As the U.S. economy continued the long slog of the slowest recovery since the 1930s, Washington’s commercial art scene neither expanded nor contracted significantly in 2012. But the leading galleries, supplemented by nonprofit spaces and pop-up exhibitions, continued to present extraordinary shows. After reviewing about 200 local exhibitions in 2012 — and seeing many more than that — selecting the best was daunting. These 10 were certainly among the strongest, but they also represented the impressive breadth of art shown this year in a city open to both classicism and conceptualism, and always interested in politics.
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Best of the arts
Our picks for this year’s best music, movies, television, arts, classical music, dance, museums and theater.
Washington’s best art gallery shows of 2012
(Courtesy Colby Caldwell and Hemphill Fine Arts) - Colby Caldwell’s “Untitled [yellow].”
March 24-May 25 at Hemphill Fine Arts
The Maryland artist’s photographs of avian remains, abandoned duck blinds and used shotgun shells, supplemented by colorful digital abstractions, were evocative of loss and decay: dwindling recollections as much as environmental ravages. But Caldwell’s scanner-made, seven-foot-high images (also shown in “Spent” at Civilian Art Projects) were equally notable for their beauty. The crisp detail, glossy surfaces and richly weathered, often metallic hues — plus the sheer scale — gave the photos the power of vast canvases.
CTRL+P: New Directions in Printmaking
June 22-Sept. 16 at Arlington Arts Center
Customary expectations for prints were literally blown up by this wide-ranging group exhibition, which featured much wall-size work. Despite its keyboard-inspired name, this was not a show of computer-generated prints. Beside more recent techniques and technologies, the selection included examples of such traditional forms as woodcut and letterpress. The attitude, however, was experimental and contemporary.
Feb. 11-March 10 at Hamiltonian Gallery
Using photographs and video, this local artist focused on windows, skylights and peepholes. Exhibited in a darkened room and illuminated by pinpoint spotlights, her small, glossy photos showed luminous details from such notable structures as Rembrandt’s house and the Great Wall of China. These were supplemented by two video-performance pieces that depicted people inside small areas of light, offering mini-narratives of entrapment and potential escape.
Cynthia Connolly: Letters on Top of Buildings
May 11-June 16 at Civilian Art Projects
An exemplary marriage of subject and form, these photographs memorialized early- to mid-20th-century signs and were made with black-and-white film — both vanishing phenomena. Connolly is known for her images of the lonely structures of blue-highway America. These pictures were more urban, depicting D.C., New York and New Orleans, but they were also wide open: They gazed upward, capturing mostly air. Arranged carefully on the wall, the suite suggested a magazine layout or L’Enfant’s street grid.
March 3-April 21 at Marsha Mateyka Gallery
This local sculptor has long worked with rolls of paper, which she twists into spirals that are tinted and held together by a mixture of glue and black sumi ink. Her seventh solo exhibition at this gallery showed some recent developments, including increased scale and the use of red ink. These pieces suggested the mass and brawn of carved logs, yet had the delicacy of calligraphic brushstrokes.
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‘Threads of Feeling’: Mothers’ tokens of love in 1700s Britain
Swatches left with foundlings alter ideas about parenting and everyday life in 18th-century London.
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If Smithsonian bursts the Bubble, Hirshhorn goes back to square one
Next month’s decision on the ambitious project could change the direction of the art museum.
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Sackler exhibition explores the pages of Japan’s illustrated books
“Hand Held” in part traces the evolution from Chinese-inspired nature scenes to manga images.
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Hirshhorn director plans to resign after board splits on ‘Bubble’
Some want to continue fundraising for the structure on Mall; others want to focus on different priorities.
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Gallery opening of the week: ‘Summer Solos’
At the Greater Reston Arts Center, two artists turn salvaged wood into art.
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Final weekend for two shows at Art Museum of the Americas
Last chance to view exhibitions exploring the mixture of cultures in Hispaniola and Guatemala.
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Museums to offer free admission to active duty military personnel
Military personnel and their families will be admitted free to participating museums from Memorial Day to Labor Day.
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Husband-wife team are leaving Portrait Gallery for a new challenge
After 12 years at the Portrait Gallery, Frank and Anne Collins Goodyear are becoming co-directors of the Bowdoin College Museum of Art in Maine.
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At Glenstone exhibit, a fine, light, smart touch
Swiss duo reinvigorates old artistic ideas in a show that is delightful, engaging and often moving.
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Ellsworth Kelly, behind enemy lines
The magnificent centerpiece to “Sculpture on the Wall” breaks through the Barnes’s fustiness.
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Hirshhorn Bubble: Smithsonian’s shot at creative groundbreaking
If the Smithsonian doesn’t move forward with the Bubble, creative stagnation will be business as usual.
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Painting as sculpture
South Carolina artist James Busby uses deep texture and grooves in his paintings on panels.
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Last chance to see ‘Pre-Raphaelites’
First major U.S. survey of avant-garde English art movement closes at the National Gallery of Art.
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Gallery opening of the week: Victoria Fu
At Flashpoint Gallery, an exhibition of photography and film projection.
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