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<\/a><\/p>\n“Now More Than Ever,” a group exhibition presented by the NoM\u00fcNoM\u00fc art collective, thematically confront President Donald Trump\u2019s election\u2014and its aftermath.<\/em><\/h5>\n<\/div>\nKRISTON CAPPS<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/h5>\n\u00a0MAY 12, 2017 1 PM<\/span><\/em><\/h5>\nGive credit where it\u2019s due: NoM\u00fcNoM\u00fc has taken over the art scene. The brainchild of artists\u00a0Joseph Orzal<\/b>\u00a0and\u00a0Nora Mueller<\/b>, the scrappy collective\u2014or is it a brand?\u2014got its start a few years back with some one-off outings at unofficial spaces. Their contributions to area shows have only grown since then. A dozen or more efforts later, including a spoof of museums at Transformer,\u00a0Now More Than Ever<\/i>\u00a0is NoM\u00fcNoM\u00fc\u2019s most official project yet. That\u2019s a mixed blessing.<\/p>\n
Now More Than Ever<\/i>\u00a0is ultimately a straightforward group show at Washington Project for the Arts by a bunch of like-minded artists who are sick of it all. It\u2019s one of just a handful of D.C. art shows to thematically confront President\u00a0Donald Trump<\/b>\u2019s election, or rather, (less) specifically, the sentiments that swept him into office.\u00a0Ani Bradberry<\/b>\u2019s \u201cLoom\u201d (2017), for example\u2014a rectangular neon form suspended over a rug of the same shape on the ground\u2014suggests the noumenal potential of a faith that the Trump administration is struggling to travel-ban out of the United States entirely.<\/p>\n
Similarly subtle,\u00a0Billy Colbert<\/b>\u2019s \u201cPsalm Before the Storm\u201d (2016) is a handsome, protest-driven Pop Art painting. Its atmospheric backdrop suggests clouds of tear gas, a floral print, and a silhouette of rowhouses all at once; in the foreground, scattered black demonstrators struggle against an unseen antagonist. Snippets of postcard text appear superimposed over the painting (\u201cSave \u2154,\u201d \u201c850<\/sup>,\u201d and \u201cBUY LEMONS\u201d), as does the incongruous figure of a marching-band drummer\u2014juxtapositions that gesture at a critique of neoliberalism or late capitalism or something trendy like that. But Colbert\u2019s punchy painting holds back, stopping just short of being didactic.<\/p>\nNot so with several other works in the show. There\u2019s\u00a0Justin Poppe<\/b>\u2019s \u201cNever Had a Chance To Grow\u201d (2017), a bouquet of pale white flowers in which a flag, planted like a greeting card, reads \u201cCity of Flint Water Dep\u2019t.\u201d Okay\u2014straightforward. Same goes with Orzal\u2019s \u201cTL;DR\u201d (2017), a sculptural installation of granite tombstones screen printed with racist D.C. housing ads from yesteryear for white-only homes. Check\u2014got it.<\/p>\n
\u00a0MAY 12, 2017 1 PM<\/span><\/em><\/h5>\nGive credit where it\u2019s due: NoM\u00fcNoM\u00fc has taken over the art scene. The brainchild of artists\u00a0Joseph Orzal<\/b>\u00a0and\u00a0Nora Mueller<\/b>, the scrappy collective\u2014or is it a brand?\u2014got its start a few years back with some one-off outings at unofficial spaces. Their contributions to area shows have only grown since then. A dozen or more efforts later, including a spoof of museums at Transformer,\u00a0Now More Than Ever<\/i>\u00a0is NoM\u00fcNoM\u00fc\u2019s most official project yet. That\u2019s a mixed blessing.<\/p>\n
Now More Than Ever<\/i>\u00a0is ultimately a straightforward group show at Washington Project for the Arts by a bunch of like-minded artists who are sick of it all. It\u2019s one of just a handful of D.C. art shows to thematically confront President\u00a0Donald Trump<\/b>\u2019s election, or rather, (less) specifically, the sentiments that swept him into office.\u00a0Ani Bradberry<\/b>\u2019s \u201cLoom\u201d (2017), for example\u2014a rectangular neon form suspended over a rug of the same shape on the ground\u2014suggests the noumenal potential of a faith that the Trump administration is struggling to travel-ban out of the United States entirely.<\/p>\n
Similarly subtle,\u00a0Billy Colbert<\/b>\u2019s \u201cPsalm Before the Storm\u201d (2016) is a handsome, protest-driven Pop Art painting. Its atmospheric backdrop suggests clouds of tear gas, a floral print, and a silhouette of rowhouses all at once; in the foreground, scattered black demonstrators struggle against an unseen antagonist. Snippets of postcard text appear superimposed over the painting (\u201cSave \u2154,\u201d \u201c850<\/sup>,\u201d and \u201cBUY LEMONS\u201d), as does the incongruous figure of a marching-band drummer\u2014juxtapositions that gesture at a critique of neoliberalism or late capitalism or something trendy like that. But Colbert\u2019s punchy painting holds back, stopping just short of being didactic.<\/p>\nNot so with several other works in the show. There\u2019s\u00a0Justin Poppe<\/b>\u2019s \u201cNever Had a Chance To Grow\u201d (2017), a bouquet of pale white flowers in which a flag, planted like a greeting card, reads \u201cCity of Flint Water Dep\u2019t.\u201d Okay\u2014straightforward. Same goes with Orzal\u2019s \u201cTL;DR\u201d (2017), a sculptural installation of granite tombstones screen printed with racist D.C. housing ads from yesteryear for white-only homes. Check\u2014got it.<\/p>\n
Not so with several other works in the show. There\u2019s\u00a0Justin Poppe<\/b>\u2019s \u201cNever Had a Chance To Grow\u201d (2017), a bouquet of pale white flowers in which a flag, planted like a greeting card, reads \u201cCity of Flint Water Dep\u2019t.\u201d Okay\u2014straightforward. Same goes with Orzal\u2019s \u201cTL;DR\u201d (2017), a sculptural installation of granite tombstones screen printed with racist D.C. housing ads from yesteryear for white-only homes. Check\u2014got it.<\/p>\n