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There's a show at Creative Alliance in Baltimore that opens next week that pairs DC artist Kevin MacDonald [whose drawings have been in the back of my mind for the last 15 years at least] and Don Cook [whose work I've never seen before] - after the opening I'm going to participate in a panel discussion on the [lack of] cultural relationship between DC and Baltimore. For the 2 or 3 of you that read this blog that actually live in the US, come by and heckle me. Here's the info:

DC painter and Baltimore painter (longtime friends) use urban architecture to tell stories with a long view

Arts leaders discuss solutions to the divide between DC and Baltimore cultural scenes

Don Cook & Kevin MacDonald: City Stories
Sun Nov 13 2-4pm Opening Reception
Sun Nov 13 4-5:30pm Discussion DC/Balto: A Greater Metropolitan Arts Community?
On view Nov 13 – Dec 17
Gallery Hours: Wed-Sat, 11am-5pm.
 
An automobile charges through the streets at night; elsewhere, a lonely shingle house is overtaken by shopping malls and office towers. These and other images tell the stories – real and imagined – which  painters Don Cook and Kevin MacDonald draw from our shared urban spaces. The two artists have been friends for twenty years, and exhibit their work here together at a moment when their work is converging.
 
Cook, one of CA’s resident artists, is transplanted to Baltimore from Western MD, via Annapolis. Along the way, he has honed his ability to hear the voice of a place, to sense the rhythm of its movements. His latest paintings construct a loose narrative from stark images of urban architecture, with text that’s delivered in whispered French, or the staccato of a noir mystery. The visual effect is something in between Chris Ware’s graphic novels and Ed Ruscha’s word paintings. MacDonald is a native of Silver Spring and has been a major presence on the DC arts scene for years. His luminous paintings, though representational, mark him as a natural heir to the DC “color school” painters. MacDonald was chair of Washington Project for the Arts during the tumult of the 1980’s, his work hangs in major collections, and he’s represented by Adamson Gallery. In recent years, as Silver Spring has grown from sleepy suburb to booming exurb, MacDonald has painted images of the houses of his youth – dreamy and quiet pictures of 1950’s ranch homes and boxy 2-story colonials. Here he offers a taste of his upcoming series “The Mysteries of Silver Spring,” which hints at the stubborn traces of quieter times amidst the hurly-burly of urban development. 
 
BALTIMORE/DC ARTS FORUM
Inspired by Cook and MacDonald’s decades-long Baltimore/DC friendship, CA convenes a roundtable discussion after the opening of notable artists, critics, and curators to look at why the two cities’ arts communities remain so separate, and what rewards could be sparked through greater connectivity. Panelists include: Helen Frederick, Pyramid Atlantic (Silver Spring); Sam Christian Holmes, artist (Baltimore); James Huckenpahler, artist (Fusebox Gallery, DC); Jason Hughes, artist, founder, Gallery 4 (Baltimore); Nancy Haragan, Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance; and Michael O’Sullivan, Washington Post.