Sparkplug: PROCESS AND PRACTICE Exhibition to Open Next Month at DCAC

Process & Practice will be on view February 17 - March 19, 2017 at DCAC, with an opening Reception set for Friday, February 17 from 7 to 9 pm, and an Artist Talk slated for Sunday, March 12 at 5 pm.

Curated by AnDrew Johnson for Sparkplug, DCAC's Artist Collective, the exhibition will feature works by Héctor Cataño, Eric Celarier, Alexis Gomez, Sarah Jamison, Ashley Ja'nae, Zofie Lang, Kelly Posey, Katie Pumphrey, Renee Regan, and Julie Wills.

Process & Practice comprises painting, drawing, sculpture, and mixed media installation and assemblages. The exhibition emphasizes the diverse and interrelated processes of each artist, noting the physical, mental, psychological, spiritual, and social motivations to create. As a result, instead of observing a work of art as the final product on the wall, the show highlights the work as a sum of an artist's process. For instance, artist Ashley Ja'nae's methodically drawn portraits of black women use geometric lines and shapes. Each figure represents a literal placement of black female bodies within white spaces, while the meditative repetition of line serves as a therapeutic process to heal from the traumas of patriarchAl White supremacy.

Whether challenging our endless stream of wastefulness, critiquing the ubiquity and oversaturation of Internet language and imagery, deconstructing the art object as a commodity fetish, or exploring the harsh meeting of what is longed for and what is permissible, the exhibition highlights the important role process plays in the life of an art object.

Process & Practice begins a two-year tenure of the newest generation of Sparkplug artists, while prompting the viewer to move beyond what they simply see.

Process & Practice will be open from February 17 through March 19, 2017. Opening reception on Friday, February 17 from 7 to 9 pm. Gallery talk on Sunday, March 12 at 5 pm. Gallery hours are Wednesdays through Sundays from 2 to 7 pm. All events are free and open to the public and are at DC Arts Center (DCAC), 2438 18th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009. For more information call 202-462-7833, email info@dcartscenter.org, or visit dcartscenter.org.

Image: Ashley Ja'nae, I am Whole, 2014, Pen on paper, 20" x 24" Copyright © 2017 District of Columbia Arts Center, All rights reserved.