Weekly Art Lens by Beth Shook

Chris Martin, Ganges Sunrise Asi Ghat Varanasi… 2002. Oil on canvas, 129 x 143 in. Courtesy of the artist and Mitchell-Innes & Nash, New York. On view this weekend at the Corcoran.

The Guerrilla Girls Talk Back
One of the most notorious groups to be aligned with the feminist art movement, the Guerrilla Girls have been challenging art world discrimination “with facts, humor and fake fur” for over 25 years. Their posters and performances (always executed in gorilla costumes) question the dominance of male artists within the art historical canon. This weekend the National Museum for Women in the Arts presents a new exhibition of Guerrilla Girls posters and related works drawn from its collection.
Where: National Museum for Women in the Arts (Metro: McPherson Square or Metro Center)
When: June 17 to Oct. 2.
How Much: $10 for adults; $8 for seniors and students.

Pressing Idea: Fifty Years of Women’s Lithographs from Tamarind
Another noteworthy new show at the NMWA, Pressing Idea will showcase 75 prints by 42 female modern and contemporary artists, including Elaine de Kooning, Louise Nevelson and Kiki Smith. The works were executed at the Tamarind Institute in Albuquerque, a print workshop that was established in Los Angeles in 1960 and aimed to revive interest in the complex process of lithography as a fine art medium.
Where: National Museum for Women in the Arts (Metro: McPherson Square or Metro Center)
When: June 17 to Oct. 2.
How Much: $10 for adults; $8 for seniors and students.

Chris Martin: Painting Big
Despite having grown up in Washington in the 1950s and ’60s, abstract painter Chris Martin (no relation) has never exhibited his work here until now. It seems only appropriate that his first D.C. show — and first museum survey in the country — is taking place at the Corcoran, a museum he frequented in his youth. Part of the Corcoran’s NOW contemporary art series, Painting Big is divided into three sections: a set of large-scale paintings from the last nine years, over 150 small paintings, and three new, even larger-scale works designed for the museum’s atrium. In his art, Martin deals with themes that include popular music, art history and the natural world. Some of his works form mesmerizing patterns out of vibrant colors, while others combine paint with found objects, blurring the distinction between our reality and the flat world of the canvas.
Where: Corcoran Gallery (Metro: Farragut West)
When: June 18 to Oct. 23.
How Much: $10 for adults; $8 for seniors and students.

Continues after the jump.

Chris Martin, Sphinx, 1993-1996. Oil and collage on canvas, 12 x 16 in. Courtesy of the artist and Mitchell-Innes & Nash, New York. Photo: Jason Mandella. On view this weekend at the Corcoran.

Jenny Sidhu Mullins: American Temple
The humorous new works on paper and conceptual installation arriving at Flashpoint are the product of Jenny Sidhu Mullins’ Fulbright sojourn to India. There she researched spiritual tourism and conceived of her “monkey portraits,” meticulous graphite depictions of monkeys decorated with colorful chakras. The portraits, coupled with the interactive New American Spiritual Tent, play with the West’s fascination with and commodification of Eastern spirituality.
Where: Flashpoint Gallery (Metro: Gallery Place-Chinatown or Metro Center)
When: June 18 to July 23. Opening reception on June 18 from 5 to 7 p.m.
How Much: Free

Short list: Pattern: Three Generations of Shape and Color at Carroll Square Gallery; Workshop: “Up-cycle Your Plastic Bags” at the Textile Museum.