The 5×5 Project recently opened in its second incarnation. This year the five selected curators include, Lance Fung, Shamim M. Momin, Stephanie Sherman, Justine Topher and A.M. Weaver. Each of the five curators has selected five artists to present an artwork in and around Washington D.C. The site specific projects range in theme, aesthetic and execution ranging from photographic billboards to sculptural interventions and events that will occur throughout the duration of the exhibition which comes to a close December 2014.
Of the five curators, specific projects were submitted as part of an open call. Lance Fung’s show is titled Nonuments and finds the curator working with artists such as Peter Hutchinson and Eliza and Nora Narangjo-Morse. The works in Nonuments are all clustered in a park located at 990 4th Street, SW. Shamim M. Momin, is a curator and founder of LAND (Los Angeles Nomadic Division). Her project, Alter Abolish Address brings together Glenn Kaino, Diana Al-Hadid, Dan Colen, Brendan Fowler and Marianne Vitale, whose projects are in various, sometimes difficult to locate areas, however, worth the hunt. A.M. Weaver, based in Philadelphia, took her own curatorial license and is exhibiting billboards throughout the downtown area titled Ceremonies of Dark Men (CoDM). Each billboard features a photographic image accompanied by a poem, chosen by Weaver. Her artists include Isaac Diggs, Larry Cook and others. Another project, Near Futures, curated by Stephanie Sherman, focuses on immigration, security, energy, housing, and communication. Several “art actions” will take place ranging from bilingual radio by artist Augustina Woodgate which will stream online to a live screen-printing event with Dignidad Rebelde. Lastly, Australian born curator Justine Topher has worked with Kota Ezawa who presents an outdoor sculpture, specific to Washington D.C. titled “Hand Vote” and Sanaz Mazinani who has made an outdoor vinyl wallpaper that functions as a trome l’oiele creating a dizzying external patterning to a former library.
Together, The 5×5 Project has moments that are stronger than others, however, as a whole, it brings attention to issues ranging from politics to the phantasmagoria of cinema. Those who may never step foot inside a museum or gallery will have the opportunity to contemplate questions posed by contemporary artists, or to keep going about their regular day.
