URBAN MONOPOLY
“In times of shrinking expectations… everyone feels a victim and pushes away outsiders to defend his own corner.”
—Oscar Handlin
WASHINGTON, DC — Gallery 102 is proud to present “Urban Monopoly,” a solo exhibition of painter Regina Miele’s recent work as part of the 2017 Summer Solo Series. Consisting of paintings on canvas, “Urban Monopoly” explores the spatial, physical, and architectural effects of DC’s real estate and development (i.e. gentrification) boom over the last decade.
Miele captures DC’s often unseen and overlooked urban landscape, one that is void of neoclassical architecture, marble, greek statues, and perfectly manicured lawns. She reveals a rich urban tapestry that is under constant threat from corporate greed, profit-driven developers, and persistent housing discrimination. As the re-development of DC quickens, the spaces and places that once stored the memories of a colorful past are disappearing, while entire communities and their history are being erased.
These are two themes that explore the idea of place and of displacement. In ever-changing and gentrifying urban environments the concept of home can be both one of security as well as instability. “Urban Monopoly” explores a contemporary DC real estate boom and provides the vistas for “Through the Glass” a New York City tenement at the turn of the 20th Century. All of the work speaks to the inevitable invisibility of the original residents, those outside the ownership class.
MONOPOLY TITLE CARDS
The Property Title Cards in the “Urban Monopoly” Installation explained:
Each title deed corresponds to an actual property on the Monopoly game board. The price per deed listed is the cost of one a bedroom rental on the block of the building represented in each painting. The corresponding game piece is found within the composition of each painting. Below are the property locations within The District of Columbia.
Click on Title Cards to view painting.
Tap on Title Cards to view painting.
“New York Avenue”
2100 Block of Queens Chapel Road NE
“New York Avenue”
2100 Block of Queens Chapel Road NE
“Reading Railroad”
2100 Block of Queens Chapel Road NE
“Reading Railroad”
2100 Block of Queens Chapel Road NE
“Pennsylvania Avenue”
500 Block of H Street NE
“Pennsylvania Avenue”
500 Block of H Street NE.
“Marvin Gardens”
1300 Block of Fifth Street NE
“Marvin Gardens”
1300 Block of Fifth Street NE
“Park Place”
1700 Block of Fourteenth Street NW
“Park Place”
1700 Block of Fourteenth Street NW
“Boardwalk”
1400 Block of P Street NW
“Boardwalk”
1400 Block of P Street NW
Dollhouse
It is the December holidays at in the doll house at 65 Mott St The Jewish family in apartment 4A has wrapped gifts for the Festival of Lights while their Italian downstairs neighbors are preparing a meal for the Night of the Seven Fishes, the same meal prepared on December 24th throughout my life. While it is 1948 in the dollhouse with newspapers celebrating the formation of Israel, it is 2018 in the paintings. My current studio in Langdon Park, Northeast D.C. bears few differences to the artist studio in the painting, the materials and tools no different from what I use today. In May of 2016 I was injured in an accident. After months of occupational therapy, to no avail, I underwent nerve transposition surgery in February of 2017, the result is permanent loss of the full function of my painting hand. The Dollhouse provided an accessible, safe, indoor world unto itself where time of day and composition could be maintained in my studio with lamps and tripods. Also, I could give myself the time to heal and learn how to drive my new hand. Cityscapes, many of my paintings from Urban Monopoly, provided the vistas and backdrops for the interior paintings.
Click on reference photographs below to view paintings.
Tap on reference photos below to view paintings.
Reference Photo
“Self Portait Sculpting, Apartment 4B, 65 Mott”
Reference Photo
“65 Mott, Apartment 2B, Bordello”
Reference Photo for
“Sekyia in My Studio, Apt 4B”