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Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Opportunity for Artists
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Heard on Univision
Today I saw the first Romney ad ever (at least that I've seen) on Univision - Obama ads have been on constantly on Univision for months - also loads of Virginia's Tim Kane ads in Spanish (he seems to be fluent in it).
Someone is still standing guard
In case you were wondering what the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier honor guard does when the federal government shuts down because of a hurricane...
Monday, October 29, 2012
Happy Birthday Bob Ross!
Robert Norman "Bob" Ross (October 29, 1942 – July 4, 1995) probably got more people interested in painting in the US than anyone else on the history of the planet. He was a positive influence on the world and yet I suspect that he will never be included in Janson's.
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Ray Burns at Yellow Barn Gallery
Even though the air already smelled a little of the incoming Frankenstorm, Glen Echo was as usual, packed with children playing in the very cool playground there, which is usually deserted until the puppet show ends and then it is invaded by a small army of little ones.
At the Yellow Barn Gallery, Ray Burns was in the final day of his two day show, and the exhibition, which according to the artist "is the result of several years' worth of painting and exploring - exploring various locales, subject matter, painting surfaces, and media..." is a really good example of how a successful painter must continually engage a diverse set of skills and visions in order to continually expand his artistic horizon.
The show is a mixture of plein air and studio painting, and both offer vibrant examples of enviable painting skills combined for a really good eye for light and color.
The plein air paintings are excellent in that unique sense and courage that painting in nature gives artists. We see colors that a studio artist would never imagine or dare try unless he or she is out and about really observing nature and what she does with light and surface and time.
There's a legendary story that Monet was once painting out on a field, and someone approached him and observed the master recreate a natural scene in front of both of them. The observer was quiet for quite a while, but then quizzically approached the master and said: "I don't see all those colors out there..."
Monet turned around and responded, "Don't you wish you did, Madam..."
Burns, who studied at Maryland under David Driskell and Martin Puryear, and then subsequently took a plein air painting class at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville with artist Dean Fisher, notes that it wasn't until he took that class that "his art took off."
The works at Glen Echo's Yellow Barn Gallery are evidence of this and are certainly evidence of a highly talented painter and observer of our world.
See more of his work here.
The show is a mixture of plein air and studio painting, and both offer vibrant examples of enviable painting skills combined for a really good eye for light and color.
The plein air paintings are excellent in that unique sense and courage that painting in nature gives artists. We see colors that a studio artist would never imagine or dare try unless he or she is out and about really observing nature and what she does with light and surface and time.
There's a legendary story that Monet was once painting out on a field, and someone approached him and observed the master recreate a natural scene in front of both of them. The observer was quiet for quite a while, but then quizzically approached the master and said: "I don't see all those colors out there..."
Monet turned around and responded, "Don't you wish you did, Madam..."
Burns, who studied at Maryland under David Driskell and Martin Puryear, and then subsequently took a plein air painting class at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville with artist Dean Fisher, notes that it wasn't until he took that class that "his art took off."
The works at Glen Echo's Yellow Barn Gallery are evidence of this and are certainly evidence of a highly talented painter and observer of our world.
See more of his work here.
Saturday, October 27, 2012
When Hollywood Screws Up
I'm really a huge fan of the new ABC television show Last Resort... but it really pisses me off that they are too fucking cheap to hire a Navy advisor to help with a TV show about a Navy submarine... And I know that I am a pedantic Virgo --- BUT----- I just finished watching the latest episode of the Last Resort TV show... and after all these years of making military and naval movies and TV series, you'd think that Hollywood would know that the US Navy does not salute uncovered!!!!
Feh!
Feh!
Frankenstorm approaches
Al Burts at International Visions
Local Bombay Sapphire Artisan Series Competition winner Al Burts was chosen to represent Virginia, Maryland and
Washington, DC in the national final competition held during Art Basel
Miami Beach this December 2012. He will be competing against 9 other top artist from around the country and will exhibit at SCOPE Art Show during Art Basel MB week.
The winner of this final competition will win a solo exhibit at Rush Fine Arts Gallery in New York City in 2013. The aim of the Artisan Series is to discover new artists from a variety of mediums including drawing, painting, graphics and digital art.
Al Burts will be showing at International Visions - The Gallery in a solo exhibition title "Passport Please" featuring new artwork from Burts. That show is from November 8 - December 8, 2012. An Opening Reception will be held for this exhibit on Saturday, November 10, 2012 from 6:30pm-9pm.
Friday, October 26, 2012
Cock soup and Fish Tea
I suspect that this soup mix might sell a little better if they used the alternative name for this avian species and called it "Rooster Soup."
Next to it was a mix for "Fish Tea." If you don't believe me...
If you want to know where to buy some, send me a note... ahem!
Next to it was a mix for "Fish Tea." If you don't believe me...
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Congratulations!
Anonymous Was A Woman is an unrestricted grant of $25,000
that enables women artists, over 45 years of age and at a critical
juncture in their lives or careers, to continue to grow and pursue their
work. The Award is given in recognition of an artist's accomplishments,
artistic growth and the quality of her work. It is not need-based.
The name of the grant program, Anonymous Was A Woman, refers to a line in Virginia Wolf’s A Room of One’s Own. As the name implies, nominators and those associated with the program are unnamed. The award was begun in 1996 in response to the decision of the National Endowment of the Arts to cease support of individual artists.
The name of the grant program, Anonymous Was A Woman, refers to a line in Virginia Wolf’s A Room of One’s Own. As the name implies, nominators and those associated with the program are unnamed. The award was begun in 1996 in response to the decision of the National Endowment of the Arts to cease support of individual artists.
And an extra congrats to the DMV's own Jae Ko, who is represented locally by the Marsha Mateyka Gallery.
$ 25,000. grant
2012 Award Winners:
Ann Agee
Uta Barth
Andrea Fraser
Jane Hammond
Mary Kelly
Judy Pfaff
Betye Saar
Lorna Simpson
Jessica Stockholder
Heard on Univision
Univision's two main talking news heads (Jorge Ramos and Maria Elena Salinas - both of whom are fair of hair, light of skin and green-eyed) are having fun with some ignorant idiots who are taking issue with Disney because they have debuted a "Latina princess" named Sofia, who is white with blue eyes.This is why I too have so much fun in my artwork with this confusion between race and ethnicity and what stereotypes are supposed to fit who...
Check it out here.
DMV collectors recognized
Ben and Gisela Huberman are not only two of the DMV's top art collectors, but as a fellow Cuban-American, Ben is obviously a kindred spirit, a brilliant mind and an accomplished scientist. His amazing wife Gisela is a visionary genius, with the sort of natural intelligence that most of us can only dream about.Both he and his lovely wife Gisela are HUGE supporters of DMV area artists, avid art fair and gallery aficionados, and owners of one of the best art collections in the world.
I am proud to be in their collection (multiple times) and happy to see them recognized in the current issue of American Style magazine.
See more on the article about the Hubermans here.
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Opportunity for Artists
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Monday, October 22, 2012
Postcards from the Edge
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SAVE THE DATE
CALL FOR ARTISTS
MARK YOUR CALENDARS:
The 15th Annual Postcards from the Edge
A benefit for Visual AIDS
January 4-6, 2013
Hosted by Sikkema Jenkins & Co.
PREVIEW PARTY: Friday, January 4, 2013 from 6:00 - 8:00 PM
The only opportunity to see the entire exhibition. No sales. $85 admission.
BENEFIT SALE: $85 each.
Saturday, January 5, 2013 from 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM (*Buy four and get a bonus fifth)
Sunday, January 6, 2013 from 12:00 AM - 4:00 PM (*Buy two and get a bonus third)
Over 1500 anonymously displayed postcard-sized masterpieces.
Postcards From the Edge is a Visual AIDS benefit exhibition and sale of original, postcard-sized artworks by established and emerging artists. This year, the event is even more special because it inaugurates the 25th Anniversary year. All artwork is exhibited anonymously. While buyers receive a list of all participating artists, they don't know who created which piece until after purchase. With the playing field leveled, all participants can take home a piece by a famous artist, or someone who is just making their debut. Nonetheless, collectors walk away with a piece of art they love, knowing that the money raised will support HIV prevention and AIDS awareness. Click here for more info.
CALL TO ARTISTS:
Visual AIDS invites artists to donate a 4" x 6" original work on paper for our Postcards From the Edge exhibition and benefit sale. Painting, drawing, photography, printmaking, and mixed media are all welcome. Artists must be 18 years or older to participate. One entry per artist.
Click here for information on how you can participate.
DEADLINE: Postmark Friday, December 7, 2012
Questions? Visit FAQ page here or email info@visualAIDS.org
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Manon Cleary finally in the SAAM
Recently the Smithsonian American Art Museum accepted two of Manon Cleary's epic Men in Plastic Bags series graphite drawings for its permanent collection.
This is great and most richly deserved for an artist whose impact, both personal and artistic, upon the Greater DC area art scene, as well as the national art scene in some sectors, more than deserve her placement among her peers at the SAAM.
And even after her passing Manon continues to have an impact upon the DMV art scene because this acquisition should now bring to the forefront the fact that the SAAM, much like all the other local DMV museums has a chronic problem with looking in its own backyard for worthy artists.
I once noted on NPR radio that our "local" museums, because they tend to think of themselves as "national" museums, would rather have its curatorial staff take a cab to Dulles for a flight to Berlin to then visit artists' studios to look at the work of emerging artists in Berlin, than to take a cab to Georgetown, or Kalorama, or Alexandria, or Mt Rainier or wherever in the DMV to visit some local studios.
Manon Cleary should have been in the collection of the SAAM decades ago, and mutliple generations of SAAM curators have perpetuated and continue to cement a gargantuan offense against their own neighborhood by ignoring generation after generation of DMV artists, DMV galleries and the DMV visual art scene in general.
For the Hirshhorn: the same disservice applies; shame on your curators as well.
Thank you Manoncita.
This is great and most richly deserved for an artist whose impact, both personal and artistic, upon the Greater DC area art scene, as well as the national art scene in some sectors, more than deserve her placement among her peers at the SAAM.
And even after her passing Manon continues to have an impact upon the DMV art scene because this acquisition should now bring to the forefront the fact that the SAAM, much like all the other local DMV museums has a chronic problem with looking in its own backyard for worthy artists.
I once noted on NPR radio that our "local" museums, because they tend to think of themselves as "national" museums, would rather have its curatorial staff take a cab to Dulles for a flight to Berlin to then visit artists' studios to look at the work of emerging artists in Berlin, than to take a cab to Georgetown, or Kalorama, or Alexandria, or Mt Rainier or wherever in the DMV to visit some local studios.
Manon Cleary should have been in the collection of the SAAM decades ago, and mutliple generations of SAAM curators have perpetuated and continue to cement a gargantuan offense against their own neighborhood by ignoring generation after generation of DMV artists, DMV galleries and the DMV visual art scene in general.
For the Hirshhorn: the same disservice applies; shame on your curators as well.
Thank you Manoncita.
Courage Unmasked Pics
Some pics from the recent Courage Unmasked event at American University's Katzen Museum.
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| Bridget Lambert, Elyse Harrison and The Lenster |
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| Bill Harris and yours truly |
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| Jack Rasmussen and I |
Jarvis Grant on (e)merge
In case you missed it, Jarvis Grant has a really interesting article/review on the impact of Photoshop on some of the work on exhibit at the recently concluded (e)merge art fair.
Check it out here.
Check it out here.
MacKenzie at the AIA
“ Helter ~ Shelter “
An exploration into the Organization of Temporary Communities
1735 New York Avenue WDC 20006
Opening Reception: Thursday, November 1st 5:30 - 8:30 pm
Exhibition continues through January 2013
~ helter-skelter: in a haphazard manner, chaotic, lacking a visible order or plan
“ Architecture is inhabited sculpture. “ - Constantin Brancusi
what “community” means once one leaves the city and its suburbs. He presents diverse examples of how people create temporary structures, both factory-built and homemade, to protect themselves from the elements, and then organize these shelters into larger communities, while projecting through design and decoration, their own individual identities and personalities. Some of these communities stand for decades, until the river floods and they are trucked away to higher ground, and others are only in existence for a long weekend.
Included in “ Helter-Shelter “ are mural-size panoramic photographs that illustrate a variety of solutions to the challenge of temporary housing in sometimes raw and hostile rural environments. Whether on wheels, floats, or skids, these tiny dwellings live lightly on the Earth, taking the “Not-So-Big-House-Movement” to the extreme, at the lowest possible cost, with minimum impact on the environment.
“Burning Man,“ an extraordinary explosion of human creativity and imagination, takes place every August in the Nevada desert and is the largest arts festival in the country. The 55,000+ inhabitants of Burning Man bring tents, domes and RVs and work together to construct the meticulously planned, pedestrian and bike-only, “Black Rock City,” which lasts exactly seven days. Participants, following Burning Man’s principle of ”Extreme Self-Reliance,“ bring all their food and water into the city with them, “Leaving No Trace“ when they depart, making Burning Man a remarkable example of sustainability, and environmentally responsible community.
Coming across hundreds of RVs with their motorcycle trailers gathered in the baking windswept California desert near the Salton Sea, at first one perceives only chaos. But look more closely: familiar patterns emerge, and again traces of an underlying organic order become apparent. However temporary, a kind of town is being built. The need for community is being expressed. Just as the wagon trains of the pioneers circled for protection, the RVs and “motor-homes “ are similarly situated, parked around a horseshoe arena and the communal picnic table, creating a central, protected “urban square” where people gather.
Another large group of Americans, from all social strata, often retired, have abandoned their permanent homes altogether, whether voluntarily or to foreclosure, and taken to the road for good. They have become migratory, like waterfowl, and follow the seasons, adapting to life in a ten-foot wide, metal-encased, pre-fab mobile world. Downsizing and concentrating their resources, some barely survive and others live much more luxuriously in their custom, marble-floored, multi-slide-out $ 400,000 motor coaches than they did before.
From the desert domes out west, and the colorful ice-house and houseboat communities in Minnesota to Airstream rallies in Florida, like-minded people gather in their temporary camps for a hundred different reasons; to escape cities & immerse themselves in nature, to share sporting and cultural interests, to escape the winter heating bills up north, or simply just to wander.
People find and unite with their respective tribes, claim a piece of ground and make it home.
The American Institute of Architects
1735 New York Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20006
202.626.7312