MAYA FREELON ASANTE “Best of the City” in January 2013’s DC Magazine

Best of the City – January 2013 edition of DC Magazine

by Erin Hartigan, Tiffany Jow, Jennifer Sergent, Karen Sommer Shalett, Tobey Ward and Katie Wilmeth

Washington sails into 2013 boasting – and embracing – a bevy of bests. From beauty, health and style stars to arts, culture and dining headliners, here’s a peek at the scene.

CULTURE

Material Girl

Artist MAYA FREELON ASANTE discovered a stack of water-stained colored paper in her grandmother’s basement in 2005, and her fascination with bleeding paper was born. The 30-year old has since erected countless patchwork quilt-esque spectacles, including a stained-glass-like wonder called “Ubuntu” at the Corcoran and a three-story sculpture at the U.S. Embassy in Madagascar. Now, she’s collaborating on an evening-length theatrical production with her mother, six-time Grammy Award nominee Nneena Freelon, and her mother-in-law, Kariamu Welsh, called The Clothesline Muse and prepping a site–specific installation for the U.S. Embassy in Jamaica. “Its a blessing to come from a family that’s so inspiring,” says Asante, the daughter of award-winning architect Philip Freelon and granddaughter of famed impressionist painter Allan Freelon.

Visit www.mortonfineart.com to view available work by artist  MAYA FREELON ASANTE.

“Material Girls” Exhibition at The Lewis in Baltimore

“Material Girls” – a wonderful group exhibition of Contemporary Black Women Artists – is currently on view at the  Reginald F. Lewis Museum in Baltimore, MD. The exciting show runs  through October 16, 2011 and is most definitely worth a trip!  The 8 participating artists use materials as varied as wood, metal, glass, manufactured and re-purposed materials including plastic bags, tissue paper, rubber tires, combs and human hair. As the museum notes, “The materials they prod, ply and piece together play on a range of cultural meanings, personal memories, and social agendas.”

Featured contemporary artists include:

• Chakaia Booker
• Sonya Clark
• Torkwase Dyson
• Maya Freelon Asante (soon to be shown in MFA’s ‘Stories that Breathe’ which opens next week at MFA in DC)
• Maren Hassinger
• Martha Jackson Jarvis
• Joyce J. Scott
• Renee Stout

Additional details:

“Material Girls”, Contemporary Black Women Artists, Curated by Michelle Joan Wilkinson, PhD

Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American Culture & History, 830 E. Pratt St., Baltimore, MD 21202

Hours: Wednesday – Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sunday, Noon to 5 p.m.
Thursday (June to August), open until 8 p.m.
Sunday Noon to 5 p.m.