Artist Talk for Open Latitudes – Saturday, July 15, 2023 2-4pm

2023-07-10T20:22:10+00:00July 10, 2023|

Artist Talk for Open Latitudes: Mixed Media by Alonzo Davis and Chee Keong Kung

Date: Saturday, July 15, 2023, 2-4PM

Location: Workhouse Center for the Arts, Vulcan Gallery W-16, Lorton, Va.

GPS Address:  9518 Workhouse Way Lorton, VA 22079

We hope that you will join us this coming Saturday for an insightful conversation into the creative processes of Alonzo Davis and Chee Keong Kung at the Workhouse Center for the Arts in the Vulcan Gallery.  There is plenty of parking at Lorton – North and South Parking Lots.

If this is your first time coming out to Workhouse,  please check the campus map as well as the visitors information on the website.

Look for the Love Size on the campus central quad.

Campus Map

The exhibit is on the first level of the building W-16.

Visitors Information. 

Alonzo J. Davis

Alonzo J. Davis’ career as an artist spans four decades.  A native of Tuskegee, Alabama, Davis moved with his family to Los Angeles in his early teens.  After acquiring an undergraduate degree at Pepperdine College he earned an MFA in Printmaking and Design at Otis Art Institute.  Influenced early on by the assemblagists, Davis soon took wing and began to experiment with a variety of mediums, techniques and themes. At the suggestion of artist and former professor, Charles White, Davis began to produce prints and paintings in series.
While he was inspired by travel to Africa, the Caribbean and American Southwest—the colors and patterns of the Pacific Rim cultures also seeped into Davis’ artwork.  During the ‘70’s and early ‘80’s, Davis’ involvement in the California mural movement culminated with the 1984 Olympic Murals project.  His Eye on ’84 is one of ten murals on the walls of the downtown Los Angeles Harbor Freeway.

Chee Keong Kung

Geometry and gestural mark-making are integral to Kung’s practice that is rooted in his training in art and architecture. Kung grew up in Singapore, where the rich diversity of cultures has indelibly shaped his approach to artmaking. He works with an evolving vocabulary informed by the cultural milieu and observations from natural and man-made environments. Kung is interested in the emotive resonance that grows out of the act of intent seeing and remembering. His process relies on discovery and invention while navigating the spaces between light and shadow, depth and flatness, and motion and stillness.
Kung’s works are in private, corporate, and institutional collections, including The National Museum Art Gallery of Singapore and The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.  Born in Singapore, Kung studied art & architecture at the University of Houston and real estate at Cornell University.  He lives and works in McLean, VA.

Building Blocks – Agility

2023-03-16T20:29:24+00:00December 15, 2022|

Remember the word “Pivot”  from early 2020? We pivoted to Zoom and online social interactions. Everything changed over night. In March of 2020, I was working with a team to install art exhibits at NOVA, when we were told to leave the building and go home. We left the art on the wall.  Just like that.

As I head into a new year with the Distinct Studios project, I am grateful for my family, friends and clients but I am also certain about my word for 2023 – “Agility”.

I learned Agile Development while building interactive media in the early 2000’s.

The  agile practice is this:

Have an idea? Design it on paper and then prototype.

Test the prototype, make changes and then repeat until the concept is fully formed.

The goal is to “Fail Fast” but also efficiently and at a lower cost. The same iterative principle can be applied to creating art and small agile businesses.

“Fail Fast” is an entrepreneurial term.  “Learn Fast” is my preferred mantra.

After we went into lockdown in 2020, I was constantly making adjustments. Plans were made and then the pandemic changed those plans. Did you ever have the thought in April of 2020 “We’ll open up again in a few months”? I can’t remember how many times I did.

I was “Learning Fast”.

As we shift away from the pandemic, it appears that we are in a new world.  Art will continue to inspire and lift us but the economic environment is  tougher than it’s been in years.

In the coming year, I will continue my agile practice as I test concepts, revise and build.

Thank you for your support this past year.  I look forward to sharing news of upcoming projects and travels in 2023.

Stay Safe and Well over the Holidays!

Theresa Martin 2015, Private Collection

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