BmoreArt

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 updated on a daily basis.

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

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Gallery 102
801 22nd Street NW : Washington DC

Gallery 102 presents The Tea Project with Ghaleb Al-Bihani & Djamel Ameziane January 8, 2017 through January 20, 2017, in collaboration with The Center for Constitutional Rights,  Witness Against Torture and The National Coalition to Protect Civil Freedoms.

Chicago based artists Amber Ginsburg and Aaron Hughes work collaboratively to uncover moments of beauty, poetics and shared humanity within little known military histories. Taking as its starting point the curious love story of a Guantanamo Bay guard who fell in love with the drawings carved on Styrofoam cups by detainees, the Tea Project is an ongoing series of exhibitions and performances that offers counter-narratives to disrupt the numbing effects of war and detention.

At Gallery 102, in the company of the full installation of 779 porcelain tea cups, one for each individual that has been detained at Guantanamo, Ginsburg and Hughes will host events that allow audiences a role in telling the story of our current involvement in war and detention with a specific focus on the legal and human rights issues surrounding Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp, the Global War on Terror, and growing Islamophobia.

Alongside the Tea Project will be the works of Ghaleb Al-Bihani and Djamel Ameziane. Shown for the first time, on view will be a substantial collection of the more than 200 works by Ghalab, who has been detained without charge in Guantanamo since 2002 and cleared for transfer since 2014. Ghaleb, who discovered a talent for art in routine classes offered to detainees, told us, “Painting makes me feel as if I am embracing the universe….I also see things around me as if they were paintings, which gives me the sense of a beautiful life.” The Tea Project is also grateful to show three pieces of work by Djamel, an Algerian national who was detained without charge in Guantanamo from 2002  to 2013.

The opening reception and program, WORD FROM THE GRASSROOTS: Strengthening our Resistance to State Violence, offers a night of viewing, tea, poetry, and words from activists, veterans and legal advocates.Tea, served throughout the evening’s events, is not only a favored drink but a shared moment that transcends cultural divides and systems of oppression.

For more information visit www.tea-project.org or call Aaron Hughes 217-898-9083. All Events Are Free and Open to the Public. Schedule listed below.

EVENTS:

Opening Reception and Program
WORDS FROM THE GRASSROOTS: Strengthening our Resistance to State Violence
A night of viewing, tea, poetry, and words from the movement
Tuesday, January 10, 2017 | 7pm-9:30pm
Join us for a night of tea, art, poetry, music, and words by artists, activists, and leaders in the movements to end state violence that is perpetuated through indefinite detention at Guantanamo, police violence in our communities, and the institutionalization of Islamophobia. Speakers will share stories of hope and learnings from the front lines of their work. Tea will be served throughout.
Limited to 100. RSVP: https://ccrjustice.org/wordsfromthegrassroots

Breaking of the Witness Against Torture Fast for the Anniversary of Guantanamo Detention Camp
Wednesday, January 11, 2016 | 8am – 10am
Join Witness Against Torture as they break their weeklong fast in solidarity with hunger strikers in Guantanamo.

Motor House
120 West North Avenue : 21201

Hear Senior Curator Katy Rothkopf’s insights on the conception and development of Matisse/Diebenkorn and how the artists’ works have been paired in this landmark exhibition. Before the event, see Matisse/ Diebenkorn during extended evening hours. Tickets for the exhibition may be purchased online or in person at the East Lobby Box Office. There is no fee for the talk, but tickets are required due to limited capacity.

The Walters Art Museum
600 North Charles Street : 21201

Celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his legacy through the lens of debate. See how King’s oratorial skills continue to inspire the current generation of youth leaders through presentations by the Baltimore Urban Debate League and Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle. Take part in art-making activities and stop by the Pixilated Photo Booth to commemorate the evening.

• 5-8 p.m. Pixilated Photo Booth,  First Floor Lobby
• 5-8 p.m. Art making activity, Cafe
• 6 p.m. Presentation by Baltimore Urban Debate League, Graham Auditorium
• 7 p.m. Presentation by Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle,  Graham Auditorium

Impact Hub
10 East North Avenue : 21201

Impact Hub is turning ONE !

And YOU are cordially invited to celebrate with us.

Come enjoy food, cocktails, live music + merriment as we celebrate our first year And raise a glass to all of the amazing people who have made this space come to life.

Attire is fun + festive.

Free + open to the public. Donations help to grow our scholarship fund.

Gallery CA
440 East Oliver Street : 21202

Atsuko Chirikjian examines “Time and Space” through the material of Fiber. In this exhibition, “Tracing Threads”, Chirikjian shows us a new installation piece from her two bodies of work, Stain Project and Canvas Project, both of which have been created by using threads, water, and dye. Using the processes of capilary action and chromatographic staining and the deconstruction of traditional materials, Chirikjian calls the viewer’s attention to the structure of materials, the passage of time and memory, and the temporal sequences of the work itself.

About the Artist:
Atsuko Chirikjian is a Baltimore-based mixed media/Fiber artist who was born in Japan. Her works have been shown in national and international exhibitions. Recently she has show in Brooklyn, NY, Philadelphia, PA, St.Louis, MO and Belgium. She received an honorable mention in Fiber Options (Circle Gallery, Annapolis, MD) in 2014. Most recently, she was a semi-finalist for The Trawick Prize (Washington DC) in 2016. She earned her MFA in Fiber from Cranbrook Academy of Art.

Current Space
421 North Howard Street : 21201

Tumbleweed Replica by Christian Michael Filardo

Current is proud to present solo exhibition Tumbleweed Replica by Christian Michael Filardo. Christian is a Filipino American photographer and composer living and working in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He received his degree in performance art from Arizona State University in 2012. His work focuses on time, identity, and space. Filardo has exhibited and performed both domestically and internationally.

Upon moving from Baltimore to Santa Fe in 2015, Christian was awakened to identity issues. He began to explore and discover himself through point n shoot 35mm film cameras, tape loops, and auditory textures. Christian used photographs to help define the mundane existence of modern life by documenting his everyday life in an extremely compulsive way. Through this impulse, he found himself coming to terms with his existence on Earth and began trying to comprehend what he has and has not done. Exploring the latent image he began trying to figure out how to make something nostalgic permanent. Tumbleweed Replica is the culmination of this experimentation and exploration.

Dream World Real World

In conjunction with the artists, Current Space is proud to put together a group exhibition, Dream World Real World, featuring 11 artists and their latest work.

In the Dream World, there are endless possibilities, ideas, scenarios, causes, and outcomes. In the Real World, there are also endless possibilities, ideas, scenarios, causes and outcomes. When I was a boy, I loved to read manga. One of the many stories that stuck with me is the Long Dream by Junji Ito. From what I remember, the story is told through the journal of a psychiatrist who monitors patients with dream disorders. The main character (a monitored patient) progressively develops longer dreams each night. From dreams that seemed to last hours, to days, to months, to years, to a life time, and eventually forever. The physical body of the patient aged and his manner altered as if from another century in accord with the progression of his dream. Eventually the patient’s body crystallized as his dream lasted forever. The psychiatrist chipped off a fragment of this crystal and fed it to another patient who is frightened of the inevitability of death. This enabled the patient to live forever in her own dream. I am captivated by the actual physical change of the patient as he is affected by his dream. I know for sure that what happens in our Dream World will affect our ideas, possibilities, scenarios, causes and outcomes in the Real World.

As a group exhibition, Dream World Real World investigates visual possibilities that evoke personal mythology.

Terrault
218 West Saratoga Street : 21201

Join us on Saturday, January 14th from 7-10pm for the opening of ‘Standing Still’ a solo exhibition of new work by Erin Fostel.

Exhibition runs January 14th – February 4th

The architectural drawings Erin Fostel is currently working on came about through grieving the loss of her father in late 2014. He was an architect who enjoyed exploration, always interested in finding new ways to get from here to there. She wanted to create a body of work that served as both a commemoration of his life, and a relief from the heartbreak of his death.

She started exploring parts of Baltimore City she did not know well. At some point, she began taking photographs of certain buildings and structures that caught her attention, ones she thought would have been of interest to her dad. These ruminations, explorations, and photographs have become the foundation for her new body of work.

Fostel’s goal is not to simply document buildings. She wants to capture feeling, either her own somber feeling or a feeling she thinks a building can personify. She often manipulates the light and dark areas within her compositions, taking artistic liberties when applying the charcoal. As she has progressed in the series a desire to leave parts of the structures unfinished has developed, alluding to a sense of loss or emptiness. The challenge of balancing highly rendered areas with the underlying minimal framework of lines has become a focus, one that she anticipates will evolve as her exploration of the City continues to deepen. To leave the framework of the drawing visible is an attempt to reveal not only the immensity of the structure, but also the immensity of her grief.

http://www.erinfostel.com/

Press Press
427 North Eutaw Street : 21201

Press Press is open for biz! Help us celebrate on Saturday, Jan 14th from 7-10pm @ Press Press (427 N Eutaw St). Sounds by DJ Genie. All is free.

Launching:
1. Our inaugural set of library sections curated by:

Colin Alexander + Allie Lin, Post Office Arts Journal
Jenné Afiya, Balti Gurls
Jared Brown + Khadija Nia Adell, If I Ruled The World
Priya Bhayana + Markele Cullins, Oak Hill Center for Education and Culture
Get Your Life! Staff
May Kim, Pin-Up Magazine
Maya Harakawa + Molly Kleiman, Triple Canopy
Sarrita Hun and James McNealy, Temporary Art Review
SHAN
Joseph Lee, Bomin Jeon, Jamiee Shim + Eunbi C. Kim, 0ZONE
Paul John, Endless Editions
Zone Books

2. The Making Of: Publics + Liberation, a zine co-authored by Jenné Afiya, Fire Angelou, Emeline Boehringer, Kory Sanders, Kimi Hanauer, Sarrita Hunn, & Malcolm Peacock. Also featuring: Jessica Hyman, Brandon Buckson, April Lewis, Zoey Howell, Rain Ifill, & Ciera Vegas Adair.

See you there!

Press Press is supported by The Greater Baltimore Cutlural Alliance Ruby Artist Project Grant. More information at baltimoreculture.org.

Guest Spot @ The Reinstitute
1715 North Calvert Street : 21202

Guest Spot @ THE REINSTITUTE is very pleased to present thrones and dominions, a solo exhibition of recent works by Aaron Williams. This will be the artist’s first time exhibiting with the gallery.

Aaron Williams’ exhibition thrones and dominions probes the paradox of socio-political re-contextualization of the art object in a world abetted by populist ideology. A new paradigm surrounds the art practice, forcing an acclimatization of it’s own demise. Williams examines the underpinnings of social economic dialog as heretically challenged, an authentication of abstraction as a mere montage to streamline wealth. The act of reason on principle alone is at odds with cultural production by an augmented conflation of knowledge.

Today, the clash between liberal democracy and finance capitalism calls the monument into question. Inequality has become a symptom of structural shifts, creating a new hierarchy of values that denigrates our semiotic language. Art as alchemy is the reconditioning of the most basic of materials when combined with the power of idea. The purpose of art relies on a the ability to oppose Nihilism or authoritarian populism — yet our current circumstance is derived from computation, the influence of our own algorithm, a reinforcement of prior state.

EMP Collective
307 West Baltimore Street : 21201

CITYLIT PROJECT is proud to host:
WRITERS RESIST BALTIMORE: VOICES UNITED!

WRITERS RESIST is a “re-inauguration” of our shared commitment to the spirit of compassion, equality, free speech, and the fundamental ideals of democracy.

On Sunday, January 15, 2017, Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, as part of a nationwide series of events, more than a dozen writers from around the state come together to raise their voices in support of inclusivity, understanding, community, connection, civility. TRUTH.

We will not be silent in the face of racism, divisiveness, and hatred.

The spirit and mission of CityLit is to build and connect communities of avid readers and writers across Maryland. Since 2004, we have worked diligently to create programs and design platforms that give writers—all writers, and the communities they represent—a voice.

Join us in Baltimore, and writers all over the U.S., for this historic event.

FEATURING:

Emcee:

Marc Steiner, Founder, Center for Emerging Media

Readers & Performers:

Saida Agostini
Abdu Ali
Linda Joy Burke
Andria Nacina Cole
Navasha Daya
Dario DiBattista
Derick Ebert
Fred Foote
Rienne Jahnai
Kevin Shird
Mejdulene Shomali
Edgar Silex
Laura Shovan
Tariq Touré
Ron Kipling Williams
Writers in Baltimore Schools Students: Jamesha Caldwell, Cin’Shea Williams and Izell

A GROUP CONVERSATION moderated by Marc Steiner follows.

AFTERWARD: connect, buy books, share your words and ideas on our comment wall.

Dovecote Café will be selling delicious baked goods and EMP’s bar (donations appreciated) will be open!

SUGGESTED DONATION: $5-10

Proceeds will be donated to THREAD.

Martin Luther King Boulevard

Loyola University Maryland McGuire Hall
4501 North Charles Street : 21210

Teju Cole, an internationally recognized writer and photographer, will speak at Loyola University Maryland’s annual Martin Luther King, Jr., Convocation on Monday, Jan. 16, 2017 at 5 p.m. in McGuire Hall.

The event is free and open to the public, however tickets are required. Tickets will be available for Loyola students, faculty, staff, and administrators at the box office starting Nov. 29, 2016. Members of the general public can reserve tickets online.

The MLK Convocation, now in its 24th year, is an occasion for Loyola and the Baltimore community to launch the spring semester and the new year by coming together for shared inquiry into legacies of race and racial justice in America.

In this year’s lecture, “The Changing Dynamics of Power in the Wake of the 2016 Elections,” Cole will discuss the changed dynamics of power in the wake of the 2016 Presidential election. Cole is the author of Known and Strange Things, Every Day is for the Thief, and Open City.

Every Day Is for the Thief was named a book of the year by the New York Times, the Globe and Mail, NPR, and the Telegraph. It was also shortlisted for the PEN/Open Book Award. The novel, Open City, won the PEN/Hemingway Award, the New York City Book Award for Fiction, the Rosenthal Award of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the Internationaler Literaturpreis.