Gallery shows to see in D.C.
Sally Canzoneri
Adrienne Gaither ’ s “ Tribulations  ” acrylic on canvas . On view through Feb . 24 in “ How I Got Over ” at Transformer . ( Adrienne Gaither / Transformer ) Adrienne Gaither ’ s abstract color paintings are meticulously constructed   their bright hues divided by straight   hard - edge lines . Yet there ’ s a sense of disorder and even menace in some of them   which is reflected in the title of the D . C . artist ’ s Transformer show : “ How I Got Over .” The tension between neat patterns and haphazard disruptions reveals “ Gaither ’ s personal recovery from traumatic events in her life  ” a gallery note explains . The upsets aren ’ t specified directly   and the titles of the six large canvasses offer few clues . The picture that aims the sharpest point of a neon - orange triangle toward the bottom left of a field of shards is named “ Not Just Knee Deep  ” probably after the Funkadelic song . Other titles are more commonplace   although one small collage is dubbed “ Tribulation .” That color - field painting could be narrative   or at least psychological   would once have been heretical . In the 1960s   theorists of the genre insisted that the only proper concerns of such “ post - painterly ” art were its own forms and materials . Gaither has flouted such dogma previously with color - block grids of hues derived from skin tones . In this show ’ s “ Kill Shots  ” she flirts with representation by jagging a yellow spike across the canvas   suggesting lightning or some other sudden   violent blast . Despite such dynamic gestures   Gaither ’ s work shares much with mid - 20th - century color painting . The artist has a knack for composition and keeps things interesting by juxtaposing both contrary and complementary hues . Yellows and maroons energize one picture   but so do its abutting areas of two slightly different shades of deep blue . These pictures may have been born out of upheaval   but they ’ re immaculately controlled . Adrienne Gaither : How I Got Over Through Feb . 24 at Transformer   1404 P St . NW . 202 - 483 - 1102 . transformerdc . org . Sally Canzoneri ’ s “ Women Marchers : 1913 & 2017  ” on view at Art League Gallery .  ( Sally Canzoneri / Art League Gallery )   Sally Canzoneri  How can you be in two eras at once ?  Sally Canzoneri  simulates time travel with lenticular photographs — matched images of the same place   made years apart and cut into an accordion - fold pattern . From the front   strips of both scenes are visible ; from the sides   only one can be seen . That ’ s why  the artist  calls  her  Art League Gallery show “ Double Takes .”  Canzoneri  lives in Washington   and most of  her  two - timing pictures show D . C . sites   decades or more apart . Here   she has included two Alexandria doublings   including one that contrasts the show ’ s venue   the Torpedo Factory   in 1921 and 2017 . The largest gap   chronologically if not thematically   is between the former slave traders ’ building at 1315 Duke St . in 1861 and 2017 . The older of those pictures is by Mathew Brady   the D . C . Civil War photographer . Most often   though   the earlier image ’ s maker cannot be identified .  Canzoneri  works with unknown predecessors   first by framing  her  shot of the scene in imitation of the original   and then by fusing the two . Think of this not as appropriation   but collaboration . Canzoneri ’ s lenticulars are made of paper rather than marble   but they ’ re a kind of civic art . Sally Canzoneri : Double Takes Through Feb . 5 at the Art League Gallery   Torpedo Factory   105 N . Union St .  Alexandria . 703 - 683 - 1780 . theartleague . org . Anika Cartterfield ’ s show “ The Wild  ” at VisArts . ( Anika Cartterfield / VisArts ) Anika Cartterfield & Alex Braden At the National Gallery of Art currently stand a grove of columns   sleek and pure   by the late D . C . artist Anne Truitt . Anika Cartterfield also makes columns   but they ’ re not so pristine . The most vivid piece in “ The Wild  ” her show at VisArts Common Ground Gallery   slams a tree ’ s root ball through a hollow pillar . The ragged end that erupts from one side is painted white to match the surface it breaches ; the other end is smoother and varnished like a piece of furniture . Cartterfield   who lives in Upstate New York   formerly worked for Vermont ’ s forest service . When working with wood   she ’ s concerned more with the quality of the raw material than with what it might be made into . She subverts the look of white - walled art spaces and neatly sanded sculptures with pieces that are unfinished and partly open to reveal their structure . This show ’ s tidiest pieces are three columns topped with photos of art installations in forests . The woods   it appears   are Cartterfield ’ s favorite gallery . Alex Braden ’ s sound installation “ A Lesser Light .” ( Alex Braden / VisArts ) Downstairs at VisArts   Gibbs Street Gallery has become a listening room for Alex Braden ’ s electronic music . The D . C . composer ’ s “ A Lesser Light ” is an “ automated improvisation ” that randomly emits bits of music in a theoretically infinite arrangement . The sounds include drones   whooshes and clipped notes ; they recall Balinese gamelan and the music of Steve Reich and Brian Eno . In previous installations   Braden has employed near - obsolete and sometimes unreliable technology   including rotary telephones and cassette players . But this piece ’ s physical presence consists only of the speakers that broadcast the eight different audio channels . The result is a room and a composition that are clean and clear   with just enough capriciousness to keep listeners looking over their shoulders . Anika Cartterfield : The Wild and Alex Braden : A Lesser Light Through Feb . 11 at VisArts at Rockville   155 Gibbs St .  Rockville . 301 - 315 - 8200 . visartscenter . org . Antonio McAfee & Rachel Guardiola In the epilogue to “ Invisible Man  ” author Ralph Ellison refers to aspects of African American history as “ Old Bad Air .” Antonio McAfee borrows that phrase for the title of his Hamiltonian Gallery show of manipulated vintage photos . The Baltimore artist distorts 19th - century portraits of people of color to suggest how their subjects ’ lives were warped by racism and oppression . Included are several large photos that display various degrees of digital abuse ; one nearly abstract image appears in both negative and positive versions . There ’ s also a full wall of small   deformed pictures   printed on thin acrylic so they curl partly off the wall . This multitude   dignified yet precarious   is the most powerful chapter in McAfee ’ s history lesson . Also at Hamiltonian is Rachel Guardiola ’ s “ A Hand Without Horizon Is Taller Than Its Other  ” which includes altered video as well as photos . Mostly derived from the artist ’ s performances   the images illustrate the actions of a fictional “ time - traveling surveyor and a horticultural pirate ” as they travel “ an earth - like planet  ” according to the gallery . In the photos   hot colors and overlapping   close - up images seem to turn Guardiola ’ s hands into a sort of flora . In this miniature universe   the artist is both the explorer and the explored . Antonio McAfee : Old Bad Air and Rachel Guardiola : A Hand Without Horizon Is Taller Than Its Other Through Feb . 17 at Hamiltonian Gallery   1353 U St . NW   Suite 101 . 202 - 332 - 1116 . hamiltoniangallery . com .
Adrienne Gaither ’ s “ Tribulations  ” acrylic on canvas . On view through Feb . 24 in “ How I Got Over ” at Transformer . ( Adrienne Gaither / Transformer ) Adrienne Gaither ’ s abstract color paintings are meticulously constructed   their bright hues divided by straight   hard - edge lines . Yet there ’ s a sense of disorder and even menace in some of them   which is reflected in the title of the D . C . artist ’ s Transformer show : “ How I Got Over .” The tension between neat patterns and haphazard disruptions reveals “ Gaither ’ s personal recovery from traumatic events in her life  ” a gallery note explains . The upsets aren ’ t specified directly   and the titles of the six large canvasses offer few clues . The picture that aims the sharpest point of a neon - orange triangle toward the bottom left of a field of shards is named “ Not Just Knee Deep  ” probably after the Funkadelic song . Other titles are more commonplace   although one small collage is dubbed “ Tribulation .” That color - field painting could be narrative   or at least psychological   would once have been heretical . In the 1960s   theorists of the genre insisted that the only proper concerns of such “ post - painterly ” art were its own forms and materials . Gaither has flouted such dogma previously with color - block grids of hues derived from skin tones . In this show ’ s “ Kill Shots  ” she flirts with representation by jagging a yellow spike across the canvas   suggesting lightning or some other sudden   violent blast . Despite such dynamic gestures   Gaither ’ s work shares much with mid - 20th - century color painting . The artist has a knack for composition and keeps things interesting by juxtaposing both contrary and complementary hues . Yellows and maroons energize one picture   but so do its abutting areas of two slightly different shades of deep blue . These pictures may have been born out of upheaval   but they ’ re immaculately controlled . Adrienne Gaither : How I Got Over Through Feb . 24 at Transformer   1404 P St . NW . 202 - 483 - 1102 . transformerdc . org . [TGT] ’ s “ Women Marchers : 1913 & 2017  ” on view at Art League Gallery .  ( Sally Canzoneri / Art League Gallery )   [TGT]How can you be in two eras at once ?  [TGT]  simulates time travel with lenticular photographs — matched images of the same place   made years apart and cut into an accordion - fold pattern . From the front   strips of both scenes are visible ; from the sides   only one can be seen . That ’ s why  the artist  calls  her  Art League Gallery show “ Double Takes .”  [TGT]lives in Washington   and most of  [TGT]  two - timing pictures show D . C . sites   decades or more apart . Here   she has included two Alexandria doublings   including one that contrasts the show ’ s venue   the Torpedo Factory   in 1921 and 2017 . The largest gap   chronologically if not thematically   is between the former slave traders ’ building at 1315 Duke St . in 1861 and 2017 . The older of those pictures is by Mathew Brady   the D . C . Civil War photographer . Most often   though   the earlier image ’ s maker cannot be identified .  [TGT]  works with unknown predecessors   first by framing  [TGT]  shot of the scene in imitation of the original   and then by fusing the two . Think of this not as appropriation   but collaboration . [TGT] lenticulars are made of paper rather than marble   but they ’ re a kind of civic art . [TGT] : Double Takes Through Feb . 5 at the Art League Gallery   Torpedo Factory   105 N . Union St .  Alexandria . 703 - 683 - 1780 . theartleague . org . Anika Cartterfield ’ s show “ The Wild  ” at VisArts . ( Anika Cartterfield / VisArts ) Anika Cartterfield & Alex Braden At the National Gallery of Art currently stand a grove of columns   sleek and pure   by the late D . C . artist Anne Truitt . Anika Cartterfield also makes columns   but they ’ re not so pristine . The most vivid piece in “ The Wild  ” her show at VisArts Common Ground Gallery   slams a tree ’ s root ball through a hollow pillar . The ragged end that erupts from one side is painted white to match the surface it breaches ; the other end is smoother and varnished like a piece of furniture . Cartterfield   who lives in Upstate New York   formerly worked for Vermont ’ s forest service . When working with wood   she ’ s concerned more with the quality of the raw material than with what it might be made into . She subverts the look of white - walled art spaces and neatly sanded sculptures with pieces that are unfinished and partly open to reveal their structure . This show ’ s tidiest pieces are three columns topped with photos of art installations in forests . The woods   it appears   are Cartterfield ’ s favorite gallery . Alex Braden ’ s sound installation “ A Lesser Light .” ( Alex Braden / VisArts ) Downstairs at VisArts   Gibbs Street Gallery has become a listening room for Alex Braden ’ s electronic music . The D . C . composer ’ s “ A Lesser Light ” is an “ automated improvisation ” that randomly emits bits of music in a theoretically infinite arrangement . The sounds include drones   whooshes and clipped notes ; they recall Balinese gamelan and the music of Steve Reich and Brian Eno . In previous installations   Braden has employed near - obsolete and sometimes unreliable technology   including rotary telephones and cassette players . But this piece ’ s physical presence consists only of the speakers that broadcast the eight different audio channels . The result is a room and a composition that are clean and clear   with just enough capriciousness to keep listeners looking over their shoulders . Anika Cartterfield : The Wild and Alex Braden : A Lesser Light Through Feb . 11 at VisArts at Rockville   155 Gibbs St .  Rockville . 301 - 315 - 8200 . visartscenter . org . Antonio McAfee & Rachel Guardiola In the epilogue to “ Invisible Man  ” author Ralph Ellison refers to aspects of African American history as “ Old Bad Air .” Antonio McAfee borrows that phrase for the title of his Hamiltonian Gallery show of manipulated vintage photos . The Baltimore artist distorts 19th - century portraits of people of color to suggest how their subjects ’ lives were warped by racism and oppression . Included are several large photos that display various degrees of digital abuse ; one nearly abstract image appears in both negative and positive versions . There ’ s also a full wall of small   deformed pictures   printed on thin acrylic so they curl partly off the wall . This multitude   dignified yet precarious   is the most powerful chapter in McAfee ’ s history lesson . Also at Hamiltonian is Rachel Guardiola ’ s “ A Hand Without Horizon Is Taller Than Its Other  ” which includes altered video as well as photos . Mostly derived from the artist ’ s performances   the images illustrate the actions of a fictional “ time - traveling surveyor and a horticultural pirate ” as they travel “ an earth - like planet  ” according to the gallery . In the photos   hot colors and overlapping   close - up images seem to turn Guardiola ’ s hands into a sort of flora . In this miniature universe   the artist is both the explorer and the explored . Antonio McAfee : Old Bad Air and Rachel Guardiola : A Hand Without Horizon Is Taller Than Its Other Through Feb . 17 at Hamiltonian Gallery   1353 U St . NW   Suite 101 . 202 - 332 - 1116 . hamiltoniangallery . com .