Double Rainbow: PRISMMMs

BY HOLLY BASS & MAPS GLOVER

January 21 - February 25, 2023

Exhibition Opening: Saturday, January 21, 12 - 6 PM

Meet the Artists Reception: 2 - 4 PM

Framework Panel #31: Double Rainbow: Future Archives - A conversation with artists Holly Bass & Maps Glover at Eaton DC.
Thursday, Feb 2, 6:30 PM - 7:30 PM
Free & Open to the public.



Double Rainbow: PRISMMMs at Transformer - the 2nd exhibition in Double Rainbow: Future Archives by Holly Bass & Maps Glover, presented in collaboration with CulturalDC - features video work and archival materials from the artists’ collaborative performances, that subvert the current art historical cannon. The archives reflect the artists’ creative history and cultural lineages.

“As a society, we have learned the power and importance of video documentation as a portal to the Black experience. Would George Floyd’s murder at the hands of police have become the catalyst for global protests without the steady impromptu camera work of Darnella Frazier? Would we know about the significant contributions of artists such as Adrian Piper, David Hammons, and Lorraine O’Grady if not for their photographic and video documentation? In a society that constantly seeks to erase Black artistry and innovation, creating public archives is of paramount importance. 

By collaborating to create an exhibition of video work that showcases our live performance work, when we invite our parents and cousins and aunts and uncles into the art space with us, we prioritize audiences that have been historically excluded from predominantly white art spaces. When we share our work on social media and invite our friends, collaborators, and other District residents into the gallery to see our work, we create opportunities for discussion and reflection on the beautiful complexity and diversity that exists within the Black community of Washington, DC. We shift the narrative. We represent ourselves, our cultural lineages, and our collective futures.

Double Rainbow refers to a rare meteorological phenomenon in which two full rainbows can be seen simultaneously, with one arcing directly above the other.” – Holly Bass & Maps Glover

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Holly Bass is a multidisciplinary performance and visual artist, writer and director. Her work has been presented at spaces such as the Kennedy Center, the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, the Seattle Art Museum, and the 2022 Venice Biennale. Her visual art work includes photography, installation, video and performance. A Cave Canem fellow, she has published poems in numerous journals and anthologies. She studied modern dance (under Viola Farber) and creative writing at Sarah Lawrence College before earning her Master’s from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. She was a 2019 Red Bull Detroit artist-in-residence and a 2019 Dance/USA Artist Fellow. She is a 2020-2022 Live Feed resident artist at New York Live Arts and a 2021-22 Smithsonian Artist Research Fellow. A gifted and dedicated teaching artist, she directed a year-round creative writing and performance program for the DC juvenile detention center for four years and continues to facilitate workshops nationally and internationally.

Maps Glover is a multidisciplinary performance and visual artist, with a focus on Afrofuturism. His works have been performed all around the country in spaces such as the Kennedy Center, the National Portrait Gallery, Albright University, and the Centre Pompidou in Paris, France. 

His visual art work includes photography, installation, video, performance, and his murals and can be found in publications such as the the Washington Post, the Washington Informer’s Bridge, Hello Mr., and Relapse magazine, to name a few. Maps has a deep love for creativity and technology that has led him to the world of the metaverse where he has exhibited in over 30 shows selling NFTs for competitive prices, slowing gaining a reputation as the artist with an unwavering vision and a sensitivity to humanity. Most of this work can be found on digital marketplaces such as Voxels, Rarible, and OpenSea.

Framework Panel #31: Double Rainbow: Future Archives

THURS. FEBRUARY 2, 2023

A conversation with artists Holly Bass & Maps Glover at Eaton DC. Co-Moderated by Victoria Reis, Transformer’s Artistic & Executive Director, and Jamal Grey, CulturalDC’s Program Engagement Coordinator, this panel conversation will explore & examine Bass & Glover’s multidisciplinary practice, and conceptual and material elements of their two-part exhibition Double Rainbow: Future Archives as shared through visuals and video highlights of their performance art work, as well as the praxis of collaborative work.

DOUBLE RAINBOW: PRISMMMs public PROGRAMMING