our breath on that one. 7 p.m. TUESDAY: Dancer and award-winning actress Victoria Rowell…