BmoreArt

On certain floors
certain wonders.
Pale dirty light,
some captured iceberg
being prevented from melting.
See the mechanical moons,
sick, being made
to wax and wane
at somebody’s instigation.

— Elizabeth Bishop, Varick Street

C. Grimaldis Gallery is pleased to present On Certain Floors, Certain Wonders, an exhibition of recent paintings by Nora Sturges which depict an imagined world of arctic ruin.

Strange scenes of a desolate land are occupied by man-made objects and structures – a tarmac, satellite dish, stanchions and wood planks. Vacant rooms and hallways of industrial banality suggest a subterranean facility where life has retreated indoors. The sparseness and specificity of these ordinary subjects, added to the intimate scale and detailed brushwork of Sturges’s paintings, inspire a complex narrative of life on a distant frontier. Although devoid of any human figure, these works signal a lingering presence of some unknown inhabitant, recently departed.

Nora Sturges received her BA in studio art from Bowdoin College and her MFA in painting from Ohio University. She has exhibited widely throughout the U.S. and internationally, including recent group exhibitions in Toronto, Berlin and Montreal. She is the recipient of three Individual Artist Awards from the Maryland State Arts Council. Sturges currently lives and works in Baltimore, where she is a professor and head of Painting and Drawing at Towson University.

For her solo debut at C. Grimaldis Gallery, Ko creates a site-specific installation entitled Escalante, the newest iteration in the artist’s Force of Nature series. Inspired by the canyons of southern Utah, Ko reconstructs the sandstone landforms with their curvilinear, gradated walls. The towering sculptural relief is created from cascading rolls of paper stacked floor to ceiling and shaped to fit the architecture of the gallery. Utilitarian Kraft paper transforms the gallery walls into undulating surfaces of intertwining light and shadow and immeasurable pages in suspended motion.

Escalante is accompanied by a selection of paper sculptures that trace Ko’s continuous experimentation with the material. She works by laboriously unwinding, and re-spooling miles of adding machine tape and submerging it in ink and graphite powder. As it dries, the paper swells into soft, biomorphic forms saturated with delicate lines. In recent works, rolled paper is shaped and thoroughly coated in glue, resulting in flawlessly engineered spirals that float weightlessly on the surface.

Born in Korea, Jae Ko received her BFA from Wako University, Tokyo in 1988 and her MFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore in 1998. She received the Anonymous Was A Woman grant in 2012 and the Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant in 2002. Formerly based in D.C. and Virginia, artist now works and lives in Maryland’s Western Shore. Her work is in the collection of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C. and numerous private collections throughout the United States.

<><><><><><><><>50 Years Since the Assassination of MLK: An Anniversary of Uprising | Exhibition Opening
Friday, April 27th : 6-8pm

Jubilee Arts
1947 Pennsylvania Avenue : 21217

50 Years Since the Assassination of MLK: An Anniversary of Uprising
Exhibition Opening, Friday April 27th 6pm-8pm
Work on view: April 27th-May27th

Art and Stories from

Kibibi Ajanku
Mateo Blu
Elder C. W. Harris
Geneva Johnson
George “Doc” Manning
LaToya Peoples
Ada Pinkston
S. Rasheem
Ernest Shaw
Kaleb Tshamba

This art exhibit and event pairs artists and longtime west Baltimore residents to create work surrounding the 50th anniversary of 1968, centered on the stories and lives of the five residents. The history of the assassination of MLK, of the subsequent Uprising, and of Baltimore itself, will be told through their voices and, and interpreted in many art forms by their artist pairs.

At our opening event, our artist/storyteller pairs will speak, expanding upon their process, their lives, and the stories that were most influential in the creation of this work. Closing out the evening, the Todd Marcus Quintet will perform music from their new album On These Streets which offers a musical portrait of Sandtown-Winchester and Upton and includes music reflecting on the unrest of 2015.

<><><><><><><><> Artist Talk: Zoë Charlton
Saturday, April 28th : 2pm

School 33 Arts Center
1427 Light Street : 21230

Join us on Saturday, April 28 at 2pm for an Artist Talk with Zoë Charlton!

Zoë Charlton’s work is on view as part of her solo exhibition, The Domestic, in our Main Gallery, March 9th-April 28, 2018.

Black domesticity takes on layered meanings in “The Domestic”, Zoë Charlton’s first solo exhibition in Baltimore. Charlton presents a series of works on paper inspired by reoccurring imagery in her drawings: suburban houses, African masks, and southern landscapes. Domesticity-a deep familiarity with and attachment to where one lives—holds different social value depending on the body’s relationship with a place and how one belongs in it. From the privacy of a household to the publicness of national history, the domestic is interior, gendered, comforting, invisible, controlled, and integral to keeping the status quo.

Zoë Charlton creates drawings that explore the ironies of contemporary social and cultural stereotypes. She received her MFA degree from the University of Texas at Austin Her work has been included in national and international exhibitions including the Harvey B. Gantt Center, Charlotte, NC, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR; Studio Museum of Harlem NYC, NY; Contemporary Art Museum, Houston, TX; the Zacheta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, Poland and Haas & Fischer Gallery, Zurich, Switzerland. She is a recipient of a Pollock-Krasner grant and Rubys grant. Charlton resides in Baltimore, MD, and is an Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Art at American University in Washington, DC.

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 Mobile: works by Ghaleb Al-Bihani, Robert Chase Heishman, Todd Mattei,
and Betsy Odom
Opening reception: Saturday, April 28, 7-10 PM EST

Organized by Adds Donna
April 28 – June2 2018

Open Space
512 West Franklin Street / Baltimore, MD 21201

By conceptual leaps and bounds crossing time, space, and maximum security, Mobile connects four disparate bodies of work by four separate artists to elicit a sympathetic response. Despite their individual concerns, the works call out to each other—from prison cells, bedroom floors, filing cabinets, and within cybernetic labyrinths—describing a volatile world that is sometimes unbearable.

Robert Chase Heishman’s photographic still lives reach for empathy and compassion in their meticulous reconstruction of paintings and drawings made by detainees at Guantánamo Bay. Hung against a pallid, faux wood-paneled backdrop that recalls a makeshift office, the photographs ruminate on the artworks and lives of those indefinitely detained at Guantánamo Bay by the U.S. Government (currently 41 individuals; formerly 780). Also included in the exhibition are two paintings by artist Ghaleb Al-Bihani, who was detained in Guantánamo for nearly 15 years before being released in 2017. His paintings are a direct glimpse into a rich interiority of humility, contemplation, and desire. The work also serves as a straightforward plea to be regarded as a human being like anyone else.

Todd Mattei’s digital animation video indicates sensory overload in the swirling mess of modern life. Utilizing a first-person video game perspective, the animation proceeds through a maze interrupted by media. News and entertainment screens pop up at random intervals, impeding the progress of the viewer, while overhead a pair of red ominous eyes watches every move.

Inspired by the Hanky Code, a system that originated in the Gay bar scene of the 1970s to indicate sexual interests by wearing color-coded hankies, Betsy Odom’s hand-carved handkerchiefs signal unspoken desire. Their sensual curves and suggestive folds are painstakingly carved from solid raw materials like graphite, plywood, and cork, leaving the viewer to ponder their intended erotic meaning. But as isolated objects, seemingly discarded by their wearers, Odom’s hankies may also suggest the heartache caused by loneliness and unfulfilled longings.

These works may rightly be called sensitive for a number of reasons—their attention to detail, allusions to secret information, and empathetic aims. Taken together, they become reflections on a collective emotional state in crisis. In their various attempts for communication and solace, they call attention to persistent human needs, basic requirements which are continuously under threat.

A special thank you to the Center for Constitutional Rights for their support. CCR is a progressive non-profit legal advocacy organization based in New York City. For more information, visit: https://ccrjustice.org or contact Aliya Hussain: [email protected]
Mobile is organized by ADDS DONNA, in Chicago. A version of the exhibition was first shown in Chicago in 2017 titled Landline. It travels to Open Space in Baltimore as a part of the Artist-run Exchange Program, a program initiated by ADDS DONNA with support from The Propeller Fund to exchange exhibitions with other artist-run galleries around the country.

Ghaleb Al-Bihani, a Yemeni citizen, was detained at Guantánamo for nearly 15 years before being released to Oman in January 2017. Ghaleb, who discovered a talent for art in routine classes offered to detainees, once wrote, “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.” Most of his paintings and drawings were created after 2014, when he was cleared for release, and sometimes depict his musings on what his life would look like when that release finally came.

Robert Chase Heishman is an artist living and working in Chicago. His work has been exhibited at McIntosh Gallery (London, ON), The Tetley (Leeds, UK), H&R Block Artspace and Paragraph Gallery (Kansas City), Propeller Centre for Visual Arts (Toronto, ON), and widely around Chicago at ADDS DONNA, Sullivan Galleries, LVL3, Roots & Culture, Document, Gallery 400, and Johalla Projects. He has collaborated with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, Sigur Rós, and Radiohead. Recent grants and awards include participation in the 2016 Silver Eye Editions from Silver Eye Center for Photography (Pittsburgh) and a 2015 project grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events. He holds his MFA in Studio Art from Northwestern University (2012), and BFA in Photography and Art History from the Kansas City Art Institute (2008). His work is in the permanent collections of the BNY Mellon Collection, Walker Art Center, and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.

Todd Mattei is a media artist working in animation, video, music, sound, and performance. He has screened and exhibited nationally and internationally. Screenings have included Rencontres Internationales Paris/Berlin, Pacific Film Archives, the Chicago Underground Film Festival, Sober and Lonely Johannesburg, and a retrospective screening night at Roots and Culture. He has exhibited at Carrie Secrist, Publico Cincinnati, Pittsburgh Filmmakers Gallery, Gallery 400, Peregrine Projects, and Foley Gallery New York. Mattei also collaborates with the dance artist Victoria Bradford, most recently at MCA Chicago, as part of programming in conjunction with the Merce Cunningham exhibition. Mattei and Bradford also collaborated via a DCASE Residency at the Chicago Cultural Center.

Betsy Odom (b. Amory, Mississippi) received her MFA from Yale University School of Art and her BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute. She is the recipient of numerous grants and awards including a DCASE Grant, Illinois Arts Council Artist Grant, and West collection Acquisition Prize. Recent solo and group exhibitions include Let’s Be Honest at 4th Ward Project Space in Chicago, Oh No at Terrain Projects in Oak Park, IL, and Freedom Culture at The Journal Gallery in Brooklyn, NY.

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Marquee Ball 2018: The Factory
Saturday, April 28th : 8pm

Creative Alliance
3134 Eastern Avenue : 21224

Mingle among the “Superstars”  at our biggest party of the year!  For one night only, The Patterson transforms into Andy Warhol’s legendary New York City Studio – The Factory!

Dance your way through two trend-setting decades with live covers of the best ‘60s-‘70s tunes on two stages,  a silent art auction, roaming performers, and wild, art-inspired costumes.

Costumes encourged! Click here for costume inspiration!

8pm-Midnight. Party Tickets: $55, $50 members. Purchase tickets here!
Tickets include beer, wine, signature cocktail and light fare.

VIP Dinner at 5:30pm. Honoring Marc Steiner with the Lifetime Acheivement Award, and Maria Broom with the Golden Formstone Award.
VIP Dinner Tickets$250 each, table of ten $2,500. Advance tickets only. Tickets include entry to the 8pm party.
Please call our box office at 410-276-1651 to purchase dinner tickets.

Proceeds support Creative Alliance’s free Youth Education Programs.

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The Art of Caring · Hosted by CASA of Baltimore City
Sunday, April 29: 3-7 PM

Hosted at Area 405
405 East Oliver Street

Tickets Available: one.bidpal.net

The Art of Caring is a one of a kind reception, art auction, and public demonstration of intolerance for child abuse, creating unwavering support for our children in Baltimore City by CASA Baltimore. Join us on April 29, 2018. Together we can make a difference!

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Curatorial Conversation with Melvin Edwards
Sunday, April 29th : 2-4pm

Baltimore Museum of Art
10 Art Museum Drive : 21218

Join Katy Siegel, curator of the Odyssey: Jack Whitten Sculpture, 1963–2017 exhibition, in the BMA’s Meyerhoff Auditorium for a thought-provoking conversation with acclaimed sculptor Melvin Edwards on the art and legacy of Jack Whitten.

The two will reflect on Whitten’s five decades-long career of creating innovative paintings and sculptures and his impact on the trajectory of social abstraction.

This event is free and open to the public.

[IMAGE: Melvin Edwards, 2012. Courtesy Alexander Gray Associates, New York]

<><><><><><><><>When Living is a Protest | Opening Reception + Artist Talk
Sunday, April 29th : 2-4pm

Silber Gallery
Goucher College : 21204

When Living is a Protest will feature news images by photographer, humanist, and activist Radcliffe (Ruddy) Roye ’98. In this ongoing body of work, Roye approaches protest with sophistication and emotional intelligence. A contributor for National Geographic, TIME, and The New York Times, his work has also appeared in The New Yorker, Vogue, Ebony, Fast Company, BET, and ESPN. He was named TIME Instagram photographer of 2016.

<><><><><><><><>A Conversation with Thelma Golden and Amy Sherald
Monday, April 30th : 6-8pm

Baltimore Museum of Art
10 Art Museum Drive : 21218

Join us for a riveting conversation with Thelma Golden, Director and Chief Curator of the Studio Museum in Harlem and Amy Sherald, artist and BMA Trustee. Golden and Sherald will discuss Sherald’s artistic practice and this pivotal moment in her career following the unveiling of her portrait of former First Lady Michelle Obama. This event will take place in the BMA’s Meyerhoff Auditorium from 6-7 p.m., followed by a private, lite fare reception exclusively for Friends Group Members from 7-8 p.m. Seating for the conversation is first-come, first-served. Doors open at 5:30 p.m.

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Artist Talk: Meleko Mokgosi
Tuesday, May 1 · 5:00pm – 7:00pm

Baltimore Museum of Art
10 Art Museum Drive : 21218

Get a sneak peek at the new exhibition Acts of Resistance by Meleko Mokgosi from 5-6 p.m., followed by an in-depth conversation between the artist and Senior Curator of Contemporary Art, Kristen Hileman, discussing his new suite of paintings. Hear more about how Mokgosi explores the varied notions of resistance, expanding on conventional understandings to include the roles of race, gender, love, intimacy, metaphor, and narrative.