East City Art Visits Artomatic (Part 2)
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Our second visit to Artomatic on a bright Sunday afternoon found the lobby packed with visitors of all ages (from strollers to walkers). While it was nice to see so such support for the arts, we were concerned that perhaps it would be too crowded to contemplate the work upstairs. We needn’t have worried: with ten floors to stroll, the crowds quickly dispersed.
We began this second visit where we left off previously, and checked out the floors four through eight in the middle of the building. On this trip we saw a wider range of media (with several room-sized installations) and had a few “only at Artomatic” moments (witness the homoerotic male photography sharing a room with an installation featuring childrens’ toys). Standouts in this visit included a glass and steel piece by David D’Orio, paintings by James Halloran and Stephanie J. Williams and paper-based works by M. Helene Baribeau.
Artomatic 2012 features a variety of ways for visitors to “get creative”. In addition to several artists whose work features audience participation, PostSecret is back (with its own lounge to boot). Debuted in 2005, PostSecret invites people to mail in anonymous postcards; the artist has collected over 500,000 to date. The sixth floor of the building is dubbed the “Arts Reactor” – a wide empty floor with walls begging for graffiti (examples below) and visitors are invited to bring paints and markers to make their works. A week into Artomatic, several walls are already beginning to fill up. The Utrecht art room was perhaps the busiest area we saw, with lots of youngsters exploring their own creativity.
Featured below are some of the creative highlights on these floors. Stay tuned for highlights of our next visit!
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- Paintings by DC artist Pat Goslee.
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- “Untitled 27″ by Luis Rosenfeld featuring street photography utilizing a polypasting process.
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- Kathryn McDonnell’s “Collaboration” series invites viewers to participate in the creative process.
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- “Red Dragon” by Mei Mei Chang, who recently completed an artistic residency at the Honfluer Gallery in Anacostia.
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- “Queen of Coins” by DC Artist Pat Goslee, mixing fantasy with the machine age.
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- “Our Lady of Pomegranates” by Prince Georges County artist Liz Saint Rain.
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- A creative display by glass artist Leo Lex from the DC Glassworks studio in Hyattsville, MD.
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- “Passage” by James Halloran, one of the best examples of still-life painting we’ve seen at Artomatic.
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- Works from the “Anomaly” series by Stephanie Williams, featuring funky, biomorphic forms. Collectors note: Her works are priced to fly off the wall!
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- “Doorways” by Jenny Wallace, whose moody photographs read as paintings. She was recently featured in an exhibition at the Artdc Gallery in Hyattsville, MD.
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- “The End is Near” by !justhomas crenshaw. Because every Artomatic needs a trash heap-cum-installation.
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- Funky wood and steel sculptures by DC artist Tom Noll. Who says your garden can’t be as decorate as your walls!
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- “Monophonic Delivery” by David D’Orio from the Washington Glass School. Yet another WGS alum garners a blue ribbon from the James Renwick Alliance.
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- “Relationships (disappear)” by Peter e Harper (who recently relocated to NE DC).
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- “A Certain Deathly Charm” by Baltimore street artist Toven, combines painting with graffiti images in a chilling commentary on his city’s reputation for violence.
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- Welcome to the Art Reactor floor. Bring your paints and ideas!
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- One of the most accomplished Art Reactor images so far.
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- One of the many walls on the Reactor floor.
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- “mapknit Gloves” by M. Helene Baribeau, a recent resident at the Pyramid Atlantic Art Center in Silver Spring. The “fabric” of these giant gloves is actually tiny strips of old maps.
To read East City Art Visits Artomatic Part 1 of 3 click here
To Read East City Art Visits Artomatic Part 3 of 3 click here
Thanks for the mention! I’m so glad you enjoyed my work.
Art Reactor is now closed