Throughout the decade we’ve profiled up-and-coming artists, interviewed curators, worked with museums, recommended events and pretty much championed anything we found interesting. So at the end of the year, at the end of the decade, we’re looking back to get excited for the future. Ten of our favorite artists, curators, collectives and people that work in and around art spent some time on The BYT Year/Decade in DC Art questionnaire.
Robin Bell
If you were to describe the state of the DC art scene in 2019 in a sentence or a few – what would you say?
Arduous and advantageous. There are opportunities to do amazing things, but there is a lot to navigate to make it happen.
What are some of the projects /exhibitions that stuck out for you and why? Locally, globally and/or internationally?
Michael B. Platt + Carol A. Beane: Influences and Connections. Michael passed away a right before the show opened. He built a practice that left an impact on so many artists including myself in Washington DC. The show was powerful, and Michael and Carol’s work looked amazing in the museum.
Whose work have you been following with particular interest in the last year?
Rafael Lozano Hemmer. He has had a busy year, from Pulse at the Hirschhorn, Atmospheric Memory in Manchester, England, and Border Tuner on the US-Mexico Border.
What was the art event of 2019?
Stable opening. Stable is non-profit art studio that opened its doors this year. It was built by and for artists. I am excited to see the work that come from there.
Read our 2018 feature with the folks behind Stable Arts
What have been some of the things that were not talked about enough this year?
Ending the War in Afghanistan, and how we can work together to make the world a better place.
What have we talked about too much?
Baby Shark and/or Baby Yoda
Who is an artist/artists to watch in 2020 and beyond?
What could D.C. do to make the city more art and artist friendly?
Protect and build affordable housing in the city. Maintain autonomy for the DC Arts and Humanities. Buy and commission DC artist’s work.
What was your favorite D.C. based show of the 2010s?
Doug Aiken, Song 1 at the Hirschhorn, 2012.
Listen to Robin Bell on BYT Radio from March 2019
Peter Chang
No Kings Collective
If you were to describe the state of the DC art scene in 2019 in a sentence or a few – what would you say?
Always growing. Every year I see more leaps and bounds being taken. Still not there yet but you know what they say its about the journey and not the destination right?
Whose work have you been following with particular interest in the last year?
There are so many artists that have been doing amazing work in the past year. In particular I would give a big shout out to Miss Chelove, Trap Bob, Julia Chon. They were just all over the place and had some really great pieces go up throughout the year.
What was the art event of 2019?
UMBRELLA by NO KINGS COLLECTIVE. 11K+ visitors in 3 days, $110k+ art sales
Read our preview of UMBRELLA
What have we talked about too much?
This damn banana at Art Basel.
Who is an artist/artists to watch in 2020 and beyond?
Hen House and GirlAAAA have been making some really big moves in the past year. Both collectives are run by females and they are definitely a force to look out for going into 2020. As far as individual artist if be on the lookout for Pierre Edwards aka District Dodger. He’s been creating all sorts of amazing work ranging in different digital mediums.
What could D.C. do to make the city more art and artist friendly?
I’d like to see more money go to private arts organizations/groups/collectives. A lot of times for grants and sponsorship money only non-profits qualify. A lot of these art groups/collectives have been doing some amazing work and it would be nice to see that become more sustainable.
What was your favorite D.C. based show of the 2010s?
I used to love the Pinkline Project and Art Soiree art pop-ups. We were just starting out and those events were very inspirational to us.
Kate Goodall
Halcyon Chief Executive Officer
If you were to describe the state of the DC art scene in 2019 in a sentence or a few – what would you say?
People who say D.C. isn’t an arts city, clearly haven’t been looking hard enough. Artists who practice here are incredibly collaborative and multi-disciplinary and are developing more innovative platforms for reaching audiences, both locally and globally. It’s getting louder and more impactful every year.
What are some of the projects /exhibitions that stuck out for you and why? Locally, globally and/or internationally?
Tsedaye Makonnen’s work around forced migration and violence against women, both here in DC and around the US/world, is incredibly powerful in the way she can synthesize research, performance and installation to create visually stunning and powerful statements.
BLKNWS at By The People and Venice Biennale
Ghana Pavilion Venice Biennale
Whose work have you been following with particular interest in the last year?
Jamea Richmond Edwards, Sheldon Scott, Jerrel Gibbs, Nekisha Durrett
What was the art event of 2019?
Venice Biennale and By the People.
Look at photos from our By the People preview
What have been some of the things that were not talked about enough this year?
Artists engaging directly in civic leadership.
The national wage disparity in the arts and culture sector.
What have we talked about too much?
The Cultural Plan
Who is an artist/artists to watch in 2020 and beyond?
Janae Williams, Stephanie J Woods, Molly Joyce, Sobia Ahmad, Halim Flowers, Ashley M Freeby, Alex Braden, Lionel Frazier White…yes, they’re all current Halcyon Arts Lab fellows
What could D.C. do to make the city more art and artist friendly?
Create more affordable artist housing initiatives, especially with new developments
Buy work by local artists
More support for the organizations and galleries already supporting artists
What was your favorite D.C. based show of the 2010s?
Rachel Whiteread at NGA and Ragnar Kjartansson at the Hirshhorn.
Hen House
Kathrine Campagna, Tiffany Evans, Beth Hansen
If you were to describe the state of the DC art scene in 2019 in a sentence or a few – what would you say?
It’s evolving and growing, although maybe not fast enough. There’s still work to be done, but it has been great to see so many more artists getting their work out in the world.
What are some of the projects /exhibitions that stuck out for you and why? Locally, globally and/or internationally?
The Camp show at the Met Gala was not only well curated, but the quality of the exhibition was beautiful and well done. It was also wonderful to see a show focused on the LGBTQ community.
Whose work have you been following with particular interest in the last year?
Mickalene Thomas is a favorite. She uses elaborate mixed media paintings and collage to explore ideas around femininity, race, and sexuality. Penelope Gazin also sticks out both as a fine artist and with her line, Fashion Brand Company. It’s been exciting to watch her evolution as a business woman.
What was the art event of 2019?
Umbrella, organized by No King Collective at the former Martha’s Table location on 14th Steet. It was a city block showcasing dozens of artists of a wide range of media and concepts. The show felt very immersive, both in the exhibition design and the installation(s). It was not only wonderful to experience, but fantastic that 70% of the artists were women, and 65% artists of color.
What have been some of the things that were not talked about enough this year?
Artists from other quadrants of the city besides Northwest. There are some fantastic artists and organizations working there, particularly on Good Hope Road, but it’s so hard to get people to cross the river.
Who is an artist/artists to watch in 2020 and beyond?
Jordan Labbe is a multi-talented, multimedia artist working with design and text in oil on canvas. She is also a poet, singer, and songwriter. Xenia Gray is another painter working on both paper and canvas whose moody images reflect upon her childhood in Russia and her travels abroad.
What could D.C. do to make the city more art and artist friendly?
More art events with free admission. D.C. is known for its free museums and galleries, and the best way to get people to consume more art is remove barriers to access.
Artist grants, not loans. And more small grants for individual artists and for art events, on a bi- or triannual grant cycle. Artists get overwhelmed trying to plan a project and year or two out, and changing up the way we give grants could fund more interesting projects around the city.
What was your favorite D.C. based show of the 2010s?
Murder Is Her Hobby: Frances Glessner Lee and The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death at the Renwick was a fascinating combination of craft and application of knowledge. The models created by Lee were used by crime investigators to survey an entire scene and without the perspective of their personal judgements. The Do Ho Suh: Almost Home exhibit at the American Art Museum was a beautiful combination of impeccable craft and nostalgia. The sheer fabric sculptures and installations mimicked the ethereal nature of home and memory.
Look at photos from Hen House’s November 2019 show Tiny Show!
Sarah Newman
Smithsonian American Art Museum James Dicke Curator of Contemporary Art
If you were to describe the state of the DC art scene in 2019 in a sentence or a few – what would you say?
Although D.C. can be a tough city to be an artist in, the community as a whole is incredibly strong, collegial, and generous. We have great artists, a dedicated group of dealers and patrons, and an embarrassment of riches when it comes to exhibitions and events.
What are some of the projects /exhibitions that stuck out for you, and why? Locally, globally, and/or internationally?
Although this sounds like a plug for my museum, I truly think our recent exhibition, Artists Respond: American Art and the Vietnam War, 1965-1975, which looked at how artists struggled to make sense of an incredibly wrenching moment in time, was extraordinary. In a more far-flung locale, I was thrilled that work of two American artists were among the strongest and most resonant at this year’s Venice Biennale. Martin Puryear’s pavilion focused on American history, Thomas Jefferson, and Sally Hemmings, was one of the exhibition’s highlights, and Arthur Jafa’s work on race and American culture won the Golden Lion Award.
Whose work have you been following with particular interest in the last year?
I recently organized an exhibition with the artist Tiffany Chung, so her work has been foremost in my mind. Her work on global migration and upheaval gives a sense of history’s scope while at the same time remaining grounded in personal experience. At SAAM, she traced the lives of refugees from Vietnam, where her own family is from, but she also makes work about geological and political traumas in Japan, Syria, and Central America.
What was the art event of 2019?
In D.C., I was blown away by Jeffrey Gibson’s performance at the National Portrait Gallery, “To Name An Other.” Gibson invited people around D.C. who self-identify as indigenous, Native American, LGBTQ, or as people of color, to create the performance with him. It was really moving to watch as people who hadn’t previously considered the museum to be a comfortable place began to see it as their own.
What have been some of the things that were not talked about enough this year?
Honestly that’s a bit difficult to answer because people involved in the arts are pretty good at talking. There has been a lot of discussion recently–rightly so–about some of the big transformations in the art world. In particular, people have been thinking about the rise of previously marginalized women artists and artists of color, as well as how art fairs and Instagram have changed the gallery structure. One big shift that people have talked about less but which I think is just as important is the decline of professional art criticism. While the democratization of writing on culture has been a boon for a lot of reasons, the shrinking of the discipline, and the shared conversation it engendered, has been a real loss.
What have we talked about too much?
I’m tempted to say Maurizio Cattelan’s Comedian—the $120,000 duct-taped banana at this year’s Art Basel Miami fair, since it’s occupied so much attention in the last few weeks. But in truth, I think it’s a clever take on value and ephemerality, and—although the money involved is another conversation—its ability to generate this level of conversation is truly impressive.
What could D.C. do to make the city more art and artist-friendly?
Real estate prices are such a barrier to the art scene here. Artists need space to make work, and galleries need the freedom to able to take risks on something might not make an immediate sale. Recent projects that help subsidize artist studios, like STABLE and Halcyon, have been huge success stories, and show the creative energy that results when some of this pressure is alleviated.
What was your favorite D.C. based show of the 2010s?
While not technically a show, I’d have to rank the creation of the National Museum of African American History and Culture as the top D.C. cultural phenomenon of the last decade. Their exhibitions are at once heartbreaking and exhilarating, and the museum’s continuing popularity shows the widespread hunger for this history.
View our September 2016 photo preview of the National Museum of African American History and Culture
Jeremy Ney
The Phillips Collection Director of Music
If you were to describe the state of the DC art scene in 2019 in a sentence or a few – what would you say?
Atomized, not in a bad way.
What are some of the projects /exhibitions that stuck out for you and why? Locally, globally and/or internationally?
At the Phillips its undoubtedly been the summer 2019 exhibition, The Warmth of Other Suns: Stories of Global Displacement, but then within that–for me–it was the John Akomfrah video work Vertigo Sea which really hit me in the guts. I also saw a big Richard Serra at LACMA in the spring and that was nice too.
Whose work have you been following with particular interest in the last year?
I’m in the classical music field so there’s a lot of people I’ve been following: the pianist/composer Conrad Tao and percussionist/composer Tyshawn Sorey stick out.
What was the art event of 2019?
I don’t know really what qualifies but if it’s in the intensity of someone’s response to something, then for me, I was watching the BBC Proms (a big classical music festival in the UK) on TV while eating a bowl of cereal. They were performing a new piece by Canadian composer Zosha Di Castri called, Long Is the Journey – Short Is the Memory, in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo landings. I was listening/watching idly until the whole orchestra reached this massive climax with a huge chorus singing “Apollo” at the top of their lungs. It was electrifying and seemed to me to carry this amazing double-image: both about the landings and the thresholds of human achievement, but also this incredibly concentrated, ecstatic gesture towards mythology and history’s obsession with the Apollonian. The unknowable myth became a cipher for the unknowable universe. So that was my own personal art event of 2019, eating cereal in front of the TV.
What have been some of the things that were not talked about enough this year?
I wish someone would come out with some searing rebuke about this new obsession with food as ‘art’ and the deification of chefs. You probably know the type of TV show I mean: Danish chef walking through wild flower meadow in sweeping slow motion shots, picking seasonal veg and proselyting in grandiose, ted-talky type language. I find it all a bit much and I think more people should talk about it.
What have we talked about too much?
Bananas stuck to walls.
Who is an artist/artists to watch in 2020 and beyond?
I’m really not sure because the question seems to gesture towards fashions and trends which shift all the time. I think it is best to find someone’s work you really like and follow it over time and let it live with you and get under your skin. The music of Gabriel Kahane has been a companion like that for me in the last few years, so maybe him.
What could D.C. do to make the city more art and artist friendly?
A few connected thoughts. Firstly, don’t take away the lifeline of direct project funding or grants, in fact give more unrestricted, expectation-free support. Appreciate the value in abstract concepts, don’t expect everything to speak to you or your ‘values’ instantaneously. Be cautious about the lines between craft and art, commerce and expression. Ultimately, listen more and appreciate the idea that artists often lead the charge and don’t need to be steered.
What was your favorite D.C. based show of the 2010s?
Of the top of my head, Chain and the Gang at the Hirshhorn during the Ragnar Kjartansson show in 2017. I think you all put that one together!
Allison Peck
Smithsonian Arts & Industries Director of External Affairs and Partnerships
If you were to describe the state of the DC art scene in 2019 in a sentence or a few – what would you say?
Subversive. And way cooler than anyone expected. I always think there’s an inverse relationship between D.C.’s political and existential crises and its creative culture. The more tense and grinding and fraught Washington gets, the more effervescent, thoughtful, sharp, universal its arts scene. It’s kind of…great?
What are some of the projects /exhibitions that stuck out for you and why? Locally, globally and/or internationally?
The Phillips Collection’s Warmth of Other Suns for its topicality and humanity. Nationally, Off-White fashion designer Virgil Abloh’s show at MCA Chicago nudged the boundaries between art v. “non-art” outwards by putting things like advertising, Louis Vuitton designs, shoes, DJs in gallery spaces.
Whose work have you been following with particular interest in the last year?
I’m deep into the intersection of art and tech right now for work, and I’m loving what I’m finding. There’s growing group of artists using AI, social media, robotics, and more in increasingly mind-boggling ways that still stay deeply human. If you ever need a jolt of tech-optimism, check out Sougwen Chung, Random International, Studio Drift, TeamLab.
What was the art event of 2019?
So many! STABLE’s opening, Hirshhorn’s Surrealist Ball, Superfine Art Fair, Halcyon’s By The People. You could go to a great art event every week.
What have been some of the things that were not talked about enough this year?
The loss of Curbed and the Washington Post Express. Both were valuable in their coverage of DC aesthetics and architecture, and happenings in general. Value your journalists, everyone!
What have we talked about too much?
Instagram and phones in museums. Take a photo, mash that selfie, switch outfits in the bathroom, tap three times. It’s all good, we love it!
Who is an artist/artists to watch in 2020 and beyond?
Nationally and globally, I’m in awe (still and always) of Ragnar Kjartansson. His 2016 show at Hirshhorn was transcendent, and he’s still early in his career. Remember The Visitors? I’ve never seen that many people cry-laughing in a gallery before and refusing to leave. Closer to home, I’m really interested to see what Phaan Howng does next. There’s kind of a global trend of a return to beauty in art lately, with a socially aware gut punch that she does so well.
View photos from our January 2017 BYT and Hirshhorn Present: Ragnaröck A Hirshhorn Late Night
What could D.C. do to make the city more art and artist friendly?
Hire creatives. Support creatives with your budget. Get your bosses to invest in artists, for public art and beyond. There are so many amazing thinkers, doers, photographers, videographers, designers in this city who are both artists and brilliant strategists. I’m so lucky that I get to walk the line between art and museum business in my day job, and we try hard to carve out spaces for that kind of creative work–don’t sleep on the guys of No Kings Collective, Pierre Edwards, Adrian Loving, Kate Warren, Yen Mooi, Monochrome Collective, Creative Theory, Swatchroom, Beth Carrero, Adriana Aspiazu, and about a million more.
What was your favorite D.C. based show of the 2010s?
When I first moved to DC, the first show I stumbled into was a Sam Gilliam install at the Katzen Museum up at American University. It’s never left me. He’s a pioneer, and a legend. It’s WILD that he hasn’t had a major retrospective in a hometown full of national museums.
Victoria Reis
Transformer Co-Founder, Executive & Artistic Director
If you were to describe the state of the DC art scene in 2019 in a sentence or a few – what would you say?
One word: Resilient.
What are some of the projects /exhibitions that stuck out for you and why? Locally, globally and/or internationally?
The Phillips Collections’ presentation of THE WARMTH OF OTHER SUNS Stories of Global Displacement was excellent. So powerful.
On a completely different level, I also really enjoyed and was inspired by Hilma af Klint: Paintings for the Future presented at the Guggenheim.
Internationally – visiting with Hilbert Raum, a peer arts space in Berlin was fantastic. Transformer had great collaboration with Sascha Appelhoff and Lena Von Goedeke, artists from Hilbert Raum, in DC this year – their Normcore exhibition at our P Street, NW space this fall, and their photobooth installation at the Transformer Auction. They also curated a strong selection of their peer German artists’ works in the Auction.
View photos from the 2018 Transformer Silent Auction
Whose work have you been following with particular interest in the last year?
The artists Transformer supported & presented in our 2019 Siren Arts summer residency program at the beach in Asbury Park, NJ: Kunj (DC), Jane Carver (Philadelphia), Maps Glover (DC), Ayana Evans (NYC), Tsedaye Makonnen (DC), Jodie Lyn-Kee-Chow ( NYC), and Andrew Demirjian (Newark).
What was the art event of 2019?
The 16th Annual Transformer Silent Auction & Benefit Party of course! Held at the GWU/Corcoran School of The Arts & Design on October 26. 850 guests. 225+ artworks. Bauhaus theme. Collaboration with the German Embassy and the Goethe Institute. Untertage after-party at The Line. It was wunderbar!
What have been some of the things that were not talked about enough this year?
Artists
What have we talked about too much?
Influencers
Who is an artist/artists to watch in 2020 and beyond?
I’m very excited about Farrah Skeiky’s upcoming exhibition Present Tense: DC punk and DIY, Right Now. It opens at Transformer January 18, 2020 (and through February 29). It is the 17th Annual DC Artist Solo Exhibition Transformer has presented highlighting particularly exceptional emerging artists.
This body of work reinforces and celebrates the ongoing tradition of punk, hardcore and DIY music in DC, demonstrated in its most intimate moments. The photographs Farrah shares here, made over six years in spaces old and new, champion the subjects as the present and future of this movement, fighting the notion that this section of D.C. counterculture exists solely in the past. It is a celebration of one of the most revered traditions of modern music, in the context of today. Inspired by a love for small spaces that remove the barrier between performer and crowd, with this exhibition Skeiky presents a celebration of chaos and tension both on the walls and among viewers in close quarters. Present Tense programming will include artist talks, panels, and live performances within the exhibition.
What could D.C. do to make the city more art and artist friendly?
I’d love for the Mayor and staff from the Mayor’s office to come visit and learn in person about what we at Transformer and other smaller and medium sized arts orgs are doing, the impact we are making in artists’ lives and careers, how we work nimbly within multiple collaborations and partnerships throughout DC and beyond, and the impact we make in contributing to a vibrant cultural experience which leads to a greater life within the city for residents and visitors.
Oh and – increased and committed allocations of funding to the DC Commission on the Arts.
What was your favorite D.C. based show of the 2010s?
Everything I’ve worked on for Transformer. I am so grateful for the support I receive/have received in propelling Transformer as a platform for emerging artists and innovative emerging art practices. I’m proud of it all. It’s been a pretty awesome decade! Excited for the future!
Kelly Towles
If you were to describe the state of the DC art scene in 2019 in a sentence or a few – what would you say?
Inspiring. I see a lot of people putting it out there and push to have more things going on in the city. A lot more action.
What are some of the projects /exhibitions that stuck out for you and why? Locally, globally and/or internationally?
There is a lot more digital integration going on which is pretty exciting – there was the robot arm by sun yuan and peng yu venice biennale was pretty wild.
Whose work have you been following with particular interest in the last year?
Too many- here are a few – ODV crew, Nicole McLaughlin , Morgan Blair, Red Swan, Azuma Makoto
What was the art event of 2019?
Most likely the banana duck taped to a wall selling for $$$$
What have we talked about too much?
Most likely the banana duck taped to a wall selling for $$$$
Who is an artist/artists to watch in 2020 and beyond?
To be honest- this years coming POW! WOW! DC is going to be insane. Toot my own horn.
What could D.C. do to make the city more art and artist friendly?
More studios, hands down. With the lack of affordable space available to artist is what holds DC back and our creative community.
What was your favorite D.C. based show of the 2010s?
Love the building museum activations, Yayoi Kusama at the Hirshhorn, Last Train by yours truly
Read our 2018 profile of Towles
Trap Bob
If you were to describe the state of the DC art scene in 2019 in a sentence or a few – what would you say?
It has been on FIRE. We are truly in a creative renaissance and 2019 has really been a peak.
What are some of the projects /exhibitions that stuck out for you and why? Locally, globally and/or internationally?
I think the UMBRELLA exhibit by No Kings was a very definitive moment for DC. It’s something that hasn’t been done before and so dynamically included the different groups and artists in the city. I mean we had AOC even stop by! So crazy and monumental. Another one is 29 Rooms being on its first tour and having a stop in DC, I’m so proud to have had a part in it and be able to have it in our city.
Whose work have you been following with particular interest in the last year?
Chris Pyrate is an artist I’ve just been introduced to and worked with this year. He’s very innovative and has made some huge waves since returning to DC.
What was the art event of 2019?
For me this year was my first time showing at Art Basel, so that was pretty amazing. From the crazy exhibits and shows to the banana taped to a wall selling for $120,000, it was really epic.
What have been some of the things that were not talked about enough this year?
The lack of space and affordable housing for artists in DC. Even if we have talked about it, we need to talk about it more!
What have we talked about too much?
Tr*mp.
Who is an artist/artists to watch in 2020 and beyond?
It’s very hard to narrow it down, but I would say all the amazing emerging female artists in our area.
What could D.C. do to make the city more art and artist friendly?
First, provide affordable housing and studios/workspaces to all the artists based here. And also highlight and celebrate the creatives here in a more substantial and visible way.
What was your favorite D.C. based show of the 2010s?
Infinity Mirrors by Yayoi Kusama at the Hirshhorn.
Read our Inside the Artist Studio: Trap Bob
