September 7 – October 28, 2018
Presented by IA&A at Hillyer (formerly Hillyer Art Space) in partnership with the Washington Sculptors Group (WSG)
Image: Jacqueline Maggi, Starry Night, ebony wood, zirconia, acrylic rod, and marble, 12 x 12 x 8 in., 2016.
PARTICIPATING ARTISTS: Ursula Achternckamp, Alan Binstock, Janet Brome, Marc Fromm, Judith Goodman, Caroline Hatfield, Linda Hesh, Simon Horn, Margit Jäschke, Michael Krenz, Esther Eunjin Lee, Jacqueline Maggi, Georg Mann, Joan Mayfield, Nina Viktoria Naussed, Sara Parent-Ramos, Alim Pasht-Han, Kristina Penhoet, Judith Pratt, Diane Szczepaniak, Marilyn Ugiansky and Gil Ugiansky, Steve Wanna, and Janet Wittenberg
CURATED BY: Artemis Herber with Dr. Ines Janet Engelmann
JUROR: Laura Roulet, Independent Curator and Writer
OPENING RECEPTION:
Friday, September 7, 6-9 pm
CURATOR/JUROR/ARTIST TALK:
IA&A at Hillyer
Thursday, September 20th, 7-9 pm
ART ALL NIGHT AT HILLYER: CITYWIDE FESTIVAL
Saturday, September 29, 7 pm-midnight
PANEL DISCUSSION:
Harvard’s Center for Hellenic Studies
3100 Whitehaven St NW, Washington, DC 20008
Sunday, October 28, 2 pm
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION:
MICRO-MONUMENTS II: UNDERGROUND brings together 23 artists from diverse backgrounds to focus a contemporary lens on ideas and concepts that humanity has grappled with for centuries. Reflecting on the ring sanctuary of Pömmelte, often referred to as the German ‘Stonehenge,” the exhibiting artists investigate deep time and explore the idea of what is hidden below ground, as well as what will be discovered, unearthed, and revealed.
This exhibition aims to reveal a deeper understanding of people’s lives throughout history, and to allow contemporary artists to express their interpretations on topics of the cosmos, nature, current culture, and world heritage. Using the Nebra Sky Disc as a reference point—an artifact found near Pömmelte depicting a Bronze Age creator’s vision of the cosmos – the selected artworks are no larger than the Disc’s diameter of 12.6 inches. These archeological discoveries are evocative touchstones that invite contemplation of enduring questions about our history and place in the world. Can reflecting upon the past help broaden our understanding of ourselves and relationship to one another? Can rethinking how we study and understand the past give us insight into navigating the future? These are some of the questions examined by 15 Washington, DC artists along with 8 German artists, bringing global perspectives to shared human experiences.
The theme for the exhibition came from the vision of our coordinating curator, Artemis Herber, with assistance from her German counterpart, Dr. Ines Janet Engelmann, who invited the 8 German artists to take part in this trans-Atlantic project. A call for entries was organized by the Washington Sculptors Group for the selection of the Washington-area artists, with independent curator and writer Laura Roulet serving as the juror.
ABOUT THE JUROR:
Laura Roulet is an independent curator and writer, specializing in contemporary and Latin American art. She was one of five international curators chosen for the citywide public art project, 5×5, a major initiative sponsored by the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities in 2012. She has organized exhibitions in Mexico, Puerto Rico and the U.S., including at the OAS Art Museum of the Americas, the American University Museum, Katzen Center, the Mexican Cultural Institute, Artisphere, Hillyer Art Space, Project 4, Fusebox, and the DC Art Center. Recent exhibits and programming include A Dark and Scandalous Rockfall (Mexican Cultural Institute), Foon Sham: Escape (Katzen Center), Come Back to Rockville! a participatory, public art project for VisArts (Rockville, MD), Washington Produced Artists (40th anniversary for Washington Project for the Arts), the National Drawing Invitational (Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, AR), CSA: 40 Years of Community-Sourced Art (Arlington Arts Center, VA), and Medios y ambientes in Mexico City. She was a mentoring curator for DCAC and the first mentoring curator for VisArts in Rockville, MD in 2015.
Roulet is a frequent contributor to Sculpture magazine. Her other publications include many catalogue essays, encyclopedia entries, articles in American Art, Art Journal, Art Nexus, and the book Contemporary Puerto Rican Installation Art, the Guagua Aerea, the Trojan Horse and the Termite. She worked on the Ana Mendieta retrospective, organized by the Hirshhorn Museum in 2004, and contributed to that catalogue.
The Washington Sculptors Group and IA&A at Hillyer
The Washington Sculptors Group (WSG) is a volunteer, non-profit organization dedicated to promoting awareness of sculpture and fostering exchanges among sculptors, sculpture enthusiasts, and the public. Organized in 1984, membership has grown to almost 400; WSG sponsors frequent public programs, and organize professional sculpture exhibitions juried by prominent curators. Visit www.washingtonsculptors.org to join WSG, to view the Web Gallery of members’ work, and to subscribe to the WSG newsletter.
IA&A at Hillyer (formerly Hillyer Art Space) is the Washington-area initiative of International Arts & Artists, a non-profit organization dedicated to increasing cross-cultural understanding and exposure to the arts internationally through exhibitions, programs, and services to artists, arts institutions, and the public. Hillyer fulfills this mission through a series of exhibitions and public programs that feature local, regional, and international artists. Hillyer’s exhibition series focuses on under-represented artists, both emerging and established, that have not had a major solo exhibition within the last three years.
Washington Sculptors Group
PO Box 42534
Washington DC 20015
(202) 686-8696
www.washingtonsculptors.org
Supporting Sculptors and the Arts Since 1984
IA&A at Hillyer
9 Hillyer Ct NW
Washington, DC 20008
Tel. (202) 338-0325
www.athillyer.org
MICRO-MONOUMENTS II: UNDERGROUND is presented by IA&A at Hillyer in collaboration with the Washington Sculptors Group and State Chancellery and Ministry of Culture of the State of Saxony-Anhalt.
This project is supported by the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities, an agency supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.