PROJECT 1: POSTER SHOW
February 6- March 13, 2021
3015 Georgia Ave NW, Washington, D.C. 20001
Washington, D.C.: but, also is pleased to present our inaugural project, Poster Show, a curated selection of limited edition posters. Poster Show features work by 34 artists from across the country, with the vast majority hailing from Washington, D.C. It will be on view and on sale from February 6- March 13, 2021 at but, also’s temporary space at 3015 Georgia Ave NW, Washington, D.C. 20001 and online at but-also.com till April 30, 2020.
Posters are replicable, inherently expansive in form, and are able to simultaneously reference their commercial and fine art origins. Operating through but, also’s mission to support artists in the invention and sales of “merch,” Poster Show is carving out a small space for these 34 artists to explore what a poster would look like from their individual perspectives. Artists have an extensive history of using the medium to subvert institutional limitations of art, produce editionable prints and products, and work irrespective of the poster’s original designation as advertisement.
The artists in Poster Show showcase a range of ideas in response to the wildly open prompt of “poster” that are critical, fun, inventive, uplifting, and meaningful. Through the lens of a poet, illustrative patterning can transcend the language of a poster to a hybrid document; for a painter a portrait can transform the message or broaden the audience when replicated. Assemblages challenge what a poster can be, while photography engages in a multitude of histories of replication, representations and visual narratives. Bold, text-based posters toy with the origins of advertising and messaging. The accessibility of a poster is the core of both the medium and the project. Embedded into the form, and built into the vision of but, also, the range of work in this first project points to the
breadth of art and its potential reach. This is an exploration of “accessible collecting” - not “affordable art,” but art and merchandise made by artists with rich practices of their own, who are engaging in a different form, deviating from their main practice, or leaning into one aspect of it - to make sure they can keep making what matters to them rather than bending their entire practices to the whims of the consumer. The work in Poster Show is engaged, serious, poetic, funny, free from institutional control and working against it. This project loosens the grip of what an exhibition is, and leans into art as a multitude of practices.
but, also’s brick and mortar space on Georgia Ave is host to all the editions produced by the artists in the project, and will be on view by appointment. The space will be adhering to Washington, DC’s Covid-19 protocol. Individual posters will be hung and on rotation in the newly renovated space. The space is a creative respite: for you to be able to view these works in solitude, because you kind of have to. Our inherently funky DC storefront space will be punctuated by the impressive range of poster designs. A chair in the corner for you to imagine living with the work, a plant on a table to make you feel welcomed. A lamp? Yes, we think there will also be a lamp. As the editions are collected they will no longer be available, making the digital archive living and changing as the project progresses.
Kyle Bauer | Jessi Binder | Tommy Bobo | Kara Braciale | Nia Keturah Calhoun| Dennis Carroll | Julia Clouser | Clara Cornelius | Domus26 | Aida Ebrahimi | Emily Fussner | K. Lorraine Graham | Rachel Guardiola | Carl Gunhouse | Leslie Holt | Amy Hughes Braden | Steven Jones | Christopher Kardambikis | Dean Kessmann | Sarah Knobel | Judy Lichtman | Kim Llerena | Frank McCauley | Melvin L Nesbitt Jr | Laura Payne | Nor Sanchez | Britt Sankofa | Ashley Shey | Paul Shortt | Camila Tapia-Guilliams| Cedar Thomas | Aggie Toppins | Evan Verrilli
but, also’s brick and mortar space on Georgia Ave is host to all the editions produced by the artists in the project, and will be on view by appointment. The space will be adhering to Washington, DC’s Covid-19 protocol. Individual posters will be hung and on rotation in the newly renovated space. The space is a creative respite: for you to be able to view these works in solitude, because you kind of have to. Our inherently funky DC storefront space will be punctuated by the impressive range of poster designs. A chair in the corner for you to imagine living with the work, a plant on a table to make you feel welcomed. A lamp? Yes, we think there will also be a lamp. As the editions are collected they will no longer be available, making the digital archive living and changing as the project progresses.
Kyle Bauer | Jessi Binder | Tommy Bobo | Kara Braciale | Nia Keturah Calhoun| Dennis Carroll | Julia Clouser | Clara Cornelius | Domus26 | Aida Ebrahimi | Emily Fussner | K. Lorraine Graham | Rachel Guardiola | Carl Gunhouse | Leslie Holt | Amy Hughes Braden | Steven Jones | Christopher Kardambikis | Dean Kessmann | Sarah Knobel | Judy Lichtman | Kim Llerena | Frank McCauley | Melvin L Nesbitt Jr | Laura Payne | Nor Sanchez | Britt Sankofa | Ashley Shey | Paul Shortt | Camila Tapia-Guilliams| Cedar Thomas | Aggie Toppins | Evan Verrilli
View these posters. Buy these posters.
PROJECT 2:
BAG SHOW: A TOTE BAG INVITATIONAL
April 3- May 1, 2021
(Unsold totebags will continue to be on sale through our website through June 30, 2021)
3015b Georgia Ave NW, Washington, D.C. 20001
Kunj | Claire Alrich | Hoesy Corona | Nancy Daly | Rex Delafkaran |
Adrienne Gaither & Jordan Martin | Marly McFly | Jon Malis |
Mojdeh Rezaeipour | Nathalie von Veh
Washington, D.C.: but, also is pleased to present our second project of 2021, Bag Show: A Tote Bag Invitational. In keeping with our mission to create opportunities for artists to produce merchandise out of their primary art practices, Bag Show: A Tote Bag Invitational is just that, artist crafted bags in limited editions of 10 by eleven DMV-based artists. Bag Show: A Tote Bag Invitational will be on view and on sale from April 3- May 1, 2021 at but, also’s temporary space at 3015b Georgia Ave NW, Washington, D.C. 20001 and online at but-also.com till June 30, 2021.
In keeping with but, also’s vision to explore the intersection of exhibition and storefront, Bag Show: A Tote Bag Invitational unifies separate artistic visions to create a site specific installation reminiscent of a department store window display. Uniformity of the form and the individualism of each limited edition bag are equally emphasized. The installation will evolve over the course of the exhibition as bags are sold directly from the display. Cast concrete hands protrude from the walls and ceilings, holding the handles of totes, and in some cases holding each other. The hands gesture towards the intimacy of the artists’ hand in the making of the bags and the future interaction between the consumer and the object. On the floor of the space, astroturf represents a “vast” expanse of grass where the tote bags lounge in states of repose, as you might be with them, in a park.
Bag Show: A Tote Bag Invitational asks you to consider the intersection of design, art object, promotional merch and fashion. Tote bags and the arts have a long history together. It is a distributable vehicle for art and information, that also serves the simple functional purpose: to carry. Totes engage your sense of style, what you care about, and can open social dialogue. The eleven participating artists were given ten blank tote bags and given free rein as long as functionality remained at the forefront. Through dying, tearing, sewing, screen printing, painting, digitally printing, laser cutting and drawing they created unique editions that rise above the expectations of a tote bag. These are bags you take to the museum with your single Moleskine notebook and a granola bar. Bags you want to be seen about town with. Bags that will help strike up conversation on the metro. Bags that carry that book you’ve been bringing around everywhere you go for months to seem erudite but have yet to start reading.
All eleven artists have substantial creative practices, each with their own approaches and specialties. Kunj approaches his work with an attentiveness to material and process with expertise in performance art, drawing and printmaking. Claire Alrich is a movement and textile-based artist bringing with her an attention to bodies and space, while Hoesy Corona creates work that explores otherworldly narratives that reflect aspects of our global experience across a variety of media spanning installation, performance, and video. Adrienne Gaither and Jordan Martin collaboratively approach the project with a design-based approach incorporating influences of painting and color fields. Through a mix of pop and street art, Marly McFly uses the world around him as his content assembling high impact imagery that pulls inspiration from Japanese manga and old print advertisements, while Jon Malis approaches the prompt from his deep exploration of the surface and visual technology that considers how we alter the viewer’s perception, interpretation, and experience of imagery. Mojdeh Rezaeipour comes from a process-led art practice that is often expressive, using the ephemeral languages of identity, play, and poetry. Nathalie von Veh brings the vision of her expansive curatorial practice and attention to material and design to the project, working with materials using her nuanced aesthetic language. The but, also founders will also produce tote bags that are derived from their primary art practices for this exhibition.
but, also’s brick and mortar space on Georgia Ave is host to all the editions produced by the artists in the project, and will be on view by appointment. The space will be adhering to Washington, DC’s Covid-19 protocol.
All eleven artists have substantial creative practices, each with their own approaches and specialties. Kunj approaches his work with an attentiveness to material and process with expertise in performance art, drawing and printmaking. Claire Alrich is a movement and textile-based artist bringing with her an attention to bodies and space, while Hoesy Corona creates work that explores otherworldly narratives that reflect aspects of our global experience across a variety of media spanning installation, performance, and video. Adrienne Gaither and Jordan Martin collaboratively approach the project with a design-based approach incorporating influences of painting and color fields. Through a mix of pop and street art, Marly McFly uses the world around him as his content assembling high impact imagery that pulls inspiration from Japanese manga and old print advertisements, while Jon Malis approaches the prompt from his deep exploration of the surface and visual technology that considers how we alter the viewer’s perception, interpretation, and experience of imagery. Mojdeh Rezaeipour comes from a process-led art practice that is often expressive, using the ephemeral languages of identity, play, and poetry. Nathalie von Veh brings the vision of her expansive curatorial practice and attention to material and design to the project, working with materials using her nuanced aesthetic language. The but, also founders will also produce tote bags that are derived from their primary art practices for this exhibition.
but, also’s brick and mortar space on Georgia Ave is host to all the editions produced by the artists in the project, and will be on view by appointment. The space will be adhering to Washington, DC’s Covid-19 protocol.
Bag Show: A Tote Bag Invitational is generously sponsored through our Kickstarter by Kate Martin
View these tote bags. Buy these tote bags.
Before
PROJECT 3:
CONTROLLED BURN: A FIRE SALE
May 8- June 5, 2021
3015b Georgia Ave NW, Washington, D.C. 20001
Selected Artists:
Claire Alrich | Amber Eve Anderson | Jason Bulluck | Michelle Casto | Chris Combs | Gayle Friedman | Amy Finkelstein | Bridgette Heidmous | Turner Hilliker | Jesse Kirsch | PD Klein | Suzie Kopf | Marisa LaGuardia | Hannah Lansburgh | Mehves Lelic | Kim Llerena | Bryan McGinnis | Matthew McLaughlin | Patrick McMahon | Gary Murrell | Rhianon Newman | Carly Rounds | Eileen Schofield | Miriam J Sutton | Dafna Steinberg
“Controlled burning, also known as prescribed burning, involves setting planned fires to maintain the health of a forest. These burns are scheduled for a time when the fire will not pose a threat to the public or to fire managers. In addition, forest conditions should call for a controlled burn and weather conditions should be right to allow burning but not enable a fire to spread out of control. Materials burned in a planned fire include dead grass, fallen tree branches, dead trees, and thick undergrowth.” 1
Washington, D.C.: but, also is pleased to present, Controlled Burn: A Fire Sale. In keeping with our mission to support all the aspects of an artistic practice that surround the making of art, Controlled Burn challenged artists to consider what gets to stay in their practice and what gets “cleared out for new growth.” Controlled Burn will be on view and on sale from May 8- June 5, 2021 at but, also’s temporary space at 3015b Georgia Ave NW, Washington, D.C. 20001 and online at but-also.com. but, also will be adhering to Washington, DC’s Covid-19 protocol with regularly open hours as well as private appointments.
The past year has caused us all to reevaluate our spaces, our artistic practices and our time. Faced with the opportunity to make space, Controlled Burn artists are liquidating some old work, and it may be just what they all need to move on and rejuvenate. For the health of their studio practices, they decided if that piece that they so dearly loved or that transitioned their conceptual framework forward needs to stay in their studio, or if it’s haunting them.
The sheer number of artworks in this exhibit will be among the first things you notice. While the artists have been invited to narrow their inventory, we have taken the complimentary approach: filling the front of our space with floor to ceiling artwork. The maximal installation illustrates the impressive accumulation of works in an artist’s practice, while highlighting this particular selection of artists. The installation will evolve over the course of the show as the pieces find new homes, further hybridizing our storefront and exhibition model at the core of but, also’s vision.
The works in the show represent a variety of reasons why artists might want to make space. Perhaps you’ll see that old painting from undergrad that the artist can’t bring themself to throw away but would rather get rid of, that experiment that led to something better in their practice, the thing that they’d rather not end up in their retrospective one day, the piece that’s never sold but they wish had a better home than their mom’s attic or maybe they just needed to clear some space in their storage units for something new.
The past year has caused us all to reevaluate our spaces, our artistic practices and our time. Faced with the opportunity to make space, Controlled Burn artists are liquidating some old work, and it may be just what they all need to move on and rejuvenate. For the health of their studio practices, they decided if that piece that they so dearly loved or that transitioned their conceptual framework forward needs to stay in their studio, or if it’s haunting them.
The sheer number of artworks in this exhibit will be among the first things you notice. While the artists have been invited to narrow their inventory, we have taken the complimentary approach: filling the front of our space with floor to ceiling artwork. The maximal installation illustrates the impressive accumulation of works in an artist’s practice, while highlighting this particular selection of artists. The installation will evolve over the course of the show as the pieces find new homes, further hybridizing our storefront and exhibition model at the core of but, also’s vision.
The works in the show represent a variety of reasons why artists might want to make space. Perhaps you’ll see that old painting from undergrad that the artist can’t bring themself to throw away but would rather get rid of, that experiment that led to something better in their practice, the thing that they’d rather not end up in their retrospective one day, the piece that’s never sold but they wish had a better home than their mom’s attic or maybe they just needed to clear some space in their storage units for something new.
View the work. Buy the work.
After
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PROJECT 4:
BUT, ALSO... CATS
PROJECT 4: June 23 - July 30, 2021
3015b Georgia Ave NW, Washington, D.C. 20001
Selected Artists:
Elizabeth Ashe | Gladney Hall | Lea Craigie Marshall |
Matthew J. Russo | Madeline A. Stratton
Washington, D.C.: but, also is pleased to present, but, also...Cats. In keeping with our mission to support the many forms an artistic practice can take, the open call for but, also...Cats challenged artists to consider the needs of the beloved domestic cat. but, also...Cats features artist designed and fabricated cat towers accompanied by sketches and will be on view and on sale from June 19- July 30, 2021 at but, also’s temporary space at 3015b Georgia Ave NW, Washington, D.C. 20001 and online at but-also.com. but, also will be adhering to Washington, DC’s Covid-19 protocol with regularly open hours as well as private appointments.
The time has come for us to emerge from our homes, sit in parks, reunite with the people we have been estranged from for months, shoveling ourselves out of the long cold winter. Our TVs will soon go unwatched, our tea kettles will remain silent, and our cats, who after a year of pandemic had finally grown accustomed to our presence in their homes, will finally join the dogs, and miss us when we are gone. They will need stimulation. They will need something new to fill the human-sized voids we will leave behind. They will need… high-concept, artist designed and fabricated cat towers.
The artists in but, also...Cats pounced at the opportunity and dedicated artful sketches and proposals for the ultimate marriage of color, form and function. but, also will display the sculptures with an appropriate level of reverence. From geometric repetition and scratch posts, organic contemporary structures to bed bowls, these sculptures have everything you are looking for in a functional art piece. The exhibit plays with the boundary between fine art sculpture and functional home decor, creating an experience of art that is engaging to both humans and cats alike. Some people want to be both art collectors AND cat lovers, but simply don’t have the space for both. We are here to meet their needs.
Elizabeth Ashe | Gladney Hall | Lea Craigie Marshall |
Matthew J. Russo | Madeline A. Stratton
Washington, D.C.: but, also is pleased to present, but, also...Cats. In keeping with our mission to support the many forms an artistic practice can take, the open call for but, also...Cats challenged artists to consider the needs of the beloved domestic cat. but, also...Cats features artist designed and fabricated cat towers accompanied by sketches and will be on view and on sale from June 19- July 30, 2021 at but, also’s temporary space at 3015b Georgia Ave NW, Washington, D.C. 20001 and online at but-also.com. but, also will be adhering to Washington, DC’s Covid-19 protocol with regularly open hours as well as private appointments.
The time has come for us to emerge from our homes, sit in parks, reunite with the people we have been estranged from for months, shoveling ourselves out of the long cold winter. Our TVs will soon go unwatched, our tea kettles will remain silent, and our cats, who after a year of pandemic had finally grown accustomed to our presence in their homes, will finally join the dogs, and miss us when we are gone. They will need stimulation. They will need something new to fill the human-sized voids we will leave behind. They will need… high-concept, artist designed and fabricated cat towers.
The artists in but, also...Cats pounced at the opportunity and dedicated artful sketches and proposals for the ultimate marriage of color, form and function. but, also will display the sculptures with an appropriate level of reverence. From geometric repetition and scratch posts, organic contemporary structures to bed bowls, these sculptures have everything you are looking for in a functional art piece. The exhibit plays with the boundary between fine art sculpture and functional home decor, creating an experience of art that is engaging to both humans and cats alike. Some people want to be both art collectors AND cat lovers, but simply don’t have the space for both. We are here to meet their needs.
View the work. Buy the work.
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PROJECT 5:
Nice Try: An Exploration of Practice in an Age of Instant Gratification
September 16 - October 30, 2021
3015b Georgia Ave NW, Washington, D.C. 20001
In honor of the back-to-school season, but, also is pleased to present, Nice Try: An Exploration of Practice in an Age of Instant Gratification, a durational performance project resulting in an accumulation of ceramic vessels from the founders of but, also. We are dedicating time to slow down and learn; taking the time to take time. The performance is on view and the objects are on sale from September 16- October 30th, 2021 at but, also’s temporary space at 3015b Georgia Ave NW, Washington, D.C. 20001 and online at but-also.com. We will be adhering to Washington, DC’s Covid-19 protocol with private appointments available through our online booking system and walk-in hours that will be announced weekly.
With trying as the aim, failure as a method and necessity, and clay as the means to an end, our emphasis in Nice Try: An Exploration of Practice in an Age of Instant Gratification is on the practice of learning. Our methods are specifically counter to the mainstream urge to multi-task and only present perfection. The process is the pursuit of perfection, trying to create forms on a pottery wheel over the course of a month. We all know that perfection is not going to happen, potters dedicate their lives to this pursuit, but we are going to Try and it is going to be Nice.
The vessels in the show will be made by Nancy Daly and Rex Delafkaran who will each be making their own edition. The Daly Edition will be a series of forms all using the exact same amount of clay, with the rule that every piece must be exactly the same. Each piece will be numbered and sold, increasing in value as the edition grows. Purchasing a vessel from this edition is purchasing a step in the beginning stages of the learning process of an artist working outside her medium. The Delafkaran Edition will consist of a series of forms all using the exact same amount of clay, the exact same glaze, for the exact same price, with the rule that every piece must be different from the next. While the Daly Edition will repeat a single form, the Delafkaran Edition will explore the breadth of vessels that can be thrown on a wheel.
Daly took a hand building class in 2003, where she got way too conceptual and made some ugly things that now haunt her childhood home. She also had a significant stint as a pinch pot maker in the mid-nineties. She has never used a pottery wheel. Her first pot for sale will be her first pot made on a wheel. Delafkaran earned a degree in Ceramics & New Genres at an art school with a conceptual bent meaning, time was predominantly spent moving clay from one place to another with her mouth in front of an audience and sculpting tongues. This is not that. She has just enough experience to know that throwing identical vessels is going to be difficult. Nancy does not.
Nancy Daly is a Washington, D.C. based interdisciplinary artist whose work examines how the development of the online social world is affecting identity and social behavior. She earned her MFA in Photographic and Electronic Media at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) and holds a BFA in Studio Art with a concentration in Graphic Design from James Madison University. Nancy is an alumni of the Hamiltonian Artists Fellowship Program in Washington, D.C. (2014-2016) and maintains an active studio practice at Stable Arts. Since 2011 she has had 11 solo exhibitions and exhibits nationally in addition to teaching and working in arts administration. Daly has been a D.C. Commission on the Arts & Humanities Fellowship Program grantee from from 2016-2021.
Rex Delafkaran is an Iranian-American interdisciplinary artist and dancer from California, currently based in Washington, D.C. Delafkaran holds a degree in Ceramics and Performance Art from the San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI). Using movement and objects she explores ideas of failure and function, intimacy and language. She has exhibited work and staged performances at the Smithsonian Hirshhorn Museum (Washington, DC), IA&A at Hillyer (Washington, DC), Transformer Gallery (Washington, DC), Panoply Performance Lab (Brooklyn, NY), Southern Exposure Gallery (San Francisco, CA), and the Textile Museum at The George Washington University (Washington, DC) among other venues. Often working collaboratively, Delafkaran curates independently, teaches movement and ceramics practices, and continues to perform and exhibit nationally and internationally.
Daly took a hand building class in 2003, where she got way too conceptual and made some ugly things that now haunt her childhood home. She also had a significant stint as a pinch pot maker in the mid-nineties. She has never used a pottery wheel. Her first pot for sale will be her first pot made on a wheel. Delafkaran earned a degree in Ceramics & New Genres at an art school with a conceptual bent meaning, time was predominantly spent moving clay from one place to another with her mouth in front of an audience and sculpting tongues. This is not that. She has just enough experience to know that throwing identical vessels is going to be difficult. Nancy does not.
Nancy Daly is a Washington, D.C. based interdisciplinary artist whose work examines how the development of the online social world is affecting identity and social behavior. She earned her MFA in Photographic and Electronic Media at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) and holds a BFA in Studio Art with a concentration in Graphic Design from James Madison University. Nancy is an alumni of the Hamiltonian Artists Fellowship Program in Washington, D.C. (2014-2016) and maintains an active studio practice at Stable Arts. Since 2011 she has had 11 solo exhibitions and exhibits nationally in addition to teaching and working in arts administration. Daly has been a D.C. Commission on the Arts & Humanities Fellowship Program grantee from from 2016-2021.
Rex Delafkaran is an Iranian-American interdisciplinary artist and dancer from California, currently based in Washington, D.C. Delafkaran holds a degree in Ceramics and Performance Art from the San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI). Using movement and objects she explores ideas of failure and function, intimacy and language. She has exhibited work and staged performances at the Smithsonian Hirshhorn Museum (Washington, DC), IA&A at Hillyer (Washington, DC), Transformer Gallery (Washington, DC), Panoply Performance Lab (Brooklyn, NY), Southern Exposure Gallery (San Francisco, CA), and the Textile Museum at The George Washington University (Washington, DC) among other venues. Often working collaboratively, Delafkaran curates independently, teaches movement and ceramics practices, and continues to perform and exhibit nationally and internationally.