LEO VILLAREAL: new work 
(gallery one + courtyard gallery)

GALLERY ARTISTS: recent work 
(gallery two + media room)

Saturday, September 27 – Sunday, November 9, 2008

Leigh Conner and Jamie Smith are delighted to announce the inauguration of 1358-60 Florida Avenue, NE as the new home of Conner Contemporary Art and *gogo art projects with an opening solo exhibition of new work by Leo Villareal and a group exhibition of recent work by Gallery Artists. 

Since acquiring the building last July, we have extensively renovated the 7,000 sq ft. ground floor area into two galleries, a dedicated media room and an outdoor exhibition space. During the year of construction, our artists have excelled, showing at venues including the Busan Biennial, South Korea; National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo; British National Museum, London, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, DC; Kulturhuset, Stockholm and the Anchorage Museum of Art, Anchorage; ARCO International Art Fair, Madrid; NEXT, Chicago; and at the Pulse Art Fairs in Miami, New York, and London. We now look forward to advancing our exhibition program as we participate in the momentous evolution of the historic H Street Corridor/Atlas Arts District. 

To inaugurate the new space, Conner Contemporary Art takes great pleasure in presenting new large-format digital light sculptures by Leo Villareal: "Diamond Matrix," "Big Bang" and "Horizon 2." In conceiving his fourth solo exhibition with the Gallery, the artist responded to interior and exterior exhibition spaces within the new gallery complex. Using the latest LED technology, Villareal explored scale, pattern, color and tonality to create imagery that evokes the generation of new life and suggests the emergence of behavior and personality. With stunning visual impact and kinetic appeal, these pieces stand forth as major works in the increasingly impressive canon of this renowned international artist.

In 2008, Villareal's work has been acquired by the Modern Museum of Art, New York and he has created projects for PS1 Contemporary Art Center, New York and the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Brooklyn, NY. The artist has permanent installations at the Albright Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY, and the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Overland Park, KS.

We are also thrilled to present an exhibition of recent work by Conner Contemporary artists including: Mary Coble's Blood Script performance documentation, Mark Bennett's "Mommie Dearest" architectural drawing, Erik Sandberg's latest monumental canvas, Kenny Hunter's recent sculpture, Zoë Charlton's figural drawing, Gabriel de la Mora's memento mori drawings, Harry Shearer's latest political videos, and works by Maria Friberg, Julee Holcombe, Dean Kessmann, David Levinthal, Avish Khebrehzadeh, John Kirchner, Jeremy Kost, Brandon Morse, Joe Ovelman, Patricia Piccinini, as well as *gogo art projects artists: Geoffrey Aldridge, Taylor Baldwin, Ryan Carr Johnson, Adam De Boer, Isaac Maiselman, Natalia Panfile, Sabeen Raja, Nathaniel Rogers, Zach Storm, and Matthew Sutton. 

There will be an opening reception for the artists Saturday, September 27th from 6-8pm. By invitation only. Guest list at the door.

For further press/collection information or images, please contact Leigh Conner at 202-588-8750 / info@connercontemporary.com.