Bilateral Engagement

Bilateral Engagement: A collaborative sculpture exhibition between the Washington Sculptors Group and the Art Museum of the Americas at the Organization of American States

October 16, 2009 – January 15, 2010

Opening Reception:
Friday, October 16, 6:30 to 8:30 pm

Artist panel discussion:
Saturday, November 14, 2:00 pm

The Art Museum of the Americas (AMA) at the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Washington Sculptors Group (WSG) are pleased to announce the opening of the WSG’s 25th anniversary exhibition Bilateral Engagement, an exhibit that seeks to demonstrate the historical sweep of WSG member work of the past 25 years while also connecting it with select pieces from the AMA’s permanent collection that represent facets of the concurrent Latin American avant garde.

The exhibition is being held at the Art Museum of the Americas from October 16, 2009 through January 15, 2010. Exhibit curator Laura Roulet will host a preview gallery talk on Friday, October 16 at 12 noon and an opening reception will take place later that evening from 6:30 to 8:30 pm. An artist panel discussion is scheduled for Saturday, November 14, from 2:00 until 4:00 pm. Additionally, an exhibit-themed family workshop will take place on Saturday, November 7 from 10 am to 12 noon.
Curator Laura Roulet is an art historian and writer who specializes in contemporary and Latin American art. Ms. Roulet has organized exhibitions at the Mexican Cultural Institute, the Museum of Puerto Rican Art, Pepco’s Edison Place Gallery, Project 4, Fusebox, the District of Columbia Art Center (DCAC), and at other local galleries. She has also worked with the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, including contributing to the retrospective exhibition entitled "Ana Mendieta: Earth Body, Sculpture and Performance 1972-1985" which represents the most comprehensive survey of the artist’s works to date. She is also the author of Contemporary Puerto Rican Installation Art: The Guagua Aerea, the Trojan Horse and the Termite, a book which explores dynamic aspects of Puerto Rican art today.

The WSG has organized this exhibition as part of its 25th anniversary celebration and in conjunction with the 2010 centennial of the OAS’ historic headquarters. The show explores the ever-widening directions that contemporary sculpture has taken over the past decades beginning with the radical artistic, political and social changes of the 1960s and 1970s to the present. Ms. Roulet has selected work that offers parallel commentary with work from the AMA’s permanent collection and thereby creates a striking dialogue in terms of material choice, form, purpose and aesthetic. For instance, she notes that works such as Puerto Rican Rafael Ferrer’s Head and Patrick McDonough’s 090706 My Younger Than Jesus Award are “un-aspiring to grandeur, permanence or universal meaning,” both pieces engaging in their wry humor and “unmonumental” qualities (see image above). She also draws parallels between the minimalist geometric abstraction of Venezuelan Jesus Rafael Soto’s relief sculpture Escritura Hurtado (Hurtado Writing) and Joanne Kent’s Zen-like twin circular reliefs Isis Revsited and Hard Rain; and likewise, notes that Colombian Hugo Zapata’s Arca (Ark) and Foon Sham’s Column share “an organic version of the circular form.”

WSG member artists selected to participate in this exhibition are: Allan Arp, Maria Barbosa, Kyan Bishop, Adam Bradley, Renee Butler, Kirsten Campbell, Jeff Chyatte, Frederic Crist, Brent Crothers, Joel D'Orazio, Alonzo Davis, Bobby Donovan, Cheraya Esters, Leah Frankel, Carol Gellner Levin, Linda Hesh, Gale Jamieson, Mariah Josephy, Joanne Kent, Barbara Liotta, Dalya Luttwak, Donna McCullough, Patrick McDonough, Pattie Porter Firestone, Brian Reed, Foon Sham, and Millicent Young.

The Art Museum of the Americas was established in 1976 with the primary mission of furthering awareness and appreciation of the art and cultural traditions of the thirty-four OAS member countries, with particular emphasis on modern and contemporary art from Latin America and the Caribbean. The museum is located at 201 18th Street, NW, Washington, DC, 20006 and it is open to the public Tuesdays-Sundays from 10 am until 5 pm. The museum is closed on Federal holidays. For more information about the museum, visit the website http://www.museum.oas.org

The mission of the Washington Sculptors Group (WSG) is to promote awareness and understanding of sculpture and to foster the exchange of ideas among sculptors, collectors and the public. For more information about this exhibition and the WSG, visit our website at http://www.washingtonsculptors.org

The Art Museum of the Americas
201 18th Street, NW
Washington, DC, 20006

Open to the public Tuesdays-Sundays from 10 am until 5 pm. Closed on Federal holidays.