what's growing in the gallery, ripley

Follwing Hokusi's modest Fuji (now at the Sackler) there is a new mountain coming in April served, in oppositional grandeousity, by Diana Al-Hadid. First introduced to me as last fall's sculptor in residence at SMCM, Al-Hadid's installations threaten to overtake the galleries that contain them--like the eggs and goo of Aliens reworked in plaster. She is also stunningly ambigous in intent, making the her works even more menacing:

"My installations are propositions for an imaginary world. They are places that have a sense of believability without recognition and rely on their own internal logic. I want to create a sense of nonsensical logic. If I can't have an inherent contradiction, I'll take an apparent one."

Upcoming at the AAC will be seven solos of worthy artists like Tim Tate and Al-Hadid:

Diana Al-Hadid, Immodest Mountain, installation.
Al-Hadid, who exhibited in AAC’s MFA 2005 Exhibition, returns with a room-sized mixed media installation in the Truland Experimental Gallery. According to the artist, “This mountain is immodest by virtue of its seductive unzip, and it may just look flat out too show-offy and proud, as most mountains do.”

The Gamut:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: (Please list)
Contact: Carol Lukitsch, Curator
clukitsch@arlingtonartscenter.org. 703 248 6800, ext 12

Exhibition: SPRING SOLOS 2006
April 4 – June 3, 2006

Reception: Friday, April 7, 2006, 6-9 PM

Location: Arlington Arts Center, 3550 Wilson Blvd, Arlington, VA
(AAC is located one block from the Virginia Square
Metro Station on the Orange Line)

Gallery Hours: Tuesday – Saturday, 11 am – 5 pm

Solo Artists: Pattie Porter Firestone, Diana Al-Hadid, Kevin Labadie,
Nancy Libson, Cristin Millett, Brooke Rogers, Tim Tate

Arlington Arts Center’s Spring Solos 2006 presents a whirlwind journey through time and space. The viewer travels inside a metaphorical Renaissance medical anatomy theatre, to a glass cathedral, to life on a boat and back again to examine present-day sociological issues. While each artist makes a unique statement in a separate gallery, Spring Solos 2006 merges fantasy, humor and beauty with intellectual, psychological and spiritual content.