Art League Announces New Executive Director

Congrats to the Art League's new Executive Director Suzanne Bethel:

The Art League Board of Directors is delighted to announce that Suzanne Bethel has been appointed to the position of Executive Director commencing on October 1, 2012. She will succeed current and long time Executive Director, Linda Hafer.

Currently the Executive Director for Operations, Suzanne’s multi-faceted experience and career at The Art League will bring a unique wealth of knowledge to her future role as the chief executive officer. From her days as School Registrar, Curriculum Director, School Director, and Deputy Director of Operations, to her present position as the Executive Director for Operations, Suzanne has excelled in every project she has undertaken. She will continue to direct the day-to-day management of The Art League, which includes all operations and programming, and will oversee all Development and community programs. The Art League’s School, and Gallery, with their celebrated and renowned educational, membership and exhibition programming will continue to be under her very experienced hand.

Suzanne will continue to lead The Art League staff in serving the long time mission and constituencies of The League, and will be fostering new creative partnerships within Alexandria and beyond. Focusing on sustainability, Suzanne is leading the way with the establishment of a newly consolidated school facility at the Madison Annex. This complex will house 3-D and 2-D art programs in a synergistic environment that will be ready for launch by the beginning of the Fall 2012 term.

We have enormous pride in her many accomplishments and respect for Suzanne and her extraordinary capabilities and vision for The Art League’s future. Current Executive Director, Linda Hafer, has offered a ringing endorsement of Suzanne’s succession to this new position:

“Suzanne is the perfect choice to lead The Art League ‘onward and upward!’ She has a deep understanding of the culture of The Art League, and the experience, vision, and passion to recognize the strengths and the wonderful potential of our organization. She has earned the respect of all who have worked with her. I have complete confidence in Suzanne's ability to continue building on the successes of the generations of artists who have created this living community, and enthusiastically congratulate her on this well deserved recognition!”

 Want some ideas on how to kick-start some new initiatives for the Art League? Call me!

The Incantation of Frida K

Here is "The Incantation of Frida K", which is both an homage in my obsessive interest in Kahlo as well as an homage to the wonderful American writer and poet Kate Braverman. This piece is now in the private collection of a well-known DMV area art collector in Chevy Chase, Maryland.

Here's the drawing - almost finished except for the text which will be added to the halo

Here is the cut-out from Kahlo's chest - it is in the shape of a heart with fangs - this is the window from which the video will play. The text around her halo is a passage from Braverman's book of the same title as this piece.

The Incantation of Frida K. The necklace around Kahlo's neck is a cluster of clues and images of bombs, skeletons, hidden images, penises, babies and even mathematical conjectures.

Another video shot of The Incantation of Frida K

Detail of the appropriated video, which comes from a home movie by an unknown person and shows Kahlo, almost as a black widow, about to ensnare a very young and frightened young girl. See the full video here.

My neighborhood

A few days ago we received a glossy postcard announcing an estate sale this weekend in one of those gigantic Potomac mansions on Stapleford Hall Drive. It announced that everything must go and talked about artwork, and seeing that this joint is only about a 90 second drive from my much smaller house, I decided to drop in and see what sort of artwork dwells in one of these gigantic homes.

The place was indeed gargantuan and by the time we got there around 10AM, which is when the sale was scheduled to begin, it was already crawling with dozens of curious potential buyers.

The home, which belongs to a retired NBA basketball star, was palatial indeed - although the "antique reproduction" style of expensive (but still a reproduction) glossy, vulgar furniture was certainly not my style - although (second "although in this sentence) there were some very nice Middle Eastern and Persian rugs all over the mansion.

But I concentrated on the "artwork", and as I had come well prepared to be disappointed, I found exactly what I expected in this multimillion dollar mansion: dreck.

On the walls hung what appeared to be the "Chinese painting villages" made oils on canvas of the usual themes: hyper-realistic fruits bowls brimming with grapes and fruits, wine bottles with cigars by the side, basic palette landscapes, brushy flowers, etc. As expected, they were all framed in what was clearly very expensive mouldings - the three to five thousand dollar range custom framework that these peddlers of visual wall dreck seduce the buyers into acquiring for their wall decor.

"Everything is 50% off the price tags," announced the floor boss of a small army of name-tagged floor assistants. Right off the bat that was a clue about the real reality of "everything must go..." and the inherent sadness of the event.

As I walked around the house, in one large window alcove facing the swimming pool, from far away I saw what looked like a large Tamara de Lempicka hanging on the alcove wall. I held my breath as I approached it, fully expecting to discover some ersatz bad copy job.

And that's exactly what it was: a bad Chinese/Ebay copy of a Lempicka on a $2,000 frame going for a few hundred bucks. Someone had copied de Lempicka's Adam and Eve using a lot of white to stretch out the colors and then signed it with a name close but not exactly the same as the original artist's name.

Back on the main floor, as I walked by, the large oil of shiny grapes and fruits was being examined by a Saturday-morning whiskered man and a woman, and a bored teen. "What do you think?" he asks of her.

The price tag on the Chinese oil was $2,000+, which means that this piece of kitsch wall decor was being given away for around a $1,000 samolians; five gets you ten that the original price from the "gallery" that sold it to the former NBA star was around $5,000.

As with the other crap hanging on the walls, that poor (not in dollars, but in visual arts knowledge) former NBA star had been conned not only into buying mass produced (one at a time) wall decor offered as fine art, but also then some gifted gabber of a salesman had added a $2-$3,000 frame to augment the monstrous act of conning someone into acquiring what they think of as "art" and presenting it as "art" (read elaborate, roccoco, expensive and disturbingly kitschy frame mouldings).

"I like it," says she back to the perspective buyer.

"It would really snap that room for me," he adds, "That's the only thing missing."

"I think I'm going to buy it," he says. She turns to to the 15 year teen.

"What do you think?", she asks of the bored teen.

She shrugs her shoulders, "Itsawright...", she mumbles.

Even in this scenario, I've seen this scene play a thousand times. Even though in their eyes the huge hand-painted riot of fruit oil hanging on a massive frame on the wall seems to be too good of a deal to pass, since it is "art", they are looking for an excuse to walk on.

But that room really needs something to snap it together. "I think I'm going to buy it," says he again, brow furrowed and arms crossed. He turns around, looking to find one of the floor assistants, finds one and beckons her over with one of those forefinger wiggles that cartoon characters use to tell someone to come over.

I walk on by, saddened a little.

HeART of the Community Live Auction

Sunday, June 3, 5-8 p.m.
Clear Space Theatre,
20 Baltimore Avenue
Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971
Phone: 302-227-5620

Small Plates and Open Bar - Featuring the 2012 HeART of the Community Live Auction with art by 25 invited artists selected by four curators. Auctioneer: Lorne Crawford.

Dress: Black and White Casual
Tickets: $75. Tickets are limited. Advance Ticket Price $65, available through April 30 only on the CAMP Rehoboth website. After April 30 all tickets will be $75 and may be purchased online or by calling 302-227-5620.
Purchase Tickets

HeART of the Community Art Auction

Curators and Artists:

Murray Archibald
Rodney Cook
Ward Ellinger
Gary Fisher
Laura Hickman
Victor Letonoff
Andres Tremols   

Sondra N. Arkin
Joan Belmar
Scott G. Brooks
Anna U. Davis
Pat Goslee
Barbara Gruber
Renee Stout
Novie Trump

Jay Pastore
Rick Bach
Susan Finsen
Lee Wayne Mills
Brian Petro
Duane Rieder
Ellen Sinel

Andres Tremols
Lenny Campello
Max Hirshfeld
Laurel Lukaszewski
Christopher Speron
Betsy Stewart
Ellyn Weiss

Sneak Peek Art Preview
Wine and Cheese Reception
CAMP Rehoboth Community Center
Sunday, May 27, 4-7 p.m. (free)

Thanks to the efforts of our curators and their invited artists, CAMP Rehoboth is pleased to present an exceptional collection of art selected especially for the 2012 Black and White Beach Ball. All art will be previewed at the CAMP Rehoboth Community Center on Memorial Day weekend. Proxy bidding will be available for buyers who are interested in purchasing but unable to attend the June 3 event.

Supermoon tomorrow!

Get your cameras and peepers ready: the full Moon will be up to 14% larger and 30% brighter than others during the year. The reason for this phenomenon is that the Moon becomes full on its closest approach to Earth on May 5, 2012, also known as the perigee full Moon, and Cinco de Mayo Luna in Mexico (I made that up).


Geek details here.

Thumbs down!

Subject: The Trawick Prize: Bethesda Contemporary Art Awards
Date: Thu, 3 May 2012 09:21:49 -0400

Dear Artist,

On behalf of the Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District and the 2012 Trawick Prize Jury, I would like to thank you for entering The Trawick Prize:  Bethesda Contemporary Art Awards.  Our panel of jurors was honored to have the opportunity to review the creative and exciting work from a vast selection of area artists.

We received entries from more than 350 artists and the jury spent numerous hours reviewing images before making some very complicated decisions. We truly appreciate your time and talent; however, your work was not selected.

As a reminder, the jury consisted of Dawn Gavin, artist and Associate Professor in Drawing and Foundations at the University of Maryland, College Park; B. Kelly Gordon, Associate Curator at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden; and N. Elizabeth Schlatter, Deputy Director and Curator of Exhibitions at the university of Richmond Museums.

We thank you for your interest and hope you will consider applying to next year’s competition when a different panel of judges will select the finalists and winners of The Trawick Prize.  Additionally, if you are a painter, we encourage you to apply to the Bethesda Painting Awards next year, where a distinguished panel of judges will also award $14,000 to select regional painters.

We wish you the best of luck in your future artistic endeavors.

Sincerely,

Catriona Fraser

Chair

The Trawick Prize: Bethesda Contemporary Art Awards

 And I will apply again next year... because they are right: new panel equals new set of eyes,

Open Studios Next Saturday

On May 12th, over 120 Gateway Arts District Artists will open their studios to the public. Visitors are invited to interact one-on-one with local artists, see their work, and explore their studios, during this annual event. To learn more, visit www.gatewayopenstudios.org.

Produced by the Gateway Community Development Corporation, Open Studio Tour is the premier arts event of the Gateway Arts District. This year's tour features:

• A guided tour of select studios 
• Live performances at Joe's Movement Emporium and the Mount Rainier Artists' Lofts
• A trunk show featuring artists from the Hyattsville Community Arts Alliance at ArtDC 
• Artists Reception/Opening and Studio Tour After Party at the 39th Street Gallery 

   LOVE, LOSS & LIPSTICK:  Caryl Burtner & Taliaferro Logan

• ArtWorks: Local Art Matters Show and Reception

 Saturday, May 12, 2012, 12 Noon - 5 pm - Opening Reception & Tour After Party, 5:30 - 8 pm

Taking a chance

 Los Angeles conceptual artist John Baldessari discusses how he brought slides of his early text paintings from gallery to gallery all over Manhattan and faced rejection at each one, until Michael Findlay offered him a place in a group show - which was the artist’s first ever New York showing and his second gallery show ever!

“The problem for any dealer is to be the first person to take a chance on an artist,” Mr. Baldessari said. “Most dealers wait for someone else to take a chance and then they poach from the other gallery. It’s very difficult to go out on a limb for an untested artist..."
 -  John Baldessari

Details here.

Prizewinners!

I recently had the honor and pleasure of reviewing a lot of gorgeous artwork for the Capitol Hill Art League's May juried competition. As usual, this is hard but rewarding work.

 The opening reception for this exhibition and my juror's talk is on Saturday May 12 with an opening party 5-7pm and the juror's talk at 5:30pm.

The award winners are:

First Place:  Sonia Robed, Jacqueline Saunders,   Watercolor 

Second Place: Candice No. 100, John Reef, Pigment PrintThird Place: Slumber Party, Fierce Sonia, Photo on Acrylic
Fourth Place: Koan Run, Latex on Wood, Patricia Goslee

Honorable Mention Awards:
Galadi, Russ McIntosh, Digital Photo Illustration
Birth of an Island, Tati Valle-Riestra, Watercolor
 

Sonia Robed, Watercolor by Jacqueline Saunders

Candice No. 100, Pigment Print by John Reef

Slumber Party, Photo on Acrylic by Fierce Sonia

Juror's Comments

The Business of Art Workshop

The Business of Art Workshop –  A Professional Development Series for Visual Artists

Panel Presentation: The Inside and Out of Creating a Great Art Portfolio

Saturday, May 5, 2012; 3-5pm

Free. 

Join Tosha Grantham, Philippa Hughes, Christina Marsh and John Yeh as they discuss what makes a portfolio great and not-so-great. Hear what makes them look twice or not at all, what they've seen that works, and where trends are going. Discussion to be moderated by Alonzo Davis.

Advance Registration Required

http://smartlink.pgparks.com/smartlink

SMARTlink #883815

Brentwood Arts Exchange - exchanging ideas through art.

A Facility of the Maryland-National Capital Park & Planning Commission

@ Gateway Arts Center

3901 Rhode Island Avenue

Brentwood, MD 20722

301-277-2863/ tty. 301-446-6802

arts.pgparks.com

Supermoon next Saturday

Get your cameras and peepers ready: the full Moon will be up to 14% larger and 30% brighter than others during the year. The reason for this phenomenon is that the Moon becomes full on its closest approach to Earth on May 5, 2012, also known as the perigee full Moon, and Cinco de Mayo Luna in Mexico (I just made that up).

Geek details here.

Tonight at Morrison House

WHAT:  “The story behind the 100 Artists of Washington, DC book” - Morrison House Presents: F. Lennox Campello, Author

DESCRIPTION:  Author F. Lennox Campello discusses his controversial book, 100 Artists of Washington, DC, and provides insights into the selection process, the publication of the book and the subsequent eruption of controversy in the Greater DC area art scene.

WHEN: Tuesday, May 1, 6 to 8pm

WHERE: Morrison House, 116 South Alfred Street, Alexandria, VA 22314

INFO: Morrison House: www.morrisonhouse.com / Phone: 703-838-8000

ADMISSION: Free admission (Food and drink available for purchase)

Scrapping the artists

Here's the story: There's a 1.6-acre property adjacent to the National Institutes of Health Open Space in Bethesda. The initial proposal by developer Patrinely Group of Houston, Texas included 25 percent "moderately priced dwelling units and about 2,000 square feet within the main building for an arts incubator, which would have offered studio and exhibit space for emerging artists." That all went away when the condo market collapsed in Bethesda and now StonebridgeCarras, which purchased the site about a year ago, has a new proposal:

The vacant Trillium lot could be home to 360 luxury appartments and a grocery, if plans are approved by the Montgomery County Planning Board on Thursday.

And first thing to go in the StonebridgeCarras proposal: The arts incubator.

How does the Greater Bethesda-Chevy Chase Chamber of Commerce feel about that?

 “We really support that,” said Ginanne Italiano, executive director of the Greater Bethesda-Chevy Chase Chamber of Commerce. “It’s not the whole concept that the other organization had, but I think this is going to be an even better concept.”

Yeah Ginanne, another grocery store is an even better concept than an arts incubator. After all, there are only about a dozen or more grocery stores in Bethesda and ahhh... zero affordable space for artists and nothing even remotely close to an arts incubator, and most Bethesda area art galleries have closed in the last couple of years; thank you for your moral support.

Good move StonebridgeCarras (nice artsy name!) and let DC Art News be the first to welcome to Bethesda, yet another Safeway, or yet another Giant, or considering the artsy name of the developer, perhaps another Whole Foods.

Makes my head hurt.

Read the Gazette story by Jessica Ablamsky here and read the developer's news release here.

Around Town

That busload of San Francisco art collectors visiting the DMV is out and about town today. They started with a pep talk this morning (at the home of a most gracious Chevy Chase art collector) and then headed out to the District to visit art studios, artists' homes and galleries.

They were last seen visiting Flux, Red Dirt and the WGS and all of those artists' studios in that area.

Collatz Conjecture and Art

I'm probably only one of a handful of people on the planet who has an Undergraduate degree in Art as well as a degree in Mathematics and a Master's in Artificial Intelligence.

As such, I'm always thinking about ways to explore Math in Art... Hidden in the shadows of most of my drawings (shadows cast by bodies as well as shadows in the bodies themselves) are often to be found other figures and clues, and just as often mathematical equations, progressions, theorems, conjectures, etc.

One recurring and fascinating issue to me, buried in the shadows of a drawing that I sold last week in New York is the Collatz Conjecture:

Take any natural number and let's call it n.

If n is even, then we divide it by 2 to get n / 2.

If n is odd, then we multiply it by 3 and add 1 to obtain 3n + 1.

Repeat this division/multiplication indefinitely (and this is where "indefinitely" becomes an issue, as the British say).

The Collatz Conjecture is that no matter what number you start with, you will always and no matter what the starting number is, eventually reach 1.

This conjecture property has also been called "oneness."

Can art help represent this? I don't know - that's why I bury them in the shadows of the drawings and not try to solve them per say; but often it is the drawings themselves that trigger the specific mathematical clue/issue being associated with the piece.

At Morrison House on Tuesday

WHAT:  “The story behind the 100 Artists of Washington, DC book” - Morrison House Presents: F. Lennox Campello, Author

DESCRIPTION:  Author F. Lennox Campello discusses his controversial book, 100 Artists of Washington, DC, and provides insights into the selection process, the publication of the book and the subsequent eruption of controversy in the Greater DC area art scene.

WHEN: Tuesday, May 1, 6 to 8pm

WHERE: Morrison House, 116 South Alfred Street, Alexandria, VA 22314

INFO: Morrison House: www.morrisonhouse.com / Phone: 703-838-8000

ADMISSION: Free admission (Food and drink available for purchase)

Roberto Rodriguez and the Cuban Jewish All Stars

The Jewish Music Festival is featuring a very special act this year:  

Roberto Rodriguez is a true innovator whose artistic vision synthesizes Cuban and Jewish music into an entirely new creation that breathes joy and melancholy. Born in Havana and raised in Miami, the percussionist and composer’s groundbreaking music explores his cross-cultural roots and influences, melding his native Cuban music with contemporary genres of world, Sephardic, pop, jazz, electronic and classical music.

 Details here.

Opportunity for Artists

Deadline: July 8, 2012

A national juried exhibition of emerging artists, ages 16-25, with disabilities. Sustaining / Creating asks emerging artists to showcase work that illuminates innovative viewpoints on sustainability and contemporary creativity. Beyond its scientific definition, sustainability references notions of responsibility and stewardship of our natural world in all facets of human interaction–from the environmental to the cultural. Sustainability indicates the capacity to endure.

Submitted artwork should illustrate these thematic ideas, which may be achieved through broad, abstracted references or detailed personal creations. Your submission might also reflect your experience of living with a disability and its role in shaping or transforming your art.

This exhibition is presented by the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts’ VSA & Accessibility Office and Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.

Details here

The Scream

The frenzy around the imminent auction on May 2 of Edvard Munch’s The Scream at Sotheby’s in New York is reaching a peak here in Europe, where predictions abound that it will break the record price paid for a work of art at auction: $106.5 millions two years ago for Pablo Picasso’s “Nude green leaves and bust.”

Read the story here.