It’s First Friday again here in Richmond, and it’s clear from the weather that summer is upon us, arriving early as it does every year in this Southern city of ours. By this evening, the temperatures will still be bearable, though, so come on out and enjoy all the happenings tonight on the First Friday Art Walk! Here are some things to look for while you’re out and about tonight:
It’s First Friday again here in Richmond, and it’s clear from the weather that summer is upon us, arriving early as it does every year in this Southern city of ours. By this evening, the temperatures will still be bearable, though, so come on out and enjoy all the happenings tonight on the First Friday Art Walk! Here are some things to look for while you’re out and about tonight:
Gallery 5: RVA Beer Fest And G40 Art Summit Closing Reception
This festival of art, music, and most importantly BEER is the big event for this weekend, for sure. A two-day Beer Festival indoors and outdoors at Gallery 5 (200 W. Marshall St.) with the best in local and regional beers and bands! As the closing of the G40 summit and newly appointed arts district we look forward to making this something special for all you beer lovers in Richmond. There’ll be indoor and outdoor entertainment happening Friday evening and Saturday afternoon. Schedule of events is as follows:
Friday, May 4th (7-11PM)
Inside: Old school soul jam with Soulpower!
Outside: Fire, Performance and Sculptures by The Party Liberation Front, with Special Guest TsunamiBassExperience
Saturday, May 5th (12-6PM)
Inside: Mike Kemetic, New Belgians, Black Girls
Outside: Kindling Kind, Apache Radio, Dream Machine, Goldrush, Peoples Blues of Richmond
For more info, go to rvabeerfest.com.
Ghostprint Gallery: Juan Perdiguero
“Perro Indalo Rojo,” etching ink on photo emulsion, 40 x 30 in.
Perros Indalo is a show of work by Juan Perdiguero. Perros Indalo refers to the stray and watch dogs observed by Perdiguero in Almeria, Spain, where he was participating in an international artists residency. The Indalo is a ghost of regional legend and is represented by a prehistoric magical symbol painted on the buildings to protect them from evil. In these works, the artist explores on the psychological level the ambiguous line where “the human and the animal meet.” Technically, they are also a hybrid, as Perdiguero fuses and manipulates the borders between photography and drawing. The backgrounds are photo representations of the native vegetation of the Almeria region, while the dogs are drawn in etching ink, their rendering inspired by Western classical portraiture. Perdiguero states: “These canine renderings explore the ‘animality,’ the state of being an animal we all carry in our existential nature… they are metaphorical portraits of the human condition.”
Perros Indalo will be on display during the First Friday Art Walk from 6-9 PM, and remains on display until May 26, at Ghostprint Gallery, located at 220 W. Broad St.
Quirk Gallery: Seeds Of Memory, Plus Ryan Myers and Laurie Carnohan
Annie Waldrop creates sculptures that “re-imagine a feminine narrative by linking personal experience and cultural myths with elements found in nature.” By combining wire with organic materials and old photographs she symbolically represents the cycle of life.
Ryan Myers’ playful yet somber paintings grow out of his early obsession with Pee Wee Herman, Hanna-Barbera Laugh Olympics and the bad children from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate factory.
Richmond native Laurie Carnohan is driven by the connection between man and the natural world. “Layers, texture, light and muted tones intertwine to achieve depth and dimension converging interior and exterior worlds to form topographical landscapes.” The lithography shows imperfection, decay, impression and loss, evoking emotion, memory and personal narrative.
The work of all three of these artists will be on display during First Friday from 5-9 PM and through May 26–Waldrop in the main gallery, Myers on the shop wall, and Carnohan in the vault gallery. Quirk Gallery is located at 311 W. Broad St.
Artisan Alley: Pop Up Art Show
Dee Glazer
The second Pop Up art show, part of First Fridays on May 4th, featuring works by Dee Glazer, Roman Zelgatas, and Mr. Headlee, along with a few surprises. There will be live painting, body painting, and music by DJ GrooveSmith, aka Justin Mallaney. The pop-up gallery is located on the 3rd floor of Artisan Alley Lofts (323 West Broad). For more information, click HERE.
1708 Gallery Satellite Exhibition At Linden Row Inn: The French Connection III
The French Connection consists of a group of artists from the United States and abroad who’ve established studio practice for an extended period of time at the Cite Internationale des Arts in Paris, France. These extraordinary residencies function as a cultural and creative bridge between the known and the unknown in a place, which transcends politics, where the most common language is art. Artists interact on a global stage in Paris where the history is tangible. It is a physical time portal: a grand promenade of the past, present and future for anyone with the curiosity and incentive to look in all directions. The work created by each artist in this exhibition filled their atelier in Paris like a dreamlike vacuum. This exhibition, like a portal, transports us from the Seine, which runs along the Cite Internationale des Artes, from the distant past to our present.
Participating artists include Irene Barberis (Australia), Hafis Bertschinger (Switzerland), Ruth Bolduan (Virginia), Lia Cook (California), Dean Dass (Virginia), Marinda du Toit (South Africa), Elisabeth Flynn-Chapman (Virginia), JC Gilmore-Bryan (Virginia), Sandra Gil (Portugal), Brian Kreydatus (Virginia), Norie Neumark and Maria Miranda (Australia), Amie Oliver (Virginia), Niloofar Rahnama (Iran), Sally Rees (Tasmania), Chuck Scalin (Virginia), Diana Seeholzer (Switzerland), Lisa Tubach (Virginia), Lester Van Winkle (Virginia) and Yvette Watt (Tasmania).
The opening reception for The French Connection III, a satellite exhibition curated by 1708 Gallery, will take place from 5 to 9 PM at the Linden Row Inn, located at 100 E. Franklin St.
Virginia Center For Latin American Art: Mensajes Sobre Texto (Messages About Text)
Some of the most amazing writing on the topic of work, struggle and human dignity was created in Latin America. From the political discourse of Che Guevara to the poetic innovations of Cesar Vallejo, the word has always been a respected tool in Latin America for attaining a more just society and ennobling the efforts of women and men as they seek a sense of personal dignity. In honor of these efforts, VACLAA is producing a mural with components of relief and collage that challenges Richmonders to seek a deeper vein of discourse in a world in which words carry such little weight they drift away in text bubbles.
We invite members of the Richmond community to bring their own favorite quotes from artists, poets, political activists, grandmothers, or their own dog-eared journals on the subject of the power of men and women through work to attain a sense of self worth.
In addition to the live art event, there will be readings from Latin Youth Poets from Huguenot High School, music from Underwater Seacreatures, handmade crafts from a group of Mexican artisans, savory food from Ken Ticos Cuban Restaurant and VACLAA coffee tastings.
This event will take place Friday May 4 from 5-9 PM at the VACLAA Exhibition Space, located at 401 West Broad Street, in the Moore’s Auto body parking lot. Afterwards, there will be a benefit show for VACLAA at Balliceaux featuring Bio Ritmo. For more information, click HERE.
Main Art Gallery: Improvisations
Main Art Gallery presents Improvisations: New Photographic Work by Jeremy Witt.
In this work I am making images that are true to traditional black and white photography and also one-of-a-kind. By using only the basic tools of the medium – light, chemicals, paper, the darkroom – a new way of making photographic images has emerged. Some come to life by way of developer, light and paper only, others have been made by “new practices” of exposure, still others come to be by using ephemeral elements as negatives. They all involve an intuitive approach and are hand made, in the moment. These processes are dance-like, musical and, like music, come from (and exist in) a liminal, inbetween space.
The images are pure “light drawings” (photo graphs) that show the process of how they are made and, most importantly, are things in-and-of themselves. They are “new structures or symbols” in photography that are not representations or concepts of nature but are nature as a tree or a river or the feeling of love – all born from these processes of photographic improvisation.
–Jeremy Witt, artist statement
Improvisations will be open for viewing from May 4-25th, 2012 with an opening reception Friday, May 4th from 7-9 PM, at Main Art Gallery, located at 1537 W. Main St.
Studio Two Three: Emerging Printmakers
Gallery Two Three presents Emerging Printmakers, a juried show of local graduate and undergraduate work in traditional printmaking. This show will be on display until May 25, with an opening reception Friday May 4 from 7 to 9 PM, at Studio Two Three, located at 1617 W. Main St.
Studio 6: Open Studio
Todd Hale presents a display of recent work at Studio 6 (6 E. Broad St.), which will be open beginning at 6 PM on Friday May 4.
Steady Sounds: New Works By Neil Burke
Philadelphia artist Neil Burke (Men’s Recovery Project, Monoroid, Lungcast Records) will be showing a selection of new silkscreen prints beginning at 6 PM at Steady Sounds, located at 322 W. Broad St.
