Can an art critic fairly review an artist friend’s work?

There’s no upside for an artist to be friends with an art critic. The personal connection means the critic must pass on reviewing the artist’s work, and while the loss of critical wisdom may be negligible, the loss of exposure is a nuisance for the artist.

Read this very interesting and insightful piece by the WaPo's Philip Kennicott here.

Dr. Fred to get Alice Denney Award

I am thrilled to report and announce that my good friend and DMV ubercollector Frederick P. Ognibene (or Dr. Fred as we call him) is the recipient of the WPA's 2016 Alice Denney Award for Support of Contemporary Art. 

The award will presented by Andres Tremols at the opening reception of the WPA Auction Exhibition, March 31, 2016 at 8pm.

Frederick P. Ognibene is a Washington, DC-based collector of contemporary art who for decades has has been an avid supporter of artists and arts organizations in the District. He is respected and loved by many for his unflappable loyalty to causes he believes in, his optimism, his kindness and compassion, and his extraordinary knowledge of the history of local contemporary art.

"Fred's encyclopedic knowledge of the people and events involved in the DC contemporary arts scene is testament to his dedication to that community, for decades now."
-Jim Ritter, WPA Chair

When he stepped down from the Washington Project for the Arts' (WPA) Board of Directors last summer, Fred was its longest serving member. He first joined the Board of Directors in 1995-just prior to the organization's merger with the Corcoran Gallery of Art. He co-chaired the annual WPA/Corcoran's art auction for three consecutive years (1997-99). From 2011 to 2013, he served as the WPA's Chair. Though no longer on the Board of Directors, he remains committed to the WPA, as evidenced by his serving as a co-chair of this year's WPA Auction Gala.

"Fred is a pillar of the DC contemporary arts community and we are lucky to have had his energy, time, and commitment for the last almost twenty years."
-Kim Ward, past WPA Chair

Fred began collecting contemporary art in 1984 and is an avid supporter of emerging and mid-career artists. Today, his collection includes nearly 350 works by local, national, and international artists. He takes much pride in getting to know the artists whose work he owns.

"Do you know the simultaneous thrill and comfort of being in Fred Ognibene's presence? I do, and I am proud to be one of the many artists he has known and supported for more than a decade. May we all lead lives as visionary, vibrant, and hard fought as Fred's and Alice Denney's."

-Maggie Michael, artist, Washington, DC

In addition to his service to WPA and his collecting, Fred Ognibene has supported Washington, DC's art community in other ways. He has also served on the Board of Directors of the Cultural Development Corporation of DC as well as on its Arts Incubator ("Flashpoint") Committee. He is a past member of the Hirshhorn Contemporary Acquisitions Council and its Curators' Circle. He has served on the Host Committee of (e)merge Art Fair in Washington, DC and was recently asked to become a member of the inaugural Host Committee for Untitled Art, San Francisco, in 2017. Many works in his collection have been loaned to museums and other arts organizations for their exhibitions and he has donated works to the permanent collection of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.

"Fred's collection is both profound and critical. And he has inspired others to become more courageous in what they collect."
-Jason Gubbiotti, artist, Paris, France

Fred Ognibene resides in Washington, DC. He works at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, where he is the NIH Clinical Center's Deputy Director for Educational Affairs and Strategic Partnerships. He holds a MD degree from Cornell University Medical College and a BA in Biology magna cum laude from the University of Rochester.

 "Dr. Fred rocks!"
-Lenny Campello, Jack of all trades, Master of All, Potomac, MD

ABOUT THE ALICE DENNEY AWARD

Initiated a decade ago, the Washington Project for the Arts (WPA) Alice Denney Award for Support of Contemporary Art is named for Alice Denney, the founder of the WPA, and is presented annually to honor an individual who supported the organization for many years and has made a sustained commitment to the greater DC arts community.

Past recipients*:

Molly Rupert (2012)
William Christenberry (2011)
James F. Fitzpatrick (2010)
Jack Rasmussen (2009)
William Paley (2008)
Robert Lehrman (2007)
Kevin MacDonald (2006)
Susan and Dixon Butler (2005)

*Note: The award was not given from 2013-2015

Touchstone Foundation Fellowship for Emerging Artists

Touchstone Foundation Fellowship for Emerging Artists (2016-2018)

Open Call for Applications

Deadline: March 31, 2016

 WHAT is it?

The Fellowship provides a 2 year membership in Touchstone Gallery in downtown DC. This guarantees a solo exhibition as well as participation in gallery group shows, mentorship and a presence on the gallery website. The monetary value of the fellowship exceeds $4500.00

WHO can apply?

The Fellowship is awarded to 1 or more emerging artists in the Washington area who have not been represented by a commercial gallery in at least 10 years.

HOW to apply?

The application process for the 2016-2018 fellowship program is now open. The application and related information can be found on the TFA website,
www.touchstonefoundationdc.org

Trawick Prize: Bethesda Contemporary Art Awards

The application deadline for The Trawick Prize: Bethesda Contemporary Art Awards is getting close. They are accepting entries until Friday, April 8. The application and additional details can be found at www.bethesda.org. 

The prizes are as follows:

Best in Show - $10,000

Second Place - $2,000

Third Place - $1,000

Young Artist (must be born after April 8, 1986 to enter this category) - $1,000

The jury will select up to 10 finalists who will be invited to display their work in a group exhibition in downtown Bethesda in September 2016. Applicants must be 18 years of age or older and permanent, full-time residents of Maryland, Virginia or Washington, D.C. All original 2-D and 3-D fine art including painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, fiber art, digital, mixed media and video will be accepted.

The 2016 jurors are:

• Stéphane Aquin, Chief Curator, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
• Hasan Elahi, Associate Professor, Department of Art at the University of Maryland
• Rebecca Schoenthal, Curator of Exhibitions at The Fralin Museum of Art at the University of Virginia

A letter to President Obama

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce sent a letter to President Obama regarding his upcoming trip to Cuba.

Below is the full text of the letter:

March 11, 2016

The President
The White House
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. President:

I am deeply concerned your upcoming visit to Cuba will send the wrong message to Cubans fighting for democracy and human rights. 

Just a few months ago, you declared you would not visit Cuba unless you could confidently determine that “we’re seeing some progress in the liberty and freedom and possibilities of ordinary Cubans.” Respectfully, what changed?

Since your Administration announced normalized relations with Havana, the regime’s repression of basic human rights has gone from bad to worse. In the first two months of 2016 alone, the Cuban Commission for Human Rights has documented a staggering 2,588 political arrests. In spite of this, reports suggest that you will soon announce further measures to ease travel and trade restrictions on Cuba – seemingly yet more one-sided concessions that will serve to shore up the communist Castro regime.

Mr. President, if you nevertheless do travel to Cuba, I implore you to meaningfully engage with the country’s leading human rights activists. I urge you to meet with U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet, along with journalist Guillermo Farinas, activist Rosa Maria Payá, and the current leadership and members of “The Ladies in White.” All of these individuals are internationally recognized dissidents or recipients of the European Union’s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.

Meeting with these high-level, internationally acclaimed dissidents -- and not government-picked “activists”-- will assure the Cuban people that America has not forgotten them. Frankly, these meetings should have been solidified well before the White House announced your upcoming visit. Fortunately, you still hold leverage – and could postpone your trip to the island until such arrangements have been confirmed and real progress for the Cuban people has been achieved.

Thank you for considering my views on the best way to advance the fundamental human rights of the Cuban people. I think you will agree that the U.S.-Cuba relationship cannot attain its considerable potential until these rights are respected by their government.

Sincerely,

Ed Royce
Chairman

Congrats to Amy Sherald

“Miss Everything (Unsuppressed Deliverance)”
by Amy Sherald

The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery announced that Amy Sherald of Baltimore has received first prize in the Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition 2016 for an oil on canvas titled “Miss Everything (Unsuppressed Deliverance).” 

The painting and 42 other works will be in the museum’s exhibition “The Outwin 2016: American Portraiture Today” from March 12 through Jan. 8, 2017.

Sherald will receive $25,000 and a commission to create a portrait of a living individual for the  museum’s permanent collection.

Isla Balsera

For TBT, this 1976 collage...

This is my earliest piece from the Cuba series... I started it in 1976 (and used it in my portfolio to get into Art school at Washington)... it's a collage... I refined it at collage class with Jacob Lawrence (he used to teach at Washington).

It's in the collection of a major Cuban-American collector in New Jersey.

I created it using the Bicentennial Edition of the San Diego Tribune, published on July 4, 1976 (I was in the US Navy stationed in San Diego at the time). 

"Isla Balsera (Raft Island)" - Happy Birthday America, Wishing We Were There!
Collage on Paper, Framed to 30x40 inches, c. 1976
Private Collection in New Jersey

On Emerging Artists

With the rise of speculative collectors cashing in on younger artists—many of them just out of school—whose work is made cheaply and en masse, and resold at a significant profit, there has also been a hyper-professionalization of the role of the emerging artist himself. (My choice of pronoun is not by default: the artist in question is almost invariably male—the gender imbalance in the art market is on full view in this trend.) He has business cards, printed on fine paper stock. His website is pristine. His CV is extensive, and correctly formatted. He may have even hired a Hollywood agent. And yet the art market has refocused his goals toward short-lived commercial success rather than a career.

Must read article by Daniel S. Palmer here.

Art Basel to buy other art fairs

Switzerland’s MCH Group, the company that owns Art Basel, announced on Friday that it will expand further into the art market with a new initiative focused on regional art fairs.

Details here.

Open Studio Weekend: A Festival of the Arts

Open Studio Weekend: A Festival of the Arts at Washington ArtWorks

Date: Saturday and Sunday, April 2nd and 3rd

Time: 12-5pm

Cost: Free and Open to the Public

Contact #: 301.654.1998

Address: 12276 Wilkins Ave. Rockville, MD 20852

Website: http://washingtonartworks.com/galleries-events/open-studio-weekend/

April 2^nd and 3^rd, 2016 Washington ArtWorks, Montgomery County’s largest visual arts facility, opens to the public for the bi-annual Open Studio Weekend: A Festival of the Arts filled with art, shopping, film screenings, food trucks, live music, and more!

Over 70 artists create work in studios at Washington ArtWorks where creativity abounds for artists working in sculpture, painting, glass, fibers, jewelry, photography, and more. Visitors are able to shop, watch demos, and network with some of Montgomery County’s finest visual artists.

At Open Studio Weekend: A Festival of the Arts, attendees can indulge in delicious sweet and savory treats from food trucks, Holy Crepes and Curley Q’s BBQ, while local bands play live music.

Films by national and international artists will be screened throughout both days while art themed activities allow visitors of all ages to get creative and be a part of the art.

“This festival has tripled in size since its founding in 2014,” says President and CEO, Missy Loewe. “We expect this spring’s festival to be our largest yet and encourage all to be a part of this amazing event”.

Open Studio Weekend: A Festival of the Arts will be held from 12:00pm – 5:00pm both Saturday and Sunday, April 2^nd and 3^rd. Conveniently located at 12276 Wilkins Ave., Rockville, MD 20852, the arts center offers free parking, handicap accessibility, and easy access from Twinbrook Metro Station.

Coming to NYC

Alida Anderson Art Projects is pleased to present the work of three outstanding artists during the Spring 2016 Affordable Art Fair NYC. In light of Women’s History Month we would like to highlight the two women in our booth, Lauren Levato Coyne and Lori Katz. The artists both employ a graphic use of space and bold color but execute their final works with very different styles and media. Levato Coyne’s drawings feature animal and human forms in various levels of realism and Katz works in ceramic to create graphically inspired 3D wall pieces. 

Lauren Levato Coyne (Chicago, IL) works almost exclusively in colored pencil using themes of poison, violence, and addiction. “My drawings are paralinguistic symbolist portraits and still lives where meaning is indicated but encrypted,” said Levato Coyne. By combining lush realism with an economy of line and negative space Levato Coyne creates a schema that differentiates the human from the flora and fauna that populate the work. This schema differentiates the division between interior and exterior, reality and non-reality. 

 

Her drawings and paintings are shown in New York, Denver, and Los Angeles among other cities and can be found in private collections from NYC to Chicago, Germany to Italy. 

Lori Katz (Washington, DC) works as a ceramic artist. Her current focus is stoneware wall work with additions to the raw surface including contrasting clays, slips, underglaze and high-temperature wire. Post firing additions include acrylic paint, oil paint, cold wax and metal leaf. "I am intrigued by contrast, the play of dark against light, the pull of empty space against the inclination to fill it up, the placement of line and shape, the use of subtle texture, balance,” said Katz. "Eight years ago, I began working almost exclusively in a palette of black and white in what was a conscious effort to simplify process and design. Lately, color is finding its way back in as my work continues to evolve. I have learned that in the end, process is never simple and good design is always balanced and strong.”

Katz's work has been selected for juried and invitational exhibitions in the US, Europe and Asia, and is included in public and private collections throughout the world.

Instagram Disables Artist's Account of Disturbing Politician Portraits

"You might find them disturbing, but you also might be unable to turn your eyes away from Houston artist Phillip Kremer's grotesque, distorted portraits of politicians like Donald J. Trump, Ben Carson, and Bernie Sanders."

Read the whole piece at https://news.artnet.com/people/artist-bizarre-portraits-donald-trump-instagram-443546

Nassikas at the Athenaeum

Congrats to our own Georgia Nassikas - Join her on March 20th from 4 - 6 pm for the opening reception of her solo show “Quietude: Works in Wax and Oil” at the Athenaeum in Alexandria, VA. 

A beautiful venue by the way! 

Ten worst art fair mistakes

Number one is the same one that I've been warning artists about for years... and still lots of artists bite this bitter pill each year...

Read it here.

Banksy has been identified

“Geographic profiling”, a technique used to catch serial criminals, has proved that the elusive artist Banksy really is Robin Gunningham, according to academic research.
 Scientists at Queen Mary University of London claim to have “tagged” Banksy, by identifying a pattern between the locations where his graffiti artworks most frequently appear and addresses with a close association to Gunningham, named as Banksy in a 2008 newspaper investigation.

Read the whole article here.

Opportunity for artists

Deadline: March 14, 2016

The Young Affiliates of the Mint Museum (Charlotte, NC) host a juried art show in The Mint Museum Uptown in commemoration of The Mint Museum's upcoming 80th anniversary.   

To submit and for guidelines, visit www.youngaffiliates.org/80x80. For any questions, email 80x80show@gmail.com

Congrats!

To AAAP artist Carla Goldberg,  who has been commissioned to create a 16 foot five panel moon and water scape on plexiglass for the Hammond Museum for their summer 2016 exhibit. 

Also, three 14 foot water images of hers will grace the outdoor solarium on the newest Royal Caribbean cruise line ship currently under construction in Norway and set to launch this summer.

Also congrats to AAAP artist and DMV resident Elissa Farrow-Savos, as last nigth was the opening of her show, "If I Were You and You Were Me", at Gallery C in Raleigh, North Carolina; a gallery by the way, that discovered her work at a recent art fair a couple of years ago!

Art Scam Alert!

Beware of this rip off:

From:  Julian Smith (juliansmith@126.com)

Hello, my name is Julian and i am from Sinara Group Co.,LTD in Russia.We are glad to know about your company from the web and we are interested in your products.Pls send us your Latest catalog and price list as soon as you can.

Ms Julian Smith, Manager Importation

Opportunity for DMV artists

Deadline: April 29, 16. 

Christopher Newport University Dept. of Fine Art and Art History is looking for artists (in VA, DC, Baltimore) who can offer a workshop to their students as well as an Art Exhibition/Gallery Talk of their work during the 2016-17 academic year. 

They will provide reasonable stipend to assist with travel/shipping depending on circumstance. May offer honorarium to cover expenses associated with a Visiting Artist Workshop on campus. Contact jodie.gordon@cnu.edu to request submission requirements. Subject line: Call for Proposals. No phone calls please.

Part II of The Prostate Surgery: Borg

Part I here.

At the time that I checked into the hospital for my surgery, I was told that I would be discharged the next day, at least 97% of the men who undergo this type of surgery, get discharged within 24 hours of the operation. However, as fluids continued to come out of my body in prodigious quantities and the wasps continued to attack, I realized that I was part of the 3%.

I was released from the hospital on that Friday, three days after the surgery and two tubes sticking out of my body and uncomfortably sending chills of discomfort and pain every time that I moved. From there we headed out to the drugstore to pick up all of the different drugs that they had assigned for my return to home, including the anti-spasm medicine for my bladder that the medical system has so miserably failed to give me when the wasps first came at the hospital.

When we got to the drugstore, after the drive, made uncomfortable by two tubes sticking out of your body while you're sitting inside a car, I decided to take a small walk to the drugstore. As soon as I stepped inside, the tube from the catheter began to pull, making me really miserable.  

I looked around to make sure no one was looking at me, reached into my pants, adjusted my penis, and of course, as soon as I did that, an elderly lady wearing a yellow turban give me a long look as she came out from one of the aisles. 

She was quite a sight actually, only in Potomac do you get to see a 70-something older lady wearing a yellow turban, large loop earrings, full make up on, Daisy Duke shorts, a black leather jacket, giant Jackie Onassis sunglasses, and black Converse sneakers. 

Daisy Dukes in February! I actually smiled at her thinking "More power to you! But I best get the heck out of here before I get arrested." I could feel her eyes on me as I zombied out of Rite Aid.

As soon as I got home I took a hot shower. This was quite an exercise in controlled motion under the shower, as not only are there two tubes sticking out of one's body, but also they're very sensitive to any tugging and pulling. It also involves switching the large urine bag for the smaller one, and tying them around your leg. But the hot shower felt good, it was the first time since Tuesday that I had taken a shower. I wonder if Borgs shower.

There's a certain fascinating horror that comes with seeing the human body in extremis. There is a perverse sense of visual pain in seeing things that are wrong with one's body reflected in a full-size mirror for the first time in front of you: The angry scars left by the robot entry points into the body, the tube sticking out of your penis with a large bag at the end of it, and the tube sticking out of your stomach with a smaller bag at its own end. Each movement could be a disaster, each step a coordinated dance to avoid or minimize the movement of the tubes. Sleeping with tubes in your body is an art form in itself, but exhaustion always wins in the end.

For the next several days, I perfected the routine of switching the bandages around the stomach tube entry point into the belly, emptying and measuring bag after bag of fluids coming out of your body, and performing the delicate dance shower in order to to avoid hurting yourself.

At some point during the week, a nice nurse from Suburban Hospital called. She wants feedback on the stay, and as I relate the events detailed in my earlier blog post, she is horrified by the fact that no one gave me a Spirometer, that no one gave me medicine for the bladder spasms, and that no one helped me to combat the wasps.

And today, more than two weeks and three visits to the doctor later, I prepared for another visit to the doctor to evaluate pulling the tubes out and returning me to the human race, like Picard did from his time amongst the Borg as Locutus..

As the doctor pulls the stomach tube out, my wife's eyes widen as he does. Later on she tells me that she could not believe how long that tube was; it must have been coiled inside me.

The process didn't hurt as much as it was rather noticeable to my alarm senses, but quick. My doctor tells me that I need to return on Monday to see about pulling off the catheter.

Will that hurt? You bet, but still I look forward to that day; Borg no more!