Sidamo DC,” can bring both a smile of recognition and a frown of certainty--inevitability. It is the ruins of the great buildings and monuments of Washington. It’s the picturesque Earth Museum to be visited by the discerning alien life form for its amusement and contemplation. They are seeing DC as we view the Mayan ruins of the Yucatan. What happened to the humans? We can only surmise that our inexorable cycle of destruction finally eradicated us, for good. If this exhibit includes a broad touch of whimsy, the adjoining exhibit, “War/Photography,” is anything but whimsical. It includes hundreds of war photos from around the world, from the Mexican-American War to now—165 years. That’s the basic life of the camera. If cameras were in existence 500 years ago, or 10,000, the pictures would differ only in the weapons used to dispatch the invaders, conquer evil, or appropriate needed territory. Even for combat vets like me, it is difficult to make it through the entire exhibit. The redundancy of carnage and the cavalier expendability of the individual weigh you down. Maybe too much is familiar, regardless of the time period. Perhaps war is intrinsic to our evolution. It brings home the truth that it is futile to be “anti-war.” You would have to be anti-people at the same time. The only possible saving counterforce has to be art: creating beauty rather than destroying it—celebrating the glory of the landscape rather than blowing the bejeebers out of it. Ya think?
At the Museums
When Art Danced with Music…the Ballets Russes, National Gallery of Art East Building, 3rd and Constitution NW-Oct 6.
This is an almost overwhelming exercise in pure delight. The grand dreams of the entertainment genius/impresario/con man, Serge Diaghilev...the Russian P.T. Barnum… came to glorious, eye-dazzling life in 1909. It flourished and flaunted across Europe stages, and in the Americas, for 20 years. Diaghilev drew on the imagination of the most creative dancers, choreographers, composers and visual artists of those decades. They reinvented ballet, established the foundations of modern dance, and shocked the world with an overt eroticism never before seen. www.nga.gov.
War/Photography, Corcoran Gallery of Art, 500 17th St. NW –Sept. 29
WAR/PHOTOGRAPHY: Images of Armed Conflict and Its Aftermath. The title, “Images of Armed Conflict” doesn’t really tell the story of this major exhibit of photographs
Coffee and Tea
of military conflicts of all magnitudes, from around the world. The pictures capture the agony but rarely the ecstasy of battle. What often gets lost in the redundancy of slaughter, however, is the artistry of the individual photographers who can bring to life the stark dimensions, good and bad, of human nature. That alone is reason to see the show. h t t p : / / w w w. c o r c o r a n . o r g / warphoto#sthash.TL167RJq.dpuf.
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At the Galleries
“Comeback Chronicles,” Capitol Hill Arts Workshop, 545 7th St. SE - Sept. 7 – Oct 12, Recp: Sat, Sept 7, 5-7
“Comeback Chronicles,” is raw, honest photojournalism. It is not so much about the art of photography as the art of living on what most people would consider the edge of insanity. Wesley Schaefer followed a dog musher, a friend, as he prepared for and raced the 2013 Iditarod, the Alaskan sled dog race from Anchorage to Nome—well over a 1000 miles. This series of photographs, by Schaefer, a photojournalism graduate of the University of Alaska, is representative of this larger blog project. www.comebackchronicles.com. www.CHAW.org.
Ellen Cornett, Evolve Urban Arts Gallery, Pierce School Lofts, 1375 Maryland Ave NE, Sept. 12 – Oct. 31, Recp: Thurs, Sept. 12, 5:30-8:30
With “Monsters,” Ellen Cornet pulls you into her masterfully crafted fairytales where fanciful creatures unravel the certainties of reality. Her pastels provide depth, both in color value and intrigue. The Evolve Gallery is the perfect setting to see her work, and the always-delightful hors d’oeuvres and beverages are created to complement select works.
Day/Hardy, The Heurich Gallery at Boston Properties. 505 Ninth St. NW Sept.10 – Dec. 4, Recp: Tue, Sept. 10
Frank Day traveled through Lagos, Nigeria, Douala, and Cameroon and became captivated by the derelict ships in the harbors. His abstract photographs of the rusting hulls take on a serene, almost Rothko-like quality. Allison Long Hardy’s drawings are her interpretations of notable people-encounters. She transcribes her memories into fanciful and fun drawings on paper. You can pick up threads of conversations and emotional messages in what may first appear as scribble and scrap. A Capitol Hill artist and writer, Jim can be reached at Artandthecity05@aol.com. Jim’s award-winning book, “A Haunting Beauty” can be acquired through www. ahauntingbeauty.com H
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22 Years on Capitol Hill HillRag | September 2013 H 123