This Friday...

Cudlin buries the hatchet

I figured that I better hurry and come up with the above headline before the Washington City Paper does it, but in any event, my good bud Jeffry Cudlin has decided to end his Hatchets & Skewers art blog in perhaps the most eloquent art goodbye ever written.

Check it out here.

Current issue of ACA magazine

The current issue of American Contemporary Art magazine has my usual "Letter from DC" on pages 14-15.

Read it online here.

Washington Glass School is looking for incubator artists
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If you have always wanted a studio space to work on your art, but don't have the space right now, or don't have a huge amount to invest in your own studio, then you might like the thought of becoming one of the studio artists at the Washington Glass School.

They welcome artists of many sculptural disciplines – like jewelers, enamellers, and of course, glass artists. The Washington Glass School (near the Rhode Island / Route 1 Eastern Ave border of the District of Columbia) is now accepting applications for their incubator studio space (available immediately).

To get you settled, they are temporarily offering a $50 discount for the first three months. The regular table/studio space rent is $275 per month. Not only do you finally have a dedicated space to work in, but you also join a vibrant and successful group of glass artists and get to benefit from many new opportunities. As a studio artist - besides being part of the arts community - you have full access to the studio's cold shop facility and kiln firings.

Interested? Give Tim Tate a call 202-744-8222! Or email: washglassschool@aol.com.

Washington Glass School
3700 Otis Street
Mount Rainier, MD
202) 744-8222
www.washglass.com

Contemporary Uruguayan Artists at the IDB

The exhibit Contemporary Uruguayan Artists will open March 5 in the Cultural Center Gallery of the Inter-American Development Bank, in Washington, DC, in conjunction with the 53rd Annual Meeting of the IDB’s Board of Governors in Uruguay’s capital of Montevideo.

The 17 works include painting, print, sculpture, mixed media, and photography by 13 contemporary artists at a critical point in Uruguay’s history. While each of the works stands out as an individual artistic expression, as a group they reflect a common history and tradition and provide a window on current trends that are transforming the country’s culture and environment. They challenge the viewer to consider certain overarching questions: What is the perspective of each artist and of the group as a whole? What is the cultural and physical landscape that influences their mode of expression?

The exhibit is part of a project called About Change: Art from Latin America and the Caribbean organized by the World Bank Art Program in cooperation with the IDB’s Cultural Center and the Organization of American States’ AMA | Art Museum of the Americas. The project consists of a series of exhibitions being presented in various venues in Washington during 2011–12.

“The IDB is proud to host this exhibition honoring Uruguay and its capital city, Montevideo,” says Bank President Luis Alberto Moreno.

Iván Duque, Chief of the IDB’s Cultural, Solidarity and Creativity Affairs Division, highlights the exhibit’s role in celebrating the Cultural Center’s two decades of activities. “During these 20 years, the center has gained international recognition for bringing the artistic and intellectual heritage of Latin America and the Caribbean to a broad audience,” he says. “The Cultural Center will continue to build on this foundation, which is based in a conviction of the enormous value of the region’s cultural treasures as part of the world’s cultural legacy.”

Marina Galvani, Curator of the World Bank Art Program, describes how the works speak to contemporary issues. “Along with the rest of Latin America,” she says, “Uruguay has reason to celebrate its growing role in the global economy, which even includes signs of reverse migration.”

“But at the same time, artists are moral commentators and often harsh critics,” she continues. “As such, the works clearly express the social and moral collapse of the middle and upper-middle classes, employing in some cases irony, in others, a sympathetic touch. They also reflect delicately—even poetically—on many global subjects, such as the environment, consumerism, and urban decay. ”

Dr. Christina Rossi, art historian from the University of Buenos Aires, was invited by the IDB Cultural Center to write the essay for the exhibit catalogue, which is entitled, “Re-situations.” ”These works grapple with the construction of memory—personal, national, regional, global—as a critical act expressed from the perspective of Uruguay,” she says. “There is no doubt that the realities of Latin America are best interpreted in a global context, and that today’s communication tools enable us to reach well beyond our national borders.”

Artists whose works are represented in the exhibit are Santiago Aldabalde, Ana Campanella, Muriel Cardoso, a group comprised of Gerardo Carella, Federico Meneses, and Ernesto Rizzo, Jacqueline Lacasa, Babriel Lema, Daniel Machado, Cecilia Mattos, Diego Velazco, Santiago Velazco, and Diego Villalba.