Thursday, November 30, 2023

Confluences: Intersectional Visions of Italy at Georgetown University

The Georgetown University Art Galleries and the Italian Cultural Institute of Washington are thrilled to present "Confluences: Intersectional Visions of Italy." The exhibition presents for the first time in the United States a group of artists addressing social justice issues connected to notions of Italy—which is far more complex than the single cultural, political, or social space it is commonly thought to be. 

Artists: Dafne Boggeri, Valeria Cherchi, Giulia Crispiani, Maria Adele Del Vecchio, Binta Diaw, Alessandra Ferrini, Muna Mussie 

These contemporary artists counter such familiar fictions through projects that consider nuances of individual and collective experience across a variety of topics, such as colonialism, societal amnesia, gender-based biases, and civic activism. 

This exhibition will be on view in the de la Cruz and Spagnuolo Art Galleries from January 26th, 2024 - April 7th, 2024. The project is curated by Ilaria Conti and organized by the Italian Cultural Institute of Washington in collaboration with Georgetown University Art Galleries. You are invited to a private curator-led tour of the exhibition on Friday, January 26th at 5 pm. An Opening Reception from 6-8 pm that is free and open to the public will follow. Visitors should RSVP for the Reception here

Saturday, November 25, 2023

The curious case of Stolichnaya and the blacked out name

Over a decade ago I wrote this under the title "Silly Soviets":

I have this collector of my work who is very high up in the food chain over at Bacardi.

Most people don't know how HUGE this private company is, and how averse to publicity the Bacardi family is... but essentially Bacardi is a gargantuan octopus company - that is a company that owns a company, that owns a company, that owns a company and so on.

Anyway, when Stolichnaya (Russian: Столичная, also known as Stoli) was acquired by some group (Latvia or Russia) owned by someone, who is owned by someone, etc., one of the Western tricks that the new owners tried to teach the Stoli management was the trick of putting out the same product under a different label, but cheaper, and to do this whenever they needed a fast cash influx.

They were horrified when Stoli came out a little later with a few thousand cases of the iconic vodka with the same basic label, but with the name blacked out - sort of like what they used to do to porn pics in the 50s and 60s.

Cough, cough...

Friday, November 24, 2023

Fiddler on the Roof at Olney Theatre

Director Peter Flynn’s staging begins after Fiddler’s narrative ends, in a timeless version of the immigration center where the Jews of Anatevka hope to land. Tevye has arrived with his wife and two youngest daughters, eager to regain a sense of community by sharing the story of his family’s displacement and its struggles between tradition and progress. So, he enlists others who want to immigrate to America – and who have likely also been displaced, as he has – in telling his story and creating (metaphorically) the American community he hopes to join. Those whom he enlists will be the ensemble members representing the many different ethnic and religious backgrounds found in the Olney Theatre community, one of the most diverse in America.

The above is from the Olney Theatre's into to the new staging of the timeless story of the lives, woes, happiness and persecution of the Jews of Anatevka, by now one of the most recognizable and truly timeless stage plays of our times.

I first saw this play when our High School class at Aviation High School in Queens, New York went to see in on Broadway; almost 50 years later the play remains as fresh, entertaining and heart-touching as ever!

“Without changing a word or note of this beautiful musical, Peter Flynn’s staging celebrates that most typical Jewish-American journey and links that journey with an American immigrant story that continues today. His idea perfectly reflects the changing mission of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS): We used to aid refugees because they were Jews. Now we aid refugees because we are Jews." As Cantor Stephanie Weishaar said to me when I told her about our plans, ‘the enduring power of Fiddler is that for every culture, in every part of the world, they see THEIR story in Fiddler.’”  -- - Jason Loewith, Artistic Director

The new interpretation (essentially the beginning starts at the arrival to America) is not heavy handed at all, and in fact Fiddler flows in such a way that once the well-known songs start flowing, it remains a magical holiday show.

Sumié Yotsukura
The cast is of the new Fiddler is (as usual with Olney's productions) superb in this often athletic show, with really good performance from Sophie Shulman (Tzeitel), Sumié Yotsukura (Hodel), Rachel Stern (Golde), Ariana Caldwell (Chava), Noah Keyishian (Perchik), Michael Wood (Motel), Howard Kaye (Tevia), and Graciela Rey as the hypnotic Fiddler.

Yotsukura is easily the true stand-out in the show -- she easily floats between the many emotions and feelings of her character with elegance and grace - she's able to capture emotions with physical nuances of her body as a whole, not just macro expressions from her face - without a doubt the rising star of this show. 

Graciela Rey
Rey as the Fiddler is masterful with nearly impossible dance movements, leg lifts, physical flows as she leaps, spins and dances on top of buildings, weaves in and out between members of the cast as an almost invisible force; all along a gleaming smile on her face.

Her athletic prowess ties the entire show together!

The show is choreographed by Lorna Ventura and Directed by Peter Flynn and runs through December 31st.

Olney Theater is located at 2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Road, Olney, MD 20832.

Thursday, November 23, 2023

Prince George's County Artists Exhibition in the Lowe House Office - Deadline Approaching

 Attention Prince George's County Artists

New Call for Arts for

"Collective Ground"

DEADLINE: 11:59PM on December 8, 2023

Submissions are being accepted for "Collective Ground", the 2023 annual art exhibition by Prince George’s County Artists in the Prince George’s Delegation of the Lowe House Office Building, Annapolis, MD. Please, submit by 11:59 pm on December 8, 2023.

For details, visit: https://m-ncppc.submittable.com/submit

Tuesday, November 21, 2023

Obama: What Shows Up in Ebay

The below proof litho done by me in 2007 and sold in 2009 in Philadelphia's historic Obamarama Art Show just showed up on Ebay for sale!

Barack H. Obama, 2007 by Florencio Lennox Campello

See it and buy it here.

Sunday, November 19, 2023

Bethesda Fine Arts Festival Applications Open

The online application is now open for the 2024 Bethesda Fine Arts Festival. This annual festival features 120 of the nation's finest artists, in categories including, but not limited to, ceramics, fiber, glass, painting, photography and sculpture. 

The juried festival provides artists with amenities including 24 hour security of the festival site, booth sitters, breakfast & lunch for participating artists, and more. 

The deadline to apply is Friday, December 22, 2023, and selected artists will be notified in late January 2024.

The Bethesda Fine Arts Festival will be held on May 11 & May 12, 2024 in Woodmont Triangle and will feature our selected artists, live music and local restaurants.

Details and application here.

Saturday, November 18, 2023

Glenstoning

Glenstone,  Potomac,  MD

Together with the famfam I visited Glenstone last Friday -- first time that I have been there since the grand opening a few years ago.

Glenstone Visit,  Potomac,  Maryland

I was particularly interested in seeing Iconoclasts: Selections from Glenstone’s Collection, which as they note:

On long-term view, a selection of works drawn from the museum’s collection will is on view in the Gallery. The exhibition features more than 50 artists who have made some of the most radical contributions to art in the 20th century. Foundational collection artists—such as Willem de Kooning, Alexander Calder, Ruth Asawa, and Martin Puryear, among many others—are on view alongside new acquisitions, including Hilma af Klint’s Tree of Knowledge, 1913-1915.

While Marcel Duchamp's iconic "Fountain" is essentially the battle standard of any artist claiming to be an iconoclast (a person who attacks settled beliefs or institutions), some of the other works in this most excellent collection are not really iconoclastish in my learned opinion.

FOUNTAIN by Marcel Duchamp
And a more sanguine person would add that later in life Dechamp de-iconoclastized himself and his art by succumbing to the k'chiing temptation of art and making reproduction after reproduction of the original "Fountain", which no one has any idea where it ended up at, but I suspect that it is still serving its original purpose in some bathroom in France.

But I digress.

The DMV's own Anne Truitt is also a member in good standing of the iconoclast gang and her piece in this show exemplifies why:

Anne Truitt at Glenstone

Others, such as Ellsworth Kelly - ah! not so much, especially his "Carmen Herrera did this waaaay before paintings."

But in essence, this show is spectacular and well worth the visit to the astonishingly beautiful Glenstone, a marvel of design and nature, in which I am always wondering how they prevent the deer from munching on Jeff Koons' "Split Rocker."

Split-Rocker by Jeff Koons

Friday, November 17, 2023

The curious case of the ten million dollar painting that sold for $40K

He Thought His Chuck Close Painting Was Worth $10 Million. Not Quite - ran the NYT headline about a long-lost Chuck Close painting and the nice dog-walking guy who had been gifted the painting.

Have you ever had this fantasy? You befriend a curmudgeonly stranger and one day, out of the blue, the old grouch bequeaths you a gift to change your life.

For most of us, that fantasy is priceless. But for Mark Herman, a former dog walker now living on Social Security, an auction house in Dallas told him exactly how much that fantasy was worth.

Read the story here.

Thursday, November 16, 2023

November is National Adoption Month

National Adoption Month acknowledges and celebrates adoptive and foster families that help create safe and supportive homes and families for children. 

In November of 2020, my wife Libby and I made the decision to expand our family through adoption. Now, three years later, we celebrate 15 months with our daughter Penny and we couldn't be happier. The adoption process quickly changed any assumptions we previously had and provided us with much insight as to the many personal, emotional, and legal obstacles involved. Our story is just one of a million ways that a family can be created.

- Cory Oberndorfer

Artwork and Donations 
For the remainder of the month of November, 33% of sales of Cory's work will be donated in your name to The Barker Adoption Foundation, an adoption nonprofit. Barker has been serving our area for the past 78 years, placing more than 8,000 children into the welcoming arms of adoptive parents and providing counseling and related support services to more than 30,000 women and families who are considering placing a child up for adoption. Their compassionate services and inclusivity align with the values important to the Oberndorfer Family. 

ShopVisit Cory's online shop to see available works or request new commissions. Larger paintings and commissions are also available by request. You may also contact him directly at cory@coryoberndorfer.com.

Wednesday, November 15, 2023

The curious case of the Washington Post censoring cartoonist Michael Ramirez

Another great example of the Washington Post doing the talk, but not walking the walk.

"I Was Canceled for a Cartoon About Hamas' Human Shields. I Stand by My Cartoon—and Its Critics" says cartoonist Michael Ramirez, whose recent cartoon about mass murdering terrorist Ghazi Hamad was recently censored by the Washington Post.

Cartoon by Ramirez that was pulled from the Washington Post © Michael Ramirez/Las Vegas Review-Journal for the Washington Post
Cartoon by Ramirez that was pulled from the Washington Post
© Michael Ramirez/Las Vegas Review-Journal for the Washington Post

Ramirez eloquently notes:

This cartoon was designed with specificity. Its focus is on a specific individual and the statements he made on behalf of a specific organization he represents—their claims of victimhood, and the plight of innocent Palestinians used as pawns in their political and military strategy.

That person is Ghazi Hamad. The caricature of the central figure looks like Ghazi Hamad.

The organization is Hamas. The main figure in the cartoon is labeled Hamas.

Hamad's words and the innocents bound to him as human shields and their forced martyrdom reflect the official position of Hamas.

Hamas is a terrorist organization that blames Israel for the attack on civilians, but ignores its own complicity in their suffering. It was Hamas that first launched the attack on Israel, continues to use civilian infrastructure as cover, and restricts the evacuation of Gaza civilians from areas which Israel has given advanced warning of strikes.

Gaza civilians are victims. Hamas is not.

It's ironic that those who criticize the cartoon for overgeneralizing and stereotyping cannot seem to distinguish between a known terrorist group and Palestinians. And it's a tragedy that their only way of coping with the truth depicted in my cartoon is to erase it from view.

Shame on the Washington Post decision makers, who once again prove that their backbone has a clear weak point when it comes to standing up to the woke mafia.

Read about it here.

New art exhibition opportunity for Prince George's County artists

Attention Prince George's County Artists

New Call for Arts for

"Collective Ground"


Submissions are now being accepted for "Collective Ground" the 2023 annual exhibition of artwork by Prince George’s County Artists in the Prince George’s Delegation of the Lowe House Office Building, in Annapolis, MD.


DEADLINE: 11:59PM on December 8, 2023


For details, visit: https://m-ncppc.submittable.com/submit


Tuesday, November 14, 2023

What's your favorite work of art?

I originally asked in 2007 and got many, many great answers.

My favorite?

Watson and the Shark, 1778


Watson and the Shark by John Singleton Copley at the National Gallery of Art. It seeks to depict an event that took place in Havana, Cuba, in 1748.

The naked guy in the water is fourteen-year-old Brook Watson, who was attacked by a shark while swimming alone in Havana harbor. Lucky for Watson, some of his mates were already at sea waiting to escort their captain ashore, and were able to fight the shark and rescue Watson, although the shark bit one of his legs off. On his return to England, he got his fifteen minutes of fame and Copley painted this work.

If you study the painting carefully, you will realize that Copley probably had never seen a shark in his life, and his depiction of the great white in Havana harbour yields one of the most ungainly and ugliest non-sharks fish things ever painted.

I love to sit in front of this painting and watch people as they walk by and get mesmerized by the brutal event taking place and kids making fun of the shark.

What is your favorite work of art? Not just DC, but from wherever you [reader] hail from? Email me your favorite and I'll post it!

Sunday, November 12, 2023

Hi-lined at sea

 

LTJG Lenny Campello being hi-lined from USS THORN to USS JOHN KING in 1980s

That's me being hi-lined from USS THORN to USS JOHN KING, somewhere in the Med in the early 80s...

Saturday, November 11, 2023

Two Campellos at UNDER $500 in Baltimore

 


UNDER $500 Benefit Exhibition and Sale: Friday, November 17 | 6 to 10 pm  | Tickets $30 

Last Chance (physical): Saturday, November 18 | 12 to 4 pm

Virtual Exhibition & Sale: Saturday, November 18, 10 am - Black Friday, November 24, 12 am

Deck the walls by giving the gift of art this holiday season! Maryland Art Place (MAP) is excited to host its 11th annual UNDER $500 affordable art sale where artwork is sold on a first-come-first-served basis right off our gallery walls! UNDER $500 promotes the purchase of artwork by artists in the Maryland region. Guests can expect to mingle with other artists, collectors, patrons, and general art enthusiasts at the event. Take your purchases home with you the night of the event. Gift wrapping will be available on-site! 

Ticket & Registration Linkhttps://UNDER5002023.givesmart.com

About UNDER 500: 

This year UNDER $500 will be both a physical and virtual event. The opening night sale (physical) will take place Friday, November 17 from 6 pm to 10 pm (ticketed) and then again on Saturday, November 18, 2023 from noon - 4pm (free). Saturday is a ‘last chance’ opportunity to snag any artworks that remain on MAP’s walls. All participating artists get FREE admission to the physical event on Friday, November 17th.  This year’s theme is WINTER WONDERLAND! 

The virtual sale and exhibition will also take place and will be featured online HERE from Saturday, November 18 at 10 am – Black Friday, November 24 at MIDNIGHT. Artwork will NOT be available to view online until November 18 at 10 am. 


These two works of mine will be available for sale - both under $500!


Sleep is the Cousin of Death by Florencio Lennox Campello, circa 2021
Sleep is the Cousin of Death
by Florencio Lennox Campello, circa 2021

Woman Walking in Baltimore by Florencio Lennox Campello, circa 2018
Woman Walking in Baltimore
by Florencio Lennox Campello, circa 201


Thursday, November 09, 2023

Wanna go to a gallery opening this Saturday in Bethesda?

       "Conversing with Nature" On Exhibit at Gallery B

Gallery B welcomes back Kee Woo Rhee, a nature photographer whose art is driven by her curiosity. Kee Woo Rhee has traveled extensively in search of natural beauty, working to fully absorb the place, visualizing the structures and tones of the setting to build a composition in the form of expressive photography. The November exhibit at Gallery B will share her extensive photographic work from the United States, the Canadian Rockies, New Zealand, Italy, Patagonia, and Korea. 
There will be an opening reception and artist talk Saturday, November 11 from 4-7 PM

Gallery hours are Thursday-Sunday, 12-6 PM. Gallery B is located at 7700 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite E.

Wednesday, November 08, 2023

I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

Up to a couple of days ago, I had never heard of Jennette McCurdy.

If you don't know who she is, this is what Wikipedia notes:

Jennette Michelle Faye McCurdy (born June 26, 1992) is an American actress, singer, and writer. McCurdy's breakthrough role as Sam Puckett in the Nickelodeon sitcom iCarly (2007–2012) earned her four Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards. She reprised the character in the iCarly spin-off series Sam & Cat (2013–2014) before leaving Nickelodeon. McCurdy also appeared in the television series Malcolm in the Middle (2003–2005), Zoey 101 (2005), Lincoln Heights (2007), True Jackson, VP (2009–2010), and Victorious (2012). She produced, wrote, and starred in her own webseries, What's Next for Sarah? (2014), and led the science-fiction series Between (2015–2016).

McCurdy independently released her debut single, "So Close", in 2009. She released her debut EP, Not That Far Away, in 2010, followed in 2012 by the Jennette McCurdy EP and the Jennette McCurdy studio album. The lead single, "Generation Love", reached number 44 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs.

In 2017, McCurdy quit acting to pursue a career in writing and directing. In 2020, she began hosting an interview podcast, Empty Inside. In 2022, she released a memoir, I'm Glad My Mom Died, which quickly topped bestseller lists and received critical acclaim for her description of the pressures she faced as a child star and the abusive behavior of her since-deceased mother.

Here's how I met her: I had just finished listening to one of Malcolm Gladwell's great books (audiobook that is), when to my horror I realized that my entire listening shelf was empty, as the Montgomery County Library listening app (Libby) automatically returns books on your shelf when they're due - imagine that!

I searched for any available audio book, and the first one on the list was some weird juvenile audience book read by a young girl, the next one a Stephen King book that I've read before, the third one a recent book by one of the British princes, and the fourth one was I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy.

The title and the image on the cover caught my eye, and as I was driving, I veered off my lane a little, over corrected, put my cell down, and noted to myself to stop doing dangerous shit like that while driving.

When I arrived where I was going, I parked, retrieved my cell phone and studied the image, which shows a smiling young woman, a tiny woman from the look of her impossibly small waist, holding a pink urn filled with what looks like confetti.

I clicked the "Play a sample" and was immediately assaulted by the fastest speaking human being that I have ever heard on an audiobook and only surpassed that those speeded up people who super-fast-speak all the disclaimers at the end of a commercial.

The narrator is McCurdy, and the speed of her reading is not just remarkable, but a little outside of human capacity, so I have a suspicion of the possibility of an alien abduction of her mom by some alien race able to speak at multiple times the "normal" speech pattern of a human being - even more pronounced by the fact that (technically) she's reading!

And thus, I decided to "borrow" the book and listen to it - enthralled and seduced by the machine gun staccato of her narration.  You are now judging me by saying: "Lenny Campello, you picked a book because of the voice of the narrator?"

Duh! If you are a constant reader of my rantings, then you know that I an easily seduced by voices, be it the irritating phenomenon of "vocal fry", or the strangely-patterned diction of Michael Barbaro, the host of The New York Times news podcast, The Daily, or the NPR ads lady with the "most beautiful voice on the planet."

And thus McCurdy had me within the first 23 seconds of her narration.

The book (by the way) is a raw and spectacular memoir and a brutally honest description of the creation of a child actress star.  A creation guided by, driven by, and controlled by, a mother singularly and terrifyingly focused on making a star out of her daughter.

It is also a book that manages to combine two completely opposites: it is both incredibly funny and heart-breaking sad.

McCurdy has the rare ability to place you next to her when she auditions, in the shower with her when her mother bathes her through her teens, at the table when she is forced to manage her calories and develops into a full-blown bulimic, when she has her first kiss (a screen kiss), and so on. And all through the book we manage to teleport through emotions that are sad, horrific, anger, to the extremes of being super funny at times.

This is an impossibly fucking hard thing to do! She machine-gun sprays you with a few thousand words in 30 seconds as she describes her first period and you feel sorry for her. Suddenly she sprays a torrent of sentences without taking a break and has you in stitches of laughter.

This tiny woman is a genius!

The book will break your heart, as McCurdy pours her out. It will also make you laugh, while reminding you that sometimes laughter can also be sad.  I give it my highest possible recommendation!