Sunny in Reston for the art fair!

Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival, Reston, VA 2018

Target Gallery’s Newest Exhibition Creates Utopic Fictional Landscapes

Caroline Hatfield: Unearthing
May 25 – July 15, 2018

Opening Reception: Friday, May 25, 7 – 9 pm; Artist Talk at 8 pm

Target Gallery, the contemporary exhibition space for the Torpedo Factory Art Center, explores concepts of utopia and the science-fictional sublime in a new solo site-specific exhibition featuring Baltimore artist Caroline Hatfield.

Caroline Hatfield: Unearthing is on view May 25 through July 15, 2018. In the show, Hatfield creates sculptural landscapes within Target Gallery. Composed of industrial materials like cast aluminum; rocks, coal, and other geological formations; as well as mutable boundaries like sand and salt, the combined objects accumulate into forms and recall a cycle of transformation. Through site-specific installations and photography, her work references the awe-inspiring natural experiences of our world while referencing a shift outward towards a science-fictional sublime.

Environmentalism and land use has a lot of personal significance to Hatfield, who grew up in a Southern Appalachian coal-mining community. They recall the region’s ironic juxtaposition of protected wilderness and mined land as a major influence on their work.

“This exhibition presents the idea of unearthing in a literal, metaphorical, and speculative sense,” Hatfield said. “The process of unearthing asks: What are we uncovering? We dig to find history, time, and energy. As a metaphor, it often refers to finding an elusive, hidden substance or truth. Finally, we could consider ‘un-earthing’ in a speculative sense. Our potential is becoming less tethered to this planet through scientific advancement and ecological destruction.”

Hatfield was selected from more than 150 applicants as part of Target Gallery’s annual Open Call for a Solo Exhibition. Jurors were: Jarvis DuBois, independent curator; Carolina Mayorga, D.C.-based artist; and Victoria Reis, co-founder and executive director of Transformer.

“Caroline Hatfield’s art speaks to timely environmental concerns of noticeable climate changes, fracking, and deforestation wreaking havoc across the globe,” said DuBois. “Their landscapes—created from untraditional materials such as aluminum powder, tar paper, sand, and coal slag—are otherworldly yet eerily reminiscent of terrains found after a natural disaster or in a science-fiction movie. They should be read as urgent harbingers of what could happen to our Earth if we continually neglect her.”

“Based on their individual experience of growing up in an Appalachian coal mining community, Caroline’s exhibition offers a unique perspective on issues affecting the environment and our relation to land,” said Mayorga. “Their work transforms the gallery space into powerful and aesthetically pleasing landscapes that comment on industrial practices and questions the viewer’s relationship with their immediate surroundings. I find Caroline’s work both personal and sincere, yet universally relevant to our current time.”

“I was immediately drawn to Caroline's very sophisticated and thoughtful use of materials to convey concepts of utopia and science fiction,” said Reis. “Caroline adeptly conveys an otherworldly experience that completely draws in audiences, taking us on a journey that is both wondrous and confounding. Their innovative re-contextualizing of current environmental circumstances through beautiful yet haunting installations provides an important and engaging viewpoint to our relationships with land uses and our evaporating natural resources."

Caroline Hatfield: Unearthing runs Friday, May 25, through Sunday, July 15, 2018. The opening reception will be Friday, May 25th, 7 – 9 pm, with Hatfield’s comments at 8 pm. Target Gallery will host a second reception and juror talk on Friday, June 15 at 8 pm, as a part of the Torpedo Factory Art Center’s monthly Late Shift event. Target Gallery is open daily from 10 – 6 pm and until 9 pm on Thursdays.

My choice for Best of Show at Reston

Suzy Scarborough at Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival
Reston Town Center, booth 231
and represented locally by Zenith Gallery!

This weekend in Reston

May 18--- 20, 10am--- 5pm 

The annual Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival returns for its 27th year with some exciting updates! Balducci's Food Lovers Market joins this year as Title Sponsor; Festival Friday kicks off the weekend of activity; and the Festival Party is on Saturday night. Some things, of course, remain constant: the quality of the 200+ artists from 35 states; the enthusiasm of our fantastic crowds (typically averaging 30,000+); the phenomenal support of our sponsors; and the invaluable contributions of our nearly 300 volunteers.

2018 ARTISTS

Free parking is available on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of festival weekend,
courtesy of Boston Properties.

Art Scam Alert!

This dweeb keeps trying to rip off artists by sending the same email with different originator emai address - don't fall for it!

From:  thomasfredy500500@cox.net 

Top of the Morning to you, I actually observed my wife has been viewing your website on my laptop and i guess she likes some of your art piece, I must also say you are doing a great job. I would like to know what inspired that work. I am very much interested in the purchase to surprise my wife. Kindly confirm the availability for immediate art work for sales.(Thomasfred500500@gmail.com) Regards Thomas

A disturbance in the Force

A written trademark assignment filed with the US Patent and Trademark Office in 2007 and obtained by The Art Newspaper seems to bear this out. Designating Kahlo as the assignor, represented by Pinedo through power of attorney, and the Frida Kahlo Corporation as the assignee, it transfers “full and exclusive rights, titles and interests” for a slew of trademarks for the name “Frida Kahlo” as well as the phrase “Pasion por la vida” (a passion for life) and Frida Kahlo-branded tequila. “It is expressly agreed and understood that if The Assignee is the owner of any other trademark application that includes the denomination ‘FRIDA KAHLO’, the instant agreement includes it,” the filing states.

Read the Art Newspaper article on the commodification of the Frida Kahlo trademark here.

American University Chosen to Receive Majority Share of Works from Corcoran Art Collection

Giant art news for DMV:

Under one of the largest free art distributions in U.S. history, American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center, part of American University, has been offered nearly 9,000 works from the Corcoran Art Collection.   

“American University Museum is excited about the opportunities to share this rich collection with our students, scholars, the Washington community and beyond,” said Jack Rasmussen, director and curator of AU Museum. “This collection will enhance the museum’s longstanding commitment to exhibiting works by Washington, national and international artists who hail from diverse backgrounds and encompass many artistic styles and ranges.”

The proposed acquisition will include paintings, works on paper, photographs, sculpture and textiles. Works by history’s most masterful artists are represented including Pablo Picasso and Rembrandt. Other prominent artists include 16th-century Italian painter Titian, a contemporary of Michelangelo; German Renaissance painter and printmaker Albrecht Durer; American artists Winslow Homer, John Singer Sargent and Andy Warhol; 18th-century British portraitist Thomas Gainsborough; French Impressionist Charles Francois Daubigny; and American sculptor Louise Nevelson.  

Many other works are by both modern and contemporary Washington artists, including members of the Washington Color School and figurative artists Sarah Baker, Manon Cleary and Claudia DeMonte.

AU Museum, the largest university-affiliated art museum in the Washington metro area, is committed to displaying Washington art. A gift in 2014 from AU alumna and Washington artist Carolyn Alper established the Alper Initiative for Washington Art, which created dedicated space for the display of work by historical and contemporary Washington artists. Working in tandem with the Alper Initiative, Rasmussen focused on identifying and selecting artists significant to Washington art history.

“William Corcoran’s dedication to presenting works by American artists led to his collecting an exceptional body of 19th-century art from Washington D.C., representing the simultaneously national and local identities of art in the emerging capital city,” Rasmussen said.

In addition to 19th- and 20th-century American art, the proposed Corcoran gift would supplement the museum’s collection of work by female artists and artists of color, in alignment with the legacy of the American University Art History department as a leader in feminist art history and the university’s commitment to diversity and inclusion.

Finally, the AU Museum has been offered the bulk of the Corcoran’s famous works on paper collection, where it would be preserved nearly in its entirety. AU Museum’s willingness to maintain the integrity of important American collections, such as that of William A. Clark, Olga Hirshhorn and many others, will provide opportunities for scholarship and exhibition for years to come.

American University has invested in a new storage facility in AU’s Spring Valley Building at 4801 Massachusetts Ave., NW, that would be home to the paintings, prints, and sculptures that would be utilized most often by the museum, complete with rolling racks and shelving. The university has upgraded its collections management software that would be able to accommodate the collection and would be working with the registrars at the National Gallery of Art to incorporate the data on the collection.

Next Steps

In support of this acquisition, American University has launched a funding initiative designed to update the museum’s exhibition and storage space, to include a redesign of the second-floor galleries. Further investment will also include a study room for use by AU students, faculty, and visiting scholars; and staff capable of assessing and caring for the collection and enhancing public program offerings to share the collection with the world.

The Corcoran Gallery of Art, one of the first private museums in the United States, was established in 1869 and expanded in 1880 to include the Corcoran College of Art and Design. The Corcoran Gallery of Art has closed, and in 2014, the Corcoran transferred the college to George Washington University. A complete listing of artwork and recipient organizations can be found on the Corcoran website at corcoran.org/artdistribution.  

MUSEUM INFORMATION, HOURS, LOCATION: The American University Museum is a three-story public museum and sculpture garden located within the university’s Katzen Arts Center. The region’s largest university facility for exhibiting art, the museum has a permanent collection that highlights the donors’ holdings and AU’s Watkins Collection and Rothfeld Collection. Rotating exhibitions emphasize regional, national, and international contemporary art.

The Katzen Arts Center, named for Washington-area benefactors Dr. and Mrs. Cyrus Katzen, brings all the visual and performing arts programs at AU into one space. Designed to foster interdisciplinary collaboration in the arts, the Katzen includes the museum, the Abramson Family Recital Hall, the Studio Theatre, a dance studio, an electronics studio, artists’ studios, rehearsal space, and classrooms.

The first step in cracking the online art market is...

Get a lot of followers...

You’ve heard time and time again that artists need to be on Instagram.

You’ve seen the stats. You know that when done right, Instagram can become a huge asset to your art business.

But when you only have a few hundred followers (let’s face it, mostly family and friends), it can feel like an eternity waiting for that coveted notification to pop up—the one announcing you got another follower.

Read the whole article in Artwork Archive here. 

Art Scam Alert!

Still this guy tries to rip off artists! Be aware! This is a scam!

From:    thomasfred50005000@Oengineer.com 

Good Day

Im Thomas Fred From NC. I  observed my wife has been viewing your website on my laptop and i guess she likes your piece of art work, I'm also impressed to have seen your different piece of works too, : ) You are doing an amazing job.I would like to receive more information about your piece of artwork and what inspires you. I am very much interested in  buying a piece of art ,to  surprise my wife. Kindly reply for the  immediate art work for purchase ??
(Thomasfred50005000@gmail.com)

Best Regards

Thomas

Call for artists

Artists wishing to be considered for an exhibit in the Howard County Arts Council (HCAC) galleries are invited to submit a general exhibit application. The HCAC Exhibits Committee meets quarterly to review applications and select artists for the exhibit space. Artists, ages 18 and older, working in all media and styles including time-based and installation artists, are encouraged to apply either individually or as a group. The Committee also welcomes proposals from curators and organizations.

 

Detailed entry guidelines are available at hocoarts.submittable.com/submit/, for pick-up at the Howard County Center for the Arts, or by mail by calling 410-313-2787 or emailing info@hocoarts.org. The next deadline for submissions is Sunday, July 1, 2018.

 

HCAC manages two galleries at the Howard County Center for the Arts with over 2100 square feet of exhibit space. The HCAC gallery program was established to enhance the public’s appreciation of the visual arts, provide a venue to exhibit the work of local, regional, and national artists in a professional space, and provide leadership in the arts by presenting a broad spectrum of arts in all media from both emerging and established artists.

 

HCAC presents 11-12 exhibits per year of national, regional, and local artists, including two-person, small and large group, juried, curated, and community shows.

 

Gallery hours are Monday through Friday 10AM - 8PM, Saturday 10AM - 4PM, and Sunday 12 - 4PM.  To learn more about HCAC programs and exhibits, call 410-313-ARTS (2787) or visit hocoarts.org.  

This weekend: Gateway Artists' Open Studios

2018 Spring Open Studios

Saturday, May 12, 2018 from 12-5 p.m.

Gateway Arts District: Along Maryland’s Route 1 corridor

The artists of Maryland’s Gateway Arts District present the 14^th iteration of the Spring Open Studios on Saturday, May 12, 2018 from 12-5 p.m. The self-guided tour takes place in the Gateway Arts District along Route 1 in Prince George’s County, MD in the towns of Mount Rainier, North Brentwood, Brentwood and Hyattsville. 

The Gateway Arts District is the DC metro area’s largest arts district and houses internationally renowned galleries, studios, workshops and art spaces. Visitors have the opportunity to directly interact with artists in their studios and to connect with their artistic process.

34 Venues. 70 Studios. Over 100 Artists!

On Saturday, May 12, studios, art organizations, and galleries throughout the Gateway Arts District will open their doors to the public. The event is free and open to people of all ages. Over 100 individual artists participate in the event making the 2018 Spring Open Studios the region’s most prominent visual arts event.  Audiences can attend art openings, glass-blowing demonstrations or select artwork in an artist’s studio. This artist-led event presents a once-a-year opportunity to connect with the region’s most important and economically vital centers of art production. 

A free shuttle bus will make stops from Artists by the Tracks in Mount Rainier to Pyramid Atlantic in Hyattsville.

Between studios and gallery stops, the Gateway Arts Districts offers several new food and drink options along Route 1 including the recently opened Pizzeria Paradiso in Hyattsville, known for its outstanding pizza and wide selection of craft beers.  Pizzeria Paradiso will host a beer festival on May 12 from 12-5 p.m.

More information, including a self-guided map of the open studios, visit the events’ Facebook page at www.facebook.com/2018springopenstudios in advance of the tour.

Make sure to stop at White Point Studio, 3708 Wells Ave., Mt. Rainier, MD 20782

Laurel Lukaszewski will be joined by her fellow resident artists Kate Kretz, Tamara Laird, Jo Ellen Walker, and visiting artist Pat Goslee. In addition, all of the neighboring studios will also be open, including the Washington Glass School, Otis Street Arts Project, Red Dirt Studio and Pyramid Atlantic up the road. They are all hoping to clear out a bit of their storage, so there will be great art-deals to be found :) 

Bethesda Fine Arts Festival this weekend!

Join a lot of art lovers at the 15th annual Bethesda Fine Arts Festival this Saturday, May 12 from 10am-6pm and Sunday, May 13 from 10am-5pm.

Artists from across the country will showcase and sell their original painting, drawing, photography, furniture, jewelry, woodwork, ceramics and more in Bethesda’s Woodmont Triangle, along Norfolk and Auburn Avenues.

The two-day event will feature fine art, live music and local restaurants.

Admission is FREE and there's plenty of free parking as well!.

Details here.

Double Art Scam Alert!

Stay away from these rip off artists!. If you want to know how the scam works, then type "art scam" in quotes in the blog search box...

From: Patricia Williams -  lbrookes9797@gmail.com

Good Day,

How is work and family? I picked interest in your artwork and decided

to write you. I will like to know if your artwork can be purchased and

shipped internationally?. I can email the artwork of interest and

payment will be completed in full once you confirm my purchase order

with a quotation. Kindly let me know when you are in office and ready

to take my artwork order also let me know if you accept either Visa

Card / Master Card or PayPal for payment

Best Regards

Patricia Williams 

And also this one: 

From: Barbara Cummins  - czalett@gmail.com

Subject: Art Purchase

Reply-To: brc779@outlook.com

Good Day,

How is work and family? I picked interest in your artwork and decided

to write you. I will like to know if your artwork can be purchased and

shipped internationally?. I can email the artwork of interest and

payment will be completed in full once you confirm my purchase order

with a quotation. Kindly let me know when you are in office and ready

to take my artwork order also let me know if you accept either Visa

Card / Master Card or PayPal for payment

Best Regards

Barbara Cummins

Henrietta Lacks at NPG

The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery recognizes the life of Henrietta Lacks with the installation of a 2017 portrait by Kadir Nelson. The painting will be installed on the museum’s presentation wall on the first floor Tuesday, May 15. The portrait was jointly acquired by the National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture as a gift from Nelson and the JKBN Group LLC, and will be shared by the two museums. The artwork will be on view at the Portrait Gallery through Nov. 4. 

“It is fitting that Henrietta Lacks be honored at two Smithsonian museums, as each approaches American history from unique and complementary perspectives,” said Kim Sajet, director of the National Portrait Gallery. “Lacks’ story presents moral and philosophical questions around issues of consent, racial inequalities, the role of women, medical research and privacy laws, providing rich platforms for historical understanding and public dialogue.”

“Henrietta Lacks (HeLa): The Mother of Modern Medicine” by Kadir Nelson, oil on linen, 2017.

“The National Museum of African American History and Culture has always felt that the story of Henrietta Lacks is a significant and important moment that deserved greater recognition,” said Lonnie Bunch, director of the museum.

Lacks (1920 – 1951) lost her life to cervical cancer at age 31. During her treatment, doctors took cells from her body and discovered they lived long lives and reproduced indefinitely in test tubes. These “immortal” HeLa cells have since contributed to over 10,000 medical patents, aiding research and benefiting patients with polio, AIDS, Parkinson’s disease and other conditions. Considering the history of medical testing on African Americans without their permission, the fate of Lacks raises questions about ethics, privacy and race. 

Addressing those issues forthrightly, Rebecca Skloot’s 2010 book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, prompted Oprah Winfrey and HBO to explore her story on film. Commissioned by HBO, Nelson used visual elements to convey Lacks’ legacy. The wallpaper features the “Flower of Life,” a symbol of immortality; the flowers on her dress recall images of cell structures; and two missing buttons allude to the cells taken from her body without permission.

Art Scam Alert!

Avoid this mutant trying to rip off artists! Pass this post to fellow artists - and if you want to know how the scam works, go the blog search box on the upper left and type in "art scam" in quotes and it will describe the different variants of this scam.

From: Thomasfred50005000@gmail.com

Good Day Im Thomas Fred From NC. I observed my wife has been viewing your website on my laptop and i guess she likes your piece of art work, I'm also impressed to have seen your different piece of works too, : ) You are doing an amazing job.I would like to receive more information about your piece of artwork and what inspires you. I am very much interested in buying a piece of art ,to surprise my wife. Kindly reply for the immediate art work for purchase ?? (Thomasfred50005000@gmail.com) Best Regards Thomas

Donations wanted

CALLING ALL ARTISTS: Local, National and International!
Somewhere Over the Interconnected Rainbow & Prospero’s Grand St. Masque, 6/8/18 - 6/10/18
All Works Accepted. No Fee to Submit.

This is a Grand St. Convent Farewell Fundraiser Event as we need to build out and move to our new uptown space! Click here for more information about our unexpected transition.

ALL ARTISTS EVERYWHERE ARE WELCOME TO BE PART OF THIS EXHIBIT.
Just like Prospero’s Masqued Ball in Edgar Allan Poe's Masque of Red Death, our final exhibition in the convent will feature seven rooms in seven colors, and to symbolize the promise of the rainbow, we will have an eighth room, which will be yellow, and red will run through the hallway. Each room will be filled with artworks that respond to the designated colors. Through our creative hanging and curation system, in each room ​all the works will be connected to one another. 

Everyone is invited to participate by donating one or more unframed work(s) for the event. Our intention is to create an exciting and inclusive show with artists we've shown over the years and those who haven't had an opportunity to show their work in our unique convent space. We want to fill each room with as much artwork as it can hold. (We’re blasting out of our current space in style!) All works will be for sale at $200 each. All proceeds go to Drawing Rooms. Works unsold at the end of the exhibit weekend can be returned to the artist. 

Submission Guidelines:
Fee:                               No Cost
Size:                              8 x10 inches - 11 x 14 inches
Media:                         any 
Material:                    Any type of paper or paper-like substrate or material 
Unframed:                All works must be able to be hung by clips
Concept:                    Art work can be on ANY concept or idea but think about COLOR
Price of Work:       $200. Proceeds go to Drawing Rooms.  
Registration:           click on a link below to choose color by 5/25/18
Submission Due:   MUST be received by 6/2/18

Note: You are only donating your commission on sale of the artwork to Drawing Rooms, not the work itself. If we sell it, you are letting us keep 100% of the sale, if we don't sell it, you get it back.

Registration:            Please SIGN UP in the color room below by 5/25/18, so we can get you all the info
BLUE
BLACK
RED
WHITE
ORANGE
VIOLET
YELLOW
GREEN
PURPLE

Delivery:
Please write your name and email address on the back of your artwork.
Mail submission(s) in a large envelope to the following address and include a stamped self-addressed return envelope if you want the work sent back, if it isn’t sold. 
James Pustorino
74 W. 46th St
Bayonne, NJ 07002

Date of Events
6/8/18 Fri: Artists Only 7-10p
6/9/18 Sat: Artists, Friends and Visitors TBD
6/10/18 Sun: Artists, Friends and Visitors TBD

Suggested Contribution
We have to build-out and move to a new space!
While there is no fee to attend the event (please buy art!), we would appreciate if you contribute at one of the levels listed below:
$10 - $24.99       Acquaintance
$25 - $49.99        Friend
$50 - $99.99        Better Friend*
$100 - $499.99  Best Friend*
$500+                      BFF*
 Click HERE  to contribute. Thank you!
​*you will also receive a copy of our latest Rainbow Thursdays Artists catalogue!

All contributions and profit from the sales of artwork will go towards the new space so we can continue to show artists' works.

​Questions??  please see FAQS

Note:
​We have limited resources at this time and are unable to answer any questions as we are planning, fundraising, packing, getting estimates for construction, working with contractors and a million other things!

Drawing Rooms is a project of Victory Hall Inc., a 501c3 non-profit organization producing exhibitions and classes in the NY/NJ area since 2001.

Art Scam Alert!

Beware of this scammer:

From: John Steinmann -  j.steinmanninc@outlook.com

Am interested in your pieces , do you ship to Switzerland and accept US issued credit card as payment?, you will contact my shipper who handles all of my shipment, they pick up the items at your location and deliver directly to my store doorstep without hassle. Let me know if i can e-mail you what am interested in ordering.

John Steinmann

American University’s Studio Art MFA program

American Universtiy Museum at the Katzen Arts Center

On view:
May 5-May 27, 2018 

Saturday, May 5 5-7:30PM
Thesis Candidate Reception 
A gallery talk will be held from 5-6PM, and the Opening Reception from 6-7:30PM. Free and open to all.

This exhibition represents the culmination of two years’ work by the eight graduating members of American University’s Studio Art MFA program. At the close of four semesters of experimentation, discovery, dedication, and reinvention, these artists claim their space and their purpose in an exhibition that is both an ending and a beginning. Featuring artists: Holly Trout, Tim Magenta, Tiffany Raquel, Fallon Chase, Ban Alwehaibi, Michelle Gagliano, Michelle Tangires, and Paige Stewart.

How to Hang Your Artworks

Not from me... 

Read the tips here.

Modern Gothic: The Photographic Art of Jamie Mahon

If you are a fan of the erotic dark side of spectacularly beautiful women who in many cases transform themselves into unbelievably sensual (and dangerous)... and somewhat predatory examples of what happens when natural beauty descends (or climbs) into the realms of darkness...

Then this is the book for you! 

Had H P Lovecraft seen these photos, he would have understood the nuances behind some of these awe-inspiring models, all captured in brilliant dark glory by a very talented photographer.  These are not the historical Goths who destroyed the Roman Empire in the 400s and raided their way through Western Europe and settled in Spain, France and northern Italy to make up those modern nations.

These are today's Goths.

Mahon is a master of the set-up, of the light (ironic no??) and of the posture... I can almost hear him whispering to the clear-eye beauties in this book, trying to draw even more danger and darkness from the dark moistness that is their bodies and the harsh light that beams from their eyes. 

Mahon must be familiar with Robert Ervin Howard's "The Song of a Mad Minstrel", which can be (almost) heard being whispered behind some of these unique women:

There was never a king or priest to cheer me by word or look,
There was never a man or beast in the blood-black ways I took.
There were crimson gulfs unplumbed, there were black wings over a sea,
There were pits where mad things drummed, and foaming blasphemy.

There were vast ungodly tombs where slimy monsters dreamed;
There were clouds like blood-drenched plumes where unborn demons screamed.
There were ages dead to Time, and lands lost out of Space; 
There were adders in the slime, and a dim unholy Face.

Oh, the heart in my breast turned stone, and the brain froze in my skull--
But I won through, I alone, and poured my chalice full
Of horrors and dooms and spells, black buds and bitter roots--
From the hells beneath the hells, I bring you my deathly fruits.