2021 and previous press coverage
Touchstone Gallery’s dynamic virtual exhibitions
Touchstone is temporarily thriving as an online-only operation
By Doug Rule, March 19, 2021
”Although COVID-19 forced it to close its physical space, D.C.’s Touchstone Gallery is temporarily thriving as an online-only operation.
Its dynamic virtual exhibitions of contemporary art are several degrees above the standard, offering fully navigable views of the artworks using technology with close-up, rotational, and move-around capabilities.” … Click for more info!
“Local Arts Organizations Rise to Digitally Meet the Demands of an At-Home Public”
Jennifer Anne Mirchell, Washington City Paper, March 26, 2020
”Touchstone Gallery also made an about-face. The staff usually conducts business downtown on New York Ave. NW, … “I find that in times of stress and distress, and when you feel like you need to calm down and feel better, art spaces are the ones you go to,” says Touchstone’s director Ksenia Grishkova. …” Click for more info!
“Portraits, landscapes and dark views”
Mark Jenkins, The Washington Post, March 17, 2020
“In the Western imagination, Marrakesh is as sunny as a certain Crosby, Stills and Nash song. But Steve Alderton returned from a 2018 trip to that city with a new and darker palette. .. Paired with Alderton’s portraits are ones by Dana Brotman that share more than a stylistic link. The local artist, who considers Alderton a mentor, decided to emulate his bold colors in her “Transitional Spaces.” ...” Click for more info!
“In the galleries: A confection of a show that draws on the richness of Vermeer”
“In the galleries: From artist Timothy Johnson, a heady exhibition”
“Enhancing the value of a house with art”
In the galleries: At two Washington spaces, art of a political caliber … one of them is “America Is . . .”
“Artists Take On America’s Biggest Issues At D.C.’s Touchstone Gallery”
Mikaela Lefrak, NPR (WAMU 88.5), August 16, 2019
”… Four judges selected works by artists from around the country that examine American identity and values. The show includes paintings, sculptures, photographs and multimedia installations that address everything from the opioid epidemic to police violence to the distractions of the digital age. …”Click for more info!
“Artists From Across the Country Explore National Identity in America Is...”
East City Artnotes: America Is ... at Touchstone Gallery
Eric Hope, East City Art - Artnotes, August 13, 2019
The continued fascination with the sociopolitical concerns that have come to prominence around and since the 2016 election is explored in “America Is…” Artists Explore, Ask and Answer: What is America today? , now on view at DC’s Touchstone gallery. Click for more info!
WUSA-9 CBS “Touchstone Gallery's new exhibit: 'America is...' explores US values through art”
Great Day Washington Program, WUSA-9 CBS TV channel, August 1, 2019
”Touchstone Gallery's director, Ksenia Grishkova, and DC based artist, Jenny Wu, discuss the new exhibit: 'America is...' which explores our countries values through art.” Click here to view the VIDEO!
BD Richardson, Gone Fishin’
“Touchstone Gallery Exhibits Highlight The Duality Of The Natural World”
Claire Goldberg, The Georgetown Voice, March 15, 2019
”On one side of the white wall sits a giant, glossy, black-and-white photograph of sand dunes, while on the other, a coterie of small, vibrantly-colored photos of rock formations and nature scenes hang in a row. These two exhibits, currently showing at the Touchstone Gallery until March 31, perfectly display the contrasting sides of nature, and how photography can lend to ideas and viewpoints…” Click for more info!
“Have You Been to These 10 DC Museums That Are NOT Part of the Smithsonian?”
Dee Levinson, Born to Paint
Janet Scharp, Elan, October, 2019
“I want things to be beautiful,' says Arlington oil painter Dee Levinson. She would like viewers to stop and to take a second look at her works. To accomplish that goal, she starts with something beautiful: a sculpture she saw here or on her travels around the world.” Click for more info!
“22 Best Romantic Things to Do in Washington, DC”
Linda Bankerd, Painting as Freedom
Donna Cedar-Southworth, Elan, February, 2019
“Alexandria resident Linda Bankerd takes commonplace subjects: a chair, a piano or sofa, reclining nudes adjacent to blue teapot or palm leaves, a vase of flowers. With her imaginative angles, unique arrangements and unusual pairings, she presents viewers with a pleasant and welcome surprise.” Click for more info!
8 Art Exhibits To Get Lost In This February
Marka Kibour, Intuitive
Anna Katalkina, Of Light and Joy
Kathryn McKay, Elan, February, 2019
“There's a reason the jellybeans look as precious as a gem in Anna Katalkina's 'Blue Jellybean on Dry Leaf.' Using a technique similar to that employed by Johannes Vermeer and the Dutch masters of the 17th century, this McLean-based artist gives the most ordinary objects the gift of light.” Click for more info!
Gale Wallar, Inside Looking Out
The Superfine! Fair Wants To Make Art Accessible For All
“Best of D.C. 2018: See what Express readers voted for as their favorite things in Washington”
McCain McMurray, Pictures of Nothing
Interview with Ksenia Grishkova, Director of Touchstone Gallery from Washington D.C.
Bontena, October 4, 2018
In 1976, the Touchstone Gallery was established by a group of artists to represent local artists in Washington, DC. And the gallery has been directing by Ksenia Grishkova since 2007. I contacted Ksenia Grishkova to learn more about her career and Touchstone Gallery. Click for more info!
Yuki Hiyama, Hiroshima, Japan: JOURNEY TO YUKI’S WORLD (guest artist)
Dee Levinson, Religions of the World
Carol Ann Moore, Seeking Refuge and Susi Cora, Highwire: Precarious Balance (Touchstone Foundation for the Arts 2016–18 Emerging Artist Fellowship)
Mark Jenkins, The Washington Post, May 18, 2018
“To conclude two-year emerging-artist fellowships endowed by Touchstone Gallery’s foundation, Carol Ann Moore and Susi Cora are having dual solo shows at the venue.” Click for more info!
“Best of D.C. 2018: Best Commercial Art Gallery”
Washington City Paper, April 2018
Touchstone Gallery was voted to be one of the top-three commercial art galleries in D.C. Click for more info!
BD Richardson, Mosaic: Moments & Method
Mark Jenkins, The Washington Post, January 12, 2018
“Richardson’s taste for outdated photographic methods mirrors her penchant for focusing on lost times and places.” Click for more info!
Art Watch: The One House Project, a 220+ Artists Installation Supported by the Touchstone Foundation for the Arts
Mark Jenkins, The Washington Post, November 16, 2017
“A houselike wooden structure covered in local artists' tributes to their family histories may not be a full expression of the region's myriad ethnicities.” Click for more info!
“Best of D.C. 2017: See All the Winners You Picked Here”
The Washington Post, October 19, 2017
Touchstone Gallery was voted to be the best gallery in D.C., achieving “1st” place. Click for more info!
“Bastion of the Arts: The Artist-Owned Touchstone Gallery Highlights DMV Talent”
Michael Bergin, The Georgetown Voice, September 29, 2017
“The gallery is disarming at first look. It almost takes a moment to realize you are in an artistic space. Its green awnings blend in with the neighboring businesses[,] and the tall glass offices of K Street are only a few blocks away.” Click for more info!
“Good Things Come In Threes At Touchstone Gallery”
Monica Cho, The Georgetown Voice, September 19, 2017
“At Touchstone Gallery in downtown D.C., three separate collections will be running until Oct. 1. The collections, “About Face: Reversals and Undoings,” “Physiognomy,” and “Ordered Complexities,” are all intricate explorations of the world around us, though they have little in common at the surface.” Click for more info!
“In the Galleries: The Art of Engagement”
Mark Jenkins, The Washington Post, August 11, 2017
As the presidential election loomed a year ago, Touchstone Gallery presented “Art as Politics.” Now, the venue’s “The Art of Engagement” returns to many themes of that exhibition, but in a somewhat grimmer mood. Click for more info!
“From Refugees to Russia, Local Artists Wade into Politically Charged Debates”
“10 places off the beaten path to see art in Washington, D.C.”
“10 Unexpected Places to Find Great Art in Washington”
Winyan Soo Hoo and Mark Jenkins, The Washington Post, April 13, 2017
“Touchstone attracted some attention — not all of it favorable — with a pre-election show titled ‘Art as Politics.’ Usually, though, the venue divides its space between a members’ group exhibition and two solo showcases.” Click for more info!
Claudia Samper, Connecting the Dots
Mark Jenkins, The Washington Post, July 13, 2017
“Birds sport many kinds of plumage in Claudia Samper’s pictures, which combine painting, drawing and collage. Some of the renderings in her Touchstone Gallery show are precise enough for a modern-day Audubon, but she mixes realistic creatures with cartoonish sketches and diagrams of origami avians.” Click for more info!
Jeanne Garant, 275 Stripes
Mark Jenkins, The Washington Post, May 18, 2017
“Executed primarily in black and gray, the paintings in Jeanne Garant’s ‘275 Stripes’ are almost austere. Yet there are glimmers of sensuousness in the Touchstone Gallery show, whether in the infrequent bright colors — a gold bar, a red line — or the textures within the muted, monochromatic blocks.” Click for more info!
Steve Alderton, Memoryscapes: Blurry Lines III
Allison Reagan, The Georgetown Voice, February 27, 2017
“In a little corner of the Touchstone Gallery, next to a window looking out onto busy New York Avenue, is the latest collection of paintings from local artist Steve Alderton. Ordered swaths of muted blues and purples hang in silent contrast to the hustle of the streets on the other side of the glass and invite viewers to attempt to piece together the colorful rectangles on canvas that comprise the artwork of ‘Memoryscapes: Blurry Lines III.’” Click for more info!
Mary D. Ott, Metallics: Paintings and Prints
Dee Levinson, Looking Back: Across Time and Cultures
Mark Jenkins, The Washington Post, January 19, 2017
“Levinson’s color schemes, dominated by earth and metallic tones set off by intense blues, evoke the land of the pharaohs. Her use of shadows and modeling, however, draws from the European medieval and Renaissance masters whose styles the pre-Raphaelites endeavored to revive.” Click for more info!
Elaine Florimonte, “Accumulation”
Mark Jenkins, The Washington Post, December 15, 2016
”Maps also feature in Elaine Florimonte’s exuberant collage-paintings, as do dress patterns. They are among the things worked into the textured landscapes and abstractions of “Accumulation,” the Virginia artist’s show at Touchstone Gallery.” Click for more info!
WHUT DC Channel 32 “#ARTICO | Art in Your Community | Ep. 102”
WHUT DC Channel 32, September 28, 2016
https://youtu.be/XyUMjF6qDyY?t=607.
“In the Galleries: Lines Are Clearly Drawn in ‘Art as Politics’”
Mark Jenkins, The Washington Post, August 13, 2016
“The numbers look good for Donald Trump in Touchstone Gallery’s powerful show ‘Art as Politics.’ The Republican presidential candidate is portrayed in roughly twice as many pieces as his Democratic rival. But while some of the renderings of Hillary Clinton are flattering — or at least not patently contemptuous — there’s not one positive depiction of Trump.” Click for more info!
“East City Artnotes: Art as Politics at Touchstone Gallery”
Eric Hope, East City Art, August 11, 2016
“The front page headlines of The Washington Post have been splashed—artistically—across the walls of the Touchstone Gallery. Art as Politics brings together 126 works from artists across the country in a free-ranging, juried exhibition that seems to touch on every vexing social issue confronting society today.” Click for more info!
Rosemary Luckett, Earth House
“‘Just Art, Not Credentials’: Artist-Owned Touchstone Gallery Turns 40 This Year”
Teta Alim, NBC Washington, March 24, 2016
“The original location for the gallery was opened in 1976 in Dupont Circle by 30 artists. Now, in its 40th year and with a new location by CityCenterDC, 45 artists share ownership of the gallery.” Click for more info!
“Touchstone Gallery Presents Figure 8 Plus 1”
Editorial Team, East City Art, March 2, 2016
“Eight Touchstone Gallery 2D-artists plus one sculptor combine their works to flesh out the human form through photography, sculpture, and paintings ranging from the abstracted to representational.” Click for more info!
Artwork by Dee Levinson
Samantha Smith, The Georgetown Voice, February 10, 2016
“Levinson said most of her pieces are based off of statues she photographed while abroad. This explains why it is difficult to nail down the period that Levinson’s collection is based on; her paintings are based on statues from various eras and cultures, the subjects of which range from the Virgin Mary to Buddha and from Greek gods to Victorian women.” Click for more info!
Leslie Johnston, Before They Are Gone
Leila Lebreton, The Georgetown Voice, January 21, 2016
“As someone who is not a frequent advocate of abstract art, I, surprisingly, thoroughly enjoyed Leslie Johnston’s work. She is first and foremost an environmental scientist by profession, so it comes as no surprise that her art reflects her passion for preserving natural habitats and species.” Click for more info!
Pete McCutchen, The Quality of Light
Elizabeth Malatesta, The Georgetown Voice, October 8, 2015
“After only a few minutes of conversation with photographer Pete McCutchen at the opening of his newest show, ‘The Quality of Light,’ it is wildly apparent that he is no typical photographer. ‘The world is a chaotic mess, and art is making order out of it,’ he says, gesturing behind himself to a photo of Lake Yellowstone, the soft pre-dawn blues of the lake juxtaposed against an arrangement of dark scraggly trees with a scattering of tiny yellow flowers.” Click for more info!
MiniSolos at Touchstone!
Steve Alderton, Memoryscapes: Blurry Lines II
Mark Jenkins, The Washington Post, July 25, 2015
“It’s a selection of landscapes, but Steve Alderton’s show at Touchstone Gallery is hardly in the French en plein air tradition. The show’s title, ‘Memoryscapes — Blurry Lines II,’ specifies that the D.C. painter’s trees, fields and skies are recollected, not observed.” Click for more info!
Patricia Williams, Hidden Things Revealed
Michael Bergin, The Georgetown Voice, January 22, 2015
“Joy, whimsical wit, and aesthetic beauty are exactly what Williams provides in Hidden Things Revealed, her latest exhibit. Located at the Touchstone Gallery through the end of January, the collection demonstrates an impressive variety of abstract natural scenes done in watercolor, shedding light on the beautiful nature of common things around us.” Click for more info!
Dana Brotman, Michelle Frazier, Janathel Shaw, Rosemary Luckett and Janet Wheeler: Form Transformed: Five Sculptors
Mark Jenkins, The Washington Post, January 24, 2014
“The traditional idea of sculpture is of shapes chiseled out of — or, more poetically, discovered within — blocks of stone. There are a few modernist examples of that approach in ‘Form Transformed: Five Sculptors,’ at Touchstone Gallery.” Click for more info!