Zenith Gallery Presents
New Art… New Wave
Featuring works by Ram Brisueno, Bulsby “Buzz” Duncan, and Bernie Houston
Show dates: November 5 – December 4, 2021
Opening Reception: Friday November 5th 5-8PM & Saturday November 6th 2-6PM
At 1429 Iris St NW, Washington DC 20012
Ram Brisueno uses a variety of mediums, materials, and objects to create narratives that relate to personal identity and social perceptions. With emphasis on textures, color, and form, his works bring together concealed images and meanings that are revealed through intuitive responses, allowing a compositional unity that create themes of myth-making and personal identity. An artist he admires, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, put it simply “Above all else, it is about leaving a mark that I existed: I was here. I was hungry. I was defeated. I was happy. I was sad. I was in love. I was afraid. I was hopeful. I had an idea, and I had a good purpose and that’s why I made works of art.”
Bulsby Duncan was born in Kingston, Jamaica and raised in Washington, DC. A self-taught artist whose work can be described as abstract with deep emotion and energy, Buzz traces his artistic influence on the great abstract expressionists, and contemporary artists of the 20th Century. Buzz was our first-place winner from our RESIST exhibit in 2017! His work is inherently filled with emotional energy, from his abstract pieces to his graffiti style paintings. He addresses social issues such as police brutality with symbols referring to Eric Garner and Trayvon Martin, mass incarceration, and gun violence with paying homage to one of the greatest graffiti painters, Jean-Michel Basquiat.
Bernie Houston spends much of his time on the Chesapeake Bay, finding that perfect piece of driftwood for his carefully composed sculptures. Bernie meticulously chooses driftwood based on its age, shape and overall form. The wood determines the nature of the piece. Each piece is shaped by nature and inspired from its natural structure. After visualizing each driftwood piece, he cures, sands, carves, paints and polishes each creation. He sculpts everything from animals to people to objects. Because nature does not mimic itself, his entire body of work is one-of-a-kind. There is not a single piece like it on the planet.
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.