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EVENTS LISTING
THE WASHINGTON DIPLOMAT
January 2012
PHOTO: INTER-AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK ART COLLECTION
**Admission is free unless otherwise noted. All information on event venues can be found on The Washington Diplomat Web site at www.washdiplomat.com. Times and locations are subject to change. Unless listed, please call venue for specific event times and hours of operation.
ART
some of the world’s finest collections, this exhibition traces ballet in Edgar Degas’s art from the 1870s to 1900, while also celebrating “Dancers at the Barre” as a crowning achievement in the artist’s fourdecade career — prompted by discoveries from a recent conservation treatment of the masterpiece, which took 16 years to create. The Phillips Collection
Through Jan. 1
Wedding Belles
Through Jan. 8
Four gowns belonging to heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post and those of her mother and daughters, along with bridesmaid dresses, a royal veil, and a stunning Cartier bag carried by Post’s daughter tell the story of 20th-century wedding style through the lens of one of America’s most notable and fashionable families.
The Invention of Glory: Afonso V and the Pastrana Tapestries
Through Jan. 2
The Pastrana Tapestries—among the finest surviving Gothic tapestries—will be on view together for the first time in the U.S. and will showcase the recently restored set of four monumental tapestries that commemorate the conquest of two strategically located cities in Morocco by the king of Portugal, Afonso V (1432–1481).
Warhol: Headlines
National Gallery of Art
Hillwood Estate, Museum and Gardens
Andy Warhol had a lifelong obsession with the sensational side of contemporary news media, and his source materials for his artwork — headlines from the tabloid news — will be presented for comparison, revealing Warhol’s role as both editor and author. National Gallery of Art Through Jan. 7
A Celebration of Life Nigerian artist Stanley Agbontaen’s newest body of work includes 23 oil paintings and seven wood block panels featuring richly colored, vibrant scenes that celebrate Nigeria’s resilient people, the beauty in their daily rituals, and the energy of their bustling urban centers and marketplaces. International Visions Gallery Through Jan. 7
A Song for the Horse Nation The story of the relationship of Native Americans and horses is one of the great sagas of human contact with the animal world, as evidenced by this array of 122 historic objects, artwork, photographs, songs and personal accounts that tells the story of how the return of horses to the Americas by Christopher Columbus changed everything for Indians. National Museum of the American Indian Through Jan. 8
Degas’s Dancers at the Barre: Point and Counterpoint Bringing together about 30 works from
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The Washington Diplomat
of Oxford draw on their deep resources to uncover the little-known story of one of the most widely read books in the history of the English language. Folger Shakespeare Library Through Jan. 15
Visions of the Orient: Western Women Artists in Asia 1900–1940 “Visions of the Orient” features 125 prints and paintings by four female Western artists exploring Asian cultures between 1900 and 1940, all of whom trained as painters but, while living in Japan, also designed woodblock prints. National Museum of Women in the Arts Through Jan. 22
Contemporary Art from Chile
Through Jan. 15
In this dual exhibition, “Traveling Light” features five contemporary Chilean artists who’ve installed site-specific work at the museum, while “Common Place” highlights the evolving subordinate relationship between Latin American housekeepers and their housewife employers.
Andy Warhol: Shadows
OAS Art Museum of the Americas
Created in the last decade of Andy Warhol’s life, “Shadows” comprises 102 silkscreened and hand-painted canvases featuring distorted photographs of shadows generated in the artist’s studio — forms that at once suggest and mock the bravura brushwork of the abstract expressionists. Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden Through Jan. 15
CHINA Town: Contemporary Ceramic Painting from Jingdezhen This unprecedented exhibition of porcelain art — the sixth in a series of exhibits organized over the last decade by the Meridian Center’s Art for Cultural Diplomacy program with Chinese partners — highlights objects from Jingdezhen, a city of 1.6 million people that has produced the finest Chinese porcelain for more than 1,000 years, especially the world-renowned blue and white decorative motifs. Meridian International Center Through Jan. 15
Manifold Greatness: The Creation and Afterlife of the King James Bible Marking its 400th anniversary this year, the 1611 King James Bible still echoes in books, movies, songs, speeches and sermons today. But who translated it? The Folger Shakespeare Library and University
“Los Meseros (The Waiters),” a 2007 photograph by Ecuadorian Geovanny Verdezoto, is part of “New Visions: A Selection of the Latest Acquisitions from the IDB Art Collection, 2008-2011” at the Inter-American Development Bank Cultural Center.
Through Jan. 22
The Graphic and Fine Art of Jerzy Janiszewski Poland’s most famous graphic artist, Jerzy Janiszewski created the Solidarity shipyard union’s logo in 1980 when he was only 28 years old. This powerful image, together with Lech Wal sa, became a symbol of freedom from Communist rule. In addition to a rare Solidarity poster from 1980, buried underground for seven years to safeguard it from Poland’s secret police, this first exhibition of Janiszewski’s work in the United States will include collages and other fine art never before exhibited. Charles Krause / Reporting Fine Art Through Jan. 27
On the Lakeshore… and Other Stories Photographer Iris Janke’s work treads a fine line between reflection and intuition, between control and chance, as she records her daily experiences in a visual diary from which she selects the images that have the strongest narrative power. Goethe-Institut Through Jan. 29
Power/Play: China’s Empress Dowager Following China’s disastrous Boxer
Rebellion, the Grand Empress Dowager Cixi (1835-1908) used photographic portraiture to rehabilitate her public image, allowing a young aristocratic photographer to take elaborately staged shots of her and her court. As the only photographic series taken of the supreme leader of China for more than 45 years, these images represents a unique convergence of Qing court pictorial traditions, modern photography and Western standards of artistic portraiture. Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Jan. 29 to May 6
Picasso’s Drawings, 1890–1921: Reinventing Tradition Through some 55 works, this exhibition presents the dazzling development of Pablo Picasso’s drawings over a 30-year period, from the precocious academic exercises of his youth in the 1890s to the virtuoso works of the early 1920s, including the radical innovations of cubism and collage. National Gallery of Art Through Feb. 1
Parallel Worlds by Marcelo Novo Argentine artist Marcelo Novo creates a series of paintings whose bold grays and strong, strange subjects coexist between two worlds of reality and subjectivity.
photograph was sent by Pablo Ortiz Monasterio as a digital file to Muriel Hasbun, who replied by sending back one of her own. This exchange went on for months, the results of which reveal how photography can probe the possibilities of cultural and visual exchange in a digital age. Mexican Cultural Institute Through Feb. 10
Forces of Nature Investigating the intricacies of land and sea, flora and fauna, 13 acclaimed Australian artists specializing in jewelry and small sculpture reflect on the complex relationship between contemporary Australia and its unique natural environment. Embassy of Australia Through Feb. 12
30 Americans Provocative and confrontational, this exhibition showcases works by many of the most important African American artists of the last three decades, focusing on issues of racial, sexual and historical identity and exploring the powerful influence of artistic legacy across generations. Corcoran Gallery of Art
Embassy of Argentina
Through Feb. 12
Through Feb. 3
Weaving Abstraction: Kuba Textiles and the Woven Art of Central Africa
New Visions: A Selection of the Latest Acquisitions from the IDB Art Collection, 2008–2011 The Inter-American Development Bank’s art collection comprises 1,722 artworks that include paintings, sculpture, photography, works on paper, ceramics and handcrafted objects. These works showcase the region’s creativity and highlight the achievements of its distinguished artists.
Ingeniously woven from palm fiber, Central African textiles distinguished the wealthy and powerful. Woven art from the Kuba kingdom in particular makes playful use of a language of over 200 patterns. “Weaving Abstraction” is the most comprehensive exploration of this art form to date in the U.S., with 150 objects ranging from small, exquisite baskets to monumental skirts. The Textile Museum
Inter-American Development Bank Cultural Center
Through Feb. 24
Through Feb. 4
Lost Worlds” Ruins of the Americas
Conversación: Photo Works by Muriel Hasbun and Pablo Ortiz Monasterio In conjunction with FotoWeek DC, this exhibition represents a yearlong collaboration between two artists, one from Mexico and one in D.C., whereby a single
Photographs by Arthur Drooker offer a powerful visual narrative of the cultures, conflicts and conquests that forged the New World, spanning significant ruins in Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America and South America. OAS Art Museum of the Americas
January 2012