Friday, November 17, 2006

Heading to Miami Beach

Many Mid Atlantic area art galleries and dealers are heading to the December Floridian arts extravaganza centered around Art Basel Miami Beach.

Here are some; email me if you want a shout out here for your gallery's booth.

Philly's Pentimenti Gallery will be at Bridge Art Fair Miami, Booth #206. Also from Philly, Ashley Gallery will be there (and in SCOPE).

Potomac, Maryland's hard-working (and world travelling) dealer Rody Douzoglou will be at SCOPE Miami, where you will also find Richmond's ADA Gallery, Philly's Ashley Gallery, the District's Curator's Office, as well as Conner Contemporary's new "gogo art projects." Scope Miami seems to be overloaded with NYC and German galleries.

Update: Conner Contemporary will also be at Pulse Miami

Artist Websites

Artists are always emailing me and asking me at various forums questions about website design for their art.

The KISS rule really applies here: Keep It Simple Stupid.

Avoid cute little buttons; have your contact info on every page; keep the site clean and minimalist and professional; and offer (not force) info. Above all, avoid cute little musical backgrounds and annoying flash loaders.

In the 21st century, the digital footprint is as important as a telephone and a business card, so everyone who is serious about their artwork should and must have an online presence.

DC area artist Rosetta DeBerardinis, a proud Vassar alumni (I discovered that in her website), has a new website and it is a perfect example of good and easy design that offers all the visual info needed for an artist website.

According to the website itself, it was designed by www.websiteforartists.com, so consider this an unrequested plug for them.

Visit her new website here.

Notes, Icons, and Symbols

Remember the Rockville Arts Place (RAP)? Well, they are now called VisArts and opening with a reception from 3 to 5 on Sunday, November 19 (the exhibit runs through December 16, 2006), they have what sounds like a very interesting show.
Closet Opera photo by John Borstel
The exibit is "Notes, Icons, and Symbols," and as his contribution to the exibit, the very talented John Borstel will be presenting a new installation titled "Closet Opera" which has been described as a "grand romantic and Fairy opera in 40 fragments."

According to John, "the piece features a series of photo-based images in which the artist himself portrays nine characters, altering his appearance through the use of simple props, accessories and a single costume manipulated into various distinctive configurations."

Notes, Icons, and Symbols also features work by Sharon Murray and Carien Quiroga. A panel discussion with the artists, titled “A Question of Identity” takes place on Sunday December 3 at 3pm.

VisArts is located at 9300 Gaither Road, Gaithersburg, MD. Further information is available at www.visartscenter.org or by calling 301-869-8623.

City Hall Collection in the WaPo again

The WaPo's District Extra section has a nice review of the new City Hall Art Collection curated by Sondra Arkin. So far the collection is getting very positive reviews from all sort of unexpected sources.

Read the piece by Paul Schwartzman here.

Recently I walked the collection with Kristen Hileman and Anne Ellegood (curators from the Hirshhorn) and Dr. Jonathan Binstock and Sarah Newman (curators from the Corcoran), as we were taken around by Sondra.

I will offer my impressions of the visit soon.

A Phenomenon of Nature

Curated by the vastly talented Dr. Claudia Rousseau, A Phenomenon of Nature, opens tomorrow (Nov. 18) with a reception from 5 - 7 pm at the unexpectedly huge and gorgeous BlackRock Center for the Arts in Germantown, Maryland.

The exhibition includes work by Syl Mathis, Michael Janis and Tim Tate, and also features a retrospective of photographs by Mark Evan Thomas.

If you haven't seen this massive arts venue yet, this is a perfect opportunity for a Saturday drive. The BlackRock Center for the Arts is at 12901 Town Commons Drive, Germantown, MD 20874, Phone: 301.528.2260

Veni, Vidi... Volo In Domum Redire

I've been to DC most days this week, but yesterday (when I planned some 3rd Thursday gallery stuff) was an absolute traffic and weather nightmare! More later.