Artful Weekend May 13-15 – The Art League

Welcome to Artful Weekend, our guide to fun and interesting ways to enjoy art in person or virtually.

This weekend: The May 2022 Open Exhibit, Our Fractured Life by Sally Davies, and a Jacqueline Saunders Retrospective at the League; En May, fais ce qu’il te plaît! at Washington Printmakers Gallery; Fragile Beauty at the CAH gallery; and Visions & Visage by Lindsay Mullen and Hetty Baiz at Calloway Fine Art.

May 2022 Open Exhibit

Open Exhibits at The Art League present an array of works in a variety of mediums created by our member artists. This month’s exhibit features 98 works in oil, acrylic, watercolor, ceramic, and stone. The May Open Exhibit was juried by photographer and book artist Eliot Dudik. Eliot’s photo credits include Smithsonian Magazine, The New York Times, CNN, and Oxford American Magazine. His work belongs in collections at The VMFA, MoMA Library, Chrysler Museum of Art, and Yale’s Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library. The May 2022 Open Exhibit is on view through June 5.

Our Fractured Life by Sally Davies

Sally Davies presents her solo exhibit Our Fractured Life, which explores the disconnect, isolation, and uncertainty felt during Covid-19. In a dramatic and poignant way, her large canvases with handmade tiles seem to ask the viewer, “Are we falling apart? Or piecing our lives back together?”

Jacqueline Saunders Retrospective

The Art League is honored to present a retrospective exhibit in memory of one of our most beloved artists. Jacqueline Saunders, Jackie, taught and exhibited at The Art League for over 20 years. She was known for her fabulous gestural hand with watercolor and ink, particularly in figurative and floral studies. She was just as well known for her incredible energy, joy, and love for both the work and those around her. Always moving and always working, Jackie was as prolific with her work as she was generous with her time. The Art League faculty, staff, artists, and students still feel her loss, and we are glad to be able to share a little bit of her legacy with the broader community. The Jacqueline Saunders Retrospective is on view through June 5.

En May, fais ce qu’il te plaît!

French artist and photographer Naurya Pelletier-Bacquaert presents a selection of photographs and digital drawings in tribute to spring to Washington Printmakers Gallery. “My artistic work focuses on highlighting aesthetics, shapes, textures, and colors: from black and white to pastel… from pastel to bright colors, and from simple shapes to more complex ones, to compose an abstract and dreamlike visual,” she says. The title comes from the French saying: “In May, do what you like!” Says Pelletier-Bacquaert, “The beautiful escape of spring comes fully with May, which finally tells us: do what you like, the sun is there! After the bad days, happiness comes!” En May, fais ce qu’il te plaît! is on view through May 29, when there will be a closing reception from 2:30 – 4 p.m.; 1641 Wisconsin Avenue, NW.

Fragile Beauty

Fragile Beauty features works by 33 D.C. artists addressing an array of environmental injustices. Their art and vision advocate awareness, mindfulness, consciousness, and stewardship, offering pathways towards personal partnership with our planet. They tell their stories with painting, sculpture, prints, photography, and installations that  challenge, enlighten, and inform a sense of wonder for exploring the beauty, power, and magnificent mystery of our home planet. It is on view through July 1 at the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities Gallery, 200 I Street SE.

 Visions & Visage by Lindsay Mullen and Hetty Baiz

Visions & Visage is a dual exhibition by Hetty Baiz and Lindsay Mullen at Calloway Fine Art. Both artists, while choosing different subject matter, create paintings of rich surfaces constructed from layers of interwoven color, line and form. In conversation together they evoke a feeling of transience, a fleeting presence of people and place. This exhibit is dedicated to the people and lands of Ukraine. 10% of all proceeds will go to the charity Voices of Children, which supports Ukrainian Children to process the trauma of war through art therapy. On view through June 11, 1643 Wisconsin Avenue, NW.

Enjoy the weekend!