The American University Museum in the Katzen Arts Center is displaying eight new collections from Sept. 7 to Dec. 8.
The museum routinely features new art collections each semester from local D.C. artists, global artists and artists featured by the Alper Initiative for Washington Art.
The collections span a range of themes including political figures, political cartoons, bipartisanship, corruption, the interconnectedness of life, social caricature and fragility. Several artists featured in the collections work locally.
All eight collections also feature a variety of mediums and styles such as oil on canvas, photography, collage, illustration and digital design.
The American University Museum is open daily from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and offers free gallery talks with the artists whose work is featured in the museum and curators who helped organize the collections.
Upcoming gallery talks include “And Another Thing” on Oct. 5 and “in the center thereof rose a fountain” on Nov. 2.
Check out some of the exhibits being featured:
The “Faces of the Republican Party” collection features D.C. artist Jeff Gates and his posters of prominent Republican Party members portrayed in distorted digital portraits.
Throughout his career, Gates has created over 200 portraits and posters of political figures and American politics entitled “Chamomile Tea Party Posters.”
Some of the many Republican Party members featured in the Katzen collection include Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel.
Although the collection is centered around the Republican Party, Gates’ larger purpose for the collection is not to intensify polarization and partisanship. Gates instead aims to call out specific members of the Republican Party that lack bipartisanship and consideration of the citizens they serve.
Through discoloration, swirling faces, imagery such as dollar bills and witty captions, Gates hopes to communicate the chaos and distrust the politicians have generated among American citizens. Gates' decision to portray Republicans in this distorted way aims to reflect their “corrupt” practices, stances and actions.
Jeff Gates’ free gallery talk took place on Sept. 28 in the Katzen Arts Center.
Ralph Steadman: And Another Thing
British artist Ralph Steadman, recognized outside of the art world for his contributions to creating “Gonzo journalism,” is an illustrator, set designer and artist of satirical caricature.
Steadman is also known for his creative partnership with American reporter Hunter S. Thompson and his work in US and UK newspapers as a political cartoonist in the 60s and 70s.
“And Another Thing” features pieces that capture Steadman’s signature splotchy, controversial and satirical style of drawing, with various pieces created with materials such as acrylic paint, ink and pastels. The themes in Steadman’s collection range from endangered species, his own creative partnerships, journalism, politics, social caricature and the human experience.
“And Another Thing” aims to celebrate Steadman’s decorated and diverse 60-year-long career by including over 100 of Steadman’s works. The Katzen Art Center is the first gallery to display this collection of Steadman’s artistry in the United States.
Steadman’s collection had a sold-out Gallery Talk in Katzen previously. Another virtual and free Gallery Talk on Steadman’s work will take place on Oct. 5 and a third in-person gallery talk on Oct. 6 at the Katzen Arts Center.
Mira Hecht: in the center thereof rose a fountain
San Francisco Art Institute alumni and artist Mira Hecht is an abstract artist whose mediums include paper, acrylic paint, graphite and collage on canvas. Hecht's dreamy, angular and colorful paintings have been featured in notable public collections of large companies such as Microsoft and Citibank.
Hecht's Katzen collection “In the center thereof rose a fountain” features calming oil paintings that consist of translucent circles of colors that overlap to create different hues. The paintings aim to emulate themes of fragility, light, energy, connection in life and movement.
The simplicity of Hecht’s work hides the meticulous technique that goes into the thin transparent layers of wrist movements and brush strokes used to create the complex shades of color within her paintings.
Hecht and curator Jack Rasmussen will be present for a free gallery talk on her collection that will take place on Nov. 2 at the Katzen Art Center.
The other collections currently on display are Joseph Holston: Call and Response, Endless Transformations: The Alchemy of Connie Imboden, New American Landscapes, A Sight to Behold: The Corcoran Legacy Collection of Nineteenth and Early Twentieth-Century American Landscape Paintings and PEGAN BROOKE: FLUX II, Light on Water.
Along with the gallery talks and fall 2024 collection, the Katzen Arts Center also hosts performing arts events in the Katzen Art Center Studio Theater. The next performance will be In Pieces: A New Musical and will run from Oct. 24 to Oct. 26. Tickets can be purchased on the AU Arts website and are free for American University students and staff.
This article was edited by Jessica Ackerman, Marina Zaczkiewicz and Abigail Turner. Copy editing done by Luna Jinks, Ariana Kavoossi and Emma Brown.
