First Friday

So last night was friday and the first friday of March so we headed over to Dupont circle for their gallery openings which we had read about in various sources. Quick bus ride from our corner to Dupont down Q St. We first went to Foundry which is on 18th just south of Connecticut. They are one of the more popular destinations as they have a free wine and food spread. Their exhibit was of Kurdish artists. My overall impression was just ok. Some nice smaller pieces that were not hung up I liked better that what was up on the walls. No red wine so the spread did not hold us there for more than about 15 minutes.

So we ventured next to Hillyer Art Space which is in an alley behind the Phillips Collection on Hillyer Court. They also had wine (no red) and a pretty cool musician playing an electric violin and hence a pretty crowded young scene. Again, the art though I thought was kind of lacking. Not many pieces on display and not really my style.

We next headed up to R turning back towards Dupont where there is a series of galleries right next to each other. The first was Fondo del Sol which had an exhibit on Iberian Art, emphasis on the word which was attempting to link Basque artists to Georgian art (apparently Georgians also refer to themselves as Iberian though I am not sure if there is an ethnic link). These artists are from opposite ends of Europe so the gallery was juxtaposing them to see if the viewers could see parallels. I did not. But I liked what was there. There was a piece completely enclosed in an old steamer trunk that when opened had a hodgepodge of miscellany inside (the docent told us they have to keep it closed otherwise the local cat will climb in and sleep inside). There was a also a cool four panel piece of what looked to be an up close skyline of a city with each panel representing that segment of the city in a different season. Nice but nothing special.

Next was the Studio Gallery where things started getting cooler. There was an exhibit there called Mindful of Murundi by Bud Hensgen which we both really liked. A whole series of sort of cubist sets of jugs painted in beautiful colors. There was also a photo exhibit titled Geometries of Hong Kong which I liked a lot as well. Many of the images I remembered from our honeymoon. The technique was I believe photo transfer.

Last was the Alex Gallery which was the peak of our tour. They has on exhibit some of the works of Vytautas Valius which we both LOVED and even briefly considered buying but were overwhelmed by the prices. Not that they were not worth it as I felt these were really museum quality works. I spoke briefly with the owner who thought I could afford it even going so far as a discount and an interest free payment plan (maybe I was dressed the part?). He showed me a book of his other works which were also fabulous. The pieces on exhibit here were all of similar style, using a similar pallet and geometric patterns with some Christ imagery thrown into several. In the book though he had beautiful wood block as well as a plethora of other styles all excellent in their own way. Most of his pieces on display were medium-large (3'x4' or so) and priced from 12k-18k. Weirdly there was one piece only slightly smaller that was priced at $2800. If I believed in art as an investment (which I do not) I would probably have purchased this one. It was on paper while the rest were on cardboard, and while they were all acrylic, this one was framed with glass while the rest were not. I should also add that the frames were amazing as well (I heard a conversation snippet indicating the frames were done by the artist's son). The owner said when I asked that the price was a mistake and should be a little under 5k (not sure I buy this as prices were all listed on a typed out price sheet). In any case I opted not to purchase as while I liked the less expensive piece, I loved his other works. It just seems to me that you need to love the piece you are buying for yourself whether you are spending $300 or $3000 and not just buying what you have intellectualized to be a bargain based on comparison to the artists other works.

Anyway, that was our last stop for the evening before heading to Tangy Sweet/Red Velvet for a frozen yogurt and cupcake and taking the bus home.