Spring Solos 2024
April 11 – June 15, 2024
Opening Exhibition Reception: April 11 from 7-9pm
Opening Exhibition Reception presented by The Mather
In-Person Artist Talk: June 1 at 11am
Tea & Talk: June 4 at 11am
Emerson Gallery
Toys in the Hands of History: Paintings by Osvaldo Mesa
Osvaldo Mesa taps into his hybrid experience as an Afro-Cuban artist to make paintings that combine an exploration of western painting traditions (Medieval, Baroque, Surrealism and Abstraction) with ideas and objects from African spirituality. Born in Cuba, raised in Miami, and a longtime resident of Baltimore, Mesa makes intensely robust paintings full of color, form, pattern and movement. These works conjure a unique and magical energetic vitality, offering a glimpse into a dynamic, multidimensional inner world.
Emerson Gallery
Return to the Library of L.E. Grothaus: Altered Books by Laura Grothaus
Laura Grothaus exhibits a series of altered books that offer the viewer a chance to build their own story from the contents contained. Drawing on the history of the book as an object, ideas about place, personal identity, folklore, nature, and religion, and also her work as an educator and activist, she has created works that spark imagination and connection. Combining found and sculptural objects with painted surfaces, Grothaus’ Magic Books can be arranged and rearranged to honor the possibility inherent in all our tales, personal, communal and infinite.
Atrium Gallery
Inner Gardens: Works by Abol Bahadori
In his Inner Gardens series Abol Bahadori creates layered mixed media works that embrace the dichotomy and contradictions that comprise reality. He prioritizes color over shape and form. Space is also important, skillfully rendered to create a sense of place that can be imaginatively entered by the viewer. Working on a small to medium scale, and through geometric, organic, abstract and recognizable imagery, Bahadori’s dynamic, electric images glow with energy as they highlight inner and outer landscapes that are both recognizable and unfamiliar.
Visiting Our Galleries
The MPA Atrium Gallery will be available for viewing during McLean Community Center operating hours. The Emerson Gallery will be open for visitors Mondays through Saturdays from 10am – 4pm.
MPA’s 2024 Spring Solo Exhibitions are funded in part by ArtsFairfax. The Spring Solo Opening Exhibition Reception is presented by The Mather.
Now Open!
Winter Exhibitions
Emerson Gallery: Moving Beyond Beauty: Reverence and Reclamation
Atrium Gallery: To March is to Love: Weavings by Janel Leppin
December 7, 2023 – February 17, 2024
February 8 Tea & Talk
Please join MPA on Thursday, Feb. 8 at 11am as MPA Curator and Artistic Director Nancy Sausser hosts a Tea & Talk. Guests are invited to enjoy a cup of tea and discuss the Winter Exhibitions with the MPA team.
February 9 Winter Exhibition Reception and Musical Performance
MPA will host a Winter Exhibitions Reception and musical performance on Friday, February 9, 2024 from 7-9pm. Following the reception, Atrium Gallery artist Janel Leppin will perform several solo pieces on her cello. The event will then conclude with a performance by Ensemble Volcanic Ash, comprised of Janel Leppin (cello), Sarah Hughes (alto saxophone), Brian Settles (tenor saxophone), Anthony Pirog (guitar), and Larry Ferguson (drums).
Moving Beyond Beauty
This exhibit brings together five artists—Adjoa Jackson Burrowes, Jacqui Crocetta, Maggie Gourlay, June Linowitz, and Elzbieta Sikorska—who make work that is at once aesthetically pleasing and philosophically compelling. Visual attractiveness and the expression of deep and sometimes unsettling ideas live together, as each artist feels an urgency to address love, concern and reverence for the natural world. Beauty, created through skillful and inventive use of materials, becomes the doorway through which the viewer enters into a sincere dialogue about our fundamental need to experience and learn from nature and our ever more pressing responsibility to honor and care for it.
To March is to Love
Leppin’s whimsical and moving fiber art represents the dichotomy of a wondrous and fragile world, weaving textiles and used clothing to create unexpected textures and patterns. Her work mirrors the struggle between action and complacency, inviting us to engage with and contemplate our humanity.
MPA’s Winter Exhibitions sponsored in part by the Young Family.
MPA ArtReach materials sponsored by the O’Shaughnessy-Hurst Foundation
(Not) Strictly Painting Juried Show
September 14– November 11, 2023
Opening Reception: September 14, 7 – 9pm
In-Person Artist Talk: Thursday, October 19, 2023 from 7-9pm
(Not) Strictly Painting is a juried biennial exhibition celebrating the depth and breadth of paintings–or works related in some way to painting–from artists throughout the mid-Atlantic area. Now in its 14th iteration, Strictly Painting is one of the region’s most important painting exhibitions. (Not) Strictly Painting will be juried by Tim Brown, Director of IA&A at Hillyer.
(Not) Strictly Painting 14 featured artists include:
- Maremi Andreozzi
- Sondra Arkin
- MK Bailey
- Julia Bloom
- Maria Brito
- Nikki Brugnoli
- Tory Cowles
- Pamela Crockett
- Delna Dastur
- Anna U Davis
- Thomas Drymon
- Gayle Friedman
- Genie Ghim
- Jane Godfrey
- Pat Goslee
- Reni Gower
- Freya Grand
- Lou Haney
- Amelia Hankin
- Tom Hill
- Andrew Hladky
- Leslie Holt
- Sabiha Iqbal
- Barbara Januszkiewicz
- Wayson Jones
- Joanne Kent
- Pamela Keravuori
- Chee Keong Kung
- Ruth Lozner
- Matthew Malone
- Nicole Maloof
- Nipun Manda
- Sasha-Loriene McClain
- Begona Morton
- Olivia Niuman
- Cory Oberndorfer
- Sookkyung Park
- Judith Pratt
- Sharon Robinson
- Violet Simulation
- Kanika Sircar
- Marsha Staiger
- Ann Stoddard
- Monica Stroik
- Terry Thompson
- Roderick Turner
- Jessica van Brakle
- Ashley Joi Whitley
- Sharon Wolpoff
- Debra Wright
