Weekly Art Lens by Beth Shook

Michael D. Crossett, District AM Delivery, mixed media on canvas, 30″ x 40″. Image courtesy Gallery Plan B.

Local Color
The new exhibition at Gallery Plan B, which opens tonight, offers refreshing visions of Washington’s more quotidian scenery. Several contemporary artists tackle the city’s rowhouses, monuments and news boxes in their own distinctive mediums, from digital photography to printmaking to photorealistic oil painting. While some of the results fall flat, others, like Stephen Stichter’s handmade woodblock prints, serve as loving tributes to local moments and spaces we may take for granted.
Where: Gallery Plan B (Metro: Dupont Circle or U Street-Cardozo)
When: July 28 to Aug. 28. Opening reception with the artists on July 28 from 6 to 8 p.m.
How Much: Free

Asia After Dark: 1001 Nights
Experience the convergence of ancient Islamic arts with the contemporary Arab world this evening at the Freer. Works from the ongoing exhibition Arts of the Islamic World will be on view. You can also enjoy performances, specialty cocktails and Arab cuisine to the tune of Egyptian DJ Turbo Tabla. (If you’re seeking a more reflective encounter with Quranic calligraphy and Middle Eastern ceramics, I suggest you visit during regular hours.) This event is ages 21+.
Where: Freer Gallery of Art (Metro: Smithsonian or L’Enfant Plaza)
When: July 28 from 6:30 to 10:30 p.m.
How Much: $22 in advance and $25 at the door (cash only) for non-members; $18 in advance and $20 at the door for Silk Road Society members. A ticket includes one free drink.

Annie Albagli, Greetings From Paradise
Silver Spring-based artist Annie Albagli brings her enchanting screen prints to Pleasant Plains in this exploration of “personal paradise.” Albagli’s works, particularly those from her Pyramid series, are expressive, multilayered pseudo-landscapes, populated by ambiguous organic forms and geometry. The exhibition will include a site-specific window installation and will prompt visitors to share their own conception of paradise.
Where: Pleasant Plains Workshop (Metro: Columbia Heights or Metrobus: 70/71)
When: July 29 to Aug. 27. Opening reception on July 29 from 6 to 9 p.m.
How Much: Free

you make me nostalgic for a place I’ve never known and Trace
Organized by artist Janell Olah and local curator/Phillips Collection educator Amanda Jirón-Murphy, you make me nostalgic is one of two new exhibitions at Flashpoint that aim to fully exploit and reorient the gallery space. Olah’s installation diverts the gallery’s electricity, air flow and ducts to bring to life her glowing, tree-like vinyl constructions. Interspersed with her work and populating not only the gallery, but also its hallways and offices, will be artist Nicole Herbert’s multimedia conceptual play on the overlooked features of an interior, like cables, outlets and windows.
Where: Flashpoint (Metro: Gallery Place-Chinatown or Metro Center)
When: July 30 to Aug. 27. Opening reception on July 30 from 6 to 8 p.m.
How Much: Free