(e)merge Takes Over The Capitol Skyline Hotel
(e)merge Takes Over The Capitol Skyline Hotel
WASHINGTON — The Capitol Skyline Hotel will look different over the next three days. The (e)merge art fair has brought in 152 artists and 80 galleries to set up installations, paintings, sculpture and site-specific works that transform the hotel in an art gallery for up-and-coming artists.
The multi-day event uses the garage, lobby and second floors and transformed them into unique spaces. Visitors to the hotel and the art fair are greeted by Alex Podesta self-portrait sculptures of the artist as bunnies playing chess. Podesta’s work pops up again in the gym and in the lobby to the parking garage.
The lower level of the hotel features works of students and graduates from the Corcoran College of Art and Design, the District Columbia Commission on the Arts and Humanities, Maryland Institute College of the Arts and larger installations from local artists DECOY, Thomas Canavan and more.
The ground level runs the gamut of styles and settings. The cocktail lounge features video installations and mixed-media sculpture. The restaurant has small, entrancing smart tablet art from Michael Mansfield and paintings from Lillian Bayley Hoover. Larger conference rooms feature two of the largest and best pieces of the fair, a 20-foot ferris wheel by Mihaela Savu and a video/live performance piece by Joyce Yu-Jean Lee.
The second floor features 25 galleries from around the world taking over 34 hotel rooms. Smaller pieces dominiate the smaller spaces. Highlights include Chicago artist Cheryl Pope‘s ceramic tops and three-tier spinning structures in the Contemporary Wing‘s room and Kansas City artist Marie Bower’s cast bronze and silver pieces in Goya Contemporary’s suite. Local gallery Transformer is also worth checking out. Their prices range from the lowest to the average, $25 to $500 for a print, and feature a wide array of styles.
The (e)merge art fair continues through Sunday. Tickets for the event are $15, $10 for seniors and students with a valid ID.
Click on the slideshow below to view an extensive slideshow featuring a sample of each room of (e)merge.