Meet Your Neighbors update: September shows for some local artists

September brings out our local artists! David Cohen, Deborah LaCroix and Annette Polan are featured in local shows and talks in the coming days and weeks.

David Cohen

David Cohen, the wildlife and portrait photographer who has generously shared his work with Forest Hills Connection will be exhibiting this weekend at the 48th annual Glen Echo Labor Day Art Show. This is his third year at the show, which opens tonight with a public reception from 7:30 to 9 p.m. in the Glen Echo Park Spanish Ballroom. Admission to the reception and show is free.

The show continues on Saturday, Sept. 1; Sunday, Sept. 2; and Monday, Sept. 3, from noon to 6 p.m. each day. It features works by over 200 artists, from painting to jewelry, crafts, sculpture, and photography. Past shows have drawn thousands of viewers.

For more information, see glenechopark.org/ldas. Glen Echo Park is at 7300 MacArthur Blvd., Glen Echo, MD, 20812.

Deborah LaCroix

Three of my paintings, A Delicate Operation, Market Scene Myanmar and Shondra in Winter, were curated into a Women’s Caucus for Art exhibition at The Cooley Gallery, 9 N King St, Leesburg, VA. The exhibition runs from September 7 – 30, 2018, with the opening reception on September 7, 6-9 p.m. This is also “First Friday” for historic downtown Leesburg, with art, music, dining and other shopping venues open for perusal.

As always, you can see my work in the LaCroix Gallery by private appointment and preview all but my work in progress on my website at www.dcclacroix.com.

Annette Polan

Exhibitions:

“Covert Autobiography: A Self-Portrait on Aging” at George Mason University in addition to a talk about the “Transformative Powers of Art” in the Visual Voices Professional Lecture Series on September 13, 2018.

New Commissions:

I collaged at the very beginning of my career and recently I have been pushing my commissioned portraits in similar directions. Two new portraits, Shanti Norris for the Smith Center of Healing and the Arts and a double portrait of Jeffery and Cheryl Jalbert of Charleston and Kiawah, SC, rely on collage to explore likeness as well as probe deeper psychological meaning.

Women Across Generations:

My exhibition last year, “Covert Autobiography,” a multi-media, visual exploration of aging through self-portraiture, was an attempt to look at and tell MY STORY.

Throughout my career, I have used likeness to explore complex identities that lie behind appearances in myself and in others. Portraiture offers a flexible paradigm open to fresh approaches to the exploration of the “Nature of Self.” While looking at myself and the effects of maturing, of aging on my life, I became curious about how aging has effected other women and girls: sisters and other family, former classmates and friends – old and new.

It is natural that I would turn to portraiture to open a platform for other women and girls to show the world who we are, what we look like and how we face life with a perspective different from male counterparts. As women gain economic and professional power, we need to share our stories that illustrate the wisdom and beauty of aging.

I have begun photographing women of all ages and posting the photos, “Women Across Generations,” on Facebook and Instagram. A blog has followed. These portraits are to show the struggles, triumphs, loss and discovery that weave through everyday life.

Talking about aging remains a great taboo even though ideas of old age have changed in the 21st century. Growing older is a new kind of liberation for some and presents new restrictions for others – and everything in between. There is potential throughout life to replenish a capacity for positive change and access untapped strengths – no matter how old or young one is. I am hopeful that “Women Across Generations” will open conversations to connect women of all ages across social, economic and political backgrounds to learn from herstory.