“Paint” Alexandria

On Saturday, May 20 and Sunday, May 21, 2006 The Art League will hold its annual “Paint” Alexandria, a two-day, all-media, plein air event, followed by the “Paint” Alexandria exhibition in The Art League Gallery, from June 7 – July 3, 2006.

They encourage artists of all media to participate in the event and creatively interpret Old Town Alexandria. Art League instructors will be on hand at various locations throughout historic Old Town Alexandria to guide participants in the fine art of sketchbook, painting, and photography.

During the event, artists will set up at different locations within walking distance of the Art League Gallery on the waterfront to paint, photograph, sketch, and create. Sessions with Art League instructors will be from 10:00 am – 12:00 noon and 3:00 – 5:00 pm on both Saturday and Sunday.

The registration fee is $40, and participation is not limited to Art League members. Participants are encouraged to come with their favorite artist materials and work alongside our instructors, set up on their own, or just come to enjoy the walking tour and demonstrations.

For more information, please contact Erica Fortwengler, Assistant Gallery Director at The Art League Gallery, 703-683-1780, ericaf@theartleague.org.

Kirkland Catching Up

Fellow artblogmeister JT Kirkland has so many diverse things going on that I'm catching up with all of them at once.

The One Word Project is JT's first book and it's now out and available for purchase. Details here.

bARTer is JT's new take-off on the barter idea for art. Details here.

The upcoming solo exhibition of JT's art, titled "Framed," opens May 11, 2006 at the Greater Reston Arts Center (GRACE) in Reston, VA and runs through June 16, 2006. There will be a reception for the artist on Saturday, May 13, 2006 from 6:00 – 8:00 pm. You can see a preview of the exhibition here.

American Style

Two interesting articles in the current issue of American Style magazine, both good reasons to go pick up an issue.

-- This article highlights the top 25 American cities for art (according to the magazine's national readers). New York, of course, is number one. Behind the Big Apple are Chicago, (No. 2), Washington, D.C. (No. 3), San Francisco, (No. 4), and Boston, (No. 5). I realize that this rather great ranking is (I suspect) mostly based on our plethora of great museums (from the readers' perspectives), but I hope that it also raises some tiny issues with the editors at the Washington Post and the Washington Times, and their abysmal coverage of DC area art galleries and artists. And, over a year after the new Style section editor at the WaPo stated that they'd be looking to add a second freelancer to the "Galleries" column, so that the column could return to its once-a-week schedule, we're still waiting for Ms. Heard to hire a freelancer.

-- And the second reason to read this issue is (are you ready for this?)... the magazine has a huge article focusing national attention upon our own Washington Glass School and the whole "context in glass" movement that the school is a part of nationally. The article by Lee Lawrence reveals that

"It's addictive to make the perfect vessel," Tate admits. "The trick is to overcome that." Janis calls this hard-to-resist attraction "the quest for the perfect bubble," and he, too, confesses he is not immune. But, like a growing number of artists, Tate and Janis subscribe to the motto their glass school hammers home to students: "Learn your craft, then move beyond it."

Read the whole article by Lee Lawrence here. The "Compelled by Content II" show runs through June 4, 2006. Visit the Washington Glass School here.

Pinder's Ships

A few days ago I posted a bit about the CP blog story on Jefferson Pinder and his artwork at CORE.

Jennifer Motruk Loy, who is CORE's Director of Marketing (and a strong, proven supporter of our area's arts and artists) sent me a full perspective on the issue:

In response to Rachel Beckman’s City Desk Blog, Pinder’s Ships Have Sailed (4.25), I would like to clarify and address some key points not raised in Ms. Beckman’s piece that provide a full perspective on the story.

While it is unfortunate that Mr. Pinder’s work was de-installed by his curator (not "pulled off the wall") from the CORE lobby gallery prior to May 12, his work was installed on March 12, and remained on view for a full six weeks. This point was not only unreported in the article, but six weeks is an average if not slightly longer typical exhibition time in similar alternative spaces and true 'art gallery' spaces around town.

Perhaps even more unfortunate is that Mr. Pinder's work didn't receive this type of attention during its run so that more viewers could have enjoyed it. We welcomed the opportunity to share his work with our colleagues and clients, though did not commission the work or ask him to create work specifically for our space, as the article implies. In actuality, Mr. Pinder's curator was the one that approached CORE about installing Pinder's work in our space, and the ‘hundreds’ of announcement cards that were sent out included the CORE logo, not Mr. Pinder’s gallery was also responsible for sending out announcement cards, not the gallery, as reported. We wrote the press release, we included information on Mr. Pinder’s exhibition in our electronic newsletter and linked to him on our web site. Despite these efforts, CORE was never contacted by interested visitors, writers, critic or members of the media to view the show over the course of six weeks.

Though not a professional 'art gallery', the CORE lobby exhibition space has seen at least three other exhibitions by regional artists and is also used to display the firm's own art collection, and as business warrants, displays of the firm's professional architecture and design project boards. In showcasing the work of regional artists, our goal is not to draw hundreds of visitors, nor to engage in artwork commerce, but to enhance our space and engage colleagues and clients with examples of contemporary art, which we accomplished with this most recent exhibition and will do so again in the future.

Despite these non 'art gallery' characteristics of our space, Mr. Pinder saw some advantage to having his work on view at CORE, and could have made better use of the opportunity by reaching out to the press during the actual run of the exhibition which could have resulted in far better exposure and visibility for both he and his gallery. Finally, if content of the exhibition were in ANY way related to a need to remove the work prior to the anticipated closing date, it would have involved a meeting in person with Mr. Pinder to discuss the issues and a decision would have been made as to proceed or not to proceed with the exhibition. Content was not the issue, but we hope that these discussions bring Mr. Pinder the attention he deserves in anticipation of his first solo exhibition at G Fine Art in the fall.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Motruk Loy
Director of Marketing

ps thanks for the web site hits

Finalists Selected for Bethesda Painting Awards

$10,000 to be Awarded to Best in Show!

Nine painters have been selected as finalists for the Bethesda Painting Awards, a juried competition and exhibition produced by the Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District. More than 200 artists from Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. submitted work to the second annual competition created to exclusively honor painters. The work of the nine finalists will be on display at the Fraser Gallery from June 7 – July 12, 2006.

The top prize winners will be announced and honored on Wednesday, June 7, 2006 at 7pm at a private press event held at the Fraser Gallery, located at 7700 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite E. The Best in Show winner will be awarded $10,000, second place will be honored with $2,000 and third place will be awarded $1,000.

The nine artists selected as finalists are:

Paul Ellis, Washington, D.C.
Michael Farrell, Bethesda, MD
Haley Hasler, Charlottesville, VA
Scott Hutchison, Arlington, VA
Megan Marlatt, Orange, VA
Phyllis Plattner, Bethesda, MD
James Rieck, Baltimore, MD
Tony Shore, Joppa, MD
Andrew Wodzianski, Washington, D.C.

Entries were 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). Catriona Fraser, director of the Fraser Gallery, is the non-voting Chair of the Bethesda Painting Awards.

A public opening will be held on Friday, June 9, 2006 from 6 – 9pm in conjunction with the Bethesda Art Walk. The Fraser Gallery is located at 7700 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite E in downtown Bethesda. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 11:30am – 6pm.

The Bethesda Painting Awards were established by Carol Trawick in 2005 and she 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 25 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: Bethesda Contemporary Art Awards. 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.

Russian Realism at Principle

A few days ago I visited Principle Gallery on King Street in Old Town Alexandria, to view their “Russian Realism 2006” exhibition.

Russian artists, like most contemporary artists coming from the once subjugated countries that were part of the Soviet Union’s axis of influence, are generally highly trained artists, with many years of formal schooling on the basics of drawing and painting, a form and manner of teaching which is (and has been) sadly missing from most American art school for many years.

And this exhibition is a terrific example of how any subject can be elevated from the mundane to the sublime by the simple power of art in the hands of a talented and skilled painter. A painting of smoked, dried fish, or even a cement factory, abandon their subject and become memorable as art.

I am not familiar with any of the Russian artists in this exhibition, but they all certainly show exceptional technical prowess, and a few also manage to cross the very fine line that distingishes a technically well-done painting from a technically well-done painting that is also an exceptional work of art based on other nuances such as presence, impact, composition and effect on the viewer.

Good show!

Silverthorne on Mel George

Alexandra takes a quick look at Mel George's work in our current "Compelled by Content II" exhibition. Read her thoughts here.

Things to do tomorrow

1. I will be the featured speaker at the Women's Caucus Networking Day, which starts at 9:30AM. My yakity yak starts at 10:15AM.

2. "Task" performance by by New York-based artist Oliver Herring (b. 1964, Heidelberg, Germany), in front of the Hirshhorn from Noon to 7PM.

3. Frank Warren discusses his worldwide phenomenom PostSecret (and signs books) at the Fraser Gallery starting at 7PM as part of the Bethesda Literary Festival. We will be serving our world famous Sangria.

The Power of the Web

The Fraser Gallery owes a HUGE thank you to Loudoun photographer Dave Levinson, who managed to help solve our Hotmail struggle with MSN.

Dave Levinson read about our email woes here, and then he sent me a note saying that he happened "to know a few folks at MS that I can ping about your problem." And he volunteered to help us out.

Dave then spent a long time today working the problems, talking to the gallery and to Microsoft and sometime this afternoon our email account was back online! We did lose two whole days of email correspondence, but it could have been a lot worse without his assistance.

And the man is not only a computer technowiz, but also a pretty damned good
photographer and even an art blogger!


See his photographs here and read his blog here.

Thanks Dave!

Duffy Juries The Art League

My most recent visit to the Art League was to see the All Media Show, which although subtitled "Emphasis on Sculpture" was anything but that.

The show was juried by sculptor William Duffy, who according to the Art League, "has neither juried for The Art League before nor been to the Torpedo Factory since the early 1980s. When asked whether he had any expectations, he said he had thought the art would be 'sentimental' and 'crafty' but it was not. Duffy said he was surprised by the level of fine art, and liked the mixture of fine art, academic art, and 'funky' art."

Mr. Duffy’s surprising ignorance of the level of artwork shown at the Art League, and his even more surprising lack of visits in over 20 years is endemic of artists and critics who often have a wrong sense of things in the art scene around our greater area because of their own artistic apathy to what goes on around them. Get out more often, and see things before you say anything about them.

Duffy also said, "I went into the selection process with a very open mind. I was looking for the unique, self-discovery or expression rather than a duplication of other styles, artists, or periods."

This immediately alarms me as well, as (in my mind anyway) it places Mr. Duffy in the immediate camp of "it must be new to be good."

This academic and most traditional belief that "duplication of other styles, artists, or periods" is an immediate bad thing, is these days itself a sign of an artistic mind not in tune with the ebbs and flows of the postmodern art scene, where anything and everything is art.

In fact, one could submit that the most influential artists on the planet today (according to Sotheby’s anyway), Gerhardt Richter, is nothing but an artist who duplicates "other styles, artists, or periods."

Also according to the Art League (and despite this outdated commentary):

"Duffy frequently commented that the artwork reminded him of a particular artist. Emily’s Dilemma (by D. Smith), a collage box was, according to Duffy, reminiscent of Joseph Cornell’s psychological boxes about his psyche. Precarious Positions (by C. Levin) reminded him of Jeff Koon’s ‘kitschiness.’ And the acrylic, My Space (by G. Murrill), had a crudeness and symbolism reminiscent of the work of French artist, Odion Redon."

Also according to the Art League:

"Duffy looked for art where he felt the artist saw art as part of them, where there was quite a bit of ‘uniqueness and depth of expression.’ The Newlyweds (by G. Lockhart), a bronze sculpture, was ‘very honest and expressive.’ He liked the ‘simplicity’ of the terra cotta sculpture, The White Dress (by J. Legg). Rhino (by C. Romano), stoneware displayed ‘lots of artistic experience with the medium, drawing, sculpture, and composition.’ Monet’s Garden (by G. Rando) was like ‘stained glass and I suggested it should have a light behind it.’ Configuration I (by A. Becker), a wood sculpture, which on initial touch one is afraid will fall apart, but one can play with it and it holds together. Nested Waves (by N. Falk), a glass sculpture made of two pieces of glass, had ‘interesting shapes’ and reminded him of public art.

But enough on Mr. Duffy, who should get out more often, and more on the show itself.

Having visited nearly every monthly Art League exhibition since the early 90s, and having juried it myself, let me say that it is very, very difficult to select a bad show.

Such is the immense talent pool that is the Art League’s artist membership.

My favorite piece in the show was another stunning watercolor by Jenny Davis. This piece, titled "Hands with Bangles," continues to establish the young Davis (daughter of equally talented watercolorist Tanya Davis) as one of the prime watercolorists in our area. Completely self-taught, the young Davis, who has just finished High School, already masters the most difficult of mediums in her obvious mastery over transparent watercolors. While I was there staring in rapture-like ecstasy at her watercolor, I was informed that Jenny had recently been accepted to the Torpedo Factory as one of its newest (and youngest) artist members and will soon have a studio there.

I also liked "Mother Sara" by Nancy Reinke, which has a slight dark attraction to the piece, and "Sunset" by Peter Ulrich, which is a most traditional watercolor of boats and ocean, etc., and yet proves that in the hands of a talented artist, sometimes the subject matter doesn’t really "matter" and we are seduced by the skill and facility of the artist.

The exhibition goes through May 1, 2006.

MSN versus Fraser Gallery Update One

Our struggle for online email survival has gone from the ridiculous to the stupifying. As reported here, we have lost access to our Hotmail account and MSN's "help" process has been incredibly lacking.

Today I received two emails from them. The first one left me speechless:

From : MSN Hotmail Support
Sent : Friday, April 28, 2006 12:13 PM
To :
Subject : RE: SRX1013084219ID - MSN Hotmail:I need something fixed

Hello F. Lennox,

Thank you for writing to MSN Hotmail Technical Support.

My name is Erwin. I am responding to your Hotmail concern.

I apologize for the delayed response and I understand how inconvenient it is for you to experience these issues. Please let me assist you on this matter.

F. Lennox, in order for us to understand and investigate your issue properly, kindly reword the issue you are experiencing and answer the questions below.

1. What is the detailed step-by-step procedure you did and where did the process failed?
2. Have you tried accessing your Hotmail account in a different computer with a different Internet connection? if yes, what happened?
3. Did you encounter any error message? If yes, kindly provide us with the exact error message you received.

You are a valuable customer to MSN and we are glad to give you consistent and effective service. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely,

Erwin P.
MSN Hotmail Technical Support

Three things:
(a) The problem was already reported in gruesome detail to them over 48 hours ago.
(b) Good thing Erwin didn't call me "Fraser"
(c) I didn't know anyone in India was named "Erwin."

And then I get the below email from the managers at Microsoft:

From : Customer Feedback for PSS Customers managers@microsoft.com
Sent : Friday, April 28, 2006 4:14 AM
To : "F. Lennox Campello"
Subject : RE:'RTCProd=011-778-339' For Biji Balan: 1013078543

Hello Lenny,

Thank you for contacting Microsoft Online Customer Service.

I regret that your issue is not resolved.
To contact the Hotmail team, please fill the e-mail form located in the following page:
http://support.msn.com/contactus_emailsupport.aspx?productkey=hotmail&ct=eformts

After filling that form, you will receive a reply from the Hotmail team within 24 hours.

If you wish to report a Hotmail site outage, you can also call at (650) 964-7200 Monday - Friday, 10:00 A.M. - 5:00 P.M. Pacific Time.

In the meantime, if you are able to access your Hotmail account and would like to view self-help resources like FAQs, please use these steps:

1. Sign in to Hotmail, and then click Help in the upper-right corner of the web page.
2. Click on either “Find” or “All topics” option.

Lenny, I hope your issue gets resolved soon and appreciate your patience in this regard.

Thank you for using Microsoft products and services.

Senthil
Microsoft Online Customer Service Representative

If you have any feedback about your Online Customer Service experience, please e-mail my manager, Biji Balan, at managers@microsoft.com

So, they're essentially telling me to report the problem... again. Senthil clearly did not read my email detailing all the issues, nor did Senthil read the email from the "Hotmail team" that was part of the email trail sent to Senthil.

Capps on Compelled by Content II

Kriston Capps has a good look at our current Compelled by Content II exhibition in the new issue of the Washington City Paper. Read that review here.

Also a reminder: Several of the artists in the exhibition will be discussing their work at an artists' talk, sponsored by the James Renwick Alliance which will take place at the gallery on Saturday, May 20, 2006 at 2PM. The talk is free and open to the public and will also offer an opportunity to learn more about the Renwick Alliance.

---

Metcalfe on Edwards

And the CP's John Metcalfe has a good profile on roboticist Thomas Edwards. Read that profile here.

MSN versus The Fraser Gallery

Our gallery is suddenly battling Microsoft for our survival, and I am at a loss as to what to do next.

Yesterday, out of the blue, and in the middle of responding to emails, our computer screen suddenly declared that our Hotmail account had been closed and access was denied.

"So why are you still using Hotmail," some of you technogeeks must be asking?

When we first opened The Fraser Gallery in 1996, we literally funded it through our credit cards, and yet, one of the first things that we did was to create a website (a free one back then via Geocities) and used Hotmail as a free email account service.

As the gallery did better and better, the website grew larger and larger and we migrated from a free online website service to a paid one (it's one of the largest gallery online sites in the world now by the way... nearly 3,000 pages).

And as the website grew larger and larger, the Hotmail email address became so closely attached to our business, that it became impractical to replace it with a more formal one. So we continued to use frasergallery@hotmail.com as our main email address, while trying to "switch" slowly to "info@thefrasergallery.com"

When Microsoft bought Hotmail a few years ago, we immediately upgraded to their paid service (Hotmail Plus), which costs $19.95 a year.

Since 1996 the business has grown tremendously, and now we probably do about a third of our business strictly online. We receive anywhere from 100 to 200 emails a day, as well as a few hundred spams, which the Hotmail filter is pretty adept at catching.

So that's why, in 2006 we are still using Hotmail. Too many people, too many collectors, too many webpages, etc. already have it listed as our email address. A couple of years ago we began developing the use of info@thefrasegallery.com, but the vast bulk of email stuff still comes to frasergallery@hotmail.com

Also, since 1996 we've been using email to send out our press releases and also invitations to our openings to people who have signed up and given us their email address for that specific purpose.

We've also kept a pretty good record of electronic correspondence with museums, collectors, etc. online through the use of Hotmail folders, etc.

Again...So that's why, in 2006 we are still using Hotmail.

And then yesterday, our account was unilaterally and without warning closed! And then people started calling us telling us that emails to us were being bounced back as "undeliverable."

Now, even though this is a paid service to MSN, there's no phone support to Hotmail, and so I sent them an email asking them "what's the problem?"

About 30 hours later I received a message back from their Technical Support people (clearly in India) with the following:

From : MSN Hotmail Technical Support
Sent : Thursday, April 27, 2006 8:03 PM
To : frasergallery@hotmail.com
CC : lennycampello@hotmail.com
Subject : RE: SRX1013082496ID - MSN Hotmail Plus:I need something fixed:My Mail:Others

Hello Fraser,

Thank you for writing to MSN Hotmail Technical Support.

I apologize for the delay in answering your e-mail. We appreciate your patience as we handle every customer request as quickly as possible.

This is Shamy and I gather that you have been having issues accessing your frasergallery@hotmail.com account and getting the message that it has been closed.

I realize how important this account is to you since you are using it in business purposes. I appreciate that you have written to us regarding this.

Fraser, I have verified that your frasergallery@hotmail.com account was closed in accordance with the Hotmail Terms of Use (TOU). It is a strict violation of the TOU for our members to send objectionable material of any kind or nature using our service.

To read our Terms of Use, visit http://privacy2.msn.com/tou/en-us/default.aspx

Additional information about MSN Hotmail's anti-spam policy can be found here: http://privacy.microsoft.com/en-us/anti-spam.aspx

We appreciate your understanding and continued support of MSN Hotmail.

Sincerely,

Shamy B.
MSN Hotmail Technical Support

"Objectionable material of any kind or nature" Come again? (And by the way, the next person who calls me "Fraser" is getting his ass kicked!)

And so I began to frantically try to call and contact every possible telephone number and email associated with Microsoft, only to be told that Hotmail only deals with any issues via email.

Several emails to managers@microsoft.com nonetheless have resulted in this one response:

From : Customer Feedback for PSS Customers managers@microsoft.com
Sent : Thursday, April 27, 2006 5:18 AM
To : "F. Lennox Campello"
Subject : RE:'RTCProd=011-770-387' Why is my account closed? I can't get any answers! 1013078543

Hello Lenny,

Thank you for contacting Microsoft Online Customer Service.

I understand from your message that you are unable to log on to your Hotmail account. I realize the importance of your issue.

As your issue persists to Hotmail, I request you to contact Hotmail support team. They will be able to assist you better in this regard. You may contact them at;
http://www.hotmail.msn.com/cgi-bin/dasp/ua_info.asp

Lenny, I hope the above information can help you. If you have further questions or concerns regarding Microsoft Products and Services, please write back to us. We will be glad to assist you.

Thank you for using Microsoft products and services.

Arun
Microsoft Online Customer Service Representative

If you have any feedback about your Online Customer Service experience, please send an e-mail to my manager, Biji Balan, at: managers@microsoft.com

So I am taking deep breaths, and realizing that this is not Shamy B's or Arun's or even Biji Balan's fault... and yet.

We are losing business everyday, as online inquiries about our art and artists get returned as "undeliverable." This can really hurt the gallery, as we have just laid out a ton of money to pay for the various art fairs that we're doing this year.

What can we do? How does a small, independently owned business get heard from a giant like Microsoft?

Here's what I think happened:

1. I doubt that it is any "objectionable materials," unless email invites to the Bethesda Literary Festival talks are deemed objectionable by MSN.

2. I think that Hotmail has recently implemented some sort of fuzzy logic threshold to catch spammers; they probably did this a few days ago.

3. This "catch" is probably simply based on the number of emails sent over a certain time period. It doesn't take into account (a) that we've been doing business with them for over 10 years (most spammers I suspect get a free account, send out a ton of spams and then go away) and (b) Our "usual" email pattern has these monthly hikes, when we pump out a few hundred emails all in one day for invites to openings, etc. But on a daily basis, we just respond and/or send 30-50 emails a day.

4. When we sent the Literary Festival invites to our subscription list, it tripped that arbitrary number, and without even checking with their customer (us), their software killed our account.

5. And now I cannot get Shamy B or Arun or even Biji Balan to understand that they may be killing an independently owned small business' online presence and a lot of its business.

I am at a loss as to what to do, immensely pissed off and in dire need of some advice.

Microsoft started in a garage somewhere near Seattle; even in its current incarnation, I am hoping that a human being will still be able to do something to fix this issue.

Help!!!!

He who owns the walls

Decides what goes up and when it comes down.

The CP's Rachel Beckman has an interesting story about Jefferson Pinder and an early take-down. Read it here

Pandas Cows on Parade

Cows on Parade is the international traveling version of the concept that gave birth to our own Pandamania, Donkeys and Elephants and those giant Testudos all over the University of Maryland's campus.

And now Vach'Art has landed in Paris, where local artists have obviously not heard that it may hurt their career if they decorate a silly plastic cow with artsy motiffs. Among the French artists participating are Thierry des Ouches, Marika de Moro Giafferi, Yanne Kintgen, and Hubert Le Gall.

Congratulations

To our own Samantha Wolov (who will be soon moving to the Left Coast), as one of her photographs will be on the cover of "Best Women's Erotica 2007" from Cleis Press.

Connie Imboden at Heineman Myers

As most of you know, over in hard-to-find Bethesda, a new independent fine arts commercial gallery opened last month, Heineman Myers Contemporary Art, directed by the energetic Zoe Myers, who chose well-known Baltimore photographer Connie Imboden’s photographs for her grand opening exhibition.


And Zoe Myers definitely stacked the deck for the grand opening, for Imboden’s photographs are absolutely spectacular.

In addition to the breath-taking photographs, there’s also a video that shows Imboden at work, and before any critic or writer pens a word, this video is a "must watch." In the video we discover Imboden, working the pool, the cameras, the models and the mood; we also listen as she describes and discusses what she is trying to achieve.

"These images are seen through the camera, they are not manipulated in the darkroom or computer. I am often amazed at the shapes and forms that have appeared in my work.

My intention has always been to explore the body, not to alter it. I want to find the camera angle from which the forms can be the most that they can be-whatever that is. If it is a grace to the limbs, then I want the angle from which that grace becomes the absolute most it can be at that moment.

And so it leads me on, to explore angles, space, reflections, and light. I strive to make forms make sense visually, and trust that the metaphor, the poetry will follow."

Why is the video a must-watch? Because unless one watches Imboden at work (the photographs are all taken around, in or under water), and listens to Imboden discussing her work, it would be easy for less-than-patient jaded critics to fall under the trap that these are photographs that use water to deliver a gimmicky visual image.

They are not.

These are photographs that celebrate the human body, in all its imperfect and yet sensual bits and pieces. And this celebration of sensuality and Eros and moisture is highlighted by the immense ability of water to distort, redirect and sexualize any and everything that it caresses, especially a nude body.

And in that moment in time, when Imboden presses the shutter and captures an image of light and flesh, she also captures the moment when a seed of sensuality will be place inside the mind of a future viewer, who will admire the photographs behind the safe glass of a solid frame and in the white cube of a shiny new gallery.

If you enjoy the many beautiful thoughts that viewing the human body can create, do not miss this show. The exhibition runs through May 13, 2006.

Stats Brag

In April of 2003, DC Art News averaged around 1,000 hits a month, a year later, in April of 2004, we averaged around 2,000 hits a month. In April of 2005 we averaged around 10,000 hits a month, and now in 2006 we're well on our way to average over 30,000 hits a month.

And this is just for a website focused generally upon the Greater Washington DC visual arts scene.

What does this say? I believe that it re-affirms that we have one of the healthiest and most vibrant art scenes in the nation, and also one that thirsts for some media attention; any attention! And for information, and ideas, and healthy feedback about the visual arts.

Keep coming back, and I'll keep writing.

Thank you!

Express has a Blog

Readexpress.com, the online web companion to the Express, the popular freebie newspaper for the Washington D.C. metropolitan area that is owned by The Washington Post Company has a new site that offers "frequently updated features and a variety of interactive tools including locally-oriented blogs, real-time polling on hot issues and a lively classifieds marketplace. The site will also feature a dynamic map centered on local classifieds, and extensive restaurant and entertainment listings drawn from Express and washingtonpost.com."

The Express has done a pretty good job, considering its size, in covering the visual arts, and we sincerely hope that the re-vamped online presence will also expand the newspaper's look at our galleries, museums and artists.

Update: Just saw this, which answers my above plea, as now we know that Kriston will be policing the DC area art scene for the Express' blog, in addition to his Eyelevel blog duties, his CP writing assignments and his own G.Police work. You better get a car Texan!

Reminder: Women's Caucus for Art's 2006 Annual Networking Day

This coming Saturday, the Women’s Caucus for Art of Greater Washington DC will be having their 2006 Annual Networking Day, focusing on exhibiting and marketing your art.

I will be presenting a focused talk covering marketing. This presentation has been derived from our Bootcamp for Artists seminar. This event is free and open to the public.

When: 9:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., Saturday, April 29, 2006
Where: Goodwin House
3440 South Jefferson Street
Falls Church, VA 22041
1.703.820.1488

The Women’s Caucus for Art, a major national non-profit member organization, was founded in 1972 and is an affiliated society of the College Art Association. It is unique in its multi-disciplinary, multicultural membership. WCA members are artists, art historians, arts administrators, museum and gallery professionals, teachers, students, curators, critics, collectors, and others who are committed to WCA’s goals.

For more info call 301.910.1231 or email Authentic_Art@att.net.

See ya there!