Culture House presents Anthony Le and Ashley Jaye Williams, Twin Snakes in the Ameri-Cognitive Dissonance. The exhibition is on view from February 24 - April 20, 2024 and is open each Saturday from 11 am – 2 pm. No appointments are required. The artists will be present to meet with visitors during the opening reception on Saturday, February 24, from 2-5 pm. Additional programming will be announced throughout the exhibition. 

Twin Snakes in the Ameri-Cognitive Dissonance is a duo exhibition at Culture House, featuring work by Ashley Jaye Williams (@ashleyjayewilliams) and Anthony Le (@anthonyleart). They are married twin snakes and collaborate as the Model Mutiny Art Collective (@modelmutiny) in sculpture, painting, murals, performance art and fashion. 

Ashley Jaye Williams presents works that expand upon identities that have been flattened by society for capitalistic convenience. Anthony Le presents works about nonconformity to unethical power structures. This show is about the duality of what America stands for. It’s an influx of corporate investment into Pride Month while an historic number of anti-trans laws are being codified. It’s being the world’s largest economy from the military industrial complex while actively degrading the quality of life for the most vulnerable people. The cognitive dissonance is the attempt to control women’s bodies despite the majority of people opposing this harassment.

Both artists speak to the reality of having incompatible identities and forcing them to try to coexist creates an uncanny valley of liminal space. These paintings and sculptures are an attempt to unpack modern society’s many Frankensteins — with their giant cacophonous vision boards for the modern hellscape.

About the Artists

Ashley Jaye Williams (they) is a multidisciplinary artist who has been working and living in Washington, DC since 2008. They work primarily with fine art, murals, sculpture and art installations, but also have experience in traditional animation, fashion, performance art, video, and printmaking. Follow @ashleyjayewilliams

Anthony Le (he/they) is a multidisciplinary artist and identifies as Vietnamese American and nonbinary. They have lived in Washington, DC since 2009 and work in painting, printmaking, sculpture and fashion, exploring the joy of nonconformity. Follow @anthonyleart

Both artists (@modelmutiny) are 2023 and 2024 DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities Fellows. Both are 2024 artists in residence at Playhaus. The collective curated and presented work at the 2023 Queer Art Salon. In 2022, the collective presented the duo exhibition “Summer Daydream” in Washington DC; this was an examination of how summer is idealized through images of bodies and sex and how the advertisement of objectification leads to disappointment and harm. In 2021, the artists stripped each other during a live printing performance art piece while exploring their evolving ideas on sex, identity and injustice.

The gallery is open to the public February 24 through April 20 on Saturdays from 11 am – 2 pm and by appointment.