The Specullector

WASHINGTON, D.C., October 11, 2011 — Lauren Gentile, longtime art professional and former director of Irvine Contemporary, sets up shop in Washington, D.C. After serving as the Director of Irvine Contemporary and working in the art profession for 13 years, heading to New York or Los Angeles, might be the conventional wisdom. Instead, inspired by Washington’s promise of becoming a major national platform for emerging and contemporary art, Gentile is committing her considerable talent, energy, and creativity to opening her own gallery, Contemporary Wing. “For awhile now, there have been rumblings about the Washington’s burgeoning arts community breaking through and becoming a force for contemporary art, and I want to be a part of that change. The Rubell’s plan to open a contemporary art museum in the nation’s capitol, the recent success of the (e)merge art fair, and a committed art community, all convince me that the time is now,” according to Ms. Gentile, “Washington is an ideal destination for contemporary art, and I am prepared to invest in that vision.”

With the rounding support of her colleagues, artists and collectors, Gentile will launch Contemporary Wing on November 1. While Gentile is in the process of finalizing her Northwest Washington location, Contemporary Wing will be open for sales and appraisals, at http://www.contemporarywing.com. The first exhibition, a multi-work video installation designed to run concurrently with Art Basel, Miami Beach, will take place on December 1-4, 2011 in Miami, Florida. For Ivory Tower artist Tiffany Carbonneau will project an original art work onto the exterior of the Marquis Miami, where the exhibit will be held. Her site specific projection will be visible from the surrounding area as well as from I-95 North and South bound, I-395, I-195, and the Venetian Causeway. Once inside the exhibit, viewers will be immersed in a conceptual and humorous feast of sight and sound. Gentile is co-curating the exhibit with New York curator Ginger Shulick, of Big Deal Arts. Participating artists include: Nia Burks, Sean Capone, Tiffany Carbonneau, Paul D. Miller (DJ Spooky), Paul Moakley, Phillip David Stearns and Alex Villar.

Contemporary Wing’s inaugural exhibit in Washington, D.C., NEXT GENERATION, ties into the District’s strongest asset, its world class museums. NEXT GENERATION is designed to complement the Corcoran Gallery of Art’s exhibition of “30 Americans,” and opens on February 1, on the tails of the Corcoran’s exhibit. Each artist represented in the “30 Americans” exhibition was asked to identify one or two American artists working today that he or she believes is a critical “up and comer” of the next generation. The resulting group will comprise NEXT GENERATION. “I want to create a dialogue with Washington’s outstanding museum exhibitions,” Gentile said. “For too long the media has talked about Washington’s museums and its galleries as unrelated entities. There is a natural synergy between the two, and my goal is to buttress what Washington already has to offer in the arts, in order to advance the work of artists who will define American art in the coming decades.”

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About the Founder/Director: Lauren Gentile has produced major exhibitions of historically significant artists including Shepard Fairey, Teo González, and Paul D. Miller (DJ Spooky), among others. While supporting the artists of today, she has helped nurture such emerging talent as Gaia, Hedieh Javanshir Ilchi, and Sebastian Martorana. She is a certified appraiser of fine and decorative arts and an expert in the economics of the international art market. Lauren studied art history, Italian, and German at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago, the University of Florence and the Goethe Institute. She holds an M.A. in art business from Sotheby’s Institute London and B.A. degrees in art history and international studies from DePaul University in Chicago. Her private sector career includes work with art hedge funds and as director of sales in auction houses and galleries specializing in a variety of markets. Lauren is a member of ArtTable and The Contemporaries Steering Committee at The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.