AMA's Corridor is really, really good

We love the new exhibit at the Art Museum of the Americas, aptly entitled Corridor. Besides being full of really, really good artwork by twelve amazing artists - six from Baltimore and six from Washington, D.C. - we also appreciate the inventiveness of its conception and execution. Corridor, essentially, is a show that flips the conventional artist-curator relationship on its head with intriguing results.

Here is a quick breakdown of the exhibit’s story:

1. Baltimore-based artists Bernhard Hildebrandt, Soledad Salamé and Joyce J. Scott worked with the Art Museum of the Americas (AMA) to conceive the show;
2. Chosen artists from each city selected another artist to actually exhibit – thus an “artist choose artist” participation format;
3. One curator from each city (Baltimore and Washington, DC) was selected to work with the artists located in the opposite city.
4. Thus, an artist-curator “corridor”-like partnership emerged, strengthening the creative ties between the cultural economies of both cities.

In this case, our curators are Irene Hofmann (former Executive Director of the Contemporary Museum in Baltimore) and Laura Roulet (an independent DC curator and art historian). And their corresponding exhibitioners are D.C. artists Martha Jackson Jarvis, Brandon Morse, Phil Nesmith, Michael Platt, Susana Raab, and Jeff Spaulding; and Baltimore artists Oletha DeVane, Bernhard Hildebrandt, John Ruppert, Soledad Salamé, Joyce J. Scott, and Sofia Silva.

The resulting exhibition showcases the recent trends going on in the art world in both cities: metal sculptures exploring themes of structure and volume; peyote‐stitch bead work exploring racism, sexism and heritage; prints and video of human bodies addressing recent TSA controversies; real‐time computer‐driven videos suggesting naturally occurring phenomena; fabric installations collaged with urban landscapes; dramatic panoramic photographs depicting desertion; emotional photography from foreign worlds; mixed media installations representing the natural world; and silkscreened images the blur the resemblance between trees and oil refineries.

These are just a few of the things Corridor exhibits - and we love it!

Corridor runs through June 26. We hope you’ll enjoy its conceptualization and its art as much as we did.

Hours: Tuesday-Sunday 10am – 5pm
@ Art Museum of the Americas
201 18^th Street NW