Grand unveiling of Nevan Lahart's art installation on April Fool's Day

Irish visual artist Nevan Lahart has been in residency with Pink Line Project partner Solas Nua all month tinkering away in a raw space in NoMa. Right after he stepped off the plane from Ireland on March 5, he was taken to a huge groundfloor retail space in the building that was Artomatic in 2008. There  he found scattered construction debris and a group of maintenance workers enjoying lunch around a slightly incongruous mahogany boardroom table and overstuffed leather chairs in the middle of 10,000 square feet of concrete, glass, and raw ductwork. Nevan was excited!  The ideas started percolating. The mental noodling began in earnest.

A couple days later at Salon Contra, Nevan told us about his process and how he would create something meaningful from what seemed like nothing. I went over to check up on his progress on St. Patrick's Day and heard some great stories, none of which this completely amateur videographer was able to capture. To begin with, Nevan knows a lot about Washington history, probably more than most Washingtonians.  He's done quite a bit of research in order to find inspiration for his installation.

In this video, Nevan works on a drawing prompted by a story he heard about Irishmen who were conscripted right off the boat from Ireland to fight in the Mexican-American War in the mid-1800s. They called themselves Los Patricios and when they arrived in Mexico, they realized they were killing other poor Catholics so decided to join their brothers. Many deserted to the Mexican side and several were hung as traitors. Some other great stories about little-known DC, such as an Irish ghetto in the NoMa neighborhood, will influence his final work.

The grand unveiling of Nevan's installation takes place tomorrow night, April 1! Come to 1200 1st Street, NE, from 6:30 to 8:00 PM for a reception to find out what Nevan has made in response to his time in Washington.

"Lahart's laconic approach results in crude and yet not entirely desultory work, that demands your attention without ever looking you in the face." totally dublin