Happenings Around Town

Art Whino is slowly but surely putting themselves on the radar with their contemporary art exhibits and art classes. The classes are their newest venture and cost between $400- $600. A little pricey in my opinion, but if Gocco printing, and stencil art is your thing, then I guess it’s worth it. I’m sure you are wondering what the hell Gocco printing is; I Googled it and Gocco Printing is a Japanese printing technique done with a small, table top, plastic looking apparatus. It’s supposed to be a good alternative to screen printing.

This Saturday (12/29/07) the guys at Dissident Display are having a holiday dance party with booze and hot DJ’s. The invite, which I received via Myspace bulletin, informed party goers to give monetary donations for “great holiday beverages”. So, I’m guessing there will not be an abundance of alcoholic drinks, unless you plan on coughing up some cash. The party will be at their gallery/art space, if you need directions or the address just visit them here

I know this is supposed to be an arts and events blog, but I refuse to list all the parties, ceremonies, and orgies taking place on New Years Eve. As I’m sure you know, every venue with a bar and a sound system will be hosting some type of event, so just take your pick from the vast array of over stimulation.

See you in ’08!

Breathe, Boom

Rahaleh Nassri’s production of Kia Cothorn’s; Breathe, Boom is a violently poetic portrayal of a female gang leader's coming of age. This is Corthorn’s first full production in Washington DC. She has been the recipient of a long list of grants and awards including the Daryl Roth Creative Spirit Award. Breathe, Boom follows Prix, played by Roxi Trapp - Dukes, from ages sixteen to thirty taking a look at her relationships with other gang members and her family. Through short burst of dialog and language that captures the essence of street life; Corthorn manages to draw us into each characters quirks and hearts. Roxi who is a dance choreographer/actress takes the character of Prix to another level using extreme facial expression and body language to express the inner turmoil of being in a gang but knowing that there is so much more to life.

Breathe, Boom runs through January 6, 2008. For more information visit The Studio Theater

Wall/Paper

In the Spring of 2007 the Transformer Gallery began a “flat file” of unframed works ranging in sizes 16" x 20" and smaller. Wall/paper highlights a number of pieces from this file including works by Andy Kozlowski and Lisa Marie Thalhammer. If the aforementioned artist’s names mean nothing to you don’t feel bad, I have included links to their sites so that when you go to the exhibit you can chat it up with all the artsy folks and not feel all uncultured and stuff. Transformer Gallery mainly showcases contemporary artist and their works, so if that is your thing then this is your exhibit. There 2007-2008 exhibition series is supported by a vast array of foundations including the Andy Warhol Foundation and The DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities.

The opening reception is Saturday, December 15, 2007, 7-9pm. The exhibit runs through January 19, 2008

For more information on the exhibit visit Transformer Gallery
For more info. on Lisa Marie Thalhammer click here
And for Andy Kozlowski click here

Tom Terrell

On November 29, 2007 we lost one of the best music journalist the DC area has ever known; Tom Terrell. Tom Terrell was a phenomenal music journalist who could smell good music miles away. According to his friends he always knew what was going on and never missed a beat. In addition to being a journalist, he was also a DJ and a photographer.
He got his start DJ’ing at DC Space in the late 70’s. From what I hear DC Space was the DC area’s premiere space for artist and musicians, kind of like Bus Boys and Poets, but without the stuffy commercial after taste. He also hosted numerous radio shows on stations across the area including; WPFW. He has written articles for Vibe, Essence, The Washington Citypaper and so many more magazines. His writing style was one of a kind. As soon as you start to read an article by him, you can tell this is a man that is comfortable with his “voice”. So many of us writers struggle to find our voice, but his just poured out into anything he wrote.
Tom Terrell will be greatly missed.

For more information on Tom Terrell and his writing visit Popmatters

Everybody needs a vacation

I am taking a mini vacation guys. I have A LOT of school work to catch up on. But, don't fret I will be updating Chocolate Milk again, in about a week. So, keep checking back. In the mean time, check out some of my cool links on the right of your screen

Art Whino: Justin Lovatos Solo Show

Art Whino is giving you double a dose of art, with the Justin Lovato solo show and a collaboration exhibit featuring twenty new artists.
Justin Lovato’s work is heavily influenced by video games and comic books, so many of his paintings have a dark fantasy quality. Lovatos time as a graffiti artist influenced him to incorporate the current political climate and urban life into his art. Many of the creatures he paints are animal hybrids that seem to be at peace or in some sort of distress. Texture and collage also play a large part in his work; this gives his pieces a rich, antique feel.
As if that wasn’t enough, Aphrodizia (Yoko K.) will be performing in the front gallery on the day of the opening!

The exhibit opening is on December 14, 2007 at the Art Whino Gallery. For more info. Visit Art Whino online.

Ai-Wen Wu Kratz

It seems to be a contradiction that such precise calculations could yield such lyrical, fluid drawings. The Ai-Wen Wu Kratz exhibit at the Museums of the Americas shows that there is beauty in such a contradiction. Ai-Wen has won multiple awards for her paintings, drawings and photographs and is also member of MOCADC . Ai-Wen is an example of an artist that truly loves and appreciates art as a meditation. She believes in listening to inner voice and knows that art can excite the senses and ultimately change the world.

Ai-Wen Wu Kratz work is on exhibit at the Museum of the Americas , in Doral Florida through December 1, 2007

Little Brother @ The Black Cat

Phonte and Big Pooh of Little Brother bring you back to a simpler time in hip hop, before gold diggers were getting down and murder music. The North Carolina natives debuted their first album, The Listening in 2003 after touring the underground North Carolina hip hop circuit before that they released a prior single in 2001 entitled, Speed. Little Brother originally consisted of three member; Big Pooh, Phonte, and 9^th Wonder, however 9^th Wonder did not participate on Little Brother’s latest release, Get Back. Even though the group is short a member they do not fall short on conscious lyrics and jazzy beats.

See Little Brother perform at The Black Cat Saturday December 1, 2007, along with Evidence (of Dilated Peoples), and Reef the Lost Cause.

Morris Louis Now: An American Master Revisited

A good way to describe The Morris Louis Now exhibit is; sensual and undulant. Standing in front of his paintings takes you to a place of pure pleasure. While each piece is huge measuring 8-12 feet in height, they are not at all over bearing in fact, they soothe you. Perhaps it is because each piece is made by staining a raw canvas with watered down acrylic paints, the out come is shadowy faint waves of color that blend and bleed into each other. Morris Louis did not always paint in this manner, he got his start painting realist paintings at the Maryland Institute of Fine and Applied Arts, it wasn’t until later in life that he found his calling, and started to create these abstract colorful pieces.

Morris Louis Now: An American Master Revisited will be at the Hirshhorn through January 6, 2008

Grand High Ladner Release Party

Grand High is a Washington DC based company that designs everything from shoes to album cover art. Over the last year they have toured all over Asia with K Swiss as part of the K Spray 2 International Stencil Art tour. Grand High’s newest project, the Grand High Ladner, will be introduced to the DC public on Saturday night at their release party where you can see live art installments by SDCTV customs, view rare and limited edition sneaker displays, and move your feet to the sounds of DJ 2 Tone Jones. This party will be a sneaker pimps fantasy!

The Grand High Ladner Release Party will be at Liv nightclub on Saturday November 17, 2007 from 5-9pm.

For more information visit Grand High