With all the sunshine expected this weekend, your skin will definitely thank you for a little indoor time (check out some of the past health columns if you don’t believe it). Outdoors, the National Mall will have plenty of activities this weekend from free yoga to the fan favorite Cherry Blossoms. If you are headed downtown, however, be sure to hide from the sun a bit and leave some time to stop at the National Gallery of Art.
In its last weekend on display, the exhibit “Editions with Additions: Working Proofs by Jasper Johns” offers a vast look into the artist’s uses of many types of media from paint and ink to pastels. In addition, the exhibit features 45 proofs for etchings, lithographs and screenprints, according to the National Gallery’s Web site.
Johns’ proofs are split up into two galleries in the museum. The first focuses on his works from the 1960s and ‘70s, showcasing some of the most common themes of his artwork such as body parts, the alphabet and targets.
Meanwhile, the other gallery highlights later works from the 1980s and ‘90s and exudes a much different tone from that of the early selections. These more advanced works have an autobiographical tone, incorporating family photos and other prized possessions of the artist.
“The works are selected from a collection of approximately 1,700 proofs for Johns’ prints that he has maintained and carefully annotated over four decades,” according to the National Gallery’s Web site.
Not sure Jasper Johns is for you? Never fear — just head over to the Phillips Collection’s “Georgia O’Keeffe: Abstraction” exhibit for what’s sure to be a worthy and provocative experience.
Though O’Keeffe is normally associated with her infamous flowers or New Mexican cliffs, her abstract work is remarkable as well. According to a press release from the Phillips Museum, “By assembling works from her entire career, this exhibition reveals O’Keeffe as a painter who adopted abstraction as early as 1915, worked extensively with it throughout the 1920s, and used it thereafter as the foundation for her art.”
The exhibit features over 100 of O’Keeffe’s works from 1915 through the ‘70s including not only paintings and watercolors, but also her sculptures and drawings. Much of O’Keeffe’s early career centered on abstract style, yet as time went on she became more conscious of how her art was being viewed. Though she kept an abstract undertone, she switched to a much more representational style.
This exhibit is nationally acclaimed and will only be available to see until May 9. For more information, visit the Phillips Collection’s Web site at www.phillipscollection.org.
Offering something a little different, on April 3 the Freer and Sackler Gallery will be hosting the eighth annual “Cherry Blossom Anime Marathon.”
In connection with the National Cherry Blossom Festival, the Freer will highlight another aspect of Japanese culture with an all-day marathon of anime films. Tickets will be given out on a first come, first served basis a half-hour before each film starts. Stop by for one or stay for the entire day. However much time you chose to spend, the marathon will without a doubt shake-up your weekend. For more information, visit www.asia.si.edu/events/films.asp.
From classic art to great exhibits and Japanese anime, art museums around the District are offering plenty of options this weekend, so get out there and take in some culture.
You can reach this staff writer at ostitilis@theeagleonline.com.
