Gender Bias

Edna V. Harris, who pens Anonymous Female Artist (a.k.a. Militant Art Bitch) is having a fascinating online conversation with Biennial co-curator Chrissie Iles on the subject of gender bias at the Whitney.

Read it all here. Keep at 'em Edna!

Heather on PostSecret

Heather over at Two Timing the Cosmos has an excellent review of the PostSecret exhibition and also some good photos. See it all here.

And Heather's friend Chai, has some equally intelligent comments on the whole PostSecret phenomenom here.

Huge lines

As I drove around M Street on Saturday afternoon, I couldn't believe my eyes at the huge line outside the PostSecret exhibition waiting to see the show! If this show doesn't or didn't make your own Top Ten list, then I really think that you ought to consider the fact that the last time that anyone lined up to see a visual arts show in DC was for a dude named Vermeer, and previous to that for Van Gogh; now add Frank Warren to the list.

I wonder if Warren is considering traveling this show to other venues?

Amy Lin saw the lines as well and took some photos; see one below:


The book, PostSecret Extraordinary Confessions from Ordinary Lives compiled by Frank Warren, with a foreword by Anne C. Fisher, Ph.D. is today number 27 in Amazon's best-seller list!

Rejected

Rejected from the 2006 Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival, which really sucks, since it's one of my biggest (personal) moneymaking oulets for my own work.

It's staged by the Greater Reston Arts Center in Virginia. Later this year I will be curating "Text: Phase II" for them, bringing together again the artists who were in the Text gallery at Seven.

Interface

One of the most unique and eye-popping shows that we've hosted since we opened in 1996 will debut to the public next Friday in Bethesda.

Curated by Catriona Fraser, and in preparation for over a year, the exhibition is titled "Interface," and it seeks to explore the marriage and coming together of technology with contemporary art in the context of the latter.

Through the use of robotics, magnetism, motorized works, video, lasers and computers, both area artists and invited artists from New York and Los Angeles explore the unavoidable marriage of modern technology with contemporary art.

"We seek to explore and to show," says Fraser, "what happens when talented and creative individuals, with a proven record of using technology as an integral part of their art, are given free reign to deliver a new work of art within that dialogue."

The exhibition includes new work by Kathryn Cornelius, Claire Watkins, Scott Hutchison, Thomas Edwards, Philip Kohn, Andrew Wodzianski, David Page and others. A catered opening reception for the artists (free and open to the public) will be held on Friday, January 13 from 6pm - 9pm. The exhibition runs through February 8, 2006.

And one of the artists in the show is looking for volunteers to assist with the art event itself.


David Page (who was the 2004 Trawick Prize winner - one of his projects is pictured) needs two volunteers 5'8" or smaller, weighing 160lbs or less (and over 18 years of age). They should not be claustrophobic, asthmatic and should be in general good health. Contact David at david@davidpageartist.com.

And see ya there!

Be ready for something really new -- and be steady!

Every Picture Tells A Story

I dropped by real quickly yesterday to chat with Clark at MOCA and while there I walked through MOCA's current show: Every Picture Tells A Story.

Like any group show, it's a mixed bag. In this case the show's best work is a huge (around eight feet tall) oil by Erik Sandberg, a Caravaggioesque oil of MOCA co-director David Quammen, depicting Quammen sitting down and cutting (I think) his toenails (or maybe his toes) with a menacing cleaver.

Sandberg is an amazing painter, and this is one of the largest paintings by Erik that I have seen in years.

I also liked the skilled drawings of Jennifer Schoechle; other work that I liked were the photographs by Joel Fassler, Chris Harrop and Renee Woodward - all very sensual and erotic.

The show runs through January 27, 2006.

Touchstone

Each year Touchstone Gallery showcases the works of new members of the Touchstone Gallery in a special exhibit. The new member show, "Latest Additions," presents the art of five new members: Jim Church, Harvey Kupferberg, Emery Lewis, Jan Sherfy and Charles St. Charles. Opening Reception: Friday, January 13, 2006, 6 - 8:30PM. Show runs though February 5, 2006.

Fusebox guessing

Nearly recovered from the shock of learning that Fusebox Gallery is closing after the show that opens tonight.

If I may enter into some guessing as to what will happen to their terrific space: I believe that another gallery will step into it almost immediately.

Why? Because I recall that Sarah and Patrick had a incredibly long lease (like a 15 year lease) for the space; it apparently worked to give them a sweet deal rent-wise, but a lease is a lease.

So my guess is that they may have worked out a deal with their landlord (I hope) for another art venue to take over the space.

Since many of you have emailed me asking: It's not us.

As reported in the Examiner, and as many of you know, we're closing our Georgetown space soon (news relase will be out in the next few days) as a result of a desire to concentrate on the Bethesda space and because of the construction mess that M Street will soon become. More on all that later.

It's not the new Heineman-Myers Gallery either; Zoe shopped exhaustively for a large space on the 14th Street corridor, but the space that she really wanted was given to a restaurant, so she will soon be opening a huge new gallery in Bethesda.

Kirkland guesses over at Thinking About Art that it may be Conner or Irvine, and I agree with his guess.

Fusebox will be missed.

It was not only a leader and one of the top galleries in our region, but also a very hardworking gallery (and ruthless if you believe this), who did a lot not only for their artists, but also for our region's cultural tapestry.

We all wish Sarah and Patrick the best of luck in San Francisco.

Watson's Top Ten

Amy Watson pens ARTery and her top 10 list of all sorts is here and also reproduced (a bit edited) below:

Favorite piece of my [her] own writing: review of Sacred Wild at apexart.

Favorite museum show: Basquiat at the Brooklyn Museum.

Favorite art writing (published): The American Sublime by Arthur Danto.

Favorite art writing (online): Tyler Green on Shirin Neshat.

Favorite art satire (online): George W. Bush as Performance Artist.

Favorite art satire (television): The Gates on the The Daily Show.

Favorite non-museum art: Chapel of Sacred Mirrors, by Alex Grey.

Favorite Top-Ten list: James Bailey, on DC Art News.

Favorite Blog: Eyeteeth

Last weekend

I'm at the Georgetown gallery from 12-6PM today, as it's the last weekend for my annual exhibition (it closes next Wednesday).

See ya there!

Something new for the Mansion

Three photographers who capture images of themselves as a key element in their work will be on display at Rockville’s Glenview Mansion, January 8 - 31, 2006. Gathered under the banner "The Lens as Mirror," the exhibit brings together the work of Gary A. Wolfe, Sara Pomerance, and John Borstel. Mixed-media artist Theresa Knight McFadden will complete the exhibition lineup, providing a sculptural counterpoint to the photography.

This exhibition is something "new" for the Mansion; in fact a giant forward step into a more provocative look at the visual arts. From the news release:

Gary A. Wolfe takes pictures of himself in motel rooms, documenting the details of environments that will seem familiar to anyone who travels in the USA: TV consoles, wall-mounted lamps, wood-grain Formica and stain-resistant upholstery. He also documents himself as a kind of everyman-in-underwear, stripped of any symbols of status or profession. Isolated and vulnerable, he nonetheless creates a human imprint on sterile surroundings. "Have I been here before?" these black-and-white images ask. "Have you?"

Sara Pomerance, blends "narrative mystery and whimsy in a beguiling recipe that yield[s] a sense of the unexpected complexity of human life... Her human subjects are caught in positions of poise, as if stilled by her attention" -- Andy Grundberg, Photography Chair at the Corcoran College of Art + Design. Among those human subjects is Pomerance herself, who sometimes appears in her images, but isn’t always recognizable, who sometimes asserts herself with a decisive gesture, at other times recedes as a fragment or shadow.

John Borstel employs self-imagery as a form of overtly theatrical performance. Striking stylized or declarative poses, Borstel uses props, costumes, and sundry adornments. At times these implements produce masquerade-like transformations of age, gender, and character. At other times they make more subtle points, as the images are anchored to short texts drawn from such sources as Sir James Fraser’s The Golden Bough and an old manual on traditional Japanese puppetry.

This trio represents a range of two generations, two genders and three points of view, offering a stimulating capsule of contemporary self-imaging.

---

Glenview Mansion is located in Rockville Civic Center Park at 603 Edmonston Drive in Rockville, MD. Gallery hours are Monday, Wednesday and Friday 9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., Tuesday and Thursday, 9 a.m. - 9 p.m. An artists’ reception takes place 1 to 4 p.m. on Sunday, January 8. The Gallery offers an artist talk at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, January 12 and a guided tour at 10 a.m. on Friday, January 13. For information call 240-314-8682 or 240-314-8660 or visit www.rockvillemd.gov. For recorded directions call 240-314-8660.

Drawing from the model

I get a lot of emails from artists asking about where they can go to draw from the model in the Greater DC region.

The Arlington Arts Center now offers life drawing sessions with access to a professional model. Just drop-in to their life drawing sessions on Wednesday nights or Saturday afternoons. They provide the model, you bring your materials. Cost is $15 a session, or buy a discount pass for six sessions for $60.

To register or to get more information on their classes check out their website at www.arlingtonartscenter.org.

And then there was one...


2005 has been our most successful year ever; more on this later.

Whitmore at Fusebox

Tomorrow Fusebox opens the new year with two new exhibitions: Vesna Pavlović: Collection/Kolekcija in their main exhibition space, and Ian Whitmore: Little Lies in their project space.

With three shows in the last three years, Whitmore continues to stay in the limelight as one of DC's best-known and most creative and aggressive painters. He's an amazing talent and I am truly looking forward to seeing what he's been working on.

The exhibitions open January 7 and run through February 11, 2006. A reception for the artists will be held Saturday, January 7, from 6:30 to 8:30 pm.

Update: This will be the gallery's last show; from Sarah Finlay this news release:

After a remarkable and rewarding five years, co-owners Sarah Finlay and Patrick Murcia regretfully announce the closing of Fusebox effective February 11, 2006.

As many of you know, Patrick Murcia, my husband and co-director of Fusebox, has for the past five years diligently balanced his demanding full-time position in the nonprofit housing world with his substantial responsibilities here at Fusebox. He now has an opportunity with his organization in San Francisco, and we, as a family, have made the difficult decision to close the gallery and relocate.

We can never fully express our gratitude to this community for its overwhelming support. We believe more than ever in the viability of Washington as home to a vibrant, internationally relevant contemporary art scene. We hope above all that our success has helped to affirm that potential. We are indebted to the other galleries and nonprofits on 14th for their collegiality, professionalism, and commitment to excellence; and for taking the risk to come here and create a critical mass of exceptional art spaces on the 14th Street corridor.

Of course, no commercial gallery can survive without avid collectors, and we have been so fortunate to work with an amazing community of intelligent, passionate people. These individuals deserve so much credit for substantially raising the bar in Washington--for zealously participating, for educating themselves, and for enthusiastically supporting excellent artists both within and outside this community.

Most important, we want to publicly express our deepest gratitude to the 18 artists who have been such an integral part of our lives for the past 5 years. Beyond providing us with a first class program, they have generously shared their time, their ideas, and their friendship. They have made it incredibly easy for us to realize our mission of furthering their careers. Every one of them has made huge strides professionally during our tenure representing them. We have every confidence that all of these extraordinary artists will continue to do great things.

Special thanks also go to our Assistant Director, Kevin Hull, for his uncompromising commitment, and to the many talented and ambitious young interns who have enriched our lives and helped in every aspect of the gallery’s operation--without them we could not have succeeded.

In closing, we want to reiterate that this art community has so much to offer and so much potential for continued growth and significance. We hope that any void we might be leaving will be quickly filled by another promising new gallery, and that this rich community of critics, curators, academics, gallerists, artists, students, and collectors will give them the same generous support and encouragement they gave us. Thank you one and all.

Silverthorne's Top Ten

Alexandra Silverthorne is another one of those DC area art fans who really gets around to the galleries. In fact, I would dare to guess that Silverthorne is among the top five gallery visitors in our area. And that's good, because she gets to see and comment on a hugely diverse set of exhibitions, not just the top ten galleries or so. And thus more power to her for adding some shows that she wished she had seen to her list. Alexandra's top 10 visual arts show of 2005 is posted here and reproduced below:

So instead, here are my lists (in no particular order).

Top 5 Favorite Area Exhibits
Andre Kertesz @ NGA
Carolina Sardi @ Flashpoint
Cynthia Connolly @ Transformer
Sam Gilliam @ The Corcoran
Sean Scully @ The Philips

Top 5 Area Exhibits I Wish I Had Seen
Jose Ruiz @ G Fine Art
Kelly Towles @ Adamson
Jiha Moon @ Curator's Office
Tim Tate @ Fraser Bethesda
Dan Steinhilber @ Numark

Honorable Mentions I Did See
Seven @ WPA/C / The Warehouse
Post Secret @ WPA/C
Gabriela Bulisova @ Fraser Georgetown

Read Bailey's interview of Silverthorne here.

Congratulations

To DC area artists Dan Steinhilber and Yuriko Yamaguchi, who have been selected as recipients of the Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters and Sculptors Grant Program Awards for 2005.

Both artists are represented by Numark Gallery.

Fred Ognibene's Top Ten

Fred Ognibene is one of our area's best-known art collectors and below is his list for the top ten 2005 visual art exhibitions:

1. Gina Brocker, Photographs from the Series ‘The Donovans and Other Settled Travelers’ at Irvine Contemporary
2. Ian Whitmore, Mirror, Mirror at Fusebox
3. Dan Steinhilber at Numark
4. Linn Meyers, Current at G Fine Art
5. Jiha Moon, Symbioland at Curator's Office
6. Barbara Probst at G Fine Art
7. Scott Treleaven at Conner Contemporary
8. Patrick Wilson at Fusebox and at Suzanne Vielmeter Gallery in Culver City (Los Angeles)
9. Visual Music at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
10. Robert Mapplethorpe and the Classical Tradition, Photographs and Mannerist Prints at the Guggenheim Museum, NYC

Bethesda Painting Awards

Deadline: Tuesday, January 31, 2006

The Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District is currently accepting applications for the second annual Bethesda Painting Awards, a juried competition honoring four selected painters with $14,000 in prize monies. Deadline for slide submission is Tuesday, January 31, 2006. Up to eight finalists will be invited to display their work from June 7 – July 12, 2006 in downtown Bethesda at our Fraser Gallery.

The competition will be juried by Janis Goodman, Associate Professor of Fine Arts at the Corcoran College of Art & Design and the visual arts reviewer for WETA's Around Town; Ron Johnson, Assistant Professor of Painting at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) and Barry Nemett, Chair of the Painting Department at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA).

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 January 31, 1976 will also be awarded $1,000.

Artists must be 18 years of age or older and residents of Maryland, Virginia or Washington, D.C. All original 2-D painting including oil, acrylic, watercolor, gouache, encaustic and mixed media will be accepted. The maximum dimension should not exceed 60 inches in width or 84 inches in height. No reproductions. Artwork must have been completed within the last two years and must be available for the duration of the exhibition.

Each artist must submit five slides, application and a non-refundable entry fee of $25.

The Bethesda Painting Awards was established by local business owner Carol Trawick in 2005, who continues to be a beacon of light and a great example as a small business woman who puts her money where her mouth is. Ms. Trawick has served as a community activist for more than 20 years in downtown Bethesda. She is Chair of the Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District, Past Chair of the Bethesda Urban Partnership, Inc. and founder of The Trawick Prize, which has already launched several area artists' careers. Ms. Trawick is the owner of an Information Technology company in Bethesda, Trawick & Associates.

My business partner, Catriona Fraser, an award-winning photographer, curator and juror, is the non-voting Chair of the Bethesda Painting Awards. Ms. Fraser has directed the Fraser Gallery, with locations in Bethesda, MD and Washington, D.C. since 1996. Ms. Fraser is also the Chair of The Trawick Prize and Director of the highly acclaimed Bethesda Fine Arts Festival.

The inaugural Bethesda Painting Awards were held in June 2005. Joe Kabriel from Annapolis, MD was awarded “Best in Show” with $10,000; John Aquilino of Rockville, MD was named second place and was given $2,000; Dominique Samyn-Werbrouck of Alexandria, VA was awarded third place and received $1,000 and the “Young Artist” award of $1,000 was given to Catherine Lees of Baltimore, MD.

For a complete submission form, please call 301/215-6660, visit www.bethesda.org or send a self-addressed stamped envelope to:

Bethesda Painting Awards
c/o Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District
7700 Old Georgetown Road
Bethesda, MD 20814

Airborne today and heading back home... more later.

Kirkland's Top Ten

J.T. Kirkland is the wood dude and Thinking About Art blogger. His top ten visual art shows of the year are here and also summarized below:

1. Andre Kertesz @ National Gallery of Art (DC)
2. Dan Flavin: A Retrospective @ National Gallery of Art (DC)
3. Cy Twombly Installation at Philadelphia Museum of Art
4. Linn Meyers @ G Fine Art (DC) and Margaret Thatcher Projects (NYC)
5. Bruce Nauman - Raw Materials @ Tate Modern Turbine Hall (London)
6. Logical Conclusions: 40 Years of Rule-Based Art @ Pace Wildenstein (NYC)
7. Shelley Spector @ Painted Bride Art Center (Philly)
8. Jiha Moon: Symbioland @ Curator's Office (DC)
9. David Ryan @ Numark (DC)
10. J.T. Kirkland: Studies in Organic Minimalism @ University of Phoenix (VA)

Honorable Mentions
William Betts @ Thomas Werner Gallery (NYC)
Barbara Probst @ G Fine Art (DC)
Scott Treleaven @ Conner Contemporary (DC)
Sam Gilliam's retrospective at The Corcoran Gallery of Art (DC)