Alexandria Art Happenings Kick Off the New Year
Venture out of the house for some art happenings going on this month! Support our local art galleries online or in person.
Alexandria, VA – * The Art League ~ The blockbuster 53rd annual part fundraiser/part art aficionado party for the Art League’s educational programming, community outreach, and exhibits is taking the fun virtual this year. Tickets for the February 20, 2 to 6 pm Patron Show are $225. The randomly drawn tickets entitle the holder to choose among several hundred works of art donated by Torpedo Factory and Art League artists valued from $225 to upwards of thousands of dollars.
The 600-plus artworks were viewable online beginning January 1 and in person three weeks before the event at the Art League’s Torpedo Factory Gallery. Contact the Art League for more information at 703-683-1780.
Art on view at the Art League Gallery before the Patron Show comprise its first show of the new year. Open Exhibit, January 6-31, at the Art League Gallery, is juried by Gregg Deal of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe. This provocative artist challenges contemporary perceptions of Indigenous people. Deal’s activism is expressed through protest art via painting, murals, performance art, filmmaking, and oral interpretations of Native American storytelling traditions.
Open exhibits are not limited by theme, medium, process, or content, but all artworks must have been created within the past five years.
*The Athenaeum~ The masterful works of oil on canvas by Quanxuan (Q.X) Shuai on exhibit at the Athenaeum gallery closed January 10. The art continues to be available online. Upcoming exhibits are Michael Spears, “The Sight of Rhythm and Melody,” January 14 to February 21, and Phillip Livingston, “Family Ghosts and Other Strangers,” February 25-April 4.
* Del Ray Artisans Gallery ~ “The Hidden World “ January 8-30, 2021. This first exhibit of the new year explores a more in-depth look into an unseen world, taking visual representation beyond the readily visible in ordinary lives. Images examine the micro and macroscopic aspects of the natural and metaphysical world. Sight, sound, and emotion are extrapolated in all media for this intriguing show curated by Nicole Nancy Glob and Nicole Mahoney.
“After Edward Hopper: Themes of Solitude and Isolation,” February 5-27, is more than an homage to the iconic painter famous for documenting the American zeitgeist of the daunting 20th-Century urban scene, as well as the Cape Cod sea and landscape.
This DRA member-only exhibit asks artists to interpret their experience of alienation as a function of stay-at-home/safer-at-home life in the time of COVID. Resin artist Tracy Wilkerson will hold a resin workshop during the exhibit. Check the DRA website for details.
* Gallery Underground ~ “Dreams and Nightmares” February 1-26, is an intriguing, all-media national exhibition juried by sculptor Emily Francisco. Artists interpreted the theme, expressing their experiences in a dream state: from the scary to the sublime, from sweet dreams and daydreams to night terrors and dissociative states. There is no opening reception, but the works are on exhibit at the Gallery, 2100 Crystal Drive in Arlington, M-F from 10 am-6 pm.
* The Lyceum ~ The Alexandria History Museum at the Lyceum has been closed since November 2nd for renovations due to current COVID contingencies. Public programs are canceled until further notice. However, “Witnessing Worship: A Photographic Study of Faith in Alexandria,” based on the chronicling of photographer Nina Tisara, can be viewed along with the series of “witnessing worship” videos at alexandriava.gov and the City’s YouTube channel “HistoricAlexVA.”
* Potomac Fiber Arts Gallery in the Torpedo Factory ~ The gallery will be closed to visitors from January 3 – March 17. Sales continue online. Throughout this period, check Facebook and Instagram for what’s new and unique at the oldest fiber-art gallery in the DMV.
* River Farm ~ Here is a second chance to visit the historic home and expansive garden grounds overlooking the Potomac on land once belonging to George Washington. “Looking Forward to Spring,” works by Robert Murray and other art from the Von Brahler, Ltd. Gallery collection, will be on display at River Farm from January 25 to April 6. A reception with the artist and curator Bob Murray will be on Saturday, February 20, from 11 am-1 pm.
* Target Gallery at the Torpedo Factory ~ “Movements, Moments,” January 23- March 7, with a Virtual Reception + Virtual Tour February 12 at 7 pm. Facebook.com/targetgallery. This digital and in-person all-media exhibit aims to engage the viewer in a dialogue focusing on the intersection between art and movement. While this is an all-media group exhibition, film-performance and video work is emphasized. The juror for this exhibit is artist and curator Eames Armstrong.
* The Torpedo Factory @ Mosaic ~ Located at 2905 District Avenue, #105, Fairfax, this exhibit features works spotlighting winter themes in a show designed to invite you in from the cold to warm up to the art. “Winter Tales” is on exhibit from January 6 to February 7, in the Torpedo Factory Artists Association’s satellite gallery at the dynamic and eclectic Mosaic District in Merrifield. This new show channeling motifs of fire and ice features paintings, ceramics, fine-art photography, textile art, and elegant jewelry to cure the winter blues.
ICYMI: Torpedo Factory Artists’ Work To Be Recognized in International Exhibition
It is not “The Torpedo Factory @ Mosaic” it is proudly Torpedo Factory Artists @ Mosaic. There is a big difference these day btwn the city run building and the artists’ association. To be a Torpedo Factory Artist (TM) and artist must be juried into the 50 year old professional association.