The Sandra Ramos exhibition that just ended yesterday (and her US solo debut) was our most successful exhibition ever.

We had visitors who came to see the show from as far as Europe and South America, and nearly all purchases were made by out-of-towners, although a couple of DC-based collectors did acquire a few major pieces and somewhat restored my faith in Washington art collectors.

We're also working on three separate museum acquisitions. More to come as soon as they are announced.

The show was also a three-peat as far as local reviews, as Jessica Dawson reviewed in the Post, Joanna Shaw-Eagle reviewed it for the Times, and Lou Jacobson reviewed it for the City Paper. Other reviews/articles included a review in Art Cuba, a small review in Cuba Now Magazine, and also reviewed in CubaSi Cultura magazine, and this bit in Art & Antiques.

A New York art forgery story always makes for interesting reading.

Gallery Slye has a Spring Gallery Party & Silent Auction this coming Saturday, June 26th from 6:00 - 9:00 pm.

For those three hours only they will be auctioning off works by Washington, DC artists: Allison Aboud, Eileen Corrigan, Dale Hunt, Joren Lindholm, Isabel Manalo, Marc Pekala, Wayne Peterson and Hilary Stewart.

More details here and RSVP to Catherine Slye at 202/306-0122

Job Opportunity

McLean Project for the Arts seeks Exhibitions Director to curate and implement exhibitions of contemporary art from the mid-Atlantic region and develop adult educational programming. Five years experience, masters degree in the arts or equivalent experience, excellent oral and written communications skills, self-starter, team player, working knowledge of word processing, email, digital media files (MAC desktop).

Start Sept. 1, 2004. Submit cover letter, resume and portfolio of past exhibitions by June 30:

Nancy Perry, Executive Director
McLean Project for the Arts
1234 Ingleside Avenue, McLean, VA 22101
703-790-1953, nperry@mpaart.org
Hours: 28-32 hours a week
Salary range: $28,000-32,000 based on experience

Market 5 Gallery is hosting its 30th Anniversary Exhibition and this is an exhibition of artists selected by Market 5 Gallery's patrons.

In September of 2003, Market 5 Gallery celebrated its 30th Anniversary with an "all hung" exhibition. Guests at the opening reception were invited to select three artists for a group exhibition in 2004.

By popular demand, Elisa McKay, Marguerite Beck-Rex, and Joseph Harrison Snyder were awarded the exhibition.

Market 5 Gallery is located at 7th & North Carolina Ave., SE, Washington, DC 20003, in the North Hall of Historic Eastern Market.

Contact: Camille Mosley-Pasley at 202/581-4114 or here.

In addition to dozens of great art galleries in our area, we are also lucky to have many alternative spaces that still put up terrific art exhibitions. Here are some new shows going up in some of these places:

May-July 31, 2004: Group Show
Common Grounds' Art Exhibit Highlights Work of GMU Artists in CROSS+POLLINATION: art from a shared space

The selection and arrangement of paintings and digital work by five artists from George Mason University explores the intentional and subliminal exchange, adaptation and transmutation of ideas by individuals creating art in a shared environment.
Featuring Natalie Guerrieri, Lisa McCarty, Susan Noyes, Lara Oliveira, and Jennifer Sarkilahti.

At The Common Grounds Coffee and Tea House 3211 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA 22201 703.312.0427

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June 19th- July 19th, 2004: Group Show
FOCUS: Jesse Cohen, Frederic Neumann, Denise Odell, Justin Orndorff, and Andrea Paipa.

This is a group exhibition investigating colors and forms through the use of photography creating new views of everyday objects, still life compositions and urban landscapes.
Opening Reception: Friday, June 18th, 10-11:30pm

Exhibition Hours: Monday - Saturday 10am - 9pm, Sunday 11am - 7pm
Location: 3019 M Street, NW, Washington, DC 20007

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June 21-25, 2004: Group Show
Redmont Associates present Two Artists: Judy Hintz Cox and Norman A. Krasnegor.

Hours: 10AM - 5PM, at the Academy for Educational Development, 1825 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20009.

Reception with the artists - Monday, June 21, 5 -8PM. Proportion of sales donated to AED. For information contact Redmont Associates at Redmontart@comcast.net or 703 620-2647.

Tomorrow is the third Thursday of the month, so the 7th Street area art galleries have their extended hours.

And on Friday, the Canal Square Galleries in Georgetown have their new shows and openings from 6-9 PM.

We will have a two person show by John Jacobsmeyer and Margaret McCann.

Jacobsmeyer, who lives and has a studio in Brooklyn, and teaches in Manhattan, has exhibited twice with us. His first show was reviewed by Ferdinand Protzman in the Washington Post and his second show was also reviewed by Jessica Dawson in the Post a couple of years later.

This will be McCann's debut in the DC area.

See you there!

A delayed but well-deserved good bye to Washington area artist Noche Crist, who passed away a few days ago.

Tomorrow and until Sunday is the Boardwalk Art Festival in Virginia Beach.

This show is one of the oldest (now in its 49th year) and most competitive outdoor art festivals in the nation. Over 800,000 people from all over the country and overseas will visit the show, which has around 500 artists displaying their art on the new Virginia Beach Boardwalk.

The show also has around $30,000 in prizes and the jurors for this year's show are Dr. Jonathan Binstock from the Corcoran, Michael O'Sullivan from the Washington Post and Chawky Frenn from George Mason University's art faculty.

The Alexandria Commission for the Arts has issued a call for artists to design a new image for the upcoming Alexandria Festival of the Arts to be held September 11 & 12, 2004.

The winning image will be featured on posters and collateral materials publicizing the event. It will also emblazon t-shirts which will be sold at the Festival with proceeds to benefit the Alexandria Commission for the Arts.

Compensation to the winning artist will be $500 and entries must be received by July 12, 2004. Entries may be submitted by mail to the Commission’s offices or by e-mail to AlexandriaCommissisonfortheArts@verizon.net.

The image should be presented in 8 1/2 x 11” format. Concept statements and examples of multiple image applications are encouraged. Individuals may submit up to three unique designs. Name and contact information should be attached to every entry. Entries will be judged on quality and sophistication of expression, conceptual development, typography (if and where applicable) and flexibility of application.

The Alexandria Commission for the Arts reserves the right to alter or excerpt all entries, and design may be reproduced for multiple uses.

Where's Waldo?..... Mix in Green, Dawson, Nikki Lee, Numark, Fusebox, Whitmore, Wilson.... Oy Vey! A bit like Trump wanting to copyright "You're fired!" Or.... "painting is dead."

Just saw The Chronicles of Riddick - Very entertaining! Vin Diesel is really good in it... Does anybody know if Diesel's first name is actually Vehicle Identification Number Diesel? Cough... cough...

Opportunities for artists...

Deadline: July 31, 2004.

The Ruth Chenven Foundation awards up to $1,500 to U.S. crafts artists engaged in or planning a project. For more information, send a SASE to: Ruth Chenven Foundation, 7505 Jackson Ave., Tacoma Park, MD 20912.

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Deadline: July 2, 2004.

Maryland Federation of Art 4th Annual National Landscape Exhibition.

Exhibition scheduled Sept. 10-Oct. 10. Entry fee: $25 for up to 2 slides; $5 for each additional. To request a prospectus, send a SASE to: Dept. 1 MFA Circle Gallery, Box 1866, Annapolis, MD 21404.

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Deadline: September 1, 2004.
Now Accepting Applications for Professional Art Exhibits for Dumbarton Concert Gallery's 2004-2005 Season. The Dumbarton Concert Series, located in historic Dumbarton Church in Georgetown, is accepting applications from DC, MD, and VA artists for the 2004-2005 season.

The Concert Gallery has shown the work of hundreds of outstanding Washington-area artists since its inception in 1981. The artist's opening occurs in conjunction with a one-night concert performance. The exhibit stays up for an average of one week, during which time the gallery is open by appointment. Artists are invited to submit slides either independently or as part of a group. Decisions are made by a jury. Eight shows are installed, October through April. The gallery administration may scedule interviews with finalists prior to final decisions on submissions.

Submission Requirements: Ten to twenty slides in plastic sleeves to include:
1. Name address, phone, email, and curriculum vitae.
2. Dimensions, price, and medium of each piece (if slides aren't the actual pieces that will be hung, they must be an accurate representation thereof).
3. SASE for return of materials.

Mail to: Eric Westbrook, 2325 42nd Street, NW #419, Washington DC 20007.

Additional questions? Call Eric Westbrook at 202 965-0281. The Concert Gallery takes a 25 percent commission. Exhibits are up for an average of one week, with most attendance taking place the night of the concert.

In case you missed it, there was a beautiful review of the Sally Mann show at the Corcoran in the Post last Sunday.

It was written by Henry Allen, the Post's Pulitzer-winning art critic.

The exhibit "Sally Mann: What Remains," featuring more than 150 photographs, will be at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, New York Avenue and 17th Street NW, through Sept. 6. It is beautifully curated by Philip Brookman. The gallery is open every day except Tuesday; hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Sally Mann will be discussing her work next June 24 at the Corcoran. In this very special evening, Ms. Mann speaks, with slides, about her work, including At Twelve and Immediate Family, and her latest exhibition, What Remains. Philip Brookman, Corcoran Senior Curator, Photography and Media Arts, and curator of the show, introduces the artist. The event is sold out!

Blake Gopnik's piece in the Post about the Panda Public Art Project has created an interesting debate. Tony Gittens, Executive Director of the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities, responds to Gopnik's piece here.

Letters to the Editor from other readers, blasting or praising Blake, can be read here.

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The Washington Post gives our "Contemporary Photography" exhibition in Bethesda a Hot Pick in today's paper. The show features photography by Hugh Shurley, Viktor Koen, Nate Larson, Heidi Marston, Prescott Lassman, Elena Volkov, Joyce Tenneson, Cirenaica Moreira, Marta Maria Perez Bravo, Grace Weston, Rachel Scheron, Elsa Mora, Deborah Nofret Marrero, John DeFabbio, Jan Saudek and others.

You read it here first:

Dr. Carolyn Carr, Deputy Director and Chief Curator of the National Portrait Gallery told me last night that the National Portrait Gallery will soon announce a national portrait competition, held yearly and open to American artists. Unlike the annual BP Portrait Prize Award in Britain, this Portrait Prize will be open to US artists of all ages.

A Dupont Circle gallerist tells me that the former building where Gallery K was located will soon become a high end furniture store. Too bad; we were all hoping that somehow a "new" Gallery K will emerge from the death of its owners.

Another Dupont Circle gallerist tells me that rents around the renovated 14th Street neighborhood have skyrocketed and some gallery moves there have been cancelled as a result.

And yet a third gallerist passes that longtime dealer Sally Troyer will be closing her gallery after this current show.

Washington Post art critic Michael O'Sullivan returns to the Post's Weekend section to review galleries and museums. O'Sullivan had been reviewing movies for a few months.

Heard in the offices of the WCP: Former WCP Arts Editor and critic Glenn Dixon will no longer be writing art reviews for the WCP. Apparently Dixon is busy with other commitments. Hopefully the WCP will find someone to replace Dixon and who will go beyond the two or three museums and four galleries that he usually covered. The WCP's arts coverage, under the guidance of Leonard Roberge, has been doing a consistently outstanding job of covering the arts around town. Interested art critic freelancers should read the guidelines here and then start writing about art!

A viewpoint of the unlikely (and definately surprising) Reagan legacy to the arts can be read here. He brought the NEA funding to an all-time high.

Lou Jacobson comes through with a great review of the Sandra Ramos show in the Washington City Paper.

Want to get your artwork into major museums? Photographer Tracy Lee passes this cool story on just how to do that.

Jessica Dawson really gets what Sandra Ramos is all about in this very good review in today's Washington Post.

Last night we took down Tim Tate's exhibition from the Bethesda gallery - once again Tate delivered a spectacular show following his solo debut last year in Georgetown with a nearly sold out show.

The Sandra Ramos exhibit currently in Georgetown has been also spectacularly successful, and will be reviewed tomorrow in the Washington Post and also in the Washington City Paper.

This Friday is the second Friday of the month and thus the Bethesda Art Walk.

Seventeen galleries and spaces participate from 6-9 PM with a free minibus to take art aficionados around the various spaces. We will host about twenty photographers from around the area, nation, Europe and Latin America. Among the photographers are Joyce Tenneson, Jan Saudek, Deborah Nofret, Marta Maria Perez Bravo, Elena Volkov and many others.

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This coming Sunday is the Bethesda Artists' Market, which has rapidly been expanding. Now in it's third showing, the market will feature the work of about 40 area artists set up around the gallery in Bethesda Place Plaza located at 7700 Wisconsin Avenue. Unfortunately I won't be there participating as I am doing ar art fair away from the area. But I'll be at the next one on July 11.

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A couple of years ago we tried working with Nikki S. Lee's gallery in New York to bring her photography to the Washington area, but couldn't make it happen. However, Cheryl Numark has and her beautiful new gallery will host Lee's debut in the DC area. She's hosting a party/special event to kick-off Nikki S. Lee's exhibition, titled "Parts & Projects," and DJ Stylus will be spinning Caribbean, Latin and African music at Numark Gallery on June 11 from 6:30 to 9 PM.

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And for nearly three years we had been also working with Sally Mann's dealer, also in New York to bring Sally Mann's new work to the DC area at the same time as her Corcoran exhibition, which is titled "What Remains" and has been curated by Philip Brookman and promises to be one of the power photograhphy shows of the year.

Then the New York gallery director we had been working with decided to have a family, and (I think) she moved to France and everything dropped through the cracks in the interim. Luckily for Washington area Sally Mann fans, Hemphill Fine Arts in Georgetown will be showcasing Mann's work in a show titled "Last Measure" which opens this Thursday with a reception from 6:30 to 8:30 PM.

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And tonite I am escorting legendary photographer Lida Moser to a reception at the Phillips Collection, where some of her work is on display as part of the Aaron Siskind: New Relationships in Photography exhibition. A portrait of Siskind by Moser is in the permanent collection of The National Portrait Gallery and a portrait of Moser, by Alice Neel is in the permanent collection of the Met in New York.

The thief who stole the life sized statute from the Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival (see my May 26 entry) has been caught, according to WTOP News.

Washington Sculpture Center (WSC) Opens.

The WSC will be bringing new creative resources and cultural energy to the Washington Area.

The Washington Sculpture Center (WSC) announces the grand opening of its sculpture studios in Washington, DC on Saturday, June 19, 2004 from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.

The public is welcome to visit the facility at 1338 Half Street SE (located between "N" & "O" Streets SE, two blocks south of the Navy Yard Green Line Metro Station) and watch demonstrations in a variety of sculptural techniques. This is a free event, everyone is welcome and refreshments will be served. Instructors will be on hand to answer questions about their work and about WSC.

The Washington Sculpture Center is a registered not-for-profit 501(c)3 organization that promotes:
- The teaching of sculpture including glass, metal, and stone to all levels of students so that they may develop their creative potential.
- The placement of sculptures in public spaces in the Washington, DC Metropolitan Area.

The WSC was founded in 2003 by Patricia Ghiglino, a businesswoman and Reinaldo Lopez, artist. The WSC, a one-of-a-kind resource in Washington, offers instruction for beginner through advanced students, taught by local artists, in the following specialties:

· Flamework (bead making, glass blowing, and sculptural work -- Lisa St. Martin, Elizabeth Mears, instructors)
· Mosaics (Gene Sterud, instructor)
· Stained Glass (Jimmy Powers, instructor)
· Blacksmithing (George Anderton, instructor)
· Stone Carving (Reinaldo Lopez, instructor)
· Bronze Casting and mold making (Patrick Birge, instructor)

There will be a drawing for a free class for those who come to the opening June 19 and leave their business card and e-mail address. Winner will be notified June 21, 2004, by e-mail and his/her name will be posted on the website. For more information on the Washington Sculpture Center (WSC), visit their website at: www.dcsculpture.org.

Opportunity for lesbian artists...

Astraea Visual Arts Fund to recognize contemporary lesbian artists.

Deadline: June 11, 2004.

The Astraea Visual Arts Fund recognizes the work of contemporary lesbian artists by providing support to those who show artistic merit and whose art/perspective reflect a commitment to the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice's mission and efforts to promote lesbian visibility and social justice. The fund was established by the Astraea Visual Arts Project in 2002. The project sponsors events and educational panels and commissions renowned lesbian artists to create limited edition prints to benefit Astraea's work.

This year Astraea will give two $2,500 cash awards to lesbian visual artists. Slides of original works of art will be accepted in the following categories only: sculpture, painting in any medium, print, drawing, work on paper, and mixed media. Documentary photography is not eligible unless it is part of a more extended process.

Applicants must be U.S. residents. Students currently enrolled in an arts degree granting program or its equivalent at the time of application are not eligible to apply. See the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice Web site (noted below) for complete eligibility information and application guidelines visit this website.

Super busy week!

Through the week I have to mat and frame about twenty pieces for a show I'm doing this coming weekend.

This Tuesday we have a small closing reception for Tim Tate's spectacularly successful show in Bethesda.

This Thursday I will be presenting an abbreviated version of the Success as an Artist seminar at the VSA International Arts Festival, taking place at multiple locations in Washington D.C., June 9 - 12 and coinciding with VSA arts' celebration of its 30th anniversary.

Later that evening, at 7 PM, I will be moderating a panel at the Art League in Alexandria. The panel will discuss art and self portraits. Panel members are Dr. Carolyn Carr, Deputy Director & Chief Curator, National Portrait Gallery, Michael O'Sullivan, art critic from the Washington Post, and Prof. Chawky Frenn, perhaps our area's most celebrated self-portrait-obsessed artist.

And Friday is the Bethesda Art Walk and we will have a photography group show surveying work by contemporary photographers from the US and abroad. The show includes work by Joyce Tenneson, Jan Saudek, Martha Maria Perez Bravo, Deborah Nofret Marrero, Viktor Koen (his "Drone" is pictured), Elsa Mora, Cirenaica Moreira and many more.

This ought to be fun...

The First ever International Nude Art Expo is taking place (of all places) in Washington, DC!

Date: Aug 20 - 22, 2004

The Expo is at the new Washington Convention Center and the sponsor has a call for artists!

This expo is opened to all artists, sculptors, photographers, and galleries, etc depicting the nude art form. Visit their website at www.nudeartexpo.org.

The deadline for applications is June 30, 2004.

For more info contact the sponsors at:
Studio 15
3415 Windom Road
Brentwood, MD 20722
Phone: 301- 864- 0700
e-mail: expo@studio15art.com

While I was in California, The Washington City Paper published a review of Tim Tate's current exhibition, which ends June 8.

Annette Polan, Associate Professor at the Corcoran College of Art and a well known portrait painter is gathering together a group of artists to pay tribute to the American soldiers, sailors, aircrews and Marines who have died in Iraq since the beginning of the war.

Inspired by "Faces of the Fallen," photographs of U.S. casualties published periodically in the Washington Post, Annette passes that she wants a meaningful memorial to the sons, daughters, husbands and wives lost in this war.

As a veteran, I also believe that this is a touching way to honor those who have offered the ultimate sacrifice in the service of our nation.

These faces of America will be portrayed by a group of 100 artists – some well known, others still students. Each artist will contribute about 10 portraits. The finished work, drawings, paintings and collages on 6"x 8" canvasses will be exhibited in Washington in late October. The images have been assigned randomly to the artists according to the day on which the casualty occurred.

A website is currently being established so that families of these heroes can post stories and also view finished portraits.

For more info contact Annette Polan at apolan@starpower.net or 202.537.2908

Heading back home today.... will resume posting upon return.

I'm still in San Diego, but don't forget that this coming Friday is the Dupont Circle Galleries extended hours, with most galleries open from 6-8 PM and most artists present as well. Go support our galleries and artists!

Arrived in San Diego extraordinarily late, due to weather issues at Philadelpia. On the flights here I read Thomas Cahill's most excellent book How The Irish Saved Civilization.

I'm heading to California tomorrow... will post from the Left Coast as I am bringing the faithful laptop.

No excuse for this.

The Post's chief art critic, Blake Gopnik delivers his veredict on the DC pandas public art projects as "art."

Regardless of whatever opinion one may have about this project (which by the way nearly every American city now has a version (New York has apples, Los Angeles has angels, Norfolk has mermaids, Baltimore has fish - or it is crabs?) being "art" (in the hi-fallutin' sense of the word - after all I thought that these days everything is art) -- but after all these years I am still amazed by how true the trite saying "art is in the eyes of the beholder" truly is.

Of interest to me, Blake makes the statement:

"The finished sculptures are coloring-book art, too, only blown up in 3-D.

It would take a really skilled contemporary artist to turn a coloring book into something worth an art lover's time. There probably aren't more than a half-dozen artists in this city who could do it. But even those six don't seem to have made it onto the project's 150 artist list. On the long roster of panda decorators, there wasn't anyone whom the city's art aficionados would be likely to count as a top local talent."

This is interesting food for thought.

It's a message to the 150 people on the list: not only does the Chief Art Critic of the Washington Post think your are not a top local talent, but neither do "the city's art aficionados," by his account.

Ouch!

Blake also writes: "There were barely a handful of artists whose names I even recognized at all from any of my visits to studios or galleries or art schools in the region."

I certainly consider myself an "art aficionado," but I have neither been asked nor have I seen the list until now. And after having gone through it, I agree with Blake, as I do not recognize most names, although I did find a few artists that I did recognize, plus a DC gallery owner, plus a well-known national muralist, plus someone with the unfortunate same name as a world famous model (I bet she gets great tables at restaurants).

There were also a large number of schools participating in teams, which I think is a positive effect of this project, and pushes it more toward the "public art" effort that Gopnik objects to.

On the positive side, some his words are good news, because until that statement I was not aware that Mr. Gopnik regularly visited studios or galleries, or art schools around here on a regular basis. I stand corrected and I applaud Gopnik for doing that.

This eloquent man also writes: "For a city its size, it [Washington, DC] also has a surprisingly large and vibrant community of contemporary artists, dealers, collectors and curators who keep things humming on the local scene, and have been steadily pushing its standards up."

It would also be good if he'd help with getting that "large and vibrant community" not be such a surprise by starting to write also about "local" artists and "local" galleries more often so that we'd all realize that he's "in tune" with our "local" art scene.

The proof is in the pudding, I mean writing.

Joanna Shaw-Eagle, the Washington Times Chief Art Critic has a great review of the Sandra Ramos gallery debut show currently on exhibition in Georgetown.

Blake Gopnik is not going to like this:

Carol Strickland, writing in the Christian Science Monitor makes the case that "painting is back."

"In the past two decades, cutting-edge galleries and museums have focused on everything but painting. The halls were chockablock with installations, photo-based work, conceptual art, new media, and digital and video art.

But a fundamental shift has taken place. For a survey exhibition of contemporary work at the Brooklyn Museum of Art, Charlotta Kotik and her co-curator looked at thousands of works by emerging artists...

"The taste of the art world is changing," Ms. Kotik says. "Suddenly painting is allowed to exist again."

Read the whole article here, then print it and mail it to every museum curator, museum director and art critic that you know.

The rest of us already knew that no matter what gets written, and no matter what gets exhibited in museums, what truly makes an impact here in the trenches is and has been, and will continue to be painting.

(Thanks to ArtsJournal for the lead.)

Thanks to ArtsJournal for this:

A new for-profit company has formed in New York that will create a first-of-its-kind pension fund for artists. The fund, called the Artist Pension Trust, is designed to offer some retirement security for up-and-coming visual artists who are now in their 20s and 30s.

Instead of contributing money to the fund, the selected artists will contribute their own artwork to a trust. The artwork will be held for a number of years, then sold, with the proceeds going into the trust, from which artists will then draw their pensions.

But at issue is how does one guess who (in the 20s) will be a sellable artist in their 60s. Nonetheless, it is a novel and interesting idea.

There will be regional trusts in New York and Los Angeles. Each trust will have 250 artists. The artists will be chosen by a "prominent" group of artists, art professors and gallery owners in each region. Eventually, this outfit plans to have trusts in London, Berlin, Tokyo, Shanghai or Beijing, and possibly Miami.

Read the whole story here.

It may be fun to come up with a list of, say 25 DC area artists in their 20s and 30s, that we'd nominate for this Artist Pension Trust.... that is, if our area is considered for a trust fund.

Ned Rifkin, director of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden passes that J. Tomilson Hill has been elected as the Chairman of the Hirshhorn's Board of Trustees.

Pretty fast move up the chain for Hill, who joined the Board in 1998 and served as Vice Chair two years later. Congratulations!

Some new shows...

Andrea Rowe Kraus has paintings and prints at Studio Gallery at Dupont Circle until June 13.

Paintings and sculpture by Korean artist Nong are on exhibit at Dega Gallery in McLean until July 3.

Richard Whiteley has new landscape paintings at Gallery West in Alexandria.

Mobiles by David Yano and abstract paintings by Marsha Hall share the gallery at Creative Partners in Bethesda.

Addison/Ripley in Georgetown has new work by Dan Treado until June 19.

Wayne Trapp has an Introspective on exhibition at Zenith Gallery downtown until June 6.

Nancy Sausser reviews "Expanding Realities", in today's Post. The show is curated by Sarah Tanguy and is currently on exhibition at the American Center for Physics.

God as an art critic?

As most of you probably know by now, the cream of the Saatchi YBA art collection, not including Chris Ofili's infamous dungwork The Holy Virgin Mary, which survives in the Saatchi Gallery, was destroyed a few days ago in a fire in London.

You can see most of the destroyed collection here.

The destruction of any artwork, no matter one's opinion of the "art" itself, is always to be lamented. However, in the case of the YBA's art lost in this fire, I wonder if it will have an "Elvis" effect on that work, and leave a sort of legendary (if ethereal) footprint on the pages of art history.

I submit that it will, and in fact it may be a brilliant (if unintended) act of marketing!

Since some of the British art world's leading prognosticators think that figurative art may be the "next big thing in art," I wouldn't be surprised to see this master marketeer make an 180 and start a "new" collection of figurative art.

I can hear the howling already...

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In the Post today, Jessica Dawson reviews Leo Villareal at Conner Contemporary and Joe White at Edison Place Gallery.

My posting on galleryphobia has been getting responses from gallerists as far as Canada, Uruguay and the UK!

But best is this one from photographer James W. Bailey from the Greater Reston Arts Center in Reston, Virginia:

I wanted to recognize your scientific identification of galleryphobia. I believe that I have identified a sub-species at the Greater Reston Arts Center.

It just so happens that the most popular cigarette break spot at Reston Town Center is right in front of our largest window. There’s a concrete planter that sits facing our window and the smokers congregate for their isolationist rituals 6 to 8 times a day.

During the course of their smokes breaks, especially when their thin conversations have worn thinner, many of them will walk right up to the glass, plaster their faces against the glass, raise their hands above their heads to block the light so they can see better and stare through the glass while puffing away on their cancer sticks.

But they never come in! There’s this one girl whom I’ve been watching for 2 ½ years through the damn glass! She’s never stepped foot in the gallery.

Yet, everyday she’ll stare inside. I’ve tried opening the door, stepping outside and asking people to come in and take a look and even offered wine to them.

They are terrified of actually walking into the gallery. If you have no objection, I’m naming this sub-species, galleryphobia smokerterrifiedicus.

Funny!!!

By the way, a $38,000 life size statute was brazenly stolen this last weekend from an artist's booth, in front of thousands of art lovers at the Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival.

Art & Antiques Magazine has an update on Sandra Ramos and her visa denial to attend her current U.S. solo gallery debut at our Georgetown gallery.

City Arts Projects

Deadline: May 27, 2004.

The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities (DCCAH) City Arts Projects offers funds to encourage the growth of quality arts activities throughout the city, support local artists, and make arts experiences accessible to DC residents.

Projects must provide exposure to the arts and arts experiences to the broader community or to persons traditionally underserved or separated from the cultural mainstream due to geographic location, economic constraints, or disability.

Eligible projects include, but are not limited to: festivals, concerts, visual arts exhibitions, literary readings, and salary support to enhance cultural diversity among the staffs of arts organizations in DC.

Eligible applicants include arts and community organizations that have their principal place of business in DC and have both Federal (IRS) and DC tax exemptions for at least one year prior to the deadline date.

The deadline for applications is May 27, 2004. Grants between $1,000-$15,000 are available. Funds must be matched dollar for dollar. For further information, contact DCCAH at (202) 724-5613; or go to this website.

Pilfered from ArtsJournal: A Chicago art dealer has been charged with attempting to sell fake Picassos in Milwaukee.

I don't know of any DC area art dealer selling fake Picassos, but there are many, many "galleries" that do have a Picasso scam going on - not just in our area, but since many of these "galleries" are actually chain or franchise stores passing as art galleries, the scam goes on all over the country.

You know the type of "gallery" that I am talking about: They sell a lot of "pretty" decorative art, loads of gyclees on canvas by mass production, decorative artists with European-sounding names and "art" by famous people who are not artists or art by Hollywood actors. You can find these "galleries" in expensive rent areas (where a reputable gallery couldn't afford a space) such as M Street in Georgetown, most of La Jolla in California, in malls, and around Bethesda.

The scam is probably not illegal, but it is certainly unethical.

Here's how it works:

Many of Picasso's etching plates are apparently owned by some of his children, and they continue to use the plates to print their father's work ad nauseum. Then, the Picasso offspring sign the work with their last name, which conveniently is also "Picasso."

The sales pitch for the print then describes it as "this is a Picasso etching made from the original plate and it is signed."

They never (unless one asks) tell you that the Picasso signature that you see on the piece is NOT Pablo Picasso's signature but a Picasso son or daughter's signature (which of course now looks a lot like their father's)

So hapless buyers think that they are buying a print signed by the world's greatest artist, when in fact they are acquiring a print from his plate, but signed by one of his children.

Not illegal perhaps - but unethical.

Blake Gopnik finds a weakness in the new WWII Memorial.

I am posting from the Bethesda gallery, where I am observing galleryphobia in full action. There must be three dozen people in the plaza waiting to be called to the Original Pancake House, and nearly all of them are floating back and forth around the gallery's glass walls, peeking in and trying to see Tim Tate's extraordinary show - and yet not one brave soul dares to come in, although I have the gallery's front doors propped open and thus wasting precious air conditioning.

I am here on Sunday (rather than at home mowing my lawn amid the cicada invasion), because I am waiting for a Canadian film maker who is coming to do some filming as he's working on a documentary for Canadian television on the life of legendary photographer Lida Moser, who lives in retirement in Rockville and whose work we represent.

We are in the exhausting process of cataloguing all of Lida's remaining vintage photographs, some of which date back to the 1930s.

Well, it's official!

The Sandra Ramos debut show in Georgetown is now officially our best opening sales show.

We're also working on three different museum sales.

Last night it was also good to see Dr. Jonathan Binstock, the Curator of Contemporary Art for the Corcoran, visiting the various new shows in the four Canal Square galleries. A couple of weeks ago I also ran into Binstock at the Margaret Boozer opening at Strand on Volta gallery. It is refreshing to see a local museum curator taking an interest in our area artists and galleries!

When it rains it pours... after a couple of very rough months, suddenly art sales have exploded for us.

In Bethesda, Tim Tate is selling like wildfire, and most of his new glass sculptures are already gone. There will be a Washington City Paper review of the show next Thursday.

In Georgetown, the U.S. debut of Cuban artist Sandra Ramos, which opens tonight, has already sold most major pieces just from the website. There will be soon a Washington City Paper review of that show as well.

The Chesapeake Arts Center in Brooklyn Park, Maryland is looking for an Executive Director.

Visit their website for details.

The Dennis & Philip Ratner Museum in Bethesda has an exhibition by three Argentinean and one Israeli artist opening Sunday, June 6, 2004 from 1:30 - 3:30 PM.

The show is comprised of new paintings by Rosana Azar, Felisa Federman, Hedva Ferenci and Claudia Ravel. For more information, call Michal at 301/816 9004.

I'm familiar with Argentine artist Felisa Federman's work, and not only has she has been progressing over the years and developing as an artist, but Federman is also very active in ensuring that her work is seen! She has exhibited around the region quite widely and is always working on ways to get her work out - this is what artists should all do!