ELLYN WEISS


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Arlington Arts Center Has a REALLY Big Shew

December 12, 2008 

The Arlington Arts Center is one of the most lively art venues in this region and has quite consistently accomplished the difficult mission of being many artistic things to many people in a suburban setting somewhat apart from the downtown art scenes. It is a school, galleries, a home to artists needing affordable studio space, sponsor of a prestigious annual mid-Atlantic juried show – a cultural hub in always growing, always changing Northern Virginia. AAC often shows art that can be difficult and challenging, which is welcome in this conservative area.

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Laurel Lukaszewski and Weiss Weiss at AAC
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Phillipa "Pink Line" Hughes
Having said all that, not every effort can be fully successful and my sense is that the current shows reach for more than they achieve. The opening reception was bursting with artfolk, as they usually are, and that probably contributed to my general sense of confusion. The main event is a juried themed show entitled  “Unlimited Edition,” featuring  seven artists whose work is said to “explore the relationship between consumption, mass reproduction, marketing and art” – not an uninteresting concept.  But the work, which included three live performances, one of which involved an artist touring the galleries selling lipstick, just kind of got lost. I’ll confess that I am uninterested in conceptual work that has no visually compelling component, so I am perhaps just not receptive.
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The Directors Kim Ward and B Stanley
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Scott Hutchinson
Meanwhile, there were also two solo shows, a student show, open studios for the resident artists, plus a Pink Line Project involving live tee-shirt stenciling and a panel discussion on the intersection between art and fashion. It all seemed worthy, but the combination of all of it in the same space at the same time did not allow one to do justice to the parts.
Gotta do a shout-out, though, to Scott Hutchinson, one of the resident artists with a studio on the second floor of AAC.  He makes scary little videos from combining dozens of beautifully rendered drawings of faces mostly – kind of like electronic flip-books. They’re seductive.
 
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© 2012 ELLYN WEISS