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BmoreArt’s Picks: Baltimore Art Openings, Events, and Performances July 9 – 12

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BmoreArt’s Picks presents the best weekly art openings, events, and performances happening in Baltimore and surrounding areas. For a more comprehensive perspective, check the BmoreArt Calendar page, which includes ongoing exhibits and performances, and is lovingly updated on a daily basis.

To submit your calendar event, email us at [email protected]!

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BASE PERIOD: Alan Resnick and Lesser Gonzalez Alvarez at Springsteen

Opening Reception Friday July 11, 7-10pm
On view Saturdays from 1-4pm and by appointment through August 8, 2014

In our quest to understand our place in the world, we have throughout the ages employed a variety of tools to aid in the gradual structuralization of our environments. Whether we are speaking of literal tools, or of language itself as a tool, we are a species prone to dissection, preservation, and classification. Roland Barthes saw language as legislation, with speech as its code. He believed that all classifications are oppressive. There is a mystery to materiality, what philosophers have called an ‘isness’, which language has been designed to probe and demystify in a subtle demonstration of imposition. Language is after all, power, and our unwavering impulse towards classification has resulted in extremely capable tools like digitization, which now blurs the lines between what is, isn’t, wasn’t, or could’ve been with exponentially growing proficiency. Through simulation, the rays from a sunset in China can now light the surface of an object in America. In this way, technology allows for a perception of a new reality, allowing us to experience events and records from the past in entirely new contexts. We now have the ability to recreate precious antiquities in ‘any flavor’, so to speak, to create demographics and economies based on illusions of imperishability, to recreate reality to taste, with none of its imperfections, and as a consequence, none of its mystery. Much of the work in ‘Base Period’ aims to render these conditions as resulting in a ‘calcification’ of ‘isness’, surveying contemporary iconography and aesthetics as catalogued artifacts.

Alan Resnick is a new media artist living and working in Baltimore Maryland, and an active member of the Wham City artist collective. He has shown work, performed, lectured internationally, and created original content for WIRED and Adult Swim. Much of his work highlights the human desire to recreate itself through technology.

Alan’s work focuses on the unseen technology that fuels Hollywood’s special effects industry. In the past 20 years, gigantic leaps have been made in computer graphics because of technologies developed for and by Hollywood. The end goal of these technologies is to create engaging photo-realistic images of monsters, fantasy landscapes, and exploding buildings. The behind-the-scenes processes used to create these images are often times more beautiful and fascinating than the actual final product. Alan’s work attempts to expose this unseen visual aesthetic, as it can reveal fundamental truths about the nature of seeing. This exploration is done with a focus on location, mood, character, and humor.

Lesser Gonzalez Alvarez was born in Havana, Cuba in 1983. He received his BFA as well as a Master’s Degree in Digital Arts from the Maryland Institute College of Art. Lesser’s work is rooted in a critical observation of contemporary culture. Borrowing techniques from commercial art mediums, his work explores a commercial language marred by its own transience. Examining a contemporary climate in which virtuality often supersedes actuality, his work employs a combination of traditional studio practices and digital scanning and manipulation to investigate the artistic practice in the 21st century, while addressing perennial issues of class, power and privilege. His recent work surveys popular culture through the lens of archaeology and geologic time, drawing connections between language, hyperlanguages, tool-making, and notions of control.

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WILLIAM CRAWFORD at Freddy

July 11th-August 3rd, 2014
Opening Reception: Friday, July 11th, 7-9pm

William Crawford’s drawings were discovered in an abandoned house in Oakland, California and can be traced back to the mid-1990s. At a glance, his work brings to mind characteristics of prison drawings, an impression that is confirmed by the fact that several were made on the backs of prison roster sheets dated 1997. These computer printouts were cut down the middle, so the exact state prison from which they come is unknown. But given their origin in the East Bay and the fact that several drawings include San Francisco landmarks, it’s fair to assume that Crawford made the work in a California state prison. Other than this information gleaned from the archive itself, we know little about Crawford’s life. Indeed, we only know his name because he signed just a few of the drawings, both as Bill and WM Crawford.

The archive appears to have consisted of several “books,” with individual drawings in sequences of up to 30 or more adding up to tell short visual stories. Several drawings are accompanied by written captions, fragments of conversation between male and female characters. These sequences, however, have been broken up over the years and reach us now in a fragmentary and fascinating collection of around 950 delicate pencil drawings on paper. The work conveys an intense sense of sexual longing of a man behind bars with an urge to tell dynamic stories. All we know about him is what is contained within the work itself.

The drawings, which bring to mind the eroticism of Eric Stanton, the exaggerated male anatomy of Tom of Finland or the ample breasts of a John Currin, show scantily dressed women, regular drug use, rape scenarios, and orgies. A cast of recurring figures also populate the drawings, notably one man with a short afro and a moustache who often figures at the center of events, presumably the artist William Crawford himself. The decoration of interiors, the hairdos and style of dress suggest that Crawford might have come of age in the late 70s or early 80s.

Remarkably, given the sheer number of drawings, there is little to no repetition in the work. Crawford’s inventive eye for sexual positions, facial expressions and gestures of hand and body was vast and masterful. The singular and original drawing style makes it enticing to submerge ourselves into the world before us. We see rooms shown from unusual angles, features that are hinted at, erased or altogether omitted and articles of clothing that are drawn with obsessive precision. Geometrical details and architectural subtleties define a space which serves not only as a backdrop to where the action unfolds, but also a scenario that makes things possible, more a dream than documentation, more fantasy than perversion: the mise en scène of a sexual reverie in which Crawford is king.

Crawford’s drawings have been exhibited at the New York and Los Angeles Art Book Fairs. A selection of drawings were also exhibited at ZieherSmith in New York as part of their fall group exhibition titled Hope Despite the Times. A solo exhibition of his work was presented at Galerie Susanne Zander in Cologne, Germany and also shown by Zander at Art Cologne and the Independent Art Fair in New York. His drawings are in several private collections.

The William Crawford collection is represented by Ampersand Gallery & Fine Books, Portland, Oregon and Galerie Susanne Zander, Cologne, Germany.

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Inside Out: Vincent Carney and Matt Klos

@ Bromo Seltzer Arts Tower
Reception Friday, July 11 5:30 – 7:30 pm
July 11 – August 30, 2013

The yin and yang of Carney and Klos’ works reflect not only the interior versus the exterior, but the pristine versus the derelict – yet their work is cohesive. Guests have an opportunity to view the exhibition, meet the artists, and enjoy refreshments at a free reception on Friday, July 11, 2014 from 5:30pm to 7:30pm. Bromo Seltzer Arts Tower is located at 21 S. Eutaw Street and is managed by the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts.

“Inside Out” is part of the 2014 Artscape Gallery Network presented by M&T Bank. Artscape Gallery Network connects more than 20 Baltimore galleries to a wider audience through a promotional campaign and provides art lovers with an extended opportunity to enjoy Baltimore’s talented artists before, during and after the festival weekend. Participating Gallery Network exhibitions highlight 2014 Janet & Walter Sondheim Artscape Prize applicants, along with other regional artists.

Bromo Seltzer Arts Tower is open every Friday from 1pm to 7pm and Saturday from 11am to 4pm. Guests have an opportunity to view artwork throughout the building, including 15 floors of working artist studios and special exhibits. Visitors can also learn more about the historical building and participate in a tour of the clock room ($5).

For more information on the “Inside Out” exhibition, call 443-874-3596 or visit www.bromoseltzertower.com. For more information on Artscape Gallery Network, call 410-752-8632 or visit www.artscape.org.

Bromo Seltzer Arts Tower is a program of the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts.

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Spectrum
Reception, Friday July 11, 6 to 8 pm
Exhibition runs from July 11- September 20, 2014
The Galleries at CCBC

Artists: Tommy Bobo, Ian Brill, Melissa Burley, Laure Drogoul, Stephen Hendee

Curator: Kevin Cook

Gallery Hours: Monday through Saturday, 10 am to 5pm. The Gallery is closed on Sunday

CCBC Catonsville is located at 800 South Rolling Road, off Baltimore Beltway (695) Exit 12, Wilkens Avenue West. Follow Wilkens Avenue West to Valley Road. Make a right on Valley Road to the college entrance. The Gallery is located in the Center for the Arts (formerly Building Q). CCBC Catonsville is served by MTA bus route 77.

Sponsored in part by M&T Bank and the Baltimore of Promotion in the Arts a part of the ArtScape Gallery Network, and by the National Endowment for the Arts. More info here.

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Contested Divisions at Gormley Gallery

Friday, July 11 from 6-8 pm

Gormley Gallery – Notre Dame of Maryland University
4701 N Charles Street, 2nd Floor Fourier Hall, Baltimore, Maryland 21210

Opening reception for our Artscape Gallery Network exhibit featuring the work of Elizabeth Crisman, Amy Finkelstein, Todd Forsgren, Muriel Hasbun, Kyle Tata, and Ding Ren.

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Party at the Patterson | Pie!

Friday, July 11 at 7:30pm

The Creative Alliance
3134 Eastern Ave, Baltimore, Maryland 21224

Tickets Available
www.creativealliance.org

A celebration of PIE! Get ready for a building wide event, including the Charm City Roller Girls, Pie tasting contest with Baltimore’s own Pie Man Rodney Henry, vintage clothes, sweets and treats, local artists and vendors, and so much more!

7:30pm doors | Adv. $12, $7 mbrs., Door $15, $10 mbrs.

DON’T MISS:
Pie Tasting Contest
Dangerously Delicious Pies!
Charm City Roller Girls
Gogo’s Retread Threads | Vintage Clothing Bus
Kinver Edge Pinnies | Handcrafted reversible hostess aprons
Lucky Cup Espresso Truck
Dessert Fantasies | Custom Desserts & Ice Cream Shop
Tree Frog Hot Sauce | This is not an ego-trip sauce.
Gundalow Juice
Cody’s Kitchy Collectibles

MUSIC:
The Cold-Cold Heartbreakers
Sean K. Preston
Rodney Henry’s son Waylon James opens!

TICKETS:
Advance: $12, $7 members (no ticketing fees online)
At the Door: $15, $10 members

Proudly Supported by Towson University College of Fine Arts and Communication

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Erick Benitez

ACADEMY 2014

July 12th – August 9th

Opening Reception Saturday, July 12, 6-9pm with Artists in attendance

CONNERSMITH.
1358 Florida Ave. NE
Washington, DC 20002
v: 202-588-8750
[email protected]
www.connersmith.us.com

CONNERSMITH. is pleased to announce ACADEMY 2014, our 14th annual invitational survey of outstanding work by MFA / BFA students in the Washington / Baltimore area. Exhibition founder and curator Dr. Jamie Smith invited the following artists to participate:

> Artists: Travis Beauchene, Erick Antonio Benitez, Lorenzo Cardim, James Bernard Cole, Jeremy Jirsa, Joshua James Johnson, Lauren Shea Little, Scarlett McCalman, Ceci Cole McInturff, Emerson Meyers, Maggie Schneider, Ali Seradge, Alan Siggers, Steven Skowron, Cameron Stalheim, Travis J. Wagner, and Levester Williams.

> Representing institutions: American University, Corcoran College of Art and Design, George Mason University, George Washington University, Maryland Institute College of Art, and University of Maryland.

There will be an opening night reception at CONNERSMITH., Saturday, July 12, from 6 to 9pm. Artists in attendance.

In conjunction with the ACADEMY 2014 opening, we are pleased to host a pre-fair party celebrating the 4th edition of (e)merge, October 2-5, 2014, generously supported by Stella Artois, Marvin Restaurant, and Patty Boom Boom.

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AND THE WINNER IS … !!! THE 9TH ANNUAL SONDHEIM PRIZE
Saturday, July 12 at 7 pm at The Walters

The Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts announces the finalists for the ninth annual Janet & Walter Sondheim Artscape Prize. The finalists are Lauren Adams, Kyle Bauer, Shannon Collis, Marley Dawson, Neil Feather, Kyle Tata and Stewart Watson. The competition awards a $25,000 fellowship to assist in furthering the career of a visual artist or visual artist collaborators living and working in the Greater Baltimore region. M&T Charitable Foundation provides a $2,500 honorarium for each of the remaining finalists not selected for the fellowship. The Janet & Walter Sondheim Artscape Prizeis held in conjunction with the annual Artscape juried exhibition and produced by the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts in partnership with the Walters Art Museum and the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA).

The competition winner is announced during an award ceremony and reception on Saturday, July 12, 2014 at 7pm at the Walters Art Museum, located at 600 North Charles Street.

For the second year in a row, the finalists’ works of art are exhibited at the Walters Art Museum until Sunday, August 17, 2014. The winner of the competition is selected from the exhibition, after a review of the installed art and an interview with each finalist by the jurors. The 2014 competition jurors are Claire Gilman, Sarah Oppenheimer and Olivia Shao.

The Janet & Walter Sondheim Artscape Prize is made possible through the generous support of the Abell Foundation, Alex Brown & Sons Charitable Foundation, Charlesmead Foundation, Ellen Sondheim Dankert, France-Merrick Foundation, Hecht-Levi Foundation, Legg Mason, M&T Charitable Foundation, Henry & Ruth Blaustein Rosenberg Foundation, John Sondheimand The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company.

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