Washington, DC has a quietly thrilling rediscovery on view this fall. The National Museum of Women in the Arts presents Marlo Pascual: Making Something Out of Something, the first solo museum exhibition of Pascual’s work in 15 years, on view through February 28, 2027.
Pascual (1972–2020) built her art from found images — anonymous, often glamorous women in vintage studio portraits, yearbook photos and advertisements — and then transformed them in surprising ways. She enlarged them well beyond their original size, encased them in thick Plexiglas and paired them with everyday objects, turning flat pictures into physical, sculptural works. In one piece, a portrait is flipped upside down and a table lamp sits directly on the woman’s face; in a series of eight photographs, the same young woman is repeatedly obscured by a hand, a spiderweb, a table and flowers.
Drawn entirely from the museum’s own collection, the show brings together 17 works made between 2009 and 2014. The results are playful, uncanny and thought-provoking all at once, inviting visitors to look twice at images they thought they knew. As Pascual herself said of the objects she reused: “I’m not destroying them. I like to think I’m giving them a new life.”
The museum, at 1250 New York Avenue NW, is open Tuesday to Sunday, 10 am to 5 pm, with free admission on the first Sunday and second Wednesday of each month — a perfect excuse for a bright afternoon of art in the heart of the city.
Photo: National Museum of Women in the Arts
