Renaissance Redux by Kelly Castillo.
Edgy. Urban. Street. Crystal City, VA? Not quite. But during the month of March, Crystal City will get in touch with its edgier side by hosting “G-40: The Summit,” an exhibition featuring the underground art movement known as New Brow. Also commonly referred to as pop-surrealism, or lowbrow, New Brow originally found its roots in several different subcultures such as comics, tattoo art, punk music and graffiti, and has grown to encompass a wide range of pop-culture-themed art. “G-40: The Summit,” named by its organizers to be an “artistic interpretation” of the political summit bearing a similar name, will transform a nearly vacant office building in Crystal City into a melting pot of New Brow artists from around the country and beyond.
After the success of Artomatic in 2007, the Crystal City Business Improvement District (BID) decided to host another free, public art show by partnering with Art Whino, a gallery in National Harbor with ties to the national and international New Brow community. “We approached Art Whino,” said Angie Fox, CEO/Founder of Crystal City BID. “We’re the first BID that did Artomatic and we knew we wanted to do something big like that again.” This past December, Fox went to Florida during Art Basel Miami, an annual international art extravaganza featuring thousands of artists, where Art Whino had rented out an 8,000-square-foot space and was showing the work of 250 artists. After seeing the scene down south, she got “really serious about making it happen here.” With the BID’s ability to secure an entire office building (through the help of DC commercial realtor Vornado) and Art Whino’s extensive rolodex of national and international New Brow artists, “G-40″ was born.
“Most galleries work with local artists, and don’t reach beyond 20 to 50 at a time,” said Shane Pomajambo, founder of Art Whino. “We work much differently. We work in the hundreds, so we’re able to go beyond the normal reach and bring together leaders of this art movement from around the world here to DC.”
Each of four floors will represent a different regional hotspot of the genre: DC, California, NY and international artists. The show will also feature live painting by some of the artists, and live music performances throughout the month.
The Descent by Emily Greene Liddle.
Emily Greene Liddle (www.emilygreeneliddle.com) is one of the DC-area artists who will show her work at “G-40.” Liddle admits that when it comes to New Brow art, “to define it is pretty difficult, because stylistically [it] goes all over the spectrum, but if anything, it’s very pop culture central.” A classically trained artist with a degree in fine arts and art education from Catholic University, Liddle began her work in the genre “accidentally,” after a class assignment sparked an obsession with apples, and later other fruits and vegetables, due to their color, surface texture, and implied symbolism. “For any artist, even musically or with poetry, a lot of times you kind of stumble upon things by accident and [that's how you find] your voice. I painted like this before I even really knew a lot about New Brow art and what that meant. You develop your own voice, and after that you have to figure out, ‘Where in contemporary art do I belong?’ The work often comes before the title.”
Having shown her art through Art Whino for a few years, Liddle is anticipating “G-40″ to be an extremely well-run event. “Art Whino definitely knows how to do it right,” she said. “Nobody’s ever bored. Everybody has something to interest them. You’re going to see a lot of incredible art and it’s going to be an event that DC doesn’t see a whole lot of in terms of this genre.” According to Liddle, DC is “a little bit behind the times” when it comes to the New Brow art world, but an event like “G-40″ is a huge step in the right direction.
“G-40: The Summit” is not only expanding DC’s art horizons, it’s also breaking ground in the New Brow world by bringing so many different artists together under one roof. “Art under the label of New Brow varies from region to region,” said Pomajambo. “For the first time, all of these styles are going to be brought together in one place.”
To those trying to decide whether to check out the event, Pomajambo makes a convincing argument: “Even if someone is unsure if they specifically like the genre, everyone should visit simply to be exposed to culture of such amazing magnitude from all around the world, and to take note of all the different styles, conveniently brought to them in the DC Metro area.”
“G-40: The Summit” opens March 3rd and runs until the end of the month. Check their website for dates and times as they vary from day to day. No tickets are necessary; the event is free and open to the public.
G-40: The Summit: 223 23rd St. Arlington, VA; www.artwhino.com/g40.
[googleMap name="G-40: The Summit" width="770" height="235" mousewheel="false"]223 23rd St. Arlington, VA[/googleMap]
