This Week: Artist talk with Mark West at Motor House, Summer ‘24 opening reception at C. Grimaldis Gallery, closing receptions + artist talks for Space Mission & Placebo Effect at Current, James Baldwin and the Voices of Queer Resistance opens at the Portrait Gallery, Station North Art Walk, Nikki Stokes opening reception at Make Studio, Joyce J. Scott performance at the BMA, and an upcoming home buying workshop series — PLUS two residencies at Corning Museum of Glass and more featured opportunities!
BmoreArt’s Picks presents the best weekly art openings, events, and performances happening in Baltimore and surrounding areas. For a more comprehensive perspective, check the BmoreArt Calendar page, which includes ongoing exhibits and performances, and is updated on a daily basis.
To submit your calendar event, email us at events@bmoreart.com!
The Category is Red | Artist talk with Mark West
Tuesday, July 9 :: 8pm
@ Motor House
Join us for an evening of discussion with Mark West, curator of The Category is Red.
This exhibition was conceived by Mark West and features a mix of local, national, and international visual artists that showcase artwork and mixed media in our Main Gallery. Some of the artists being featured include Baltimore’s own Qrcky, Kim Rice, Ann Stoddard and VLLAGER, Monique Ribeiro and Ayra Aziza from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and red paintings from the Mark West Private Collection.
SUMMER ’24 | Opening Reception
Thursday, July 11 :: 5-7pm
@ C. Grimaldis Gallery
C. Grimaldis Gallery is pleased to present its 47th annual summer group exhibition, Summer ‘24, featuring contemporary painting, photography, printmaking, and sculpture.
The work of James Hennessey (1936-2023) guides us through subtle interplays of figure and object. His intimate narratives span from the stoic to the surreal, creating a dialogue of nuanced color within both refined and ambiguous spaces. Grace Hartigan (1922-2008) melds washes of color, fusing figurative content with her distinctive approach to abstraction, characterized by vibrant hues and dynamic gestures. Summer ‘24 includes paintings from the artist’s “Lexington Market Series” exemplifying how the later works hold increased presence because of Hartigan’s developed understanding of expression in painting. The exhibition includes a print from another contemporary of the Abstract Expressionist movement, Elaine de Kooning (1918-1989). This piece from the artist’s “Lascaux Series” came after de Kooning’s trip to the Paleolithic caves of France, sparking principal works based on cave paintings, in which outlines of animals such as deer, bison, and goats, are rendered against turbulent grounds of dense marks.
The sculptures of Jae Ko and John Ruppert converse on ideas of naturally occurring versus human-created energy and form. Jae Ko transforms her chosen medium of paper into a living voice within her work. Through binding, gluing, and submerging, Ko imbues the paper with a soft vitality that evokes the forces of nature. In contrast, John Ruppert explores hard-edge materials to delve into human influence on the environment. His castings emphasize a spatial grounding and violent solidity, inviting viewers to contemplate textured surfaces with a sense of serene attention. Together these sculptural works find a balance between celebrating the raw creativity of the earth and acknowledging humanity’s role in shaping the landscape.
Summer ‘24 showcases work from the photo series “SHE” by Lebanese photographer Rania Matar. Drawing from her personal experiences as both a woman and mother, Matar’s ongoing series portrays female-identifying subjects in familiar settings, providing insights into the exploratory journey of independence. Her lens focuses on probing themes of personal and communal identity, using photography to depict female adolescence and womanhood in both the United States and the Middle East. And in another offering of cultural and political narrative, this exhibition debuts work by recent MICA graduate Amelie Wang. Within layers of color and storytelling, Wang communicates a tumultuous relationship with China’s deeply censored history; attempting to understand how the social structures in her home country have impacted her daily life as an individual and her family as a unit. These paintings provide the artist with a sense of grounding embedded in their swirling compositions.
Space Mission + Placebo Effect | Closing Receptions & Artist Talks
Thursday, July 11 :: 7pm
@ Current Space
Closing Receptions & Artist Talks for “Space Mission” & “Placebo Effect”
6-9pm, special Artist Talks by Se Jong Cho, Iris Hughey, and Alex Ebstein at 7pm. Please join us!
“Space Mission” is an exhibition of paintings and sculptures by Se Jong Cho and Iris Hughey exploring humanity’s relationship with space and imagining beyond the terrestrial, also featuring flowers by Crimson & Clover.
“Placebo Effect” is a solo exhibition by Alex Ebstein interpreting biological phenomena, perceptions and routines.
Born in Seoul, SE JONG CHO makes art to explore the extent of her imagination and broaden her creative domain. She began painting while pursuing her PhD in environmental engineering at Johns Hopkins University. Her training as a scientist taught her to become observant and think critically, and she cultivated her brand of creative expression that combined multidisciplinary perspectives.
IRIS HUGHEY is a multidisciplinary artist from Dallas, Texas. She works sculpturally, primarily using clay and woodworking. Her sculptures and ceramics are humorous and often interactive, involving tactile surfaces, moving mechanisms, and multi-purpose wearables that are enlivened by the viewer/wearer. Her work explores the importance of leisurely play in our lives now more than ever as we live in a fast-moving, emotionally burdened, and overworked civilization.
ALEX EBSTEIN is an artist and curator born in New Haven, CT and based in Baltimore, MD. She received her
MFA from Towson University in 2015 and her BA in Studio Art from Goucher College in 2007. Her recent solo and two-person exhibitions include Victori + Mo in New York, NY, De Novo Gallery in Washington, DC, Steel House Projects in Rockland, Maine, Terrault Gallery in Baltimore, MD, Cuevas Tilleard, New York, NY, Frutta Gallery in Rome, Italy, and Kent Place Gallery in Kent, New Jersey. She has been featured in a number of group exhibitions including Towson University’s CFA Gallery, CPM Gallery, Trestle Gallery, Greenpoint Terminal Gallery, Crossing Collective, Guerrero Gallery and Loyal Gallery. Her work has received write-ups in The New York Times, FastCo, Self Magazine, BmoreArt, Baltimore Beat, City Paper, Beautiful Decay and Aft F City. In addition to her studio practice, Ebstein is the co-founder and director of three galleries in Baltimore since 2009; Nudashank, Phoebe, and Resort.
Read more of this week’s picks at BmoreArt.
