There’s still time to nominate local icons for Best of D.C.
What’s new this weekend in local arts
In the days before everyone could alter images with every Instagram filter known to man, photo manipulation took more than just a tap of a screen. The National Gallery of Art’s latest exhibition examines these techniques in “Faking It: Manipulated Photography Before Photoshop,” opening Sunday. Read Louis Jacobson’s preview from our Spring Arts Guide here. Also opening at the NGA is “Pre-Raphaelites: Victorian Art and Design, 1848-1900,” the first major survey of Pre-Raphaelite art, acknowledged as Britain’s first avant-garde art movement, in the U.S. On view Mondays–Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. to May 5, at the National Gallery of Art, 4th St. and Constitution Ave. NW. Free.
Painter and mixed-media artist Michelle Peterson-Albandoz presents a series of works made from reclaimed wood that she picked up in urban areas. It’s not as pristine as the stuff sold at Home Depot, but the weatheredness adds an extra dimension to the work when Peterson-Albandoz incorporates it into her patterened works. On view Wednesdays–Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sundays, noon to 5 p.m. to March 24 at Long View Gallery, 1234 9th St. NW.
Arriving at Artisphere this weekend is “LEO: The Anti-Gravity Show.” Berlin-based performance troupe Circle of Eleven presents this surreal piece where people walk on walls, spin on their heads, and leave viewers questioning which way is up. Check out a preview and try to wrap your mind around it on Artisphere’s website. February 15 and 16 at 8 p.m. at Artisphere, 1101 Wilson Blvd., Arlington. $25–$30.
Now on view at the Art Museum of the Americas, “On Common Ground” features works by emerging artists from Hispaniola. Five artists from the Dominican Republic and five artists from Haiti present views of the island and explore the commonalities the two nations share. On view Tuesdays–Sundays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Art Museum of the Americas, 201 18th St. NW. Free.
Curator’s Office presents a series of new works by painter Andrea Way. The works in “Venetian Dream” are, yes, inspired by a dream Way had while staying in Venice that prompted her to change the linear patterns in her work. This exhibit runs in conjunction with Way’s career retrospective, “Andrea Way: 1982–2012,” now on view at the AU Museum. On view Wednesdays–Saturdays, noon to 6 p.m. at Curator’s Gallery, 1515 14th St. NW. Free.
Now on view at Project 4 Gallery is “Adaptation,” a group show of site-specific works by Victoria Greising, Lisa Kellner, and Caitlin Masley. All three artists use traditional materials, like clothing, silks, and molded pieces of foam, to create new environments within a room of the gallery. While Kellner’s installation brings to mind disease, erosion, and decay, Greising’s fabric pieces connect object and memory in a way that feels almost comforting. On view Wednesdays–Saturdays, noon to 6 p.m. at Project 4 Gallery, 1353 U St. NW, Suite 302. Free.
Top: Yves Klein, Harry Shunk, and Jean Kender, Leap into the Void. Courtesy National Gallery of Art.
Left: Andrea Way, City. Courtesy Andrea Way and Curator’s Office.