To say D.C. is not known for its fashion sense is an understatement. The people in our fine city get slammed again and again for their inability to dress themselves in anything other than career wear. Luckily this holiday shopping season offers a little incentive in the form of trunk shows for those of us who'd like to look better and help us score some spiffy new duds. As gifts, of course. Trunk shows are......

After yesterday's preview of the endless list of holiday concerts in the area in December, it is time to discuss the piece that must not be named, Georg Friedrich Händel's Messiah (1742). Yes, it is a masterpiece of music history, but the lamentable annual round of weary performances at Christmas time (in spite of the fact that Messiah is an Easter work), makes me want to run screaming for anything else this time of......

Sloganeers, running through December 9 at the DC Arts Center, is part of DCAC’s Curatorial Initiative program, in which established curators nurture emerging ones, and in the process, create unique group exhibits. This month’s exhibit, curated by Liz Flyntz, examines the use of slogans in artwork. While common in advertising, slogans often serve a different purpose when appearing in an artist’s work. Lou Laurita’s two displayed gouache on paper works, The Caveat and The Blind......

It was a good weekend for historically informed performance: after a stunning concert of the Bachs by Café Zimmermann at the Library of Congress, it was out to the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center on Sunday night for a recital by the British duo of Andrew Manze and Richard Egarr. In charming prefatory remarks, Manze labeled the selection of one Schubert and three Mozart sonatas as "some of our favorites." A look back over their......

In an audacious presentation of political and protest art, the Katzen Arts Center’s Art of CONFRONTation showcases three separate exhibitions that share a confident outspokenness. Whether it’s the poignant reenactments of torture of Abu Ghraib by Fernando Botero, or the surreal depictions of the city-dominated human condition by Irving Norman in Dark Metropolis, or the multifaceted collection of some of the 1970s most important feminist art in Claiming Space, these works are united by a......

It is always good to know how your concert schedule is going to play out, and this week things could not be any clearer (and none of these events has sold out). Here is your list of what's good, what's free, and even some of what's both. THE BIG GUNS: >> A couple years ago, soprano Anne Schwanewilms was in the news because she replaced Deborah Voigt, when the latter could not fit into a......

The big news this week came on Tuesday, as the Washington Project for the Arts announced it was officially splitting from the Corcoran Gallery of Art at the end of 2007. The success of the partnership has boosted the WPA to a place where they can function solo once more, and are currently setting up shop in Dupont Circle. The Post has an excellent summary of WPA\C's history. >> The Arlington Arts Center is our......

While no major event on the schedule this week trumps all others, there are several concerts that will merit your attention. Three of them are scheduled for Thursday night. If contemporary music was the headliner last week, this week it is early music. >> Opera Lafayette's bread and butter is in presenting obscure Baroque operas, usually French, sung by exceptional voices and with the help of their fine instrumental ensemble. The group opens its season......

>> The Classical Music Agenda will return this Sunday, after hibernating all summer, but there are already a few developments to note this week in local classical news. Robert Shafer is a legend in the local choral music scene, as the long-standing director of the Oratorio Society of Washington, known in recent years as the Washington Chorus. Shafer's particular gift is to inspire a huge group — some 200 singers, none (or few) of them......

>> 9:30 Club has Editors, Ra Ra Riot, and Biffy Clyro. $15 tickets still available, and don't miss our full preview of Ra Ra Riot by clicking here. >> Michael Powell's 1969 erotic drama Age of Consent features a young Helen Mirren in her film debut. Screening for free tonight at 7 p.m. at the Library of Congress’ Pickford Theater. Call (202) 707-5677 by 4 p.m. to reserve a seat. >> Malcolm MacPherson covered Ambassador......

John G. Hanhardt has been working as a consulting curator on film and media at the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM). He’s had an influential career as one of the pioneering curators of media art in North America, helping shape the way museums look at and receive new media within their galleries and collections -- all stemming from his perspective of film’s influence on art and culture in the 20th Century. Hanhardt grew up in......

Every year since its opening in 1989, the DC Arts Center has held its 1460 Wall Mountables show as a fundraiser for the non-profit Adams Morgan art center. A non-juried opportunity for artists of varying styles and skill levels to display work in a respected D.C. gallery, Wall Mountables comes off as a mini-Artomatic. Work is displayed floor-to-ceiling salon-style, with photographs next to drawn portraits next to abstract oils. And, just like at Artomatic, some......

>> What's more fun than gathering your friends to go see your very own art on the wall of a gallery? The Wall Mountables community event kicks off this week, so we hope you've pulled that painting/photo/whatever out of the closet and prepared it for the limelight. The first installation date was last night, but you've still got tonight, 3 to 8 p.m., and tomorrow night, 3 to 6 p.m., to grab a space of......

>> Tonight, Baltimore-based funk/fusion act Basshound comes to DC9 for a night of highly danceable grooves. With Hello Society and DJ Robinson. 8:30 p.m., $8. >> On Thursday, the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage presents Ecuador's Jazz Envoys, a group that blends the indigenous sounds of its homeland with jazz to create a unique groove. The free show begins at 6 p.m. >> Latin jazz legend Paquito D'Rivera comes to Strathmore on Thursday to play with......

Recess of a Journey #4, 12 inches by 10 inches, mixed media, 2005" src="http://dcist.com/attachments/John James Anderson/2007_0717_RahmanRecess.jpg" width="209" height="300" class="left"/> The most recent show at the Ellipse Arts Center in Arlington, titled Transform/Nation: Contemporary Art of Iran and Its Diaspora, explores the themes of identity, tradition, stereotype, and society that Iranian artists confront within their works. It is a show that is not about to divorce the work on the wall with the history of Iran;......

As a practical matter, any art museum or gallery needs to carve out a niche for itself in order to remain relevant. To that end, Jack Rasmussen, Director and Curator of the American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center, chose local art and political art as two areas of emphasis. Two exhibitions reflecting this institutional philosophy opened this past weekend. Bush Leaguers: Cartoonists Take on the White House is a collection of 99 editorial......

FRIDAY: >> Let it be known - any country with a holiday that translates as "party of music" (or "music party") is OK in our book. In celebration of the French holiday Fete de la Musique, as well as the summer solstice, French and American musicians will be performing at La Maison Francaise tonight. Local guitar and cello duo Janel and Anthony*** will play from 8 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on the auditorium stage, but......

By DCist contributor W Jacarl Melton At the time when Jaguar Wright's 2002 album, Denials, Delusions and Decisions, was released, the industry term du jour, "neo-soul," was used to describe any singer who presented themselves as part of the vanguard who shunned the trappings of mainstream urban music. But the Philadelphia-based Wright resisted this categorization, and wound up standing out from those who were being viewed as artistic oddballs. Tonight she'll be supported by the......

Everyone needs a vacation, even musicians, and the summer is quite naturally a time that the classical music world slows down. So this is it for your Classical Music Agenda, until August. This week's installment will be a little longer than normal, because there are several interesting things happening over the next couple months. If you want to hear some music this summer, you can, and here's where. HEADLINES: >> The most important classical music......

THURSDAY: >> Flashpoint puts a little twist on the gallery show with Anonymous III by WPA\C. The show will feature 100 works by established and emerging artists from the D.C. area, but every piece will remain anonymous until it's purchased by an art lover who will have to appreciate quality over a name brand. The gallery will hold a reception this evening to scope out the goods, but you won't be able to purchase anything......

FRIDAY: >> We told you all about the Buzzlife White Party at Five yesterday, so follow the link for more details. >> ArtOutlet presents its first ever Flash animation film festival, called Flick, at Warehouse. Tim Bracken opens the event with an alt-country set at 7 p.m., with screenings from selected artists beginning at 8. $5 suggested donation, also Saturday. SATURDAY: >> Like we mentioned in this week's music agenda, the artwork of Mingering Mike,......

If you've been complaining that Memorial Day weekend wiped out your wallet, D.C. art venues heard your pleas for something a little less draining on your finances. This weekend the city is chock full of free activities, from private gallery openings to neighborhood wide social events. Put on your walking shoes and check out the following: >> It's time again for the annual Dupont Kalorama Museum Walk Weekend. Held on the first full weekend in......

I recently meandered over from the School of Communications, where I teach at American University (disclaimer 1), to the art department, from where I graduated a couple years ago, back when it was still largely a painting program (disclaimer 2) to check it out the MFA Thesis Exhibitions. I'd heard a few accounts already; the word "postmodern" lumped in a few times. But it's easy to be a bit skeptical of a dismissive comment that......

After the whirlwind of April arts events, May looks to be a little quieter, perhaps even serene at times. Though if you're looking for a party, we've got the info for this week's Artomatic events, which is only just past its halfway point. >> Ever dream of being one of those madly rich people with original Van Goghs or Kandinskys in your climate controlled, wood paneled library (in the east wing)? Bring your envious eyes......

Driving by Arlington Arts Center, it’s easy to think they have succumbed to a unique prank. Approximately 100 poles are scattered across the front lawn, stuck in the ground like plastic forks, a toy rests atop each pole. This piece, Cory Wagner’s Give/Take, engages the audience with items for trade. Some visitors have simply taken. Others have given a plastic spoon, a watered down ounce of milkshake, two weather-soiled cigarettes, two dandelions, two cents, and......

DCist Jeff Beam contributed to this post. Drew McManus, who writes about the orchestra business at the ArtsJournal blog Adaptistration, has dubbed April Take a Friend to the Orchestra month. For the second year now, Drew has lined up names in the classical music world to write pieces on how ordinary people who love classical music can invite a friend who does not regularly go to hear live music to a concert. This year's articles......

>> Anyone born before 1985 can surely appreciate the simple joys of 8-bit electronic entertainment. Filmfest DC presents a documentary about a complex Iowa man fighting to retain his title as World Champion of Donkey Kong. King of Kong delves into the unique lives of people involved in this epic battle. [4000 Wisconsin Ave. NW, $9, 7 p.m.] >> Unbuckled alums Pela join Metropolitan and Five Four at Rock and Roll Hotel tonight. [1353......

April has been an exhausting month for classical music listeners. Still, when that means staying out late to hear Evgeny Kissin play eight encores, you will not hear me complaining. Put your shoes back on, because there is more music to be heard. We start with the best events this week. >> By all accounts, Chinese-American pianist Chu-Fang Huang, winner of the 2005 Cleveland Piano Competition, is an exceptional talent at age 23. She is......

April continues to be a busy month for your classical music critic, and that is just the way we like it here. This week has just about everything: some big names, some opera, some early music, and more free concerts than we probably deserve. Take your pick. >> The main event of the week is the much-anticipated (and sold out) Kennedy Center recital by Evgeny Kissin, sponsored by Washington Performing Arts Society. The program features......

Ah, a town bursting at the seams with art -- just as it should be. The weekend approaches us with no excuse to stay home; in fact, you might want to finally figure out that "be in two places at the same time" trick you've been meaning to master. Take a deep breath: Go. Thursday: >> Warm up for the weekend at the Arlington Arts Center, where Virginia's Poet Laureate, Carolyn Kreiter-Foronda, will give a......