Ephemeral Systems, at the Adah Rose Gallery, is a group show of drawings by five contemporary artists: Nikki Brugnoli, Sarah Dolan, Adam Liam Rose, Blade Wynne, and Mojdeh Rezaeipour. The exhibition closes May 30, 2021. Through various ways of drawing, from building with pencil to eroding with sandpaper and wood burning, each of these artists examines some facet of the question: how is the world built and where does one belong in it? This is at different turns a question about human-built systems of architecture, power, identity, and relationships as well as about nature and impermanence. 

Each artist considers what at first seems to be an enduring system or structure — something well-defined and lasting — only to question their own place within it and whether such structures are as lasting as they seem. In their hands, with pencil, pen or squeegee, they turn over the question of how a person or group of people locate themselves in relation to the natural world or to the particularities of a deliberately human-constructed environment. Physical structures — blocks, buildings, fences, tree limbs — become studies of interconnectedness, societal roles and expectations, and yearning.   

The show runs concurrently with the drawing exhibition, “18 Meditations” by Anne C. Smith.  Who also curated Ephemeral Systems.

Smith is a visual artist in Washington, DC. Her art practice spans the disciplines of drawing, sculpture and printmaking. Her subject matter ranges from her childhood home to the side of the road and other spaces imagined or observed. Anne received her BA in studio art at Williams College and her MFA from George Mason University. She is currently a teaching artist at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC and worked in the studio of master printmaker Lou Stovall. Anne has exhibited at Hillyer Art Space, Old Dominion University, James Madison University, Carroll Square Gallery, The Workhouse Art Center and throughout the DC area. This is her second show with Adah Rose Gallery.

To learn more about the gallery please visit www.adahrosegallery.org