Wednesday: The Artist’s Compass at Friends School, Thursday: Jeramie Bellmay at Mr. Rains Fun House, Friday: Smörgåsbord at Gallery CA, Saturday: Liberti(n)es at Open Space, Still Lyfe at Current, and Jeremy Stern and Adam Franchino at Creative Alliance, Sunday: Geoff Grace at The Bed Room
The Artist’s Compass: Drawings and Paintings by Philip Koch
Katz Gallery, Friends School of Baltimore
January 2 – February 15, 2013
Reception Wednesday, Jan 16 from 6-7 pm
4113 N. Charles Street
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Liberti(n)es at Open Space
Opening: Saturday, January 19th, 2013
Closing: Saturday, February 23rd, 2013
Artists: Benjamin Bellas, Ross Iannatti, Rosy Keyser, Rose Marcus, Jonathan Marshall, Jeffrey Scott Mathews, Reid Ramirez, Peter Sutherland
with performances by: Nuclear Power Plants, Lesser Gonzalez Alvarez, Keith J. Varadi, Edward Steck, Eric Amling
Curated by Keith J. Varadi
As humans, we are granted certain liberties. As citizens, we often take these liberties for granted. It is assumed that we have control (agency) over these liberties. But what happens when we lose this control or surrender this agency, willfully or not?
Many times, we find ourselves confronted with a situation that necessitates an extreme reactionary decision: do we take the limits of these liberties too far, or not far enough? But then, isn’t the greater question: what is too far, or not far enough? And in the aftermath, we are faced with a secondary confrontation—the repercussions of our initial decision, typically one made in the confusion and conflation of emotions and reason, morals and ethics.
A libertine is easily thought of as someone who cheerfully neglects emotions, reason, morals, and ethics. A libertine is classically defined as an individual who tends to ignore the behavior generally accepted, or at the very least, tolerated, by society at large. The artists, poets, musicians, and performers gathered for this exhibition and presented here do not ignore society’s rules, nor do they necessarily break them; rather, they question them (with authority and autonomy).
Particularly, in American society, individualism is clung onto with such pride that it can become something like a crutch, constructed of balsa wood. Many stances are held up by flimsy arguments that can be snapped if leaned on ever so slightly, one way or the other. However, going beyond simply questioning society’s rules, these particular “libertines” presented at Open Space acknowledge the faults of extremism and moderation. It could be argued that they use extremism in moderation, which is not only a metaphor for an alternative to such precarious “bigger picture” problems, but art in itself.
2720 Sisson St.
Baltimore, MD 21211
www.openspacebaltimore.com
For more information, contact [email protected]
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Locale Unlimited: Jeremy Stern and Adam Franchino at Creative Alliance
Opening Saturday January 19, 5:30-7:30pm. On view Jan 19–Feb 22. Gallery hours: 11am-7pm, Tue-Sat.
“Locale Unlimited” engages visitors to interact first-hand with the changing nature of maps. Lights, peeking through paper cut outs, are triggered as viewers walk through the space. This continual change between light and dark in the gallery make for an ever-shifting definition of space. The installation is a collaboration between artists Jeremy Stern and Adam Franchino. Opens
Stern was the Assistant Director and Curator at Omaha’s Bemis Center for Contemporary Art, and founder of the Graduate Arts Students Association at the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR). He earned his Interdisciplinary MFA from UNR in 2011 as their Outstanding Graduating Graduate Student. He is currently the Associate Director at C. Grimaldis Gallery in Baltimore, as well as the Maryland Art Place’s selection for their 2013 Curator Incubator Program.
Adam Franchino earned his Bachelor of Fine Art in Illustration from the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in 2010, and is currently an Artist-in-Residence and Co-Curator at Gallery Four in Baltimore. His expertise with electronics has made him an important figure to watch at annual events such as Betascape and Robotfest in Maryland, and his work has been discussed in blogs, including Make Magazine and Design Boom. More info here.
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Jeramie Bellmay at Mr. Rains Fun House at AVAM
Opening Reception: Thursday, January 17th, 7PM – 9PM
Featuring live music by Ian Hesford on didgeridoo and Dushyant Viswanathan from Raa Djarsi on Veena.
Reception is FREE to the public.
On Display through March 7th, 2013
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Smörgåsbord at Gallery CA
Reception: Friday, January 18 from 5-8 pm
Smörgåsbord, juried by Paddy Johnson, founding editor of Art Fag City and Arts Editor for The L Magazine, will feature 24 Baltimore-based artists:
Benjamin Andrew, David Armacost, Heather Beardsley, Vincent Carney, Crissían Chen, Erika Diehl, Adam Farcus, Michael Farley, Matthew Fishel, Sung Hwa Kim, Joyce Yu-Jean Lee, Kim Llerena, Rachael London, Andrew Lubas, Jon Marshalik, Cyle Metzger, Catherine O’Connell, Ben Piwowar, Cathleen Sachse, Nicole Shiflet, Anna Showers-Cruser, James Singewald, Sean Sweeney, David Ubias
The exhibition will open to the public from Monday, December 31 to Friday, February 1.
GALLERY CA
440 E Oliver Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21202
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Sparks: New Works by Geoff Grace at The Bed Room
Sunday, January 20 from 2-5 pm
2429 Maryland Avenue
Inaugural opening for The Bed Room, a small informal exhibition space the guest room of a private residence, featuring the work of Geoff Grace, winner of the 2008 Sondheim Prize.
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Still Lyfe at Current
FRIDAY JANUARY 18 from 7-10PM
Twelve artists created and exchanged limited edition prints exploring the aesthetic and relevance of the still life in contemporary art. A fundraiser for Current Space’s screen-printing studio will be happening during the opening. Visitors can bring t-shirts and get them printed with designs made by the artists for $5.
Artists: John Bohl, James Bouché, Lauren Brick, Nate Cubeta, Alice Dan-Ding, Max Guy, Alex Lukas, Chloe Maratta, Hermonie Only, Joseph Parra, Nikholis Planck, Flannery Silva
JOIN US HERE: https://www.facebook.com/events/467107109993744/
Current Space is an artist-run gallery, studio, and a headquarters for cultural production, nourishing an ongoing dialogue between artists, activists, performers, designers, curators, and thinkers. Operating since November 2004, we are committed to showcasing, developing, and broadening the reach of artists locally and internationally.
