Five local, regional & international artists display commissioned work inspired by the historic C&O Canal
Washington, D.C. (December 2, 2015) – Five local, regional, and international artists will show commissioned light-art works inspired by the historic C&O Canal during the second annual Georgetown GLOW exhibition in Georgetown. In its second year, GLOW will expand from a weekend-long celebration to a 10-day exhibition from Friday, December 11 – Sunday, December 20 with works lit nightly from 6-10 p.m. In addition to the light works, GLOW 2015 includes an Artists’ Talk on December 12, live entertainment, store promotions and more.
Georgetown GLOW is a signature winter event celebrating the holiday season organized by the Georgetown Business Improvement District (BID). Visit www.GeorgetownGLOWDC.com for announcements and updates.
Artists represented in Georgetown GLOW 2015 include: Laia Cabrera and Isabelle Duverger (New York, NY), Arthur Gallice and Hervé Orgeas (Shanghai/Washington, D.C.), the collective SHO + ULR (Pittsburgh/Gainesville, FL/Boston), Kelly Towles (Washington, D.C.), and Hiroshi Jacobs of the trans-disciplinary research and design collaborative HiJAC (Washington, D.C.). The group of five artists represent a diverse mix of backgrounds in artistic lighting design, sculpture, architecture, street art, video mapping, and film.
This year’s exhibition encourages contemplation of, and interaction with, the natural and built environment. The intimate, historic C&O Canal—a beautiful, meditative waterway reminiscent of Georgetown’s founding as a port town and located just steps from bustling M Street—is the anchor and inspiration for the site-specific works. The C&O Canal, the “spine” of Georgetown, was erected in 1828 to carry goods westward. Today, it is a National Park Service property and a destination for recreation and respite. Visitors are encouraged to reflect as they are transported.
Deirdre Ehlen MacWilliams, a public art expert and the exhibition’s curator, said: “The energy central to GLOW is how artists play with, and become part of, the juxtaposition of the contemporary and historic inherent to Georgetown. That mix makes Georgetown a very unique and interesting place to experience any time of year. That these artists have this environment as their ‘canvas’ to create works, and that these fleeting works are so interactive, makes the experience of being in Georgetown quite revelatory.”
Over both weekends during Georgetown GLOW, visitors will enjoy nightly live outdoor musical performances from 6:30-7:30 p.m. on the lawn of Grace Church (1041 Wisconsin Avenue). Additionally, visitors shouldn’t miss a visit to Washington Harbour for a spin on the region's largest outdoor ice skating rink.
Georgetown’s holiday décor and lights make it one of the city’s most festive neighborhoods during the holiday season. As attendees tour the public art works, they are also encouraged to take a self-guided tour of the uniquely decorated merchant windows in the fourth annual Holiday Window Competition, in which fourteen Georgetown merchants--mainly small and regional businesses--square off in a friendly competition to win top holiday decor honors. Visitors vote for their favorite store window by "liking" its photo in an album on Georgetown’s official Facebook page. The winner is crowned on December 21, the day after #GeorgetownGLOW comes to a close.
Visitors can pick up programs/maps at Georgetown GLOW information booths located at the following locations, December 11-13 & December 18-20 from 6-10 p.m.: Grace Church (1041 Wisconsin Avenue), Jefferson Court (1025 Thomas Jefferson Street at K Street), and Pinstripes (1064 Wisconsin Avenue).
2015 ARTISTS AND PROJECTS
Shifting Gaze: A film Installation about Choice, Desire & Memory, Laia Cabrera & Co. (Laia Cabrera + Isabelle Duverger), New York, NY.
Location: C&O Canal wall, at 1064 Wisconsin Avenue, NW at the rear of Georgetown Park
Sponsored by Jamestown Properties & Georgetown Park
Shifting Gaze is a film-art-music installation about choice, desire and memory conceived and directed by Laia Cabrera (filmmaker and video artist) and created in collaboration with Erica Glyn (music, composer and singer) and Isabelle Duverger (animation and mapping). Shifting Gaze is a film about identity, about making choices, a memory in act. Drawing from the body, faces, urban patterns, nature and remains of activity, the piece explores a notion of choice, linked to desire and memory - choice being the present, memory representing the past and desire, the drive for a future. Underneath these mirrored imageries lie many stories about limits, freedom and self-perception.
WIRED People Project: The Lovers, Arthur Gallice & Hervé Orgeas, Shanghai/Washington, D.C.
Location: Under Wisconsin Avenue Bridge, just south of M Street
Drawing inspiration from calligraphy and its philosophy, WIRED People Project: The Lovers is a series of portraits that are hand-drawn with uninhibited brushstrokes expressing an emotion caught in time. This series has been developed in both print and sculpture. For Georgetown GLOW, Orgeas and Gallice have worked closely to introduce an experiential, lighting element to the sculpture. The result is an installation that tells the story of two lovers who meet each other at night…under the historic Wisconsin Avenue Bridge (Washington’s oldest bridge).
Intr(ə)Scapes , SHO + ULR (Pittsburgh/Gainesville, FL/Boston)
Location: The Foundry Building Plaza, adjacent to the C&O Canal at 1055 Thomas Jefferson Street
Sponsored by The JBG Companies
Inspired by swaying prairie grasses, Intr(ə)Scapes is an interactive light installation that invites visitors to explore and immerse themselves within its dynamic lightscape. A total of 480 eerie, glowing acrylic stalks are lit by RGB LEDs embedded within a CNC-fabricated synthetic landscape. Tracked via an infrared imaging system comprised of custom hardware and software, visitors’ movements are reflected in waves of colored light animations that shift and churn with every step. The inherent flexibility of the acrylic stalks helps them to react naturally to self-weight, air movement, and human touch, embodying and tracing the kinetic energies and latent forces present within the environment.
A Happy Place, Kelly Towles, Washington, D.C.
Location: Jefferson Court office building courtyard, 1025 Thomas Jefferson Street at K Street
Sponsored by The JBG Companies
Note: This work will be shown from 7-9 p.m. nightly.
Towles, an artist known for his colorful, large-scale murals whose work has been shown at Washington’s David Adamson Gallery and in commissions throughout the city, ventures into video and light projection with Happy Place. The work is an animated version of the artist’s world, bringing to life his creative processes and transforming his typically painted works into motion and form. The work marks a new interaction with Towles’ “canvas” of facades, windows and walls, and invites viewers into his Happy Place.
iGlow, HiJAC (Hiroshi Jacobs), Washington, D.C.
Location: Grace Church lawn, 1041 Wisconsin Avenue
iGlow is a corridor of light that puts its occupants on display, pixelating their image to express an analog digitization of motion. The corridor is lined with lights on one side and a perforated screen on the other. As you make your way through, the sculpture’s exterior translucent surface displays the activity within. The commotion of activity inside creates an ephemeral expression of life on the outside.
ARTISTS’ TALK
Saturday, December 12, 4:30-6 p.m. Doors, 4:30 p.m.; program begins at 5 p.m.
Hickok Cole Architects, 1023 31st St., NW.
Meet & greet with the 2015 Georgetown GLOW artists and learn about their light-art installations. This program is FREE and open to the public; space is limited and RSVPs are suggested at www.GeorgetownGLOWDC.com.
The Georgetown Business Improvement District (BID) recognizes the following sponsors for their generous support of Georgetown GLOW 2015: The JBG Companies, Jamestown/Georgetown Park, The Washington Harbour Ice Rink, HOK Architects, Hickok Cole Architects, AIR (American Institutes for Research), RB Properties, Inc., Sea Catch Restaurant, Jaguar/Land Rover, The Georgetown Current Newspapers, Grace Episcopal Church, Georgetown Suites, and Think Out Loud Productions.
About the Curator
Deirdre Ehlen MacWilliams is a public art expert and curator whose projects have included the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities’ 5x5 program, Foggy Bottom Sculpture Biennial, the Downtown BID’s Art All Night Festival, and Arlington, VA, public art initiatives.
About the Georgetown Business Improvement District
The Georgetown Business Improvement District (BID) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting and enhancing the accessibility, attractiveness and overall appeal of Georgetown. Established in 1999 by its property owners and merchants, the Georgetown BID has more than 1,000 members. The organization is located in the heart of Georgetown in Washington, D.C. and sets a standard of excellence in preserving historic charm while meeting contemporary needs. From marketing and special events, to transportation, economic development, destination management and streetscape, the Georgetown BID contributes to the vitality and quality of life in Georgetown. For more information, visit georgetowndc.com.
Images:
Page two:
Jason Peters, The Glow at Jefferson Court (2014). Photo Sam Kittner/courtesy of the Georgetown BID.
Page three:
Laia Cabrera, Shifting Gaze. Rendering courtesy of the artist.
Arthur Gallice and Herve Orgeas, WIRED People Project: The Lovers. Rendering courtesy of the artists.
SHO + ULR, Intr(e)scapes. Rendering courtesy of the artists.
Page four:
Kelly Towles, Happy Place. Image courtesy of the artist.
Hiroshi Jacobs, iGlow. Rendering courtesy of the artist.
