REPRESENT

How does a gallery celebrate its 20th year?

HEMPHILL could not reach this anniversary without the artists with whom we work. The gallery is best measured by the individuals we represent. Inspired to mount a group show, we resisted the idea of installing one artwork after another simply to include each of the gallery artists. Such undertakings attempt at best to be a “greatest hits” or retrospectives. Both lack a liveliness. So we set out to introduce change and invite chaos. We developed and applied no single criteria to the overall artwork selection process. We chose three exceptional works from each of the 30 gallery artists. Sometimes we picked an older piece, sometimes a new piece or a personally meaningful piece. Often we anticipated the potential dynamic between different artworks. The gathered 90 pieces, too many to t in the gallery at one time, encouraged our consideration of various exhibition combinations. Thus the content and arrangement of the show will change at regular intervals. With no promise of perfection, our goal is to realize the liveliness that invigorates the relationships between the gallery and 30 outstanding artists.

REPRESENT features paintings, works on paper, photography, sculpture, and mixed media by: Annie Adjchavanich, Colby Caldwell, William Christenberry, Steven Cushner, Willem de Looper, Don Donaghy, John Dreyfuss, Mary Early, Godfrey Frankel, Max Hirshfeld, James Huckenpahler, Franz Jantzen, Jacob Kainen, Martin Kotler, Linling Lu, Tanya Marcuse, Kendall Messick, Joseph Mills, Mingering Mike, Tina Newberry, Robin Rose, Anne Rowland, Sharon Sanderson, Lisa Scheer, Renée Stout, Emma Tapley, John Watson, William Willis, Julie Wolfe, and Workingman Collective. A number of events will be scheduled throughout the exhibition that speak to both the gallery’s history and the history of Washington DC. More information on these events is coming soon.