Van Gogh's great grandson murdered in Amsterdam

Greg Allen reports that Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh, who is the great grandson of Vincent Van Gogh was murdered on an Amsterdam street yesterday, apparently by Muslim extremists because of a short film by Theo titled "Submission" which had been broadcast on Dutch TV.

Per Allen, "Van Gogh and the film's writer, an "ex-Muslim" member of parliament, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, had received numerous death threats and accusations of blasphemy."

James W. Bailey has the following words on this brutal murder:

Another Saint in the art world has given his life in the pure pursuit of his art.

Yesterday's savage and brutal murder in Amsterdam of filmmaker Theo van Gogh represents another direct assault by extremists on the universal concept of freedom of artistic expression.

The first line of protection that an artist, photographer, curator, musician, singer, dancer, choreographer or any other person involved in the arts enjoys in support of their art, is acceptance within the art world of the basic principles of freedom of artistic expression.

It is absolutely critical that every person in the arts, and more importantly, that every arts organization on the planet, subscribe to and advocate for a consistent definition of freedom of artistic expression that applies equally to every single artist.

Every voice in the art world needs to speak out condemning the slaughter of Theo van Gogh.

Every voice in the art world also needs to speak with clarity, firmness and resolve in support of a universally accepted definition of freedom of artist expression for every artist in this world.

Sincerely,

James W. Bailey
Experimental Photographer

Congratulations to President Bush on his victory. Now let's move on.

We'll get back to the world of our area's art scene later today. Come back.

Please go vote today.

And please, whoever wins tonite, or next week, or whenever the damned lawyers allow anyone to win, let us unite as much as possible and start bridging our divisions.

I'm going to vote today, and I hope that my candidate wins, because I fear that the other guy will be a disaster for our nation and the world. If the other guy wins, then I hope that I am wrong.

But whoever wins; let's stop the hate for the person and let us agree to disagree and move on to the future.

I, for one, plan to give our President (new or re-elected) a chance and clean slate to lead our nation.

Thanks to AJ

This is how the upper crust of the art world sticks a knife in your ribs when they can't figure out how an artist makes it big without their stamp of approval.

Opportunity for Artists

Deadline: Wednesday, December 15, 2004

The Art Renewal Center seeks applicants for its 2nd Annual International Salon Competition. Over $44,000 in cash awards; $10,000 Best in Show, and featured online gallery.

Send #10 SASE for prospectus to:
Karen McCormack
Art Renewal Center
Box 837
Glenham NY 12527

For more info:
The Art Renewal Center
Email: arcprogram@aol.com or visit www.artrenewal.org

Painting is dead... right guys? I mean... "ancient medium" and all that.

US Museum curators got together and decided to pick the US artist to represent the nation at the next Venice Biennale.

They picked a painter!

Not only that, but this is a second time returnee! The US choice for 2005 was also the US choice for 1970, when he contructed "Chocolate Room," a visual and sensory art experience where the Venice visitor saw 360 pieces of paper impregnated with chocolate and hung like roof shingles so that they smelled like chocolate; sort of like "scratch and sniff art."

But now he's just an "ancient medium" devotee.

Most local curators and Blake: read it and weep.

October (Art) Surprise: Tonight!

Curators Andrea Pollan and Nora Halpern have an October Art Surprise. Sponsored by Furioso Development Corporation, Metropolis Development Company, and G Fine Art, and in cooperation with Glen Construction (am I done with the credits?) they present: Jenny Holzer: Xenon for D.C.

Internationally acclaimed artist Jenny Holzer comes to Washington, DC to launch her first public art project here. The project consists of one of her first Xenon projections in the U.S.

Jenny Holzer's Xenon projections have captivated audiences around the globe from Buenos Aires to Paris to Berlin. She now presents them for the first time in the United States.

Tonight you can see the projections against the facade of the new 1515 14th Street Arts Building (near the corner of 14th & Church Streets NW between P & Q Streets).

On Monday, November 1, 2004, at the Gelman Library on the campus of George Washington University, Holzer will project poems, as well as declassified documents made available through the Freedom of Information Act and the work of the National Security Archive.

Congratulations to Washington area artist and co-founder of the Washington Glass School, Tim Tate who has been announced as one of New York City's Out Magazine 100 Most Remarkable People of 2004.

Tim will be hanging out in NYC next month gathering his award and hanging with celebrities like Ellen deG and others.

This is an important recognition no doubt based on Tate’s string of artistic accomplishments in the last couple of years, such as being recognized as the 2003 Mayor’s Arts Awards Washington Artist of the Year, two sold out shows at our two Fraser Galleries, major reviews in both national and international newspapers and magazines and his selection as the design winner for the International AIDS Monument to be built in New Orleans.

New Arts Based TV Show

GPV Group is an organization that provides assistance to program networks looking to expand.

They have started an arts news television program called ArtsMedia News. The program is starting off initially as newsbreaks airing seven times a week on MHz Networks in the DC area with further distribution to public television stations nationwide.

Starting in January they will be expanding to a half hour weekly program to air at 8:30 PM on Thursday nights on MHz with further distribution nationwide as well.

They've approached me to introduce some of the art newsbreaks that focus on DC-based art news and I will be doing my first one next week. This newsbreak will focus on the current exhibition Tradition in Transition: Russian Icons in the Age of the Romanovs currently on display at the Hillwood Museum and Gardens through December 31.

This is good news for our area's cultural tapestry!

Andrew Noyes has an excellent article in today's Voice of the Hill on the subject of the public art project that DC artist Marsha Stein has been organizing for the last few weeks.

The article is on page 32, and describes Stein's project as well as generous comments from the Washington Post's Chief Art Critic Blake Gopnik and from myself.

A novel concept that Stein has introduced to the world of art is the fact that she has a videographer working with her, and documenting everything in a reality TV approach. The videographer hopes that this project will be the seed of an art-based Reality TV series to pitch to the networks.

Interested artists should contact Marsha Stein at Marshasart@aol.com.

Venezuelan photographer Luis Gomez makes his DC area debut with "Cities," a 32-photo exhibit at Candida’s World of Books at 1541 14th Street N.W. (14th and Q).

The exhibit runs through November 15 and focuses on inner, urban cores —one of Gomez’s favorite subjects— and offers glimpses of architecture and streetscapes, as well as their people. The photos will take viewers to cities that include Amsterdam, Chicago, Havana, Madrid, Prague, Santiago, Sydney and others.

Cynthia Young defends the "grubs" in a passionate letter in this week's Washington City Paper.

And Jeffry Cudlin writes another really good review (why isn't Cudlin writing more often in the WCP?).

This time he reviews "Inventions: Recent Paintings by Caio Fonseca" at the Corcoran and damned near convinced me that Fonseca was not just another hack painting the kind of safe, unintelligible art that cannot remotely offend anyone and that one routinely sees in hotels, airports and furniture stores. Not really art but "wall decor."

Thusday is the day the Style section of the Post reviews galleries and today Glenn Dixon reviews Kenny Hunter: Works in Colour at Conner Contemporary Art.

There's also a theatre review and a music review in today's Style.

The Washington Post finally picks up the story of Philip Barlow's woes with the WAP/C first reported here over two weeks ago.

The Arts Beat column adds little to the story that hasn't been discussed to death already by DC Artnews, J.T. Kirkland, Tyler Green, MetroBlogging and others.

Other than this great quote from the new OPTIONS 2005 curator:

"I've been forgiving of artists who've painted dreadful cows in my part of the country," adds Lumpkin, "so I can be forgiving of artists who've painted dreadful pandas in your part of the country." "

I've been out all day, and arrived home, picked up the email (I am by now used to getting one letter a week from either/or United or American Airlines pleading with me to sign up for their credit card), cooked dinner, got ready to watch the World Series, and then... read my email.

I was a bit taken back by the huge number of emails that I've received from artists commenting on the new WPA/C OPTIONS curator. But I think that we need to let the waters settle and see how things develop.

Last weekend the Washington Times gave our current Bethesda show (David FeBland), their "Hot Pick" of the week.

Transformer tells me that they will have Ken Grimes, Laura Craig McNellis, Judith Scott, and Melvin "Milky" Way in a show titled Cryptic Communications: Work by Four Self Taught Artists. Show opens November 6 and runs through December 4, 2004.

In Alexandria, Pa Dian Accents presents Women of Color, Style and Expression, a collection of more than 40 works by five contemporary artists from the D.C. area, from Saturday, November 13 through Sunday, November 21. The featured artists in this show found their visions in a variety of ways. Edith Graciela Sanabria’s art began as a response to a difficult childhood with an authoritarian father. Donna Boozer was inspired by the birth of her daughter. Chela Sanbria, Edith’s daughter, found healing from a crippling illness through painting vibrant colors and Jennifer Jin Seaver began her artistic career as a child in Korea.

New York realist Mikel Glass is at Old Town Alexandria's Century Gallery. The exhibition is on view until December 1, 2004. I saw Glass’ show at Century a couple of years ago and Glass is a spectacularly talented painter whose works have been called "a battle between Rembrandt and Freud."

And in Georgetown...

"Ebb and Flow," recent paintings and drawings by Washingtonian Janis Goodman, (who teaches at the Corcoran) explores the universal theme of constancy.

Goodman's new series is devoted to water and its insistent repetition, even as the rest of the world is in flux. Her intelligent renderings of water capture the artist's intense devotion to observation and meditation.

"Ebb and Flow" will be on view at District Fine Arts from November 5 through December 11, 2004.

New OPTIONS 2005 Curator Named

The Washington Project for the Arts\Corcoran Association (WPA\C) has announced that Ms. Libby Lumpkin has been named as the WPA\C OPTIONS exhibition curator to replace fired curator Philip Barlow.

Libby Lumpkin is an internationally noted art historian, critic, and curator who serves as Director of the Museum Studies Program at California State University and Assistant Professor of Art History, Long Beach. She was the founding curator of Steve Wynn's Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art in Las Vegas (man... Tyler Green will have fun with that bit of resume news), and has served as Visiting Professor of Art Theory at Yale University, Visiting Lecturer on Visual and Environmental Studies at Harvard University, Visiting Professor of Theory and Aesthetics at the University of California Santa Barbara, and Visiting Lecturer at Umeå University in Umeå, Sweden.

She also served as Assistant Professor of Art History and Curator of the Donna Beam Fine Art Gallery at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Lumpkin is the author of Deep Design: Nine Little Art Histories, as well as Ingrid Calame and Jean-Michel Basquiat: War Paint. She edited and produced the catalogs for the Bellagio Collection, and has authored numerous critical essays on contemporary art and design. Dr. Lumpkin was a contributing editor of Art Issues magazine of Los Angeles, and is a regular contributor to Artforum of New York.

She is founding director of a design institute for the Institute of Modern Letters at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas to open in January 2005. After spending two years in Long Beach, she returned to Las Vegas with her spouse, art critic and curator, Dave Hickey.

Ms. Lumpkin has stated that

"The emerging artist scene in the Washington, D.C. area is unexplored territory for me. I look forward to discovering what's out there. I'm hoping that artists of all types who do not yet have gallery representation will respond to the call for submission for consideration so that we can set up appointments to view works. I'm sure most of the artists will be young, but I'd love to hear from artists of all ages, anyone who is presently working outside the gallery system. I'm as interested in the private, eccentric artist as in those whose works are engaged in prevailing cultural discourse. I'd like to end up with an exhibition that presents a lively mixture of types."

Does this mean that Ms. Lumpkin is automatically excluding any and all artists who have gallery representation? Someone better tell the Corcoran Board of Trustees right away before she buys her plane tickets to come visit our area.

The WPA\C will soon announce submission guidelines for artists who wish to submit materials as preliminary research for the benefit of the curator. Because this is not a juried exhibition, there is no fee to submit materials and artists do not have to be a member of the WPA\C to be considered. These guidelines will be posted on the WPA/C website on Nov 1, 2004. Ms. Lumpkin will perform on-site studio visits while working on the exhibition in Washington, DC.

It is a smart move by the WPA/C to hire an outside curator to replace Barlow, but I wonder how much this is costing them; I suspect that curators such as Lumpkin do not come cheaply.

I wish Ms. Lumpkin the best of luck with a most difficult show. It won't be easy, but I am sure that she will do a good job; we will be watching.

Tonight I will be at one of my favorite charity art auctions for a great organization and a great cause.

It is at the Carnegie Institution of Washington (16th & P Streets, NW), the Walker Whitman Clinic will be having their annual Art for Life Auction, in my opinion one of the best art auctions in the city. Viewing from 6:00 pm and the auction starts at 7:30 pm.

See you there!

Driving Force was a national competition to recognize and showcase young artists with disabilities, ages 16 -25, who are living in the United States.

The exhibition is currently on view at the S. Dillon Ripley Center, Smithsonian Institution through November 29, 2004. It will then tour for one year throughout the U.S.

The grand prize winner, Sunny Taylor, is a self taught hand and foot artist (only 22 years old) who is a spectacular painter.

The Cuba series

These pieces below are from a set of about 100 watercolors, mixed media, oils, acrylics, and prints that I did either for one of my senior year exhibition projects at the University of Washington School of Art in 1981 as well as class assignments through the years (1977-1981). Probably 80 of these have sold over the years. They all have the map of the island of Cuba as the focus. There are also a few pre-art school works as I started this series around 1972 or so when I was in High School.

Update: Some of these images are from owners that bought some of these sending them to me... in some cases I had not seen them in years!

"Isla Prision (Prison Island)"
c. 1980, Ink wash and wood rods on paper
In the collection of The Cuban Studies Institute, Miami, Florida

"Isla Prision"
Monoprint enhanced with Charcoal and pins, c.1980
In a private collection in New Jersey

"Isla Prision"
Monoprint enhanced with watercolor and pins, c.1980
In a private collection in Florida

Isla Encadenada
Acrylic on paper with metal chain, c. 1979

Isla Encadenada
Colored pencils on paper with metal chain, c. 1979

"Isla Herida" c. 1978

"Donde crece la palma" 1978

"The Island that Time Forgot" 1981

"Mi verso es un ciervo herido Que busca en el monte amparo" 1979

"Stabbed Island" 1980


"Isla Roja" (Red Island) 1981


"Isla Carcel" (Jail Island) 1981


"Isla Encarcelada" (Jailed Island) 1981


"Isla Ensangrentada" (Bloodied Island) 1981


"Isla Encadenada" (Chained Island) 1981


Isla Pesadilla (Nightmare Island) 1981


Isla en Jaula (Caged Island) 1981


"Isla en Goma" (Inner Tube Island) 1981


"Isla Prisionera" (Prisoner Island) 1981


Isla Deshuesada (Deboned Island) 1981

"Isla Llorona", oil on board c. 1978

"Isla Abandonada (Abandoned Island)"
Oil and Acrylic on Gessoed Board, 8x10 inches, c.1979
In a private collection in Hialeah, Florida

"Isla Clavada (Nailed Island)"
1980 Color pencils and embedded nails

Nubes Lloronas, Oil on board, c.1979

"Isla Llorona", oil on board, c.1978
In the collection of Queens' University, Charlotte, NC

Cuba, Isla Desbaratada (Cuba, Disassembled Island). Pen and Ink. 2009.


Cuba, Isla Encarcelada (Cuba, Jailed Island). Watercolor and Wire. 2009.



Cuba, Isla Judia (Cuba, Jewish Island). Watercolor. 2009.

Isla Prisionera
In a private collection in Miami, Florida

Isla Balsera
Location Unknown (Sold at Pike Pace Market, Seattle in 1978-79)

"Isla Balsera (Raft Island)" - Happy Birthday America, Wishing We Were There!
Collage on Paper, Framed to 30x40 inches, c. 1976
Was in a private Collection in New Jersey - donated to American University Art Museum in 2015

"Isla Prision (Prison Island)" By F. Lennox Campello
c. 1978, Charcoal on paper
In a private collection in New Jersey

"Isla Prisión" (Prison Island)
Watercolor on Paper by F. Lennox Campello, c. 1977

One of the more eye-opening things in attending an art fair is seeing the dynamics that go onto the decision to buy a piece of art.

Put together a few thousand people, paying an entry fee to enter the fair, an assortment of dealers, and a huge diverse variety of offerings and it's an education in people watching.

The married couple:
"Do you like it?"
"Yeah, I like it- it's just what we've been looking for."
"Where would we put it?"
"We have a couple of spots that it'd fit."
"Do you really like it."
"Yeah, how about you?"
"Yeah, I kinda of like it."
"Should we get it?"
"If you want it."
(five minutes later)
"Let's think about it."
"OK" [To me] "Do you have a business card?"

The couple (not married):
Her: "Do you like it?"
Him: "Sssoright"
Her: "Where would we put it?"
Him: "Dunno."
Her: "Do you really like it."
Him: "So'OK.. Yeah, how about you?"
Her: "Yeah, I kinda, sorta, really like it."
Him: "Dunno though"
Her: "What? You don't like it?"
Him: "If you want it."
(five minutes later)
Him: "Let's think about it."
Her or Him: "OK" [To me] "Do you have a business card?"

The Single Woman (SW) with a Woman Friend:
SW: "WOW! Now, I really like this!"
Friend: "Yeah... it's nice"
SW: "It's exactly what I've been looking for!"
Friend: "I have a friend who does work just like this..."
SW: "I am really drawn to it!"
Friend: "Are you really sure you like it?"
SW: "Uh - yeah!... why? Don't you like it?"
Friend: "Yeah... it's OK"
SW: "I think it's really good... I think it's the first piece in this whole show that I really like."
Friend: "There's a few more booths we haven't seen."
SW: "I think I'm going to buy this."
Friend: "Are you sure?"
SW: "Uh - yeah!... It's a good price too.... why? Don't you like it?"
(five minutes later)
SW: "Do you have a business card?"

The Single Woman (SW) with a Man Friend:
SW: "WOW! Now, I really like this!"
Friend: "Yeah... Cool"
SW: "It's exactly what I've been looking for!"
Friend: "I think it's a lithograph" [it's actually a charcoal]
SW: "I am really drawn to it!"
Friend: "Are you really sure you like it?"
SW: "Uh - yeah!... why? Don't you like it?"
Friend: "I have something like it... I got it cheaper though..."
SW: "I think it's really good... I think it's the first piece in this whole show that I really like."
Friend: "You like lithographs?"
SW: "I think I'm going to buy this."
Friend: "Are you sure?"
SW: "Uh - yeah!... It's a good price too.... why? Don't you like it?"
(five minutes later)
SW: "Do you have a business card?"

The Single Focus Dream Buyer:
[Walks straight up to one piece, never looks at the rest of the work in your booth]
"I'll take this"
[Me] "Thank you... it's a very striking charcoal drawing - will be that be a check or charge?"
"Charge"
[Me] "I can send you more information on this artist..."
"That will be great - I love this work - it's exactly what I'm interested in!"
[Me] "I have a few more pieces here, would you like to see them?"
"No, thanks..."

The "I'm glad you're here guy (IGYHG)":
IGYHG: "Hey! I've been looking for you!"
[Me]: "Hi, how are you?"
IGYHG: "... been walking this whole fair looking for you!"
[Me]: "Yeah... lots of dealers this year... glad you found us!"
IGYHG: "Howsa been goin'?"
[Me]: "Yes... quite good actually..."
IGYHG: "Well, let me look at what you've got!"
[three minutes later]
IGYHG: "Well... I'm glad you're here... see ya next year!"


The "I Shudda Bought It Last Year Guy (Shudda)":
Shudda: "Hey! You're here again!"
[Me]: "Hi, how are you? Yeah... It's our 7th year here..."
Shudda: "... been walking this whole fair looking for you!"
[Me]: "Yeah... lots of dealers this year... glad you found us!"
Shudda: "Howsa been goin'?"
[Me]: "Yes... quite good actually..."
Shudda: "Well, let me look at what you've got!"
[three minutes later]
Shudda: "Where's that really good watercolor of the fill-in-the-blank?"
[Me]: "Uh... I sold it last year - but I have a few more pieces by that artist."
Shudda: "Ah! - I really wanted that one! Do you have another one?"
[Me]: "Well, no... it was an original watercolor, and I sold it; but I have ---"
Shudda: "I really wanted that piece; and it was a good price too..."
[Me]: "Maybe you'd like some of his new work..."
Shudda: "I shudda bought it last year"
[Walks away]
Shudda: "You gonna be here next year?"

The "Where's That Piece Guy (WTP)":
WTP: "Hey! You're here again!"
[Me]: "Hi, how are you? Yeah... It's our 7th year here..."
WTP: "... been walking this whole fair specifically looking for you!"
[Me]: "Yeah... lots of dealers this year... glad you found us!"
WTP: "Howsa been goin'?"
[Me]: "Yes... quite good actually..."
WTP: "OK... last year I saw this piece... it was a fill-in-the-bank and I should have bought it then! "
[Me]: "Yeah... that is a nice piece."
WTP: "I've been thinking about it for a whole year"
[Looks around the booth and doesn't see it]
WTP: "Do you still have it?"
[From here there are two paths...]
Path One -
[Me]: "Uh... I sold it last year - but I have a few more pieces by that artist."
WTP: "Ah! - I really wanted that one! Do you have another one?"
[Me]: "Well, no... it was an original watercolor, and I sold it; but I have ---"
WTP: "I really wanted that piece; and it was a good price too..."
[Me]: "Maybe you'd like some of his new work..."
WTP: "I shudda bought it last year"
[Walks away]
WTP: "You gonna be here next year?"
Path Two
[Me]: "Let me get it for you... I have it in the back!"
WTP: "Great"
[I bring it out and give to WTP]
WTP: "Yeah this is it! It's great!"
[Me]: "This artist has done really well this last year and ---"
WTP: [Handing it back] "Excellent! I'm glad you still have it... until what time are you going to be here?"