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Jean Conner, UNTITLED, 1962. A figure wearing a mask and carrying a shield kneels on a tree branch, light bulbs above their head.

LOOKING FOR MUSHROOMS
Bruce and Jean Conner in Mexico, 1961-62

Artists: Bruce Conner and Jean Conner
Co-produced by the Conner Family Trust and the ĢƵ Museum

Follow the journey of artists Bruce Conner (iconic artist during the Beat, Psychedelic, and Punk periods) and his wife Jean (as reserved as her husband was assertive in seeking public attention), during the year they moved to Mexico City because Bruce believed they could “live cheaply and hide in the mountains when the bomb dropped.”

Bruce and some ex-pat friends (including Timothy Leary) would search for magic mushrooms and hidden Aztec pyramids while Jean stayed at home, recording aspects of the local culture. Their resulting drawings and the kaleidoscopic film Looking for Mushrooms Bruce made during their travels are topographic, psychedelic, religious and mundane. They give us a record of the young couple’s brief year of experimentation that ended with the birth of their son and their running out of money.

Find out how two young creative personalities, so different from each other, reacted to a cultural situation so radically foreign from their own in the first museum exhibition to concentrate on this formative time in their lives.

Barbara Liotta, Katzen Terrace,2007. Stones dangle on cords from metal bars above, forming a triangular pattern of lines.

Monumental Washington

Artists:Lynda Andrews-Barry; Bobby Donovan; Nicholas Femia; Luc Fiedler; Mary Frank; Kenneth Hilker; Noel Kassewitz; Jean Kim; Barbara Liotta; Dalya Luttwak; Alex Mayer; Kristina Penhoet; Davide Prete; Joshua Prince; Rafael Rodriguez; Jon-Joseph Russo; Craig Schaffer; Foon Sham; Daniel Shay; Tatyana Shramko; Michael Wolf

Laura Roulet, Curator

The Washington Sculptors Group, in partnership with the ĢƵ Museum, invites you to explore this outdoor exhibition of contemporary sculptures exclusively featuring select works of its talented members.

Founded in 1984, the Washington Sculptors Group is a volunteer-led, non-profit organization dedicated to supporting sculptors and advancing public appreciation of sculpture.

The outdoor setting adds an ever-changing dimension to the exhibition, as light, weather, and the passage of time continuously transform the artworks, inviting viewers to return for a fresh experience with each visit.

Otho Branson, 2006-07-16, 2006. Gingham-like pattern of squares; mustard yellow stripes intersect in red and blue squares.

Otho Branson: Paintings

A Project Space Exhibition
Otho D. Branson, Jr., Artist
Phyllis Rosenzweig, Curator

Experience the beauty and variety of paintings D.C. native Otho Branson creates while working within self-imposed limitations.

Branson’s paintings are rigorously constructed using mathematical and scientific principles, particularly dynamic symmetry and dynamic equilibrium. These frameworks provide structure and balance, while his use of the Munsell Color System guides his exploration of primary colors—red, yellow, and blue—and their permutations.

The artworks blend precision and creativity, resulting in works that are both systematic and deeply personal. Branson’s art connects disciplines, inviting artists, mathematicians, scientists, and curious viewers to explore the intersections of creativity, order, and natural systems.

This exhibition, his first solo museum show, features work spanning from the 1970s to the present day.

Arpad Pulai,The Army of Felt Dreamers. A stout and spiky figure made of white felt; a bird is drawn on its torso in red thread and the tips of its spikes or tentacles are red.

#SerbiaInRealLife

Artists: Arpad Pulai; Biljana Djurdjevic; Dajana Peric Douglas; Gabriel Glid; Igor Simic; Ivana Milev; Jovanka Mladenovic; Nikola Kolya Bozovic; Nikola Velicki; Nemanja Ladjic; Vladislav Scepanovic; Zdravko Joksimovic

Presented by Art For All Gallery Jack Rasmussen, Curator

Discover the vibrant yet underrepresented art scene of contemporary Serbia – a nation shaped by its Byzantine artistic heritage and a history marked by wars, shifting borders, political upheaval, and its post-socialist transition. While this backdrop informs the themes explored by the 12 featured artists, Serbia’s resilient creativity and evolving identity are at its core.

With a variety of mediums, including painting, installations, digital art, and mixed media, the exhibition literally walks you through the streets of today’s Serbia. Each piece is a testament to how Serbian artists are engaging with global dialogues, pushing boundaries, challenging stereotypes, and contributing to the contemporary art landscape with a unique and modern voice.

Fred Folsom, Cold Tea, 2008. A nude woman smoking beside a coffee table with a half written letter and a teacup on the opposite side in a luxuriously decorated room.

Fred Folsom: Women Smoking and Last Call

Fred Folsom, Artist
Jack Rasmussen, Curator

The paintings of nudes in Folsom’s body of work called Women Smoking are rendered in transparent layers, gently glazed in the style of the Dutch masters to fit seamlessly into their interiors. The paintings are somber, intimate, introspective Rorschach tests appropriate to their sad inspiration: “Cigarettes killed my mom at 58 and my sister Susan at 30.”

Folsom’s best-known works are from his LAST CALL series of large honky-tonk scenes in a local strip joint. Originally considering himself a Surrealist, in 1983 he chanced upon the Shepherd Park Go-Go Bar: “The situation inside that nightclub was way-weirder than any of my surreal artwork.” He photographed the interior and began a 7’x20’ triptych, LAST CALL at the Shepherd Park Go-Go Bar, which he describes as “…a 140 square foot prayer.”

Maurice Brazil Prendergast, St. Malo, c. 1909-1910. Oil on board, unframed: 10 5/8 x 13 3/4 inches. Gift from the Trustees of the Corcoran Gallery of Art (Gift of Mrs. Charles Prendergast in memory of Charles and Maurice Prendergast).

A Sight to Behold
The Corcoran Legacy Collection of Nineteenth and Early Twentieth-Century American Landscape Paintings at the ĢƵ Museum

Carolyn Kinder Carr, Curator

Explore one hundred years of history and the stylistic range of American landscape painting with A Sight to Behold. Showcasing work from the ĢƵ Museum’s Corcoran Legacy Collection, this exhibition examines the long-held tradition of capturing the emotional impact of nature.

A variety of both recognizable and lesser-known artists are included in the show. Visitors will be exposed to artistic traditions and the evolving modern American psyche during these pivotal one hundred years, exploring themes of Romanticism, westward expansion, and urgency toward natural conservation.