They're coming...
From yesterday's WaPo (and my posting a while back)
Fifty terrapin statues will soon appear on the streets of Washington and its suburbs in honor of the 150th anniversary of the founding of the University of Maryland.Let the ranting and raving begin!
The 100-pound turtles -- like the panda, elephant and donkey statues displayed on city streets in recent summers -- will be decorated by local artists and auctioned next fall. The money will go to student scholarships.
What Your End-of-the-Year Top 10 List(s) Says About You
Christmas Art Wish List
1. For the WaPo to do as promised (I have the emails from the editors) and hire a second freelancer and return the Galleries column to its previous weekly format.
2. For most of our area's museum curators to realize that the Greater Washington, DC area is actually part of the United States of America, and for them to take a cab to a DC area art show or artist studio once in a while.
3. For the Corcoran to give Manon Cleary a retrospective.
4. For the Hirshhorn to give Joe Shannon a show.
5. For the Phillips Collection to give Lida Moser a retrospective.
6. For the WPA/C to find a permanent exhibition space somewhere in the city.
7. For Washingtonian magazine to add a regular gallery review column to its monthly format.
8. For one or two of our local TV stations to add one minute a week to their local news hour programs on the subject of area visual arts exhibitions.
9. For some of our area's huge corporations (AOL, Lockheed Martin, Giant Foods) to follow Carol Trawick's example.
10. For a lot of people to get their head out of their ass about the Christmas vs "Holiday Season" issue.
Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, and everything else that says I wish all of you and yours a terrific good wish for everything on your life and your art. Keep creating!
O'Sullivan on PostSecret
The WaPo's Michael O'Sullivan checks in with an intelligent review of Frank Warren's PostSecret exhibition.
Read it here.
Public Art Calls
The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities announces four Calls for Artists:
Deadline: February 17, 2006
14th Street Bridge Tenders' House Public Art Call for Artists: The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, in cooperation with the District Department of Transportation, is seeking an artist, or artist team, to create a permanent public artwork for the 14th Street Bridge Tenders' House. The 14th Street Bridge is the north space bridge crossing the Potomac River that brings vehicular traffic into the District of Columbia. The former drawbridge is the location of a vacant Bridge Tenders' House. Deadline: February 17, 2006. For more information and an application, please visit The Commission's website to download the Call for Artists and application, or call 202-724-5613.
Nepotistas Rule
As we'll soon begin to read the top ten lists in everything, including the visual arts, from both the newsprint media and the online voices, the ever present spirit of nepotism and the "good-ole-boy/girl-network" shall once again raise its phoenixal (is that an adjective? I love the English language!) head, and some of us in the inside/outside will shake our heads knowing that A is a good friend and/or drinking buddy of B, or C's wife works at the blankety-blank newspaper, etc.
Not always, and not all... but there anyway.
But it seems to have bitten the NYT in the butt this year, at least when it comes to their 100 Notable Books of the Year list.
So listmakers: we're watching!
P.S. And you readers: Watch me too!
Bankrupt
WOW! This NYC gallery is in the hole $50 million samolians!
Read the article here (thanks AJ).
New art blog
New (new to me anyway) DC-based art blog: Matthew Langley.
Visit him often.
And Matthew has his end of year top ten list here.
Cornelius on the future of art criticism
...art blogs are the most fascinating aspect affecting the edifice of contemporary art discourse, especially in the area of future market impact...So wrote to me the fair Kathryn Cornelius in commenting about the whole "Critic on Criticism" post.
Mama Love
Camille Mosley-Pasley, one of Washington's most active and innovative photographers, is looking for more moms of color and babies for her Mama Love book.
If you or someone you know has a baby, please contact Camille by e-mail ASAP. She's scheduling appointments for December 23 & 30. There will be two more sessions in January. Go here for details.
PostSecret on TV
Just saw an interview and a long segment (over five minutes) on MSNBC on Frank Warren's PostSecret exhibit!
And the fair Amy Robach even hinted that she'd mail in a secret.
See the TV clip here. Scroll down to bottom of page; the link is under "The Situation" banner and it's titled Post card confessions.
JET to close in DC
JET Gallery on R Street has closed. Their news release reads in part:
This exhibition marks the final show at JET Artworks’ gallery in Washington, DC before moving to Chicago’s West Loop gallery district in the spring 2006. Owners Jamil Farshchi, Erin Houchen, and Thomas Robertello wish to thank the art audience of Washington for their enthusiastic support of JET artists. JET plans to reopen in its new location with Thomas Robertello as sole owner/director.DC Art News wishes Thomas and the new gallery the best of luck in Chicago.
Opportunity for Artists
The Ellipse Arts Center and The Washington Project for the Arts\Corcoran (WPA/C) present: Conversions. According to the press release, it is "An exhibition exploring spatial interpretations juried from three distinct points of view."
The Call: As their first collaboration, The Ellipse Arts Center and The Washington Projectfor the Arts\Corcoran are proud to present Conversions.
This exhibition will bejuried from digital images, slides, and site installation proposals by Sam Gilliam (established Washington, DC Artist), Dennis O'Neil (Director of Handprint Workshop International and teacher at the Corcoran College of Art & Design), and Heather & Tony Podesta (Internationally-known contemporary art collectors).
With this exhibition, The Ellipse Arts Center and the WPA\C hope to meld the distinct viewpoints of the jurors as well as offer submitting artists the opportunity to create site-specific installations. A $250 stipend will be awarded to all finalists who are selected to participate in Conversions.
Prospectus available here.
Critic on Criticism
Amy over at ARTery tipped me to a really interesting article by Jerry Salz on art criticism. Read that article here.
And Amy also notes that NYC gallerist and fellow blogger Edward Winkleman has responded and his response has created a whole series of interesting comments, with the usual anon attacks that seem to follow any art discussion, and the usual easily bruised writer who dishes it out with brutal gusto but can't take it when it bounces back, etc.
There are, however, otherwise some really good points in the comments.
The key issue to me?
Winkleman smartly notes that With art, in New York City, there's no such guarantee you'll ever know [whether a critic liked a show], even when you know they saw it, even for the largest artists or most powerful galleries. If The New York Times, for example, on average, publishes 7 major reviews and two articles in each Friday edition, that totals about 470 reviews each year. The problem is there are more about 470 exhibitions per month*, meaning that more than 11/12ths of all exhibitions will not be reviewed in the Times. For the Village Voice, the number of reviews is fewer than half that. So if you are the lucky artist who gets a review, you've already beaten incredible odds. At that point, for the review to be unfavorable seems almost cruel.
Translate that into Washingtonese, and remember that the WaPo has only two gallery reviews a month, plus one in Weekend section every once in a while (and thank God for those!).
And, uh... the WaPo's Chief Art Critic is too good to write about DC area art galleries or DC artists on a regular basis (except to note when they are barely emerging).
So let's say... four gallery reviews a month (and yeah, I know once a month is the multiple mini-review day) at the WaPo.
And on any given month in the Greater Washington area there are (by the time you add the independent fine art galleries, the non profits, the embassy galleries and the cultural centers) around 100 different visual art shows to choose from.
And at least NYC has a whole bunch of newspapers, plus all the NYC-centric art mags, all the freebies, etc. to augment the NYT's coverage.
Other than the WaPo, we should be grateful that the City Paper covers as many shows as they do. But even adding the CP's coverage, the chance of an artist or show to be reviewed in print in our area is pretty slim.
As Larry David would say: "Pretty, pretty slim!"
So if we take Winkleman's point that "at that point, for the review to be unfavorable seems almost cruel" -- then we have some pretty f&^%$# cruel writers in the nation's capital area, don't we?
Art criticism should (in fact it must) have teeth; but it must also be even. When was it the last time that you read a published review around our area where the critic was really passionate about a show that she/he really liked?
Pretty, pretty cruel.
Kong
Last night I had dinner with that living legend known as Lida Moser, who was telling me stories about Alice Neel moving to Havana, after Neel married her first husband (who apparently was an art student in NYC and from a wealthy Cuban family). Neel related to Moser that she couldn't find women's shoes in Havana to fit her healthy Midwestern feet. I thought that was funny!
Afterwards, as I had received a couple of complimentary tickets to King King in the mail, I went to see the film, which was OK, but way too long and a bit annoying in a couple of areas.
The "lost island" scenes were terrific, and that was almost a movie by itself, but when Kong was fighting the Ty Rexes I glanced at my watch, and saw that it was already two hours gone by and I thought "Mmm... two hours gone and they haven't even got the monkey to Manhattan yet."
The movie also has an annoying effect of seeming like it was directed by three different people (the whole side story with the "Jimmy" character was lost on me), and even more annoying was the fact that the Anne Darrow character spends a ton of time running around a frozen New York in a negligee and she's apparently immune to the cold.
Other than that, the special effects were very good, the entire island scenes were outstanding (although the Kong fight scene with the Rexes took way too long, as did the dinosaur mass crash).
Curtis in MOMA
ANABA reveals that MOMA has recently acquired a Tony Curtis painting for its permanent collection.
Read it here.
Top Ten Lists
The end of the year is time for everyone to come up with their "Top Ten Lists" for nearly everything.
Email me yours for the top 10 art exhibitions in our area in 2005 and I'll post them here.
One Word Project
J.T. Kirkland, over at Thinking About Art, has been conducting a fascinating art project that he titles the One Word Project.
The project started here a while back, and so far about 40 artists have participated.
Essentially, here's the deal in Kirkland's owns words: "first, if I am not familiar with the artist's work I will want to review it (jpegs, Web site, maybe even a studio visit, etc). Once I get somewhat familiar with the work, I will communicate a single word that comes to mind about the art. I will ask that the artist write 100-500 words about the chosen word and what it means in their art. Because the "question" is so open ended, I think it will allow the artist much freedom to discuss their work and their thought processes. I would then like to publish the writing and a couple of examples of the artist's work on this site."
The One Word Project has been a terrific success, and Kirkland is planning to publish a book! See details on the book's progress here.
He's looking for more participants for a second project: The Artists' Interview Artists Project, and interested artists (and it is now open to all artists - not just area artists) should contact Kirkland at Thinking About Art.
Second Annual Bethesda Painting Awards
Deadline: January 31, 2006
The Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District is currently accepting applications for the second annual Bethesda Painting Awards. This is one of the nation's largest cash award painting prizes funded through the generosity of Carol Trawick.
Eight finalists will be selected to display their work in an exhibition during the month of June 2006 at the Fraser Gallery in downtown Bethesda, and the top four winners will receive $14,000 in prize monies.
Best in Show will be awarded $10,000; Second Place will be honored with $2,000 and Third Place will receive $1,000. Additionally, a "Young Artist" whose birthday is after January 31, 1976 will be awarded $1,000.
Artists must be 18 years of age or older and residents of Maryland, Virginia or Washington, D.C.
All original 2-D painting including oil, acrylic, watercolor, gouache, encaustic and mixed media will be accepted. The maximum dimension should not exceed 60 inches in width or 84 inches in height. No reproductions.
Artwork must have been completed within the last two years and must be available for the duration of the exhibition. Each artist must submit five slides, application and a non-refundable entry fee of $25. For a complete application, please send a self-addressed stamped envelope to:
Bethesda Painting Awards
c/o Bethesda Urban Partnership
7700 Old Georgetown Road
Bethesda, MD 20814
Or visit this website or call 301/215-6660
Secret Visit
Yesterday I snuck away from the Georgetown gallery and visited the PostSecret exhibition at the former Staples store on M Street.
The place was packed!
I cannot recall a gallery or non-blockbuster museum event in the DC area (ever) where -- after the opening night -- there are actually hundreds of people in the art venue, hypnotized by the work on display, as what I saw yesterday around 4PM at Frank Warren's exhibit.
I was almost as mesmerized by the intensity on the faces of the visitors, as they went from card to card, reading funny secrets, sad secrets, gross secrets, silly secrets, shared secrets. I made several circuits through the exhibition: the first to look through the cards; the second and third to look at the people reading the cards, and how they became part of the exhibit itself.
Warren has really tapped into something here, and it couldn't have happened to a nicer person. And the WPA/C should be congratulated for bringing this spectacular event to the eyes and attention of Washingtonians; Kim Ward and her crew are really doing a spectacular job over at the WPA/C since Ward took over.
Whatever you do through January 8, 2006 - DO NOT MISS this exhibition, and bring people along with you.
And I sincerely hope that our area museum curators set aside their Washington apathy and also come and visit what is perhaps the greatest interactive public art project in the history of the genre.
Warren is making art history in our own backyard, and so I'm shouting to the Hirshhorn, to the SAM, to the NGA, and to the Corcoran: WAKE UP!
Text in Art
As most of you know, I've become very interested over the last year or so in art that works with, or incorporates text. In Seven, I dedicated an entire gallery room to a group of artists working with text in their work. Next year I am taking those artists to an exhibition at the new Greater Reston Arts Center, and I am working now to also do it in a Virginia museum after that.
And speaking of text in art, I've been hearing good things about the exhibition by Rose Folsom at The Mansion at Strathmore Hall.
Folsom's show was a Hot Pick of the Week by the Washington Times.
Rose Folsom is an amazing calligrapher who has migrated the art of writing towards the fine arts, period. She writes:
At age five I wanted so much to write that I pestered an older playmate into teaching me. When I was seven, I took apart a little paper umbrella to find a tiny roll of Japanese newspaper inside. As I unrolled it, the magical characters were clearly trying to tell me something, but what? I ran to my parents and was told that only a Japanese person could read what it said. I daydreamed about a little girl my age on the other side of the world who could read and understand the tantalizing text. How I longed to know what it said! Meanwhile, the angular characters, lined up like little soldiers, spoke to me of an exotic world that sparked my imagination. This began a life-long fascination with the written word.And I am told that the show at Strathmore (which I plan to see next week) offers a show that provides evidence that her fascination has delivered a superb show. C.D. Tansey writes about it:
One thing that impresses itself on the viewer is that the writing is not immediately decipherable... It demands a closer look. There is an attempt to communicate something, but the "written paintings" ask the viewer to actively set out to decipher what is there. We are not the merely passive receivers of the words, but we are asked to participate in a conversation.The exhibition goes through December 30, 2005.
Already we are in a different realm than the everyday world of words, which, more and more, are crafted so as to be quickly read and understood. Words have in many cases been reduced in our age to a means to and end. Words are how we understand how to get something done - buying, selling, informing, or getting from one place to another. The more transparent words are, the more useful, seems to be the conventional wisdom.
Words here in this show become not a means to an end, but actually a nexus of mystery and relationship. Relationship is the key word here, because often there is a dialogue going on the painting - a dialogue between two voices. Sometimes the dialogue is humorous, as in "He Said, She Said"; but more often the dialogue points at something more poignant.
In the paintings entitled "Letter to," one can't help but think of Emily Dickinson's "Letters to the World," and implicit is the idea of a soul in an almost heroic attempt at bridging a divide - sending a letter to reach the shores of another soul, almost like a message in a bottle cast into the sea.
This is interesting because in the era of e-mails and instant messaging, it has become true that a hand-written letter has suddenly become a rarity. The hand-written letter in this day and age signals a special care and attention, and a reaching out of a special kind.
Another thought: Just as Emily Dickinson took the metric of the traditional Protestant hymn, and used it as a foundation for a completely original and personal artistic expression - these paintings use the traditional form of calligraphy, and, while staying true to that tradition, charge the writing, the words, with an utterly personal and original meaning.
Another thought: the Protestant "motto," "Sola Scriptura," is here being given a second look. Yes, these are words, but they are also images! From the Cattholic point of view, this makes complete sense, because after all the "Word became FLESH, and dwelt among us." In their being willed into a picture, into a substantiality (of sorts), these word-pictures are a symbol of God's own creative activity. The word is not an abstract thing, but is tied to personal meanings, and personal history, tied to the world, and, even more importantly, tied to God's own ongoing conversation with the world!
And that, finally is what is most powerful about the paintings. Without being too heavy-handed about it, they allude constantly to God's own wish to converse with us - a conversation in which we are not just passive recipients, but in which we must RESPOND. In that conversation, we are caught up in a love, which while essential to our fulfillment, is at the same time an ever-present mystery.
Secondsight Meeting
The next Secondsight meeting will be held on Friday, January 27th at 6.30pm.
Secondsight is an organization dedicated to the advancement of women photographers through support, communication and sharing of ideas and opportunities.
The guest speaker for the January 27th Secondsight meeting is Paul Roth, Associate Curator of Photography and Media Arts, Corcoran Gallery of Art.
Paul Roth is responsible for the museum’s extensive collection of photographs and manages its active exhibition schedule. His areas of expertise are postwar American photography and the history of film.
Mr. Roth will be discussing a variety of issues, including "What makes a photograph 'fine art'"?
Please visit www.secondsightdc.com for more information.
Secondsight
PO Box 34405
Bethesda, MD 20827
www.secondsightdc.com
301/718-9651
Secrets
I missed the opening for PostSecret because of the bad weather and the fact that I was working till the last minute for my exhibit, but Alexandra Silverthorne didn't and she has great photos from the PostSecret opening here.
I'll be at the Georgetown gallery from noon until six PM today; come and say hi.
Articulation at Pyramid Atlantic
Recently I walked the frozen tundra of Georgia Avenue in order to visit some of the venues in Silver Spring’s December Art Walk. And the highlight of the walk was an amazing installation at Pyramid Atlantic.
Created by Francie Hester and a multitude of other persons, this collaborative installation (titled "Articulation") is a touching in memoriam for Diane Granat Yalowitz.
Diane Granat Yalowitz was a journalist and writer for Washingtonian Magazine, where she was a senior editor and writer covering immigration, medicine and counseling. She died last year at the age of 49.
I am not a big fan of installations; most of them are a waste of time and space. However, the installation at Pyramid Atlantic is simply amazing.
Under Hester’s direction, people and friends who knew Granat worked on a project to wrap about 20,000 paper clips with bits of paper from her publications. The paper clips were then linked and joined together to make strings that dangle from the ceiling of the vault inside Pyramid Atlantic.
The instant allegory, especially when touched, is that of rain or a tropical scene, especially since the installation also includes the accompanying music of percussionist Luis Garay, sung without words by Joan Phalen (I am told as dictated by the mystical Chassidic tradition of "nigun").
There’s also a hypnotizing element by Lisa Hill: a digital screen that dynamically shows the process of wrapping the paper clips. It reminded me of a code breaking computer attempting to decipher an encoded message. Hill noted that "words surfaced, then disappeared, then resurfaced," and on the computer screen, the words float in an out of the mystical digital surface of the screen.
This installation was one of the most moving examples of the genre that I have ever seen, and it made me reflect on the power of words and art, when married together by skilled artists delivering something new and memorable to the dialogue of that often maligned genre.
The exhibit at Pyramid Atlantic goes through December 23rd.
Tonight's the night
Working till the last minute for my yearly opening in Georgetown tonight from 6-9PM.
Just finished "American Justice," charcoal on Paper, 7 x 29 inches, and the original drawing is matted and framed under glass to 10x32 inches.
See the other drawings here.
Cajun Christmas
Cajun Christmas is private home as a public art project by Laura Elkins running through January 28, 2006.
Cajun Christmas is a seasonal work painted by Elkins as
"if the devastation of the floodwaters in New Orleans has extended to my house on Capitol Hill. This work uses the house as painting support and is the latest piece in HOME wRAP, a group of monumental paintings that addresses the politicization of private life and the demise of domesticity."
Gray
The WaPo's Philip Kennicott has an interesting, if somewhat odd and out-of-place (for the WaPo that is) essay in today's paper.
Read The Bright Side of Gray here. (Kennicott would be in pure heaven if he lived in Seattle).
Panel on Homer
Renowned landscape artist Barbara Ernst Prey will be at the National Gallery of Art Sunday at 2:30 pm to speak on "The Watercolors of Winslow Homer."
Prey, who has a studio in Maine and lives on Long Island, joins Franklin Kelly, Curator of American and British Paintings at the National Gallery of Art and Judy Walsh, former National Gallery of Art Conservateur, in a Homer panel discussion.
Bloggers do art
DCist is kind enough to use one of my images to pick up on the fact that three DC area visual art Bloggers are having art shows this week.
Read DCist's Arts Agenda here.
Borf canned
WaPo reports on the Borf guilty plea.
"Under terms of the agreement with prosecutors, Tsombikos will have to pay $12,000 in restitution. He'll have to surrender just about anything he used to make graffiti, including stencils, spray paint and his computer.But this is the one that gets me:
And he'll have to do something that might be harder for him than jail time: remove graffiti. For 80 of the 200 hours of community service that he owes, Tsombikos must help rid the District of the sort of eyesores left by graffiti artists like him."
"Tsombikos is scheduled to start classes next month at the Corcoran College of Art and Design, attorney Michael Madden told the judge.I'm sorry... WHAT?
So when the prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Alessio Evangelista, asked the judge to order Tsombikos to stay out of the District until the sentencing, Madden was concerned.
"This is an open city," Madden said, noting the District's status as the nation's capital. And on a practical level, Tsombikos lives in its suburbs and has friends in the District, Madden said.
But Leibovitz was unimpressed, pointing out that the teenager had just pleaded guilty to a felony.
Between now and his sentencing, she said, Tsombikos is allowed to come to the District for classes and court but for nothing else.
And she kept in place an order banning him from carrying art supplies of any sort -- an order that Madden said would be an undue hardship given Tsombikos's studies.
Once again, the judge didn't give any ground.
'Go to school,' she told Tsombikos, 'but you can't carry supplies to and from.' "
Mapping It
Rebecca Hinton has a most interesting map derived from US Census data showing the number art, entertainment, and recreation establishments (i.e. music venues, art galleries, cultural sites, for each U.S. state, according to the 2002 census (generalized)).
I would suspect that the census data would not include venues (such as libraries and restaurants, etc.) that also regularly display art as part of their daily business, since that's not their census code. And I bet that in DC's case, it also does not include the dozens and dozens of art galleries that are located inside the foreign embassies in our city, since those are not (technically) located inside the U.S. nor are they U.S. businesses.
Click on the map or go here, to see a larger map.
Well done Rebecca! You get an A+ from DC Art News!
Crawl
Last night I first had dinner (some excellent Dominican food) at Los Arrieros in Silver Spring and then saw the ArtDC fundraiser exhibit (where I bought a tiny watercolor by Patricia Hartnett), then I walked the frozen tundra of Georgia Avenue and dropped by Pyramid Atlantic to see the amazing Francie Hester collaborative installation "Articulation," in memoriam for Diane Granat Yalowitz.
Earlier on the day I also saw the two art shows up at the Art League in Alexandria and also visited the current photography show at Multiple Exposures and the current show at Target Gallery.
More on all those later, as I have a superbusy day today!
Opening this weekend
The Mitch Snyder Arts & Education Center, dedicated to providing homeless people access to education, computers and the arts, is holding an art opening this weekend, showcasing work done by homeless Washingtonians as well as local artists involved with the program.
They are seeking to raise awareness about homelessness, showcase the work of our artists, and raise funds for the Center.
The openings are Friday Dec. 16th, 5:30 – 7:30 pm and Saturday Dec. 17th, 12:00 – 2:00 pm. The openings feature recent artwork by Clive Turner, Qin Xi Lin & Lucy Umberger; a new exhibit: The Steps of Homelessness, which is a stairway display of poetry and artwork by residents of CCNV homeless shelter; new & used art sale to benefit the Arts Center, and music and refreshments.
Mitch Snyder Arts & Education Center
117 D St. NW, 2nd floor
Washington, DC 20001
202-393-1909 ext.300
DC Arts Commission Grants
Deadlines: January 18 and 20, 2006.
The New Media and Audio Program offers individual grants of up to $10,000 to artists and arts organizations for support of innovative New Media and Audio projects. Deadline: Jan 18, 2006.
There's also a "Folk Arts Mini Grants" of $1000.00 each. That deadline is January 18, 2006. The Folk & Traditional Arts Mini-Grant (FTA) offers quick response small-scaled grants up to $1,000 to artists and arts organizations practicing or supporting folk traditions.
For more info, go to this website and click on "Opportunities for Artists."
There's a "How to Apply" workshop at the Arts Commission on December 15th from 6 - 7 pm. (it is free). Call them for more info at 202-724-5613.
Wanna go to an opening tonight?
There is an opening at Los Arrieros Restaurant (7926 Georgia Ave., Silver Spring, MD) starting at 7PM. This exhibition is the artdc.org fund raiser. All artwork is for sale ranging from $50-$300.
If you believe in artdc.org and have a few bucks to spare, stop by and buy some art. 70% goes to the artist directly. The rest will be used to help them with marketing or printing costs, snail mail, and other promo avenues.
ArtDC.org has been growing in leaps and bounds and now has 685 registered users. Some of the artists in this show include: Vèrta Reyes, Matt Achhammer, Angela Kleis, Heather Levy, Kim Reyes, Robin Walker, Jessie Marie Maraschiello, Joshua Yospyn, Eric Reiffenstein, Rose Kane, Lola Akinmade, Matt Billings, Erin Antognoli, Andy Cleavenger, Lee Vaughan, John Spaulding, Mara Odette, Virginia Nostrand, Sheffied Burroughs, Christopher Goodwin, Richard Chu, Antoinette Wysocki, Darren Smith, J. Halloran, Behnam Farahpour, Patricia Hartnett and Stephanie Booth.
Songs about art, artists & painting
Anna L. Conti has a most excellent list of songs about art, artists and painting.
See it here.
WPA\C Presents: PostSecret
At last!
Washington Project for the Arts\Corcoran Association (WPA\C) is hostng the PostSecret exhibition, a public art project founded and curated by Frank Warren and first debuted in the much maligned (in the DC press that is) Art-O-Matic.
Nothing like spectacular success to make all the AOM critics eat crow, uh?
The opening reception (and fundraiser for Kristin Brooks Hope Center) will be held on Wednesday, December 14, from 6:00-10:00 p.m. ($10.00 suggested donation).
Warren's instructions were simple, and judging from his spectacular achievements, the results have been perhaps one of the most successful public art projects in history!
"You are invited to anonymously contribute a secret to a group art project. Your secret can be a regret, fear, betrayal, desire, confession, or childhood humiliation. Reveal anything --- as long as it is true and you have never shared it with anyone before. Be brief. Be legible. Be creative."In November of 2004 Frank Warren printed 3000 postcards inviting people to share a secret with him.
Opportunity for Photographers
Deadline: December 31, 2005
The 2005 National Photo Awards is now accepting entries. Open to all amateur, emerging and professional photographers. A separate monthly print competition is also available. The competition offers cash and prizes for the winners in the various categories. Winners will be selected in several categories. $9.00 for each photo entered into the monthly competition, $14.00 for each single photo or $28.00 for each series entered into the main competition.
To request your 2005 entry forms and view past winners, contact:
2005 National Photo Awards
59456 330th St
Warroad MN 56763 or call 218-386-2100 email awards@mncable.net
Silverthorne on Group Show
Alexandra Silverthorne checks in with a quickie review of our current Winter Group Show in Bethesda.
Read the review here.
The Evolution of a Drawing
Another one of the recurring themes that I continually revisit in my own artwork is the imagery of Saint Sebastian.
A few years ago I did a massive ink wash drawing of St. Sebastian. I was titled "St. Sebastian in a Dissolving Gene Davis Landscape," and I think that it eventually sold through Sothebys.com. It looked like this:
Anyway... that ink drawing was supposed to be the anchor for an oil painting that I never created, but the image of the martyr remained with me, and a couple of days ago I finished the following piece, which is charcoal on 300 weight paper, and about 4.5 inches by 16.5 inches.
This piece will be at my show opening next Friday at Fraser Gallery Georgetown. See more of the work for that exhibition online here.
Washington Glass School Moving Sale
The Washington Glass School is getting kicked out of their spaces due to the eminent domain "rights" of the city and in order to build the Nats' new stadium.
And thus they are hosting a Holiday Sale and Open House at their current spaces on Half St. SE. today.
This will be their final day at the old location before the big move, so they will be selling off every piece of glass and artwork thats in situ rather than move it.
Lots of food, art, glass, and music.
When : Saturday, Dec. 10th from 2 to 6pm - free of charge.
What : Washington Glass School's Holiday Party and Open House
Where : at the Washington Glass School
1338 Half St. SE
Washington, DC 20003
202-744-8222
Plenty of free parking right outside or they are 1 1/2 blocks from the Navy Yard metro (green line) on Capitol Hill.
ArtHelps Update II
I know that I've already reported on the ArtHelps auction, but I've got some more info and because this is an important auction for a good cause, I wanted to pass on more details.
Assuming everyone who bid and won comes back to claim and pay for their night's claim, they will surpass a total bid amount of $30,000 -- which also includes about $4,000 in bids for travel packages and about $14K coming from the art from the ArtHelps collection that was auctioned and will be divided three ways: to Food & Friends, DCAC and to the event itself.
The remaining $12,000 in bidding was done on donated works from artists and galleries who stepped up to the plate to raise some money and raise some awareness about art life in the DC community.
It's my hope that next year more galleries and more artists and more bidders will make the 2006 ArtHelps even more successful.
Bethesda Art Walk tonight
The snow has been cleared and the galleries will be open!
This is the second Friday of the month and thus it's the Bethesda Art Walk with 13 participating venues and with free guided tours.
And we will have our annual Winter Group Show, featuring an entire gallery full of new work by the artists that we represent as well as invited work by several past competitions prizewinners.
We will also be showing three small miniatures by our latest artist that we're now representing: Marianela de la Hoz.
If you recall, I fell in love with her work when I first saw it at the Mexican Cultural Institute a while back. I then visited her in San Diego, and now she will be part of our represented artists. For this group show she has created three small egg temperas with the usual play on imagery and words that attracted so much attention at the Cultural Institute and more recently at Scope Miami.
In this group show we will have three pieces by Marianela:
1. "Ideas Necias, mi cabeza-pelota bota" ("Stubborn ideas, my ball-head bounces") Egg tempera on board, 5.3 x 2.1 inches.
2. "Camina aparentemente libre" ("She walks pretending to be free") Egg tempera on board, 4.5 x 2.7 inches.
3. "Adiós de TintorerÃa" ("Farewell drycleaners style") Egg tempera on board, 5.3 x 3.1 inches.
More images of other artists here.
Naked Knitting
Remember the exhibition curated by Binnie Fry that caused all the ruckus because of the nudity in some of the crocheted figures? If not, see the original posting about it here.
Anyway, American Craft Magazine just published a review of that show.
Snowy Inspiration
For some reason snowy days seem to inspire me to get down and draw. And I was up and early this morning and finished the below, somewhat silly drawing.
It is titled "Woman on the Moon About to be Swept Off Her Feet by a Flying Bald Man." It is charcoal on 300 weight paper, and about six by five inches. It will be at my show, which opens next Friday at Fraser Gallery Georgetown.
See some of the other drawings that will be in the exhibition here.
The Police on D. Billy and Nathan Manuel
The world's number-one Google return for "anti Texas Longhorn"... ah... reviews D. Billy and Nathan Manuel at DCAC.
Read it here.
By the way, the artists will be having a talk at DCAC on Sunday December 11 at 5PM.
Over at Anacostia
I am hearing good things about the current exhibition at the Anacostia Museum: "Reclaiming Midwives: Pillars of Community Support"; the main exhibit focuses on the story of African American midwives.
Authentic Art has a great posting about the show; read it here.
Camille Mosley-Pasley, one of DC's best photogs is in the show (disclaimer: Camille is in my own private collection and we have sold her work through Sotheby's).
Studio Space
Deadline to apply: December 16 (must be received)
The City of Greenbelt announces that two studios will soon become available through the City’s Artist in Residence program. This program is open to residents of Maryland working at a professional level in any visual arts or fine crafts medium.
The studios are located at the Greenbelt Community Center – a National Historic Landmark housing a professional art gallery, history museum, digital video and TV production studio, darkroom, fine arts and ceramics studios, and other resources.
Advantages for the artist include: 24-Hour access; Low cost: $142 and $213/month, based on square footage; HEAT and AC included; Ample natural light; Ample free parking; Teaching opportunities; Easy access from I-95, the Washington Beltway, and the Baltimore/Washington Parkway; Supportive environment: 10-12 Artists in Residence participating; Short walk to Café, independent cinema, library, lake trail, gyms and other amenities
Contact Nicole DeWald at 240/542-2057, or ndewald@ci.greenbelt.md.gov if you wish to request an application, tour, or additional information.
Mmmm...
This is unexpected...
According to MyBlog stats, DC Art News actually sent more of our readers to MSNBC through our link, than MSNBC sent here through their mention of DC Art News on their Blog.
ArtHelps Report
The ArtHelps silent auction last night was packed to the rafters with elegantly-dressed people, and there was tons of great food and good wine and beer, and bids were abundant and redundant and all for a good cause (benefiting Food & Friends and DCAC).
I ran into the fair Kathryn Cornelius, and for quite a while I was in a bidding fight for her donated work, until a tiny (and well-known DC area art activist and art organizer and all-around good person) threatened me with bodily harm if I continued to outbid her, so I retreated quietly into the background.
The auctioned artwork is online here by the way.
I also ran into the fair Heather Russell from Irvine Contemporary (their gallery donated quite a few pieces to the auction - well done!) and her cute sister from Richmond. Heather was also bidding madly on a few pieces, including this early Andrew Wodzianski oil (from when he was an MFA candidate at MICA). The painting received at least a dozen bids and went to a very excited couple.
This oil by Sondra Arkin was also attracting a lot of attention, going way over its estimated price.
This signature glass heart by Tim Tate also received fast and furious bids, which extended onto the back of the bidding form, and kept coming even as the deadline approached. It also caused a little controversy, as when the bidding forms were removed from the floor, apparently an extra bid was added on the way down to deliver the bid forms. The loser was heartbroken (pun intended), but it all ended well (I am told) because Tate agreed to donate a second heart and thus everyone is a winner.
The steal of the night?
This amazing sculpture by NYC artist Josh Levine was won by the fair Kristina Bilonick, gallerina for DCAC for let's say... a steal!
Good eye Kristina!
Read Alexandra Silverthorne's report here.
See Anne Marchand's report and many photos here.
Tape Dude in Paris
Mark Jenkins' work has a double page feature in December issue of the Paris-based mag "Etapes."
See it online here.
Art volunteers needed by two projects
There are a couple of art events brewing in our area that are looking for volunteers to assist with the art event itself.
First of all, for the last few months Catriona Fraser has been curating our first exhibition of 2006. That show, titled "Interface" seeks to present an exhibition of what happens when art and technology meet.
Several new works have been commissioned for the show, which includes work by Kathryn Cornelius, Claire Watkins, Scott Hutchison, Thomas Edwards, David Page, Philip Kohn and others.
One of the artists in the show, David Page (who was the 2004 Trawick Prize winner - one of his projects is pictured above) needs two volunteers 5'8" or smaller, weighing 160lbs or less. They should not be claustrophobic, asthmatic and should be in general good health. Contact David at david@davidpageartist.com.
And the Hirshhorn is seeking help with a Directions project that they are hosting at the Hirshhorn on Saturday, April 29, 2006. They are in the process of recruiting 40 to 60 residents of the greater DC area to be part of a performance organized by New York-based artist Oliver Herring (b. Heidelberg, Germany, 1964). The group of volunteers will perform simple, creative tasks on the Hirshhorn plaza over the course of eight hours.
The museum need volunteers who are interested in exchanging ideas and developing a sense of community through the arts. They hope to build a group ranging in age from teenagers to seniors and representing different professions and interests. They are looking for both artists and "non-artists."
To learn more about the project please visit this website. There is also a link to project information on the Hirshhorn home page.
If someone is interested in participating, all they need to do is fill out a short form available at the link above. Please feel free to contact Assistant Curator Kristen Hileman at the museum if you have any questions about the project.
If you would like to learn more about the artist, you might visit Oliver Herring’s page on the Art 21 site.
Power of the Web
The Wednesday snail mail delivered a dedicated copy of the 2006 Whitney Biennial catalog!
I am being asked to give video a chance (probably in response to this).
Gee... thanks!
Unclothed Political Art
Nekkid with a Camera has a great discussion going on about political art...
This is why newspapers' days are numbered: Immediate discussion on an interesting issue.
Join in here.
Go Sam! (oops! I mean Samantha)
Video Feedback
David A. Ross, the President of the Artist Pension Trust reponds to my Video Killed the Radio (and Art?) Star posting with the following:
As a curator working with video since 1971, I have encountered your argument several time before. As you may imagine, since the early days of video, the concern -- voiced in the Wash Po piece and in your response, has been the same: "Why watch video in a gallery when it is best viewed at home?"
On a certain level, that is true, if the work is intended for the social context provided by home viewing (on line or on TV). Or, if the work does not demand the formal support of a sculptural space (i.e. multiple monitors, live video components, projected work with complex sound elements, etc. etc.).
But finally it is also the social context of an environment that is not a theater and not a living room, but some other space generally (or formerly) reserved for the quiet contemplation of art objects that appeals to some artists using video to place information some may deem non-artistic (like documentary footage of everyday life). The friction of this mismatch is often a central element of the work, and not just a curatorial or artistic conceit.
But of course, when an artwork fails then all bets are off, and it can be revealed as lacking in many ways-- including it's use of gallery space.
David A. Ross
What to do and see this week
Wednesday: Time for the ArtHelps Silent Auction from 5pm–10pm at the offices of JAM Communications. Cocktails and hors d'ouvres will be served and it's all free and open to the public. See the donated artwork here.
Also on Wednesday, from 6-8pm, Art-O-Matic is hosting a happy hour at Warehouse Galleries and Theatre complex. The swirl for the 2006 show is beginning! They’re gearing up for a 2006 event. Catch up with friends and like-minded artists. Find out how you can be a part of the 2006 AOM sensation. Special beer prices.
Thursday: There is an artist reception on Thursday evening 6-8PM, 
Also on Thursday, Provisions Library hosts Provisions 101, a special reception from 6-8 pm. This is an opportunity to meet the Provisions staff, find out more about what they do and see their current exhibit (DeeDee Does Utopia: Propaganda Collage by Deborah Faye Lawrence). Refreshments will be served. Their hosts for the evening are Dru Ryan and Lalitha Gopalan. Dru is Editor of The Journal of Hip-Hop and teaches at George Mason University and Lalitha is Associate Professor at Georgetown University specializing in film and cinema studies. Dru and Lalitha will share their insights into alternative education and the links between art, activism and academia with special emphasis on film, media and visual culture. RSVP to Katy Otto at kotto@provisionslibrary.org or call 202-299-0460.
And at the McLean Project for the Arts' Emerson Gallery, Seeds: Gail Gorlitzz and Karin Birch opens on Thursday with a reception and gallery talk from 7-9PM.
Friday: This is the second Friday of the month and thus it's the Bethesda Art Walk 
Also on Friday, there's an opening reception for "i found your photo" from 6:00 – 9:00 PM on the 2nd Floor of the University of Phoenix Northern Virginia Campus at 11710 Plaza America Drive, Reston, VA 20190. For directions, please see the League of Reston Artists website. The "i found your photo" exhibition is a special benefit exhibition of donated found photographs that is presented by the League of Reston Artists. All found photographs that have been donated to this project will be placed into a handmade photography book after the exhibition closes. This book will be designed and created by photographer and book artist, Melanie De Cola. The one-of-a-kind "i found your photo" photography book will be auctioned on E-bay in May 2006 to fund a photography scholarship through the League of Reston Artists. The scholarship will be awarded to a Washington, D.C. area at-risk high school senior who aspires to be a photographer, to help him or her attend art school.
And back in DC, Irvine Contemporary has and opening for Sean Foley and Gina Brocker from 6-8 PM, and there's also an artist's talk on Sat. Dec. 10 starting at 2 PM.
And there's also an opening at the Capitol Hill Arts workshop this Friday for a "budget-priced-for-the-holidays" show entitled Wrap it Up. The opening is Friday from 5-7pm, and the all day sale is Saturday from 10 am-7 pm.
Saturday: A.Salon has a holiday art show from 5-8PM at Willow Street Gallery (6925 Willow Street, NW in DC).
Also on Saturday, December 10 and Sunday, December 11 from 12:00 - 6:00PM, Hemphill Fine Arts has booksignings for recent publications from fine art book publisher Nazraeli Press. William Christenberry, Joseph Mills and Tanya Marcuse will be in attendance for book signings on Saturday, December 10 from 12:00 - 2:00PM. Hot Cider and Cookies!
The Urban Arts Gallery at the Pierce School Lofts is having the opening for "Pattern" on Saturday, December 10 from 4-7pm. This month’s featured artists are Roberta Glick, Amy Lin, and Emily Dean. The Urban Arts Gallery is located on Capitol Hill at 1375 Maryland Avenue NE, Washington, DC and "Pattern" will be on exhibit through December 30, 2005.
And Union Printmakers Atalier has OH HO 05: A Holiday Exhibition of Contemporary Art opening on Saturday from 6-9PM. The group show brings together many well known artists from the Washington, Maryland, and Virginia area along with some new faces to the area's art scene. Expect to see prints, drawings, paintings, sculpture and photographs reflecting a variety of styles and approaches to each medium through January 28th, 2006. Lots of very talented artists participating including: Julia Bloom, Joseph Barbaccia, Chantal Bernicky, Iona Brown, Rosalind Burns, David Chung, William Christenberry, Warren Craghead, Dymph de Wild, Ben Ferry, Susan Finsen, Jenny Freestone, Pat Goslee, Susan Hostetler, Pauline Jakobsberg, J.T. Kirkland, Andrew Krieger, Judith Kahn, Alex Mayer, Kerry McAleer-Keeler, Michele Montalbano, Jody Mussoff, Robert Nelson, William Newman, Judith Nulty, Turker Ozdogan, Betsy Packard, Margaret Adams Parker, Randall Packer, Michael Pierce, Beverly Ress, Charles Ritchie, Russel Richards, Beverly Ryan, Clarice Smith, Terry Svat, R.L.Tillman, Helga Thomson, F.L. Wall, Mark Wamaling, Max-Karl Winkler, Ellen Winkler, Frank Wright and Scip Barnhart (the director of Union Printmakers and one of DC's top artists and art professors).
Art Show/DC Surfrider has a fundraiser at FC Gallery 7pm-2am ($5 suggested donation). The gallery is located at 916 Blagden Alley. Featured Artist: Steve Olson (LA Underground/Skateboard Overlord). Also features a massive interactive installation piece by Ben Ashworth, Anthony Smallwood and Dan Zeman; music, food and drink provided.
Also on Saturday and Sunday, The Arlington Arts Center has a Holiday Art Bazaar from 11-4PM. Drop by the AAC to find the perfect piece of art or craft for a holiday gift from 19 artists in the greater metropolitan area. The diverse media represented include ceramics, photography, jewelry, fiber, and much more.
And on Saturday Transformer hosts an opening reception from 7-9PM for "Little Creatures" through January 14, 2006 and featuring Marci Branagan, Julie Jenkinson, Thomas M. Lowery and Maki Maruyama. There's also an artists' talk on Saturday, January 7, 2006, at 4 pm.
Studio One Eight presents "Fully Loaded: New Work by Lisa Marie Thalhammer." The opening reception is on December 10th from 7-10 PM. Thalhammer has created, using her stylized approach to portraiture, an army of DC women that embodies the subjectivity of the contemporary American female.
Sunday: Carolyn Dutky Romano has an opening from 2-4PM for "Eye on the Underground" at The Art League Gallery in Alexandria. There's also an artist talk on Thursday, December 8 at 7PM (the show actually opens on Dec. 8).
I am sure that I missed some events... if so email me the details.
Arts Journal Expansion
Arts Journal is one of my daily must-reads, and often the source of stories, comments and links here in DC Art News.
And now it's undergoing a site face lift and major expansion right before our eyes.
Visit them often.
Arts Agenda
DCist's Arts Agenda is up.
Read it here.
DCist has been looking for months for someone to write about the visual arts and augment the weekly arts agenda.
So far they're doing an outstanding job of covering music, theatre, sports, restaurants and politics, but they are still lacking a voice to write some art reviews.
It's not easy uh?
Interested writers and would-be art critics should contact DCist at dcist-core@googlegroups.com
Congratulations
To our own Tim Tate, whose "Positive Reliquaries" series of three glass sculptures has been acquired by The Mint Museum of Art in Charlotte, North Carolina.
"Positive Reliquaries" consists of a set of three hand blown domes with spun glass nests and dotted eggs inside. The eggs in the nests are dotted to mimic the dots on dice, and signify the gamble of Tate's daily challenge with being HIV positive; the nests themselves are a recurring theme in his work representing rebirth and hope. The crown of each dome is topped with a red cast glass "positive" (+) symbol.
This is one of Tate's most personal and painful pieces. It speaks not of sorrow, but rejoices in rebirth. Most of Tate's works deals with healing in this manner: employing difficult moments in his life and using them to springboard into the future.
"Positive Reliquaries" is one of his finest examples of his content driven glass as Tate continues to drag glass away from the vessel and into the narrative context. Tate's current solo show at our Fraser Gallery Bethesda ends this coming Wednesday.
