Faculty Show at the Art League

I dropped by the Torpedo Factory last weekend to check a couple of shows going on in two of the galleries inside the building. As it happened, the Art League Gallery had an exhibition showcasing their faculty's work and I also dropped by to see it.

One of the interesting "secrets" of the DMV region is how many graduates from some of our area's best known art schools also take classes at the Art League. I once asked a couple of them as to why and the answer was simple: to learn the technical part of the craft of being an artist.

"After four years at ______________ I came away with a good BFA which will help me get into a good MFA program," related Daniel (not his real name). "But I still need to learn how to mix oil paints to make the colors that I really want; that's why I am taking painting classes here," he confessed.

Some standouts include the work of Rosemary Feit Covey, in my opinion the best printmaker in the DC region. In the below example from one of her classes, we see the etching process being delivered by Rosemary. First we see the etching "Astrocytes" and then the etching "David" and then the combined piece "David with Astrocytes."






That covers printmaking.

The Art League also boasts some really good painting instructors, and the one that I hear most students praise, and whose work I've been admiring over the years is Danni Dawson. Danni Dawson received her BA and MFA degrees from George Washington University and has been a professional artist and teacher for over 25 years. That's her gorgeous nude below.

Dupes

It is a common practice for artists to return to an image of subject over and over. People like Morandi obsessed over a specific subject and you can't go into a museum in Europe without a version of El Greco's "Christ driving the Traders from the Temple."

Two years ago I did the below drawing.

"Illegal Alien running across the border street in Brownsville, Texas, hoping that he won't be too late for his job at the Fort Brown Golf Course"
Charcoal on Paper, 1.5 inches by 1 inch.
c. 2007 by F. Lennox Campello
This tiny drawing sold in nearly record time, as a couple of hours after the posting I had an email from a collector asking to buy it, which he did.

And now I've returned to the image and the concept with two new versions of the piece, below is version two and version three:


"Illegal Alien running across the border street in Brownsville, Texas, hoping that he won't be too late for his job at the Fort Brown Golf Course (Version II)"
Charcoal on Paper, 3 inches by 1 inch, c. 2009 by F. Lennox Campello


"Illegal Alien running across the border street in Brownsville, Texas, hoping that he won't be too late for his job at the Fort Brown Golf Course (Version III)"
Charcoal on Paper, 1.5 inches by 2 inches, c. 2009 by F. Lennox Campello

Maryland Symposium

Online Registration is now open for the upcoming symposium co-sponsored by the David C. Driskell Center and the University of Maryland University College

Autobiography/Performance/Identity: A Symposium on African American and African Diasporan Women in the Visual Arts - March 5 and 6, 20010

Featuring a keynote address by Lorraine O'Grady, and a performance by my good friend and Boston-based Cuban-American artist Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons and more.

See the program online here and register for the symposium online here.

For more information contact
David C. Driskell Center
1214 Cole Student Activities Building
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742
TEL 301-314-2615
FAX 301-314-0679