Holiday events around town

We are back and rejuvenated from Thanksgiving break. Now, preparations for the holiday season begin. Here's a small list of upcoming events in which some of the gallery artists are participating:


TONIGHT: Thursday, December 3
Holiday Open House
105 N. Union St, Alexandria, VA
Free Event 6-9pm
The Torpedo Factory Art Center is transformed into a glittering spectacle of holiday spirit for this annual bash! Shop for one-of-a-kind gifts as live music and refreshments get you into the holiday spirit. Guests will enjoy refreshments as they wander from studio to studio stocking up on affordable, original artwork for everyone on their shopping lists. From $20 mugs to $200 earrings; $40 scarves to $4000 paintings, there's something for every taste and budget.


Friday, December 4, 6-8pm
Opening Night of WPA's Holiday Shop, Icebox
2023 Massachusetts Ave, Washington, DC

The shop will feature artworks and products for sale by WPA artists. Small works, photographs, hand sewn brooches, notecards, ornaments, jewelry, candle holders, accessories, apparel and more- made by hand by WPA member artists. Items range from $4 to $250 (most under $100, many items under $25)

Participating member artists: John M Adams, Beth Baldwin, Tom Block, Maureen Burns-Bowie, Cynthia Connolly, Charles Farmer, Sandy Gold, Alex Goldschmidt, Julie Hart, Linda Hesh, Rebecca Kallem, Kathleen Kelley, Erica Orgen, Project Dispatch, Susana Raab, Lisa Rosenstein, Amy Carmichael Smith, Jerry Svat, Claudia Vess, and Robert Weiner.

The Icebox will be open till December 21. Hours are 11am-5pm and by appointment. Special shopping event December 21, 6-8pm.

Saturday and Sunday December 5 and 6, 11am – 6pm
Studio 4903 Holiday Show
4903 Wisconsin Ave, NW 2nd Floor Washington, DC

This highly-anticipated annual show features the fabulous residents from Studio 4903, who specialize in jewelry, graphic design, and painting. They have also invited a few artists to join them, including Ellyn Weiss. She will be displaying some of the “virus” prints she made this summer, along with some new encaustics and perhaps a tar piece or two.


Thursday, December 10, 6-8pm
Opening of Pandora's Box
The Target Gallery @ Torpedo Factory Art Center
105 N. Union St, Alexandria, VA

Target Gallery presents Pandora’s Box; an exhibition that had artists create a visual interpretation of the Greek Myth and express how it relates to modern times. The exhibition is a visual interpretation of Pandora’s act of releasing woe (and hope) upon humanity. On December 10, there will be a reception to meet the artists from 6-8pm and to hear the juror’s remarks about her selections at 7pm. The show closes on January 10, 2010. The juror for the exhibition is Landria Shack, former curator with Pyramid Atlantic Art Center in Silver Springs, MD. She chose 37 works out of approximately 150 submitted for her review. Keep an eye out for "Stimulus" artist J. Ford Huffman's piece.

Friday, December 11, 5-8pm
Reception for Friend Request: Mid City Artists + 12 Friends
Art 17| Coldwell Banker| 1606 17th St, NW, WDC

Participating artists include: Sondra N. Arkin, Chuck Baxter, Jim Cassell, Robert Dodge, Thomas Drymon, Bill Harris, Harriet Lesser, Charlie Jones, Doris Kennedy, Bridget Sue Lambert, Lucinda Murphy, Juan Palomo, Mark Parascandola, Zade Ramsey, Ron Riley, Fabian H. Rios Rubino, Deborah Saks, Nikolas Schiller, Nicolas Shi, George Smith-Shomari, Clara de Soto, Isabelle Spicer, Trish Tillman, Ellyn Weiss.
Show runs from December 7, 2009 - January 29, 2010.

Saturday, December 12, 2-6pm
Fine Arts and Crafts Holiday Show at the Gateway Arts District
3814 34th St, Mount Ranier, MD

Support local artists and crafters and get your holiday gift shopping done in one spot during Gateway Arts District's Arts and Crafts Holiday Show. This show will feature a diverse array of fine art and spectacular crafts...sure to put a smile on the face of any gift recipient. Multiple locations.
The Sinel/Stewart/Weiss studios will be among the many in Mt. Ranier, Brentwood and Hyattsville open to the public, including the Washington Glass School, Red Dirt, Flux and pretty much everybody in Ellyn Weiss's Mt. Ranier hood. Sinel/Stewart/Weiss Studios is at 3706 Wells Ave, Mt. Ranier, in the back building of our complex. We’re just two blocks from the DC line, so suburb-phobes have no excuse...unless you're on your way to the OPEN HOUSE at NKG (noon-6pm)!

Video from the opening

Thanks to Vince Brown, the man behind The Boulevardier View blog, for his video trip to the opening of Zeitgeist II: What's Important Now?



Our show Zeitgeist II: What's Important Now? will be up till December 12. If you can't stop by before then, make sure you come to our OPEN HOUSE/closing event that afternoon. For more info, you can go to Facebook and RSVP while you're there.

People were curious to find out What's Important Now

On Thursday, What's Important Now? opened to a big crowd eager to learn all about what sixteen local artists had to say about the world's current situation.

This is how it started...

The artists were present and happy to engage with their audience and each other.

Artist Ellyn Weiss and poet BRASH, who recently wrote a couple of poems inspired by Ellyn's previous works, exchange words. Behind Ellyn, you can also see artist Groover Cleveland (unless I'm mistaken) and poet Carol Beane.

Two of the artists catching up: Aziza Claudia Gibson-Hunter and Michael B. Platt

Sondra Arkin and Judy Byron's online project, What's Important to You?, went live! TV monitors set up in the gallery and in an adjacent "party room" displayed the responses submitted by visitors to the website over the past month, as well as those being submitted by guests during the opening. One of my favorite responses comes from Gretchen from South Dakota: The intangible ring of laughter, the warmth of real love, and hope for tomorrow.

Guests submitting answers to "What's Important to You?" website

Thanks to everyone for coming out despite the stormy weather and making the night such a success. And a special thanks to the friends that helped make our guests feel taken care of: Beth, Cheryl, Anya and Alaina.



The show runs through December 12...plenty of time for you to stop by.

An Important Preview

Here is a sneak peek of some of the works featured in our upcoming show. The artists have created pieces that act as their very own personal statements regarding the question "What's Important Now?" sometimes by identifying current issues that resonate throughout our society.


Scott G. Brooks, "Patience," oil on canvas, 36" x 24"

Aziza Claudia Gibson-Hunter, "Cheney-Bush-Rove," acrylic mixed media, 35" x 26" (each)

Rosina Memolo, "W. Ellington & Tobias," color chromira print, 16" x 20"

Renée Stout, "The Real Chess Game (American Style)", detail, mixed media, 3 1/2" x 16 3/4" x 12 1/4"

Ellyn Weiss, "You Get What You Need", detail, encaustic on board, 12" x 12" (each)


“Zeitgeist II: What's Important Now?” runs from November 19 through December 12 with an opening reception on Thursday, November 19 from 6:00 to 9:00 pm.

Upcoming Show: "Zeitgeist II: What's Important Now?"

In October 2008, the Nevin Kelly Gallery hosted the first "zeitgeist" show, titled Under Surveillance. Curated by Ellyn Weiss and Sondra N. Arkin, it presented the responses of twelve artists to what Weiss and Arkin saw as one of the most important elements of the then-prevailing ethos: "the increasingly diminishing zone of personal privacy available to any of us as we are constantly under surveillance by a growing array of government, corporate and media technologies." As a follow up, Weiss and Arkin are asking a group of local artists to reflect upon an uncertain future and respond to the question: "What's important now?"

Participating artists include Sondra N. Arkin, Carol Beane, Scott G. Brooks, Judy Byron, Groover Cleveland, Richard Dana, Anna U. Davis, Thomas Drymon, Aziza Claudia Gibson-Hunter, Deb Jansen, Rosina Memolo, Michael Platt, Renée Stout, Tim Tate, Ruth Trevarrow, and Ellyn Weiss.


Show runs from November 19 till December 12. Opening Reception to be held on Thursday, November 19 from 6-9pm. You can RSVP on Facebook.

Also, remember that you can still help participating artists Sondra Arkin and Judy Byron complete their collaborative project for the show. Simply go to www.important2you.com and let them know what is important to you at this point in time.

Poems inspired by "Dark Matter"

Local extemporaneous poet BRASH visited the gallery during the closing celebration for our recent show, "Dark Matter," and created two poems inspired by Ellyn Weiss's work.

Alchemistry
To Ellyn Weiss’ Lost Continent


The luminous bowl
That is the skull
Scoops the elixir of thought
From the synaptic clot
Of emotion,
Transmutes its graygold matter
Of alchemic fits and starts
Into the wordless patter
Of the heart’s Impatient motion.

© October 17/21, 2009, BRASH


Dreams
To Ellyn Weiss’ Cladocera


At night the brain
Uncouples itself from its mooring
Follows its own bright train
Through the wilderness, seeking, touring,
A restless conductor’s scoring.

At night the brain derails
From crisply ordered thought
To follow the wisp of trails
Unbound, unbordered, hot
With organic combustion wrought.

At night the brain cracks
Free of relentless time’s elapse,
Leaves the faintest spoor of tracks
On the crackled surface that maps
The sharpest etchings of synapse.

Oh to leave behind the shoddy
Hovel of durance mater, — why but for a night? —
To ever escape this grim and earthen body
For the burn of passages deep and bright
Dark and pure as anthracite.

© October 17/21, 2009, BRASH

Artists ask the public to participate in communal art project

Local artists Sondra N. Arkin and Judy Byron have teamed up to create a collaborative work of art and they need your help to complete it. The work is to be included as the artists’ contribution to our upcoming group exhibition entitled What’s Important Now?, which is set to run from November 19 through December 12.

Arkin and Byron are asking the public to answer the question “what’s important to you?” (in 10 words or less) by logging onto www.important2you.com. People can answer as many times as they want, subject only to the 10-word limit per response. Follow the project on Facebook and on Twitter @important2you. The final product will be revealed at the opening reception for the exhibition, which will take place at the gallery on November 19 from 6:00 to 9:00 pm. More info about the show to come soon.

TONIGHT: Support a good cause, leave with some art

"True Beauty - D.C.": Group Exhibition & Fundraiser
The Fridge From Thursday, 15 October 2009 - 7:00pm To Friday, 16 October 2009 - 1:00am
A one-evening group exhibition of photographic artworks from the "True Beauty - Young Womanhood in D.C." photobook by Sardar Zaib, Jim Tretick, and Richard Chu. Signed limited-edition print of the artworks will be available for sale and a raffle will be held for portfolio-quality photo sessions with the photographers All proceeds from this event go toward the funding of a medical vehicle that goes to underprivileged communities to provide free breast cancer screening. Exhibited alongside the photos will be tribute artworks from the photobook by DECOY, Anna U. Davis, Randall Holloway, and Graham Jackson. Info on the True Beauty project and sample photography and verses from the photobook are on our website: http://www.TrueBeautyDC.org ++++++++ There will be a after-party from 10PM to 1AM DJ'd by the inimitable Cheryl DJ Breeze spinning her groove thangs and dance music from the 80 's and 90 's - David Bowie, Blondie, Devo, B-52 's and such. Also featuring naked sushi, a rousing catwalk modeling/burlesque show, and a live auction of donated paintings (artist Eve Hennessa will create a full-lenght portrait on the spot), antique/vintage items, and high-end designer clothing & accessories. For more info, visit the Facebook event page.

Quick Reminders

• Closing Reception for "Dark Matter": Saturday, October 17, 2009 from 3-6pm

Stop by the gallery for your last chance to take a look at the innovative works created by local artist Ellyn Weiss using tar as medium. The artist will be in attendance to partake in the celebration.

You can RSVP on Facebook.

• Joan Belmar's new show

The Chilean Embassy presents: Migrations, Selected Works from 1995 to 2009. The exhibit opens today and runs through November 27.

• Express' Best of 2009!
  

Voting ends this Friday, so if you haven't done so already please vote for Nevin Kelly Gallery as the best gallery in DC. You can find it under the Arts and Entertainment category.

Recent works by John Adams on exhibit next week

Recent Works: John M. Adams, Elaine Florimonte, Kim Basinger, Debbie Glakas, and Rory Marcaccio-Schaffer

October 16th, 4-10pm
October 17th, 11am-3pm

Fairfax Station Railroad Museum
11200 Fairfax Station Road
Fairfax Station, Virginia

Featuring recent drawings, paintings, prints, photographs, jewelry and sculpture by these five artists.

John M. Adams will be exhibiting paintings from the artist residency this summer. Visit www.thefullempty.com for more info or call 202-557-9495








Element 1 -John M. Adams
oil, acrylic and graphite on birch
6"x6" - 2009

Talk with Ellyn Weiss

Saturday afternoon Ellyn Weiss stopped by to share with a curious audience the story behind her new collection of works, "Dark Matter."


The talk became an interactive show-and-tell session when those in attendance sat in a makeshift circle passing around old and recent prints, while Weiss explained the progression of her overall oeuvre.

After a short introduction explaining the motivations behind her new work, a dialogue emerged between the artist and her audience. One of the attendants mentioned that these new paintings seem more expressive than her previous work, richer somehow, even though the color palette has been reduced to brown hues and an almost all-encompassing black. The play on texture developed through technique, the application/removal of tar on canvas, gives way to unique paintings; images that appear to be "living things, swimming up from the primeval darkness."

"Dark Matter" will be on exhibit until October 17. A closing reception will be held that Saturday from 3-6pm.

NKG presents...

We are holding two more events to showcase "Dark Matter," Ellyn Weiss's new work in tar!

Please join us this Saturday, October 3 for a talk with the artist between 2-3pm. Weiss will discuss her process of creation, as well as the motivation behind her paintings.

You are also invited to a closing reception on Saturday, October 17, where we will be holding a final celebration between 3-6pm.

Take a look at our newsletter for this and more.

And the finalists are...

The Nevin Kelly Gallery has become one of the finalists in the Best of Express 2009 reader-favorite awards!

Go to the Express website from October 5-16 to vote for us, as well as other finalists in categories from food to shopping to sports.

Watch for the winners in the Express Best of 2009 special section, which will be published Friday, Nov. 6.

Upcoming shows around town

Try to stop by these shows early in October to support gallery artists Sondra N. Arkin and Joan Belmar.


FORM & FREEDOM: paintings by Sondra N. Arkin, John Blee, Carlotta Hester and Linda St. Clair

October 2- October 13, 2009
Reception / Friday, October 2, 6-8pm

Aaron Gallery
1717 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington, DC
contact the gallery for more information
www.aarongallerydc.com
T: 202.234.3311
[ Parking: 2001 S Street, Location No. 531, 202.667.3030]

Click on thumbnail for larger image

Observatory 48" x 48" encaustic on canvas on dibond

Plumbing My Inner Pink 32 " x 32" encaustic on canvas on dibond

***

The Chilean Embassy presents: MIGRATIONS by Chilean painter Joan Belmar

October 13-November 27, 2009
Opening Reception: October 13, 2009, 6-8pm

Embassy of Chile
1732 Massachusetts Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 202.785.1746

If you plan to attend the opening reception for Joan Belmar's exhibition, you need to RSVP today!

Gallery Hours

Just a short note to let you know about the new gallery schedule. Lately we have cut back on our hours, but that doesn't mean you should avoid stopping by. We are open on Tuesdays and Thursdays through Saturdays, from noon to 6pm, and by appointment.

Remember, our current show featuring works by Ellyn Weiss, "Dark Matter", is up until October 17. We hope to see you soon!

"Dark Matter" shines brightly

The show's opening was a success! I wish I could say the same about the pictures that were taken that night. Let's just say that this will be the last time I mess around with the camera's shutter speed days before an event. Here are some of the better pictures:

Guests downstairs

Downstairs

Ellyn Weiss and two attendees (pardon the blurriness)

Ellyn engaged in conversation

In case you were not able to attend the opening, here are a few more pictures of the art. Make sure you stop by before October 17. These works need to be seen in person to fully appreciate the richness of tones and textures that can be found within them.

Flagellates, 30 x 30, asphalt and shellac on board, 2009

Pseudopodia| Serpentes| Turbellaria

Lost Continent| Cladocera

NKG on Facebook, plus upcoming exhibit

During the past few months, we here at the Nevin Kelly Gallery have made efforts to become a bigger presence in the interactive world of the web. Back in February, we joined Constant Contact for our email updates and created a group on Facebook as well. To follow up, we have now created a page, making it easier to keep you updated about what is happening at the gallery. To become a fan, click on the link below.



What’s to Come
In more exciting news, you will soon be receiving invites for Ellyn Weiss's upcoming solo exhibition, "Dark Matter: New Work in Tar." The show will run from September 17 – October 11 with an Opening Reception on Thursday, September 17, 6 to 9 pm. Here's a preview of the invite and a little snippet from the press release to get you better acquainted with the show.

"Weiss has discovered that tar is not the dull and uniformly black substance it first appears to be. It contains a range of subtle hues—rich browns, subtle grays and warm amber tones. She uses these colors to coax images from the tar. The images are not planned in advance, but reveal themselves as she works.They have an eerily organic quality to them, appearing to the artist like living things “swimming up from the primeval darkness.” They register with us at the most basic level of all, as if triggering a memory we carry in our DNA of the moment life began."

STRANGE FRUITS

I am sure you have been wondering what we have been doing at the gallery since the closing of “Stimulus.” Although we have kept busy tending to a few private functions, such as last week's NEST charity event, we are now in the midst of preparing for our next show (which is set to open on September 17). Previews to come soon.

In the meantime, here is an update on one of the local artist who participated in our last group show: Emily Greene Liddle will soon be having a solo exhibition at Aroma (Cleveland Park location). The show opens on Saturday, August 15, 2009 and runs through September 28, 2009.

As mentioned on her website, “working mainly with oil on canvas, Liddle uses classical academic technique to portray modern pop imagery. While her paintings initially appear light and playful, her subject matter plays on deeper themes of contrast and contradiction in form, function, and perception in modern Pop culture.”

In her series “Strange Fruit,” Liddle merges commonplace objects with luscious fruit and vegetables in order to sometimes create a visual oxymoron or a conceptual allusion to a certain word or idea. A selection of these works is currently on display at the gallery. Come on by for a sneak peek of what you can expect when you go to her upcoming show (and, of course, to take a look at the rest of the art that graces our walls)!

Security Blanket, 2009, oil on canvas, 48 x 36

Thank You Elizabeth

Just a quick word to express my sincere thanks to Elizabeth Carriger for her tireless work on behalf of the gallery over the past two years. Elizabeth started with us as an intern in the Fall of 2006 and assumed full-time responsibility for all gallery affairs the following Spring. She was the main force behind nearly 20 exhibits at the gallery during her tenure and did all of the planning for our participation in two New York art fairs. Because the gallery bears my name, I get to claim the title of Director. In reality, it is Elizabeth who has performed that role during the past 2 years. She did it all, and she did a fabulous job.

Having earned her Masters in Art History from GWU last Spring, I knew the time would come for Elizabeth to pursue opportunities more in line with her long-term career goals. I am grateful for her loyalty to the gallery, for her professionalism and for her friendship.

Good luck, Elizabeth. We will miss you here.

LAST CHANCE to Stimulate the Mind

"Stimulus” is coming to a close this Saturday! Therefore, we are giving you one more opportunity to come together with some of the artists who have participated in the show during a closing reception on Friday, July 10 from 5:00-8:00pm.

Keep in mind that everything in the exhibition is $500 or less and all works are priced at least 15% below their normal cost just for the show. A selection of works on display can be seen in previous blogs (label: Stimulus), as well as on Facebook.

Farewell

Dear friends out there in blogger land, my time at NKG has come to an end. Thank you so much for tuning into my posts over the past year. But don't go anywhere, Nevin and Vanessa will continue to bring you artistic delights.

I will leave you with some pipe-smoking ducks.

Edward Dwurnik, “Kaczki”, watercolor, 18” x 22”

Take it to HEART

Everyone is a winner with LottoHEART, an art lottery benefiting CAMP Rehoboth—a non-profit, gay and lesbian community service organization, originally developed to “Create A More Positive” relationship among all the people of the Rehoboth Beach area. The event, organized by NK Gallery artist Sondra Arkin, gives you the opportunity to own a post-card sized work of art created by one of 200 participating artists. Here are the details:

TAKE A CHANCE ON LOVE

Each $100 Ticket Includes an Original Work of Art!

As part of the Whole Lotta Love Weekend (July 3-4, 2009) at CAMP Rehoboth in Rehoboth Beach, DE, over 200 artists have created postcard-sized works of art, each for sale for $100. Among the artists, over 15% are represented in museums or major collections, and they reside in 10 states as far away as CA and FL with 78 residing fulltime in DE. With established artists alongside emerging artists, anyone could walk away with a fantastic bargain — will you?


VISIT THE WEB GALLERY!
Use our online tool to create your Favorites' List — and with a little mouse action, rank them into your top 20 (or so) and print it out. Bring it with you to the event so that you can keep track of which art is top of your list and if it is still available when the time comes for the lottery. It's fast, did we say that?? really fast. Visit here.


On July 4th, we'll add the artists' names so you will know who did what.


PREVIEW PARTY - JUNE 27th
A preview party honoring the artists and exhibiting the LottoHEART works will be held at CAMP Rehoboth (37 Baltimore Avenue, Rehoboth Beach, DE) on Saturday, June 27th from 4-6pm. The preview is free and open to the public.


PLAY THE GAME
LottoHEART Game Show July 3rd!
This rollicking evening of fast-paced fun is hosted by the hilarous Christopher Peterson. The Lotto: “Players” are selected in random order and have only seconds to choose art.

The HEART: you take a chance on getting the work you love, but you'll have a blast doing it. Your $100 ticket gets you into the event and guarantees you a piece of art.

Buy my LottoHEART Art Ticket Now!

CAN'T COME? STILL BE A WINNER!
Buy a Blind Date Ticket
Every artist worked double-time to create two works: one piece is part of the LottoHEART event, the other work is in the Blind Date group. Buy your $100 Blind Date ticket and you receive a random piece of art from the same terrific pool of talented artists. It could be a match made in heaven.

Buy my Blind Date Art Ticket Now!

“Stimulus” Opens with a Boom

We had a full house on Tuesday for the opening of “Stimulus”. A good time was had by all! Here are some photos* from the night.

Upstairs

Downstairs

Upstairs from downstairs (guest starring “Giant Head” by Ming Yi Sung Zaleski)

Downstairs from upstairs

Candace of Radiance Medspa performing digital skin analysis

Ron, exhibiting artist Sondra Arkin, and Nevin

Exhibiting artist J. Ford Huffman and Tony

Exhibiting photographers Stirling Elmendorf and Mark Parascandola

Cheers to art

Thank you to local businesses Radiance Medspa, Commonwealth Gastropub, Pete’s New Haven Style Apizza, and Rumberos for offering specials for the evening.

Stop by and see “Stimulus” between now and July 11th. Did I mention that everything in the exhibition is $500 or less and all works are priced at least 15% below their normal cost just for the show.

*Thanks to Amy Lestition for helping with the photographs

Stimulating Preview II

As promised, here are more images of works that are in the “Stimulus” show.

Anna U. Davis, “Devilution 3”, paper and acrylic on canvas, 10” x 10”


Pat Goslee, “Vang Vent”, mixed media on wood, 12” x 9”


Laurel Hausler, “Baroque Doll”, digital print, 21” x 17”


Eve Hennessa, “True Love”, watercolor and ink on Arches paper, 25” x 21”


J. Ford Huffman, “In God We Trust”, mixed media, 9” x 5.75” x 2.5”


Rosalind Kennedy, “The Stairwell”, digital archival print, 20” x 27”


Mark Parascandola, “Lincoln Theater”, pigment print, 29” x 23”


Anneliese Sullivan, “Daydreams”, oil on canvas, 16” x 30”


Ming Yi Sung Zaleski, “Big Head”, yarn stuffed with batting


Ruth Trevarrow, “Caution Signs”, mixed media, 28” x 28” (each)


Ellyn Weiss, “Aqua Genes 2”, encaustic on panel, 12” x 12”

Tomorrow I bring you installation shots. "Stimulus" opens June 16 (tomorrow!) and runs through June 11.