Ouch!

Prez Obama wasn't the only one getting spanked on live TV tonight... A little while back I saw Mayor Guiliani spank Chris Hayes on live TV on MSNBC... Ouch!

Death of a dialect

With the political news flush with commentary about the opportunistic use of dialects, this is sad news for the language:

In a remote fishing town on the tip of Scotland's Black Isle, the last native speaker of the Cromarty dialect has died, taking with him another little piece of the English linguistic mosaic.

Details here.

Job in the Arts

 VISUAL ARTIST/EDUCATOR 

Part time, Seasonal 

Applications accepted through 11:59 PM on Thursday, October 11, 2012 (or until filled) 

POSITION SUMMARY 

This is a part-time, seasonal position working with teenagers/young adults for Arts on the Block (AOB). The Visual Artist/Educator works closely with the Lead Teaching Artist for AOB’s “Pour Your ART Out” workshop to deliver a high-quality art, job, and life skills training experience to up to 20 workshop participants (“Apprentice Artists”). The person who fills this position may have the opportunity to move into a Lead Teaching Artist/Educator position for the Summer 2013 workshop.  

ABOUT ARTS ON THE BLOCK 

The mission of Arts on the Block (AOB) is to empower creative youth to imagine and shape fulfilling futures and contribute to the quality of life of their communities. Arts on the Block achieves its mission by providing youth with paid opportunities to work with established artists/mentors on commissioned artwork and entrepreneurial projects.  Please visit www.artsontheblock.com for additional information. 

WORKSITE 

AOB Studio 

11501 Georgia Avenue - Wheaton, MD 20902 

240-645-0730 

WORK SCHEDULE 

• Start Date:  Saturday, October 27, 2012; End Date:  Saturday, March 23, 2013 
• Wednesdays (20) - 3:00 PM to 6:30 PM; Saturdays (19) – 9:00 AM – 4:30 PM 
• Must be available for planning sessions, trainings, and staff meetings  

SALARY 

Commensurate with experience 

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS 

• Participate in screening and selection of Apprentice Artists 
• With Lead Teaching Artist, design and manage all aspects of program including work flow creation, program budgeting and tracking, and quality control 
• Manage customer relations on commissioned projects 
• With Lead Teaching Artist, develop, refine, and implement project ideas 
• Lead arts education and job training exercises 
• With Lead Teaching Artist, maintain a safe worksite 
• Document daily workshop progress 
• Document completed artwork 
• Prepare monthly reports and administer Apprentice Artist assessments 
• Manage preparations for semi-annual open houses and/or other events 
• Train Apprentice Artists to deliver effective presentations 
• With AOB staff or volunteers, assist with management of blog and other social media efforts 
• Other duties as assigned 

MINIMUM JOB REQUIREMENTS 

• Undergraduate degree or higher in an arts discipline 
• Five or more years professional arts experience including participation in local and regional exhibitions 
• Five or more years working with a diverse population of high school aged or older youth 
• Demonstrable interpersonal skills in working with a diverse population of employees, customers, managers, vendors, partners, and the general public 
• Demonstrable business competence including verbal, written, and presentation skills as well as organizational, leadership, and supervisory skills 
• Ability to pass conducted Montgomery County criminal background check 

DESIRABLE JOB QUALIFICATIONS 

• Experience designing and implementing arts curriculum 
• Experience with mosaics and other sculptural materials 
• Significant experience in the areas of commissioned artwork and public art 
• Advancing Youth Development training/certification 
• Familiarity with the Washington, DC area arts community and art sites 
• Experience creating fliers and other PR materials using Photoshop, InDesign and/or other software 
• Competence with both Apple and Microsoft operating systems 
• CPR/First Aid certification 
• Some Spanish language speaking ability 

TO APPLY 

Please send cover letter, résumé, and three digital images of relevant work. 

By email, send to aob@artsontheblock.com  and include Visual Artist/Educator in the subject line. 

By regular mail, send to: 

Arts on the Block; Attention:  Mary Ngo; 11501 Georgia Avenue, Suite 104 - Wheaton, MD 20902 

If sending materials by regular mail, submit a CD containing images of relevant work. 

For most favorable consideration, applications must be received by 11:59 PM on October 11, 2012. Applications received after that date will be considered only if position is not yet filled.

Lida Moser's Exxon Building at Leggoland?

(Via) It has just been brought up to my attention that the Exxon Building made up of Leggos from Leggoland Florida is a pretty good copy of the iconic Lida Moser photograph of the Exxon Building.

I wonder if Lida knows about this?

I'm going to ask her tomorrow... details later.

Update: Talked to Lida Moser today (Wed) and she had no idea that there's a Leggo building in Florida that looks suspiciously like her iconic photograph.

Geez... all they had to do was ask!

(e)merge is here again!

OCTOBER 4 - 7, 2012    Follow us! The (e)merge art fair advances multiple platforms where artists, gallerists, curators and collectors can discover and experience emerging art.

(e)merge opening preview party + concert by the pool

Design a Wine Label

Attention Artists: The Capital Grille Now Accepting Submissions

for 2012 Wine Label Design Competition

Artists of all media are invited to enter; winning artwork will adorn bottle

of exclusive 2009 Arrowood Cabernet Sauvignon

 

 

ORLANDO, Fla. (Sept. 30, 2012) – The Capital Grille is now accepting artwork submissions for its fourth-annual Artist Series Wine Label Design Competition. Through October 19, 2012, aspiring and established artists nationwide, aged 21 years or older, are invited to submit original artwork that will be considered for the label of a limited-allocation wine served exclusively at The Capital Grille, whose award-winning wine program is routinely recognized by Wine Spectator magazine. In addition to having his or her artwork adorn the bottles of this year’s featured vintage, the winning artist also will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to the wine country of California’s Napa Valley.

This unique competition sponsored by The Capital Grille celebrates the art of the wine label.  For centuries, wine-label design was about as basic and austere as a shipping label. That changed in 1940 when Baron Phillippe de Rothschild of Chateau Mouton Rothschild began enlisting famous artists, including Joan Miro and Pablo Picasso, to craft a masterpiece for the outside of the bottle that would beautifully convey the work of art inside.  

The bottled inspiration for the 2012 Artist Series competition is a 2009 Arrowood Cabernet Sauvignon, blended by winemaker Heidi von der Mehden from Arrowood Winery and George Miliotes, The Capital Grille’s own Master Sommelier. Intensely purple in color, this wine presents aromas of ripe, dark fruits that are matched on the palate with notes of blackberry, plum and blueberry. Mehden and Miliotes describe this exceptional wine as “a natural beauty,” imparting layers of flavor that begin with a deep intensity and end with a soft, rich finish.

“This competition combines two complementary cultural passions: fine wine and fine art,” said Miliotes. “While my expertise focuses on what’s inside the bottle, I love that this competition is as much about the palette as it is the palate.”

Only 1,000 cases of the Arrowood Cabernet will be produced for this year’s Artist Series event, which will take place next spring in all 47 locations of The Capital Grille nationwide. The restaurants will donate a portion of the proceeds from each bottle sold to Share Our Strength in support of its mission to end childhood hunger in America. To date, The Capital Grille has raised more than $1,000,000 on behalf of the organization.

How to Enter

To enter, use the medium of your choice to create an original piece of art that captures the essence of this exclusive, world-class Cabernet Sauvignon. Entries should be original artwork and will be accepted through October 19, 2012. Entries will be accepted via mail or email. To enter, visit http://www.thecapitalgrille.com/enter/ for contest rules and details.

New Drawing

Male Nude in a Barnett Newman Composition (Detail). Charcoal on Paper, 2.75 x 22.25 inches. 2012.

Male Nude in a Barnett Newman Composition. Charcoal on Paper, 2.75 x 22.25 inches. 2012.

Neoscona Crucifera?

As far as I can tell, these huge spiders (who seem to love to build their nests around my deck) are Neoscona Crucifera. They are apparently not poisonous, so I'm leaving them alone, but they are huge (about the size of a quarter) and rather scary-looking.

For PG County Artists

Call for Entries   Under The Influence: The 24th Annual Prince George's County Juried Exhibition Arts/Harmony Hall Regional Center 10701 Livingston Rd. Fort Washington, MD 20744 Under The Influence is a juried exhibition of works that show all kinds of influences, including, but not limited, historic, aesthetic and cultural. The exhibition is sponsored by The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC), Department of Parks and Recreation, Prince George's County, Arts and Cultural Heritage Division. The exhibition will be on display from November 5 through December 28, 2012. Juror Mr. F. Lennox Campello is an internationally accomplished artist, author, published art critic, teacher and one of the internet's leading art bloggers. His local, national and international knowledge of and experience with the pulse of the art scene is an invaluable contribution to this year's juried exhibition. Exhibition Dates: November 5 - December 28, 2012 Public Reception: Saturday, November 17, 3-5pm Artist Talk and Refreshments: Saturday, November 24, 12noon-2pm  Eligibility & Submission Criteria This call for entries is open to all artists 18 years and older who live, work, attend school or have studios in Prince George's County, MD. Artists may submit a maximum of 3 artworks for consideration. All works must be original (no reproductions). Proposals for installations or performance works should include sample images, video or audio of the type of work being proposed as well as a brief description of the proposed art work.   What to Send A CD/DVD containing images and/or segments of audio/video, each no longer than five minutes in duration. A bio, artist statement with contact info and a list of the works submitted with titles, media, and dimensions in MS Word. If you would like your materials returned, please include a SASE.   Where to Send It Materials can be submitted by mail or delivered in person to the arts office at Arts/Harmony Hall Regional Center, 10701 Livingston Rd., Fort Washington, MD 20744 or emailed to: Stuart.Diekmeyer@pgparks.com Submission Deadline: Monday, October 1, 2012 All submissions, in the form of digital images, must be received by 5pm on Monday, October 1. Notification of selected works: Friday, October 12, 2012 All selected artists will be notified via email Delivery of artwork to AHHRC: Friday, October 26, 9am-5pm All artists are responsible for the delivery of their artwork to AHHRC Exhibition closes: Friday, December 28 Artwork pick-up: Wednesday, January 2, 9am-5pm Guidelines for Digital Files Efforts will be made to review all submissions, regardless of format. However, please be aware that incompatible files may cause submissions to be rejected. Applicants are encouraged to format files as described below. Name each file according to the following format: "last name" underscore "document". Example: jones_statement.pdf. Please number each image file corresponding to the work sample list. Example: 01_jones_untitled.jpg Image files should not be larger than 1MB, and should be formatted as jpeg, tiff or png. Video and audio submissions may be submitted as a DVD or on a CD and formatted as Quicktime, Windows Media, .wave or .mpeg. Purchase Awards On the recommendation of the juror, the Arts and Cultural Heritage Division will purchase select works of art for the inclusion in the Parks and Recreation art collection. Delivery & Installation Artists are responsible for transporting work to and from the gallery. Art work must be delivered ready to hang and appropriately presented. For works that require projection, sound or other electronic equipment, those materials must be provided by the artist. Art works that differ significantly from the images submitted for judging, or are not ready for gallery installation, may be rejected. If you need to ship the work, please call us to let us know what arrangements you have made. The exhibition will be installed and dismantled by M-NCPPC staff unless the nature of the work requires special assistance. All work accepted for exhibition will remain for the duration of the exhibition. Sales & Insurance The M-NCPPC will retain a 25% commission on all art works sold during the exhibition. The M-NCPPC will insure all consigned artwork in the custody of Arts/Harmony Hall for 75% of it's sale value, from the time they are received by delivery, until the pick up date only. Additional Information If you have any questions or would like additional information, please contact: Stuart Diekmeyer, Assistant Director, Arts/Harmony Hall Regional Center, 10701 Livingston Rd., Fort Washington, MD 20744 or email Stuart.Diekmeyer@pgparks.com. Participation implies agreement with all aforementioned conditions.

Ai Weiwei heading to jail

Ai Weiwei, who has a show opening at the Hirshhorn Museum next week, has been arrested (again) in the People's Workers' Paradise of China and this time it seems like the ChiComms are learning a trick or two from our own IRS.

Read about it here.

WPA Artists' Registry

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
FINAL DEADLINE: October 12, 2012, 5:00pm

Register for the 2013 - 2014 Artist Directory

Published bi-annually, this four-color, 8½ x 5½ inch directory is the definitive listing of established and emerging contemporary artists throughout the Washington region. It is widely used by galleries, curators, art consultants, and art patrons. Copies are distributed to selected art critics and other members of the press, and to museums both within and outside of the region. The 2013 - 2014 Artist Directory will be published in the spring of 2013, and will be available for sale on the WPA website and at select area retail locations at the price of $9.95.

Each participating artist will be featured on a full page (8½ x ½ inches). The page will include the artist's name, a color digital image of their work, their studio address and phone number, email address, web address, categories to describe their work and studio practice, and their gallery affiliation.

All current WPA members are eligible for publication in the Artist Directory. There is an additional participation fee that includes a copy of the Artist Directory.  The registration fee increases to $75. The final registration deadline is October 12, 2012. No submissions will be accepted after this date. 

Registration for the 2013 - 2014 Artist Directory will be handled exclusively through WPA's website.

Each participating artist can upload one image to be featured on their page. Images must be submitted as .eps or .tif files in CMYK format. They must be 300dpi and as close as possible to, but no smaller than 6 inches on the longest side. If you have any questions regarding the 2013 - 2014 Artist Directory or any issues with registration, please contact Christopher Cunetto, Membership Manager, at ccunetto@wpadc.org or 202-234-7103 x 2.

Little Dude likes to measure things

Anderson Lennox Campello (a.k.a. Little Junes, a.k.a. Anderdingus) measuring something in my studio

Art Scam Alert

The asshole using the name Laura, and who uses the email witchates@gmail.com is an art scammer; stay away from this mutant who tries to steal artwork from artists.

Last Resort

Being an old Navy guy, I watched ABC's new Navy-focused series Last Resort...

The problem in watching TV or movies with me is that whenever I am watching a show or movie with Navy characters, as a good Virgo, I am looking for something that TV or Hollywood can never achieve: true depiction of their naval subject.

Last Resort was an ass-kicking action show from the beginning and in spite of its rather unlikely plot, it moved well and kept my attention and I am looking forward to the next show.

There were (as usual) loads of HUGE naval errors that will have old and current Navy guys shaking our heads and saying "Why won't these fuckers hire a Naval advisor?" - I won't go all pedantic on you and start listing them, but someone should discuss with the producers of this show about the capabilities of the Tomahawk missile to start...

But of all the services, the Navy is the most traditional and a lot of Navy routines revolve around tradition and this show (like all Navy-centric TV shows that I've ever seen) display such a spectacular lack of awareness of simple Navy traditions and things that Virgos like me end with a bloody lip (from biting it) at the end of the show.

Having said that (I hate that "having said that" saying), I think that this is a damned good show and I am looking forward to seeing it and finding more technical Navy shit wrong with the show.

Excited

Check out this very young and talented High School artist passion and joy at being selected (by yours truly) for a very competitive national level fine arts competition at the New Wilmington Art Association in Delaware.

We can all learn from her; or better said, remember and rekindle what it was all about.

The Trawick Prize "best of the best" Sapphire Award

Carol Trawick, founder of The Trawick Prize, has established The Trawick Prize "best of the best" Sapphire Award to mark the contemporary art competition's 10th anniversary and honor the Best in Show winners from the past 10 years. In conjunction with the Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District and the Bethesda Urban Partnership, Trawick will hold a special "best of the best" competition and exhibition, featuring artwork by winners from 2003 - 2012.

A jury comprising the 30 jurors from the past 10 years will determine one "best of the best" Sapphire Award winner, who will receive $10,000. In addition, the public can view the artwork online and vote for a "People's Choice" award winner, who will receive $1,000. 

Online voting will begin on Sept. 17, 2012 and will be open through Friday, Oct. 19, 2012 through a partnership with Bethesda Magazine.

Click here to vote online for the Trawick Prize People's Choice award winner.

Artwork by nine of the 10 Best in Show winners will be on display in a group exhibition taking place Nov. 3 - Dec. 1, 2012 at Gallery B, located at 7700 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite E. The award winners will be announced Friday, November 2, 2012.

Past Trawick Award Winners 

2003: Richard Cleaver 

2004: David Page  

2005: Jiha Moon  

2006: James Rieck  

2007: Jo Smail  

2008: Maggie Michael 

2009: Rene Trevino 

2011: Mia Feuer 

2012: Lillian Bayley Hoover 

 

The public opening reception will be held Friday, November 9 from 6-9pm in conjunction with the Bethesda Art Walk. Gallery hours for the duration of the exhibit are Wednesday through Saturday, 12 - 6pm.  

The Trawick Prize was established in 2003 by Carol Trawick, a longtime community activist in downtown Bethesda.  She is the past Chair of both the Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District and Bethesda Urban Partnership, and also the Founder of the Bethesda Painting Awards. In 2007, Ms. Trawick founded the Jim and Carol Trawick Foundation to assist health and human services and arts non-profits in Montgomery County. 

Wanna go to an opening this week?

While temperatures hit the 100-degree mark this summer, Washington, DC, area painters were donning hats and sunscreen and grabbing their outdoor easels in a quest to create paintings for their 100th birthday party celebration.

One of the oldest plein air painting groups in the USA, the Washington Society of Landscape Painters started out as an all male clubcalled "the Ramblers." Limited to 40 active members, it now includes both male and female artists who pursue their profession locally, nationally, and internationally.

Visitors will see both large and small oil, watercolor, pastel, and acrylic landscapes displayed by member artists at the McGuire Woods gallery at the Lorton Workhouse, at 9601 Ox Road in Occoquan, VA.  For more information: (www.workhousearts.org/visual-arts).

The public is invited to a free reception on Saturday, September 29, from 5-7 pm.  Come early (10-noon) to watch WSLP artists painting nearby in the historic town of Occoquan. The show runs from Friday, September 28 through Sunday, October 21, 2012.

Gallery hours are Wednesday through Saturday 11 am-7 pm, and Sunday from 12-5 pm.  For more information, send email to barbaranuss@wslp.org.

Melissa Ichiuji’s Obama Sculpture Censored?

DMV area artist Melissa Ichiuji currently has an exhibition of her work at Galerie Lareuse in Georgetown, and considering what Lareuse routinely exhibits, it is now clear to the most casual observer that this show is easily the most interesting and so far most controversial show ever staged there.

The artists' website currently says that "Unfortunately I have offended and affected many more people than I had expected. Due to the politically charged nature of our times, this sculpture has been censored. It will be on view at the Gallery opening on Sept 14."

What's the fuss about?

The exhibition, titled "Fair Game," showcases Ichiuji's mastery of the soft sculptures that she's so well-known for, but this time focused on the political icons of the current American political scene. For example, some sculptures are mounted as hunting trophies in a chilling and intelligent commentary on the state of our political discourse.

Republican candidate Mitt Romney is shown, with darkened, closed dead eyes, his head blown apart a-la-JFK, and exposing a variety of metal found objects and gadgets. It is a disturbing image to say the least, but that was not the artwork apparently censored for the show.

Ichiuji targets many other icons of the Republican party — Newt Gingrich has a thing for female underwear, Ron Paul is depicted as a clown, Sarah Palin has antlers. None of those were censored either, although apparently the Palin sculpture may end up in the Todd and Sarah Palin Collection.

The offending piece (which according to the artist's website has been censored) is a portrait of President Obama. Like the Romney sculpture, Obama originally appeared to have a brutal JFK-like wound on his head; at least as initially designed by Ichiuji, not the sanitized version currently on exhibition at Lareuse. According to the CP, "curator Kreg Kelley denies the censorship charge; he says Lareuse asked her to change the piece because it wasn't appropriate for Georgetown." 

Uh? "Appropriate for Georgetown?" More on that later...

According to the CP, Ichiuji says that

"the gallery's owner, Jean-Michel "Meech" Lareuse, asked her to change it before she could exhibit it. She sent invitations to the show, "Fair Game," before it opened on Sept. 15, using an image of the original artwork. She posted the same image to her website. Not long afterward, both the gallery and Ichiuji began getting irate emails—some of them quite threatening. People thought it was "some kind of call to action to hurt the president, which wasn't the intent at all," she says. "It's about pressure, it's about anxiety, and just sort of the political climate overseas." But Lareuse wasn't having it, says Ichiuji. "He said 'We cannot show that piece unless you change it.'" So she did. Instead of a bloody wound, the piece now depicts doves "exploding out" of the president's head"

In her statement about this show, Ichiuji explains that

My current body of work is a series of portrait busts depicting political figures of 2012. I am attempting to challenge the tradition of portraiture that elevates its subject and affirms his or her importance, nobility and power. I wondered what a portrait based on current media coverage might look like. What might these people be remembered for if a snapshot was taken now? What are they thinking? What are their fears? Would they recognize themselves? The title FAIR GAME refers to two things. The position a public personality knowingly and willingly accepts as part of their job and the brutality with which opponents and the media will hunt down, embellish and exploit a weakness or transgression and display it like a trophy.

Here's the two pieces, side by side, with the original version of the Obama bust:

 As it should also be obvious to that same casual observer that I referenced in the first paragraph, both these pieces have something somewhat brutal in common and following the artist's words about "the brutality with which opponents and the media will hunt down," clearly lead to the same conclusions. Both these men have been allegorically hunted, shot and mounted as trophies. 

Romney's head would hang in a boardroom at MSNBC, or The New York Times, CBS, NBC, ABC, NPR and most places referenced in Ann Coulter's best-seller Slander: Liberal Lies About the American Right. The President's trophy would hang at Fox News and dozens of syndicated radio stations around the nation and other places referenced in Al Franken's ad hominen best-seller Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot and Other Observations.

In case you disagree with me, the gallery's press release states that:

The show features the severed heads of ten political personalities who have captured media attention for their popularity, alleged transgressions, or general evilness. The heads are mounted on wood panels in the manner of taxidermy trophy heads emphasizing the brutality of media spin and public scrutiny. 

So we got it... right?

So now comes my question: Why is a head wound to Romney's head appropriate for Georgetown? What the heck does that mean anyway? Does that mean that it is OK to show the Republican candidate as having been hunted, shot, taxidermied and hung as a trophy, but not the Democratic candidate?

It gets worse, according to the artist, all of the "irate" and "threatening" emails received by the gallery and by the artist were about the Obama sculpture. Apparently the vast right wing conspiracy hasn't heard about this, and only the even vaster left wing nuthouse has been mobilized to threaten an artist who is well within her right to use her formidable artistic skills to offer political commentary to both sides of the political spectrum.

Because this alleged censorship was between a gallery and an artist, some of the issues get murky, after all, "he who owns the walls" has powerful rights to hang or not hang something in the art world. So I can understand how a "revised" Obama sculpture ends up in the show; that is between Ichiuji and Lareuse. I don't like it, but I understand the process.

But it is the authors of the "irate" and "threatening" emails who deserve a mandatory course on First Amendment Rights, and it is them who really piss me off to no end.

Artists have always, and will hopefully always be able to offer their artistic perspectives on our political leaders. Some of it is despicable (Remember the film Death of a President? a fantasy about the killing of George W. Bush that won the International Critics’ Prize at the Toronto Film Festival?), but - and this is an important but - in view of today's contemporary mob barbarism sweeping many Islamic nations, it is more important than ever to respect and defend our joint first amendment rights, no matter how far away from our own private political stance those views may be.

We may disagree with the way in which Ichiuji decided to portray your political candidate, while liking the way she portrayed the "other guy", but we should all agree that we stand together in defending her right to create art about them in any manner, way or form that she chooses.

Chalk one up for the mob.