Tuesday, April 05, 2022

Hirshhorn’s Sam Gilliam Exhibition

Over the decades that I have lived in the DMV (an acronym that I invented), one constant of the DMV's museum art scene (with the exception of the beautiful American University art museum and most recently the Phillips Collection) has been the immense apathy that art museums located in the capital region show to their area artists.

Once, while a guest at the old Kojo Nmandi radio show on NPR (WAMU), i noted that it was "easier for a DC area museum curator to take a cab to Dulles to catch a flight to Berlin to visit some emerging artists' studios in Berlin (or London, Madrid, wherever) than to catch a cab to Adams Morgan to visit a DC area emerging artist studio."

Years of communicating this frustration to "new" museum curators and directors as the wonder in and out of their positions at the Hirshhorn, the old Corcoran, various Smithsonian museums, all area University museums, etc. have yielded zero response -- since 1992 or so, the only museum director who ever met with me to discuss why their museum ignored local artists was Olga Viso when she ran the Hirshhorn decades ago.

And it takes an artist of the stature of Sam Gilliam, whose career was almost extinguished by apathy just a decade or so ago... until "rediscovered" by New York and other forces and placed where this great artist always deserved to be - at the top - the "break" into a local museum with an exhibition which should have happened years and years ago.

Hirshhorn: Thank you for exhibiting Sam Gilliam and shame on you that it took outside forces to make this happen.

Hirshhorn’s Sam Gilliam Exhibition Will Spotlight His Decades-Long Investigation Into Abstraction

“Sam Gilliam: Full Circle” Will Debut New Paintings, May 25–Sept. 4

This spring, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden will present an exhibition by pioneering abstractionist artist Sam Gilliam. Between May 25 and Sept. 4, “Sam Gilliam: Full Circle” will pair a series of circular paintings (or tondos) created in 2021 with “Rail” (1977), a landmark painting in the Hirshhorn’s permanent collection. Filling the museum’s second-floor inner-circle gallery, Gilliam’s first solo exhibition at the Hirshhorn will reflect the breadth of his multilayered practice and mark the first exhibition in Gilliam’s chosen hometown of Washington, D.C., since 2007. “Full Circle” is organized by Evelyn C. Hankins, the Hirshhorn’s head curator.

In the 60 years since moving to Washington, Gilliam has produced a prolific body of abstraction across media through which he has continually pursued new avenues of artistic expression. He initially rose to prominence in the late 1960s making large, color-stained manipulated, unstretched canvases. Gilliam continues to experiment with staining, soaking and pouring pigments, elaborating on the process-oriented tradition of Morris Louis, Kenneth Noland and other Washington Color School artists. In 1972, Gilliam represented the United States at the 36th Venice Biennale, and returned in 2017 with “Yves Klein Blue,” a draped work that welcomed visitors to the Venice Giardini. Gilliam’s approach focuses keenly on the cornerstones of abstraction—form, color and material—from which he creates artworks that reflect his career-long engagement with art history and the improvisatory ethos of jazz.

“The Hirshhorn’s institutional support for Sam Gilliam began with the acquisition of his landmark painting “Rail” within a year of its creation,” said Hirshhorn Director Melissa Chiu. “The museum has since championed his practice by presenting this and other major works in exhibitions. “Full Circle” shows Gilliam’s most recent works in recognition of his indefatigable vision, presented in his chosen hometown on the National Mall at the national museum of modern art.”

“I am greatly looking forward to premiering this new body of work,” Gilliam said. “The tondo series introduced in this show encapsulate many of the ideas that I have been developing throughout my career. Just as importantly, they reflect my current thinking about color, materials, and space. These spaces determined by color and texture are limitless.”

Sam Gilliam’s most recent engagement with the Hirshhorn reflects his tireless propulsion of the through lines of abstraction. His tondos expand the body of beveled-edge abstract paintings that Gilliam first pioneered in the 1960s. Ranging in size from 3 to 5 feet in diameter, each tondo begins with a beveled wood panel, which the artist loads with layers of dense, vibrant pigments, their aggregate effect heightened through the addition of thickening agents, sawdust, shimmering metal fragments, wood scraps and other studio debris. Using a stiff metal rake along with more traditional tools, Gilliam then abrades, smears and scrapes the coarse surfaces to reveal a constellation of textures and colors below.

The series will be shown alongside “Rail” (1977), a stellar “Black” painting by Gilliam in the Hirshhorn’s collection work that marks some of the artist’s earliest experiments with pronounced materiality. With its immense scale of more than 15 feet in length, stained underpinning, pieced canvas structure and deep tones, “Rail” offers a resonant counterpoint to the artist’s recent tondos.

Saturday, April 02, 2022

Travis Childers: Borrowed and Not Returned

Join Tephra Institute of Contemporary Art (Tephra ICA) for an in-person opening reception of Borrowed and Not Returned, currently on view at Tephra ICA at Signature, where you will hear from Fairfax, VA-based artist Travis Childers and Tephra ICA's Associate Curator Hannah Barco. The reception will take place at the outdoor courtyard at the Signature Apartments on Wednesday, April 20, 6pm. Free and open to the public. Please RSVP at info@tephraica.org.

About the Exhibition

Borrowed and Not Returned includes three recent and ongoing series by artist Travis Childers. Childers’ work is concerned with our society’s extractive relationship to nature, though he often approaches the topic with humor and a healthy dose of culpability as he acknowledges his own participation. In his new Story Tellers series, Childers employs miniature, model railroad materials to create landscapes that, despite their small size, imply the depth of the earth and boundlessness of the sky. In contrast, Childers' collage work in the Vegetation series presents opaque facades and coverings that create expansive fields of borrowed images.

Altered and constructed landscapes serve as anchors across Childers’ work, creating a common thread between a wide variety of human experiences. Underlying his practice, is the sensibility that in our human relationship to landscape, there is something borrowed and not returned.

Gallery visitors are welcome Tuesday–Saturday from 11am–5pm. Face masks are required to enter. The gallery is located at the Signature apartment building at 11850 Freedom Dr, Reston, VA. 

Friday, April 01, 2022

Call for Artists: The Horse in Art

The Horse in Art - A Juried Exhibition at Artists in Middleburg Gallery.

The Anita Baarns Awards

Best in Show! $200

Second Place $100

Third Place $50

Submissions due: Friday, April 29, 3:00 PM

Exhibit dates: May 14 - June 12, 2022

Artists notified: May 4th, or before

Delivery of art: May 9 - 11, 12:00-5:00

Click here to go to the information sheet.

Wednesday, March 30, 2022

Art blog rankings!

DC ART NEWS is now ranked as the 11th highest ranked art blog on the planet! And brought to you without a single annoying ad or a tracker! 

See the rankings here!

Sunday, March 27, 2022

Some good sales

The Offering by Elissa Farrow-Savos at AAFNYC Spring 2022
The Offering by Elissa Farrow-Savos

It's no fun being the hunted one by Jeannette Herrera at AAFNYC Spring 2022
It's no fun being the hunted one by Jeannette Herrera

Cory Oberdornfer

Elissa Farrow-Savos at AAFNYC Spring 2022
Elissa Farrow-Savos

Elissa Farrow-Savos at AAFNYC Spring 2022
Elissa Farrow-Savos

I like your boots by Jeannette Herrera at AAFNYC Spring 2022
I like your boots by Jeannette Herrera

Elissa Farrow-Savos at AAFNYC Spring 2022
Elissa Farrow-Savos
 

Saturday, March 26, 2022

On Saturday, Star Wars always wins

I continue to sell lots of the Bisque pieces, and all the other artists in the booth (Cory Oberdornfer, Jeannette Herrera and Elissa Farrow-Savos) are also selling well.

Sold both of my two largest works - one from the "Sleep is the Cousin of Death" series and "Suddenly, she wasn't afraid any longer" (one of my "Obsessive" series) to a very lovely lady from Brooklyn.

Suddenly, she wasn't afraid any longer - 2022 by F. Lennox Campello
Suddenly, she wasn't afraid any longer
2022 Mixed Media painting by F. Lennox Campello

Wanna know about the obsessions? Read this review by Dr. Rousseau.  

Also, these critics have written specifically about the obsessive imagery of "Suddenly, she wasn't afraid any longer."  Read Prescovia Wilson here and Hope Harrison here.

At the end of the fair, and after several days on my feet at the booth at the Affordable Art Fair, I usually walk the two blocks to the Chelsea Inn and crash and go to sleep right away -- tonight, this was on... so of course I had to stay up and watch it!





 

Friday, March 25, 2022

Thursday, March 24, 2022

Fair opens to the public

Affordable Art Fair NYC Spring 2022

Today the fair officially opened to the public and once again it was packed! Happy to report that the Bisque drawings keep selling like crazy - I've even sold several to other gallery owners and artists at the fair. This is a special honor for me.


Affordable Art Fair NYC Spring 2022

 

Wednesday, March 23, 2022

Affordable Art Fair NYC - The VIP Preview

I worked my ass off hanging amazing work by Herrera and Farrow-Savos (and mine), while the superbly talented Cory Oberndorfer hung his great paintings on the back wall of our booth... by four o'clock I was done, walked over to my tiny room at the Chelsea Inn, showered and headed back for the VIP Preview.

Once the doors opened, the crowds flow in, and my drawings on Bisque are selling like... sorry... hot cakes! And to my horror I discover that I have left my credit card reader in my hotel... and that means that every sale has to be entered manually (which means that fucking Paypal charges you a little "extra"). 

A couple of times there's actually a back-up! They are selling really, really good.

Campello Bisque wall at AAFNYC Spring 2022


Tuesday, March 22, 2022

Affordable Art Fair NYC - The drive

Fair Ops for 2022 - drove to NYC today and unloaded at the loading dock of the Met Pavilion on 19th Street West with the usual union guys sitting around chewing the shit - three fat Italian guys, a couple of hardworking PRs and a Dominican or two -- no one really "working" but, then... it is NYC.

I unload boxes of artwork and store them away as I can't really set up until tomorrow.

Once unloaded, I park in the parking garage on 18th Street that weirdly enough doesn't really show up on any parking map - the South American dude who's been working there for years knows me well by now.

I almost have a heart attack walking my luggage over to the Chelsea Inn... there's a lot of weight being dragged and carried... my room is the size of my bed, but at least there's a tiny fridge and a shower and toilet! That alone is worth the almost thousand bucks - and it's only a couple of blocks from the fair.

Here's the van - all packed before the long drive to NYC.




Monday, March 21, 2022

Opportunity for Artists: Trawick Prize

The Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District is inviting local artists to submit work to the annual Trawick Prize Awards

This exceptional juried art competition awards $14,000 in prizes to four selected winners. The deadline for submissions is Monday, April 25, 2022. Up to eight finalists will be chosen to display their work at Bethesda’s Gallery B in September 2022.

The competition will be juried by Alexis Assasm, Assistant Curator of Global Contemporary Art, Virginia Museum of Fine Art; Thomas James, Visual Arts Curator, Creative Alliance, Baltimore, MD, and Maria del Carmen Montoya, Assistant Professor of Sculpture and Spatial Practices, Director of Graduate Studies, M.F.A. in Fine Arts and Social Practice, Studio Arts Program, Corcoran School of the Arts and Design.

Submission requirements:

  • Artists must be 18 years of age or older
  • Residents of Maryland, Virginia, or Washington, D.C.
  • All original 2-D and 3-D fine art including painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, fiber art, digital, mixed media, and video will be accepted
  • The maximum dimension should not exceed 96 inches in any direction. No reproductions.
  • Artwork must have been completed within the last two years and must be available for the duration of the exhibition.
  • Selected artists must deliver their artwork to the exhibit site in Bethesda, MD.
  • Each artist must submit five images, an application, and a non-refundable entry fee of $25.

The first-place winner will be awarded $10,000; second place will be honored with $2,000 and third place will be awarded $1,000. A “young” artist whose birth date is after February 22, 1990, may also be awarded $1,000.

Artists can apply online or download an application at https://www.bethesda.org/bethesda/trawick-prize. For information on the Bethesda Painting Awards, visit www.bethesda.org or call 301-215-6660.

Sunday, March 20, 2022

Innovate Grants

The deadline for Innovate Grant's Winter Cycle is Thursday March 24 2022, have you applied yet? Now is the perfect time to share your work, so why wait?

Innovate Grant awards (2) $550.00 grants each quarter, to one Visual Artist and one Photographer. In addition, (4) honorable mentions (2 in art and 2 in photo), will be featured and recognized on our website and join a growing community of vibrant and talented artists. Innovate Grant's commitment extends beyond the grant cycle by promoting the work of selected winners and honorable mentions into the future. They've simplified the grant process, so that artists and photographers can focus on making their innovative work. The work should speak for itself and our application reflects that.

How to Apply:

All media and genres are accepted. All applicants (visual artists and photographers) 18+ years and older, from all around the world, are eligible to apply. All applicants retain the right to the work they submit. Apply today at https://innovateartistgrants.org

Explore the work of Past Innovate Grant recipients and Read their Interviews at https://innovateartistgrants.org

Category: Multiple disciplines and genres accepted

Deadline: March 24, 2022

Region: US & International

Awards: $550.00 USD Grants

Apply Online Today

https://innovateartistgrants.org

Saturday, March 19, 2022

Phoenix Art Museum

I am thrilled to find out that this 1980 mixed media piece from my "Cuba" series is now part of the Phoenix Art Museum permanent collection!

Isla Prision - from Cuba series - 1980 mixed media by Florencio Lennox Campello
Isla Prision - from Cuba series
1980 mixed media by Florencio Lennox Campello


At Gallery B in April

Captivating, vibrant landscapes by oil painters Jennifer Howard and Kathleen Byrnes will be on display at Gallery B throughout April. The gallery welcomes back Jennifer and Kathleen who will present their exhibit, “Color + Light,” from April 6 – May 1, 2022. The show will be open Wednesdays – Saturdays 12-6pm and Sundays, April 24 and May 1, 12-5pm. Gallery B is located at 7700 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite E, Bethesda, MD - at the original second site of the legendary Fraser Gallery.

Jennifer Howard

Jennifer Howard, a painter and graphic designer, strives to convey a textural quality in her work. She applies the paint honestly and emotionally, creating layers of color with an emphasis on capturing light. A lover of the outdoors, Jennifer has always had a need to connect with nature and found great fulfillment in plein air painting. She relishes painting in the moment and absorbing nature in all its power. Her love of nature bloomed during her childhood in the Hudson Valley and many trips to the Adirondack Mountains of New York, but after more than 30 years in Washington, D.C., much of her inspiration comes from the surrounding local area. Jennifer has a Bachelor of Science in graphic design from SUNY College of Buffalo and has also studied at the University of Siena, Italy; Corcoran College of Art and Yellow Barn Studio.

Kathleen Byrnes

As a plein air artist, Kathleen Byrnes paints with quick but studied expression as she interprets the scenes with a signature palette. Her works explore the light and structure and unique perspectives of destinations throughout Washington, D.C. the countryside of Virginia and Maryland, as well as the inlets, towns and marshlands of Southern New Jersey. Painting in both oil and pastel, her goal is to express the soul of the landscape, whether the site is natural or manmade. Her work has been informed and influenced by the challenge of mastering both the intellectually controlled mark and the emotionally and physically expressed mark. Her painting has earned her several awards. She has exhibited in both solo and group shows and her work also appears in private collections.

Friday, March 18, 2022

Re-Reading the News: Black Women Stewarding Cultural Memory

Afro Charities presents Re-Reading the News: Black Women Stewarding Cultural Memory, with Imani Haynes, Deyane Moses, Alexis Ojeda-Brown and Angela Rodgers-Koukoui this Thursday, March 31st from 6-7:30pm at Eubie Blake National Jazz & Cultural Center. 

According to the Society of American Archivists, only 3% of archivists identify as Black. Come learn from a panel of Black women cultural memory workers about how their identities inform their work, what collections they steward, and what practical tips they can offer for exploring a career as an archivist, or in adjacent fields.

Click here to sign up.

Thursday, March 17, 2022

Hamiltonian Artists and East City Art Partner to Present Essays on Art

Two of the DMV's key art scene power players, East City Art and Hamiltonian Artists, have partnered to present Essays on Art, an online publication series dedicated to promoting critical writing on visual art in the area. Each commissioned essay will be penned by a different author and focus on the work of Hamiltonian Fellows. Essays on Art serves as a public record to document the dynamic arts scene and to support writers with paid assignments. The essays will be co-published on the Hamiltonian Artists and East City Arts webpages in conjunction with the fellows’ solo exhibitions.

Installation view of We Were Here, Hamiltonian Artists, February 12–March 19, 2022. Photo: Vivian Marie Doering.
Installation view of We Were Here
Hamiltonian Artists, February 12–March 19, 2022.
Photo: Vivian Marie Doering.

The first Essay on Art is by curator and art historian Danielle O’Steen on Madeline A Stratton’s solo exhibition We Were Here, on view at Hamiltonian Artists through March 19. Read it here.

Wednesday, March 16, 2022

Things you find in the web

This piece, found unexpectedly through a Google image search, is a work that I did in 1993 and which was part of an international project curated by Mauricio Guerrero in 1993 called El Arbol de la Vida at the Rufino Tamayo Museum in Mexico City, although I believe that this work (all of them from the project) are now part of the collection of the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana also in Mexico City.

El Arbol de la Vida - 1993 pen and ink by Florencio Lennox Campello
El Arbol de la Vida
1993 pen and ink by Florencio Lennox Campello


Tuesday, March 15, 2022

Another piece pops up at auction

Auction alert! This 1997 original ink wash drawing just showed up in my alerts - it was on auction at Barneby's and the winner of the auction already contacted me and it's heading to New Jersey!

1997 Nude Study Ink Wash by F. Lennox Campello
1997 Nude Study Ink Wash by F. Lennox Campello



Monday, March 14, 2022

When Snipes come out...

When Snipes come out in the sun - a 1980s Navy cartoon by Lenny Campello
When Snipes come out in the sun
1985 Navy cartoon by Lenny Campello

As some of you know, I used to do a lot of cartoons while I was in the Navy... some were published in base newspapers,  Navy magazines,  Stars & Stripes, etc. I gave most of them away over the years... 

Sunday, March 13, 2022

Call for Artists

 Call for Artists: Maryland Art Place

Maryland Art Place (MAP) is proud to announce the 25th year of their Art Auction and benefit exhibition, Out Of Order. Out of Order provides a salon-style display space for hundreds of artists to hang their work wherever they please. OOO plays host to a variety of artists and professionals practicing in the visual arts and is a great opportunity for students and emerging artists to get their feet wet in Baltimore’s creative sector.MAP will be holding an Artist Information Workshop on Saturday, April 2nd from 1-3pmOOO will open on April 22, 2022. Visit MAP's exhibition page for more information.Attention youth artists! Maryland Art Place is happy to introduce KIDOOO, a youth version of MAPs annual Spring Benefit exhibition Out of Order.The opening of KIDOOO will take place in tandem with MAP's annual Out of Order event on April 22. Any artist is welcome to hang one original work of art on the first-come, first-served installation day of KIDOOO.KIDOOO serves as an opportunity for young artists to exhibit their work in a major arts venue and to expand MAP’s services to students in elementary, middle and high school level arts classes. To participate in the KIDOOO exhibition, artists must be ages five-seventeen. Visit MAP's website to learn more and to participate.