7 Reasons to See AAC’s 2013 FALL SOLOS

As a grassroots arts center AAC must not only understand but also participate in the emerging movements of the art world. One of the key aspects of our mission is to support new artists, which  also allows us to bring the best of contemporary art to the Arlington community. For our semiannual SOLOS exhibitions, emerging artists from the Mid-Atlantic region are encouraged to submit proposals to be reviewed by a group of expert jurors.

For at least 17 years, SOLOS has been the space and the opportunity for emerging artists to realize projects that they’ve been developing. The selection process is rigorous, and the ranks of past jurors include the likes of Karen Milbourne, curator for the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art; Klaus Ottman, Director of the Phillips Collection’s Center for the Study of Modern Art and curator-at-large; and Melissa Keys, an international independent curator formerly of the Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts (PICA), Australia.

For the line up this fall, our special guest panelists were Molly Donovan, Associate Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the National Gallery of Art, and noted local artist Dan Steinhilber. With them, we’re proud to bring you yet another FALL SOLOS exhibition full of exceptionally creative, bold, and local artwork.

1. With your help, artist Matthew Fishel (previously spotlighted on our blog) met the Kickstarter goal for his experimental installation in the Tiffany Gallery. Along with Fishel, we’re featuring six additional excellent artists.

2. Stephanie Williams’ work focuses on the human body, fragmentation, and reorientation. Her show includes images that can be drawn on by gallery visitors, which she will then reconfigure in an ongoing act of creation. During this past summer Williams taught art classes at AAC.

3. The experience of growing up in a multicultural home  informs Kristina Bilonick’s multimedia installation Folklore, which is an abstract timeline of the Jimmy Carter era. Bilonick also appeared at AAC in the She Got Game and CTRL+P exhibitions during January and June 2012, respectively.

4. Paul Thulin’s show takes award-winning photographs from his Pine Tree Ballads series and expands them into a multi-sensory installation about family and myth.

5. Ping Shen combines the ancient Gongbi technique with contemporary subjects to create delicate, detailed watercolor paintings that have won awards both stateside and in China.

6. Jennie Thwing uses video, ranging from wall-size projections to small monitors, to create narratives revolving around her favored themes of the anthropomorphism of nature, trash, and human environments.

7. Amy Chan constructs playful, surrealistic compositions that act as meditations on color, texture, and the natural world, introducing ambiguity to formerly familiar images and shapes.

We’re proud to feature these artists in our gallery spaces, and trust that you’ll find something eye-opening or even jaw-dropping in these cutting-edge shows.

In conjunction with FALL SOLOS Resident Artist Katie Lynch Thibault will open Airfoil, a solo show in our Wyatt Gallery. For an email reminder about these shows, sign up for our newsletter – you’ll also find out about other events and classes at AAC!

Speaking of events, here’s a must-attend: The opening reception for the 2013 FALL SOLOS is November 2, here in the Arlington Arts Center, at 6 PM. With free food and drinks downstairs and open studios upstairs, there will be lots to enjoy!

-Written by Cody Vander Clute, AAC’s Curatorial & Exhibitions Intern