If you haven't seen the new Olympic mascots for the Athens Games, be ready for two of the dumbest mascot designs in the already stupifying world history of mascot imagery.

Nearly 200 design entries were submitted when Athens Olympic Games' organizers put out the artists' call for prospective mascots. The winning creatures were created by a team of six. And this is what happens when you design by committee.

See them here.

Those crazy Brits...

This "guerrilla artist" covertly cemented a 20 foot-tall statute into a London square. The monument, called "Trust No-one", was said to have cost £22,000 to construct, was made of solid bronze and weighed three-and-a-half tons! The local city council wasn't too amused and had it removed a couple of days later.

Read the story here.

Thinking About Art has a really good posting about DCAC's Wall Mountables Show, which is on exhibit until August 22. I'm going to be reviewing this show as well (hopefully soon).

J.T. also has a very well-written review of Canadian artist Allyson Clay at Numark Gallery.

No matter what you hear and read elsewhere, August is not a dead month for all area galleries. This week is the second week of the month, and thus on Thursday you can do Art Night in Alexandria, with eight participating galleries and on Friday you can do the Bethesda Art Walk (which has a free mini bus to take "walkers" around) and about 15 participating galleries and art venues.

Call for Printmakers

Deadline: March 31, 2005.

Lessedra World Art Print Annual. An international print annual with the premise that no art form has broader implications in contemporary society than that of the print. The aim is to gather and exhibit contemporary art print works from all over the world and to contribute to the contacts and the exchange between artists, art lovers and collectors and to stimulate the research into paper, inks, and other materials used in printmaking. Exhibition with all the works will be organized in The National Palace of Culture in Sofia, Bulgaria in June 2005. Details and entry forms here.