Alexander Archipenko, Standing Woman, 1920, Oil paint on gessoed papier-mâché relief on wood, 19 1/4 x 12 1/4 x 1 1/8 in., The Phillips Collection, Gift from the estate of Katherine S. Dreier, 1953; © 2022 Estate of Alexander Archipenko/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

During this time of violent attacks against Ukraine, the Phillips wishes to express solidarity with Ukraine by paying tribute to influential artists of Ukrainian ancestry in the museum’s collection. In the Goh Annex stairwell are five works by four Ukrainian-born artists: contemporaries Alexander Archipenko (b. Kyiv, 1887), John Graham (b. Kyiv, 1887), and David Burliuk (b. Riabushkin, near Kharkiv, 1882); and Burliuk’s son, David Burliuk, Jr. (b. Tchernianka, near Kherson, 1913).

In the 1920s, Archipenko, Graham, and Burliuk and his family fled Russia after the Russian Revolution and settled in the United States, where they became leaders in international vanguard art circles. Their innovative work came to the attention of collectors, such as Société Anonyme founder Katherine Dreier and Phillips Collection founder Duncan Phillips. The Phillips Collection acquired in-depth holdings of work by Graham and Burliuk, giving each their first solo museum exhibition in 1929 and 1939, respectively. In 1953, Archipenko entered the collection. 

David Burliuk, On the Road, ca. 1920, Oil on burlap canvas, 33 1/2 x 47 3/4 in., The Phillips Collection, Acquired 1939

In Standing Woman, Archipenko sculpts a female body through intersecting geometric shapes, assimilating Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque’s technique of Cubist collage. John Graham similarly experimented with a Cubist language as he traveled between Paris and the US in the 1920s and 30s. Rue Brea (1928) and Embrace (1932) demonstrate Graham’s skillful command of line, angular forms, and color to evoke emotion. Graham’s close friend and associate, David Burliuk, was a versatile artist. On the Road (c. 1920), a large oil made before Burliuk came to America, reveals his use of intense colors and distorted human proportions reminiscent of folk art. Fond of lively tactile surfaces, Burliuk squeezed paint directly from the tube to create thick surfaces. While following in his father’s footsteps, David Burliuk, Jr. found his calling as a sculptor, particularly wood carvings such as Mother and Child that showcase his lyrical style. Like his European forebears Amedeo Modigliani and Picasso, Burliuk draws inspiration from African art in his stylized rendering of the figures’ facial features.

Through their active careers in the United States, Archipenko, Burliuk, and Graham became catalysts in cross-cultural exchanges that fueled the course of 20^th-century art.

Currently on view at Phillips@THEARC is What a Relief: small relief sculptures, organized with the Washington Sculptors Group (WSG). 2021-22 Sherman Fairchild Fellow Shiloah Coley speaks with board members of WSG and participating artist Alonzo Davis.

Members of Washington Sculptors Group view Adam Bradley’s Struggle at WSG’s show, ARTINA 2021: Balancing Acts, at the Sandy Spring Museum

Artists helping artists—that’s what the Washington Sculptors Group has been doing for nearly 40 years as one of the oldest and largest sculptor groups nationally. “And that’s how the group started,” said Joan Weber, advisory board liaison of WSG. “It had been a bunch of sculptors in their studios alone, lonely, and wanting to talk about materials.”

The Phillips Collections recently partnered with Washington Sculptors Group to present WHAT A RELIEF: small relief sculptures at Phillips@THEARC, juried by the Phillips’s Nehemiah Dixon III, Director of Community Engagement, and Vesela Sretenović, Cross-departmental Director of Contemporary Art Initiatives and Partnerships. This is the inaugural in-person exhibition held at Phillips@THEARC since the onset of the pandemic.

Works by 37 artists ranging in age from 15 to 81 were selected for the show. Alonzo Davis, member of WSG for nearly 15 years, had his piece Microclimate VI accepted into the show.

Alonzo Davis, Photo: Sheena Asun

Davis’s life and career spans across the US and internationally from Brazil to West Africa, but he’s called Maryland home for the past 20 years. When he first found a studio to rent in Baltimore in 2002 from fellow artist Ivy Parsons, she told him about WSG. New to the area, Davis decided to join. “I liked the opportunities they presented for artists, and a lot of the exhibits and dialogue,” Davis said. “It was a network.”

His story of being introduced to the group is not uncommon in WSG. Many more senior members heard about it via word of mouth from other artists back in the day. “And they got together, and the meetings were held in each person’s studio–that person was responsible for wine and cheese,” said Weber. “And then, they had their meeting, really a community-based, let’s get together event.”

As the organization updated and shifted into the early 2000s, some began to stumble upon the organization online. Steve Wanna, exhibition manager of WSG, came across the group just as he was beginning to dip back into visual art and sculpture. He describes himself as lurking on their online presence, but feeling intimidated to join what appeared to be a highly professional organization. He soon found out it was a grassroots collective of artists.

“It is a very robust organization that is entirely volunteer run, entirely member-driven,” shared Wanna. “We do a ton of work for what seems like an impossibly small budget, and somehow it works, and it works pretty spectacularly.”

The entire operation is run from the ground-up with not a single paid position. So when the pandemic hit in March of 2020, it’s no surprise that artists continued to help artists. “It’s like positive peer pressure in a way. We somehow ended up doing way more than we normally do during the pandemic, which I think is the case for a lot of people,” Wanna said.

As they moved virtual, they introduced Zoom happy hours in place of studio gatherings and webinars for professional development. Pre-pandemic, the organization provided three shows annually for their members to submit work to. In 2020 and 2021, that number increased to five. Weber said, “It’s like you’re not doing enough so you run double time.”

Installation image of What a Relief: small relief sculptures, featuring Jean Sausele-Knodt, Fragment Dance, Three (2021), and more. Photo credit: Ryan Maxwell

Meanwhile, they managed to decrease their costs during the pandemic. Outdoor venues helped cut costs by assisting with installations, and they spent less money to promote and advertise shows.

After moving virtual, membership increased from international artists and artists across the country, from Australia to California. Many artists found themselves alone and a bit lonely since the onset of the pandemic with less in-person studio visits on the schedule and timed-tickets limited to small groups for visiting exhibitions. Alonzo Davis still spends most of his time in his studio even as the world around him begins to open up. He’s seen the work from What a Relief online and shares, “It’s fascinating seeing how people come to the relief in so many different ways.”