Late Summer Art Dregs

Over the past few weeks I've been to some late summer gallery shows around town. There was a surprising amount of 2D work up, something I have felt a real lack of during my first year here in the District. Among others, I've been checking out G Fine Art, Conner Contemporary, Irvine, Transformer, Flashpoint, Arlington Arts Center, etc. etc. etc.

Something I have noticed: drawing/painting here seems to be more about the image than the paint. I find this a bit surprising considering DC's legacy of process oriented color field abstraction. Case in point is Matthew Mann's work up now at Flashpoint. Beautiful, funny images. I found myself wondering what they'd be like as frescoes or as silk screens or as pasted-up posters on the street.



A counterpoint would be Philip Hinge's paintings, two of which were included in Conner Contemporary's latest Academy show. He seems to be grooving on a David Hockney/Mary Heilmann tune. Nice.



(top image is Matthew Mann's painting from his Cinecitta Chapel series; bottom image is Philip Hinge's Lunch Table.)