February 2015 First Fridays lineup

A lineup of what to see during the February 2015 First Fridays.

February 6, 2015; 8:59 AM • by Jennifer Nesossis

Here is what you can see during the February 2015 First Fridays:

“SymmetryyrtemmyS” by Kirsten Kindler and Sarah Bednarek
“You Can’t Go Home,” by George Terry, is a site-specific video installation featuring interviews with artists who have moved to New York to pursue their career.

“Peripheral Vision,” curated by Amy Ritchie Johnson includes work by William W Douglass III, Justin James Reed, and Burt Ritchie.

“Congruent Images” will feature paintings by P. Muzi Branch & William “Blue” Johnson. Through artwork, these artists tell the stories of the African Diasporic heritage in the images of their subjects.

“Grlz Night,” presented by My Glasses Rule, features paintings, prints, photography, and performance art by members of Grlz Night Gang art collective.
“In Protest,” presented by the Valentine, asks the question “Is activism alive in Richmond?”. The show features images of residents voicing their support for a variety of causes.

“HOME,” by multi-media artist Dorothy Hartley will exhibit watercolor, needlework, and mixed media artwork exploring the concept of home and eternity.

“J.J. Grandville; Les Animaus” is an exhibition of serigraphs by Triple Stamp Press.
From Ghosptrint Gallery: “Jean-Ignace-Isidore Gerard (1803-1847), known as J.J. Grandville, was a French illustrator and caricaturist. The illustrations in this series are taken from his Scenes de la Vie Privee et Publique des Animaux (Scenes of the Private and Public Life of the Animals), also known as Les Animaux (1840-1842). There is an immense charm to these animals dressed in their ornate period garments. The Grandville Series is an exercise in complex screen printing. The utilization of rich color, ink transparency, and halftone blending techniques all showcase the artistic potential of the medium. Each limited-edition serigraph isolates elements from Grandville’s single-color drawings, removing them from their nineteenth-century context to display them in a new world of color.”

Purchase custom Valentine for your sweetheart. Miss Lucy Gillis will be crafting custom gifts during First Fridays.
“The Garden, The Library, and The Labyrinth” by Andrea Donnelly
Work by Studio Two Three’s artists.

The Richmond Peace Education Center will present “Generation Dream 2015” commemorating the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., with song, dance, music, and spoken word.
Gellman Room – “Nineteenth Century Faces” – Graphite Drawings by Tobin Karicher – a collection of portraits based on periods throughout the 1800’s presenting an across-the-board view of mankind from another era that shows we are not so very different today
Dooley Foyer – “White Walls 2014” – Paintings by Tobin Karicher – architectural paintings based on white stone & white-washed walls from Istanbul to Galway with atmosphere and light being key components in each painting
Dooley Hall – “shadowline” – eclectically abstract artwork of acrylic and wax-based materials that is extraordinarily colorful, tactile and three-dimensional in nature by Richmond artist Laura Minning
The library’s permanent collections include works by David Freed, Helen & Alvin Hattorf, and Anne Newbold Perkins.

“Pin Outs” by Bonnie Staley and Cathy Fairbanks.
From Sediment Arts: “Bonnie Staley’s recent paintings playfully refigure the female body, possibly lending the cyborgian pin-up women super powers in their fictional world laden with disruptive humor and fantasy. Cathy Fairbanks’ paper maché busts stand with an empathetic insistence of the figure as a mutable art object. Empathy is a state of recognition of the infinite difference of others, of ourselves, and it is the backbone of the cyborg. While Staley’s women seem to aptly adjust to and even thrive within the environments of which they are both products and agents, Fairbank’s cyborg is generally “sick”; ill but surviving. The cyborg allows us to think about the need to adjust to our environment. It is in some ways the form as it reflects the architecture of life and culture.”

“Doctorum: The Art of Tom Condon and His Students” features the work of Tom Condon and University of Richmond students.

“Art of Conflict” by Nickolai. If you think you can work an x-acto blade like a pro, you will rethink your skills once you see the work of VCU BFA graduate Nickolai.