Gallery Visit: Conner Contemporary Art

Dirty, Filthy, Money. Copyright Jeremy Kost, Courtesy Conner Contemporary Art

Some may question if Florida Avenue is truly considered part of the Hill, but a step inside Conner Contemporary Art near the corner of 13th Street, Northeast and you’ll be glad it’s in your neighborhood. Through July 2nd, they’re exhibiting five artists, and if you’re at all enthused by polaroids, disco balls, awnings or drag queens, check out the museum-scale gallery that relocated from Dupont Circle two years ago.

You’ll meet the celebrities and drag queens that inspire Jeremy Kost in the front gallery in his exhibit “Between the Lines.” James Franco seems to play a part, perhaps flirting with the photographer,  joining along with other A-listers who peer out from the polaroid paparazzi checkerboards. The drag queens and vampy night creatures in the oversized digital prints evoke comic book cheesecake and candy colored vintage tattoos. They fill the large, bright space with enthusiasm; the shrill tones of the ladies and clinking glasses seem to echo.

The video installations by Geoffrey Aldridge in “All that Glitters” reverberate with a disco vibe as well, but coupled with mundane acts such as gay men sleeping and snuggling and a man bathing, they remind me of the fractured nature of perception and the basic emotional and physical sameness behind images often sexualized by context.

The Bowling Ball. Copyright Joe Ovelman, Courtesy Conner Contemporary Art

Joe Ovelman’s work, sculptures of wood, fabric, plexiglass and wire, is a puzzle. A chat with a gallery employee cleared some of the imagery up for me and suffice it to say, of all of the, well — hole-centric — pieces, I preferred “The Bowling Ball” before I had a clue to its title or suggestion. Out of context and integrated into unpredictable mediums like plexiglass, felt and what looks like upholstery fabric, this, Ovelman’s second solo exhibition in the gallery, references sexuality and the subversion of social norms.

Step into Conner’s patio space and you’ll feel swallowed by the pop-art derivative mural called “A Unified Theory of Everything” by Jeremy Flick. As you walk in the gallery’s front door, or other nearby entrances, you’ll notice the decorative and functional awnings aren’t quite your standard issue. They’re site specific designs by Patrick McDonough; “Awning Studies: Florida Avenue, NE” uses colorful domestic awnings to designate “free time space” while paying tribute to a popular architectural fixture.

Next on at Conner is Academy 2011, the gallery’s 11th Annual MFA/BFA invitational, opening July 9. No need to wait ’til then to darken the door under one of the cheery awnings, the gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. You may find yourself thinking Florida Avenue feels very Soho.