Artomatic: The Seventh Floor (Partial Review)

Last night I spent only about 90 minutes on the 7th floor, and was thus unable to get to all of the rooms - I will be back to expand and finish this look at this floor.  I was accompanied by my wife on this trip, and below I will include her very savvy observations, fine tuned over decades of both practicing, teaching and being a strong voice for nearly every facet of the art scene on a worldwide scale.

As with all my previous floor visits, this floor proves again the unique and singular ability of ARTOMATIC to deliver on a scale that it is impossible to deliver in any other model but this one! The mind-overwhelming variety of subjects, skill levels, ideas, room-changing work and presentation forms is simply impossible to replicate unless the hive workforce and leadership of this kind of show is there.

First impression from the partial walk on the 7th floor? There is a lot of love with black light on this floor and also a lot of artists whose presentations include a wall assembly of a multitude of small, well-crafted and presented work!

My first recommendation comes for the work of Jenny Kanzler in room 7031.  I am always seduced by artists who are able through their work marry the subject with unusual and unexpected, and this very talented artist delivers all of that and more with gusto and skill.

Jenny Kanzler in room 7071 at Artomatic

In room 7006, Greg Skrtic offers an impressive array of large paintings which can best be described as brilliant rediscovery and modernizing of the traditional. In these works the artist subjugates the focus of the work to be recreated in a canvas of multi surfaces and images that force the eye to examine each minute details of the surface individually and them re-assemble them to deliver forms that seems to step out of medieval times and onto the 21st century.

Gregory Skrtic in room 7006

Skrtic notes on his website that:

I take inspiration from many sources, both natural and man-made. I use patterns from patchwork quilting, carpet or wallpaper designs just as readily as from a seashell, leaf, or seed pod. Incorporating these patterns into the overall composition in a way that they can co-exist in harmony is a recurring theme in my work.

It results in one of the more impressive "new-to-me" artists discovered so far at the event!

In room 7041, both my wife and I liked the somewhat "retro" work of Jeremy Arn. I note "retro" more in the sense of the muted palette, rather than just the subject, which is composed of interesting mechanical forms.

Jeremy Arn in room 7041

I also want to highlight the powerful drawings of Ricardo Mavin in room 7128, full of energy and zest which only a talented artist with a mission can accomplish. 

Also memorable are Christian Tribastone's explorations of the most humble of materials (cardboard) to deliver impressive works (room 7072) as he jumps the tracks in a very cool way.

In room 7078 Cory Oberdorfer showcases some of the impressive new takes on his fave subjects - Oberdorfer took these to NYC a couple of weeks ago to the Affordable Art Fair in Chelsea.

Cory Oberndorfer

In room 7063, Andrea Cybyk's elegant abstracts dominate the room - I've discussed Cybyk's works many times over the years, as her work has always been amongst the top at various previous incarnations of ARTOMATIC over the decades.

In room 7144, the flower paintings of Michal Hunter once again demonstrate the breath-taking painting gifts of this artist - the subject is new to me, as previously I've spent decades drooling over Hunter's figurative work. In that same room, the hardworking gift to the Greater Washington art scene that is Jack Rasmussen surprises with an elegant, almost obsessive display of collaged monochromatic works that are both interesting and immensely intelligent! 

Close by in 7061 we find the immensely intellectual works of the collaboration between wife and husband team of Lync Prince Harris and David Allen Harris. This brainy duo has created a series of works dubbed at the Wa PaPo series. She notes:

With the Wa PaPo project, launched in 2021 with my husband David Allen Harris (photographer), there’s an effort of revitalizing holistic histories and lore through reintroducing African-inspired elements with our own personal flair. This is a homage, rather than an ethnographic survey that accurately depicts any one place or culture. Instead, we hope to infuse new life and meaning into the ways of showing and retelling Black and Western folklore. 

 

Over the course of the Wa PaPo project, I’ve explored stories about different figures of the African diaspora through prose, art, and reenactments on film, using creative license to change details for more original and interpretive artistic effect. I’m an interdisciplinary artist with ties to social practice art, writing, bodypainting, muraling, and assemblage; David is similarly equipped as a photographer and software engineer/computer scientist. Together, we use traditional and new media to fully tell the tales we weave. 

Lync Prince Harris and David Allen Harris

See a cool video about the series here.

Over is space 746, I must highlight the printmaking of Cecily Abram, which is not only pleasing to the eye, but also showcases a clearly talented printmaker. These gorgeous prints tease the viewer by assembling both recognizable forms, but married to deliver a somewhat abstracted delivery.  They are also a great example of professional presentation: pH-balanced, acid free museum mats, etc. At $325 for the large monoprints, they are also one of the great steals of the show!

Cecily Abram in area 746

In room 7070, John Grunwell's colorful abstracts just about jump of the wall with the huge amount of energy that Grunwell manages to pop out of the painting surface.

Detail of a John Grunwell painting

By now it was getting a bit late as we had to pick up the son unit from a Caps' game - on this floor we also liked (again) the African-influenced works of the ebullient Shiri Achu in room 7059.  Achu was one of my top 10 Artomatic picks a few years ago and since then she has continued to deliver impressive works influenced heavily by her upbringing in Cameroon and then London.

Today: Meet the Artists at Artomatic!

April 13 @ 12:00 pm - 11:45 pm

Meet the Artists II: Sponsored by the DC Arts Commission

Artomatic at 2100 M Street NW

A majority of this year's artists will be sharing from their spaces after 7 PM. This is your second chance to discover the makers behind the masterpieces! You can wander from the 2nd floor to the 8th, and every floor in between, asking questions and getting a peek behind the scenes. 

Jai Marcus and the art of the collage

In room 4060 at Artomatic there's an artist channeling powerful messages via one of the most amplifying genres of art: the collage.

Jai Marcus in room 4060

First let me observe her presentation; she embraces the number one rule of showing o one's artwork: "Who are you?", a simple and powerful rule once art becomes a commodity,  and one which many artists often fail to heed.

Jai Marcus' artist statement

We then learn about the Artist via a well-written, concise and informative statement; now we know the "why" to the art.

The artwork delivers what is clearly an intuitive mind seeking to expand the hidden narrative behind the complex assembly of images. Are we looking at three face images combined to deliver a singular thought or narration? Perhaps, but also notice the attention-grabbing details of the exuberance of the color aspects of this work.

Explore the elegant and brainy composition of this work above. It starts in a geometric pattern, gets disrupted by erotic lips encasing metallic forms and a clock and then erupts into a riot of somewhat abstracted forms in the upper right.

In the above work, we see some compositional tracks that follow the same intelligent and mind-twisting arrangement: It starts with vertical forms on the right, the flowers transition the work to the central piece, and then in the art coup, the left marries abstraction with and end-casing of more vertical forms!

To end, a cyberspace WELL DONE to this collage master!

Artomatic Review: The 6th Floor

Yesterday was my fourth opportunity to spend some hours looking at the work at ARTOMATIC. As I've noted many times over the last two decades, it is impossible to "see" this show in one or two visits. Any and all visits are welcomed (and free), but if you are serious about "seeing" the work of nearly 1,000 artists - then plan to return multiple times!

That's what folks who visit Art Basel week in Miami in December do - they know that they cannot visit all 26 fairs or so, and they also know that they can't even see the hundreds of galleries and thousands of artists in the two or three larger fairs, and thus they plan a week-long visit in many cases.

ARTOMATIC is in many facets, better than any hoity toity art fair on the planet, because an "open" show allows for a certain degree of freedom that no exhibition venue on this planet can match; more on that later.

Read and see my fifth floor review here.

Read and see my fourth floor review here.

Read and see my eighth floor review here.

First impressions: there's a LOT of really good photographers on this floor! A fucking lot of them! I liked Jose Valcarcel's "City Aperture" small photos with triangular compositions, also Khalil D'Jmaal's great out of control and entertaining room at 6106, Redeat Wondemu in room 6001, and Kathleen Weis in 6000. 

Also... whoever the photographer is with the SPECTACULAR photo installations dealing with slavery in room 6016! They are not only clearly a work of love, but also an important statement - this photographer can teach lessons in presentation and design! WOW! On purpose I have no images because I want all of you to go to room 6016 and see them!

Having said that, I have no idea who this photographer is... if it is the same photographer on the opposite wall (most rooms at ARTOMATIC are shared by two artists), then two things:

(a) You need to ID yourself on the left wall

(b) Your gorgeous landscapes photography identify you as a photographer of many skills and a superb eye for presentation!

If (B) is a gent named Damien T. Taylor, then I bow down to you sir!

Update: I am told that it is Taylor!

Michael Enn Sirvet is one of the region's best known artists and his skill in delivering awesome sculptures that flow and interact with the eye and light, etc. are well documented, and thus no surprise that his work in room 6108 is another brilliant delivery of talent and skill!

Room 6105 is another great example of why you can't do ARTOMATIC unless it is the ARTOMATIC model - not gonna bust it here: go see it and it's by catseye2thecosmos.com 

When you get out of the elevators on the 6th floor (yep! they're working again!), there's a wall on the side with a floor map - good luck with that! I started to the left of the map and was immediately greeted by this in wall 653:

Katie Flack Wall at Artomatic 2024 on the 6ht floor

These are gorgeous landscapes, superbly presented and because they're smallish, can get away with the salon style hanging scheme. They're brushy and fresh and showcases an artist with an enviable eye for nature and mastery over the brush. By comparison, I also liked the landscapes of Jim Halloran in room 6037, who is 180 degrees away from Flack on painting styles, but nonetheless delivers impeccable work done more in the classical realistic style. Both are terrific painters of the landscape (in Halloran's case his ten paintings have been inspired by Four Mile Run Park in Alexandria) and highly recommended! 

In room 6052, e.l. briscoe transforms Star Wars imagery into really good paintings and excellent and really deep thoughts - I really liked them! I also liked (room 6051) Shelley Picot's super clean presentation and talented wall sculptures in clay. Also loved the recycled material sculptures in room 6044 by Phil Charlwood.

Charlwood's "natural" work is perhaps another of the great success stories of ARTOMATIC. Here is a clearly talented artist who uses metallic scrap that usually gets discarded to create and recrate artwork and pieces and forms that echo his own ideas and channels what we all absorb as we grow. Go buy one now - this artist will hit the main stream soon.

Soon afterwards I walked into Bud Wilkinson's strong presence at the "end" of that side of the building is the area marked as 647.

Bud Wilkinson's Artists' Portraits at ARTOMATIC 2024

The screens show Wilkinson's portraits of dozens and dozens of DC area artists whom he has photographed over the years! A photographic catalog of Who's Who in the DMV Art Scene - the stickies on the wall are the names of the artists.  It is a wonderful project that generations from now will deserve a museum home in the DMV!

Opposite from the above wall, Brandon Hill showcases other and different artistic muscles in these elegant and intelligent wall sculptures - this is clearly a multi-faceted artist with lots of skills at his disposal.

Brandon Hill at ARTOMATIC 2024

In 6049 artist T. Rudis gets my award for Best Use of Light in a presentation of a work of art, which uses simple nature sculptures married to intelligent lighting to deliver a really cool work of art.

T. Rudis at ARTOMATIC 2024

In room 6047 Sarah Wardell has some really well done and (most of them) tiny landscapes that nonetheless showcase a really skilled painter - and the pricing is one of the best art deals at ARTOMATIC! Buy some of them!

Sarah Wardell landscape at ARTOMATIC 2024

Sarah Wardell wall

In room 6000 I really liked the pencil portraits by Todd Messer.

Todd Messer pencil portraits at ARTOMATIC 2024

I also liked the work by a young (judging from his photo) and subject-daring young artist named Brian H. Zambrano. I liked the way that he explores unusual subjects that most of us are not courageous enough to explore. No doubt that this young artist is one to keep an eye on! He also gets my Best Sardine Art Award! 

In room 6125, Michael Pacheco adds evidence to my thesis that no other exhibition venue or process in the world can do what ARTOMATIC can do. Here, Pacheco, like dozens of other hard-working artists have done at ARTOMATIC this year and over the past two decades, takes his painting skills to the room itself and delivers a painted room that takes us into the jungles of Apocalypto. Do not for a moment think that it is easy to accomplish this! Pacheco has some serious painting skills which make his hard work deliver... more evidence next.

Michael Pacheco transforms room 6125 at ARTOMATIC 2024

Evidence submission: Look at the below details from one of Pacheco's paintings in that room; this is a painter's painter, as my art school professor Jacob Lawrence used to say. He manipulates, seduces and commands the brush in what appears as a frenetic (but is in reality a superbly controlled) process to create the illusion of a Native American figure simply based on hundreds and hundreds of separate and individual strokes!

Detail of painting by Michael Pacheco 

For decades now I have been observing and admiring the evolution of DMV Überartist Pat Goslee, who has some gorgeous paintings in her unique and inimitable style in room 6090. I say inimitable because Goslee has refined her work process in such minute, hard-to-define style that it would take celestian intervention for someone to try to copy her spectacular works!

Over those decades, I have also always found something really sensual, sensitive, and bordering on erotica in her marriage of abstraction with forms and shapes and geometric designs, and stencils and colors...

Ages ago I dubbed that work as "vaginalism" in some review for some magazine or newspaper,  I also called it "vaginalia", and just outside the door from room 6090, is easily the greatest example of this field of art ever produced!

Vaginalia style art by Patricia Goslee

In room 6030 Mike Price wins the Best Wire in Art Award. These are not only intelligently designed, some kinetic, works of art, but also work to fool the eye as paintings!

Side view of Mike Price's wire artwork in room 6030 at ARTOMATIC 2024

The sheer genius in these works, is that in the elegant presentation, Price installs the wire sculptures within a solid painting background, where at first view they meld and blend to fool the eye!

"Werther's" by Mike Price

"Scissors" by Mike Price

Also in that room there are some impressive flower paintings by Peri Turns -- easily, and together with master artist Michal Hunter, the best flower paints so far!

My fave sculpture on the 6th floor? How about this precise and elegant and super cool assemblage of organic things (the wings are tree leaves) titled "Reluctant Predator" by Lee T. Wheeler in room 6002.

"Reluctant Predator" by Lee T. Wheeler in room 6002

Time for another award: The "Most Touchable Ever Award" goes to the cool (pun intended) flowing, moving and touchable sculptures in room 6054 by recycledworksart.com - and next a brainfart! I missed noting the name of the artist in room 6032, who deserves a shout out for his/her coooool paper installation and paper art skills! You rock! This is the ARTOMATIC 2024 Paper Room!

Does this room rock or what?

Every once in a while, a work of art speaks to the viewer as if coming from another dimension. Yesterday that was the case with this gorgeous painting by Adam Chamy in room 6040 and titled "Blood Bath."

BLOOD BATH by Adam Chamy

Vaginalia

For decades now I have been observing and admiring the evolution of DMV Überartist Pat Goslee, who has some gorgeous paintings in her unique and inimitable style in room 6090.

Over those decades, I've always found something really sensual, sensitive, and bordering on erotica in her marriage of Abstraction with forms and shapes and geometric designs, and stencils and colors...

Ages ago I dubbed that work as "vaginalism" in some review for some magazine or newspaper,  I also called it "vaginalia", and just outside the door from room 6090, is easily the greatest example of this field of art ever produced!

Reluctant Predator

I'm on duty at ARTOMATIC today, and as usual,  walking around into every single room and chastising the visitors who "see" the show by walking through the aisles and not going into the rooms!

In room 6002 there's very interesting work by an assemblage artist named Lee T. Wheeler and I particularly loved "Reluctant Predator" and "Terminator as a child."

Reluctant Predator by Lee T. Wheeler in room 6002

Best new artist find at Artomatic (so far)

My personal best AOM find of all time was when I ran into Tim Tate at the second ever Artomatic in Tenleytown. The Tatenator was under the stairs on the basement, and in the now mythical story of Artomatic, his work from that show ended up in a major museum, resulted in his first solo show ever at the iconic Fraser Gallery in Georgetown and from all the sales he started, along with Erwin Timmers and Mike Janis, the Washington Glass School in the neighborhood where the Nats' stadium is now.

Back to Artomatic 2024... I was on duty on the fourth floor last Saturday,  and after two and a half hours I completed my circuit of that floor, which is a warren of amazing rooms where artists of all kinds have created some spectacular displays of creativity, zeal and hard work.

And then I walked into room 4123.

James Flowers' artwork in room 4123 at Artomatic 2024

In room 4123 I met the recent works on metal of a new-to-me artist named James Flowers.

Before I talk about the artwork, let me point out something else: the superbly professional presentation - each of Flowers' gorgeous paintings are done on meatl - a nightmarish substrate not for the faint of heart, demanding precise technical skill and patience, and Flowers easily navigates the technical pitfalls of painting on the sexy, shiny surface and achieves the desired effect of superior, professional presentation.

Like most of us at Artomatic, he suffers from the salon-hanging virus that affects nearly each room in the Brutalist building at 2100 M Street, NW - we all want to maximize our $150 half room!

Flowers' approach to the subject matter - in this case mostly beautiful and elegant Black women with a flowing sense of power and presence - is quite distinct. His composition is classical in the sense of the triangular delivery of the subject that given them added weight and presence.

It is the way in which he has captured a psychological subtle message from each subject - this is sooooo easy to write in words and sooooo hard to deliver with a brush, and this is precisely with Flowers has done and accounts for much of his visual success.

There are other clues, such as in the paintings above and below; notice how the subject interacts with something out of the plane of the image above, and interacts with the viewer below.

I predict lots of great things in the future of this artist; there are a lot of great artworks in the room right now!

Artomatic review: the 4th floor

It took me about two and a half hours to finish finish my first walk through of the 4th floor at ARTOMATIC, and then I revisited some spaces and left many comments on the artists' books.

First impressions are: 

(1) A lot of artists channeling Joseph Cornell, which is a good thing, as Cornell was a magnificent artist and his work niche has miles and miles of creativity left to explore!

(2) a lot of BLM-themed artwork, some pretty powerful, some less memorable.

(3) I'm shocked by how many people cannot spell Palestine! 

Now for my impressions, but first, the mysterious, talented and prolific poet known as BRASH has been gifting poetry to ARTOMATIC artists for many years now. And now BRASH has been outed by an artist known as Bebe in room 4043! I really hope that this was an agreed outing!

BRASH by Bebe

Wall mosaic by Peijisan at Artomatic 2024

In room 4066, the artist known as Peijisan has cleverly recycled materials to create a wall mosaic that translates really well and would be a great addition to any public art building - the best of both worlds: re-using materials and in doing so creating really good art!

My personal best ARTOMATIC find of all time was when I ran into Tim Tate  at the second ever Artomatic in Tenleytown over two decades ago. Today when I waked the 4th floor (I'm on duty on the 4th floor), in room 4123 I met the recent works on metal of a new-to-me artist named James Flowers. So far he's the Best New Artist find (for me)... I will explain more in DC Art News later.

Detail of a James Flowers painting on metal

In room 4009 I was superbly impressed by the portrait drawings of Mary Acosta. In these works the artist has easily captured - not only through her technical skill, but also through her ability to "read" the subject -- something special about each person!

Mary Acosta in room 4009 at Artomatic 2024

I am usually highly critical of weird or fancy frames - as opposed to the art word standard of plain frames that do not interfere with the work. In this room I stand corrected! Acosta uses a diverse assortment of interesting exotic frames and I'll be darned if it actually works for her!

Mary Acosta portrait

I mentioned that there are a lot of artists on this floor channeling Joseph Cornell - and below is one of my absolute favorites from Tom Noll in room 4038, which is full of wonderful artsy "upcycled" boxes!

 

Tom Noll at Artomatic 2024


Tom Noll room 4038 at Artomatic 2024

On one of the halls marked 478, I was taken by the pole dancing photographs of Larkin Jones - they are superbly presented, and deliver athletic prowess, eroticism and even humor!

Pole dancing photo by Larkin Jones at Artomatic 2024

Below is my award for possibly the scariest sculpture in Artomatic! It is the superb work of Greg Bailou in room 4013!

Greg Bailou in room 4013

I have admired the works of my good bud Osbel Susman-Peña for decades now. He's a superbly trained artist whose works draws from deep sources loaded with ages of personal meanings to him, and yet the brilliance of his works is how each individual viewer finds its own meanings in his wondrous paintings.  His work is in room 4057.

Some other masters who need no introduction are Colin Winterbottom (easily one of the best DMV photographers of the city) in room 4062, the breath-taking work of Ellen Cornett in room 4085. I am soooo jealous of her enviable technical skill in her drawings - but technical skill alone does not great art make -- and Cornett is also brilliant in her surrealist work that delivers a wondrous bestiary and images that are best reserved for wonderful dreams! She's in room 4085.

In room 4073/74 I ran into a powerful installation by the duo of Claudia Vess and Lucy Blankenstein - two DMV artists who need no introduction. Titled "Apres Moi?", the two-room install is an orgy of recycled white foam materials that somehow in one room deliver modern forms and in the other room a marriage of modern forms with classical busts!

Apres Moi

Apres Moi

More "must see" on the 4th floor: Marcie Wolf-Hubbard in room 4050, Betsy Jones miniature dioramas in room 4015, Monica Perdomo's memorable stitched canvasses in room 4104, and easily the selection for one of the most innovative and serene projects of Artomatic history: Lisa Rosenthal-Yoffe's "Nothing but Blue Skies" in room 4014 -- That's how you do a room installation!

Detail of Monica Perdomo's stitching

More masters at Artomatic: Susan Jamison in room 4099, and the collaboration of David Mordini and Barry Schmetter in 4029, with nine tracks of motion activated cicada songs is spectacularly superior on a planetary scale! May the broods of 2024 bring new sounds to your repertoire!

And of course there's another great room with Richard Schellenberg's latest. This artist - along with Tim Tate a few centuries ago - almost single-handedly invented the niche of art that took video away from DVD players and made it into fine art!  There are also some exceptional minimalist drawings, which I gotta admit, were a surprise to me - the man can also draw! He's in room 4088.

Richard Schellenberg video pieces at Artomatic 2024

Over in Facebook I've been getting my ass chewed by artists who think that no one should get constructive criticism on something that needs improvement - one even called me a jackass. They felt that it was "unneeded" and "mean" that I think that whoever this artist is below, he or she gets the second worst Artomatic installation ever. 

This is ALL that there's in the room:

Why? Because the presentation needs a lot of schooling: there is no information at all, no names, no contact information, etc. And the work is double taped to the wall, which to me does not say that the artist is trying to deliver a message via the poor installation, but that he or she just needs some basic mentoring and information on artwork presentation... Note that I'm discussing the presentation - not the artwork itself - but a lot of otherwise gentle folks over at Facebook are fuming at me for daring to express constructive criticism,

I could be wrong, and if so, I will eat my words -- you readers know that I have done so many times in the past.

Wanna talk about it? Whoever is below artist, email me and let's get together and chat about how to present your work... or you can tell me to fuck off -- either way works... Wanna see the very worst Artomatic installation ever? Click here.