Thursday, May 17, 2007

The 0 Project

Rosemary Feit Covey is one of those wizard artists that when you see their work, you are left speechless by both the imagery and also by the technical skill. She is by far, my favorite printmaker in the DC region.

And as if this master printmaker wasn't accomplished or acclaimed enough, she has now undertaking the "The 0 Project."

Check it out here.

Selected from among hundreds of applicants in the mid-Atlantic region, the 0 project will premier as a printed piece wrapping the Arlington Arts Center in the fall of 2007. Printed on Tyvek on an HP 500 printer, upon installation it will be fifteen feet high, wrapping 300 feet around the outside of the art center.

The 0 Project is without a doubt the most ambitious outdoor project that the AAC has taken on. And they're asking for arts supporters to join them on Friday, May 18 from 6 to 8 pm to learn more about the 0 Project and ways in which you might be involved. They're looking for help with promotion, participation, some grass roots fundraising, and various other tasks. RSVP to 703.248.6800

Photography Superstars

The remainder of the tragic Joshua P. Smith collection is being auctioned off here starting on the 19th.

Every big name in photography is included in the auction, now working its way through the auction world food chain. If memory serves me right, a while back either Sotheby's or Christie's or maybe Phillip's disposed of a large number of them, but there are still 347 lots from some of the world's best-known photographers and collected by an amazing collector.

Two DC area masters are in this auction: the legendary Lida Moser and uberphotographer Chan Chao; Smith had a great eye for photographic talent.

I don't know how many of Chan's brilliant photos Smith had in his collection, but I do know that a few years ago he bought 120 of Lida Moser's best vintage photographs. Most of those were recently acquired via auction by a German gallery.

There are some deals to be had in this auction. Don't say that I didn't warn you!

And for you vastly overpriced emerging painters out there, get a hint from this really nice Gene Davis painting in a separate auction estimated to go between $4 - $5K which is less than some Washington Color School look-alikes get these days.

The Collector

The WaPo's Amy Argetsinger and Roxanne Roberts (the Reliable Source columnists) describe the hijinks involved in ransoming off a Tim Tate sculpture and their fleeting meeting of a new DC arts activist of sorts calling himself "The Collector."

A note from this new art entity stated:

"Only through the loss of art does society value its art," it began. "This is not the end but the beginning. Whenever art is undervalued the collector will appear to remind this city that one of its most valuable assets is the creative community that is so deeply ingrained in its fabric."
Read the story in today's WaPo here.