EPITHET | Group Exhibition

Opening | FRIDAY, MAY 8, 7-10PM
Running May 8 – May 29
Gallery Hours | Thurs-Sun, 12-7PM
Free

Featuring multidisciplinary works of Corcoran students. Led by Lisa Dillin, Robert Devers, Jonathan Latiano, Patrick McDonough and Christan Wicha.

Epithet is defined as: any word or phrase applied to a person or thing to describe an actual or attributed quality. It surpasses an adjective, it strives to describe an inherent truth. Through viewing art, one can find inherent truths about the artist as well, their epithets – if you will. For this exhibition, the rising senior class at the Corcoran School of Art and Design in Washington D.C. dove headfirst into their most significant works to date: we will call them their senior thesis “origin stories”.

Through the works in this exhibition, these artists sought truths which in turn have helped to define them personally, socially, professionally, and artistically. Works on display within Epithet are the result of the labor of three years spent learning, intuiting, planning, sweating, bleeding and crying culminating in a body of diverse works from this group of artists within in the Corcoran community.

We invite you to join Kayla Beyer, Elana Casey, Naomi Erickson, Dominic Fredianelli, Britney Gilbert, Alexis Gomez, Remy Lavelle, Tracey Lee, Nathan Lewis, Rosemary Markowski, Amy Morales, BACK.TALK.PRESS (Patricia O’Meara), Elizabeth Rodriguez, Michael Schiffer, Johab Silva, Lauren Stern, and Kohei Urakami for the opening reception of Epithet on Friday May 8 from 7 – 10 PM.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Kayla Beyer was born in Fort Campbell, Tennessee in 1994. Beyer is currently in her third year of pursuing a BFA in Fine Arts at the Corcoran School of Art and Design in Washington D.C. Her first interests in art began in high school after studying portraiture. Since then, Kayla has done numerous commissions in portraiture and branched into different mediums during her time at CSAD. Group exhibitions include “3rd Trimester” in White Walls at CSAD, Washington

Elana Casey (b. 1994, Washington, D.C) currently studies at the Corcoran School of the Art + Design at George Washington University. She is earning her Bachelor of Fine Arts and Masters of Art Teaching degree. Casey’s work investigates the discrepancies in cultural norms/ representation, states of awe/transcendence, and feminist empowerment. Casey uses her classical fine arts training to fuel her investigations of painting, majolica on tile, collage/mixed media work and video installation. She is based in the Washington D.C. area.

Naomi Erickson is a Fine Artist based in Washington D.C. She was born in Arlington Virginia in 1994. Growing up she spent summers in Longboat Key Florida with her grandmother and was influenced by her personal collection of art. She spent time there practicing her landscape and figure drawings. She began her formal study of art with Corcoran College of Art + Design in 2012. Her work has changed dramatically since entering the BFA program where she has expanded her experiences in ceramics, drawing and painting. Naomi’s work focuses on portraits and the study of facial gestures. Group exhibitions include “3rd Trimester” White Walls in D.C., and The Public Library in Arlington, VA.

Dominic Fredianelli is an interdisciplinary artist based in Washington DC. He was born in the upper peninsula of Michigan in 1987. Dominic joined the military right after high school in 2005 at the age of 18. At the age of 20, Dominic enrolled into Finlandia University’s School of Art and Design, where he studied in a mentorship under professor Yeuh-Mei Cheng. During his sophomore year, Dominic was sent to Afghanistan with the 1431st Engineer Company (Sapper). Since returning in 2010, Dominic has been in and out of art school. He has traveled the United States doing murals with veterans at universities and with organizations that include the University of California Santa Barbara and the National Veterans Art Museum in Chicago. Dominic found his home at the Corcoran School of Art and Design in 2013. Dominic’s work projects a personal story about his experiences. He uses contemporary urban concepts and styles to deliver work about his experience with love, war, death, and hardship.

Britney Gilbert is a student at the Corcoran School of the Arts within George Washington University, studying fine art and art education. She was born in Harrisburg Pennsylvania, and spent her adolescent years in southern New Jersey taking painting and drawing classes at Moore College of Art and Design in Philadelphia. At the Corcoran she broadened her studies to include interdisciplinary methodologies. Gilbert’s practice focuses on an exploration of inner worlds within the mind and body and how these internal experiences can relate to the human collective. Group exhibitions include “2:10:20” and “3rd Trimester” in White Walls at CSAD, Washington DC.

Alexis Gomez was born in 1994 in Fairfax Virginia. In 2012 he began studying fine art at George Washington Universities’ Corcoran College of the Arts. Gomez is an interdisciplinary artist with a focus in painting. Using religious narratives, he strives to create a universal dialogue based on the personification of God. Group exhibitions include “2:10:20” and “3rd Trimester” in White Walls at CCAD, Washington DC. Gomez currently lives and works in Washington DC.

Within her interdisciplinary practice, Remy Lavelle describes a narrative of anxiety and self-discovery through abstract and figurative-based work. The archetypal structures employed in Catholic iconography uses tales of the Holy Trinity, as well as saints, to construct instructive narratives. Remy’s work describes narratives using archetypes such as the Self and its Parts to direct interactions between an individual (a theory described by Dr. Richard Schwartz in the Internal Family Systems Model) and those archetypes of Christianity. By doing so a narrative of personal growth emerges, with the intent of culling an emotional response from viewers of all backgrounds and belief systems. Remy is a Virginia-based artist currently attending the Corcoran School of Art and Design at George Washington University (BFA Spring 2016). She has shown in group exhibitions in Washington DC and Baltimore including “Third Trimester” in White Walls, “Soft Lab” in Gallery 102 at George Washington University, and “Fresh Meat” at Gallery 1301.

Tracey Lee is an interdisciplinary artist based in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C. She was born in Washington, D.C. in 1986 and has been experimenting with various media since she was a small child. Lee began her formal study of art at School of Visual Arts, where she studied traditional animation before transferring to the Corcoran College of Art + Design in 2013 where she has expanded her media explorations to include installation art, ceramics and performance. This body of work focuses on the power of repetition as ritual catharsis, allowing room for growth and social exchange. She is currently in her third year of working towards her BFA in Fine Arts and has been in several group shows including “Third Trimester” at White Walls Gallery and “Deck the Walls” at Gallery 1301.

Washington DC based artist Nate Alex Lewis chases the issues of consumption, consumerism, sensuality, cyclical behavior, equivocation and the sublime with an interdisciplinary practice that he has honed in his years at the Corcoran School of Art. His background stems from narrative painting and illustration and now umbrellas over video, performance, sculpture, and everything in between. His previous shows include the group shows “Artscape @ Gallery 1301” Gallery 1301 Baltimore MD, “Clowns, Kings, and Revolutionaries” Gallery 31, at the Corcoran Museum of Art, Washington DC, “OOO” M.A.P. Baltimore MD, among others and solo shows “Suspended Perception” School 33, Baltimore MD.

Rosemary Markowski is a Shenandoah Valley artist and educator who travels between her rural Virginia home and Washington DC. Employing a variety of mediums, Rosemary’s work explores place, identity, and the human hand in nature. Her work has appeared in group and solo shows in Philadelphia, Washington DC, and Northern Virginia. She is the mother of three 4-H’ers and when not in the studio she may be found wrangling chickens or milking goats.

Amy Morales is a Washington DC based artist currently studying at the Corcoran School of Art and Design. Morales developed an interest in drawing and painting while studying at Parsons The New School for Design. She transferred to the Corcoran in 2012 where she began exploring sculpture, video and performance art. Drawing from her life experiences growing up in Brooklyn in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, Morales explores ideas of ruin, loss, death and rebirth in the form of organic tissue. Group exhibitions include “Soft Lab” at Gallery 102 at George Washington University, Washington DC and “3rd Trimester” in White Walls at CSAD, Washington DC.

Back.Talk.Press is a project of Patricia O’Meara, a fine artist and arts educator who focuses on printmaking, bookmaking, and performance art. Back.Talk.Press was established in spring 2015 and is a continuation of themes of feminism, philosophy, community, and collaboration in her earlier work. For more information contact [email protected]

Elizabeth Fernanda Rodriguez is a Virginia-born artist focusing on self-portraits, as well as portraits of others within her community, exploring her personal identity as a spiritual Salvadoran young adult plagued by bouts of sleep paralysis through the processes of painting and drawing. She was born in Alexandria, Virginia in 1993. She is currently working towards her BFA at the Corcoran School of Arts + Design at George Washington University. Group exhibitions include “3rd Trimester” at White Walls at Corcoran School of Art + Design.

Michael Schiffer (b. 1989, Beacon, New York) is currently a junior at the Corcoran School of Art + Design in Washington, D.C. and a FURTHERMORE studio assistant under the direction of Jose Ruiz. Like many contemporary artists, Schiffer delivers a range of concepts, materials, and styles within his body of work. His current focus is on the power of framing. Past projects include, Black Presto, which explores the properties of 18 gauge steel sheets through patina experimentation, Subconscious Random: figurative works derived from casual flicks of a finger on a sketchbook app for iPhone, How Do You Like Your Toast? which investigates the spread of oil paint over canvas, and Creating Wei, a global celebration of the spreading of social sculpture. Schiffer has exhibited work in New York, Maryland, Virginia and Washington D.C.

Johab Silva, a native Brazilian, has been working in Washington, D.C. since 2008. Sense of place, inheritance, appropriation and protest are themes that motivate him. He works to convey the unexpected story through the interpretations of found objects and the endless possibilities of abstraction. Silva’s work has been shown at The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Miami Art Palace and the Santo Andre Museum of Art. He is currently pursuing a BFA+ Master’s Degree in Art Education at the Corcoran College of Art and Design.

Lauren Stern is a Texas native, living and studying art in Washington DC. She is currently in her third year of earning a BFA at the Corcoran School of Art at George Washington University. Stern primarily creates sculptural work about women’s rights and the treatment of the female body in the context of sex workers and domestic settings, as well as the glorification of sexual indulgences. Group exhibitions include “3rd Trimester” in White Walls at CSAD, Washington DC, and “Soft Lab” at Gallery 102 at George Washington University, Washington DC.

Kohei Urakami is a visual artist, currently residing in Washington DC. He was born in Okayama, Japan in 1994. He grew up both in Japan and the U.S, absorbing the various cultures and aesthetic values that surrounded him. He began studying at Corcoran College of Art + Design in 2012 and has since concentrated his focus on various printmaking techniques. Group exhibitions include Gallery 31 in Washington DC.