music

Image Above:
Artist: CHI Peng
Title & Date: Why Should I Love You?, 2008
Medium: C-print

The hidden gem, Meridian International Center, has a new exhibit. From an email:

Meridian International Center, together with the National Art Museum of China (NAMOC) in Beijing, and the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Washington, DC, has created a groundbreaking exhibition of Chinese contemporary art entitled METROPOLIS NOW! A Selection of Contemporary Chinese Art. It will open to the public in Meridian’s Cafritz Galleries in Washington, DC on Wednesday, March 25, 2009.

METROPOLIS NOW! is the result of a long-standing partnership that grew out of past artistic and cultural exchanges between Meridian and China. To identify artworks for this exhibition, Meridian’s Vice President for the Arts, Dr. Curtis Sandberg, and Director of Exhibitions, Terry Harvey, traveled to Beijing and Shanghai to collaborate with NAMOC Director, Fan Di’an, a renowned figure in the world of Chinese art, and his senior staff.

This compelling selection of 52 paintings, sculptures, mixed media, and video installations by 31 artists addresses the enormous changes taking place in China’s cities – specifically, the major art centers of Beijing and Shanghai. Visitors to the exhibit will gain new insights into aspects of urbanization and globalization in China, experiencing this through the eyes of 31 extraordinary artists.

I am interested in your editorial schedule and look forward to speaking with you about potential coverage of this exhibit. METROPOLIS NOW! will be on display at Meridian from March 25, 2009 – July 26, 2009. For latest updates, visit www.meridian.org.

Tonight!

Curtain Call

The exhibit includes images spanning a 20 year career as a Washington DC photographer documenting the political scene as well as recent work from a new project featuring dancers.

www.sardari.com

Opening Reception at Caramel
1603 U Street NW
Friday, March 27
6 – 9 PM

www.caramelfashion.com

Free Concert at American University Sat. Doors 6:30pm

From the Washington Post:

“We could not contain our squeal (the free part doesn’t hurt) when we heard Baltimore’s latest It band, Ponytail — a quartet of atonal art-rockers that made us feel alive and simultaneously disoriented when we caught them last year — is playing a free show tomorrow night at American University. The all-ages show, part of Internet radio station WVAU’s Capitol Punishment series, also features the Screaming Females and local indie-rock act Mittenfields.

Free. Doors at 6:30 p.m. American University, Kay Spiritual Life Center, 4400 Massachusetts Ave. NW. For details, http://www.wvau.org.”

Ed. Note: The following report was submitted by Christopher.

This month, the PoPville bookclub read ‘The Beauty Queen of Leenane and Other Plays’ by Martin McDonagh. Set in rural Ireland, the plays lead you through petty squables, a couple of murders, some grave robbing, and an old lady being scalded with hot grease. What’s not to love?! The book was successful in setting a depressing mood, and I think the one thing that we all walked away from it with was a new found appreciation for our own families and friends. The plays are pretty short and easy to read (once you get through the irish slang), so check it out if you’re ever in the mood to feel better about your own personal relationships!

For April, the PoPville bookclub will be reading ‘The Heart is a Lonely Hunter’ by Carson McCullers, as part of the nationwide Big Read program. Your friendly Petworth neighborhood library has plenty of copies in, so swing by and grab one so you can look cool on the metro with it too! Our next meeting will be at the Red Derby on April 6th, 7:00pm for discussion on the book and a possible move to the Looking Glass Lounge for future non library meetings, followed by a wrap up meeting on April 20th, 7:00pm at the Petworth Library to have final discussions and pick a book for May.

Painting above called Desire by H. Wesley Wheeler

From an email:

Opening at Nevin Kelly Gallery in Columbia Heights – “Atmospheric Conditions”: New Paintings by H. Wesley Wheeler

PLEASE JOIN US FOR AN OPENING RECEPTION THURSDAY, MARCH 19, 2009 FROM 6 TO 9 PM OR STOP BY AND SEE THE EXHIBITION BETWEEN NOW AND APRIL 11.

New paintings by New York-based H. Wesley Wheeler will be featured in a solo exhibition at Nevin Kelly Gallery located in the Highland Park complex in Columbia Heights. With an exquisite instinct for balancing composition, color and energy, Wheeler creates canvases on which each of us may overlay our own sense of mood and meaning. For more information, please visit us online at http://www.nevinkellygallery.com/news/.

Show runs March 17 – April 11, 2009. An Opening Reception with the artist will be held Thursday, March 19, 6 to 9 pm.

LOCATION: The gallery is located in Columbia Heights at 14th and Irving Streets, NW in the Highland Park building in unit #132 on the first floor.

REGULAR HOURS: Tuesday – Saturday, noon to 6 pm or by appointment

Nevin Kelly Gallery
1400 Irving Street, NW, #132
Washington, DC 20010

Ed. Note: Nevin Kelly Gallery is a PoP advertiser.

CD Release Party at Dahlak (1711 U St. NW in Adams Morgan) this Thursday night.

From an email:

Maybarduk’s experimental indie rock, electronic & acoustic songs reflect the unique combination of cultures in which he grew up…a North American in West Africa & Latin America; a political wordsmith and punk rocker with a penchant for Spanish classical guitar.

Born on July 4, 1979, to an American diplomat and a social worker in Mexico City, Maybarduk has since lived in Nicaragua, Sierra Leone, Cuba and Venezuela and across the United States from rural Maine to Berkeley, California, where he attended law school and fronted indie rock band Last Clear Chance. In 2007, he joined the non-profit advocacy group Essential Action, and now divides his time between music and work in Washington, D.C. and the Global South, helping countries improve access to critical medicines.

In “Darker Days,” Maybarduk sings, “I only want to be of use. To protect a people or an idea.” Many of his songs wrestle with the challenges of creating both personal and political change.

Maybarduk’s sounds range from innovative sample-based compositions (“Siddhartha on his raft”) to conversations on Spanish guitar (“Sundays”) to full-tilt post-punk rock (“Dom Helder Camara”). He self-released his first album, “Passengers,” a narrative of introspective songs bridged by field recordings, on New Year’s of 2007.

Maybarduk released his second album “No Hay Pueblo Vencido” (“No Defeated People”), produced by J. Robbins (Jawbox/Channels), on March 19, 2009. Maybarduk and Robbins invested months imagining arrangements and calling in established musicians of the mid-Atlantic indie scene to draw out the character of each song. “Vencido” compels as pop, as art, and as statement on living unique possibilities despite oppression.

One more music option after the jump. (more…)

Ed. Note: If you have events you’d like included in the weekend picks please email [email protected].

Party for the new art going up at Eatonville (14th and V) Sat. and Sun.

What: Uniquely curated exhibit of large-scale art created at the installation site to celebrate Harlem Renaissance author and folklorist Zora Neale Hurston.

When: Saturday, March 14, 2009 from 9:00pm to 12:00am – Opening reception featuring performance art, music and refreshments. Open to public. $10 suggested donation.

Sunday, March 15, 2009 from 10:00am to 4:00pm – The exhibition space will be open for public viewing.

Where: Eatonville, owned by Andy Shallal, 2121 14th St NW, Washington, DC (intersection of 14th Street NW and V Street NW)

Esperanza Education Fund launch party – TONIGHT March 20th
A party celebrating the launch of the Esperanza Education Fund, a new college scholarship program for immigrant students in the DC area.

The party will be a lot of fun — held at the largest non-network television studio on the East Coast, featuring an Indian buffet dinner by Delhi Dhaba, an open wine and beer bar, a performance by the Mongolian School Dance Troupe, and live music by Movimiento, a 10-piece salsa band — all for just $25.

Go to www.esperanzafund.org/invite.htm for the invite, www.esperanzafund.org/events.htm to buy a ticket, or www.esperanzafund.org to learn more about the organization.

Friday, March 20, 6-9 pm
Atlantic Video Studios (650 Mass. Ave NW)

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DCist Exposed photography show is running February 20 to March 7, 2009. DCist is partnering with the Gallery at Flashpoint to exhibit nearly 50 amateur and professional photographers chosen from more than 300 entrants who submitted their work through Flickr.com. Opening reception will be held Friday, February 20, 2009 from 5 to 9 pm at the Gallery at Flashpoint. Flashpoint is located at 916 G Street NW. The 2007 and 2008 DCist Exposed events saw over 500 people attend each opening night, with lines forming around the block.

One of the greatest bands around, Drive by Truckers, playing at 9:30 club Friday and Saturday nights. I’ll be there both nights. If I see anyone in a PoP t-shirt I’ll be sure to buy you a beer! You can read my interview from last year with lead singer, Patterson Hood, here.