Image of Sam Gilliam and Rockne Krebs (C) Carol Harrison.
This summer, in partnership with the Washington Studio School, Day Eight will be producing a show of public art works — built and unbuilt — by Rockne Krebs and Sam Gilliam. Curated by Mollie Berger and with catalogue essay by John Anderson, the exhibit will show the process by which two exceptional DC artists created their public artworks.
Rockne Krebs (1938-2011) is best known as the pioneer of “sculpture without object”, artworks using lasers, prisms, air, and fog. His public art works were commissioned for the National Mall, Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, NASA, Disney World, and by numerous museums, and this exhibit includes never before displayed items made available by the Krebs Trust.
Sam Gilliam (1933- ) might be best known for his works removed from the frame, canvases dripping with color that he draped first across gallery walls, and ultimately across city buildings. His commissions include subway stations, corporate installations temporary and permanent, museums and art fairs, and this exhibit includes never before displayed items from the collection of the architect that worked with Gilliam on those commissions for more than twenty years, Steven Spurlock.
The exhibit and catalogue grow from Day Eight’s recently created Jefferson Place Gallery archive, www.JeffersonPlaceGallery.com, which preliminarily documents DC’s first artist cooperative gallery, and the work of thirty DC artists who worked through the gallery (including Rockne Krebs and Sam Gilliam.)
The exhibition will be on display in the Washington Studio School’s Gallery, at 2129 S Street, NW Washington, DC 20008, from July 19 to August 3rd, 2018. An opening celebration and gallery talk are to be scheduled.
Curator Mollie Berger notes, “This exhibition brings together two innovative artists, and explores their cutting-edge projects through working drawings and models. These intricate plans provide insight into the artist’s mind and process.”
The project is funded through a grant from the DC Commission on the Arts to project director Robert Bettmann, and produced through partnerships with the non-profits Day Eight and The Washington Studio School. The mission of Day Eight is to empower individuals and communities to participate in the arts through the production, publication, and promotion of creative projects. For more information, visit dayeight.org. The Washington Studio School (WSS), located in DC’s Kalorama neighborhood, offers classes primarily in drawing, painting, and sculpture to adults and high-school teens. WSS presents exhibits through out the year in the main floor gallery and second floor library. For more information on the Washington Studio School visit washingtonstudioschool.org.
Mollie Berger, curatorial assistant at the National Gallery of Art, focuses her research on artists of Washington, DC. Her aim is to contextualize Washington art within the narrative of modern art.
John Anderson has written criticism for Washington City Paper, The Washington Times, and Sculpture. He was recently selected for a 2017 art writing workshop through the Andy Warhol Foundation | Creative Capital in partnership with AIAC/USA.