CulturalDC and Transformer are pleased to co-present a two-part exhibition Double Rainbow: Future Archives, by Holly Bass and Maps Glover. Cosmic Garden, the CulturalDC presentation in the Mobile Art Gallery, is an immersive experience exploring the expansive works of Bass and Glover.

The exhibition will include videos from Holly Bass’s performances from the mid-1990s to the early 2000s and Maps Glover’s performance work from 2015-2020. Glover and Bass recognize that creating public archives of their experiences as Black artists preserves their importance in history. This work is informed by the Black experience, particularly how video documentation has been used to legitimize and validate Black life in a society that seeks to erase Black people’s humanity.

“We are so excited to host two incredible performance artists in our signature Mobile Art Gallery.” says Kristi Maiselmann, CulturalDC Executive Director and Curator. “Cosmic Garden, our presentation of the Double Rainbow: Future Archives, is a great example of how we continue to Make Space for Art, in new and unique ways. We are proud to share this immersive exhibition with The Yards and the Capital River Front community.”

This exhibition is a physical representation showing that Black conceptual artists are part of the larger Black community: representing themselves, celebrating cultural lineages, and championing collective futures. As an alternative to the traditional rainbow, the SMPTE color bars are symbolic of analog video and represent the changes in video technology, memory, and visual culture. These color bars are used at the entrance of the mobile art gallery, and as you step into the gallery, you enter the green of the SMPTE color bars, an immersive experience into the past and future of the works of Bass and Glover.

This presentation of archival work shifts the narrative and amplifies the importance of visual representation, and is an explicit invitation to D.C.’s Black community, welcoming and prioritizing this audience, which continues to be excluded by the art world.

Opening Celebration will be held November 5, 2022, at 6 PM at The Yards DC.

Cosmic Garden is free and open to the public from November 5 – December 18, 2022. Gallery hours are Wednesday – Sunday, 12 – 6 PM.