Monday, December 28, 2020

Eyes... and more eyes

 

"Eyes of the woman standing behind the grassy knoll in Dallas in 1963"
Charcoal on Paper, c. 2007
2 x 6 inches
Sold


"Eyes of The Morrigan"
Charcoal on Paper, c. 2007
1 x 2.5 inches
Sold

"Eyes of Frida Kahlo I" Charcoal on Paper, c. 2007 1 x 1.5 inches
"Eyes of Frida Kahlo"
Charcoal on Paper, c. 2007
1 x 1.5 inches
Sold

"Eyes of Frida Kahlo"
Charcoal on Paper, c. 2007
1 x 2 inches
Sold

"Eyes of Queen Boudicca, also known as Bodicea" Charcoal and colored pencils on Paper, c. 2007 2 x 4.5 inches
"Eyes of Queen Boudicca, also known as Bodicea"
Charcoal and colored pencils on Paper, c. 2007
2 x 4.5 inches
Sold

"Eyes of Humphrey Bogart" Charcoal on Paper, c. 2007 .75 x 1.5 inches
"Eyes of Humphrey Bogart"
Charcoal on Paper, c. 2007
.75 x 1.5 inches
Sold  

"Eyes of a small New Orleans girl after Katrina" Charcoal on Paper, c. 2007 .75 x 1 inches
"Eyes of a small New Orleans girl after Katrina"
Charcoal on Paper, c. 2007
.75 x 1 inches
Sold

"Eyes of Lauren Bacall" Charcoal on Paper, c. 2007 .75 x 1.5 inches
"Eyes of Lauren Bacall"
Charcoal on Paper, c. 2007
.75 x 1.5 inches
Sold

"Eyes of John F. Kennedy" Charcoal on Paper, c. 2007 1.5 x 4 inches
"Eyes of John F. Kennedy"
Charcoal on Paper, c. 2007
1.5 x 4 inches
Sold

"Eyes of John F. Kennedy II" Charcoal on Paper, c. 2007 1 x 3 inches
"Eyes of John F. Kennedy II"
Charcoal on Paper, c. 2007
1 x 3 inches
Sold


"Eyes of John F. Kennedy III" Charcoal on Paper, c. 2007 1 x 3 inches
"Eyes of John F. Kennedy III"
Charcoal on Paper, c. 2007
1 x 3 inches
Sold

"Eyes of  Horus" Charcoal on Paper, c. 2007 1 x 3 inches
"Eyes of Horus"
Charcoal and colored pencil on Paper, c. 2007
2 x 3 inches
Sold

"Eyes of a Happy Man"
Charcoal and colored pencil on Paper, c. 2007
1 x 5 inches
Sold

"Eyes of Africa"
Charcoal and colored pencil on Paper, c. 2007
1 x 2 inches
Sold

"Eyes of a Woman who in 1994 sent me naked photos of herself"
Charcoal on Paper, c. 2007
1 x 3 inches
Sold


"Eyes of Very Stormy Woman"
Charcoal and colored pencils on Paper, c. 2007
2 x 4.5 inches
Sold

"Eyes of a woman about to make a mistake"
Charcoal and colored pencils on Paper, c. 2007
2 x 4.5 inches
Sold

"Eyes of Very Strong Woman"
Charcoal and colored pencils on Paper, c. 2007
1.5 x 4.5 inches
Sold

"Eyes of Mr. Spock" Charcoal and colored pencils on Paper, c. 2007 2 x 4.5 inches
"Eyes of Mr. Spock"
Charcoal and colored pencils on Paper, c. 2007
2 x 4.5 inches
Sold

"Eyes of Diego Rivera" Charcoal and colored pencils on Paper, c. 2007 2 x 4.5 inches
"Eyes of Diego Rivera"
Charcoal and colored pencils on Paper, c. 2007
2 x 4.5 inches
Sold

"Eyes of Paul McCartney" Charcoal and colored pencils on Paper, c. 2007 2 x 4.5 inches"Eyes of Paul McCartney" Charcoal and colored pencils on Paper, c. 2007 2 x 4.5 inches
"Eyes of Paul McCartney"
Charcoal and colored pencils on Paper, c. 2007
2 x 4.5 inches
Sold

"Eyes of Frida Kahlo"
Charcoal on Paper, c. 2007
1 x 2.5 inches
Sold

"Eyes of Bettie Page" Charcoal on Paper, c. 2007 1 x 2 inches
"Eyes of Bettie Page"
Charcoal on Paper, c. 2007
1 x 2 inches
Sold

"Eyes of Bettie Page" Charcoal on Paper, c. 2007 1 x 2 inches
"Eyes of Bettie Page"
Charcoal on Paper, c. 2007
2 x  4 inches
Sold

"Eyes of Barack Obama" Charcoal on Paper, c. 2007 1 x 3 inches
"Eyes of Barack Obama"
Charcoal on Paper, c. 2007
1 x 3 inches
Sold
"Eyes of Anderson"
Charcoal and Colored Pencils on Paper, c. 2011
1 x 3 inches

"Eyes of Bettie Page" Charcoal on Paper, c. 2007 2 x  4 inches
"Eyes of Bettie Page"
Charcoal on Paper, c. 2007
2 x  4 inches
Sold

"Eyes of Frida Kahlo" Charcoal on Paper, c. 2007 1 x 3 inches
"Eyes of Frida Kahlo"
Charcoal on Paper, c. 2007
1 x 3 inches
Sold

"Eyes of Frida Kahlo"
Charcoal on Paper, c. 2007
0.5 x 1 inches
Sold

"Eyes of The Morrigan"
Charcoal and colored pencils on Paper, c. 2007
1 x 3 inches
Sold

"Eyes of an Irish Woman"
Charcoal and colored pencils on Paper, c. 2007
1 x 3 inches
Sold

"Eyes of a woman with an eye freckle"
Charcoal and colored pencils on Paper, c. 2007
1 x 3 inches
Sold

"Eyes of a Sad Woman"
Charcoal and colored pencils on Paper, c. 2007
1 x 3 inches
Sold

"Eyes of Maeve"
Charcoal and colored pencils on Paper, c. 2005
1 x 4 inches
Sold

"Eyes of a Small Child"
Charcoal and colored pencils on Paper, c. 2007
1 x 3 inches
Sold

"Eyes of a Power Lawyer"
Charcoal and colored pencils on Paper, c. 2007
1 x 3 inches
Sold

"Eyes of a Power Lawyer"
Charcoal and colored pencils on Paper, c. 2007
1 x 3 inches
Sold

"Eyes of a Professional Athlete"
Charcoal and colored pencils on Paper, c. 2007
1 x 4 inches
Sold

"Eyes of Candy"
Charcoal and colored pencils on Paper, c. 2007
1 x 4 inches
Sold

"Eyes of an Airport Hustler"
Charcoal and colored pencils on Paper, c. 2007
1 x 4 inches
Sold

"Eyes of The Morrigan"
Charcoal and colored pencils on Paper, c. 2007
1 x 4 inches
Sold

"Eyes of a Famous Porn Star"
Charcoal and colored pencils on Paper, c. 2007
1 x 4 inches
Sold

"Eyes of an Artist"
Charcoal on Paper, c. 2007
1 x 4 inches
Sold

"Eyes of a Sad Woman"
Charcoal on Paper, c. 2007
1 x 4 inches
Sold


Sunday, December 27, 2020

Hotel California at auction again!

"Hotel California" shows up for auction in Ohio of all places! This is an art school assignment from 1976!

Saturday, December 26, 2020

Mortgage and Rent Relief

In accordance with the Arts and Humanities Capital Funding Emergency Amendment Act of 2020, the Commission on the Arts and Humanities (CAH) has established the FY21 FAB: Mortgage & Rent Relief (FAB-R) grant program to assist DC-based arts and humanities organizations with rent or mortgage expenses. Funding is being offered in response to the financial impacts related to COVID-19 to help ensure arts and humanities organizations remain in place, vibrant, and viable to open when safe to do so. The complete Request for Applications (RFA) is available online.


Submission Deadline: Friday | January 29, 2021 | 11:59 pm

Prospective applicants should read through the Request for Applications (RFA) in its entirety before initiating an application.

Friday, December 25, 2020

Merry Quarantine Christmas!

 

The Giving Season by David FeBland
The Giving Season, 2007 David FeBland

Wednesday, December 23, 2020

The Christ, the Last Supper, and the missing afikoman


A few years ago, before governors in many states made it a Covidian crime, I was invited to a Seder meal by a friend who is also quite a well-known Philadelphia area artist and an even better known curator.

The Christ in Gethsemane III, charcoal on paper. Circa 2009 By F. Lennox Campello
Somehow the conversation turned to Christ’s Last Supper, which of course was a Seder meal, and she observed how most paintings depicting The Christ’s last meal showed regular bread instead of the unleavened bread required by Jewish tradition to celebrate the Passover. This is very interesting to the pedantic part of me, already troubled by the fact that nearly every depiction of The Christ that was presented to me in art school depicted mostly Northern European-looking Christs, rather than the Semitic Middle East Israelite that He was.

And now I wonder, are there any contemporary depictions (or any depiction) of the last supper which depict this last Seder for Christ in a more historically correct perspective?

I am sure that there exist versions of the unknown supper created by pedantic, history-aware artists of all sorts.

Religious art has pretty much been pushed aside by the postmodernists, in what can best be described as a self-mutilation of intelligent subject matter. It would be interesting to see a new contemporary view of religious art, and allow us to discover how today’s artists would interpret our diverse religious backgrounds.

Is that a great idea for an up-and-coming curator or gallery to take on or what? But I want to see The Christ as a Semite and I want to see the middle of the matzoth on the Seder plate broken in two with the larger piece hidden, to be used later as the afikoman.

Tuesday, December 22, 2020

GASP at Artists in Middleburg

 

Earlier today I stopped at the Artists in Middleburg art gallery in Middleburg, Virginia (which is one of the nicest and cutest little towns less than an hour's drive from the DMV.

The Artists in Middleburg (AiM) is "a 501c3 nonprofit organization. Based out of a small art gallery in Middleburg, AiM hosts themed exhibitions each month for local artists as well as offers art classes, from Plein Air experiences to sculpting instruction."

On exhibition was GASP (GREAT ART SMALL PRICES), which features artwork under $500 and which runs through January 10, 2021.  This is a terrific show, loaded with exceptional art and clearly worth the short drive to Middleburg between now and Christmas if you're looking for that most super special of gifts: original art!

The show was juried - not sure who the juror was, but as readers of my writing know by now, I love to not only tell you who the prizewinners were, but also who I'd would have given the prizes to... this is always a healthy exercise (in my opinion anyway), as it is a great example of a Campellification of that well-established art saying: "art is eyes of the beholder... in this case "it depends who the juror is."

By now I have juried hundreds of art shows at all levels of the art cabal food scale, and I am always honored to be a juror, no matter for what of for whom.  I am also an opinionated juror, but that opinion always comes from a good place.

Best of Show was awarded by the juror of GASP to Greek Man, a stone, Smalti, 14k gold, and Swarovksi crystals mixed media piece (14.25 x 13 x .5 and selling for $475) by artist Charlene Sloan.

First place went to Winter's Day End, a lovely oil landscape painting by Laura Hopkins.

The second place award went to Hanging on the Vine, Mixed Media (20 x 25, $500) by Maribe Chandler-Gardiner, and third place to a spectacular sunset oil painting by Sharon Clinton titled (of course) Sunset (oil, 12x19 and $375).

Congratulations to all the prizewinners - well deserved!

Now... for my personal choices.  

First and foremost, I really, really liked all the paintings in the show by that same Sharon Clinton, including that prizewinning Sunset, and also After the Storm, a highly demanding and superbly executed small (8x10 inches) oil - I would have chosen either of those two as Best in Show.

That's Sunset to the right - showcasing the power of color when executed by a talented painter.

The paint application shows an exuberance of that certainty in applying and mixing paint that only comes after a thousand mistakes - each one a learning episode in the glorious path to dominance over the medium.

Another prizewinner for me would have been Jill Garity - her End of Summer (Oil, 16 x 12 for $485) was exceptionally well painted and clearly she has mastered also the palette knife . Garity writes that most of her paintings are "a combination of places that are both real and imagined.They are begun with rough shapes and a pattern of light and dark and are then developed with layers of opaque paint and glazes. Underlayers peeking through providing interest and visual texture. Use of the palette knife in places also provides a randomness that provokes creativity and often takes me on a path I had not planned."  Another winner would have been Contemplating Jackson Falls (Oil, 8 x 6 for $285).

Besides Clinton and Garity, an artist named Anne Reid also caught my eye.  Reid is what my art school professors would have described as a "painter's painter." Her brushwork is forceful and skilled, and it is the application of paint that makes her work stand out.  I quite liked Afternoon Drive (Mixed Media, 5 x 7 for $175) and The Farmer (Mixed Media, 9 x 12 for $450).

That's The Farmer to the right - note the way that Reid has decided to define the road just trod by the tractor.  Notice that colors, and shapes, and texture define the road, in an abstract way that once inside the entire composition becomes a highly realistic road! And yet, if you put a roughly square frame around that foreground road, you have quite an intelligent abstract work!

What else did I like?

I liked Margaret Cassidy's photos, Peggy Weed's Chicks (which was the rest of the Campello family's top pick!), Karen Merkin's Purple Onion, and a few others.

Some constructive criticism: I want several of the artists in this show - including some of my prizewinners - to read this article from over a decade ago: How to Sign Your Artwork.

This is a jewel of a small, intimate show in a memorable small town full of cool little shops and top of the line restaurants - the fried oysters at King Street Oyster Bar are really good, and the Thai food at Thaiverse Restaurant was among the best Thai food that our family has ever had.