The first artwork featured in WPA’s South Capitol Skyscape project is Julie Wolfe’s Meta 1 (2014). Wolfe’s Meta series began when the artist came across a box full of oversized images at a flea market in New York. Mostly comprising landscapes and waterscapes, the pictures were taken by a husband and wife who travelled the world, documenting towns and villages along the way. It was more than the subject matter that captured Wolfe’s attention, however. It was their unusual color—a washed out cast of yellows and greens—that caught her eye. Wolfe later discovered that the development process used in the 1970’s caused the red hues to fade more quickly over time. Hence, the unusual “retro” colors.

Wolfe began painting on top of the photographs and manipulating the surface with oil, turpentine, and sandpaper, making the shapes appear to float on the photograph to give a strange sense of spatial illusion.There are approximately 15 Meta paintings in the series that are now in various collections. Wolfe believes the photographic image from Meta 1 was most likely taken in Sweden. She felt that the work was well suited for the South Capitol Skyscape Project and its location on the Capitol Skyline Hotel as the photograph’s origin was based on world travel and exploration.

ABOUT SOUTH CAPITOL SKYSCAPE

Utilizing the unique and historic façade of the Capitol Skyline Hotel, South Capitol Skyscape will present a rotating series of oversize contemporary art installations, featuring the work of both local and national artists. These commissioned works are intended to spark public discussion on art and culture and enrich the daily lives of the residents, workers, and car passengers who inhabit the world of the South Capitol Street Gateway corridor. Each of the South Capitol Skyscape artists will lead free community art making workshops at the Randall Recreation Center in conjunction with their project. South Capitol Skyscape is funded, in part, by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities’ Public Art Building Communities Grant Program.  Special thanks to the Capitol Skyline Hotel, Kimberly Mitchell and CDKM Consulting, and Eve Brooks/Community Benefits Coordinating Council.