TRACES explores how the past evokes shifting memories while suggesting new and present narratives with works by Billy Friebele, Roxana Alger Geffen, Rania Hassan, Sebastian Martorana, Katherine Tzu-Lan Mann, Antonio McAfee, Brandon Morse, and Johab Silva. Inspired by personal and cultural history, the natural and built environments, and the human condition, the artists offer an impassioned take on the issues of the day and suggest possible futures to come.

“We are thrilled to welcome these outstanding Washington area artists to The Kreeger Museum,” said Director Helen Chason. “David and Carmen Kreeger were aware of the social significance of contemporary artists as visual chroniclers of their time. They supported artists’ practices and routinely shared their work with the public. I am pleased to honor that legacy with TRACES.”

The exhibition is curated by Sarah Tanguy, an independent curator and arts writer. Tanguy was a Curator at the U.S. Department of State’s Arts and Embassies for 15 years and previously organized The Kreeger Museum’s twentieth anniversary exhibition, K@20.

Tanguy explains: “Three years in the making, this show for me has been a work in progress and a work of love. What strikes me the most is the artists’ honest examination of their past and current circumstance, which comes across in the way their art directly involves us and invites us to imagine a path forward.”

The exhibition encompasses works in a wide variety of media, including painting, photography, mixed media, sculpture, sound, and video, and includes several site-responsive installations. The artists engage with their materials, mining the many meanings of “trace,” as noun and verb, and exploring themes of displacement, connectivity, and transformation. Highlights include a
multi-story, site-responsive suspended installation by Rania Hassan, a kinetic, solar-powered, outdoor sculpture by Billy Friebele, and a 43-foot cut paper mural by Katherine Tzu-Lan Mann.