Today is the last day to sign up for the Success as an Artist seminar that I am teaching tomorrow. There are 3-4 spaces left. Call 301/718-9651 before 6 PM to register.

I've been retained by Art.com to curate a worldwide call for artists in an homage to Frida Kahlo.

More details as the call for artists is finalized. There will be no entry fees and there will be a substantial prize. In 1997, together with the Mexican Cultural Institute, I curated this Homage to Kahlo. It was a tremendous success, with several reviews across the nation and a really plain website that has attracted over 10 million visitors since then!

An alert DCARTNEWS reader catches Artspeak at its most absolutely mind blowing sillyness:

A fountain made of blobby cast metal by Lynda Benglis has a nice grotesquely organic presence; and a field of wiggly green lines on a hot pink ground by Sue Williams is sexy and optically captivating. But these are absorbed into a generally leveling, pluralistic hodgepodge.

The above is from a NY Times review.

Thanks Jim!

Artist Slides

Last Friday I went through a few hundred slides from all over the world for Gallery International's first ever All-Media Competition and Show, which will run from September 2nd through the 24th, 2004, with an opening reception on Thursday, September 2nd, from 6-8pm.

A few years ago I wrote an article for Art Calendar Magazine in which I discussed a variety of tips and advice to artists who enter juried competitions. I will see if I can find that writing and post it here, as it is as topical as ever.

The vast majority of the work that I reviewed was excellent (and as usual), as a juror, one is often forced by space and other constraints to reject work which is good and interesting. But I think that it will be a good show. The Best of Show winner will be selected from the actual work and he/she will get a solo show at the gallery next year.

However, I am always surprised by a couple of recurring things that I see time after time in all the juried competitions (including ours) that I see every year and have seen in the last 25 years.

The first is the fact that nearly 75% of all entries arrive on the last two days of the competition - OK, OK so we all know that artists leave everything to the last minute. But, what gets me is that a lot of these entries come via FEDEX or UPS, which means that the artist is paying $25 or $30 bucks just to have the slides delivered on time. This is a waste of money; with a little planning, the slides can be sent via regular mail for under a buck or via USPS Priority for $3.95.

The second is the poor quality of slides being submitted. I would say that at least 10% of all entries consist of really dark (I've actually have seen completely black or unexposed) slides, which make seeing (and jurying) the artwork nearly impossible. Or slides that are out of focus, or artwork shot under glass with a flash, where all you see is the bright flash reflected on the glass. You get my point: bad slides!

As an artist, if we go through the trouble of entering a competition, the few seconds that it takes to actually project the slide (if you have a slide projector that is...) or at least look at it with one of those hand-held slide viewers, should be a part of the procedures we must all do before submitting that slide for jurying.

By the way, for all you digital people out there.... you can get slides made from your digital files at Slides.com.

A good source for juried competitions is Art Deadlines, or Kara Art in Europe, or nothing still beats a subscription to Art Calendar Magazine.

Henri Cartier-Bresson died Tuesday in France and the Post's Pulitzer-prizewinning art critic Henry Allen has a brilliant piece on Cartier-Bresson in today's Post.

Adams Morgan Day Festival

There are still a few booth spaces left for the annual Belmont Street art show, a key part of the annual Adams Morgan Day Festival. This year's show is one day only, Sunday, September 12th, from 10 am to 6 pm. It always draws a great crowd and features a fun group of local artists. For more information and an application, please contact Michele Banks at (202) 625-6249 or email her at miche@null.net.

Success as an Artist Seminar offered on August 8, 2004.

Almost as soon as we opened our first gallery in Georgetown in 1996, artists began pouring in seeking representation. This continues to this day, and between visits, emails, packages in the mail, etc. we generally receive around 600-800 inquiries a year.

Because we obviously cannot represent or sell the work of such a huge number of artists, a lot of good, talented artists are turned away, after we have recommended follow on steps on what to do. However, in our first few months, Catriona soon discovered that she was spending most of her of time with emerging artists discussing many of the same things over and over, which generally consisted of giving out career advice about such things as gallery representation, contracts, grants, competitions, resumes, etc.

This was not only time consuming with scheduled appointments, but many unscheduled visits caused her to spend several hours a day just meeting with artists and essentially passing out the same information, over and over.

Then her mother came out with a brilliant idea: Why not come up with a structured, formal seminar for emerging artists to pass out this information as well as other important information. Not theory, not review of artwork, but practical advice, usable handouts and a forum to answer questions all at once.

We held our first seminar in 1999 – it was supposed to run for four hours but it ran for seven. So eventually we changed it to a full day, seven hour seminar, and have now presented it to over 1,000 artists and art administrators from nearly every Mid Atlantic state – with attendees coming from as far north as New York and as far south as South Carolina.

It has been spectacularly successful in offering practical business advice to the emerging artist on many areas not covered by any art school curriculum that we know of. The information, advice and details taught at the seminar are not based on theory, but on actual practical experience and hands-on effects. That’s why it has been so successful!

The seminar lasts for seven hours and is now offered twice a year. It costs $80 and the next one is scheduled for August 8, from noon to 7 PM at our Bethesda gallery. Interested artists can read more details or print a registration form online at www.thefrasergallery.com/seminars.html or just call Catriona at 301/718-9651.

The seminar is held at the Fraser Gallery of Bethesda, located at 7700 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite E, in Bethesda. The gallery is one block from the Bethesda Metro stop on the Red Line. Ample free parking is also available.

The Corcoran in the news...

The New York Times. Writer Carol Vogel interviews David C. Levy, profiling the Corcoran's planned renovation and new Gehry wing in Inside Art: Corcoran to Expand.

The Washington Post's art critic Michael O'Sullivan reviews In Search of Self: Paintings and Drawings by Anil Revri, lauding Revri's "shimmering, meditative abstractions" as "vertiginous and thrilling."

Metro Herald. In the newspaper's center spread, writer P.J. Robinson applauds the juxtaposition of three exhibitions at the Corcoran (The Eyes of History 2004, Sally Mann: What Remains and In Search of Self: Paintings and Drawings by Anil Revri) as a "powerful trio" that ultimately "gives us hope."

On the Line: machines, maps, and memory, curated by Karey Kessler and Pat Goslee is at Maryland Art Place from August 3 through September 11, 2004.

Each artist uses the idea of memory as a map-making machine, recording places both seen and unseen, nightmarish and utopian, hallucinatory and real. Artists included in the exhibition are Andy Holtin, Andrew Krieger, Walter Ratzat, Scott Reynolds, Dylan Scholinski, Perry Steindel, Jennifer Swan, Katy Uravitch, and Sylvie van Helden.

There's a gallery talk on Thursday, September 9, from 6-7 pm and a closing reception on Thursday, September 9, from 7-9 pm.

On the Line: machines, maps and memory first appeared at the District of Columbia Arts Center (DCAC) in Washington DC. The show ran from April 30-May 30, 2004. Curators Karey Kessler and Pat Goslee are both well-known Washington area artists who have formed a Visual Arts Committee with DCAC Board Member Philip Barlow to raise the quality of gallery installations, and expose new artists through exposure at DCAC. The Curators’ Incubator at MAP allowed for a broader exploration of the theme and a second venue in Baltimore.

National Cherry Blossom Festival Call for Artists.

Deadline: August 31, 2004.

Presented by the National Cherry Blossom Festival. Open to all artists painting in any 2D media (oil, water media, acrylic, casein, pastel, pencil, mixed media, collage, other) or working in digital arts. Each year the festival holds a poster contest to select a new image that expresses goodwill between the United States and Japan which incorporates the delicate flowering cherry blossoms. Artwork should associate the theme(s): the cherry blossoms, the beauty and the people of contemporary and historic Japan and Washington DC, and the amity and friendship between the two countries.

Max size: 8x10 inches, vertical orientation. The cherry blossom trees that surround the Washington, DC Tidal Basin were a gift from the people of Japan in 1912. The tradition of a Cherry Blossom Festival to mark the arrival of spring in Washington, DC began in 1935.

Prizes include $1,000, tickets to certain events, 2-night stay in a local D.C. hotel, and more. There is no entry fee.

A prospectus is available for viewing on their website. Address: National Cherry Blossom Festival, 2005 Art Contest, 1250 H Street, NW Suite 1000, Washington, DC 20005 USA. Phone: 202.661.7584 Email: ncbf@downtowndc.org Website: www.nationalcherryblossomfestival.org

Opportunity for Photographers

Deadline: August 15, 2004

Washington Gallery of Photography Second Annual National Juried Gallery Show and Exhibition. The Washington School of Photography presents its second annual National Juried Gallery Show and Exhibition, October 8 to November 8, 2004. All photographic works from residents of any state or territory are eligible. Slides are due August 15, opening is October 8. Cash and exhibit opportunities awarded. Prospectus can be downloaded here or SASE to: WGP/WSP, 4850 Rugby Avenue, Bethesda, MD 20814.

Gallery closing

I am told that the Elizabeth Roberts Gallery will be closing in the near future as Miss Roberts is getting married and moving away.

Congratulations to Elizabeth and we hope that the building (which previously housed the Anton Gallery for many years) remains in use as a gallery space.

"Great Expectations" and the need to Create Value in one's artwork.

By (and printed here with the permission of) Malik Lloyd, Publisher of the Find Art Information Bank.

Attending a recent seminar, "Starting Your Own Art Collection" at the Smithsonian's Anacostia Museum and watching the film version of Charles Dickens' classic novel "Great Expectations" served as the impetus for this editorial. They got me thinking how the latest buzzword of "creating value" actually translates to an artist.

Serious collectors are spending inconceivable amounts of money on art. In 2003, the late Jean-Michel Basquiat's painting Profit I sold for a hefty $5 million at auction, placing him in an elite cadre of contemporary artists. While it is commonplace for Impressionist paintings to command tens of millions in today's market, the irony is most people did not think that they were worth the canvas on which they were painted during their day. It begs the larger question, how is value determined? In addition, who determines it? Artists? Collectors? How do art critics and curators fit into the equation?

As artists, we must ask ourselves a series of introspective questions: How does creating value affect me? Will the value of my artwork increase over time? How can I make this a reality? Is adding value to my artwork even something worth considering or will it take care of itself? Is adding value to one's artwork and marketing one's artwork one in the same? Does having wonderful artwork ensures you of having value applied to it?

How does an everyday artist create value, which may translate to how can an artist professionally establish themselves with a view to sell their work in today's marketplace?

In true Hollywood fashion, the movie "Great Expectations" shows Ethan Hawke as, an artist named, Finn, being rescued from his life as a fisherman with the promise of an exhibit in an exclusive New York gallery. Robert DeNiro's character, Luftig, is a criminal and thus, Finn's unlikely benefactor, has arranged an exhibition; rented an apartment to serve as his studio; has provided him with a new image-improving wardrobe; and paid for the show's marketing. To top it off, Luftig then purchases all the artwork in the show. Luftig's actions have led to creating value for Finn for he has raised his artistic profile and created a demand for his work. The concluding scene reveals that Finn has built upon this early success and has become an acclaimed artist.

Since most artists are not actors in a Hollywood movie, this notion of creating value is trickier. During the seminar, the speaker emphasized that an artist creates value by developing what the seminar speaker identified as a "solid " career path. The good news is all artists can do this by doing what comes naturally, e.g. becoming formally educated; receiving awards; participating in juried and museum shows; receiving commissions and making actual sales; and ultimately, having gallery representation.

The latter is key because it aids in documenting sales and many of the aforementioned components. Of course, the more prominent or exclusive the gallery, the better. For most artists, discipline, hard work, and time, lots of time, are the ingredients of creating a solid career path and therefore, value. Unfortunately, the expenditure of time and effort does not guarantee successful results. Some artists have raised the value of the their artwork more expeditiously both through their own direct efforts and being the fortunate object of art collectors' desires.

At the seminar's end, the speaker proposed his own Hollywood scenario of how art collectors can create value for a particular artist regardless of the solidness of his/her career path. He simply stated, "If everyone present [at the seminar] purchased a particular artist's work, the value of his/her work would most likely rise."

This very scenario sheds light on the role of individuals, in particular collectors, no matter how serious, can affect an artist's commercial success. Orson Wells once said "people know the price of everything and the value of nothing." Yet, these same "people" could very well determine the value of our artwork. Far be it for me to "say," but perhaps people, price and value share a more intimate relationship than we ever imagined.

Malik M. Lloyd

Opportunity for Photographers in London...

Deadline: August 26, 2004.

Re-Focus Now in the UK is inviting entries for Originate 2004 returning for it's 2nd successive year. Last years winning entries can be viewed online here.

This competition is open to all areas of creative media to interpret the theme 'ORIGINATE' and support the promotion of talent within the fields of digital imaging, photography, painting, sculpture and mixed media. Final deadline 26th August.

The selected winning entries will be showcased in their stall at ON THE WALL at Olympia in London 29th September - 03 October 2004. They are stall A16.

For entry forms and guidelines on this competition e-mail info@refocus-now.co.uk with ORIGINATE 2004 in the subject line

In Baltimore today; will post some good stuff later in the day. Visit again.

I've been asked by Baltimore's Gallery International to jury and select their first ever All-Media Competition and Show, which will run from September 2nd through the 24th, 2004, with an opening reception on Thursday, September 2nd, from 6-8pm.

So I'll be in Baltimore tomorrow looking at around a thousand slides... more on that later.

Dr. Claudia Rousseau, who is an internationally renowed art critic, and who recently moved to our area from Latin America, writes a superb review of David Wallace at Gallery Neptune in Bethesda.

One of the great assets of the Greater DC area visual arts scene is the significant number of alternative spaces that offer up their walls to show artwork.

At any given time in our area, by the time you add up all the independently owned fine arts commercial galleries, all the independently run non-profit art galleries, all the city or county funded non profit art galleries, all the cultural art centers, all the embassy galleries, all the college galleries and all the alternative art spaces, there are well over 200 venues in our area that regularly show visual art.

Considering the size of the area that we describing, that is a large number of spaces, which on a monthly basis offer up artwork for viewing, sale and enjoyment. Mostly ignored by the media - which in our area focuses most of their cultural attention on movies, music and theatre - they nonetheless continue to add to the cultural tapestry of Washington, DC.

You read it here first: Jessica Dawson, who has been writing the Washington Post's "Galleries" column for the last few years, will now only be writing the column every other week due to other writing commitments.

Glenn Dixon, who used to be the Arts Editor at the Washington City Paper until a few years ago, and then became the City Paper's ad hoc art critic will now write the "Galleries" column the rest of the time.

Two reviews a month from Jessica and two reviews a month from Glenn... I hope that Jessica gives Dixon a map to where all the galleries in Washington are located.

P.S. - By the way, Dawson's review last week of Carrie Mae Weems at G Fine Art was excellent. In case you missed it, read it here.

The current King Arthur movie apparently has a typical Hollywoodian butchering of fact and history in the introduction of a "new" Guenevere as a Pictish princess.

I haven't seen the movie yet, but I keep running into people, who knowing my interest in Pictish history, keep telling me about Hollywood's first ever depiction of Pictish people on film.

The Picts were a real people and I have been working on a book about their singularly unique art for several years now (actually since 1989). Learn more about them at Pictish Nation.

Some of my drawings migrated from their designs are here, and more recent drawings visualizing their tattoos are here.

And having recently seen the spectacular Courtly Art of the Ancient Maya at the NGA, I've decided to contact the NGA and see if I can get someone interested in bringing - for the first time ever outside of Scotland - an exhibition of Pictish art and maybe even some of their sculptured stones to the US.