Thursday, September 12, 2013
Pro Panels Anyone?
I'm looking to borrow a set of Pro Panels (or something similar) that I can use at the (e)merge art fair next month.
In exchange I will give the lender a small framed original drawing?
Pro Panels anyone?
Send me an email to lenny@lennycampello.com
In exchange I will give the lender a small framed original drawing?
Pro Panels anyone?
Send me an email to lenny@lennycampello.com
Wanna go to an opening party?
“The Art of Political Change” is an invitational show curated by DMV area artist Roy Utley – the show is all about art and politics and has been getting quite a bit of pre-opening attention from the press in this most political of towns.
The Opening Reception is Sept 14th from 6:00
to 10:00 and runs through September 28 at
the legendary MOCA DC gallery in Georgetown, and there’s an Open mike political poetry night on Sept 20 from 6:00
to 10:00, followed by a Film screening night on Sept 21 from 6:00 to 10:00 (hosted
by Lucy Gebre-Egziabher) and a Closing Party on Sept 27 from 6:00 to 10:00. MOCA is at 1054 31st Street (Canal Square) in G'town.
The
show features distinctive works of social commentary by a diverse group of Washington area artists, including yours truly. They come from all across the artistic landscape –
painters, sculptors, poets, filmmakers and more. The dozens of works on display
by the artists will connect with the viewer on a personal visual level, as only visual art can, while the
live video feeds will enable everyone with internet access to view the events as they happen.
My
own exposure to political art is that (in the past) it has been usually (or maybe mostly) the left doing negative
artwork about the right.
And that's cool! Political art is seldom "positive" (other than in Nazi Germany, the former USSR, North Korea and Cuba - that's a smiling lot ain't it?).
The Presidency of George W. Bush left behind a huge
trail of political art of all genres, all harshly critical (and a lot quite threatening) of the former President.
Some of it was very smart and intelligent and some of it downright offensive and mean, and c'mon - once you step into the White House, you sort of expect to be the target focus of harsh political criticism.
Some
artists, such as Richard Serra’s crayon drawing of an Abu Ghraib prisoner with the caption "STOP BUSH”, employed that time sensitive and horrifying war issue to achieve
instant fame, and now the minimalist sculptor is perhaps best known for that rather simplistic and powerful piece,
which essentially got him a ticket to a Venice Biennale.
From my experience/exposure, other than a few right wing nuts here and there, anti Presidential political art
has been all but AWOL during the Obama presidency, perhaps because the
mainstream media has been rather successful in re-calibrating their approach to the President and
also in exacting harsh revenge on anyone who dares to deviate from a overly positive
depiction of our current President.
Even Shepard
Fairey’s embarrassing path to the famous “HOPE” poster art from the
historic 2008 campaign (he ripped off the image from DMV area
photographer Manny Garcia) was not enough to stop the National Portrait
Gallery from acquiring the artwork, in violation of its own rules about
acquiring portraits of living persons only ifdone from the live subject.
They also ignored the fact that the image had been ripped off from
another artist.
I
sent them an email asking for clarification on this issue, and since I
never heard back, then I wrote them a letter... still waiting for a
response.
In view of the current multiple woes of
the administration, ranging from the NSA revelations to the IRS scandal and
others, the vast left wing nuttery has begun to turn on the President, and I will be curious to
see if Utley’s political show addresses the anti-Presidential venom so common
to past political American art, but now with an Obama focus.
It is clear from Dana Ellyn's always sharp eye and caustic talented brush, that the answer is apparently yes!
 |
| “He’s Making a (Kill) List” by Dana Ellyn |
I love this country! See ya there!
The artists are:
Alicia "Decoy" Cosnahan
Roger Cutler
Gregg Deal
Cheryl Edwards
Dana Ellyn
Ric Garcia
Lucy Gebre-Egziabher
Grayson Heck
Jeannette Herrera
Regina Holliday
Kevin "Jazi" Irvin
Danny Jean-Jacques
Hanna Kebbede
Fareeha Khawaja
Peter Krško
Carolina Mayorga
David R. Quammen
Lisa Dee Schumaier
Matt Sesow
Eric “E-Baby” Smith
Henrik Sundqvist
Roy Utley
Asad "Ultra" Walker
Wanna go to an opening today?
40 for 40: Celebrating Four Decades of GRACE
September 12 – November 2, 2013
Opening Reception September 12, 6-9pm, free and open to the public
The Greater Reston Arts Center (GRACE) is pleased to present 40 for 40: Celebrating Four Decades of GRACE, from September 12 through November 2, 2013. A retrospective exhibition marking GRACE’s 40th anniversary, 40 for 40 celebrates the organization’s continuous engagement with contemporary art in the metro D.C. area since its founding in 1974. The show will feature a selection of forty artists who have exhibited at GRACE, or have been closely involved with the organization, over the course of the past four decades.
Launching the 2013-14 exhibition season and the Greater Reston Arts Center’s 40th year of operations, 40 for 40 will feature works in a broad range of media including painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, glass, and ceramics, the exhibition will celebrate the variety and quality of work that has been exhibited at GRACE since its inception.
Speaking about the exhibition, Curator of
Exhibitions Holly Koons McCullough said, “This show highlights the
impact the Greater Reston Arts Center has had within the regional
artistic community. Some of the artists on view in 40 for 40 literally
founded the institution. Others had exhibitions here that would become
important milestones in their careers. Still others exhibited works that
have come to define GRACE’s unreserved embrace of contemporary art in
this region, in all its diversity and vigor.”
40 for 40 will present works by some of the pioneers of the institution, including Brenda Belfield, Judith Forst, Joan Kelly, and Connie Slack. These artists held positions on GRACE’s staff and board, and helped to develop the organization’s overarching mission of engaging and educating the community in contemporary visual art.
Other works on view reflect GRACE’s more recent exhibition history, such as a luminous Mylar sculpture by Rebecca Kamen, a site-specific ceramic installation by Elizabeth Kendall, and cerebral wood-based sculptures by Foon Sham and Evan Reed. Together with works by the other noted contemporary artists featured in 40 for 40, these pieces reflect the broad-minded, progressive nature of GRACE’s exhibitions, particularly since the institution relocated to its current site in Reston Town Center in 2006.
“We are thrilled to be able to highlight the rich and vibrant history of the Greater Reston Arts Center,” notes Executive Director Damian Sinclair. “For over forty years the work of this organization has been central to the cultural growth in our region and we look forward to being a leader of the artistic community in the next forty years.”
Most of the works in the exhibition are available for sale, and many of the artists are donating 50% of sale proceeds back to GRACE in recognition of the organization’s anniversary and in support of its future.
Artists Represented in 40 for 40: Celebrating Four Decades of GRACE
John Adams, Ann Barbieri, Joanne Bauer, Brenda Belfield, Ed Bisese, F. Lennox Campello, Michael Cantwell, Dickson Carroll, Travis Childers, Ellen Cornett, Laura Edwards, Elissa Farrow-Savos, Judith Forst, Heidi Fowler, Suzi Fox, Rik Freeman, Rebecca Kamen, Joan Kelly, Elizabeth Kendall, J.T. Kirkland, Craig Kraft, Robert Lobe, Dalya Luttwak, Carolina Mayorga, David Meyer, Marco Rando, Matt Ravenstahl, Evan Reed, Pam Rogers, Dana Ann Scheurer, Eveleen Severn-Sass, Foon Sham, Connie Slack, Robert Straight, Tim Tate, Novie Trump, Shinji Turner-Yamamoto, Mary LaRue Wells, Millicent Young, and Andrew Zimmerman.
Public Programs:
Opening Reception
Thursday, September 12, 6-9pm. Free and open to the public.
40th Anniversary Family Day
40 for 40 public celebration and family day
Sunday, September 5, 2-5pm. Free and open to public.
September 12 – November 2, 2013
Opening Reception September 12, 6-9pm, free and open to the public
The Greater Reston Arts Center (GRACE) is pleased to present 40 for 40: Celebrating Four Decades of GRACE, from September 12 through November 2, 2013. A retrospective exhibition marking GRACE’s 40th anniversary, 40 for 40 celebrates the organization’s continuous engagement with contemporary art in the metro D.C. area since its founding in 1974. The show will feature a selection of forty artists who have exhibited at GRACE, or have been closely involved with the organization, over the course of the past four decades.
Launching the 2013-14 exhibition season and the Greater Reston Arts Center’s 40th year of operations, 40 for 40 will feature works in a broad range of media including painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, glass, and ceramics, the exhibition will celebrate the variety and quality of work that has been exhibited at GRACE since its inception.
40 for 40 will present works by some of the pioneers of the institution, including Brenda Belfield, Judith Forst, Joan Kelly, and Connie Slack. These artists held positions on GRACE’s staff and board, and helped to develop the organization’s overarching mission of engaging and educating the community in contemporary visual art.
Other works on view reflect GRACE’s more recent exhibition history, such as a luminous Mylar sculpture by Rebecca Kamen, a site-specific ceramic installation by Elizabeth Kendall, and cerebral wood-based sculptures by Foon Sham and Evan Reed. Together with works by the other noted contemporary artists featured in 40 for 40, these pieces reflect the broad-minded, progressive nature of GRACE’s exhibitions, particularly since the institution relocated to its current site in Reston Town Center in 2006.
“We are thrilled to be able to highlight the rich and vibrant history of the Greater Reston Arts Center,” notes Executive Director Damian Sinclair. “For over forty years the work of this organization has been central to the cultural growth in our region and we look forward to being a leader of the artistic community in the next forty years.”
Most of the works in the exhibition are available for sale, and many of the artists are donating 50% of sale proceeds back to GRACE in recognition of the organization’s anniversary and in support of its future.
Artists Represented in 40 for 40: Celebrating Four Decades of GRACE
John Adams, Ann Barbieri, Joanne Bauer, Brenda Belfield, Ed Bisese, F. Lennox Campello, Michael Cantwell, Dickson Carroll, Travis Childers, Ellen Cornett, Laura Edwards, Elissa Farrow-Savos, Judith Forst, Heidi Fowler, Suzi Fox, Rik Freeman, Rebecca Kamen, Joan Kelly, Elizabeth Kendall, J.T. Kirkland, Craig Kraft, Robert Lobe, Dalya Luttwak, Carolina Mayorga, David Meyer, Marco Rando, Matt Ravenstahl, Evan Reed, Pam Rogers, Dana Ann Scheurer, Eveleen Severn-Sass, Foon Sham, Connie Slack, Robert Straight, Tim Tate, Novie Trump, Shinji Turner-Yamamoto, Mary LaRue Wells, Millicent Young, and Andrew Zimmerman.
Public Programs:
Opening Reception
Thursday, September 12, 6-9pm. Free and open to the public.
40th Anniversary Family Day
40 for 40 public celebration and family day
Sunday, September 5, 2-5pm. Free and open to public.
Wanna see one of the largest collections....
On September 22 is the Open House for
Light Street Gallery in Baltimore featuring the collection of Steven & Linda
Krensky.
This is a fantastic private collection and assortment of art that is easily the largest collection of art by DC area artists going back more than three decades of serious collecting.
Nearly every DC area artists is represented in this collection - including many pieces that were done when some of these artists were students (and some of those are now professors!).
10 am to 8 pm - complete with some wings that are bigger than most chickens - tasty and delivered fresh throughout the day by Sun Hing takeout across the street.
1448 Light Street in Baltimore - call for map or directions - 240.506.8943 -
RSVP is required - so call ahead or be sorry!
This is a fantastic private collection and assortment of art that is easily the largest collection of art by DC area artists going back more than three decades of serious collecting.
Nearly every DC area artists is represented in this collection - including many pieces that were done when some of these artists were students (and some of those are now professors!).
10 am to 8 pm - complete with some wings that are bigger than most chickens - tasty and delivered fresh throughout the day by Sun Hing takeout across the street.
1448 Light Street in Baltimore - call for map or directions - 240.506.8943 -
RSVP is required - so call ahead or be sorry!