Spotlight on Local Artists: Billy Colbert

Billy Colbert is a mixed media artist who lives and works in Washington, D.C. His artwork is recognizable for the dynamic, complex layering of imagery that has been screen printed on aluminum and painted over to created even more depth. Colbert has incorporated photographs of family members, criminal mug shots from the early 1900s, and popular advertising icons into reverberant and compelling pieces that have been exhibited throughout the United States. He is also designing a clothing label, Policy, set to debut on July 31st.

In his work, Colbert asks us to recognize that we are constantly prodded to think a certain way, buy a certain product, and invest in an uncertain sense of entitlement that results from living in a society obsessed with and reliant upon the industry of manufacturing perfection. But to Colbert, beauty is found in the eschewed shirt collar, in the eyes of convicts that pierce through what is probably the only portrait taken of them in their lifetime, and in the sheer delight of watching the world’s layers haphazardly unfold. "I see myself as a DJ, grabbing records from all over and making sounds that are visual, reconnecting stories into a loose vision."

Colbert sees beauty in the instant moment, an untamed, essential exterior. In that moment, looking beyond the alienating fortresses that construct our persona, he recognizes a universal interconnectedness. To see what he sees, we have to rediscover the soul so diligently buried under the superficial, technological, and defensive silt that has cloaked what bonds us all: our absolute, soulful humanity.

Billy Colbert’s work is currently on display at the John A. Wilson Building in downtown D.C. He has two solo exhibitions opening soon: one at the Smith Farm Center for Healing on U St. opening on July 11th and another at Mason Murer Fine Art in Atlanta opening on August 8th. A happy hour launch party for Policy is taking place on July 31st from 5-9pm.

For more information, visit http://www.blogger.com/www.billycolbert.com and http://www.policybrand.com/

Check out these links for short films on Billy Colbert:
http://video.aol.com/video-detail/billy-colbert-mug-shots/102225259
http://video.aol.com/video-detail/billy-colbert-corporate-merger/1124669484

Emerge in action!

One of our Emerge artists- Alberto Roblest- filmed a short movie on the Art Walk experience using his cellphone to send to his mother and sister so they could get a taste of it. His friend
Audioconfigurado supplied the soundtrack.

If you make a short movie about Art Walk, feel free to share it with us! Maybe we'll post yours too!

Emerge

ART WALK


The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, in cooperation with the Washington Convention Center, have commissioned twelve local artists to participate in the third thought provoking, large-scale outdoor exhibition. Each of these diverse artworks is linked by a common theme – Emerge. The theme for the first exhibition was entitled Metamorphosis and the theme for the second exhibition was entitled Drift. The Art Walk exhibition will display artworks by artists of different disciplines until new construction at this site begins.

BEGINNINGS

Tony Brunswick
digital photograph
2007

I chose my piece "Beginnings" because I felt it reflected a sense of hope and excitement that I find in the word "Emerge." One might not guess that eventually the hot orange glass in my image would eventually become a beautiful green vase, but it is does. It's just not quite green or vase-like yet. It had to go through the fire and through the forming first. There is a certain amount of faith in the process of emerging, of becoming, that I find inspiring (if not a little terrifying at times). It's believing in something not yet entirely visible. And the "believing in" quality, I think, is the very thing that determines the extent to which something, or someone, emerges. The glassblower could have stopped here, at this orange and hot point in the process, but she didn't. And to her own surprise, an amazing green vase emerged.

OPPOSING FORCES

Thomas Bucci
digital drawing
2007

The 4-panel image is 4 variations on the theme of opposing forces and how the emerge in the formation of societies and cultural values. The individual titles are: Haves and Have Nots, A Smoking Controversy, Detente and One for All and All for One.

HELLTOWN 2007

Michael Crossett
photography and digital collage
2007

Even as an adult, I love to watch the draggers as they emerge on the horizon and make their way into Provincetown harbor.

NASCENT FLIGHT

Michele de la Menardiere
screen printing and digital media
2007

Nascent Flight -- created using screen-printing and digital media -- is a musing on the opening of human spirit to universal consciousness. The birds symbolize merging into a larger reality while the Indian symbols refer to Gayatri, the goddess of awakening. The piece is a deep exploration and meditation on the sublime.

WE ARE HERE AND WE ARE MOVING

Kristen L. Hayes
oil and pastel collage on paper
2007

The work speaks to gentrification, particularly that of Washington, D.C., and how some of us have decided to resist. But resistance does not mean that one must be still and stagnant. You are continually moving towards mental, emotional, physical and spiritual growth-with such a courageous decision.

EMERGE

Kate Kaman & Joel Erland
digital file
2006

Awed by the scale of the DC Artwalk 2008 project, Kate Kaman & Joel Erland decided to experiment. Somewhat of a departure from their previous work, EMERGE is reflection on some of their favorite virtues in contemporary culture: self-awareness, innocent irreverence, and mirth. The viewer intuitively sees the groundhog and his insect friends as protagonists - not mere animals. The message is post-ironic: I emerge, therefore I exist. The artists asked themselves, “Is it wise to make an artwork that deals with emergence and existence? And if so, what if that artwork made you smile?”

THE OUTER OF THE INNER

Alberto Roblest
digital image
2007

The Outer of the Inner is a reflection on the diversity, multiculturalism, and many languages of Washington, DC. And how, despite our apparent differences, the DNA of each man and woman intimately connects us with each other and our ancestors reaching all the way back to the beginning.

El Afuera del Adentro, es una reflexión en torno a la diversidad racial, el multiculturalismo y la polisemia de una ciudad como DC. Esto es, que a pesar de las diferencias aparentes, detrás de cada hombre y de cada mujer, estamos todos en una intima conexión que nos une unos a otros con el principio.

MANY WATERS

Kyungmi Shin
photo and painting collage
2007

In Many Waters, I combined photographic and graphic and painterly elements to express movements in nature and culture. The juxtaposition of photographic and man-made elements allude to the relationship between culture and nature as well as the growth and changes that occur in both as time passes.

PARALLEL LINES
from the series, MY GEOMETRY

Bo Simeon
digital file
2008

H. Hastings once said, “Piet Mondrian’s geometric forms and Jackson Pollack’s random patterns both capture important parts of nature. Can an appropriate geometry combine the complexity of Pollack’s patterns with the simplicity of Mondrian’s descriptions?” I believe that my work is a clear answer to the question above. It provides a bridge between the excessive geometric order of Euclid and the chaos of intuitive gesture.

THE MEMORY OF TOMORROW

Ira Tattelman & Thomas Drymon
digital photo composition
2007

The Memory of Tomorrow is a photo composition that explores the relationship between the body, light, time and space while suggesting some the feelings and emotions that emerge before, during and after a wedding.

LINEAGE LINES

Ben Volta
with Grover Washington Jr. Middle School
of the Philadelphia School District
digital print
2007

Our collaborative artwork contains drawing fragments from the family heritage of all the participants. These drawing fragments overlap and intertwine to create unexpected relationships with unanticipated meanings. The art draws viewers into the connections that we have made from within our group’s diverse cultural background. Our hope is that through our art we might kindle the same kind of creative connections on a social level, contrary to forces that might separate us in an increasingly diverse society.
LIVING DRAWING: EMERGE

Anita Walsh
rubber, birch, brass on plywood
2006

My work celebrates simple rituals that we do every day: scrubbing the floor, noticing a rubber band snap, buying potatoes. An inner dialogue begins between our voices of utility and possibility. In a single moment, ordinary objects become tools for self-reflection and mindfulness. Visitors to my work witness the natural cycle of evolution while participating in redefining the meaning of an object in a moment of time.

Free Tour of the Wilson Building

At 12 p.m. on Wednesday January 30, the public is invited to the Wilson Building for a guided tour through the City Hall public collection of art on permanent display on floors 1-5 of the Wilson building. The tour will be led by a local artist featured in the
collection- Ellyn Weiss.
The City Hall Collection, "HeArt of the City", has been assembled over the past two years under the sponsorship of the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. It is the richest and largest permanent exhibition of the work of local artists in the city, featuring a broad range of work, from internationally known artists such as Jacob Kainen, Sam Gilliam and William Christenberry, to work by most of the artists of significance working in our area now. All styles and media are included. The collection truly provides a window into the scope of creative talent and energy that DC offers today.
This is a unique chance to enjoy the collection along with one of the artists and to share your responses. This will be a bi-monthly occurrence.
The tour is free; however space is limited. Please RSVP to beth.baldwin@dc.gov with the number in your party. Meet at the receptionist's desk on the first floor near the Pennsylvania Avenue entrance - the building is located at 1350 Pennsylvania Ave NW. ID is required to enter the building.

SW Call Box Project

The Washington DC Southwest Neighborhood Assembly History Task Force Call Box Committee, in collaboration with Cultural Tourism DC, seeks artists to participate in Art on Call. This public arts project is a city-wide effort led by Cultural Tourism DC in partnership with the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities and the District Department of Transportation to restore Washington, DC's historic abandoned police and fire Call Boxes as neighborhood artistic icons.

Art on Call challenges artists to use existing police or fire Call Boxes as frames for the artist's unique and creative image or design that can be permanently installed within the call box.

Deadline: January 11th at midnight.

For more information regarding this opportunity and for a copy of the prospectus please email swcallboxproject@gmail.com.