Location: 1111 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington DC 20004
Hours: M-F 8:00 AM-7:00 pm; Saturday 8:00 AM-4:00 pm
(Enter on 12th Street and Knock for entrance) ~ Masks required
Hadrian Mendoza is constantly reinventing what it means to be a ceramicist. Using traditional stoneware technique with radical conceptual ideas, his pieces are a delicate balance between functionality and high art. Mendoza is passionate about working and learning about the craft, he says: “Pottery is recreating nature in a more permanent way — taking things from the earth such as clay, ash, minerals and altering them into your desired shape or form, glazing them with your creativity, firing a piece of clay that might just give you the brightest hue of the sky or the sea or even the universe. It’s when you get down and dirty with dirt, ash, and clay that you feel the connection with the earth.”
For the past 20 years, Hadrian Mendoza has been steadily earning international recognition as an innovative potter with an eye for glaze and other surface treatments, a wide repertoire of innovative and skillful firing techniques, and a demonstrated expertise in the employment of design elements such as space, volume, and form. Many of his pieces also present interesting, modernized takes on traditional Pilipino folk traditions, as well as motifs that are derivative of their landscape and culture. Amongst Mendoza’s many international accolades – In November of 2007, The Toyota Foundation awarded Mendoza the “Asian Neighbors Network Program Grant.” In 2012, Hadrian was awarded the “FuLe International Ceramic Arts Museum Grant” (FLICAM). In 2014, Mendoza was awarded the “Asian Cultural Council Humanities Fellowship Grant”. In addition to international recognition, Hadrian has also quickly generated popularity and establishing himself as a prominent figure in the local art community. In April of 1997, Mendoza was presented with the “Anne and Ronald Abramson Award for Excellence in Ceramics” by the Corcoran Gallery of Art, in Washington D.C. Hadrian’s next adventures, immediately following his Zenith Art Gallery solo show, begin this summer. First, he’s been honored with a grant, from Kohler Corporation, International. Kohler’s Bold.Art.Asian Campaign selected Mendoza (as well as a small selection of other Asian artists) to create both a commissioned work that will travel in a companion exhibit, on display in six different countries. As soon as Mendoza completes this project, he begins work on his upcoming, solo museum show, which has been titled “Balance.” “Balance” will be on display in December at the Ayala Museum, located in Makati City, Philippines.
Sculptor and art activist, Kirsty Little, strives to find honest organic movement in both spheres. The energetic movement qualities she discovers in wire lures her to exploring the gesture. She aims to find its ‘backbone’, the essence of where the movement comes from and create that in wood. Pulling outward from there with wire, Little draws in space the form. The metal wires are suspended and moveable, giving suggestion of breath. Weaving, once considered ‘woman’s work’ is a new direction, weaving with wire to strengthen the message that for equality women still need to work hard to be heard. Formerly a Circus Aerialist based in the UK for two decades, a move to USA in 2011 left her finding her way into the art world and changing her style of creativity. Her artwork is inspired by motherhood, womankind, and raising the profile of the struggling environment. She makes sculpture with porcelain, wood, and wire to create a combination of organic shapes, and tightly tailored works.
Now celebrating 43 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 Sculpture Space at 1111 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, WDC 20004.