Ever go to Wikipedia and look up what happened on this day in history? You can find some weird stuff on there. For example, while working on this article, I discovered that Friday, May 3, 2013 is the 35th anniversary of the first email spam ever sent. Other not-so-cool things that happened on this day in history: the Brooklyn Dodgers ownership decided to move to LA, West Virginia created the first sales tax, and Margaret Thatcher was first elected prime minister of England. On the bright side, Joe DiMaggio had his first major league appearance, and the lovely and talented Christina Hendricks was born. And finally, legendary Spanish painter Francisco Goya was inspired by horrific events in the Peninsular War between France and Spain to create one of the most beautifully brutal paintings ever. Which brings us back to the subject at hand--art. There'll be plenty to see along the First Friday Art Walk this weekend, and there's always the possibility you'll come across some as yet unknown artist who is as brilliant as Goya. So instead of spending your Friday night deleting emails from Nigerian princes and online poker websites--get out of the house, enjoy the spring weather, and get a look at some great local artwork! Here are some things to keep an eye out for:
Ghostprint Gallery: Another Life
Alone in the Garden, 30″ x 35″ charcoal on paper
Ghostprint Gallery presents Another Life, an exhibition of new works by Andy Espinoza.
Espinoza is a representational artist who focuses on the figure. Another Life features large charcoal drawings and oil paintings depicting figures that emerge subtly from their surroundings. Often the faces are turned away from the viewer creating a mysterious tension. The artist states, “This recent work represents a mood of introspection and self-discovery.” Espinoza graduated in 2009 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration from Ringling College of Art and Design and is currently continuing his education at The Art Department in Kansas City, Missouri.
Another Life will premiere with an artist's reception on Thursday, May 2 from 6-8 PM, and again with a First Friday Opening on Friday, May 3 from 6-9 PM, at Ghostprint Gallery, located at 220 W. Broad St. The exhibit will be on display through June 1.
Gallery 5: Museum of Natural, Theoretical and Mythological History
Gallery 5 presents Museum of Natural, Theoretical and Mythological History, an exhibition of new work by Dave Moore and Matt Flowers. The exhibition will open with a reception on First Friday, May 3, from 6-11 PM at Gallery 5, located at 200 W. Marshall St. The reception will feature music by Lobo Marino, Zac Hryciak & The Jungle Beat, Mount Lion, and Doctor Dukes. Museum of Natural, Theoretical and Mythological History will remain on display through May 31.
Quirk Gallery: Very Sleepy River, Sue Heatley & Collage-O-Rama
Quirk Gallery will feature three exhibitions this month--Matt Lively's Very Sleepy River in the Main Gallery, works by Sue Heatley on the Shop Wall, and Jennifer Watson's Collage-O-Rama in The Vault. These three exhibitions will premiere with an artist's reception on Thursday May 2 from 5-8 PM, and again with a First Friday Opening on Friday May 3 from 5-9 PM, at Quirk Gallery, located at 311 W. Broad St. Very Sleepy River will remain on display through June 28, while the other two exhibits will remain on display through May 31.
Gallery At UNOS: Show Of Hands
The Gallery At UNOS presents Show Of Hands, a collection of works by students from Saint Gertrude High School.
Show of Hands is the end result of a year-long collaboration that has included Saint Gertrude High School students learning about UNOS, organ donation and transplantation. Show of Hands is named in honor of service leadership which is an important component to St. Gertrude’s students and staff. Girls are required to volunteer to lend a helping hand to impact their community. 50 Saint Gertrude students participated in the making of this exhibit as well as students from several middle schools that feed into Saint Gertrude. Student volunteers will be performing at the opening reception in support of UNOS and are greeters at UNOS for the Go Discover Richmond walk on May 4th.
Show Of Hands will premiere with a reception on First Friday, May 3, from 5-7:30 PM at The Gallery At UNOS, located at 700 N. 4th St. The exhibition will remain on display through June 29.
Visual Art Studio: Some Say...
Dreamer, Orgia Labidi
Visual Art Studio presents Some Say..., an exhibition of new mixed media wall hangings by Norfolk artist Orgia Labidi.
This series is titled Some say... During my most recent recovery from surgery, many folks felt compelled to share "old wisdom" in the form of a "saying". And I got to thinking, "I should do something centered around the things "some say". Of course I had limited use of my arm AND limited finances, but being an artist, I wasn't going let a few bothersome barriers stand in the way. What I did have was a lot of cardboard and stuff. So began (again!) my quest to create something out of nothing. I'm enjoying the process. The outcomes are a bit primitive but interesting with lots of color and texture. - Orgia Labidi
Orgia (Gia) Labidi is a breast cancer survivor who is now facing her second battle with this deadly disease. Her use of written words with inspiring wisdom, vibrant color, carving and collage has resulted in a meaningful, moving exhibition. Like Matisse who worked up to the end, she created these mixed media works from bed. Gia is planning on attending her opening, God willing. She has to wait and see how see will be feeling. With the help of her sister, she has traveled to Richmond to install this show.
Some Say... will open with a reception on First Friday, May 3, from 7-10 PM, at Visual Art Studio, located at 208 W. Broad St. The exhibition will remain on display through September 27.
Art6: From Looking
Diego Valdez
Art6 presents From Looking, a group exhibition spotlighting the work of the 27 members of VCU's BFA Photography Department Class of 2013. In an extremely modern twist, the class funded this exhibition through a Kickstarter campaign, which ended up raising over double its funding goal. Now the results of the Class of 2013's hard work will be on display for the public to behold.
PS.--The title of our show,…From Looking, is derived from an influential book we were required to read encouraging photographic (or simply physical) exploration in an era shrouded by technological walls.
"Risking the shattering of those walls is worth all the risks of going for a long, careful walk, for riding a bicycle down a different street, for seeing what no one photographs, for seeing what no one realizes. Whoever owns the real estate and its constituents, the explorer owns the landscape. And the explorer owns all the insights, all the magic that comes from looking." - John R. Stilgoe, from Outside Lies Magic
From Looking will premiere with a reception on First Friday, May 3, beginning at 6 PM, at Art6, located at 6 E. Broad St. The reception will feature a talk from curator Crawford Alexander Mann III of the Chrysler Museum in Norfolk, VA. The exhibition will remain on display through May 31.
Books Bikes & Beyond: Kelly Alder
Books Bikes & Beyond Thrift Store presents an exhibition of works by Kelly Alder, from the archives of his editorial illustrations, originally created for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Village Voice, and more. The exhibition will premiere with a reception on First Friday, May 3, from 6-9 PM, at Books Bikes & Beyond, located at 7 W. Broad St. The exhibition will remain on display through May 31.
Storefront For Community Design: Invisible Plaza
This month, the Storefront For Community Design presents the entries into the James River Green Building Council’s annual Green Space Design Competition. The challenge this year, titled Invisible Plaza, was to reinvent Kanawha Plaza as a place for public discourse. The exhibit features large-format posters displaying all entries into the competition, along with a short explanation from the creators, explaining their entry.
Invisible Plaza will premiere with a reception on First Friday, May 3, from 5-8 PM at the Storefront For Community Design, located at 205 E. Broad St. Attendees will have a chance to discuss concepts with judges and participants in the competition, and the winning entry will be announced that night. The posters and explanations will remain on display through May 23.
Atlas (Art 180's Art Center For Teens): Love...
ART 180, the Autism Society of Virginia, and Autumn Cox, a local Richmond Girl Scout, present"love through the eyes of children with autism spectrum disorder" at Atlas, ART 180's new art center for teens. The exhibition brings together visual interpretations of love, created by young people whose lives are shaped by their daily experiences with autism.
"Love through the eyes of children with autism spectrum disorder" will premiere with a reception on First Friday, May 3, from 6-9 PM, at Atlas, Art 180's Art Center For Teens, located at 114 W. Marshall St. The exhibition will remain on display through May 31.
ADA Gallery: Casual Encounters
ADA Gallery presents Casual Encounters, an exhibition of new works by Kate Hampel and Ben Stout.
Kate Hampel holds an MFA in Fiber and Material Studies from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a BFA from Concordia University in Montreal. Her work is interdisciplinary and is concerned with gender, power, and taboo. Currently based in Richmond for the 2012-13 academic year as a Fountainhead Fellow at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Originally from Michigan, Ben Stout earned a BFA in ceramics from the Kansas City Art Institute and an MFA in ceramics from Ohio University. He has taught at Ohio University, Marietta College, and is currently a Fountainhead Fellow at VCU. Ben has exhibited work at the Sculpture Center in Cleveland, the Kingswood Lower Gallery at Cranbrook, and the Art Stream Nomadic Gallery. His current work explores sights through material interventions designed to navigate the relationship between the internal cloistered space of the gallery and public passageways and thoroughfares, opening onto questions about local shared histories and larger ideas of the public.
Casual Encounters will premiere with a reception on First Friday, May 3, from 7-9 PM, at ADA Gallery, located at 228 W. Broad St. The exhibition will remain on display through May 31.
Candela Books & Gallery: Counterfeit
Crashing Planes to Kill Mice, 2010, Inkjet on Kozo paper, gold leaf, paint & resin on dibond, 38.5" x 55"
Candela Books & Gallery presents Counterfeit, a series of multimedia images by Louviere + Vanessa.
New Orleans-based creative duo Jeff Louviere and Vanessa Brown, aka Louviere + Vanessa, combine photography, film, painting and printmaking to achieve highly original, thought-provoking works that push the boundary of each medium. For them the “medium of photography is more important than any one photo,” especially evident in the series Counterfeit, which aptly explores the tension between photography and painting, realism and abstraction.
Counterfeit will premiere on Thursday, May 2 with a preview and artist talk from 5-8 PM, and again with a First Friday reception on Friday, May 3 from 5-9 PM, at Candela Books & Gallery, located at 214 W. Broad St. The exhibition will remain on display through June 22.
Gallery A: VCU Graphic Design MFA Show
This week only, Gallery A presents the VCU Graphic Design MFA Show. The show premieres on Wednesday, May 1, with a First Friday reception on Friday, May 3, from 6-9 PM at Gallery A, located at 114-A Virginia St. The exhibition will remain on display through Saturday, May 4.
Studio Two Three: Emerging Printmakers
This month, Studio Two Three presents Emerging Printmakers, a juried show of Graduate & Undergraduate work in traditional printmaking. It will premiere with a reception on First Friday, May 3, from 7-9 PM, at Studio Two Three, located at 1617 W. Main St. The exhibition will remain on display through May 31.
Glave Kocen Gallery: The Great Escape
This month, Glave Kocen Gallery presents The Great Escape, a collection of new work by Ed Trask.
Ed is back with a brand new collection of works focused on the positive distraction we all crave... The Great Escape! This exhibit features some beloved areas of Richmond, multiple Narrative Paintings such as a Baptismal scene and a Freight Train Traveler, and relics from the road like weathered signs and cityscapes! It's an amazing collection and we hope you'll join us this Friday to celebrate!
The Great Escape will premiere with a reception on First Friday, May 3, from 6-9 PM, at Glave Kocen Gallery, located at 1620 W. Main St. The exhibition will remain on display through June 8.
Artemis Gallery: Rivulets Of Glass
This month, Artemis Gallery presents Rivulets Of Glass, an exhibition of works by Hudson Beach Glass, a New York collective of glass artists.
"Our works are a collaboration grounded in texture, color, and the infinite viscosity of glass."
For more than 18 years, Hudson Beach Glass--comprised of artists John Gilvey, Wendy Gilvey, Michael Benzer, and Jennifer Smith--have designed and produced an original line of sculptural tabletop glassworks in an amazing palette of 14 rich gemstone colors.
To date, Hudson Beach Glass artists have experimented with a variety of glass techniques, including lampworking, casting, traditional freehand blowing and mold blowing.
Combining functionality with elegance, Hudson Beach designs are inspired and excited by forms found in the natural environment. Many of their pieces are used by food stylists for publications such as Food and Wine, Bon Appetite, and Gourmet Magazine. They have also appeared on several cooking shows on television's Food Network. The Hudson Beach Glass line has expanded over the years to include functional serving pieces as well as perfume bottles, jars, and barware. It has been well received by galleries and gift stores across the nation and internationally.
Rivulets Of Glass will premiere with a reception on First Friday, May 3, from 5-10 PM, at Artemis Gallery, located at 1601 W. Main St.
Red Door Gallery: Barns, Cars, And Chemistry
Ken Scaglia, Black Imperial, 18” x 36”, acrylic on canvas
This month, Red Door Gallery presents Barns, Cars, And Chemistry, an exhibition of new works by Lee Hazelgrove, Peter Batchelder, Ken Scaglia, and Eduardo Lapetina.
Lee Hazelgrove is a popular Richmond potter who is having his first show in three years. He prefers form over function in his work, emphasizing the size, shape, and surface of a piece instead.
Peter Batchelder's work is being held over from the April Show due to popular demand of his harmoniously juxtaposed New England barn-scapes.
Ken Scaglia has mastered the art of beautifully and realistically painting classic vintage cars, and he brings his specialty to the gallery for the second time. This series is almost in miniature for Ken, with each canvas measuring 12" x 9".
Eduardo Lapetina's work is about life and its many layers and complexities. His painting is a passionate process, stemming partly from his Latin enthusiasm for life.
Barns, Cars, And Chemistry will premiere with a reception on First Friday, May 3, from 6-9 PM, at Red Door Gallery, located at 1607 W. Main St. The exhibition will remain on display through June 1.
Page Bond Gallery: Changing Light & Assembled
This month, Page Bond Gallery presents two exhibitions; Changing Light, new work by Curtis Ripley, and Assembled, new work by Charles McGill.
Curtis Ripley, Once Again, 2013, Oil on canvas, 30 x 24 inches
Curtis Ripley’s expressive, atmospheric abstract paintings are dynamic and assertive. His bold palette, often including a mix of primary colors, black, and white, gives his works a commanding presence. The history of each painting is visible, as the viewer is invited to follow Ripley’s energetic brush strokes under transparent layers and washes of oil paint. This sense of action and movement emerges and subsides as the eye moves across each canvas. “Although these paintings are primarily abstract, they do have subjects,” Ripley says. “They have to do with place, time, motion, the season, transience, shadows, music, and the emotion of color.” Ripley notes that poetry is perhaps the most important influence in his work. Like poems, each of his paintings shows an “economy of means” and openness to individual interpretation. His intuitive, lyrical compositions draw the viewer in and encourage quiet introspection.
Charles McGill, The Defiant Ones - To The Gallows, 2012, Reconfigured golf bag parts on wood panel, 48 x 48 x 17 inches
Charles McGill is perhaps best known for his outrageous constructions that address issues of race, class, and social mobility. Since 1996, he has been working with the unconventional medium of golf bags, deconstructed and rebuilt on to wood panels. He is the fictitious founder of the Former Black Militant Golf and Country Club, an expression of the satire that informs his work. In addition to denoting wealth and social exclusivity, golf has, as one reviewer notes, “a history of institutionalized racism and sexism.” However, his work has evolved beyond the initial direct satire of golf and now places more emphasis on process and the physicality of his unique materials. The material is stubborn and tough to work with and this resistance informs the final result. McGill notes that the expressive quality of the works derives primarily from the process itself: “Golf bags are not meant to come apart,” says McGill, “so there’s no way to make these pieces without getting really frustrated. Some of that frustration and emotion ends up in the work.” His newest work is semi-abstract and is the manifestation of McGill’s struggle with the unforgiving materials of stitched leather and vinyl. It makes use of humor, shock, and the materials of popular culture to gently prod the viewer toward a new perspective on contemporary social dynamics.
Changing Light and Assembled will premiere with a reception on First Friday, May 3, from 7-9 PM, at Page Bond Gallery, located at 1625 W. Main St. The exhibitions will remain on display through May 25.
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Artists! Galleries! Would you like your future First Friday events covered in these monthly articles? We might hear about your event anyway, but why leave it to chance? Email your press releases to andrew@rvamag.com.