“My artwork smells very appealing, if you like Indian food,” says Charlottesville illustrator Paul Hostetler, whose work will be on display this month in the McGuffey Art Center Lower Hall Gallery.
“And I hope that previous sentence makes people lean up and smell my art during the show. Then lean back and think about how that wasn’t very sensible, then about how almost everything in modern society isn’t very sensible, beyond our constant struggle to make it make sense,” he says. “Then I hope they quickly squash those feelings so they can properly enjoy the other pieces. Then I hope they buy something.”
Hostetler, whose work you’ve seen on that dinosaur-covered CAT bus around town, is showing “a mélange” of cartoons, finished illustrations, unfinished drawings and what he calls “trite paintings.” He is one of six artists participating in McGuffey’s Incubator Studio, a program that allows nonmembers to practice under the tutelage of McGuffey member artists.
Hostetler’s partial to the piece titled “Player Piano (or, Finger Typewriter),” where swiftly typing fingers take the place of typewriter keys, and a wild tongue and half a set of teeth sit where the key hammers and ribbon would be. With its bonkers imagery and bright, dissonant color scheme, it’s wily and thought-provoking, and Hostetler says he “spent an awful lot of time and effort on [it], despite the piece being about how much easier art would be if it could make itself.” —Erin O’Hare
BozART Fine Art Collective 129 E. Main St., Orange. A mixed-media show explores different interpretations of an “orange” theme, from literal oranges to views of the town. Opens June 8, 5pm.
FF The Bridge Progressive Arts Initiative 209 Monticello Rd.“Carry Me Ohio,” a glimpse through photographs into the lives of forgotten blue-collar workers of rural Ohio. 5:30pm.
FF Central Library 201 E. Market St. “Charlottesville Then & Now,” a photography exhibit that chronicles the town. 5-7pm.
FF Chroma Projects Gallery 112 W. Main St., Ste. 10. “Sounding Things,” Ellen Climo’s series of square photographs looking to impose precision on unkempt landscapes. 5-7pm.
FF CitySpace Art Gallery 100 Fifth St. NE, Market Street Garage. “#BlackOwnedCville,” an exhibit celebrating local African-American business owners, featuring a film by Lorenzo Dickerson. 5:30-7:30pm.
Crozet Artisan Depot 5791 Three Notch’d Rd., Crozet. “Adventure Art,” a celebration of the outdoors painted on trail maps by Kathryn Matthews. Opens June 10, 3-5pm.
FF C’ville Arts Cooperative Gallery 118 E. Main St. “Capturing the Soul with Plein Air,” featuring the outdoor paintings of Meg West. 6-8pm.
FF Fellini’s #9 200 Market St. “Historic Downtown Mall,” watercolors by Lois Kennensohn. 5:30-7pm.
FF The Garage 100 E. Jefferson St. “Curious/ColorRoom,” a sculptural, mixed- media installation by Christy Baker. 5-7pm.
FF Graves International Art 306 E. Jefferson St. “Roy Lichtenstein & Company: Postwar and Contemporary Art,” featuring handmade limited-edition prints and exhibition posters by artists such as Lichtenstein, Gerhard Richter, David Hockney, Keith Haring, Ellsworth Kelly, Josef Albers and others. 5-8pm.
FF Kardinal Hall 722 Preston Ave. “An Autobiographical Anthology,” an exhibition of gouache and intaglio prints on paper. 6-8pm.
FF McGuffey Art Center 201 Second St. NW. In the Sarah B. Smith Gallery, “Pattern: Recent Linocuts,” linocuts by Maryanna Williams, talk on June 6, 12:30pm; in Lower Hall North and South, “Cracked: The Incubator Show,” featuring six artists who participated in McGuffey’s Incubator Studio; in Upper Hall North and South,“World Art Exhibit,” a collection of drawings by refugees from eight countries.
FF Music Resource Center LeRoi Moore Performance Hall, 105 Ridge St. “Through These Waters,” an exhibition of photographs and video by Tori Purcell that explores the ways in which people remember their ancestors. 5-7pm, with a video screening at 5:30.
FF New Dominion Bookshop 404 E. Main St. “Portraits of Ordinary Architecture.” Photographs by Gary Okerlund. 5-7pm.
FF Piedmont Council for the Arts Gallery 112 W. Main St., Ste. 9. “Urban Treasures,” a photography exhibition by Bill Moretz. 5-7pm.
Shenandoah Valley Fine Art Center 26 S. Wayne Ave., Waynesboro. “Local Landmarks and Landscapes,” an exhibition featuring depictions of the greater Waynesboro area.
FF Spring Street Boutique 107 W. Main St. “A Scape in Transcendence,” mixed media by Alee Johnson. 6-8pm.
FF Studio IX 969 Second St. SE. “Polaroids,” featuring Polaroid photography by Martyn Kyle. 5-7pm.
Thomas Jefferson Memorial Church 717 Rugby Rd. Mixed-media paintings by Sarah Gondwe. Opens June 4, 11:30am.
FF Top Knot Studio 103 Fifth St. SE. “Integration Series,” a mixed-media portrayal of adjustment to a life-changing injury through creativity. 5:30-7pm.
FF VMDO Architects 200 E. Market St. Local landscapes by John Trevor; sculptures by Philip Miller, inspired by George Nakashima. 5:30pm.
FF Welcome Gallery at New City Arts 114 Third St. NE. “Housing2Home,” a multimedia exhibit featuring photographs of client spaces taken by Andrea Hubbell; a film by Zaynah and Forrest Pando; and photography, paintings, pottery and textiles by more than a dozen other local artists. 5-7:30pm.
FF First Fridays is a monthly art event featuring exhibit openings at many downtown art galleries and additional exhibition venues. Several spaces offer receptions.