Demetrius Oliver

Oort

2012

Halo, Drawing, study for a sculpture. ARTIST'S STATEMENT Michael Davis My sculptures and installations are physically and symbolically multilayered mechanisms that react to environ...

Halo, Drawing, study for a sculpture. ARTIST'S STATEMENT Michael Davis My sculptures and installations are physically and symbolically multilayered mechanisms that react to environ...

Drawing / Geometric Abstraction / Mythology and Religion / Bright and Vivid Colors / Black and White Enamel, ink, colored pencil and alcohol ink on paper....

Drawing / Geometric Abstraction / Mythology and Religion / Bright and Vivid Colors / Black and White Enamel, ink, colored pencil and alcohol ink on paper....

Joan Snyder's early 1970s period is known as the best of her career, now an iconic period of time for feminist abstract painting of the era. This fully finished work on paper reads l...

Original work by Mary Early. Graphite, wax crayon, and sumi ink on Arches paper, 12.25 x 16". "The production, or “pouring,” of beeswax elements has become a meditative process that is integral to my art practice, serving as an observation of time, materials, and space. The raw beeswax I use has taken its form at the end of a long series of natural processes followed by a manufacturing process, and once it is in my hands, the studio becomes a factory. I apply my own methods of transforming the material by casting the beeswax into three-dimensional forms. Once I have fixed both a place and a time in the future for a potential installation, I begin to determine how the beeswax lines will take their aggregated shape in that space and, simultaneously, how many lines might be manufactured for that particular space in the amount of time available." Mary Early (born 1975, Washington, DC) lives and works in Washington, DC. She studied visual art, film, and video at Bennington College, and her work has been exhibited at the United States Botanic Garden, Washington Project for the Arts, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Second Street Gallery (Charlottesville, VA), Hemphill Fine Arts (Washington DC,) the Austrian Cultural Forum (Washington DC), Galerie Im Ersten (Vienna, Austria), Kloster Schloss Salem (Salem, Germany), Kunstlerbund Tubingen (Tubingen, Germany), and the American University Museum (Washington DC) among other regional and national galleries. Her early work incorporated formed concrete, tarpaper and paraffin wax, fabricated wood structures, and, increasingly over the years, surfaces coated with wax as a method of preserving or concealing an object within. Recent works have relied solely on solid forms cast in wax, abandoning the use of any permanent armature. Temporary installations are guided by schematic drawings and plans, which then serve as a permanent record. In 2014 she exhibited her first large-scale installation of wax lines at Second Street Gallery in Charlottesville, VA, followed by temporary installations in response to various historical sites in Salem, Germany (2016) and Tubingen Germany (2017). In 2017 she participated in the exhibition “Twist-Layer-Pour” at the American University Museum, which included Untitled [Curve], an installation of thousands of beeswax lines assembled on the floor of the museum. In spring 2018 she was commissioned to create a temporary installation at the Sun Valley Center for the Arts, Sun Valley Idaho. This work took the form of two intersecting curtains of hanging beeswax lines bisecting a 12’ foot x 18’ foot room, providing an immersive and enclosed viewing space. Early’s work is included in the collections of the US Department of State/Embassy of Panama, Kimpton Hotels, and the District of Columbia Art Bank among other public and private collections. She is a recipient of the Artist Fellowship Grant from the DC Commission on Arts & Humanities, Washington DC (2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2011, 2009, 2007). Early is the director of HEMPHILL Fine Arts, Washington, DC, and serves on the boards of Hamiltonian Artists and Washington Sculptors Group. She handles the work of contemporary artists and artist estates, including the work of William Christenberry, Colby Caldwell, Hedieh Javanshir Ilchi, Linling Lu, Mingering Mike, Robin Rose, Renée Stout...

"Minimal Series 6920" is an abstract work on paper featuring hues of black and white. Cynthia Knapp is inspired by the works of Joan Mitchell, Helen Frankenthaler and Grace Hartigan....

"Minimal Series 7010" is an abstract work on paper featuring hues pale blue, orange, green and white. Cynthia Knapp is inspired by the works of Joan Mitchell,...

Nazanin Moghbeli is a Persian American artist with training in Persian calligraphy, miniature painting, and music. She borrows techniques from Iranian calligraphy to create abstract ...

Nazanin Moghbeli's "Morghe Sahar 2" is framed in a white wood painted frame with white mat. It is wired with all hanging hardware, and is ready to install. Moghbeli is a Persian American artist with training in Persian calligraphy, miniature painting, and music. She borrows techniques from Iranian calligraphy to create abstract drawings with traditional bamboo “ghalams,” or quills. Rather than using these techniques to create religious objects as they were originally used, she explores the secular meaning of line in and of itself. She seeks the complete dissolution of words and prefers instead to create abstract images, her alternative to religious object making. The poem that is collaged into this work is a historic Iranian ballad, entitled "Morghe Sahar" (Bird of Dawn), written by Mohammad-Taqi Bahar and put to music by Morteza Neidavoud in 1921. Some consider this song to be the unofficial anthem of freedom in Iran. The lyrics describe a caged nightingale, urging her to sing with passion and break free. It has been sung in different political contexts, from the constitutional revolution of 1921 through the dictatorship of Mohammad Reza...