Built in the eighth century, the Tokaido Road connecting present-day Tokyo to Kyoto had become a well-traveled thoroughfare by the early 1600s. Artist Utagawa Hiroshige’s woodblock prints depicting landmarks along this 320-mile passageway, first published in 1833, later became one of Japan’s most iconic print series. Twelve of these prints are on view, providing viewers […]
Since the mid-1800s, Black craftswomen in Gee’s Bend, Alabama, have fashioned worn clothing, sacks and other fabric remnants into one-of-a-kind quilts. The Baltimore Museum of Art recently acquired five quilts by Gee’s Bend artists; four of these will be on view in the American Wing’s Berman Textile Gallery. artbma.org
This virtual, participatory exhibit combines the work of nine artists with submissions from the public, all of which will examine women’s role in providing sustenance and healing. The artists will share their own kitchen tables via photos, videos and stories that depict food as a creative medium; cooking-related submissions from the public will be layered […]
Ukranian-born artist Vladimir Kanevsky began his career as an architect before moving to the U.S. in 1989. After designing porcelain tableware for a project, he switched gears and wound up pursuing his fascination with botany as a flower sculptor. During winter’s throes, a profusion of the artist’s creations will bloom at Hillwood Museum. Each petal […]
This exhibit commemorates Mexican and Central American independence from Spain while exploring cultural exchanges between indigenous and European peoples. Perusing 19 works of art including books, gold adornments and ceramic vessels, viewers can reflect on the vibrant societies that once flourished in what today are Mexico and Central America. thewalters.org
This exhibit focuses on 15 large-scale landscapes by contemporary painter Lisa Yuskavage. Noted for their exuberant, ethereal flair, the works encourage viewers to immerse themselves in the mysterious worlds Yuskavage creates. artbma.org
Edward Hopper often conveyed a sense of loneliness and isolation by painting subjects in hotels, motels and boarding houses. This Richmond exhibit highlights 65 paintings and works on paper by the artist depicting such settings, plus 35 pieces by John Singer Sargent, David Hockney and others who explored similar themes. vmfa.museum
Though he earned a degree in architecture, DC-based Alan Karchmer has devoted his career to photographing buildings rather than designing them. This show presents images of structures Karchmer has captured around the world—including Washington National Cathedral’s Visitor Gateway (below), designed by SmithGroup Architects—and sheds light on his creative process.
Over a decade, American artist Sharon Lockhart documented the lives of children in Lodz, Poland. Over time, she produced a film, photographs and sculpture based on workshops she conducted in a center for young women. Now on exhibit, the series creates a profound sense of place and a commentary on children’s resourcefulness.
Harlem-born artist Tschabalala Self explores the significance of the Black female form in contemporary culture through her work. Two sculptures and 13 paintings that incorporate stencils, tracings, prints, casts and mechanically stitched lines of thread are on view.
Modern Australian artist Marley Dawson has created ghosts, a two-part kinetic sculpture installation that riffs on The Phillips Collection’s art and architecture. One installation consists of five chairs in brass, suspended from the gallery’s domed stairway (above), while the other is a wall-mounted work made of hundreds of brass rods, hung to spark a dialog […]
Museum director Jack Rasmussen curated this exhibit that assembles works by 32 Washington-area artists, including Sam Gilliam, Lisa Montag Brotman and Gene Davis. In an illustrated catalog available online and in print, Rasmussen reflects on the period, when, he writes, Black and women artists were “systematically underrepresented” and examines how memories of this formative period […]
In 1804, Prussian naturalist and author Alexander von Humboldt spent six weeks in the U.S., exchanging ideas about art, science, politics and nature with luminaries such as Thomas Jefferson and Charles Willson Peale. This exhibit examines von Humboldt’s impact on American cultural development through 100 sculptures, maps, artifacts and paintings—including Albert Bierstadt’s 1864 Valley of […]
From 1954 to 1956, Jacob Lawrence painted a 30-panel series entitled “Struggle…From the History of the American People.” It depicts early decades of the republic through the words and actions of founding fathers as well as enslaved people, women and Native Americans. Assembled for the first time in 50-plus years, the panels—including We crossed the […]
The Phillips Collection asked DC-area artists to submit work created between March 2020 and February 2021 that expresses the struggle and resiliency of the human spirit in the context of the pandemic and recent social upheaval. Many of these submissions are now on view in a juried exhibit that carries on museum founder Duncan Phillips’ […]
In her depictions of immigrants seeking a better life abroad, contemporary Chinese-American artist Hung Liu speaks volumes about exile, identity and the Asian Pacific American experience. Her multi-layered portraits, many based on photographs, will be on view in the artist’s first major East Coast exhibit.
Rebecca Kamen’s paintings and sculpture explore the confluence of art and science. Working with scientists and researchers, she creates abstractions that shed light on the world around us.
In 2006, artist Diane Burko switched her focus from landscape painting to work that captures the effects of global warming. Informed by science and technology, pieces on view include Sphere 4 (right) and a 56-foot-long “World Map” series documenting changes in glaciers and reefs.
