Current GRACE Exhibition

Opening Reception and Gallery Talk Saturday, April 28, 2012 5 - 7 pm Free. Gallery Talk with the artists 5:30pm
Enjoy a night of culture also on April 28: Out of Place at 7:30 pm at Lake Anne Plaza. Postponed to the Rain Date of Sunday, May 6 at 7:30 pm.

Appetite for Art, Contemporary Dialogues for Adults, Mondays, April 30 - May 21, 10:30am - noon

Press Release

Play, acrylic on canvas, 63" x 63", 2012

Ed Bisese's sideshow banner paintings depict dreamscapes and fairy tales where humans and animals act out complex narratives. Along with the paintings Bisese shows a selection of paper animal masks created for his models to wear. Putting on a mask allows the model (and artist) to step outside the confines of reality and enter a world of unseen possibilities. With dark undertones and puzzling story lines, Bisese's work reveals the risky yet humorous side of play.

ADVENTURE Residency Program, Exploring the route of the first successful telegraph, Laurel, MD, 2010

Calder Brannock brings his ADVENTURE Residency Program to GRACE where he will retrace Admiral Byrd's expedition of 1934 by reading "Alone" - Byrd's account of the six months he spent surviving hardships in Antarctica. While Brannock reads the book team members will simultaneously create an evolving mural illustrating Byrd's ordeal. This event will take place on Saturday, April 28. The performance will be videotaped for later viewing.

Shooting the Breeze, birch plywood, mirrors, acrylic paint, and varnish tinted with acrylic colors, 24" x 32" x 5", 2011

Dickson Carroll, an architect and sculptor, incorporates joyful colors and playful forms into his many art forms. His past projects include playgrounds, furniture, gazebos, weathervanes, and even a doghouse. PLAY showcases a broad sampling of Carroll's work including furniture, architectural models, abstract wall sculptures, and landscape dioramas.

The Temptation, wood, acrylic paint, and assorted balls, dimensions variable, 2012

Jacqueline Levine's installation, The Temptation, borrows its title from Hieronymus Bosch's triptych, The Temptation of Saint Anthony. Levine's work, like its source, represents humankind's physical and mental trials. Originally shown at Flashpoint gallery in Washington, DC, the installation uses comic book style murals and cartoon characters to explore personal fears and insecurities through a simulated funhouse.

Free Hand, wood acrylic paint, and colored sand, 92" x 63" x 6", 2012

Marco Rando combines his roles as a sculptor and an educator to develop three, eight-foot sand boxes. Two of the boxes resemble huge hands containing elaborate sand paintings reminiscent of Buddhist sand mandalas. In the third box, shaped as a foot, the artist invites the audience to participate in his meditative form of play by raking sand into patterns. Originally conceived as a self portrait reflecting the sculptor's "handiwork," the sand boxes grew to encompass Rando's method of inviting his students to "play around" with specific concepts while exploring different mediums.

Goddess of Abundance (detail), crocheted polyester yarn and polyfil, 37" x 23" x 18", 2012

Ming-Yi Sung Zaleski crochets her personal mythology into life sized suits, symbolic figures, and pastoral landscapes. Originally trained as a painter, Sung Zaleski discovered her funky, sculptural voice through the homey craft of crochet. Her current work explores personal themes of marriage, motherhood, and community in soft sculptures that are playfully erotic and yet wholesomely earthy.