Art-Full Life

Photograph by Tya Anthony

Pick any night and it is likely that you can find something fun—and meaningful—to do in Station North Arts and Entertainment District.  Founded nearly a decade ago, Station North is among the nation’s oldest arts and entertainment districts, the officially designated neighborhoods intended to encourage artists to create and share their work with broader audiences.

In February, the Bohemian Coffee House at 1821 North Charles Street launched its first Saturday monthly open stage with CrE3sol, pronounced cree-soul. This group describes itself as “a great melting pot” and indeed it brought together an animated crowd of diverse backgrounds and talents. Mia Jones, a Baltimore photographer, gathered musicians and spoken word performers and then invited the audience to join in this spirited fundraiser to benefit Haiti. Proceeds went to provide LifeStraws, a portable disease-preventing water filter that is a critical tool for public health in the earthquake-ravaged nation. 

Photograph by Sarah Thrower

Mia was a dynamic hostess and the band, Johnny Graham, provided an eclectic blend of music that adapted with ease to the performers.  Daimen Poole, currently a student at Baltimore City Community College and an up-and-coming hip hop artist, wove words together to create powerful images.  Dressed in a pale orange hoodie and denim, he opined on the incarcerated: “Locked down in the pen, they don’t see the stars, just the bars.” Daimen welcomed our participation, asking us to give him a word or take one of his words and give it back to him.  We all listened silently spellbound.  Later, in conversation, he explained that his poetry unfolds extemporaneously as he performs.  Amazing! 

David James followed him, demanding that we participate by tapping the table and clapping to his rhythm.  He challenged us: “Do you want to hear something original or something by someone else?” Thank goodness, we went with something original!  Next, Eric Johnson offered a series of poignant love poems, the last exploring the old-but-always-true adage, “Never go to sleep angry.”  Trust me, once you hear it from him, you will understand this familiar saying in a deeper way.  

Photograph by Sarah Thrower

If you missed this event, you can see CrE3sol’s next group of performers on Saturday, March 5.  Celebrate Women’s Herstory Month with music by Kriss Mincey and Nyoka Ny D, art by Clare Elliot, and onsite drawing by Erin Robinson. Or just stop by the Bohemian Coffee House anytime for a warm welcome and a strong cup of coffee!

Hundreds of miles from each other, members of the AM/PM Sax Quartet rehearse virtually through jam Link. This past weekend, I saw for myself their in-person connections during the final moments of their performance at Metro Gallery—one of the Station North venues that presents free events during Second Saturdays.   

The four young musicians/Peabody grads that make up AM/PM Sax Quartet fervently played, accompanied by a frightening narrative that sounded like an old fashion radio program. Its storyline revolved around aliens abducting a man. His voice faded away behind a chilling chorus of wind instruments. 

Metro Gallery’s current exhibition, Head Count by Ilya Popenko, confronts visitors with large-scale photographs of men, presented up close without context or a sense of the subject’s setting. The stark portraits provide oversized views of swollen and darkened eyes, imperfections, and stitched wounds. In his artist statement, Ilya says he’s “flirting with the dispassionate objectivity of a mug shot,” but that his portraits are also “intensely subjective … The series is meant to function as a catalogue of masculine attitudes …” The images of these seemingly hardened men sometimes hint at softer human qualities.

At Second Saturday’s festivities, Windup Space hosted three bands and a film. I arrived too late for those, but did catch the lingering cabaret crowd. Five large paintings by Tim Horjus were the backdrop for the evening, glowing yellow and orange against the dark gray walls.

 Four hung together as a suite, only inches apart and at varying heights, with powerful visual connections established among their abstract elements. For me, Tim’s paintings always evoke the metal framing of unfinished skyscrapers or the complicated infrastructure that must lie beneath our City’s streets. Imaginative and subtle, these pictures stick with you.

• Check out Tim’s paintings at the Windup Space on Wednesday, January 12, at 7:30 p.m., when Mobtown Modern, partnering with Marin Alsop and BSO musicians, presents Glassworks by the Baltimore-born Minimalist icon Philip Glass.  Reserved seats are sold out, but standing-room is still available. Get your tickets.
  
• An Artist’s Reception for Tim’s exhibition will be Wednesday, Feb. 9th from 7 to 9 p.m.
  
• Ilya’s Head Count will be on view at Metro Gallery through Jan. 30.
• You can see the AM/PM Sax Quartet in a multi-media performance at the Red Room on March 12 at 9 p.m.  (Listen to live performances from the Quartet here.)