Halycon (Beautiful Days), 2013
Acrylic on poliflex canvas
34 x 34 in.
Image courtesy of C. Grimaldis Gallery.
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Last week we previewed a variety of DC galleries and arts organizations that are participating in this year’s (e)merge arts fair. The fair is getting the attention of other galleries in the region, and this year we’ll be seeing work from a Virginia gallery as well as a strong showing from nearby Baltimore.
Alida Anderson Art Projects
Strong elements of narration roughly link the four artists presented by Alida Anderson Art Projects this year. Emotional drama (bordering on angst) can be seen in the emotive sculptures of Elisa Farrow-Savos and tense portraits of Judith Peck. Lightening the mood with serious technical prowess masquerading as whimsy are the mixed-media works of F. Lennox Campello. Rounding out the quartet are abstracts by Christopher Baer that Anderson continue the conversation started by Washington Color School artists in the late 1950’s.
Gravitas
Oil on Panel
Image courtesy of Alida Anderson Art Projects.
C Grimaldis Gallery
Hidenori Ishii, Christopher Saah and Zhao Jing may hail from disparate parts of the world, but they have at least two things in common. Each received degrees at the prestigious Maryland Institute College of Art and all three are, according to the gallery, “young, exciting artists taking unique approaches to their respective media.” Ishii the painter presents abstracts lifted from arcade game battles while Saah’s and Jing’s photographs seem to meditate on how we sense or interact with notions of place. See what conclusions you draw when you stop by their room on the gallery floor.
Untitled 07v (for Alban Berg), 2009
electro-cinemagraph
Edition of 5; 25 x 32 in.
Photo courtesy of C Grimaldis Gallery.
Gallery A
Gallery A from Richmond, VA is injecting some feistiness to the fair this year with the punk-inspired paintings of Norberto Gomez. The art is indelicate to say the least, but it also carries a devil-may-care sensibility that playfully thumbs its nose (or perhaps raises a middle finger) at our notions of propriety. In an email I asked gallery curator Al Calderaro what draws him to this particular artist. His response is forthright:
I find Mr. Gomez’s work dynamic, thought provoking, slightly disturbing, with an underlying wry sense of humor about the human condition . Some of the work has a bit of that “train wreck” quality in that part of you feels compelled to look away, but you can’t stop looking at it. In essence I find that Mr. Gomez’s work has the undefinable and elusive quality that all good art has; it’s that “I can’t tell you what art is, but I know it when I see it” quality.
It might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but Gomez is certainly thought entertaining!
anatomy of a cannibal (best friend), 2013
acrylic, graphite, marker and charcoal on canvas
48 x 36in
Image Courtesy of Gallery A.
Goya Contemporary
Goya Contemporary’s extensive artist roster includes high profile artists such as Louise Bourgeois, Andy Warhol and Sean Scully, so the gallery’s booth is certainly one to watch closely. Gallery Director Amy Raehse is showcasing the works of painter Sally Egbert and local artist David Brown who works in ink. Sally Egbert may be unknown to local artists (her recent exhibitions have been in New York), but Raehse aims to change that. This particular body of work began after a traumatic life event, and the raw abstractions exhibit, according to Raehse, “an overall emotive quality that is intimate, ethereal, honest, if not awkward on occasion.” Where Egbert presents studies or raw emotion, Browns detailed drawings — geographies devoid of scale — exhibit a laser-like obsession with detail. It will be interesting to see how the two artists’ pieces play off each other when hung side by side
I Do, 2010
Mixed media on canvas
60 x 70 in
Image courtesy of Goya Contemporary
Print/Collect
Print/Collect is not a traditional brick and mortar gallery. Rather, its an independent publication featuring the limited edition prints from eight emerging artists working in Baltimore. The goal of the project is to introduce art-collecting a wide range of people interested in art but who perhaps hadn’t considered buying art previously. The publication is amazingly affordable (really!) and is accompanied by a small catalog with in-depth essays about the artists’ work. In addition to the publication, Print/Collect is setting up an exhibition space that will showcase works additonal from each of the artists in an effort to acquaint viewers with their practice. The eight artists in this year’s show are Colin Benjamin, John Bohl, James Bouche, Cindy Cheng, Graham Coreil-Allen, Chris Day, Andrew Liang and Molly Colleen O’Connell.
Untitled (detail), 2013
Lithograph
Image courtesy of Print/Collect.
(e)merge runs October 3-6, 2013 at the Capital Skyline Hotel in Washington, DC. For further information and a complete schedule of events, visit their website here.
