I've been busy trying to square a few things away before leaving for Christmas and New Year's. Apologies for the complete lack of activity here.

Below is a tentative description of one thing in particular that's been keeping me busy lately: our next show at the AAC, Collectors Select. It'll be the first project at the Center that I've helped shape from start to finish.

(Note: With the exception of one piece, none of the work in this show belongs to the collectors involved. We're not trying to show off their stuff; we're just trying to pin down their particular sensibilities/fascinations.)

For COLLECTORS SELECT, the Arlington Arts Center has collaborated with notable area collectors to create six distinctive exhibitions, each exploring a different theme or aspect of contemporary art practice. The show encompasses everything from traditional sculpture and painting, to video and installation, to graffiti. Artists included range from emerging local talent to established international figures.

Heather and Tony Podesta
Between a Rock and a Hard Place
In this show, the Podestas highlight work that includes references to the natural landscape. The show includes photographic works by D.C. performance artist Kathryn Cornelius; traditional, technically exquisite landscape photography by Steve Altermann; and a site specific stone and wire sculpture by Barbara Liotta that will flow dramatically from floor to ceiling.
Philip Barlow
Barlow explores the themes that have long driven his collecting—and curatorial—habits: Geometric abstraction, architectural ornament, and numbers or codes. Featured in the show are paintings and drawings by Simon Gouvernor, Wayne Edson Bryan, and Michelle Kong.
Philippa Hughes
The Pink Line Project’s Philippa Hughes showcases Philadelphia D.C. graffiti artist Tim Conlon—who, along with his crew, will work directly on the walls of the Tiffany gallery, making a large mural that will provide a jarring counterpoint to the Center’s 1930s floor-to-ceiling Tiffany windows.
Daniel Levinas
Levinas, an avid collector of avante-garde Latin American art, brings an international art star to the Center: León Ferarri, winner of the Golden Lion in the 52nd Venice Biennale in 2007. Ferrari will exhibit his heliographs—large prints that resemble labyrinthine city plans, and reflect on the political oppression of the Argentinean military dictatorship in the 1980s.
Henry L. Thaggert
Thaggert focuses on the videos and photographs of Bradley McCallum and Jacqueline Tarry, a married bi-racial performance art duo from Brooklyn whose works explore issues of race, gender, and trust.
Julian Fore
Relates the work of local contemporary artists to his interests in modernism and decorative art—featuring painters Janis Goodman & Jeffrey Smith, sculptor John Dreyfuss, photographs by William Christenberry—plus a Sam Gilliam painting from his personal collection, as well as a piece of 16th century porcelain. (tentative)