Homecoming
(I’m Coming Home)
February James
February 10 – March 24, 2024
IN THE MOBILE ART GALLERY AT RANDALL RECREATION CENTER
South Capitol & I Streets, SW, across from the Rubell Museum, DC.
HOURS: WED-SUN 11 AM - 5 PM, CLOSED 1:30 - 2 PM FOR LUNCH.
CulturalDC always strives for accessible programs. Our Mobile Arts model allows us to access populations across the District and beyond. Due to some challenges at this location, please email us before arrival for mobility accommodations.
A Homecoming Opening Celebration - February 10th, 2024, 4-6 PM at the mobile art gallery
From the Artist:
Returning to Washington, DC, is an immensely personal and celebratory experience for me. This showcase is a tribute to where I first learned and how I learned to care for myself—the place where the behaviors that form part of my identity were meticulously crafted. Exploring relationships between personal identity, space, and time, this exhibition offers a nostalgic reflection on the transformative journey from adolescence to adulthood.
Designed with ephemeral notions of a grade-school experience, the space is an opportunity to experience environments reminiscent of the social networks and habits that have shaped our adult bodies and personas. My approach to portraiture has always been more about the psychological experience of the human condition versus the likeness of the individual, fueled more by empathy, compassion, and optimism as bridges of connectivity. These smeared, distorted, and seemingly hollow portraits are equipped with a confronting gaze that, at times, has the power to bring the viewer to moments of reflection. Points and places to encounter the duality of self, what we keep, and what keeps us.
My work has always been an exploration of identity-forming behaviors and the framework that becomes the lens through which we view the world. When working, I deliberately utilize colors that integrate hope, life, and love. I aspire to challenge viewers to contemplate what's beyond the immediate figure.
Feelings, though fleeting, are a compass on one's journey to evolve.
Photo by Mariah Miranda
Works created by February James for Homecoming (I’m Coming Home) are available for sale on our Artsy
or email info@culturaldc.org for more details.
Press
Homecoming (I’m Coming Home) Install Shots
Photo credit: Vivian Marie Doering
Homecoming (I’m Coming Home) Opening Celebration
February 10, 2024
An event that perfectly harmonizes with the exhibition's "Homecoming" theme. CulturalDC orchestrated a special school-style opening event featuring burgers, popcorn, hot chocolate, a set with Dj Groovy Gene, and the grand finale—an enchanting performance by the Eastern High School Marching Band.
Photos by Michael Kirby
Photo by Mariah Miranda
February James
February James currently lives and works in Washington, D.C., where she was born, after living in Los Angeles for sixteen years. She received her BFA from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA. James has exhibited in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, London, Berlin and Turin, Italy.
Her work is currently included in Singular Views: 25 Artists at the Rubell Museum in Washington, D.C., following her inclusion in What’s Going On, the museum’s inaugural exhibition in 2022-2023.
In 2021, James was invited by Mickalene Thomas and Racquel Chevremont to create a room-size installation in Set It Off, an exhibition they organized for the Parrish Art Museum in Watermill, NY. She has been featured in multiple other group shows, including Punch, curated by Nina Chanel Abney at Jeffrey Deitch in Los Angeles, Face-to-Face at the Sugar Hill Children’s Museum of Art and Storytelling, New York and BodyLand, curated by Lauren Taschen at Galerie Max Hetzler in Berlin. She was invited to contribute watercolors to a feature in The New York Times Style Magazine in February 2021. James has been represented by Tilton Gallery since 2020.
Past Works
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