With their sensual sweep, Jae Ko’s large sculpted works are so otherworldly that you may not want to hear what they’re made from — especially when it turns out to be something so humdrum as adding machine paper.
Yet that revelation only adds to the appeal of these spirals and whorls. The paper rolls are soaked and folded, colored with shadowy black ink and translucent stabilizing glue. While at the Maryland Institute College of Art, the sculptor studied with Sam Gilliam — who recommended her for 5 + 5, the new exhibition at the DC Jewish Community Center’s Ann Loeb Bronfman Gallery.
5+5 mixes 44 works from five D.C.-based art supernovas and their choice of rising stars. The established artists were chosen by Phyllis Rosensweig, respected for her curatorial work at the Hirshhorn. “It was heartwarming that they were so eager to choose other artists.”
Gilliam checks in with “Atlantis,” a streaming-color example of his recent hinged panel creations.
Photographer John Gossage’s pick, Pia Calderon, invigorates the space with a constellation of pint-sized pen and ink, pencil and mixed-media works. “Ollinxochitl,” a slightly larger piece, displays a decorative abstract pattern that upon close inspection reveals body-stretching skeletons embedded in petals and leaves. Culled from her diary/sketchbooks, Calderon’s works are inspired by the science of nature, language and travels that filled her years between a Brazilian childhood and University of Maryland art study.
Renée Stout, uncorking yet again a bottomless vessel of bewitchery, selected Mary Early, who obliged with towering grids of beeswax-coated balsa wood. Martin Puryear, himself sharing one of Rosensweig’s all-time favorite assemblages, nominated Otto Branson, who seduceshere with velvety hued acrylics.
Chunky expressionist graphite and conte drawings show Y. David Chung’s gift for conveying sense of place. Speaking of which, watch your step; Chung was chosen by Dan Steinhilber, who contributed a smashed length of fluorescent tubing.
If you go
5 + 5
» Venue: Jewish Community Center, 16th and Q streets, NW
» Dates: Through May 13
» More Info: 202-777-3208; www.washingtondcjcc.org
