Art
“Elemental” Opening Reception
By Georgia Nassikas
Local artist, Georgia Nassikas is having a solo exhibition of her work, entitled “Elemental” during the month of March. Her paintings are beautiful and you should definitely stop by if you hav ea chance.
Opening Reception & Meet The Artist: March 8, 6:30 – 8:30 pm
Using beeswax from her own hives, artist Georgia Nassikas creates intriguing textures and layered surfaces in her encaustic paintings. Her intricate, abstracted landscapes acutely capture the ephemeral quality of light flickering across the land. “Elemental,” a solo exhibition of her work, will be held in The Art League Gallery, March 8 – April 2, 2012.
Nassikas uses a combination of beeswax, mineral pigments, and oil sticks to create her encaustic paintings. Encaustic, a method reaching back to ancient times, is by definition a technique consisting of layers of wax fused together with heat. “What I love about this medium is the energy involved – the process of scraping, layering, and scoring is active, engaging, and challenging,” says Nassikas. This additive and subtractive process is what gives Nassikas’ work its rich surface texture.
By Georgia Nassikas
The result is a series of luminescent images, often at the intersection of natural and abstract, in which forms interact and landscapes reveal their elemental essence. Light shifts from foreground to background, adding to the depth and transient quality captured within these pieces. Texture varies between smooth planes of wax and rough, scraped surfaces. The abstraction creates a fleeting quality, evoking the elemental characteristics of the terrain.
Raised on the Rhode Island coast and classically trained in art and design in Boston, MA and Florence, Italy, Nassikas currently works out of her studios in Virginia and New England. She has exhibited throughout the United States, and her work is held in both private and public collections internationally. This is her first solo exhibit at The Art League.
Annie Leibovitz Show
Photo Credit: Annie Leibovitz, 2009, © Annie Leibovitz. From Pilgrimage (Random House, 2011)
Annie Leibovitz, best known for her photos of celebrities, has a show at the Museum of American Art that does not feature a single celebrity or person. Annie Leibovitz: Pilgrimage focuses on American places and remnants of artists who shaped this country and her own work. Among the 64 photos, you will see photos of Ansel Adams’ studio, Georgia O’Keefe’s pastel crayons, Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello and Charles Darwin’s research specimens. These images are combined with landscapes of Niagara Falls, Walden Pond, Old Faithful, and the Yosemite Valley to show a totally different side of her photography. They are all stunning and worth making a visit to see!
Photo Credit: Annie Leibovitz, 2009, © Annie Leibovitz. From Pilgrimage (Random House, 2011)
The Museum of American Art and the National Portrait Gallery are co-located near the Verizon Center. After seeing the photographs, we spent time exploring the rest of the museums and enjoyed the contemporary portraits plus the exhibit on modern art.
If you are thinking of going to visit any of the museums soon, this is one of my favorites and you won’t be disappointed.
Art Fest 2011
Next weekend will give you another great opportunity to buy local gifts for your holiday season at the Art League’s Annual ArtFest! This popular open house will let you purchase local ceramics, pottery, artwork and jewelry starting on Friday, December 2nd and running through the weekend.
The Art League’s Madison Annex is located at 305 Madison Street in Old Town and the ArtFest will feature artist demos, exhibits, live music, food and drinks plus the opportunity to shop a wide variety of ceramics, pottery and jewelry in every price level. Best part is that this event is free and it is a great opportunity to meet the artists and buy unique and local artwork this holiday season.
A special event this year is the retrospective show and sale of work by Nancy Reinke, an Art League founding member and Torpedo Factory artist who passed away in December 2009. The show will feature prints, drawings, paintings, rugs, and more from this local artist.
Hours are:
Friday, December 2: 12:00 noon – 9:00 pm;
Saturday, December 3: 10:00 am – 6:00 pm;
Sunday, December 4: 12:00 noon – 5:00 pm
Be sure to let people know that Alexandria Lifestyle sent you!
Two Ways to See Andy Warhol
Two museums downtown, the National Gallery of Art and the Smithsonian’sHirshhorn Museum, have shows featuring Andy Warhol that will give you a great look into the artist’s work. The National Gallery of Art opened its first Warhol exhibit in September and the show explores the artist’s obsession and use of news headlines in his artwork. The Hirshhorn displays Andy Warhols’s “Shadows,” a 450-foot-long installation in the round. This marks the first time all of Warhol’s 102 abstract “shadows” have been shown together as the artist intended.
Both these shows give you a new look into Warhol’s work and life, plus it is a great excuse to head to two wonderful, local museums. I love Andy Warhol’s work for its varying sizes, vivid images, unique use of everyday items and intense color. The National Gallery of Art is one of my favorite museums on the Mall- they always have unique shows and the gift shop sells unique jewelry, stationary and art prints. Plus, the Hirshhorn provides a great destination for contemporary art and the sculpture garden is a must in this nice fall weather.
Both museums are metro accessible and are open daily, free of charge.The exhibition at the National Gallery of Art runs until January 2, 2012 and the Hirshhorn show runs until January 15, 2012.
Photo credit: Andy Warhol, Shadows, 1978-79. Dia Art Foundation. © The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. Photo: Cathy Carver.
The Art League
By Torey Vanek
When I moved to the Alexandria area a few years ago, I wanted to find a place to take art courses or workshops on the weekends or evenings. Alexandria has such a great art scene and I was excited when I heard about The Art League. The Art League is both a charitable and non-profit educational institution and offers classes in all the fine arts and many crafts. Last summer, I decided to sign up for the Silk Screen Printing course that is taught by local print maker Nancy McIntyre and it was fantastic.
I received my undergraduate degree in Art so my experience with art teachers is fairly vast and I can say that Nancy was one of the best instructors I have ever had. She is a very talented artist but also knows how to teach the principles of silk screen printing to a mixed group in her class. We started off the class with simple cut out images onto our screen but finished off with photo silk screens that combined multiple colors and images. I had so much fun in the first session of this course, that I opted to take it again this fall.
The Art League is conveniently located in Old Town’s Torpedo Factory and offers courses throughout the year. Plus, if you are looking for local artwork for your home, their gallery at the Torpedo Factory has a great collection of affordable and local work. Including work by my favorite teacher, Nancy McIntyre.
The Torpedo Factory Art Center October 2011
The Torpedo Factory Art Center is undoubtedly one of the coolest places to hang out. They always have amazing exhibits, and the fact that the shows are generally Judged, and show works from around the world just makes it that more interesting. The current show in Alexandria is of Masks, and they are having a workshop this weekend for people who want to make Masks, and then they are having a reception on the 13th.
It’s amazing to realize that over 500,000 people visit the The Torpedo Factory Art Center on the Alexandria’s Potomac River waterfront to see the more than 165 Artists! We’ve been to several “Events” there, it’s a beautiful backdrop for Receptions.
A Great “Alexandria Happy Hour” Event this month is The Annual Art of the Rocks that will be held on Wednesday, October 26th at The Art League Gallery in Room 21 from 6-9pm, Tickets are $35 each. (Will I see you there?)
The Art League hosts this annual art-inspired cocktail competition. During this festive event, several local mixologists will each select a work of art from the October jury-ed exhibit as inspiration to whip up a creative cocktail. For $35 per person, ticket holders may sample the cocktails and vote for their favorite as they enjoy appetizers from the mixologists’ restaurants. To top it all off, there will be a prize drawing as the evening comes to an end.
The third floor houses the Alexandria Archaeology Museum – do you remember when they did an excavation of the block at Queen and South Lee? They have great items for School Tours that include items from a bakery, and Civil War hostpitals during the Union occupation of Alexandria! (It changes all the time!)
One of my other favorite events this month is the Safari Arts Festival. What’s your favorite event at the Torpedo Factory Art Center?
