This talented artist, born in Portugal, gets my vote as the top Washington, DC artist. A faculty member at George Mason University, where she teaches painting and drawing, Kendall reveals a fascinating and sometimes fantastical world in her paintings. Her truly brilliant neo-realism is married with a odd sense of near reality and surrealism. There are phantasms, ogres, wild birds and elements of Yeats in her paintings, and always a stunningly beautiful female. She is represented by Washington's top gallery: Gallery K in Dupont Circle.
Easily the most recognized and imitated artist in Washington, Manon Cleary is one of those key persons which make up a city's cultural life. She is a member of the faculty at the University of the District of Columbia, where her energy and enthusiasm trickle down to her students. Her work is brilliant neo-classical realism which sometimes touches on fantasy and sometimes on cruel reality. Cleary's work can be savage and impetuous, but she is always dead on target with her limitless skill. She is represented by the Addison-Rippley Gallery.
Also a power figure in the D.C. art scene, where he has been a key element for many years, Michael Clark and his British wife Felicity Hogan have in the last few years joined brushwork to create (as a team) some of the most memorable artwork which this city's art scene support. Clark, who is fascinated by George Washington imagery, has somewhat replaced that fascination with oranges -- NAFTA oranges that is -- and together with Hogan, manages to create an almost limitless (and quite affordable) range of works on this theme. A virtual human mass-production factory of paintings, they are represented by MOCA, which they also direct.
Brilliant painter and animated TV art critic for WETA's "Around Town." Manages to mix a variety of visual clues and meanderings to deliver almost surreal works which mix medias, styles and artifacts, but the end result is always memorable work. Represented by The Ralls Collection
5. Joe Shannon
The former exhibition director and curator of the Hirshhorn Museum and noted art teacher for many years at the Corcoran and MICA, Shannon is one of those artists whose work extends beyond what one sees on the walls. Shannon's work is sharp and loaded with observations and acute criticism of the art world itself. His are paintings with color fangs and imagery which savages and brutalizes the art world and the arts cabal of critics, collectors and hangers-on. Shannon is represented by Gallery K.
A master printmaker and local art figure, Stovall manages to marry technical skill with a unbridled sense of beauty and design. One of the most awarded and recognized artists in the city, Stovall also gets deeply involved in the local arts community. Through Workshop, Inc., founded in 1968, he has made a unique effort to build a community of artists in Washington, D.C. and to encourage, by his own example, service in the arts community at large. Member of the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.
She first burst upon the D.C. art world in 1996, when she opened the Fraser Gallery in Georgetown. She had moved earlier that year from England, where she had begun her photography business. Her works are surreal and poetic (and affordable). Working exclusively in black and white infrared imagery of Scotland, Fraser delivers fine art landscape photographer which I compare favorably to Ansel Adams' work. This is truly a creative photographer and a darkroom master. Easily the most collected and best-selling fine arts photographer in DC. She is represented by the Fraser Gallery, which she owns.
An Associate Professor of Painting and Drawing at the University of Maryland, this artists' paintings are full of brilliance and light, which when coupled with his geometric abstraction deliver an almost Moorish sense of color and composition. In his canvasses we see the tiles of the Alhambra and the walls of the Mosque of Cordoba and almost hear the sigh of the Moor as he was expelled from Spain. Richardson was represented by Baumgartner Gallery, which moved to New York.
Without the doubt the best photojournalist in the world, Guzy is the local superstar photographer at the Washington Post. Her work is memorable and creates a lasting impression which go beyond the words they often accompany. This is the superstar photographer of our times. Photographs are available by calling the Washington Post.
This is easily the most famous of all local Washington artists, and his claim to fame comes together with the Washington Color School and the color exuberance of Abstract Expressionism. Gilliam's works have moved to become almost sculptural in nature. His talent for color and creation are undeniable. Nonetheless, he does not seem to "add" to the city's cultural scene with the creativity of a Clark or a Cleary, which goes beyond creating just art. Represented by Marsha Mateyka Gallery.
The Top 10 Galleries of Washington, DC
All the Galleries of Washington, DC
The Best Artists of Washington, DC
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