soul mining ... Matt Sesow, James Coleman (august 2006) ***

Review/Preview in Sept. 1, 2006 Washington Examiner:


ARTSCAPES
Making the scene: D.C.'s Expressionist movement
By Robin Tierney
Special to The Examiner

German Expressionism ... Pop Art ... Contemporary Post- Expressionist Subpop Romantic Surrealistic Lowbrow on the Potomac. OK, the third is too cumbersome and limiting a moniker for D.C.'s burgeoning art movement. Nonetheless, a formidable, distinctive scene has surged up from the underground, and a great place to dive in is Studio One Eight in Adams Morgan.

"Soul Mining," on view by appointment up to the Sept. 9 closing reception, features an arcade of colorful, eye-and mind-popping works by alt-art legend-in-progress Matt Sesow and J. Coleman, a Mary Washington grad who moved here to apprentice with Sesow in 2004. The show's title refers to the use of art as a therapeutic release; the two dozen works reflect on emotions from agony to hope, and issues from personal isolation to a war-torn world.

Among the all-new works are four large-scale collaborations created earlier this summer on Coleman's Mount Vernon Place urban rooftop, where he does most of his painting, much of that inspired by the energy and poverty on constant parade below.

"Martyr" proffers a tableau of religious iconography and political zeitgeist, commingling Coleman's Day of the Dead-derived figures, sacred hearts and sacrificial virgins with Sesow's strapped-up suicide bomber. "Salvation meets self-destruction," Coleman says of the visual collision, recalling the duo's efforts to capture desperation about world violence ... and to a lesser extent, working conditions as the roof heated to 110 degrees.

"It's a grimy type of piece [that reveals] the passion in its making," says Coleman. As testament, the unstretched canvas bears footprints, sweat and spillage from drinks. "Martyr" is the artist's pick, but the other pieces merit attention as well.

Normally a loner, Coleman feels supercharged with the action/reaction interplay with collaborator Sesow.


WHERE TO SEE

SOUL MINING

On view by appointment

Artists' closing reception 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 9

Venue: Studio One Eight, 2452 18th St. NW, Washington

Tix: Free
Info: 703-862-2775; studiooneeight.com


































From a hot day in June on a rooftop in downtown DC (5th street)
Photos copyright Mike Olliver.
visit Mike's website at www.mikeolliver.com





"Alley Cats" (collaboration of matt sesow and james coleman). created in an alley in adams morgan in june 2006
oil/housepaint/acrylic on loose canvas
$600 ( email sesow@sesow.com)

"Drowning" (collaboration of matt sesow and james coleman). created in an alley in adams morgan in june 2006
oil/housepaint/acrylic on loose canvas
$600 ( email sesow@sesow.com)

"pool party" (collaboration of matt sesow and james coleman). created on DC rooftop in june 2006
oil/housepaint/acrylic on loose canvas
$600 (email sesow@sesow.com)

"Martyr" (collaboration of matt sesow and james coleman). created on DC rooftop in june 2006
oil/housepaint/acrylic on loose canvas
$600 ( email sesow@sesow.com)


From a hot day in June on a rooftop in downtown DC (5th street)
Photos copyright Mike Olliver.
visit Mike's website at www.mikeolliver.com

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