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Martha Jackson-Jarvis and Tom Wolff at Hillyer Art Space

Latest News and Thoughts from Ellyn Weiss

December 12, 2009

Hillyer is the gallery run by International Arts & Artists, a non-profit that sponsors international exhibitions, runs a design studio and several programs geared toward international art exchanges. The surprisingly spacious building is tucked in the alley behind the Phillips Gallery and the Cosmos Club in the location previously used by the Foundry Gallery. This month it hosts the work of Martha Jackson-Jarvis and Tom Wolff.

Jackson-Jarvis’s “Ass on the Wall” is a tour-de-force room-sized installation that envelopes the viewer with a scale that makes one feel like Gulliver amidst the Brobdingnagians (those are the giants – I checked). Two walls are covered with floor-to-ceiling silk pieces printed with the image of a huge donkey and the other two form the backdrop to and source of tangled branches/roots that end in excrescences of plant-like bulbs of ceramic, glass, stone and God knows what all.

She explains it thusly:
In a chance encounter in the mountains of Tajikistan Jarvis discovered an incredible being in a moment of clarity that bridges the void between animate and inanimate form. A moment when plants, animals, and minerals are one, even the rocks conspire to a fluid and connected greatness.

Wolff's Teller

Tom Wolff is a portrait photographer who has contributed a series of larger-than-life sized head shots, mainly of older men of more or less obvious prominence. The technique is impressive and while I cannot testify to the degree to which he has accomplished this in all cases, I do find his portrait of Edward Teller to capture more than a hint of the essential cold-bloodedness and self-satisfaction of the man.

Ink-n-Print at Smith Farm

Latest News and Thoughts from Ellyn Weiss

December 12, 2009

the printmakers' lineup

You can always identify the printmakers at an exhibition; they are the ones with their noses pressed up to the glass trying to figure out if it’s aquatint or mezzotint, lithograph or silkscreen or photoetching or monoprint or some combinationg of the above and more– you get the idea. Printmakers are notoriously process-obsessed (as well as generally anal compulsive, a trait which I have somehow utterly avoided).

Tai Wah Goh's piece - one of three

Anyone who makes or enjoys the art of printmaking should make it a point to catch the group show of small “affordable” prints curated by Helen Frederick at Smith Farm’s Joan Hisaoka Gallery at 16th and U. The work, much of which was contributed by artists who work at George Mason U’s printmaking studio, covers the waterfront of technique and subject matter and will have you squinting at the edges. I particularly enjoyed Tai Wah Goh’s circular pieces, full of depth and mystery, as well as those made by Donald Depuydt, Fleming Jeffries and Elzbieta Sikorska.

Juried show: "Thoreau's Legacy: Humans and Our Habitat

Latest News and Thoughts from Ellyn Weiss

November 29, 2009

The Union of Concerned Scientists, an outstanding science-based national environmental organization, is issuing a call for entries for original artwork to hang in the public spaces of its Washington, DC, offices for approximately one year. (Full disclosure: I have been on the BOard of UCS for 18 years).

The theme of this juried show, "Thoreau's Legacy: Humans and Our Habitat," is based on the book of essays on the personal impacts of global warming published this year by Penguin Classics and the Union of Concerned Scientists. The jurors are Washington Post art critic, Michael O'Sullivan; artist and curator Ellyn Weiss (moi); and artist, graphic designer, illustrator and UCS Communications Director Elliott Negin.

The deadline for entries is January 15, 2010.

full poop follows:

Earlier this year, the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) and Penguin Classics published “Thoreau’s Legacy,” a book of essays on global warming in the tradition of Henry David Thoreau’s “Walden” (for more information, go to www.ucsusa.org/americanstories). As a follow-on, UCS is issuing a call for entries for an exhibit of original artwork “Thoreau’s Legacy: Humans and Our Habitat,” to be shown in the public spaces of its Washington, D.C., office. Artists and photographers should submit digital images of their two-dimensional work for the year-long exhibit by January 15, 2010. The exhibit will open in February with a public reception.

UCS is a national non-profit organization with more than 200,000 members and activists that provides science-based solutions to the world’s most serious problems, including climate change and nuclear proliferation (for more information, go to www.ucsusa.org). The organization, which moved into its current office in March 2008, hosted its first exhibit, titled “Earth in the Balance,” from October 2008 to October 2009 that featured the work of 16 artists and photographers.

The jury for the new show includes Michael O’Sullivan, a Washington Post art critic; UCS board member Ellyn Weiss, a noted Washington painter and curator, and UCS Media Director Elliott Negin, a painter, graphic designer and illustrator. UCS will display the artists’ contact information and offer the selected work for sale during the year at no commission.

EXHIBIT THEME: “Thoreau’s Legacy: Humans and Our Habitat”

DEADLINE FOR ENTRIES: January 15, 2010

FORM OF ENTRIES: Entrants should submit no more than three images in CD format. We will not consider slides. Make sure to include a document citing the title of each piece, its dimensions and medium, and your email and phone number. In addition, please provide a short explanation of how each of your pieces relates to the theme of the show.

SEND ENTRIES TO: Douglas Pedersen, Union of Concerned Scientists, 1825 K St. NW, Suite 800, Washington, DC 20006-1232 (on a CD) or via email to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it For more information, call Douglas at 202-331-5650.

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Now celebrating its 40th anniversary, the Union of Concerned Scientists is the leading U.S. science-based nonprofit organization working for a healthy environment and a safer world. UCS is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and also has offices in Berkeley, Chicago and Washington, D.C. For more information, go to www.ucsusa.org.

Ellyn at the Studio 4903 Holiday Show

Latest News and Thoughts from Ellyn Weiss

November 26, 2009

The fabulous metalsmiths and printmaker at Studio 4903 have invited me and a few other assorted artists to join them in their always highly-anticipated Holiday Show. The only problem will be the temptation to spend more than I earn. So join us and see some truly unique work. I'll be there.

When: Saturday and Sunday, December 5 and 6, 11am - 6pm.
Where: 4903 Wisconsin Avenue, 2nd floor.

I'll be bringing some prints from my "virus" series made this summer, some new encaustics and most likely a tar piece or two.

BADC at DCAC

Latest News and Thoughts from Ellyn Weiss

November 21. 2009

Juanita Hardy and Anne Bouie

Karen Joan Topping has a great smile

I think that DCAC shows the most eclectic collection of exhibits from month to month of any venue in town. Up a narrow staircase in the middle of bar-overburdened always buzzing Adams Morgan, you never know what you’ll find, which is a good summary of the spirit of the District of Columbia Arts Center. While the name may suggest a semi-governmental agency, rest easy that DCAC is not bureaucracy-approved.

Aziza and Sirinity

This month the show is “Black”, organized by the Black Artists of DC. It’s a juried show curated by Amber-Robles Gordon and Daniel T. Brooking. The artists were asked to express their individual perceptions of blackness.

Alec Simpson

I couldn't resist Anne's joy

Many of DC’s stalwarts have work presented, including Aziza Claudia Gibson-Hunter and Michael B. Platt (both also represented in “Zeitgeist II: what’s Important Now” at Nevin Kelly) and Alec Simpson. I love his postcards from Berlin, created of ashes and other detritus.
The opening was full of gorgeous folk, wonderfully integrated for a DC art crowd, and lots of fun.

Zeitgeist II: What's Important Now" - An Epic Opening

Latest News and Thoughts from Ellyn Weiss

November 20, 2009

Michael Platt and Carol Beane's amazing print

The crowd is hanging from the rafters

We had an epic opening reception Thursday night for “Zeitgeist II: What’s Important Now?”, the second in what I grandiosely imagine as an episodic series of exhibits themed around the significant issues of our times, curated by moi and my episodic partner in crime, Sondra Arkin. (Did I mention the grandiosity of it all?)

Aziza Claudia Gibson-Hunter and Michael Platt

I hope you will forgive me if I violate the blog rule about short bursts of text only, but this is a special occasion. So here is the manifesto for the show, written about 7 months ago:

My co-curator Sondra Arkin looking smashing

Ruth Trevarroa, Molly Ruppert, Scott Brooks, Jessica Beels etc

In October, 2008, the Nevin Kelly Gallery hosted the first Zeitgeist show. Titled “Under Surveillance,” and curated by Ellyn Weiss and Sondra Arkin, it presented the responses of twelve artists to what Weiss and Arkin view as one of the most important elements of the 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.

Renee Stout's Real Chess Game American Style

Molly Ruppert and Michael O'Sullivan

Just as the show was being presented, the world started to pivot again in ways that we are just beginning to assimilate. George Bush and Dick Cheney et al. are gone and Barack Obama is here. The new zeitgeist is full of ironies.

one of Rosina Teri Memolo's families

My spawn, Nora, and an unnamed male person

For example, the government will finally face up to global warming at the same time that we all now own GM, whose products bear major responsibility for a lot of it. New on the scene along with Obama are Bernie Madoff and his apparently numerous larcenous cohort, vanishing retirement accounts, stock market meltdown and the demise of one after another giant Wall Street financial houses.

Deb Jansen's piece - more karma and catharsis

People just flat stopped buying things and many felt liberated at the same time they are financially constrained. The future is anything but certain.

Phil Barlow - now it's an opening!

Veronica Szalus looks awfully happy

It is apparent to us that the zeitgeist has shifted dramatically and it seems like the perfect time to ask artists to respond to this question: “What’s important now?” We don’t want to limit responses to a single subject or viewpoint but to leave the artists room to reflect on this question individually.

The elusive Mr. Weiss

Groover Cleveland's "We're All Immigrants Now"

The artists who joined us include some of DC’s most interesting and thoughtful: Sondra Arkin, Carol Beane, Scott G. Brooks, Judy Byron, Groover Cleveland, Richard Dana, Anna U. Davis, Thomas Drymon, Aziza Claudia Gibson-Hunter,

My "Respect" - a detail of "You Get What You Need"

Deb Jansen, Rosin Teri Memolo, Micahel B. Platt, Renee Stout, Tim Tate, Ruth Trevarrow and Gessohead herself, Ellyn Weiss.

one of Ruth Trevarrow's animal halos

detail of Richard Dana's "Hope Over Now"

The opening was so insane that I couldn’t photograph the art, so I’ll include some pictures from the catalog for your viewing enjoyment. But you should see this in person. Who knows when Zeitgeist will return?
The show will be at Nevin Kelly Gallery, 1400 Irving St. NW, #132, (right at the Columbia Heights metro station through mid-December and we will have another open house on Saturday, Dec. 12 all afternoon.

Tory Cowles and Susan Finsen: Women of Color

Latest News and Thoughts from Ellyn Weiss

November 20, 2009

a Finsen

Susan Finsen and Tory Cowles are local artists with ongoing solos who share the qualities of being completely comfortable with vibrant color and brimful of energy. This is work that vibrates on the wall and shouts out good morning when you come down for breakfast.

Tory Cowles and work

He's in the spirit

Tory’s show is in the gallery at the Torpedo Factory, where she has had a studio for several years. Titled “Boing”, the show features pieces that each have some kind of playful interactive element, several involving balls. It’s like the boardwalk carnival of art and the people at the opening reception were delighted to play.

Susan with new darker work

another Finsen

Susan’s work is at the Park Café on Capitol Hill, a charming neighborhood restaurant where the décor, down to the plates and glasses, are all in rich colors, forming the perfect backdrop for her work. In fact, the paintings seem a part of the site. The combination is a sensory experience of unusual intensity.

Feinberg and Australian Aboriginal Artists at the Katzen

Latest News and Thoughts from Ellyn Weiss

October 25, 2009

The Katzen Arts Center at AU has been a whole yummy cornucopia of art this fall, every available nook filled with great stuff. I got there on a Sunday about three o’clock, not realizing that they close at four that day, so I had to speed-walk through a couple of the shows but will be back soon when I can savor. First, Paul Feinberg’s “another Washington”, a retrospective of 40 years of photographing non-political DC, the one we sometimes like to think of as the “real” city.

this one made me cry

This is the kind of franchise that can easily turn cheesy nostalgic or faux noir but it somehow stays real, perhaps partly because there are no images at all of the photographer and one feels the sincerity of his endeavor, enhanced by the straightforward texts where the subjects are often allowed to speak for themselves. Feinberg follows several themes: friends, decaying commercial sites, burlesque and dive bars. It is the most straight-up kind of full frontal picture-making, no tricks, that succeeds on the strength of its honesty, the honesty of its subjects and a fascination with culture at the cusp of expiration. N. B. Sadly, the Feinberg show closes today. You can buy a reasonably-priced good softback catalog from the Katzen and look for the next opportunity to see the work in person.

Not to be missed is the visiting Australian Aboriginal Triennial titled “Culture Warriors”. This is a culture under the greatest pressure, but one with a remarkably vibrant art that has managed to take its ancient techniques and obsessions and catapult them into the present. Sponsored by the National Gallery of Australia, the traveling collection contains artists from every region of Australia and many indigenous groups. The work is often bold and dramatic and it sometimes just bowled me over with its power. These artists do not make work that is merely decorative; they are steeped in the narratives of historical adventure and the reality of daily life today. Even the most abstract work contains elements reminiscent of this tradition. Go now and see it, yo

Joan Belmar at the Chilean Embassy

Latest News and Thoughts from Ellyn Weiss

October 25, 2009

Joan and admirer

Minna and Jim Nathanson

I think of Joan Belmar as a sculptural painter. His three-dimensional wall pieces under glass present at least three layers of overlapping meaning, each both obscuring and revealing the others. The format, which he has deepened and extended over the past few years, has developed gracefully in tandem with his themes of memory and dislocation.

a gorgeous precursor

Joan currently has a solo show at the Chilean Embassy, a terrifically fitting venue for work that is so pertinent to the expatriate experience. In addition to much new work, the show contains several gorgeous earlier two-dimensional pieces that are clearly the precursors of Joan’s current work. It is always fun and illuminating to see an artist’s progression, as we can here.

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