Art section: Metro Weekly

Satirical Artistry

Del Ray Artisans exhibit features satirical homages to iconic art

Published on March 28, 2013, 2:37am

''I've done several paintings and have somewhat of an obsession with American Gothic by Grant Wood,'' says artist Zade Ramsey, who repeatedly traveled to see the famous painting when he was younger. More recently, he's created a humorous adaptation of the painting, replacing the pitchfork-holding stoic old man with a scheming Montgomery Burns from The Simpsons, and his dignified-looking daughter with an open-mouthed Honey Boo Boo from TLC, called ''An Excellent Boo Boo, American Gothic.'' It's just one artwork among ...[more]

Punk-Funk D.C.

Corcoran presents an exhibit paying homage to D.C.'s musical subcultures

Published on March 7, 2013, 2:49am

Did you know? Washington, D.C., circa the 1980s was a hotbed of pop music, helping germinate two very distinct strands of sound. There was hardcore punk rock, led by Ian MacKaye and his bands, from Minor Threat to Fugazi, and the funk variant known as go-go, popularized by Chuck Brown and including bands E.U. and Rare Essence. {12 Hardcore 7'' records (Photo by Aaron Farley)} ''Both of those cultures were booking their own shows, finding their own practice spaces, doing ...[more]

By Design

Artisphere presents a months-long festival celebrating design as art

Published on February 21, 2013, 4:03am

Douglas Burton has spent well more than a decade focused on showcasing and celebrating the latest designs and designers. ''I'm passionate about design, and I love sharing the new things that are out on the market,'' Burton says. He's specifically talking about industrial and product design. ''Industrial design is pretty much everything you see around you, everything that we come in contact with throughout the day.'' This would include everything from lighting to chairs to tools to sheets. {Clouds by ...[more]

Science As Art

Industry Gallery offers two installations that straddle the art/science divide

Published on February 14, 2013, 5:52am

Tobias Klein is not one of those people who argue that modern society has become too obsessed with technology. ''Our electronic environment is becoming part of us, yet so far we only [accept] this on small mobile phones,'' the German-born, U.K.-based artist says. ''We're actually not fully grasping the quality and the possibility of this medium that engulfs us.'' The fields of art and architecture have been especially slow to experiment with technology, continues Klein, who's certainly bucking that trend. ...[more]

Homoerotic Tendencies

Corcoran presents a talk and exhibition next week with LGBT appeal

Published on January 31, 2013, 2:47am

''It's time for the Corcoran to reach out more consciously to LGBT audiences,'' says Bernard Welt, a professor of art and humanities at the Corcoran College of Art and Design. It's an understatement, to say the least. Welt was actually employed at the Corcoran in 1989, when the institution's art gallery notoriously cancelled a retrospective of provocative gay artist Robert Mapplethorpe due to conservative outrage in Congress. Next week, the Corcoran welcomes cultural critic Allen Ellenzweig for a discussion about ...[more]

Up Close and Monumental

Colin Winterbottom offers intriguing images of Washington landmarks

Published on January 24, 2013, 1:52am

''When this opportunity started to develop, to really get great access at the [Washington National] Cathedral, and make some new images, I just sort of shook my head and thought to myself, 'This is why I left economics.''' Roughly 15 years ago Colin Winterbottom, a native of Rockville, left a career in economics to pursue his childhood passion of photography full time. Since then, Winterbottom has made his name capturing architectural landmarks and monuments in D.C. and beyond, generally rendered ...[more]

Art as Politics

Touchstone Gallery offers an Inauguration-inspired group show

Published on January 10, 2013, 5:45am

''When do I get to vote on YOUR marriage?'' That's the question posed on a rainbow-bedecked T-shirt worn by one older, presumably gay, white man, captured in a group photo by Michael Lang. And ''Good Question'' – as Lang's caption reads – is just one of 40 pieces of politically inspired artwork now on display at Touchstone Gallery. ''We wanted to do something special for this month, because of the Inauguration and because all eyes will be on Washington, D.C.,'' ...[more]

Diva Delights

Exhibit offers artifacts, insight into women's influence on pop music

Published on October 11, 2012, 7:18am

''We've nicknamed it the Beef Jerky Dress around here,'' laughs Kathryn Wat, chief curator at the National Museum of Women in the Arts. She's referring to the rare-steak Meat Dress Lady Gaga wore to the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards as part of her protest against DADT. Wat says Gaga initially instructed Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to ''just let it rot'' when adding it to an exhibition, ''but of course that's not realistic for touring the artifact.'' ...[more]

Native Gold

The National Museum of the American Indian spotlights Native Olympians

Published on August 16, 2012, 1:48am

''If people are in Olympics withdrawal and they want to follow up on a bit of the history,'' says James Ring Adams, ''this is a good place to go.'' Adams, a senior historian at the National Museum of the American Indian, curated the Smithsonian museum's exhibit spotlighting Native-American Olympians over the decades. ''Best In The World: Native Athletes in the Olympics'' highlights several athletes from the just-wrapped London Olympics, including Tumua Anae of the gold-winning American women's water polo team, ...[more]

Abstract Influence

The Corcoran displays ''extremely influential'' abstract paintings

Published on August 16, 2012, 12:39am

''To me, it's one of the finest series of American paintings made during the 20th century,'' says the Corcoran's Philip Brookman, referring to the late Richard Diebenkorn's ''Ocean Park Series.'' Diebenkorn started the series when he moved from the San Francisco Bay area to Los Angeles in the late 1960s, and switched his style from figurative and landscape paintings to more abstract work. The switch also went against the pop-art and conceptual art grains at the time. But over time ...[more]

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