News Break!

The Style section has a visual arts review on a Monday!

P.S. No, not a DC show silly, it's a Brooklyn Museum restrospective of a Canadian photographer.

Burtynsky is 6 feet 2 and, aside from a graying goatee, he doesn't look particularly artsy, nor is there anything pretentious or obscure about the way he discusses his work. He could pass for upper management at some small business where it's always casual Friday, which is actually what he was, for a while. In the mid-'80s he started a photographic printing company called Toronto Image Works, which he still owns and which now has 35 employees.

News Break II
We're philistines!

News Break III

The WaPo's former Chief Art Critic on Monica Castillo at NMWA.

The WaPo's current Chief Art Critic on Turkish Imperial silks Putting on a dazzling show at the Sackler.

Openings this Week

I'll be updating these openings later and adding some more events...

On the first Friday of the month, the Dupont Circle area art galleries have their extended hours and openings. Don't miss Christine Kesler's "New Directions," opening at Irvine Contemporary with a reception for Kesler from 6-8PM. The show runs through November 26. At Kathleen Ewing, Michael Gross opens his show "Sources," with a reception also from 6-8PM. The show runs through December 30. Over at Aaron Gallery, the fair Sabrina Cabada exhibits her latest paintings and has a reception from 6-9PM. At Conner, Wayne Gonzales has new paintings and the opening is from 6-8PM.

Over in Georgetown, the fair Anne C. Fisher exhibits Far Flung in her Canal Square gallery. The show includes a recent travel collage series by Marcie Wolf-Hubbard, photo transfers by Laura Seldman and intriguing maplike drawings by Karey Kessler. Opening reception is 6-8PM.

German abstract artist Roswitha Huber opens Saturday, Nov. 5 at Nevin Kelly Gallery with a reception from 5-8PM. The exhibition runs through the 30th. Also on Saturday, William Willis and the very talented Mary Early have an opening reception from 6:30-8:30PM at Hemphill.

On Sunday, November 6 at 2-5PM in Target Gallery in Alexandria, there's a talk with curator Ginny Friend about the current "Hardware" show at the gallery.

Yuriko Yamaguchi

One of our area's most elegant and interesting artists, Yuriko Yamaguchi returns to Numark with a show titled "Return." That exhibition opens on Friday, Nov. 14 with a reception from 6:30-8PM at Numark's beautiful award-winning space. The show runs through December 17, 2005.

Tate is the word that we've heard

A few days ago I visited Tim Tate's studio at the Washington Glass School to see what Tate has been working on for his new solo show that opens next November 11 at our Bethesda space.

And WOW! For this (his third solo show with us) Tate continues to drag glass away from the vessel (and craft) and towards the genre of the narrative and the fine arts.

Be ready to see a marriage of glass, steel and cement that will definately set a new path for this talented artist.

The show opens at Fraser Gallery Bethesda on Friday, Nov. 11 with an opening reception from 6-9PM. If you only see one of our shows this year, make this one the "it."

Artomatic 419

The city of Toledo, Ohio likes the idea of Artomatic so much that they’re considering doing an Artomatic 419.

Artomatic 419 uses their area code (419) for the northeast corner of Ohio as their unique identifier.

Artomatic has made also the great leap forward into incorporation is now officially a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

Arthelps 5th Annual Silent Art Auction Benefit and Reception



JAM Communications is the sponsor for this year's Arthelps 5th Annual Silent Art Auction Benefit and Reception to raise money for Food & Friends and the DC Arts Center (DCAC) – two organizations are in their own way are key components of our area's social and cultural tapestry.

Support from artists and art donors is integral in making this night a success and that is why they are asking for your help. They welcome a variety of art donations–from original and limited edition paintings and prints, to photographs, glasswork, jewelry and sculpture. I intend to donate to this auction.

In fact today, for the first time in ages, I had some time to sit down and do a drawing, and I did the below charcoal and conte drawing, which I will donate to the auction, marking the proceeds for DCAC.



For more information on how you can donate art, and for additional details on the Arthelps event, please go to www.arthelps.org – where you can download a PDF art donation form.

To arrange for a pickup of your artistic donation call: 202.986.4750 and talk to Ambre Bosko (ext 19) or Alex George (ext 13) or email: ambre@jamagency.com or alex@jamagency.com

You can also drop off or mail your donation to the JAM offices located at:

1638 R Street NW, Suite 400, Washington, DC, 20009,
between the hours of 10 am and 6 pm (Monday – Friday).

Please RSVP for the event at www.arthelps.org.

Openings

There's a ton of openings next week, but meanwhile, Carol Brown Goldberg opens tonight, at Osuna Art & Antiques in Bethesda. Opening Reception is from 6-9PM.

And this Saturday, October 29th from 6:30-8:30pm is the opening of "Me, Myself and I: Artist Self-Portraits from the Podesta Collection" at Curator's Office (that's Marina Abramovic's Lips of Thomas at Curator's Office - Image Courtesy Sean Kelly.

Power of the Web

JT has a pretty spirited discussion ongoing over at Thinking About Art about Ms. Blake's comments on my criticism of her work.

Read it here.

Conner at Artissima

Conner Contemporary Art will be participating in Artissima XII, International Fair of Contemporary art in Torino, Italy, November 11-13, 2005.

For the new entries section of the Fair, they will present new oil glaze on wood panel paintings by Erik Sandberg, digital photographs by Julee Holcombe and drawings by Avish Khebrehzadeh.

Hidden Track

Hidden Track is a new art book by Robert Klanten about to be published.

The book's pre-publishing publicity states that:

"the book illustrates how urban and street art have recently broken even further out of the subculture and are being featured more often in galleries and museums worldwide. It analyses how these public art forms are being perceived in an international art context and investigates the fundamentally different forms of presentation that this new context demands."

Artists featured include Dave Kinsey, Barry McGee and Mark Jenkins' Storker Project.

As far as I know or can remember, two of our area's art galleries (us and David Adamson) have recently featured street artists, and I included a couple of them in Seven. I am curious as to who will be the first DC area museum curator to curate, organize and/or include a street artist in a DC museum show.

But when and if they do, I bet they will go to either NYC or LA or London streets to look for the street artists; after all their streets are better than our streets.

Update: I am reminded that there was one other street artist show in the District a while back that we don't want to forget: Ron English at MOCA in Georgetown. English is in many ways a "founder of the movement" and took on Camel Ads. His work was also featured in that movie "Supersize Me."

There was also the documentary ("Popaganda: The Art of Ron English") in a small DC film festival. Showed English doing his billboard wheatpaste overs and they had interviews with Mark Clark, Slash from Guns n Roses, and Jonathan Levine.

Sheila Blake Responds

Options 2005 artist Sheila Blake responds to my criticism of her work:

Dear Lenny,

It's possible to look at two thousand, or 20 thousand paintings and still miss what looking is all about. Fortunately for me, Libby Lumpkin has that ability but I wish you'd at least concede that there are some things that you don't understand -- (I love Vermeer, but that has nothing to do with my intention; The tradition I work in has much more to do with Bonnard and Rousseau, Birchfield and Wolf Kahn).

My paintings can be looked at forever and they'll keep yielding up new things. The most superficial way of seeing them is that they're paintings of my back yard. (Although if you came out to my back yard, that's not what you'd see.) What I'm doing is constructing a reality and if you'd let yourself enter into the paintings, really walk around in them, you'd feel the air, and a specific moment in time. If you look up at the sky there'd be the surprise of that particular sky and the whole configuration of buildings and trees creates spaces that you can wander up to, through, even around and be endlessly satisfied. And there is also an ominous quality -- spring isn't the pastel spring that you think of, but some almost acidic feeling of being oversaturated with the moist air. Winter has to do with the rhythm of the bare branches and shadows and the golden light hitting the tops of the trees and sometimes a feeling of gloom. If you look at the pastels, the information is in them; they are my point of departure, but then the paintings are re-imagined to create a new reality.(That's not kudzu on the tree -- it's Virginia creeper, but what's on the real tree is English ivy. The crepe myrtle I lifted from Pinehurst N.C. along with the loblolly pine.) And then there's the light. The way I use color to create light has everything to do with the most subtle color interactions.

It's easy to dismiss as the cliché' of "light" -- but who really does this in the way I do? My color isn't representational, but creates a light and atmosphere which can be felt. I've never seen it and I'll bet you haven't either.

I'm writing this because I'm so disappointed at the superficial way you have categorized and dismissed my work. It's clear from your critique that you are either unable or unwilling to immerse yourself in a deeper way of looking.

I'm going to quote Jed Perl here: "the more an artist asks us to look at a work over a period of time, the more a work drops beneath the radar screens that criticism has set up to track the contemporary scene."

I have the highest standards for my paintings. I mean every single brush stroke. I've been a painter my whole life; I taught at Duke for years and at the Corcoran.

I know what I'm talking about. My hope is that you'll think about what I'm saying and take another look.

Sheila Blake

UVA and Cuban Art

Slowly but surely, the University of Virginia Museum of Art is acquiring an interesting collection of Cuban art.

Yesterday, an exhibition titled "Mi Cuerpo, Mi País: Cuban Art Today," curated by Andrea Douglas opened at the museum, and includes work by the leading vanguard of Cuban artists in the world.

Some of the works in this exhibition are on loan from us, or have been acquired by the Museum in the past couple of years.

Cuban artists in the exhibition that we represent include:

Aimee Garcia Marrero

Elsa Mora

Cirenaica Moreira

Marta Maria Perez Bravo

Sandra Ramos

The exhibit runs through Dec. 23rd and there's a gallery talk on November 5 at 2PM.

The Kids Aren’t All Right

Is over-education killing young artists?

Read this interesting piece by Aaron Rose here.

Gallery Talk

Andrew Wodzianski, whose current show at our Georgetown gallery is getting a lot of attention due to its marriage of technology for immediate feedback to the artwork, will be having a gallery talk this coming Saturday, October 29th at 1 PM.

The talk should be interesting, if anything because of the significant number of recorded and text comments that AW has received so far, as well as his unusual interest in Mexican wrestling.

The talk is free and open to the public. The gallery is at 1054 31st Street, NW inside the Canal Square in Georgetown. 202/298-6450.

Arts Beat

Jonathan Padget with further proof that our area's visual arts scene is one of the best around. Read it here.

Too bad the WaPo continues to ignore it. Thursdays used to be "Galleries" day in Style. In the year since they cut the "Galleries" column from weekly to twice a month, the WaPo's new Style editor (Ms. Deb Heard) has consciously decided to keep Style's coverage of art galleries down to a bare 25 or so reviews/columns a year!

There are over 1,000 visual art shows in the DC area each year in our commercial fine art galleries, non-profit visual art spaces, embassy venues, cultural institutes, etc.

It's certainly not "lack of print space," which is generally the excuse that the WaPo has given me in the past. In today's Style there are three music reviews and two theatre reviews.

All this on the day that Style is supposed to focus on "Galleries."

And an Arts Beat column telling us how good our art scene is, which now includes good apartment shows, like they have in NY and LA.

Yipee!

Might as well add those to the ever growing list of visual art shows that will be ignored by Style's ever diminishing coverage of our visual art scene.

25 yearly reviews/columns from a potential set of 1,001 exhibitions, and counting.

Moon

A couple of days ago I mentioned in my review of Options 2005 that it seems like Suzanna Fields is all over the place these days, in the sense that I keep seeing her work in exhibitions all around the region.

Another artist whose name suddenly is everywhere is the talented Jiha Moon, who's not only the most recent winner of the prestigious Trawick Prize, but who has also been exhibiting (and selling) all over and everywhere!

And Moon's works will be taken to Scope Miami by Curator's Office (who is also taking Marianela de la Hoz.

But what brought her name to my attention today is that Moon will also be part of the University of Maryland's Union Gallery exhibition titled Boundaries: Contemporary Landscape, on view November 10 through December 22, 2005.

The exhibition features four Washington, D.C. area artists - Karey Kessler, Isabel Manalo, Jiha Moon, and Christine Buckton Tillman. The opening reception will be held Thursday, November 10 from 5 to 7pm.

Silverthorne on Wodzanski

Alexandra reviews the Wodcast Revolution here.

Bailey

Bailey, Bailey, Bailey...

Never, ever, ever, ever... piss off (or give a valid reason to piss off) Bailey.

Bailey, color-named artish wannabes scribes, The Getty, art gossip (bullshit), boring museum burocrats.. yawn....

Read it here.

Options 2005

If there was ever a Washington, DC based curated art show that could used the descriptors "poisoned well" and "a no win situation," it was the current Options 2005 WPA/C show at the former Staples store on Wisconsin Avenue in Georgetown (All images courtesy Ding Ren).

And now that the show is finally up, like any big group show, it offers up a diverse array of results, and if I can reach into the trite bag of descriptors again, Ubercurator Libby Lumpkin has delivered a mixed bag of the good, the bad and the ugly.

Lumpkin has been (unfairly I think) pounded in both the mainstream press and the online art critics and observers, taking blasts from every side and quarter. And the show itself has been similarly diminished in nearly all published accounts so far.

A bit of history: since 1981 the Options show have been focused on attempting to showcase the best emerging artists in the region; that is, artists that are not represented by any commercial fine arts gallery. Many of the past artists selected for earlier Options have gone on to become well-known and some have gone on to exhibit in even more controversial and highly attacked group shows like the Whitney Biennial.

For the 2005 version, savvy DC art collector Philip Barlow was initially selected, and almost just as quickly fired by the WPA/C because of his decision to exclude from his selection process all artists who had participated in the Panda public art project. Barlow felt that artists who had made this decision had erred in their artistic path and he felt that he would use this as a culling factor in the set of emerging artists that he would start with.

Although many of us disagreed with Barlow’s perspective, we all supported his right as a curator to choose whatever means and views he chose as a way to select a show. The WPA/C didn’t and he was fired, and a firestorm of online protesting erupted, and when Dr. Lumpkin was selected to replace Barlow, we all settled down gloomily to await her show.

And thanks to the power of the web, we were able to follow Lumpkin’s progress as she visited studios and universities and homes. Seldom has a curator been under such a magnifying glass for a regional show. And seldom has an "outsider" curator delivered such a... how shall I put this? Expected show and still deliver a couple of discoveries.

In Dr. Lumpkin’s defense, let me say that it is not easy to put together a group show full of successes; in fact it is impossible. And considering the hand that she was dealt before she was even selected as the replacement curator for Barlow, she has delivered more than an interesting show, with a couple of really good finds and a handful of really surprising choices for such an elite member of the West coast art mafia.

Suzanna Fields

Stepping into the former Staples store in Georgetown, two things occurred to me: first in my head was the thought of what a great permanent space for the WPA/C this venue would be. Second was Suzanna Fields’ 3-D acrylic sculptural drips, which face towards the entrance to the gallery.

It seems to me that suddenly Fields is everywhere; if there ever was an emerging artist that has suddenly popped into the region’s visual arts cognizance, it is this talented artist.

And Options 2005 gives us a bipolar or perhaps a hybrid Fields. First we see what can best be described as colorful acrylic drips, shaped into circular shapes, with solid lines of paint stacked delicately atop each other to deliver "flowery" looking pieces that project into three dimensions. They are interesting and colorful; my problem with them is that I’ve seen dozens and dozens of this generic type of work, nearly identical in fact (except for the color of the paint used), at most outdoor art shows around the nation.

This is fragile ground: the fact that I’ve seen this kind of work (with paint used this way), over and over and over, at the Annual Boardwalk Art Show in Virginia Beach, or Arts in the Park in Richmond or wherever, doesn’t make it "bad," but it makes it sort of "common" and more "crafty" that "fine arts" in my mind, and somewhat surprising that this work was selected. Perhaps Lumpkin doesn’t venture into the plebian member of the art scene that is represented in the minds of some by an outdoor art show.

The "other" Suzanna Fields in the show is a more elegant and minimalist artist, and I particularly liked the black drawing-like pieces that show surprising texture on close examination. This is definately an artist to keep an eye on.

Lindsay Rogers

And next we come to the best work in the show: Lindsay Rogers’ amazing and vastly overpriced black pastel drawings.

I use the adjective "amazing" because, regardless of high fallutin’ art critics’ continued attempts to dismiss realism as a leading "contemporary" member of today’s dialogue of art, it keeps staying ahead of them and the rest of the words in that dialogue (witness Richter and Hirst’s recent successes).

Rogers’ work steals the show, because this being a large group show, size and subject matter, duh... matter! And Rogers’ choice of subject matter are rather common subjects (friends and fellow students I assume), elevated by her mastery of the medium, and the size of that presentation, to a sublime state. Furthermore, in using black pastel (rather than charcoal or graphite), she offers the blackest of black in her presentation, which allows the drawings to reveal a surprising range of tones, delivering the always pleasing illusion of reality on a two dimensional plane.

Anne Benolken

I first saw Anne Benolken’s mixed media boxes at Art-O-Matic a while back, but I must admit that I saw them in a new light here, and perhaps it was because I saw them more “clearly” and outside of the beautiful cacophony of art that Art-O-Matic delivers. And Benolken tore at my feelings when I read the little book that allows one to read each individual box’s title(s) all in sequence. And with titles like "Kali realizes she’ll never get her ducks in a row," one gets an insight into the frailties and insecurities and tender areas of Benolken’s life and being. By the end of my examination of her works, I wanted to give Benolken a hug.

This is highly personal work that will rarely find commercial success, unless it is preceded by curatorial exposure, as this sort of personal work always seems to find a soft spot in the eyes of museum curators. Benolken has been creating this Kali series for fifteen years, and she should find fertile ground to continue to exhibit its progress in the future in universities, museums and non profit art venues.

Jorge Benitez

My next pleasant discovery were the superbly technical drawings by Jorge Benitez, whose work I’ve never seen before. At first sight, they’re a bit of a head scratcher, as they appear to be blueprints for buildings and planes, etc. But once we read the titles, they are reconfigured in our vision in a whole new light. And now the design for a massive arch titled "Victory in Iraq Triumphal Arch" takes on a new, political meaning; and delivers to artists everywhere the immense power of a title associated with a work of art, and the resulting psychological change that it has on the viewer.

The grand master of titling artwork remains Barnett Newman, but Benitez deserves some praise for using this often unexploited part of the art process. There is a lesson in there for all artists.

Sheila Blake

A lot of fuss has been created by the inclusion of Sheila Blake’s very traditional paintings in this show. Her inclusion is by far the biggest puzzle in my mind. What was Lumpkin thinking?

I’ve never met Sheila Blake and as far as I know I’ve never seen her work before. But as a gallerist whose gallery gets approached in one way or another by nearly 2,000 artists a year, and as a curator and juror (who recently went through a few thousand slides at the WPA/C), and who juries shows by most of our area’s art leagues and groups, and as a critic who visits a lot of galleries on a continuous basis, I have seen common, unremarkable work like her's many, many times before.

And thus I return to the fact that this kind of painting has (at least in my mind) saturated my senses so much, that its inclusion surprises me as much as including paintings of ballerinas, or kittens, would have caused.

And at the risk of stepping into a minefield and even offending Ms. Blake, although these are technically adequate paintings, they are not technically brilliant paintings.

What does that mean?

It means that Ms. Blake appears to be focused on painting a subject matter to create the illusion of reality. She does an adequate job, but while Lindsay Rogers does a spectacular job of delivering technical mastery over the subject (and it is a different subject and a much easier subject to master, and inherently easier to depict by being monochromatic), Ms. Blake still shows a technical flaw here and there, especially when her work is viewed with a total focus on such a task.

Technical mastery is hard to achieve. Even Vermeer screwed up the coathanger-shaped area formed by the maid’s arm and the bowl in his painting of the Dutch maid pouring milk.

And when you see a thousand good paintings depicting light on trees and leaves, the quality factor is raised for all of the next few hundred paints that I'll see with this subject matter.

And Blake shows several technical flaws, and my Virgo personality focuses on the fact that she fails to mix the paints properly to deliver the gray in the pots in a couple of her paintings. Making gray can be a challenge to the most virtuous of painters, but here’s a hint: gray is never just black and white paint mixed together, and Blake has attempted to discover the secret of gray in her brushwork for the pots, but fails to convince, just as the geometric arrangement of her leaves on trees or the kudzu growing on the tree trunks fails to replicate the ordered randomness of Nature.

Lynne Galluzzo

Not that technical mastery alone is a recipe for success. In fact, I submit that having technical mastery over a medium has not been a "requirement" for artistic success in a very long time, with perhaps the exception of fine art glass.

And Lynne Galluzzo is definitely a technical master of colored pencils, but again my reaction to her work is colored (pun intended) by the fact that there must be a kaleidoscope virus associated with artists who work in this genre.

Why do I say this?

I’ve been visiting the Art League’s monthly group show religiously since 1993 or so, and because of the large size of the League’s membership, in that timeframe I’ve observed the work or perhaps a dozen color pencil artists. And they all seem to have an uncommon fascination with creating beautiful color pencil drawings of kaleidoscope images. And to go back to my first observation on Suzanna Fields’ drippy acrylic pieces, a visit to any major outdoor art show will offer the viewer a choice of 2-3 color pencil artists with one thing in common: kaleidoscope drawings!

My advice to Lynne: use your exceptional technical skills to explore other subjects. Color pencil art is almost a rare thing to see in the independent fine arts commercial gallery world, and perhaps that rarified artmosphere is ready for a color pencil artist working in other subjects.

The Sculptors

When I was in art school at the University of Washington, one of my art projects involved going to the various forests around Seattle, and I would glue or duck tape a mannequin to a tree. I would then spray the mannequin with adhesive and then throw dirt and tree bark on top of the mannequin. Then I would apply individual pieces of bark all over the mannequin until the entire figure was an actual part of the tree, almost a growth from it. Unfortunately, the vast majority of these (about a dozen of them) were done in the magical forest that used to be Mount St. Helen’s, and I suspect that most of them are now in art heaven.

Anyway, because of this experience, I was predisposed to immediately like the works of Marc Robarge, whose sculptures appear to have morphed out of trees, since Robarge finishes them by gluing tree bark to visceral, organic, slightly threatening forms.

They are visually attractive and interesting and are by far the best sculptures in the show, especially when compared to the rather common, cookie-cutter abstractions of George Tkabladze that appear to channel a few 20th century sculptors, although I also did like the clean, elegant and minimalist paper sculptures of Randy Toy, but didn’t get the wall noses by Tim DeVoe.

The Token Videos

What would be a contemporary group art show curated by a well-known curator without a video? Unfortunately Julian Bayo Abiodun’s and Ryan Mulligan’s token videos entries join that immense mass of "yawn" videos that populate that part of the art world controlled by museum curators.

Mulligan’s video made no impression on me, and the Post-It notes do not deserve any mention, other than an image so that readers can see what I mean.

Lumpkin has written that the Bayo Abiodun video (which shows a huffing and puffing Miami Vice-dressed man running around a building rooftop in an endless loop) has created a "finely tuned, expressive metaphor for the futility of locating one’s essential identity." I would agree, except that I would replace "identity" with "interest." Interestingly enough, I quite liked Bayo Aboidum’s painting of Lance (the running character in the video).

Painting beats video... again.

Overall, and considering the hand that Lumpkin was dealt to start with, I believe that she has put together an adequate show, whose main flaws are her inexplicable choice of some artwork that exceeds the subtle adjective of "common" and begins to creep towards "wall décor." However, because of her hard work, she has also managed to find a couple of new jewels in our emerging artists pool, and for that alone both her and the WPA/C have accomplished the mission of Options 2005.

Come Back

I'll be finishing up and posting my review of Options 2005 later today.

Y'all come back.

Auction

Transformer is having its Second Annual Silent Auction Benefit & Reception, Saturday, October 29, 2005 from 7 to 10pm, hosted by Fusebox Gallery.

$50 before Saturday and $75 at the door. Details here.

45 pieces of art will be up for auction. The work was curated by a savvy group of DC area experts. The artists are:

Gabriel Abrantes, Ken Ashton, Lisa Bertnick, Kheshan Blunt, Chan Chao, William Christenberry, Mary Coble, Billy Colbert, Cynthia Connolly, Frank Day, Djakarta, Jason Falchook, Suzanna Fields, Sabrina Gschwandtner, Jason Gubbiotti, Linda Hesh, Lucy Hogg, James Huckenpahler, Jeff Huntington, Erick Jackson, Susan Jamison, Judy Jashinsky, Nicholas Kahn & Richard Selesnick, Dean Kessmann, Avish Khebrehzadeh, Jae Ko, Bridget Lambert, Pepa Leon, Mike Lowery, Kevin MacDonald, Maki Maruyama, Mimi Masse, Maggie Michael, Jiha Moon, William A. Newman, Piero Passacantando, Beatrice Valdes Paz, Lucian Perkins, WC Richardson, Luis Silva, Jeff Spaulding, Dan Steinhilber, Zach Storm, Trish Tillman, Kelly Towles, Jason Zimmerman and Ian Whitmore.

Open Studio Tour

Paint and Plaster has an excellent tour of some of the 52 O Street Studios' artists.

Read it here. Sean discusses Betsy Damos,Matt Hollis, Andrea Haffner, Thanasi Papapostolou, and Micheline Kragsbrun Frank.

Takin' to the streets (Museums)...

Are street art and street artists the newest "new"?

Read this.

And in Europe, check this amazing Brit.

In my opinion, DC's three heavy hitters of street art are (in alphabetical order):

Borf (now retired I assume)

Mark Jenkins

Kelly Towles

Update: A couple of readers have pointed out to me the similarities (read he copied him) between Borf and Banksy.

Update II: I am told that Borf is far from retired and is now putting up work in NYC.

Hirshhorn Lectures (Is Painting you-know-what?)

There are a few of interesting lectures coming up at the Hirshhorn.

Next Wednesday, MOMA director Glenn Lowry delivers "Ranking the Modern: New Perspectives," as part of the Second Annual James Demetrion lecture. Wednesday, October 26 at 7PM at the Ring Auditiorium.

On October 28, 2005 at 12:30 pm, Renée Stout, who is a Washington, DC-based artist whose work I first saw at a past Art-O-Matic, and who uses objects from everyday life in her art, will explore the ways "modern and contemporary artists have transformed ordinary materials into works of art." Stout's work is now on view at Hemphill Fine Arts and closes Sat. Oct 29th. Meet Stout at the Information Desk.

And this one should be interesting: Canadian-born and now DC-based painter Lucy Hogg, whose superb work I reviewed here a while back (and who is the wife of "painting is dead" acolyte and WaPo chief art critic Blake Gopnik) will deliver a talk with the interesting (and tired) subject of Is Painting Over?

Hogg's lecture is November 4, 2005 at 12:30 pm. Hogg will be "looking to works in the Hirshhorn's collection and will examine the relationship between abstraction and figuration in 20th-century painting. She will explore the similarities between contemporary painting and work created prior to World War II." Meet at the Information Desk.

That last one sounds interesting, doesn't it? Let's keep an eye and an ear out for it.

Something New

That overrated qualifier, something new, happens in the world of contemporary art tonight, as Andrew Wodzianski opens in our Georgetown gallery.

Andrew's innovative marriage of technology, not as part of his artwork, but as a vehicle to discuss it and learn about it, has so far received a lot of interest from the press and assorted art venues.

Opening is tonight from 6-9PM as part of the five Canal Square Galleries openings. Catered by the Sea Catch Restaurant.

See ya there!

Bromirski on Options 2005

Anaba discusses Options 2005.

Read it here.

Bailey on Jenkins

Bailey opines on Mark Jenkins.

Read it here.

Congratulations

To area artist Richard Dana, who was one of the key artists in Seven, and who's having a great show in New York at Tribes Gallery.

And congrats to Seven artist Samantha Wolov, whose sexy photos have been selected by Nerve for publication.

And congrats to Seven artist Frank Warren whose The PostSecret Book, "PostSecret: Extraordinary Confessions from Ordinary Lives," is now available from Amazon and continues to have great pre-publication numbers!

Young Artists' Grants

The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities recognizes up and coming DC artists with The Young Artists Grant Program.

This initiative, which offers grants of up to $3,500 to artists between the ages of 18 and 30, has a deadline coming up: October 26!

Details here.

Silverthorne and Kirkland on Options

Alexandra discusses Options 2005 here.

Kirkland's views here.

Bailey on Options 2005

Bailey delivers his verdict, and a bit of history, on Options 2005.

Read it here.

Day of the Dead

I know it's still a few days ahead, but this is such a cool event, that you should RSVP now, lest the event fills out.

It's La Fiesta de la Muerte or the Day of the Dead Celebration at the Cultural Institute of Mexico.

Festivities include the opening of an exhibit showcasing Mexican artwork related to the Day of the Dead (68 masterpieces, altar of the dead, masks, woodwork, clay and wire skulls and cardboard pieces).

And a concert featuring Margie Bermejo, accompanied by Dimitri Dudin (piano), interpreting Mexican Popular Music related to the Day of the Dead.

And movies: Rites of Day of the Dead. Learn about the ancestral rituals of the Day of the Dead through this remarkable documentary film.

And food: Tamales, Pan de Muerto and chocolate

When? Thursday, Nov. 3, from 7:00 to 10:00 pm

Where? Cultural Institute of Mexico
2829 16th Street, NW
Washington D. C. 20009

RSVP: (202) 728 1675 or institutodemexico@sre.gob.mx

See ya there!

Options 2005

Just had a good walkthrough of Options 2005 and I'll be writing a review for a local paper later this week.

Tonight I'll be at the The 12th annual cocktail reception and live auction benefiting Whitman-Walker Clinic.

125

Capitol Arts Network presents "125", a holiday art sale as part of the next Bethesda Art Walk, taking place at 4850 Rugby Avenue, Bethesda, Maryland.

The concept is simple: bring your art, up to five pieces (any media) to the gallery on October 29th, from 1pm to 4pm, along with the registration form and $25.

The night of the show, November 11th, all work will be priced at $125. If your work sells, you get $100, the nonprofit gets $25. No jurying, no hassle. Work can be framed, matted, and/or bin ready, or tabletop. Registration forms and more info can be found at www.capitolartsnetwork.com.

They will accept work until the gallery is full, so come early!

Opportunity for Artists

Deadline December 9, 2005.

Call for Entries: Stretched Tight at Target Gallery. The juror is my good friend and fellow blogger Jack Rasmussen, Director and Curator of the Katzen Arts Center at American University.

Stretched Tight is an exhibition that is open to all artists in the United States and abroad working in the medium of painting. Artists are encouraged to submit work that challenges conventional notions. Work may represent a broad range of subjects, genres, concepts and/or processes. Show dates February 24-March 26, 2006

Entry fee $30.00 for 3 images (slide or CD). $500.00 in award money. For a prospectus send a SASE to:

Target Gallery
Torpedo Factory Art Center
105 North Union Street, Alexandria VA 22314

Call 703-838-4565 ext 4, or E-mail: targetgallery@torpedofactory.org

Feedback

In just a handful of hours I'm receiving a lot of feedback on my old Video Biennial idea, including some great feedback from a Smithsonian specialist who informs me that the booths shouldn't use Lexan, but instead perhaps something along this Mylar polyester coating.

Postcards from the Edge

Postcards from the Edge is easily the world's largest annual group show.

This year it is being hosted by the Robert Miller Gallery in New York, and there are around 1500 original works of art for sale to benefit Visual AIDS.

Details here. The participating artists are listed below and I've highlighted several DC area artists whose names I recognize.

The Artists

Tim Aanensen, Mary Jo Aardsma, Luciana Abait, Samira Abbassy, David Abbott, Myriam Abdelaziz, Joshua Abelow, Issa Abou Issa, Rachel B. Abrams, Daniel Abrams, Vito Acconci, Paula Acosta, Irina Adam, Derrick Adams, Raymond Adams, Brian Patrick Adams, MaryAnne Adjei, Ferid Agi, Abbey Agresta, Pierre Ahlstrom, Tatiana Akoeva, Michael Alago, Michael Alan, Lora Alaniz & Jennifer Beth Guerin, Anne Alarcon, Beatriz Albuquerque, Susan Alden, Aldwyth, Alexander 23, Ali, Meredith Allen, Blanka Amezkua, Shannon Amidon, Marie Anakee, Kristin Anderson, Chris Anderson, Stephen Andrews, Chad Andrews, Victor Angelo, Anonymous, William Anthony, Paul Antonio Szabo, Polly Apfelbaum, Sally Apfelbaum, Ida Applebroog, Robert Appleton, Tomie Arai, Carolyn Arcos, Joan Arena-Mastropaolo, Soledad Arias, Robin Arnold, Alonys Art, Nora Aslan, Dotty Attie, Ochiishi Augustmoon, Dominick Avellino, David Aviles, Joseph Ayala, Joseph Ayers, Helene Aylon, Nancy Azara, Aziz + Cucher, Adam Baer, Julie Baetzold, Ralph Baginski, Shane M. Bainbridge, Patrick Michael Baird, Paul Baker, Melanie Baker, Gikanjali Bakshi, John Baldessari, Phyllis Baldino, Julia Barber, Gerard Barbot, Perry Bard, Oliver Barnes Newton, Burt Barr, Olivia Barr, Paula Barr, Katie Barrie, Megan Barron, Rita Barros, Mark Barry, Beth Bartholomew, Barbara Bashlow Guzman, Elliot Bassman, Larissa Bates, Jackie Battenfield, Hilary Batzel, Erica Baum, Amy Bay, Kristin Beal-Degrandmont, Robert Beck, Jaq Belcher, Adam Bell, Caroline Bell, Anna Bell, Bellavia, Stuart Bender, Barton Lidice Benes, Garry Benet, Benito, Joseph Bennett, Terc Bennett, Ross Bennett Lewis, Gene Benson, Kermit Berg, Stacy Bergener, Ragna Berlin, Jason B. Bernard, Katherine Bernhardt, Amy Bernhardt, Alberte Bernier, Patrick Berran, Elizabeth Best, Stephen Beveridge, Sujata Bharani, Anna Bhushan, Susane Bifano, Peter Bill, Michael Binkley, Sherry Bittle, Darla Bjork, Christine Blackburn, George Blaha, Nancy Blair, Nayland Blake, Julie Blattberg, Ross Bleckner, Lucinda Bliss, Theresa Bloise, China Blue, Deborah Boardman, Victoria Anne Boardman, Daniel Bodner, Alana Bograd, David Bonfim, David Bonfin, Chakaia Booker, David Borawski, Frank Boros, Desiree Borrero, Todd Bosworth, Matthew Bourbon, Nina Bovasso, Astrid M. Bowlby, Melissa Bowman, George Box, Bruce Wesley Boyce, Daniel Boyer, Nicole Boyle, Bern Boyle, Gail Bracegirdle, Philip Bradley, Marcelo Brantes, Dana Brauckmann, John Breiner, Susan Breitsch, Matthew Brennan, Nancy Brett, Norbert Briar, Ben Briere, Celeste Brignac, Walter Briski Jr, Shane Britenstein, Mona Brody, Nancy Brooks Brody, Ashley Brollier, Arnold Brooks, John Brown, Stacy Brown, Brice Brown, Valerie Brown, Shash Broxson, Neil Bruce, Robert Bruce, Miriam Brumer, Loreen Bryant, Mija Bryen, Vanessa Bucci, Matthew Buckingham, Brian Buczak, Thomas Bugarin, Greg Bugel, Sarah Kate Burgess, Christopher Burke, Kenneth Burke, Marty Burns, Bob Burnside, Hannah Burr, Keil Burrman, Nancy Burson, Julie Cabell, Morgan Cahn, Robert Calame, Philip Calkins, Michael J. Cambre, Sandra Camomile, Susan Camp, Kirsten Campbell, F. Lennox Campello, Barbara Campisi, Theresa Rose Canto, Lincoln Capla, Suzanne Caporael, Karlos Carcamo, Claudette Carino, Susanna Carlisle, Joel Carlson, Curtis Carman, Victor Carnuccio, Frederic P. Carpenter, Kevin Carpio, Colleen Carradi, Mary Ellen Carroll, Lana Carter, Casey Leigh Carty, Megan Cassell, Blas Yenzzy Castro, Rick Castro, Janice Caswell, Niccolo Cataldi, James Catania, Andrea Cautmen, Andrea Cautmen, Teresa Celemin, Celso, Li-Trin Cere, Bindu Chadaga, Richard Chaloux, Mark Chamberlain, Anthony Champa, Paul Chan, Victoria Chang, Jennifer Chapek, Ben Chase, Amy Cheng, Pansum Cheng, Andrew Chesler, Julia Chiang, Mike Chiarello, Kathleen Ching, Kim Chivers - D’Amato, Kyung Cho, Wonjung Choi, Cecile Chong, Kevin Christy, Ann Chuchvara, Monica D. Church, Amanda Church, Elise P. Church, Vincent Cianni, John Cizmar, Karen Clark, Rob Clarke, Nuala Clarke, Robert Clarke-Davis, Alex Clates, Aaron Cobbett, Jon Coffett, Orly Cogan, Neal Cohen, Ben Colebrook, Ryan Coleman, Peter Colen, Susan Colgan, Cecy Colichon, Patrick Collier, Vicky Colombet, Greg Colson, Kaersten Colvin-Woodruff, Chrissy Conant, Aron Conaway, Ernest Concepcion, Elisabeth Condon, Doug Condon, Dusty Conley, Brendon Connors, Emily Conover, Juliette Conroy, CB Cooke, Jenifer Cooney, Pam Cooper, David Corbett, Christiane Corcelle-Lippeveld, Kathryn Cornelius, David Correa Muñoz, Jose Luis Cortes, David Corwin, Erin Cowgill, Doug Cox, Steve Cox, Warren Craghead III, Patrick Craig, Matthew Craig, Peter Cramer, Fred Cray, Brian Crede, Kate Crilley-Fauvell, Ada Crisclone, Elizabeth Crisman, Judith Croce, Crudo, Pedro Cruz-Castro, Janet Culbertson, James Cullinane, Alan Cumming, Daphne Cummings, Megan Cump, Colleen Cunningham, Pasquale Cuppari, Peggy Cyphers, Kathleen Dac, Melissa Dadourian, Kara Dahlberg, Pradeep Dalal, David Dalessandro, Kelly Darr, Julie Davidow, James Davis, Raoul de Jong, Jose L. De Juan, Angela De Rosette, Marc DeBauch, Blase DeCelestino, Elisa Decker, Chris Dei, Matthew Deleget, Gianna Delluomo, Christina Delsandro, Jason Deneault, Priscilla Derven, Andrew DeShong, Almut Determeyer, Aasta Deth, Geoffrey Detrani, Sarah & Pearl Detweiler, Yoko Devereaux, Linda Di Gusta, Mike Diana, Mare Dianora, Alise Ann Diavastes, James Diffin, James Diffin, Simone DiLaura, Lesley Dill, Roz Dimon, Danielle Dimston, George Dinhaupt, Aureo Diniz, Abigail Doan, Erica Dobin, Corinne Dolle, Rory Donaldson, William Donovan, William Donovan, William Donovan, Sarah Doremus, Samantha Mae Dorfman, Elissa Dorfman, Elizabeth Dougherty, Christopher Dovas, Chad Downard, Claudia Drake, Charles Drees, Melanie Ducharme, Daniel Dueck, Angela Dufresne, Linda Dugger, Jeff Dunlap, Sheila Dunn, Alexis Duque, Chad Durgan, Anne Dushanko Dober, Kimberly Dwn, Annie Dwyer Internicola, Marcel Dzama, Michael Eade, Janae Easton, Mat Eaton, Masako Ebata, Marlene Eckhardt, Allison Edge, Cynthis Edorh, Frank Egloff, Melissa Ehrenveich, Per Eidspjeld, Jason Eisner, Emily Elahi, Eva Eland, Deborah Elliott Deutschman, Scott Elms, Mia Enell, Elise Engler, Cara Enteles, Paula B. Entin, Joy Episalla, Sharon Epperson, Mark Epstein, Donelle Estey, Yvonne Estrada, Beth Evancho, Margaret Evangeline, John Evans, Patrick Evans, Dore Everett, Bruce Eves, Bruce Eyster, F. Facer, James Fackrell, Rachael Faillace, Diego Assis Fainer, Jessica Falango, Neil Farber, Emily Farranto, David Faulk, Ming Fay, Nicholas Fedak II, Tony Feher, Cui Fei, Josh Feldman, Brandon Ferebee, Rea Silvia Feriozzi, Eliza Fernbach, Brad Fesmire, Celeste Fichter, Toma Fichter, Angelo Filomeno, Janet Filomeno, Sandra Fine, Michael A. Fink, Brian Finke, Christina B. Fischer, Katie Fitzsimmons, Paul W. Flanary, Jr., Becket Flannery, Sean-Michael Fleming, Ralph Rafael Fleming, Bettina L. Fliegel, Irina Florov, Robert Flynt, Karen Foley, Roy Foo, Jean Foos, Tom Foral, Monique Ford, Juliana Forero, Jennifer Formica, Nicholas Forrest, Peter Foucault, Martine Fougeron, Nicole Fournier, Lindsey Fox, Tara Fracalossi, Anne Maria Frassila, Travis Frazelle, Christopher Frederick, Jacqueline Freedman, Jacqueline Freedman, Martin Freeman, Sabra Friedman, Matthew Fritze, Nichole Frocheur, Joanna Frueh & Jill O’Bryan, Terra Fuller, David G., Faith S. Gabel, Mark Galindez, Arturo Garcia, Corey Garcia, Roberto Garcia, Laurel Garcia Colvin, Milton Garcia Latex, Johanna Gargiulo-Sherman, Joy Garnett, Deborah Garwood, Bob Gates, Jeff Gauntt, Stan Gaz, Madeline Gekiere, Amy Geller, Mike Geno, Alexis George, Valerie George, Sarah Getto, Cris Gianakos, Byron Gibbs, Haya Gil-Lubin, David Gilbert, Shelley Gilchrist, Ardian Gill, Jean K. Gill, Eric Ginsberg, Ava Ginsberg, Luis Gispert, Sean Gittens, Judy Glantzman, Milton Glaser, Sydell Glasser, Robin Glassman, Sybil Gleaton, Daniel Glendening, Angela Glennon, A. Godard, Kate Goertzen, Monika Goete, Susan Gofstein, Justin Goh, Jo Going, Nat Goldberg, Kenneth Sean Golden, Sheila Golden, Ben & Emma Goldman, Lance Goldsmith, David Goldstein, M. Xiomara Gomez, Maria Elena Gonzalez, Kathy Goodell, Alicia Goodfarb, Abby Goodman, David Emanuel Goodman, Juliette Goodwin, Michael Goodwin, Lee Gordon, Kay Gordon, Gore.b, Michelle Gorenstein, Tal Goretsky, Jeff Gottesfeld & Mike Diana, Sarah Gottlieb, sr(s) (gr)over, Leor Grady, Deborah Grant, Robin Graubard, Deba Jean Gray, Kimberley Gray, Joanne Greenbaum, Rodney Alan Greenblat, Eric Gregg, Stan Gregory, Peter Griffin, Michela Griffo, Clare Grill, Carina Grossmann, Katrin Grotepass, Caroline Grubbs, Erin Rae Guenzler, Ivaylo Guergiev, Kathy Gulrich, Rikki Gunton, Diana Gurfel, Carlos Gutierrez-Solana, Hans Haacke, Theresa Hackett, Patricia Haemmerle, Katherine Hagan, Sara Haley, Joan Hall, Cassandra Jennings Hall, Linda Hall, Brent Hallard, Dan Halm, Cristine Halt, Katy Hamer, Anna Hammand, Harmony Hammond, Jane Hammond, John Hampshire, Linda Handler, Tan Hang Wee, Rose Hankish, Erik Hanson, Kim Hanson, John Hardy, Joann M. Harrah, Christopher Harris, Rodney Harrison, Rose Hartman, Peter Harvey, Ellen Harvey, Michael Harwood, Naj Hasani, Naj Hasani, Naj Hasani, Skowmon Hastanan, Fred Hatt, Bobbi Hau, Sarah Hauser, Tom Hawkins, Stuart Hawkins, Mary Heilmann, Mara Held, Jessica Renee Helfand, Gary Heller, Thomas Hellstrom, Brizzy Hemphill, Doug Henders, Tyrone Henderson, Geoffrey Hendricks, Bill Hendricks, John Hendriks, Carol Henry, Ed Herman, Matthias Herrmann, Alex Hetherington, Bernard Hildebrandt, Amy Hill, Claudia Hill, Juan Hinojosa, Colleen Ho, Jim Hodges, Anne Hodson, Anna Hofverberg, Laura Holeman, Frank Holliday, Joseph O. Holmes, Katie Holten, Sylvia Hommert, Meejin Hong, Stephen Honicki, Jerry Hooten, Barbara Horiuchi, Marni Horwitz, Gail Howland, Joel Hoyer, Mary Hrbacek, Gilbert Hsiao, Elizabeth Huey, Morgan Hughes, Laura Hughes, Timothy Hull, David Humphrey, John Hyde, Nash Hyon, Jessica Iapino, Shigeno Ichimura, Asia Ingalls, Matthew Ingle Gaertner, Ketta Ioannidou, Carmen Isasi, Selene Isham, Junichiro Ishida, Ellen Ito, Albert J. Winn, Alfredo Jaar, Larry JaBell, Sandra Jackman, Clarke Jackson, Jackson, Angeliki Jackson, Peter Jacobs, Brooke Jacobs, Jerry Jacobson, Jimmie James, Nicholas James, XYLOR Jane, Matthew Jankowski, Lisa Marie Jankowski, Bobbie Jansen, James Jaxxa, Jim Jeffers, Jamie Jeffers, EunKyung Jeong, Tom Jezek, Aram Jibilian, Pedro Jimenez, Laura Johansen, Erick Johnson, Liz Johnson, Holly Johnson, Nikki Johnson, Carolina Johnson, Jon Joint, Darrell Jones, Bill Jones, Benjamin Jones, Hallie Jones, Darrell Jones, Julie Jones, Michael Joo, Jose Luis Jorge, Alexander Jugasz, Miranda July, Frank Jump, Paul Justice, Ellen Kahn, Faten Kanaan, Robin Kappy, Fernanda Kaspin, Nina Katchadourian, Betsy Kaufman, Jessica M. Kaufman, John Carlos Keasler, Andromahi Kefaloo, Millan Kelley, Shawn Kelloway, Shawn Kelloway, Jamie Kelty, Kate Kernstein, Sam Kerson, Shirin Khaki, Kianne, Hee Sook Kim, Young Kim, David King, Anki King, Sarah Kipp, Susan Kirby, J.T. Kirkland, Dmitry Kiyan, Ross Klavan, Barbara Klein, Susan Klein, Thomas Klem, Elisabeth Kley, Lucretia Knapp, Karen Knesevich, Emily Knight, Frances Knight, Elizabeth Knowles, Cassie Rose Kobeski, Philip Kogan, Terence Koh, Carol Kohn, Francine Kohn, Despina Konstantinides, Thomas Koole, Katherine Koos, Fran Kornfeld, Roy Kortick, E. Jan Kounitz, Joyce Kozloff, Hope Kozluca, Aaron Krach, Helmut Krackie, Benjamin Kraus, Fawn Krieger, Debra Kruse, Liliana Krynska, Melora Kuhn, Louis Kunsch, Melissa Kuntz, Michelle Kurlan, Srinivas Kuruganti, Eri Kuwabara, Greg Kwiatek, Michael Kwiecinski, Eliot Lable, Edwin Lacend, David Lachman, Stephen Lack, Miles Ladin, Abshalom Jac Lahav, Thomas Lail, Lexi Lambros, Jeremy Landau, Marc Landes, Aaron Landow, Jesse Langille, Jessica Langston, Yuliya Lanina, Barbara Lapin, Eve Andree Laramee, Laura Lark, Laura Lark, John S. Lathram, III, Sebastien Latreille, Ayala Laufer-Cahana, Dion Laurent, Louis Laurita, Louise Lawler, J.C. Lazarus, Norene Leddy, Marjeta Lederman, Cal Lee, Tom Lee, Roz Leibowitz, Catarina Leitao, Marc Lepson, Paul Leroy Gehres, Christopher Lesnewski, Barbara E. Leven, Joe Levickas, Les Levine, Esther Levine, Steven Johnson Leyba, Danny Licul, Edward Lightner, Glenn Ligon, Clarence Lin, Mindy Lin, Ming Lin, Jennifer Lindley, Martha Link, Megan Lipke, Stephen Lipman, Marcia Lippman, Lump Lipshitz, Jackie Lipton, Tim Lonergan, Daniel Long, Jason Longchamps, Hilary Lorenz, Nelson Loskamp, Valerie Love, Mary Ann LoVerme, Gina Lovoi, Bailey Lowenthal, Rebecca Loyche, Elizabeth Kom Lozake Browning, Robert Ludwig, Vera Lutter, Janelle Lynch, Giles Lyon, Noah Lyon, Noah Lyon, Noah Lyon, Mandy Lyons, Diana Lyons, Marci MacGuffie, Ian Mack, Krista Madsen, Megan Maguire, Cecilia Mahal, Charles Werner Mahal, Jr., Jennifer Mahlman, Rebecca Major, Luis Mallo, Stephen Mallon, Marian Maloney, David Mandel, Patricia Anne Mandel, Jason Mandella, Dina Mann, Ricky Manne, Erica Mapp, Mitchell Marco, Amy Marinelli, Thom Markee, Norma Markley, China Marks, Sandy Marostica, Adria Marquez, Kathleen S. A. Marquis, Christopher Marquis, Ena Marrero, Neil Marshall, Trevor Martin, Joanna Martinez, Bob Marty, Joanna Marzullo, Christina Massey, Randy Mastin, Thomas Matsuda, Joanne Mattera, Kegera Matthews-Lawrence, Matuschka, Gina Mauro, Annie Maxwell, Jen May, Lauren Mayer, Xanda Mc Cagg, Kerry McAnulty, Polly McCaffrey, Emma McCagg, F. Mott McCampbell, Allison McCarthy, Mark D. McComb, Harold McCray, Colleen McCubbin Stephanic, Nicole McCumber, Robert McCurdy, Meredith McDonald, Tim McDonnell, Barry McGee, Dominic McGill, Brendan McGillicuddy, Conor Mcgrady, Paul McHale, Kate McInerney, John McKaig, Craig McKenzie, Anne Q. McKeown, Sarah McKiel, Mark McLoughlin, Denise McMorrow, Bruce McNally, Jamie McPartland, Beverley McQuillan, Lisanne McTernan, Amanda Means, Roberto Medina, Pam Fradina Meheran, Morgan Meheran, Linda Meisenhelder, Brad Melamed, Reyez Melendez, Kristin Ann Melin, Haley Mellin, Margery Mellman, Ann Messner, Lucia Alba Mettler, Scott S. Meyers, Maggie Michael, Vincent Michaud, Elinor Milchan, William H. (Billy) Miller, Judith S. Miller, Holly Miller, Mireille Miller, Zan Miller, Marilyn Minter, Richard Mirabile, Michael Mitchell, Kenneth Mitchell, Tadashi Mitsui, Joseph Modica, John Monaco, Christopher Mondello, Dean Monogenis, Leah Montalto, Katherine Montelaro, Ken Montgomery, Gregory Montreuil, Chris Moody, Randy Moore, Cindy Moore, Nik Moore, Kellie Moore, Paul Moran, Michael C. Morgan, Janet Morgan, Lora Morgenstern, Juri Morioka, James Morrison, Leo Morrissey, Shawn Mortensen, Keren Moscovitch, Arezoo Moseni, Carrie Moyer, Ryan Mrozowski, Roger Mudre, Jill Mueller, Jay Muhlin, Erick Assis Munari, Susan Munoz, Elizabeth Murray, Tatyana Murray, Prema Murthy, Stefanie Nagorka, Math-You Namie, James Nares, Antonella Natale, Florence Neal, Victoria Neel, David Nelson, Irene Neno Diaz, Barbara Nessim, Becky Newsom, Kathleen Ney, Annysa Ng, Christian Nguyen, Elise Nicol, Thisbe Nissin, Nick Normal, Lorie Novak, Mardi Nowak, Judith Nylen, Robert O’Donnell, Elin O’Hara Slavick, Robyn O’Neil, Leah Oates, Ashley Oates, Staci Offutt, Iviva Olenick, Nancy Olivier, Stephen Olivier II, Stephen Olivier II, Suzanne Olmsted, Dawline-Jane Oniesele, Yoko Ono, Sarah Oppenheimer, Nicki Orbach, Steven Ott, Tom Otterness, Gwen Oulman Brennan, Joe Ovelman, Jennifer Overbagh, Lindsay Packer, Jean-Paul Page, Holly Painter, Mervi Pakaste, James Paladino, Ruby Palmer, Sachin Pannuri, John Thomas Paradiso, Jung Eun Park, Brendan Parker, Mike Parker (a.k.a. Swami), Rocio Parra Parra, Stephanie Parto, Garrett Jay Paulus, Jim Pavlicovic, Leanette Peles, Carol Peligian, Leemour Pelli, Liz Penniman, Sheila Pepe, Osvaldo Perdomo, Osvaldo Perdomo, Osvaldo Perdomo, Osvaldo Perdomo, Antonia Perez, Matteo Pericoli, Bruno Perillo, Quimetta Perle, Daniel Perry, Gilda Pervin, Samantha Pesono, Carol Petino, Karsten Petrat, Daniel Petrov, Alexander Petti, Carlos Pez, George Pfau, Carol Pfeffer, Laura Sue Phillips, Tracy Phillips, Corina Pia, James Picard, Lauren Picciano, Angelia Pickett, Marta Pierazzuoli, Jack Pierce, Lee Pierce, David Pierce, Vickie Pierre, Maya Pindyck, Mary Pinto, Kim Piotrowski, Philip Pirolo, Joe Piscopia, Lucia Pizzani, Lola Planells, Dan Plansky, Anna Plesset, Betsy Podlach, Tiffany Pollack, Ben Polsky, Michael Ponce, Nuno Pontes, Bonnie Portelance, Amy Jean Porter, Josefina Posch, Maggie Prendergast, Lily Prentice, Rubin Press, Elisa Pritzker, Rick Prol, Carol Prusa, Joan Puchalski, Ernesto Pujol, Dianne Purdy, Antonio Puri, Conny Purtill, Matthew Pych, Wayne Pyle, Ileana Quintano, Fred Quintiliani, Dada Ra, Kwanghee Ra, Svetlana Raby, Luis Rabyo, Michael Rader, Dean Radinorsky, Ramirex, Paul Henry Ramirez, John Rand, Meryl Lynn Ranzer, Rappel, Jon D. Rappleye, Kaylyn Raschke, Amy Raudenbush, Moriah Ray, Evan Read, Ashley Reagan, Florita Realin, Catherine Redmond, David Reed, Catherine Renae, Richard Renaldi, Jennifer Renshaw, Carla Repice, Barbara Jo Revelle, Miguel Angel Reyes, David Reyes, Carla Reyes, Eric Rhein, Misty Rice, Jean Richard, Robert W. Richards, Benito Rios, Stefanie Roach, Daniel H. Roberts, Marie Roberts, Dale Roberts, Cynthia Roberts, Daniel H. Roberts, Andrew Robinson, Gregory Robinson, Elise Robles, Debbie Rodenhauser, Kristina Rogers, Patricia Rogers, Sunsook Roh, Tina Rojas, Tim Rollins & K.O.S., Sonia Romero, Taney Roniger, Kara Rooney, Tara Rose, Kim Rosen, Caren Rosenblatt, Theo Rosenblum, Robin Ross, Ryan Roth, Billy Rotter, Joy Faye Rowan, Carrie Rubinstein, Cornelia Ruehlicke, Scott Rummler, Thomas Rupich, Ed Ruscha, Arlene Rush, Craig Russell, Gaetano Ruvio, Carol-Anne Ryce-Paul, Carol-Anne Ryce-Paul, George S., Tara Sabharwal, Beatricia Sagar, Ken Sahr, Aiana Saigueko, Karl Saliter, Vincent Salvati, Terry Samilson, Ginny Sampson, Toni-Lee Sanastiano, John Sanchez, Joel Sanders, Joel Sanders, Reuben Sandwich, Tom Sanford, Gloria Sangoyo Ruenitz, Carmine Santaniello, Katia Santibanez, Jonathan Santlofer, Paul Santoleri, Nelson Santos, Maria & Florentine Santos, Justin Sanz, Jennifer Sarkilahti, Gordon Sasaki, Richard Sawdon Smith, Thomas Arthur Schaefer, Michael Schall, Robert Schatz, Sebastian Schaub, Sascha Schaumburg, Ann Schaumburger, Kristen Scheffold, Laura Schindelman, Joseph Schindelman, John Schluenz, Diana Schmertz, Ciarra Schmidt, Jean Schneider, Gary Schneider, Holli Schorno, Tom Schreiber, Susan Schwalb, Molly Schwartz, Sandra Scicchitani, Caroline Scott, Jeffrey Scott, Chris Scroggins, John Seal, Laura Seewoester, Analia Segal, Jackie Seles, Andreas Senser, Christina Serchia, Dixie Serrano, Mary Seveland, Joseph Sexton, Grant Shaffer, Reena Shah, Lauren Shahroody, Babe Shapiro, Laura Sharp Wilson, S. Orrin Sharpless, Donna Sharrett, Patrick Shaw, Renee Shaw, David Shebird, Frank Sheehan, Mark Sheinkman, Albert Shelton, Kate Shepherd, Etienne Latour Genore Hughes Sheppard, Christine Sheppard, Nick Shiflet, Monica Shimkus, Heesun Shin, Gabrielle Shiner-Hill, Kaori Shiota, Ellen Shire, Peter O. Shire, Kiriko Shirobayashi, Ethan Shoshan, Skip Shot, Alyson Shotz, Joyce Siegel, Nathaniel Siegel, Rebecca Siemering, Lori Sikorski, Amy Sillman, Tawnie Silva, Pet Silvia, Stephanie Simek, Jimmie Mack Simmonds, Yvette Simone, Kelley Simons, Kirsten Fae Simonsen, Sonita Singwi, Jean Sirius, Linda Sirow, Liron Sissman, Christina Sitja Rubio, Christina Sitja Rubio, Kiley Sjogren, Gwendolyn Skaggs, Jasna Skroce, Berty Skuber, Tom Slaughter, Jill Slaymaker, Susannah Slocum, Oren Slor, Aminah Slor, Adam Smith, Kiki Smith, Lory Smith, Louise Smith, Alix Smith, Jaimee E. Smith, Chris Smith, Chris Smith, Elisabeth Smolarz, Tom Snelgrove, Dorothy Snyder, Claudia Sohrens, Deanne Sokolin, Jan Lynn Sokota, Xian Soldier, Lori Solondz, Thomas R. Somerville, Thomas R. Somerville, Erika Somogyi, Fierce Sonia, Robert Soret, Mario Sostre, Ilyse Soutine, Teddy Spath Jr., Maria Spector, Sabina Speich, Tracey Sperling, Gary Speziale, Gary Speziale, Gary Speziale, David Spiher, Margot Spindelman, Matthew St Adelmann, Sherry St. Renz, Francis Stallings, Chrysanne Stathacos, Rene Stawicki, Will Steacy, Anne Stebbins, Barry Steely, Clint Steib, Sarah Steinwachs, Pat Steir, Stanley Stellar, Seyda Sterns, Steven A. Stewart, Sam Still, Michael Still, Linda Stillman, Charles Stimson, Sara Stites, Mark Stockton, David Storey, Sonya Stoweng Artis, William Streeter, Lisa Studier, Christine Stuht, Lorien Suarez, Rachel Sugar, Daniel Suits, Daniel Suits, Barbara Sullivan, Patricia Sullivan, Paul Sunday, Rachel Sussman, Futaba Suzuki, Mariko Suzuki, Jenny Swartz, Jane Swidzinski, Edward Swift, Jason Szalla, Beata Szpura, Catherine Tafur, Barbara Takenaga, Sam Tan, Tattfoo Tan, Juanita Tarnowski, William Tarnowski, Tim Tate, Yumiko Tateishi, Steed Taylor, Morgan Taylor, Holly Taylor, Lidya Tchakerian, Tom Teebe Baoe, Lynn Teichman, Mary Temple, Sam Teoste, Julie Tersigni, Gwenn Thomas, Sarah Thomas, Sharon Thomas, Megan Thomas-Melly, Mike Thompson, Ginger Thompson, Ken Thurlbeck, M.F. Tichy, Arno Tijnagel, Elizabeth Tillotson, Mary Ting, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Zdravko Toic, Mette Tommerup, Jessie Tong, Anne Marie Torrez, MIchael Tracy, Kim Tran, Jim Trask, Bill Travis, Daniel Trese, Tret, Daniel Trout, Andrey Tsers, Marina Tsesarskaya, Tomoe Tsutsumi, Tomoe Tsutsumi, Roger Tucker, Spencer Tunick, Atiim Turnbull, Calvin Twogons, Chris Twomey, Kako Ueda, Aya Uekawa, Debbie Ullman, Penelope Umbrico, Chea Ryan Urioste, Angela Valeria, Teressa Valla, Janet Van Horne, Kathryn Van Winkle, Laura Varn, Ted Vasin, MaryJo Vath, Wilmer Velez, Leo Venice, Daniel Venne, Alejandra Villasmil, Jamyson Vining, Jeroen Visscher, Don Voisine, Bruce Volpone, Anja Volz, Anna Von Gwinner, Whitney Vosburgh, Angela Rose Voulgarelis, Melanie Wadsworth, Saudia Wadud, James Arthur Wagner, Kenneth Wahl, Todd A. Wahnish, Nomi Waksberg, Robert Walden, Jen Waldhaus, Athena Waligore, Joy Walker, Meg Walker, William Boyd Walker, Kay WalkingStick, Glen Walls, Glen Walls, John Walter, Gary Walters, Elizabeth Wang, Nari Ward, Tom Warren, Marcy Wasserman, John Waters, Brian Wayne, Mary Weatherford, Patrick Webb, Tenesh Webber, Joan Weber, Jarred Weese, William Wegman, Shirley Wegner, Michael Weidrich, Mary Weiher, Louise Weinberg, Michael Weinberg, Lawrence Weiner, Dan Weiner, Ejay Weiss, Barbara Weissberger, Lindsay Welch, Carolyn Weltman, Michael Werner, Patricia Wersinger, Carol Westfall, Frederick Weston, Kurt Weston, Charmaine Wheatley, Jojo Whilden, Ken Whitbeck, Dina White, Stephen White, Lisa Wicka, Angela Wieland, Mark Wiener, Meghan Wilbar, Randal Wilcox, Wild Goddess, L.K. Wilde, Darrell Wilks, Ross G. Williams, Michelle Williams, Wendy Willis, Corey J. Willis, Maggie Willman, Fred Wilson, Millie Wilson, Letha Wilson, Martha Wilsson Edelhert, Rosalie Winard, Jean Winget-Gibson, Adela Winter, Maud Wirstrom, Gene Wisniewski, Joshua Abram Witten, James Wodarek, Connie Wolfe, Samantha Wolov, Mike Womack, Colby Wong, Ann F. Wong, Jeffrey Jay Woodbury, Cindy Workman, Helena Wright, Joanna Wright, Tory Wright, Timothy J. Wright, Jeanine Wright, Jeffrey Cyphers Wright, Rob Wright, Peter Wyman, Noel Wynn, Rob Wynne, Michael Wyshock, Cathy Wysocki, Junko Yamada, Michi Yamaguchi, Lynne Yamamoto, Carrie Yamaoka, Tim Yankosky, Max Yawney, Bo Sung Yoom, Sunhee Yoon, Laurence Young, Rorie Young Sullivan, Daisy Yuhas, Cheryl Yun, Patricia Zarate, Andrew Zarou, John Zaso, Richard D. Zauner Jr., Susan Zell, Miguel Jimenes Zenon, Carolyn Zick, Richard Zimmerman, and Alice Zinnes.

The Power of the Web

John Martin discovers a couple of artists who are following Duane Kaiser's tremendous online success (with his Painting a Day idea) a little too closely.

Read it here.

Medium Format Pinhole Lego Camera

A pinhole camera made from Legos.

Read it here.

Wodzianski, Yellow Arrows and Wodcasting

Four words every artist dreads to hear: "I don’t get it."

Andrew Wodzianski (a DC artist and Assistant Professor at the College of Southern Maryland) hopes that he can eliminate these words with Lucha Libre!, his second solo exhibition at our Georgetown Fraser Gallery.

How?

Throughout the duration of the thirteen painting exhibit (Oct. 21 – Nov. 16, 2005), Wodzianski is implementing new technology that allows his viewers unique opportunities to interact with, and respond to, the artist and his artwork. This new hi-tech approach includes the use of podcasts, cell phones, and other wireless devices for would-be critics to leave their own commentary.

Podcasts and cell phones in an art gallery?

"Art is essentially a form of communication – and at no time in human history has technology allowed for such an immersive and intelligent participation in the communication between art, artist, and audience," says Wodzianski. To underscore that point, he is preparing a podcast – an audio commentary meant to be played on an MP3 player or computer – that will be available for download before the show’s opening reception this coming Friday Oct. 21, 2005 from 6-9PM.

Think of this as an audio tour among the artwork, from the artist himself.

Wodzianski’s podcast (make that - Wodcast!) will help listeners decipher the story behind the largely narrative paintings, explain techniques, and reveal inspirations. MP3 players preloaded with the Wodcast will be available at the reception, and attendees with their own player can download the file onsite during the opening reception.

Furthermore, as part of the exhibition, Wodzianski is inviting gallery attendees to provide their own commentary. Wodzianski and associates have developed a free service for anyone with a cellular phone to call and record their own podcast, describing their thoughts and feelings the work is evoking. These recordings will be published immediately at the Wodcast website (wodcast.blogspot.com), allowing participants to share their critiques with those in attendance or absent.

Visitors to the show who would not be not listening to podcasts can still interact with the artist’s work through Yellow Arrows.

What is/are Yellow Arrows?

Yellow Arrow is a new concept in mobile interactivity. When a Yellow Arrow placard is found pointing to a painting, a cellular phone user can send a text message to a provided number, and discover comments left by previous viewers. Texters can also leave their own message; opinions about the artwork – or maybe the artist himself.

Will this be an exercise in popular culture invading the traditional appreciation of art, or a sign of the natural evolution in the field? The artist, for one, believes it will be the latter.

"With the advent of these new tools, artists can interact with viewers using sound, text and visuals that would otherwise be impossible outside a museum setting," says Wodzianski. "It narrows the gap between the art elite, and the casual gallery visitor. Everyone has an opinion, and throughout this exhibit, each opinion is equally represented. And frankly, it’s a lot of fun."


The show opens this Friday at Fraser Gallery Georgetown with a catered opening reception from 6-9PM. The exhibition and concept will then travel to Old Dominion University in Norfolk.

See ya there!

Silverthorne on Winslow

Alexandra reviews our current John Winslow exhibition at Fraser Bethesda.

Openings this week

Tuesday, at the Carnegie Institution of Washington, located at 1530 P Street NW is the Art for Life Auction to benefit Whitman-Walker Clinic. Details here, and you can preview the artwork here and also additional artwork here. Tickets are $75 each. At 6:00 pm the reception and silent auction begins, and at 7:30 pm, the live auction will begin.

Thursday, of course, is time for the 3rd Thursday Gallery Walk around the 7th Street area. The participating venues are listed here.

Also on Thursday: Our Children, Our World, a photography exhibit featuring the works of children from Accra, Ghana; Pinar del Rio, Cuba; Washington, D.C. and Gary, Indiana using traditional and digital cameras all orchestrated by DC-based Afro-Cuban photographer Nestor Hernandez. Opening Reception, Thursday, October 20, 5:30 - 8:00pm at the Children's National Medical Center, 111 Michigan Avenue, NW.

And also on Thursday, Alexandra Silverthorne and Pat Dunning will be having a reception for their exhibit at Warehouse from 6-8PM. And still on this busy Thursday, Water/Wax: Brian Petro & Sondra N. Arkin open with an Artists’ Reception from 6-9 pm at Coldwell Banker, 1606 17th Street NW in DC.

Since this is the 3rd Friday of the month, the five Canal Square Galleries in Georgetown will be hosting their openings and extended hours. New shows at MOCA, Parish, Alla Rogers, Anne C. Fisher and Fraser. We will be hosting the second solo show of Andrew Wodzianski. The openings are catered by the Sea Catch Restaurant.

Also on Friday, Union Printmakers Atelier is hosting its Fall Studios Open House from 6pm-10.00pm. Prints and drawings by Scip Barnhart, William Christenberry, David Chung, John Driesbach, Jenny Freestone, Fred Folsom, Kerry Mc-Aleer-Keeler, Jody Mussof, Robert Nelson, Judith Nulty, Russell Richards, Thomas Seawell and Claudia Vess, and many others. Also "Powerpoint" a Drypoint Portfolio by 15 Washington area artists. Union Printmakers Atelier is located at 926 N St (rear) NW (1.5 blocks from the new Convention Center). For more information: 202 296 5857 or 202 277 1946, or email SBarnhart@corcoran.org or freeston@erols.com.

On Saturday, October 22, William Adair opens at Matrix with new works from his Cup Series. The opening is from 3-6PM and the exhibit runs through November 19, 2005. Matrix is at 3307 M Street, NW in G'town. For more details call 202/744-8770.

Also on Saturday, Transformer has the opening for Past/Perfect, by Pat Graham & Melanie Standage from 7-9PM. There will also be an artists' talk on Sunday, October 23, 2005 at 3 pm.

If I've missed any openings, please email me.

40 paintings in 30 days

Ming is trying to paint 40 paintings in 30 days while keeping a day job.

See them here.

Found Sound

One of the coolest art projects around DC these days is Found Sound, curated by Welmoed Laanstra (just the pronounciation of his name makes a cool sound).

"By placing the sound booths on the sidewalk, the project will make this innovative art accessible to a large number of people," says Welmoed Laanstra, the exhibit's curator. "The aim is to create a public experience focused on the developing field of sound art."

Participating galleries, artists and venues are here.

If you like sounds, and think of it as art, then the amazing FreeSounds Project by Richard Humphries, is a must visit online and you can even contribute a sound.

Humphries, who works as a Sound Designer and Re-Recording Mixer for the Discovery Channel, has been collecting sounds since the early 1990's.

Opportunity for Artists

Deadline: November 26, 2005.

International Visions Gallery is hosting a Small Works Competition.

December 8, 2005 through January 4, 2006. The award is a Solo Exhibition. Max size 16 x 20 inches. $25 entry fee for 3 entries. Original works, 2D only in all media will be chosen from 35mm slides or CDs. 40% commission. Insurance. SASE for prospectus to:

International Visions Gallery
2629 Connecticut Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20008

Or call 202-234-5112 or www.inter-visions.com

Spectrum seeking new members

Spectrum Gallery, a distinguished co-op gallery located in Georgetown and which has been around for 40 years, is looking for new artists to join the gallery.

I am told that it is an exciting time for the gallery; they are restructuring and looking to bring in a crop of talented emerging artists to become member artists.

Member artists have their work shown every month in their group show and have regular solo shows about every two years.

Artists in all media are welcome to apply. For questions and other information, please call the gallery at 202-333-0954 or visit their website.

Baltimore Open Studios

On the weekend of October 22 & 23 from Noon to 5 p.m., in conjunction with Arts and Humanities month, School 33 Art Center will host the Annual Open Studio Tour, where more than 100 visual artists in and around Baltimore City will open their doors to the public.

Details here.

Scope London

Two area art dealers are participating in scope London: Bethesda art dealer Rody Douzoglou and DC's Conner Contemporary.

Rody Douzoglou will feature artist Pablo López and also works from Amalia Caputo, Magdalena Fernández and Carolina Sardi.

Conner Contemporary will be featuring new work by photographer Julee Holcombe. The gallery will also exhibit photo/conceptualist work by Joe Ovelman, new paintings by Erik Sandberg and photographs by John Kirchner.

Tape Excrement

Mark Jenkins is at it again.

Update: WOW! I didn't know that these Mark Jenkins' sculptures had been placed outside the Found Sound booths. And now Jenkins has been policed!

Update II: Mark Jenkins has now apologized for this.

Bethesda Row

Lack of posts due to my being at the Bethesda Row Arts Festival.

I'll catch up later... have a ton of stuff to post and discuss. Come back!

Friday at the WaPo

Mercy me! Two visual art reviews in the WaPo in one day!

In Style, Gopnik surprises us again by reviewing another "local" (I mean "Washington-based") artist: Sam Gilliam's retrospective at the Corcoran.

And in Weekend, Michael O'Sullivan delivers yet more evidence why he's one of the few area art critics who truly knows "Washington-based" artists in this review of Options 2005.

And Thinking About Art's comments on O'Sullivan's review.

Can't wait to see the show!

Solo3 Opens Tonight

Solo3, a solo show in three parts by artists Alexandra Silverthorne, Joseph Barbaccia, and Pat Dunning opens tonight at Warehouse. The opening reception is from 6-8pm.

Tim Tate's Pad

Tim Tate's DC pad is becoming famous once again, this time appearing in an episode of "Small Spaces, Big Style" on HGTV this Thursday night at 8:00 PM.

Tate's apartment was transformed from a dull gray into a stunning pad by the amazing team of Sean and Rania of Scenic Artists.

Heading South...

I'm heading out to the Carolinas later today, but will be back by Friday, hopefully in time to make the opening for Prof. John Winslow as he opens his second solo show with us.

The opening for Winslow is this coming Friday at Fraser Gallery Bethesda from 6-9PM and it is part of the Bethesda Art Walk.

A free guided tour is also offered. See details of the tour here. Tours will begin at 6:30pm. Attendees can meet their guide at the Bethesda Metro Center, located at the corner of Old Georgetown Road and Wisconsin Avenue. Attendees do not have to participate in tours to visit Art Walk galleries.