COUNTERCULTURE

Art Happening, Thursday July 19th 6-10 pm

Richard Friedman - The NYC Be-In, March 26,1967

July 19th - September 8th, 2007
Group Show featuring works from the 60's 70's

Richard Friedman - photographer. I was 21 with a brand new Nikkormat camera and living in Greenwich Village in 1965. Much happened, for better and worse, by the time I left for Berkeley three years later. These images are what I remember. I've been taking pictures ever since.

Gene Markowski - painter/photographer. In the late 1960's I made my first trip to the Western states of Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, and the Dakotas, spending three summer months driving to places of interest for me, it was love at first sight. The landscape, people, and Western culture in general was something new, and had a huge affect upon my work as an artist. However, the Western trip also marks a stylistic shift from reprentation to abstraction, and even although my paintings began the journey of abstraction, the love of Western culture remained in spirit for many years.

Robert Otter - photographer. Robert (Bob) made his living as a commercial photographer, but his soul yearned for something more. He was a native New Yorker as well as a Greenwich Village resident, and preserved the Village through his masterful imagery: a vibrant, bohemian community perceived by many as the "eye of the hurricane" that was the Sixties. A haven for an unusual assortment of artists, families, counter-culture types, philosophers, working folks, and various oddballs, Otter's lens caught it all. In the early 1970s, after ten years as a professional photographer, he exited the artistic world, and passed away in 1986.

Steven Rosenberg- painter. I was born in 1950 and as a kid I did not know what interesting times we lived in. It Seemed like a time of innocence but cold war suspicions led to events and policies that would steer many lives down confrontational paths. I came to bear witness to many life altering events and I remain deeply effected by the power of these moments especially some that occurred during the sixties and seventies. I was an avid concert goer and I do believe that as a youngster when I went to a Janis Joplin, Jimmy Hendrix and The Chambers Brothers concert, I started the evening as a preppy Kid and left a hair down Hippy. New Port jazz Fest then on to Woodstock that same summer of 69. Events in Vietnam were certainly hot topics and the events pointed towards a downward spiral. I started college in the fall of 1969 at Kent State University. My conscience led me to become an active participant in the "anti-war movement". I traveled to Washington as did many of my family and friends. I participated in rallies and discussions in an effort to end the war. The bombing of Cambodia led to the surreal encounter between Kent State Students and the National Guard. The pieces enclosed capture some of the loss of innocence and anger at the polarizing forces that co-opted our values. I also hope they capture some of the temper of the times.

Karl Umlauf- painter/sculptor. Throughout the 60's I was intensely involved in the landscape from a very frontal/vertical viewpoint. The work having a geological inspiration presented a semi-abstract view of cliff formations; synclines, faults, eroded washouts, hillsides, etc. Then in 1969 I found I could no longer avoid moving toward a more 3 dimensional relief format. The image became completely abstract and the material was very experimental. Fiberglass and aluminum overlays still carried the rhythms and energy of the geological formations. It was a challenge to move forward into an unknown world of ideas, concepts and methodologies to achieve new goals. The risk was worth it!

"If you can remember anything about the sixties, you weren't really there." Paul Kantner

District Fine Arts
1726 Wisconsin Avenue N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20007
Gallery Hours: Tuesday-Saturday 11 am - 6:30 pm (After Hours By Appointment)