Local glass sculptor Alan Binstock is having the kind of year we all dream about – his first museum show at the Katzen Center at American University in ongoing, gallery shows at the new Gallery 555 in downtown DC, doubtless more goodies showering down. Binstock is to be commended for taking the opportunity provided by being given the whole sculpture garden at the Katzen to move decisively into new territory with work that is a giant step up in scale and complexity.

Not that the outdoor space at the Katzen is entirely un-problematic. On the contrary, the large, wide-open expanse of concrete, hemmed in by very high walls, also concrete, is generally cold, hard and undifferentiated. It has defeated the efforts of some of Alan’s predecessors to incorporate it into the artwork. By simply accepting the challenge to go big and essentially disregarding the nature of the space itself, Binstock has made a wise decision.

The exhibit is called “Way Stations”, referring to the places where a traveler stops to rest and reflect during the course of a journey. The metaphor is pretty obvious but apt, nonetheless.  Binstock, an architect and a yogi, works at NASA and has long been fascinated by the imagery of intergalactic travel. These works, though, speak to me more of a love for the materials themselves, for the clarity and light of the glass and the strength of the steel. The exception, perhaps, is one of my favorites, “Wayfinder,” which calls to mind an ancient contraption for viewing the night sky. In Wayfinder, the metalwork is more than a construction element, it is an important part of the piece itself.

Some of the large works are made of pieces of broken colored glass and resin molded to steel armatures in arc shapes, forming constructions that the viewer can walk through. In others, a large gorgeous glass doughnut has been fashioned and hung on steel bars. The star of the show is probably “Chapel,” a small building of shimmering glass that contains a mysterious vessel on a pedestal. It invites the viewer to enter mindfully, while making her aware of the fragility and other-worldliness of the place.

I don't want to end without a shout-out to the Katzen for showing local artists, in most cases giving them their first museum show. Most of the other "major" institutions in town are focussed virtually entirely on the national and international level, competing to exhibit artists already well known. The Katzen is pretty much the only museum venue that regularly casts it gaze on what it is in its own back yard.

Devotees of the DC visual art scene already know Renee Stout’s work. For those of you who don’t, it’s about time, buster. Her show at Hemphill, “The House of Chance and Mischief”, is rich and moving stuff. It struck a deep chord in me and seems to have that effect nearly universally.

 

Woman Possessed

Renee speaking at the Millenium Art group's brunch

 For years, Renee’s paintings,prints and assemblages have channeled her alter ego, Fatimah Mayfield, a spiritual healer, herbalist and fortune-teller. I have always seen Fatimah as a strong and resolute character who summons the spirits with confidence in her powers – the fulfillment of Renee’s wish (perhaps we all wish for the same) to exert a measure of control over ourselves and our world. In this show, the veil of Fatimah is lifted, revealing the person of Renee. It’s not that she has disavowed Fatimah or left her behind; on the contrary, she has absorbed strength from Fatimah and is in the process of merging with her

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Black Room

The show makes perfect use of the layout of Hemphill’s gallery to establish the exhibit as a journey. The space is divided into three rooms and as the viewer moves through them, the revelations become more personal, reaching a palpable level of intimacy in the third room symbolized by the bed in the center of the room and embodied in the very personal photographs.

Millenium brunch @ Hemphill's

Renee’s work is always rich in content and narrative but the meaning never comes at the expense of visual immediacy and draftsmanship, which are very tricky shoals to navigate. In this show, I was particularly drawn to a piece made up of nine graphite drawings on old, stained ledger paper. Called “I Peeped Your Demons”, it is based on the artist’s relationship with a friend who recently died. As she tried to understand and portray the demons that tortured him, she found that some of the same demons moved through her own life. The figures are frightening, sinister, in some cases violent, always intense. You can literally not peel your eyes away.

Rieck being interviewed

Hamiltonian Gallery had the chi-chi crowd last Saturday night for its opening for James Rieck and Jonathan Monaghan. As if to prove the point, an extensively-groomed young woman was interviewing the artists for video. That just makes you feel that you’re in the presence of importance, somehow.

 

Monoghan's polar bear

Rieck’s work is inspired by literary references, in this case Beowulf and JRR Tolkien. The large-scale paintings are done primarily in shades of gray and beige and surface texture that seems to be created by sand. They do look aged and faded, with bits of high definition for contrast, like a hooker’s stiletto boot emerging from a medieval robe.

 

According to the gallery show sheet, “Monaghan’s work ultimately is about indifference and loss, which is illustrated by integrating corporate iconography into pseudo-religious landscapes.” Huh? The work itself is at times arresting and his execution of both the photos and videos is flawless, but honestly, I didn’t see the indifference and loss. But that's just me.

 

Moon over 14th and U

As I left, I walked past the nearby alley where I got a whiff of the quickly disappearing pre-fabulosity old 14th Street – a big old whiff of Eau D’Allee – urine/ MacDonald’s grease/ doggy do. Don’t it make you nostalgic?

Feng, Kraft, Elkins, Drymon, Zipperer

you can see some metal thongs om the wall

The second in the series of peripatetic “Tom Drymon Selects” shows opened in Biagio’s gallery space Friday night. This one, called “unbearable”, features four artists (all women this time, as opposed to the all-male line-up of the debut show).  The work has been well chosen for this small space and the mood of the show is intimate. Perhaps most intimate (sorry, I couldn’t resist) are Joyce Zipperer’s crocheted metal thongs. Put this chastity insurance on and it would certainly be unbearable, if highly protective. Joyce has the franchise on metal undergarments. They are always quite astonishingly evocative.

 

Elkins as Hilary or vice versa

Feng's piece

Laura Elkins has for some time been doing unflinching portraits of powerful women using her own face as model. Michelle Obama is here, as is Hilary Clinton. If you have seen a recent photograph of Hilary, showing the effects of too much pressure and too little sleep, you will be amazed at how she has become the face in Laura’s portrait.

Claire Feng shows a series of almost life-sized heads captured in intimate moments. I love the two where the subject tries to hide her face from the artist. Yvette Kraft’s highly-textured, brightly colored paintings are child-like and add a light touch.

Carmen Toruella-Quander and Joan Belmar

Chiara Timmers with her Dad and the Rafael Corzo

Gateway Arts Center in Brentwood, MD, just a few blocks from the Mt. Rainier studios by the tracks, is well on the way to establishing itself as an exciting art destination. It certainly has the bones – a big old fabulous open ground floor gallery with soaring ceilings and a smaller, more intimate space on the second floor called 39th Street Gallery. This month there are fabulous shows in both.

Belmar, Corzo, unidentified and Angel

Robles-Gordon and her work

On the ground floor, Carmen Toruella-Quander has curated a show called “Cultural Crossroad: Voices from Latin America and the Caribbean.” The four artists she chose, Felix Angel, Joan Belmar, Rafael Corzo and Amber Robles-Gordon, have risen to the spatial challenges of the gallery and made work with presence that fills it with color and vibrancy. Angel has contributed a series of paintings and a drawing portraying the bicycle rider. I was captivated by the drawing, which bounces with movement and energy.

Angel's bicycle rider

Robles-Gordon’s three-dimensional wall hangings spring off the wall. They are woven with a variety of objects, scraps and fibers and evoke the spirit of the Caribbean Carnival celebration, suggesting memories made palpable.

Belmar's abstraction

Corzo's amazing construction

Joan Belmar’s large abstractions take him into a fascinating new realm of almost acid-y pastels where the depth and mystery are achieved through meticulous layering of shape and line. They are sophisticated and just gorgeous. And speaking of presence, Rafael Corzo’s candy-colored, wildly biomorphic ceramics are so yummy they’re practically edible. His eight-foot sculpture anchors the show with its sheer exuberance. His work is so affordable that you should get down there right away and bring some home before he realizes that he's giving it away. 

 

Tom Wolff's photos

Upstairs, the 39th Street Gallery is hosting Tom Wolff’s exhibit of photography, titled “Census/ a Photographic Survey of the Arts District.” Wolff set out to photograph as many people living and working in the Gateway Arts District as he could. His color portraits, often incorporating the sitter’s environment, are a loving tribute to the wonderfully varied population of the Mt. Rainier/Brentwood/Hyattsville corridor that makes up the Gateway Arts District. I had a great time picking out the folks I know, as did many other of the visitors to the gallery. Wolff is continuing to photograph and will add to the exhibit through the duration of the show, which ends October 29.

Amy Morton and friends

deb on top, feral kid on bottom

After popping up episodically around town for the last year or so, Amy Morton, dba Morton Fine Art, found herself a spiffy new permanent spot at Florida and 18th Sts. NW. Laurel Hausler’s “Debutantes and Feral Children” (an early contender for the Best Title award) opened there Friday night. The paintings suggest that the differences between the refined debutante and the feral child are more superficial than might be imagined. Laurel formerly showed with me at the late lamented Nevin Kelly gallery and I’m delighted to say that she is as demented as ever – and I mean that in the best possible way.

 

a little of both

Laurel Hausler in middle

The girl can paint, and by that I mean that she uses the unique qualities of paint to achieve effects that can’t be obtained with other media. In the pictures that appeal the most to me, the image swims to the surface intermittently, shifting and becoming more or less visible as you move around the canvas. They are the feral ones, dark, scary and mysterious. This is certainly the effect that Laurel is after – she’s titled one of them “Feral Child Eating Squirrel” and in another you can see a row of disembodied and threatening teeth, for God’s sake. I love ‘em.