Monday, January 15, 2007

Jack Rasmussen's Top 10

Few people know more about the art and artists of Washingmore (Washington + Baltimore) than my good friend Dr. Jack Rasmussen, who runs the American University Museum at the Katzen. Below is his Top DC area (sort of) shows for 2006:

"I don't get out of my own space enough to be a good judge of what other places were showing in 2006.

Certainly Da Da at the National Gallery of Art was the greatest.

Then, in no particular order, I liked everything I saw at the Hirshhorn, Jonathan Binstock's selections from the Corcoran's Collection, and Sean Scully and The Société Anonyme at The Phillips Collection.

I thought the new Smithsonian American Art Museum was OK, and I know I would have liked Manon Cleary's show with WAM if I had only been able to extricate myself from here.

I did manage to see Hemphill's shows of Steve Kushner and Robin Rose, beautiful as usual, and the great pairing of Jeff Spaulding and Ledelle Moe at G Fine Art.

The show I wish I had seen the most was the one Kevin MacDonald had been planning for the American University Museum. But it seems only the good die young."

Opportunity for Artists

Deadline: January 31, 2007

The Third Annual Bethesda Painting Awards - Submissions must be received by January 31, 2007. The Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District is currently accepting applications for the third annual Bethesda Painting Awards, which are mostly funded through the immense generosity of Bethesda businesswoman and arts activist Carol Trawick.

Eight finalists will be selected to display their work in an exhibition during the month of June 2007 at the Fraser Gallery in downtown Bethesda, and the top four winners will receive $14,000 in prize monies. Best in Show will be awarded $10,000; Second Place will be honored with $2,000 and Third Place will receive $1,000. Additionally, a "Young Artist" whose birthday is after January 31, 1977 will be awarded $1,000. Artists must be 18 years of age or older and residents of Maryland, Virginia or Washington, D.C.

All original 2-D painting including oil, acrylic, watercolor, gouache, encaustic and mixed media will be accepted. The maximum dimension should not exceed 60 inches in width or 84 inches in height. No reproductions. Artwork must have been completed within the last two years and must be available for the duration of the exhibition. Each artist must submit five slides, application and a non-refundable entry fee of $25.

For a complete application, please send a self-addressed stamped envelope to:

Bethesda Painting Awards
c/o Bethesda Urban Partnership
7700 Old Georgetown Road
Bethesda, MD 20814, or call 301/215-6660.

The 2007 Bethesda Painting Awards will be juried by Dr. Brandon Fortune, Professor W.C. Richardson and Professor Tanja Softic'.

Dr. Brandon Brame Fortune is the Associate Curator of Painting and Sculpture at the National Portrait Gallery. She has spent the last three years researching contemporary portraiture, and was the Gallery’s coordinator for the Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition.

Professor W.C. Richardson is a Professor of Painting and Drawing at the University of Maryland. His most recent one person shows were at Loyola University, Baltimore, MD, March 2004; Fusebox, Washington, DC, June 2003; Fusebox, Washington, DC, July 2002; Baumgartner Gallery, New York, NY, September 2000.

Professor Tanja Softic’ is an Associate Professor of Art at the University of Richmond. Softic was a recipient of the 1996 National Endowment for the Arts/ Southern Arts Federation Visual Artist Fellowship and Soros Foundation—Open Society Institute Exhibition Support Grant in 1997. She recently participated in the 12th International Print Triennial in Cracow, Poland and won a first prize at the The 5th Kochi International Triennial Exhibition of Prints, Ino-cho Paper Museum in Kochi, Japan in 2002.

Rosetta deBerardinis Top 10 DC Area Art Shows

DC area writer and artist Rosetta DeBerardinis is not only a talented artist and writer, but as every gallerist and curator in the DC area knows, she gets around to a lot of shows! Here's her top 10 DC area list (with one NYC show):

1. Anselm Kiefer: Heaven and Earth, Hirshhorn.

2. No Limits, Just Edges: Jackson Pollock on Paper, the Guggenheim.

3. Kelly Towles at Adamson Gallery.

4. Doug Hall at Numark Gallery.

5. Renee Butler at Osuna Gallery.

6. Aging, Gail Rebham at Pyramid Atlantic.

7. Other Than Art, G Fine Art.

8. Blanka Sperkova at Quirk, Richmond.

9. Mixed Media, Curated by Kathryn Cornelius, the WPA/Corcoran.

10. Chawky Frenn at Fraser Gallery.

Map of DC Art Scene

Jesse Cohen is creating a map of the DC area art scene: galleries, museums, artists' studios, etc. See it here.