CARL ALEXANDER: The Last Washington Color School Painter
Show dates: February 14 – March 21
1429 Iris St NW, Washington DC 20012
view exhibit
Meet the Artist Receptions: Thursday, February 13, 5-8 pm & Saturday, February 15, 2-6 pm
Closing Reception: Saturday, March 21, 2-6 pm
What an extraordinary surprise — to find out that my old friend Carl Alexander is the last unknown Washington Color School painter. Zenith is proud and enthusiastic to present his first one man show.
The 1953 meeting of artists Morris Louis (1912-1962) and Kenneth Noland (1924-2010) set off a new movement known as the Washington Color School. They expanded on Abstract Expressionism with a heavy focus on the role of color and its application. Clement Greenberg promoted it in his landmark exhibit Post-Painterly Abstraction in 1964. The Washington Color School reached international fame.
Carl A. Alexander (b. 1930) a native Washingtonian, attended Howard University in the mid-1950’s when Morris Louis was appointed an instructor there. Alexander was exposed to the early stages of the Washington Color School. Through his connection with Louis, he met and socialized with other notable Color School painters, such as: Gene Davis, Howard Mehring, Thomas Downing, Sam Gilliam, Alma Thomas, and Jim Hillary. So influenced, Alexander’s paintings, especially the treatment of color, have a certain resemblance to Louis’ notable Veil paintings. His friendships with Downing and Mehring are also evident by his use of the circle. After graduating Howard, Alexander worked at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History until he retired.
For more information or purchase, Margery Goldberg, Isabella Ionni 202-783-2963
please contact: margery@zenithgallery.com, art@zenithgallery.com
Gallery Hours: Wednesday – Saturday, noon – 6pm or by appointment
Now celebrating 42 years in the nation’s capital, Zenith is recognized for its unique mix of contemporary art in a wide variety of media, style and subject. The gallery provides high-quality acquisition, art consulting, commissioning, appraisal and framing services, through its gallery/salon/ sculpture garden off 16th Street at 1429 Iris St NW, WDC 20012. Zenith also curates rotating exhibits at the Eleven Eleven Sculpture Space at 1111 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20004.