Renwick Gallery

July 26, 2021 1661 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20006, USA



The Renwick Gallery in Washington, DC is one of my favorite art museums. The range of incredibly creative and distinct exhibitions of contemporary art, as well as the timeless ongoing collections, are always such a joy to see. The Renwick's latest exhibition is entitled Forces of Nature, and the ongoing instillations include Janet Echelman's 1.8—an exquisite display of draping fiber and colorful lights—and Connections: Contemporary Craft at the Renwick Gallery. While I loved admiring all of the various works of art, I so enjoyed revisiting Echelman's 1.8, which as evidenced by the multitude of photographs I captured of her magnificent installation, is my personal favorite. Below are brief descriptions of the various exhibitions as written on the museum's website.

Forces of Nature: Renwick Invitational 2020 features artists Lauren Fensterstock, Timothy Horn, Debora Moore, and Rowland Ricketts. Representing craft media from fiber to mosaic to glass and metals, these artists approach the long history of art’s engagement with the natural world through unconventional and highly personal perspectives.

Janet Echelman's Janet Echelman's colorful fiber and lighting installation, suspended from the ceiling of the Renwick Gallery's Grand Salon, examines the complex interconnections between human beings and our physical world, and reveals the artist's fascination with the measurement of time. 

Connections is the Renwick Gallery’s dynamic ongoing permanent collection presentation, featuring more than 80 objects celebrating craft as a discipline and an approach to living differently in the modern world. The installation includes iconic favorites alongside new acquisitions.
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Smithsonian American Art Museum

8th and G Streets, Washington, DC 20001, USA



Though I had visited the museum many times before, its massive size and ever-shifting array of exhibitions means there is always more than enough to explore. In addition to the excitement of exploring an entirely new section of the museum as well as admiring the famous portraits, I especially enjoyed the exhibition entitled ¡Printing the Revolution! The Rise and Impact of Chicano Graphics, 1965 to Now, in which activists used artistic expression to advocate for civil rights and further social justice movements. Below is an excerpt that summarizes the artwork in the exhibition, as written on the website.

In the 1960s, activist Chicano artists forged a remarkable history of printmaking that remains vital today. Many artists came of age during the civil rights, labor, anti-war, feminist and LGBTQ+ movements and channeled the period’s social activism into assertive aesthetic statements that announced a new political and cultural consciousness among people of Mexican descent in the United States. ¡Printing the Revolution! explores the rise of Chicano graphics within these early social movements and the ways in which Chicanx artists since then have advanced innovative printmaking practices attuned to social justice.
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Days in DC: Tidal Basin, The Wharf, National Mall

July 25, 2021 Washington, DC, USA


As can often happen when you live in or nearby a major city, you often stick to what you know, not bothering to venture beyond the handful of neighborhoods, half a dozen museums, or picturesque places you visit so often and avoiding the tourist-y type of attractions. During another brief excursion into the city, my mom and I made a dedicated effort to explore the more unfamiliar parts of DC—from new neighborhoods and never-before-seen historic monuments to parts of the city we had not visited in half a decade or more. For us, that meant driving to Union Market (and for me, taking pictures of the iconic heart wall behind the building), visiting the Freer Gallery of Art, walking the entirety of the path encircling the tidal basin and stopping at the various monuments, and exploring the up-and-coming Wharf District. As usual, I brought my camera with me to document my travels.

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Freer Gallery of Art

1050 Independence Ave SW, Washington, DC 20560, USA



As a lover of art museums, I have spent much of the month of July exploring the various exhibitions in the Smithsonian art museums. The photographs in this blog post are of artwork from the Freer Gallery, a fairly small museum that is not as heavily frequented as DC's larger National Gallery of Art and National Portrait Gallery, but is nonetheless equally awe-inspiring and enjoyable. The focus of this museum is on Asian art, though it does include some American works as well. Below is a brief overview of the exhibitions in the Freer Gallery as written on the website.


About

The Smithsonian Institution has two museums of Asian art: the Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery. The Freer Gallery houses one of the premier collections of Asian art, with objects dating from Neolithic times to the early 20th century, as well as the world's most important collection of works by James McNeill Whistler.


Highlights

Chinese paintings, Indian sculpture; Islamic painting and metalware; Japanese lacquer; Korean ceramics; American art from the late 19th-century aesthetic movement; Whistler's Peacock Room.


Body Image: Arts of the Indian Subcontinent

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National Gallery of Art

July 14, 2021 Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20565, USA

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ARTECHOUSE

July 13, 2021 1238 Maryland Ave SW, Washington, DC 20024, USA



On a hot summer day, nothing is more appealing than stepping into a cool museum and exploring the array of interesting offerings—from famed French paintings and masterpieces of the greatest American artists to exhibitions examining the most horrific moments in global and United States history. 

Over the past weekend that I spent in Washington, DC, I had the pleasure of visiting ARTECHOUSE, an incredibly innovative museum that explores the intersection of art, science, and technology. The museum opened in DC in 2017 and has since expanded, now boasting locations in Miami and New York City. The vibrant visuals, topical relevance, and interactive components make this museum truly a one-of-a-kind, and I cannot wait to return in the near future to see ARTECHOUSE's latest installation. 

Below is a description of ARTECHOUSE's current installation, Renewal 2121, as written on their website.

RENEWAL 2121

Inspired by the annual cherry blossom season and utilizing the power of creative technology, Renewal 2121 seeks to inspire hope amid a global pandemic and concerns of climate change.

Transporting us 100 years into the future, it immerses us in an industrial city where nature fights to survive amid an overdeveloped metropolis. This is a future that will arrive if humanity continues unchecked at its current pace.

However, there is a hopeful message to be discovered as blossoms are seen peeking through the plastic, concrete and neon lights, ready to renew the season with the help of those willing to take action.

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