New York Times' art critic Roberta Smith is absolutely giddy about the Douglas Gordon show at the Hirshhorn.

I haven't seen the show yet (but will) and I will be honest enough to admit that I am already predisposed to dislike it, or rather to be bored by it, which is what happens to me with a large percentage of video "art."

The reason (I think) is that often the concept of the video artist's "art" is a lot more interesting than the final product. Add to that that "video art" is more often than not a combination of video and still photography - really a traditional mish mash of genres, and by the second or third video in a row by the same guy, I find myself just reading the wall text and looking at the still photographs and just barely glancing at the actual home movie... oops! I mean "video art."

But not Ms. Smith, who finds that Gordon's work "can trigger an almost giddy optimism about the general state of contemporary art and refresh your confidence in the possibility of artistic progress, even in these postmodern times."

Gordon's most famous and acclaimed work — famous indeed, but I wonder how many people have actually seen it in its entirety — is "24 Hour Psycho," an installation in which Alfred Hitchcock's famous movie thriller is extended to 24 hours, instead of proceeding at the usual speed of 24 frames per second. You can see it at the Hirshhorn - pop corn prohibited.

Progress is progress...

Today is the third Friday of the month and thus the Canal Square Galleries (31st Street NW and M Street in Georgetown) will have their monthly openings. We will have what I consider our key photography show of the year.

It is work by three of Cuba's most gifted female photographers: Elsa Mora, Marta Maria Perez Bravo and Cirenaica Moreira.

The openings go from 6-9 PM and are catered by the Sea Catch Restaurant. They are free and open to the public. Also tonight, instead of our usual Sangria, we will be serving Cuba Libres (Rum & Coke), and playing Benny More music to get in the Cuban mood.

See ya there!

Sometime tomorrow morning this site will receive its 5,000th visitor!

Today's Washington City Paper has a great profile article by Matt Sommers on legendary 83-year-old photographer Lida Moser, who now lives in Rockville.

Two of Moser's vintage photographs sold at Christie's auctions two days ago for $1,000 and $3,000 respectively. Her vintage work has gone as high as $4,000 in 2002.

As far as I know, Moser is the only Washington area photographer whose work shows up regularly in most major international photography auctions and yet she's never had a Washington museum show - but she's had solo shows in museums in Canada and the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, and locally her work is in the permanent collection of the Library of Congress and also the National Portrait Gallery and her photographs are in the permanent collections of dozens of museums around the world.

Yet not one single Washington area museum seems interested in organizing a Washington show of this 83-year-old dynamo, whose life is currently being filmed by Canadian television.

Suggestion to the National Museum of Women in the Arts: Wake up!

In case you missed the Kojo Nmandi show earlier today - here's the audio of the show. I'm towards the last 20 minutes of the show.

Don't forget to tune in today from 1:30 to 2:00 to WAMU 88.5 FM, where I will once again be a guest at the Kojo Nmandi Show.

I will be discussing the area's art scene and gallery and museum shows coming down the next few weeks, as well as mentioning some of my favorite area artists.

I believe that they will be taking phone calls from listeners, so if anyone has a question or comment for me, I should be able to take it on the air.

Tomorrow I will once again be a guest at the Kojo Nmandi Show on WAMU 88.5 FM from 1:30 to 2:00 PM. I will be discussing the area's art scene and gallery and museum shows coming down the next few weeks. Please listen in, as I believe that they will be taking phone calls from listeners.

I'm still in Tampa, and today I hope to be able to go visit the Salvador Dali Museum in St. Pete. Will be returning to DC later tonight.

AMPOFO, which deals in African Art Collectibles has an Open House Sale from February 20-22 featuring new works by photographer Nestor Hernández, one of my favorite DC photographers. 12 noon to 8:00 P.M. and other days and times by Appointment

3901 Ames Street, N.E.
Washington, D.C. 20019
202/397-2387

I'm in Tampa - flew here on Sunday night, and on the way here I managed to wipe out my laptop's modem, so have been unable to log on and put good stuff here. Will make it all up soon.

This coming Friday is the third Friday of the month, which means that the four Canal Square Galleries in Georgetown will have their opening nights. Catered by the Sea Catch Restaurant - from 6-8 PM. See you there!

Job in the Arts
Jean Efron Art Consultants: Project Manager - This position is an opportunity for a qualified applicant to gain exposure to local and national artists and galleries as well as to business management. An enthusiastic, highly organized, efficient, detail and people-oriented person is needed to manage projects and assist in the operation of an established art consulting firm. College grad with background and interest in contemporary art and a minimum of two years work experience is required. Computer expertise is essential with a knowledge of or ability to learn quickly Access and Photoshop and to maintain a visual digital library. Comfort with Internet research is required. Marketing and PR experience is desirable. Duties include project and office administration (organizing and maintaining files, shipping, framing, invoicing); client and artist development, organizing schedule for gallery and artist studio visits. Position can be full or part-time and is permanent with benefits. Salary: mid to high 30's; negotiable depending on experience. Please fax cover letter, resume and salary requirements to Jean Efron Art Consultants, LLC, and (202) 223-0275.

Opportunity for artists...
Deadline: April 4, 2004.
The Art Institute of Portland Gallery is accepting proposals for future exhibitions in 2005. Proposals must include a cover sheet introducing the artist and reasons for wanting to exhibit in the Gallery, 10-20 slides or digital images on CD of original work (only work that is to be considered for the exhibit should be submitted), artist statement including how the artwork will help further the educational mission of the design college, artist biography/resume, detailed image list with dimensions, media and year created for each image provided. If submitting slides, each slide must be labeled with artist name, dimensions, media. The Art Institute here. All proposals are to be submitted to:
Marlynn Schotland
Director of Public Relations
The Art Institute of Portland
1122 NW Davis Street
Portland, OR 97209.

DC photographer Joseph Mills, who had one of the best photography shows I have ever seen a while back at the Corcoran (curated by Paul Roth) has himself now curated an exhibition titled "Crosscurrents 2004, Room Full of Mirrors" at The Art Gallery of the University of Maryland. It will be up until February 28, 2004. See the exhibition online here.

The Crosscurrents exhibition series was established in the early 1990's to link
The University's Art Gallery directly with the Greater Maryland and Washington, DC contemporary art scene by creating a dialogue with local curators and artists. I must admit that this is the first time I've ever heard of it, so hopefully this will help spread the word about it.

Room Full of Mirrors includes works by Noah Angell, Marci Branagan, Colby Caldwell, Norman Carr, Victor Carroll, Francesca Danieli, Mary Del Popolo, Frank DiPerna, Marlon Fuentes, e. mars, Joseph Mills, Martha Olsson, Michael B. Platt, and Paul Roth (who curated the Mills exhibition at the Corcoran). The photographers examine photography, photomontage, multimedia, and collage in various ways.

The Art Gallery of the University of Maryland is in the Art-Sociology Building in College Park, MD. For information call 301.405.2763.

Joseph Mills is represented locally by Hemphill Fine Arts.

I am finishing a review of the Corcoran's "Quilts of Gee's Bend" exhibition, currently on display - once that's done and sent to my editor I will write a second one for posting here.

Sophia McCrocklin is a Washington area quilt artist - I reviewed her work several years ago and was quite impressed by it. Her new work just came down after being on exhibition at Spectrum Gallery for this past month. She is one of our area's most innovative artists working this medium.

Titled "Colors of Optimism", this recent work displays Sophia's heritage of quilt art to convey a personal landscape.

One of Washington's most active independent curators is Sarah Tanguy.

"Pattern & Purpose": works by Juliane Min, Melina Nicolaides, Rex Weil, and Elizabeth Whiteley; curated by Sarah Tanguy is currently on display at The American Center for Physics until April 16, 2004.

The Center is located at One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740. For viewing information, please contact Eva Adams, tel: 301-209.3125 .

Looking for a gallery?

Spectrum Gallery, 1132 29th St NW, in Georgetown (Phone 202-333-0954), is looking for new members and having a new member jurying panel on Saturday March 13, 2004. Please call the gallery for info or visit their website.

Opportunity for photographers...

Katherine Ware, the Curator of Photographs at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, will be the juror for the 2004 Photo Review Photography Competition. The Photo Review will reproduce accepted entries in its Summer 2004 issue. Also, the prize-winning photographers will be chosen for an exhibition at the photography gallery of The University of the Arts, Philadelphia. Awards include Microtek ScanMaker i900 scanners, a $350 gift certificate from Calumet Photographic, and $500 in cash prizes. An entry fee of $25 for up to three prints, slides, or images on CD and $5 each for up to two additional prints, slides, or images entitles all entrants to a copy of the catalogue. In addition, all entrants will be able to subscribe to The Photo Review for $30, a 20%
discount. All entries must be received by mail between May 1 and May
15, 2004.

For a prospectus and details, send a self-addressed, stamped
business-size (#10) envelope to:
The Photo Review
140 East Richardson Avenue, Suite 301
Langhorne, PA 19047.

The prospectus may also be downloaded from The Photo Review website. For further information call 215/891-0214.

And the quilt bandwagon rolls on...

Deadline April 20, 2004
Artists may submit up to three (3) art quilt entries. Several major prizes will be awarded during a special preview night, Aug 18, 7-9pm. Work must be original in design. Derivative work or work created in a class with the aid of an instructor is not acceptable. Entry fee is $25.00. All artwork will be insured by R&M Associates, Inc., which is the parent company of 3G Productions. 3G Productions will retain a 25% commission on any work that is sold. May 20-Notification of acceptance; Aug 2 – Deadline for receipt of accepted work; Aug 18 – Opening preview and awards ceremony; Sep 1 – Artwork returned to artists. Send the following to:
3G Productions
2717 Main Street
Glastonbury, CT 06033

Two professional slides for each entry – one overall view in full frame, and one close-up detail (showing approximately 12" x 12"). Slides must be clearly labeled with: Artist’s name; The title of the piece and dimensions (W x H) in inches; The word "top" indicating the top edge of the piece. Labeling should appear on the side which displays the right-reading image when held to the light; check $25; SASE for slide return; An artist’s statement specific to each piece (no more than 100 words). E-mail Jmahley@aol.com for entry form.

Great opening crowds last night in Bethesda and David FeBland, whose work has been called "a revival of the Ashcan School" and also "the leading edge of the new urban realists" by the New York Times came through with a great sale. That's his "Excursion" above.

Tonite is the Bethesda Art Walk. See you there.

Opportunities for artists:

No deadline. Now booking shows for July 2004 through June 2005.

The City of Greenbelt, Maryland hosts 16 professional exhibitions annually in two galleries. Artists working in any medium are welcome to apply for inclusion in curated solo and group shows. Preference is shown to artists interested in conducting public programs in conjunction with their exhibition, such as talks, workshops, and collaborative public art projects. Compensation is available for teaching. Guidelines provided on request. Visit the
website for details.

Jessica Dawson has a really good piece in today's Galleries column in the Post.

She eloquently discusses the Maryland Institute College of Art's "Comics on the Verge" exhibition, although I would disagree with her that by presenting this exhibition, "the university makes a radical statement" and thus "contends that cartoonists are in a league with fine artists;" statements that she writes in her review opening lines.

As Jessica mentions later in the article, comic book art and artists have been finding their way to galleries and museums for years now, and although there's still somewhat of a mental segregation in the minds of "high art" segregationists, I think that the battle has been fought and won, especially now that anything and everything is art.

Thus, although this sounds indeed like a terrific exhibition, and I will go and see it (and comment on it later), my first reaction is to disagree with it being a "radical statement."

One of the very first pieces of artwork that I ever bought was a pen and ink drawing by Robert Crumb when I was living in Southern California in 1976. Back then I used to collect what we then called underground comic books, and I must admit that I was amazed when Bay area galleries started showing Crumb and other underground cartoon artists' works as art. By the middle 80's Crumb was an international cult artist, and even appeared in Newsweek and other magazines. In 1990 the Museum of Modern Art, in New York City, included his work in an exhibit called "High and Low" which also featured work by other cartoonists; this was the crowning (14 years ago) of comic book art as "high art."

Another cartoon (and later book cover) artist that I purchased back then was Frank Frazetta, who was my childhood art hero and without a doubt the most influential illustrators (on other illustrators) from the 50's to the present. At one point Frazetta's book covers could guarantee so many sales, that book publishers would bid for his paintings and then hire a writer to create a story around the painting! His Death Dealer (shown to the left) is the best selling poster in US history and has been reproduced endlessly on paper, canvas, action figures and sculptures. This is all of course, very "low brow" art to most people - except Sotheby's and Christie's and art collectors, as Frazetta's originals now auction at incredible prices for a "low brow artist."

It's enlightening to read two art critics, both writing from important pulpits, write independently of each other about the same show. First this guy and later, this lad.

Note the stylistic differences, and how one critic brings the show to us, coupled with opinions and passion, while another rambles inaccurately about history and without an iota of proof, submits an erroneous theory.

Residency in Canada
Gibraltar Point International Artist residency Program
Deadline: March 29, 2004.
The Residency Program provides Canadian and International professional artists from all disciplines with a subsidized opportunity to live and work at the Gibraltar Point Centre for the Arts on Toronto Island (Toronto, Canada) from June 1-30, 2004.

Ten solo artists will be selected. Information and detailed application procedures are available on the Artscape website.

For more info: Toronto Artscape, phone: 416.392.7834 x.2 or email Susan.