In case you missed it, there was a beautiful review of the Sally Mann show at the Corcoran in the Post last Sunday.

It was written by Henry Allen, the Post's Pulitzer-winning art critic.

The exhibit "Sally Mann: What Remains," featuring more than 150 photographs, will be at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, New York Avenue and 17th Street NW, through Sept. 6. It is beautifully curated by Philip Brookman. The gallery is open every day except Tuesday; hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Sally Mann will be discussing her work next June 24 at the Corcoran. In this very special evening, Ms. Mann speaks, with slides, about her work, including At Twelve and Immediate Family, and her latest exhibition, What Remains. Philip Brookman, Corcoran Senior Curator, Photography and Media Arts, and curator of the show, introduces the artist. The event is sold out!

Blake Gopnik's piece in the Post about the Panda Public Art Project has created an interesting debate. Tony Gittens, Executive Director of the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities, responds to Gopnik's piece here.

Letters to the Editor from other readers, blasting or praising Blake, can be read here.

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The Washington Post gives our "Contemporary Photography" exhibition in Bethesda a Hot Pick in today's paper. The show features photography by Hugh Shurley, Viktor Koen, Nate Larson, Heidi Marston, Prescott Lassman, Elena Volkov, Joyce Tenneson, Cirenaica Moreira, Marta Maria Perez Bravo, Grace Weston, Rachel Scheron, Elsa Mora, Deborah Nofret Marrero, John DeFabbio, Jan Saudek and others.

You read it here first:

Dr. Carolyn Carr, Deputy Director and Chief Curator of the National Portrait Gallery told me last night that the National Portrait Gallery will soon announce a national portrait competition, held yearly and open to American artists. Unlike the annual BP Portrait Prize Award in Britain, this Portrait Prize will be open to US artists of all ages.

A Dupont Circle gallerist tells me that the former building where Gallery K was located will soon become a high end furniture store. Too bad; we were all hoping that somehow a "new" Gallery K will emerge from the death of its owners.

Another Dupont Circle gallerist tells me that rents around the renovated 14th Street neighborhood have skyrocketed and some gallery moves there have been cancelled as a result.

And yet a third gallerist passes that longtime dealer Sally Troyer will be closing her gallery after this current show.

Washington Post art critic Michael O'Sullivan returns to the Post's Weekend section to review galleries and museums. O'Sullivan had been reviewing movies for a few months.

Heard in the offices of the WCP: Former WCP Arts Editor and critic Glenn Dixon will no longer be writing art reviews for the WCP. Apparently Dixon is busy with other commitments. Hopefully the WCP will find someone to replace Dixon and who will go beyond the two or three museums and four galleries that he usually covered. The WCP's arts coverage, under the guidance of Leonard Roberge, has been doing a consistently outstanding job of covering the arts around town. Interested art critic freelancers should read the guidelines here and then start writing about art!

A viewpoint of the unlikely (and definately surprising) Reagan legacy to the arts can be read here. He brought the NEA funding to an all-time high.

Lou Jacobson comes through with a great review of the Sandra Ramos show in the Washington City Paper.

Want to get your artwork into major museums? Photographer Tracy Lee passes this cool story on just how to do that.

Jessica Dawson really gets what Sandra Ramos is all about in this very good review in today's Washington Post.

Last night we took down Tim Tate's exhibition from the Bethesda gallery - once again Tate delivered a spectacular show following his solo debut last year in Georgetown with a nearly sold out show.

The Sandra Ramos exhibit currently in Georgetown has been also spectacularly successful, and will be reviewed tomorrow in the Washington Post and also in the Washington City Paper.

This Friday is the second Friday of the month and thus the Bethesda Art Walk.

Seventeen galleries and spaces participate from 6-9 PM with a free minibus to take art aficionados around the various spaces. We will host about twenty photographers from around the area, nation, Europe and Latin America. Among the photographers are Joyce Tenneson, Jan Saudek, Deborah Nofret, Marta Maria Perez Bravo, Elena Volkov and many others.

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This coming Sunday is the Bethesda Artists' Market, which has rapidly been expanding. Now in it's third showing, the market will feature the work of about 40 area artists set up around the gallery in Bethesda Place Plaza located at 7700 Wisconsin Avenue. Unfortunately I won't be there participating as I am doing ar art fair away from the area. But I'll be at the next one on July 11.

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A couple of years ago we tried working with Nikki S. Lee's gallery in New York to bring her photography to the Washington area, but couldn't make it happen. However, Cheryl Numark has and her beautiful new gallery will host Lee's debut in the DC area. She's hosting a party/special event to kick-off Nikki S. Lee's exhibition, titled "Parts & Projects," and DJ Stylus will be spinning Caribbean, Latin and African music at Numark Gallery on June 11 from 6:30 to 9 PM.

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And for nearly three years we had been also working with Sally Mann's dealer, also in New York to bring Sally Mann's new work to the DC area at the same time as her Corcoran exhibition, which is titled "What Remains" and has been curated by Philip Brookman and promises to be one of the power photograhphy shows of the year.

Then the New York gallery director we had been working with decided to have a family, and (I think) she moved to France and everything dropped through the cracks in the interim. Luckily for Washington area Sally Mann fans, Hemphill Fine Arts in Georgetown will be showcasing Mann's work in a show titled "Last Measure" which opens this Thursday with a reception from 6:30 to 8:30 PM.

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And tonite I am escorting legendary photographer Lida Moser to a reception at the Phillips Collection, where some of her work is on display as part of the Aaron Siskind: New Relationships in Photography exhibition. A portrait of Siskind by Moser is in the permanent collection of The National Portrait Gallery and a portrait of Moser, by Alice Neel is in the permanent collection of the Met in New York.

The thief who stole the life sized statute from the Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival (see my May 26 entry) has been caught, according to WTOP News.

Washington Sculpture Center (WSC) Opens.

The WSC will be bringing new creative resources and cultural energy to the Washington Area.

The Washington Sculpture Center (WSC) announces the grand opening of its sculpture studios in Washington, DC on Saturday, June 19, 2004 from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.

The public is welcome to visit the facility at 1338 Half Street SE (located between "N" & "O" Streets SE, two blocks south of the Navy Yard Green Line Metro Station) and watch demonstrations in a variety of sculptural techniques. This is a free event, everyone is welcome and refreshments will be served. Instructors will be on hand to answer questions about their work and about WSC.

The Washington Sculpture Center is a registered not-for-profit 501(c)3 organization that promotes:
- The teaching of sculpture including glass, metal, and stone to all levels of students so that they may develop their creative potential.
- The placement of sculptures in public spaces in the Washington, DC Metropolitan Area.

The WSC was founded in 2003 by Patricia Ghiglino, a businesswoman and Reinaldo Lopez, artist. The WSC, a one-of-a-kind resource in Washington, offers instruction for beginner through advanced students, taught by local artists, in the following specialties:

· Flamework (bead making, glass blowing, and sculptural work -- Lisa St. Martin, Elizabeth Mears, instructors)
· Mosaics (Gene Sterud, instructor)
· Stained Glass (Jimmy Powers, instructor)
· Blacksmithing (George Anderton, instructor)
· Stone Carving (Reinaldo Lopez, instructor)
· Bronze Casting and mold making (Patrick Birge, instructor)

There will be a drawing for a free class for those who come to the opening June 19 and leave their business card and e-mail address. Winner will be notified June 21, 2004, by e-mail and his/her name will be posted on the website. For more information on the Washington Sculpture Center (WSC), visit their website at: www.dcsculpture.org.

Opportunity for lesbian artists...

Astraea Visual Arts Fund to recognize contemporary lesbian artists.

Deadline: June 11, 2004.

The Astraea Visual Arts Fund recognizes the work of contemporary lesbian artists by providing support to those who show artistic merit and whose art/perspective reflect a commitment to the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice's mission and efforts to promote lesbian visibility and social justice. The fund was established by the Astraea Visual Arts Project in 2002. The project sponsors events and educational panels and commissions renowned lesbian artists to create limited edition prints to benefit Astraea's work.

This year Astraea will give two $2,500 cash awards to lesbian visual artists. Slides of original works of art will be accepted in the following categories only: sculpture, painting in any medium, print, drawing, work on paper, and mixed media. Documentary photography is not eligible unless it is part of a more extended process.

Applicants must be U.S. residents. Students currently enrolled in an arts degree granting program or its equivalent at the time of application are not eligible to apply. See the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice Web site (noted below) for complete eligibility information and application guidelines visit this website.

Super busy week!

Through the week I have to mat and frame about twenty pieces for a show I'm doing this coming weekend.

This Tuesday we have a small closing reception for Tim Tate's spectacularly successful show in Bethesda.

This Thursday I will be presenting an abbreviated version of the Success as an Artist seminar at the VSA International Arts Festival, taking place at multiple locations in Washington D.C., June 9 - 12 and coinciding with VSA arts' celebration of its 30th anniversary.

Later that evening, at 7 PM, I will be moderating a panel at the Art League in Alexandria. The panel will discuss art and self portraits. Panel members are Dr. Carolyn Carr, Deputy Director & Chief Curator, National Portrait Gallery, Michael O'Sullivan, art critic from the Washington Post, and Prof. Chawky Frenn, perhaps our area's most celebrated self-portrait-obsessed artist.

And Friday is the Bethesda Art Walk and we will have a photography group show surveying work by contemporary photographers from the US and abroad. The show includes work by Joyce Tenneson, Jan Saudek, Martha Maria Perez Bravo, Deborah Nofret Marrero, Viktor Koen (his "Drone" is pictured), Elsa Mora, Cirenaica Moreira and many more.

This ought to be fun...

The First ever International Nude Art Expo is taking place (of all places) in Washington, DC!

Date: Aug 20 - 22, 2004

The Expo is at the new Washington Convention Center and the sponsor has a call for artists!

This expo is opened to all artists, sculptors, photographers, and galleries, etc depicting the nude art form. Visit their website at www.nudeartexpo.org.

The deadline for applications is June 30, 2004.

For more info contact the sponsors at:
Studio 15
3415 Windom Road
Brentwood, MD 20722
Phone: 301- 864- 0700
e-mail: expo@studio15art.com

While I was in California, The Washington City Paper published a review of Tim Tate's current exhibition, which ends June 8.

Annette Polan, Associate Professor at the Corcoran College of Art and a well known portrait painter is gathering together a group of artists to pay tribute to the American soldiers, sailors, aircrews and Marines who have died in Iraq since the beginning of the war.

Inspired by "Faces of the Fallen," photographs of U.S. casualties published periodically in the Washington Post, Annette passes that she wants a meaningful memorial to the sons, daughters, husbands and wives lost in this war.

As a veteran, I also believe that this is a touching way to honor those who have offered the ultimate sacrifice in the service of our nation.

These faces of America will be portrayed by a group of 100 artists – some well known, others still students. Each artist will contribute about 10 portraits. The finished work, drawings, paintings and collages on 6"x 8" canvasses will be exhibited in Washington in late October. The images have been assigned randomly to the artists according to the day on which the casualty occurred.

A website is currently being established so that families of these heroes can post stories and also view finished portraits.

For more info contact Annette Polan at apolan@starpower.net or 202.537.2908

Heading back home today.... will resume posting upon return.

I'm still in San Diego, but don't forget that this coming Friday is the Dupont Circle Galleries extended hours, with most galleries open from 6-8 PM and most artists present as well. Go support our galleries and artists!

Arrived in San Diego extraordinarily late, due to weather issues at Philadelpia. On the flights here I read Thomas Cahill's most excellent book How The Irish Saved Civilization.

I'm heading to California tomorrow... will post from the Left Coast as I am bringing the faithful laptop.

No excuse for this.

The Post's chief art critic, Blake Gopnik delivers his veredict on the DC pandas public art projects as "art."

Regardless of whatever opinion one may have about this project (which by the way nearly every American city now has a version (New York has apples, Los Angeles has angels, Norfolk has mermaids, Baltimore has fish - or it is crabs?) being "art" (in the hi-fallutin' sense of the word - after all I thought that these days everything is art) -- but after all these years I am still amazed by how true the trite saying "art is in the eyes of the beholder" truly is.

Of interest to me, Blake makes the statement:

"The finished sculptures are coloring-book art, too, only blown up in 3-D.

It would take a really skilled contemporary artist to turn a coloring book into something worth an art lover's time. There probably aren't more than a half-dozen artists in this city who could do it. But even those six don't seem to have made it onto the project's 150 artist list. On the long roster of panda decorators, there wasn't anyone whom the city's art aficionados would be likely to count as a top local talent."

This is interesting food for thought.

It's a message to the 150 people on the list: not only does the Chief Art Critic of the Washington Post think your are not a top local talent, but neither do "the city's art aficionados," by his account.

Ouch!

Blake also writes: "There were barely a handful of artists whose names I even recognized at all from any of my visits to studios or galleries or art schools in the region."

I certainly consider myself an "art aficionado," but I have neither been asked nor have I seen the list until now. And after having gone through it, I agree with Blake, as I do not recognize most names, although I did find a few artists that I did recognize, plus a DC gallery owner, plus a well-known national muralist, plus someone with the unfortunate same name as a world famous model (I bet she gets great tables at restaurants).

There were also a large number of schools participating in teams, which I think is a positive effect of this project, and pushes it more toward the "public art" effort that Gopnik objects to.

On the positive side, some his words are good news, because until that statement I was not aware that Mr. Gopnik regularly visited studios or galleries, or art schools around here on a regular basis. I stand corrected and I applaud Gopnik for doing that.

This eloquent man also writes: "For a city its size, it [Washington, DC] also has a surprisingly large and vibrant community of contemporary artists, dealers, collectors and curators who keep things humming on the local scene, and have been steadily pushing its standards up."

It would also be good if he'd help with getting that "large and vibrant community" not be such a surprise by starting to write also about "local" artists and "local" galleries more often so that we'd all realize that he's "in tune" with our "local" art scene.

The proof is in the pudding, I mean writing.

Joanna Shaw-Eagle, the Washington Times Chief Art Critic has a great review of the Sandra Ramos gallery debut show currently on exhibition in Georgetown.

Blake Gopnik is not going to like this:

Carol Strickland, writing in the Christian Science Monitor makes the case that "painting is back."

"In the past two decades, cutting-edge galleries and museums have focused on everything but painting. The halls were chockablock with installations, photo-based work, conceptual art, new media, and digital and video art.

But a fundamental shift has taken place. For a survey exhibition of contemporary work at the Brooklyn Museum of Art, Charlotta Kotik and her co-curator looked at thousands of works by emerging artists...

"The taste of the art world is changing," Ms. Kotik says. "Suddenly painting is allowed to exist again."

Read the whole article here, then print it and mail it to every museum curator, museum director and art critic that you know.

The rest of us already knew that no matter what gets written, and no matter what gets exhibited in museums, what truly makes an impact here in the trenches is and has been, and will continue to be painting.

(Thanks to ArtsJournal for the lead.)

Thanks to ArtsJournal for this:

A new for-profit company has formed in New York that will create a first-of-its-kind pension fund for artists. The fund, called the Artist Pension Trust, is designed to offer some retirement security for up-and-coming visual artists who are now in their 20s and 30s.

Instead of contributing money to the fund, the selected artists will contribute their own artwork to a trust. The artwork will be held for a number of years, then sold, with the proceeds going into the trust, from which artists will then draw their pensions.

But at issue is how does one guess who (in the 20s) will be a sellable artist in their 60s. Nonetheless, it is a novel and interesting idea.

There will be regional trusts in New York and Los Angeles. Each trust will have 250 artists. The artists will be chosen by a "prominent" group of artists, art professors and gallery owners in each region. Eventually, this outfit plans to have trusts in London, Berlin, Tokyo, Shanghai or Beijing, and possibly Miami.

Read the whole story here.

It may be fun to come up with a list of, say 25 DC area artists in their 20s and 30s, that we'd nominate for this Artist Pension Trust.... that is, if our area is considered for a trust fund.

Ned Rifkin, director of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden passes that J. Tomilson Hill has been elected as the Chairman of the Hirshhorn's Board of Trustees.

Pretty fast move up the chain for Hill, who joined the Board in 1998 and served as Vice Chair two years later. Congratulations!

Some new shows...

Andrea Rowe Kraus has paintings and prints at Studio Gallery at Dupont Circle until June 13.

Paintings and sculpture by Korean artist Nong are on exhibit at Dega Gallery in McLean until July 3.

Richard Whiteley has new landscape paintings at Gallery West in Alexandria.

Mobiles by David Yano and abstract paintings by Marsha Hall share the gallery at Creative Partners in Bethesda.

Addison/Ripley in Georgetown has new work by Dan Treado until June 19.

Wayne Trapp has an Introspective on exhibition at Zenith Gallery downtown until June 6.

Nancy Sausser reviews "Expanding Realities", in today's Post. The show is curated by Sarah Tanguy and is currently on exhibition at the American Center for Physics.

God as an art critic?

As most of you probably know by now, the cream of the Saatchi YBA art collection, not including Chris Ofili's infamous dungwork The Holy Virgin Mary, which survives in the Saatchi Gallery, was destroyed a few days ago in a fire in London.

You can see most of the destroyed collection here.

The destruction of any artwork, no matter one's opinion of the "art" itself, is always to be lamented. However, in the case of the YBA's art lost in this fire, I wonder if it will have an "Elvis" effect on that work, and leave a sort of legendary (if ethereal) footprint on the pages of art history.

I submit that it will, and in fact it may be a brilliant (if unintended) act of marketing!

Since some of the British art world's leading prognosticators think that figurative art may be the "next big thing in art," I wouldn't be surprised to see this master marketeer make an 180 and start a "new" collection of figurative art.

I can hear the howling already...

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In the Post today, Jessica Dawson reviews Leo Villareal at Conner Contemporary and Joe White at Edison Place Gallery.

My posting on galleryphobia has been getting responses from gallerists as far as Canada, Uruguay and the UK!

But best is this one from photographer James W. Bailey from the Greater Reston Arts Center in Reston, Virginia:

I wanted to recognize your scientific identification of galleryphobia. I believe that I have identified a sub-species at the Greater Reston Arts Center.

It just so happens that the most popular cigarette break spot at Reston Town Center is right in front of our largest window. There’s a concrete planter that sits facing our window and the smokers congregate for their isolationist rituals 6 to 8 times a day.

During the course of their smokes breaks, especially when their thin conversations have worn thinner, many of them will walk right up to the glass, plaster their faces against the glass, raise their hands above their heads to block the light so they can see better and stare through the glass while puffing away on their cancer sticks.

But they never come in! There’s this one girl whom I’ve been watching for 2 ½ years through the damn glass! She’s never stepped foot in the gallery.

Yet, everyday she’ll stare inside. I’ve tried opening the door, stepping outside and asking people to come in and take a look and even offered wine to them.

They are terrified of actually walking into the gallery. If you have no objection, I’m naming this sub-species, galleryphobia smokerterrifiedicus.

Funny!!!

By the way, a $38,000 life size statute was brazenly stolen this last weekend from an artist's booth, in front of thousands of art lovers at the Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival.

Art & Antiques Magazine has an update on Sandra Ramos and her visa denial to attend her current U.S. solo gallery debut at our Georgetown gallery.

City Arts Projects

Deadline: May 27, 2004.

The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities (DCCAH) City Arts Projects offers funds to encourage the growth of quality arts activities throughout the city, support local artists, and make arts experiences accessible to DC residents.

Projects must provide exposure to the arts and arts experiences to the broader community or to persons traditionally underserved or separated from the cultural mainstream due to geographic location, economic constraints, or disability.

Eligible projects include, but are not limited to: festivals, concerts, visual arts exhibitions, literary readings, and salary support to enhance cultural diversity among the staffs of arts organizations in DC.

Eligible applicants include arts and community organizations that have their principal place of business in DC and have both Federal (IRS) and DC tax exemptions for at least one year prior to the deadline date.

The deadline for applications is May 27, 2004. Grants between $1,000-$15,000 are available. Funds must be matched dollar for dollar. For further information, contact DCCAH at (202) 724-5613; or go to this website.

Pilfered from ArtsJournal: A Chicago art dealer has been charged with attempting to sell fake Picassos in Milwaukee.

I don't know of any DC area art dealer selling fake Picassos, but there are many, many "galleries" that do have a Picasso scam going on - not just in our area, but since many of these "galleries" are actually chain or franchise stores passing as art galleries, the scam goes on all over the country.

You know the type of "gallery" that I am talking about: They sell a lot of "pretty" decorative art, loads of gyclees on canvas by mass production, decorative artists with European-sounding names and "art" by famous people who are not artists or art by Hollywood actors. You can find these "galleries" in expensive rent areas (where a reputable gallery couldn't afford a space) such as M Street in Georgetown, most of La Jolla in California, in malls, and around Bethesda.

The scam is probably not illegal, but it is certainly unethical.

Here's how it works:

Many of Picasso's etching plates are apparently owned by some of his children, and they continue to use the plates to print their father's work ad nauseum. Then, the Picasso offspring sign the work with their last name, which conveniently is also "Picasso."

The sales pitch for the print then describes it as "this is a Picasso etching made from the original plate and it is signed."

They never (unless one asks) tell you that the Picasso signature that you see on the piece is NOT Pablo Picasso's signature but a Picasso son or daughter's signature (which of course now looks a lot like their father's)

So hapless buyers think that they are buying a print signed by the world's greatest artist, when in fact they are acquiring a print from his plate, but signed by one of his children.

Not illegal perhaps - but unethical.

Blake Gopnik finds a weakness in the new WWII Memorial.

I am posting from the Bethesda gallery, where I am observing galleryphobia in full action. There must be three dozen people in the plaza waiting to be called to the Original Pancake House, and nearly all of them are floating back and forth around the gallery's glass walls, peeking in and trying to see Tim Tate's extraordinary show - and yet not one brave soul dares to come in, although I have the gallery's front doors propped open and thus wasting precious air conditioning.

I am here on Sunday (rather than at home mowing my lawn amid the cicada invasion), because I am waiting for a Canadian film maker who is coming to do some filming as he's working on a documentary for Canadian television on the life of legendary photographer Lida Moser, who lives in retirement in Rockville and whose work we represent.

We are in the exhausting process of cataloguing all of Lida's remaining vintage photographs, some of which date back to the 1930s.

Well, it's official!

The Sandra Ramos debut show in Georgetown is now officially our best opening sales show.

We're also working on three different museum sales.

Last night it was also good to see Dr. Jonathan Binstock, the Curator of Contemporary Art for the Corcoran, visiting the various new shows in the four Canal Square galleries. A couple of weeks ago I also ran into Binstock at the Margaret Boozer opening at Strand on Volta gallery. It is refreshing to see a local museum curator taking an interest in our area artists and galleries!

When it rains it pours... after a couple of very rough months, suddenly art sales have exploded for us.

In Bethesda, Tim Tate is selling like wildfire, and most of his new glass sculptures are already gone. There will be a Washington City Paper review of the show next Thursday.

In Georgetown, the U.S. debut of Cuban artist Sandra Ramos, which opens tonight, has already sold most major pieces just from the website. There will be soon a Washington City Paper review of that show as well.

The Chesapeake Arts Center in Brooklyn Park, Maryland is looking for an Executive Director.

Visit their website for details.

The Dennis & Philip Ratner Museum in Bethesda has an exhibition by three Argentinean and one Israeli artist opening Sunday, June 6, 2004 from 1:30 - 3:30 PM.

The show is comprised of new paintings by Rosana Azar, Felisa Federman, Hedva Ferenci and Claudia Ravel. For more information, call Michal at 301/816 9004.

I'm familiar with Argentine artist Felisa Federman's work, and not only has she has been progressing over the years and developing as an artist, but Federman is also very active in ensuring that her work is seen! She has exhibited around the region quite widely and is always working on ways to get her work out - this is what artists should all do!

Tonite is a Third Thursday, so head down to the 7th Street corridor galleries, as they have extended hours.

And the Gallery at Flashpoint should be on your destination tonite, as they have a great art deal going on with "Anonymous" presented by the Washington Project for the Arts\Corcoran.

"Anonymous" centers around 100 artists who created works of art to be sold for $500 each. Buyers will not know the identity of the creator until the work has been purchased. Proceeds benefit the WPA\C Programming Fund.

The following artists/curators organized the show: Colby Caldwell, Y. David Chung, James Huckenpahler, Judy Jashinsky, Isabel Manalo, Maggie Michael, Tim Tate, Bert Ulrich, Matt Sesow, and Andres Tremols.

35 works have been sold so far, so lots of great, affordable artwork is still available, including pieces by such well-known and highly respected artists as Foon Sham, Erwin Timmers, Linda Hesh, Judy Jashinsky, Richard Dana, Margaret Boozer, Inga Frick, Pat Goslee, Clark, and the Dumbacher Brothers, and many, many other gifted DC area artists.

See you there!

Here's the shortlist for the 2004 Turner Prize.

Our area's version of the Turner Prize is the Trawick Prize.

The Deadline for slide submission is tomorrow! Friday, May 21, 2004. The 2nd annual juried art competition awards $14,000 in prize monies to four selected artists. Up to fifteen artists will be invited to display their work from September 7, 2004 - October 2, 2004 in downtown Bethesda at Creative Partners Gallery.

The 2004 competition will be juried by Jeffrey W. Allison, The Paul Mellon Collection Educator at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts; Peter Dubeau, Associate Dean of Continuing Studies at the Maryland Institute College of Art and Kristen Hileman, Assistant Curator at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.

The first place winner will be awarded $10,000; second place will be honored with $2,000 and third place will be awarded $1,000. A "young" artist whose birth date is after May 21, 1974 will also be awarded $1,000 (donated by Fraser Gallery).

Artists must be 18 years of age or older and residents of Maryland, Virginia or Washington, D.C. Original painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, fiber art, digital, mixed media and video (VHS tapes only) are accepted. For more information, please contact Stephanie Coppula at scoppula@bethesda.org or call 301.215.6660 ext. 20. Website: www.bethesda.org.

Need to make slides from your digital files? Visit Slides.com

Tomorrow is the 3rd Friday of the month, which means that the Canal Square Galleries will have their new shows opening. Catered receptions are from 6-8 PM.

We will host the American gallery solo debut of Cuban artist Sandra Ramos, considered by many to be among the leading contemporary Cuban artists in the world.

Unfortunately, in an event that made international news, Ramos was denied a visitor's visa to attend the opening, and despite generous assistance from Senator Paul Sarbanes, she was unable to get one on time and will not be able to attend her first gallery solo show in the US.

In this exhibition, titled "Sea of Sorrows" by Ramos, we will have on display several of her calcography prints from the series that first attracted world attention to her work - they deal with many taboo subjects of daily social life in Cuba: exile, migration, racism and economic issues. Also on exhibit will be four new oil paintings created specifically for this show as well as a brand new series of manipulated digital prints - the first ever by Ramos. About these she has written:

"Sea of Sorrows continues a very marked line in my work, related to migrations. This series emphasizes the thesis of the shipwreck as one of the most recurrent events in the life in the contemporary society, in any place of the world where the space among the dreams, aspirations and men's utopias become more and more distant illusions. Physical shipwreck, sentimental shipwreck. Economic shipwreck, political shipwreck.

Here I use again the pioneer girl character, (a sort of self-portrait: symbol of the innocence and the idealism,) locating her in marine and urban landscapes and in situations of a poetic subjectivity, where to escape seems to be her only objective.

In my work the sea has been a recurrent symbol because I try to respond the question of what we are, to define the Cuban being and capture the essence of our cultural and social history. In this search the sea becomes the natural element that by drawing the shape of the island, defines the personality of the creatures that inhabit it. The sea and the island form an inseparable unit that defines the history of the Cubans."

See you there.

Ramon Osuna, who has been an art dealer in our area for many, many years and has had several art ventures in the past, just opened a new gallery in Bethesda.

The new gallery is called Osuna Art and is located at 7200 Wisconsin Ave., Bethesda, 301/654-4500.

If you missed this review by Jessica Dawson, a while back, read it here.

She expresses her disappointment with the new, huge (but temporary) Red Brook Gallery in Georgetown's Cady's Alley and she's right on.

What exactly is chaos?

The simplest explanation ever given describes it as the idea that it is possible to get completely random results from normal things. But more importantly, Chaos Theory is also the reverse: It finds the order in what appears to be completely random data.

Or in the case of Margaret Boozer’s great new show at Strand on Volta Gallery in Washington, DC: Random art that is also beautifully ordained.

Actually, the real title of the show is Land/Marks and it is one of those shows that we will recall in years to come, as the show that positioned this gifted artist at a critical new juncture of her career.

Boozer already has an exceptional reputation in our Washington area as one of our leading ceramic artists. I am not a big fan of segregating artists under a label (Latino art is my biggest pet peeve), and just because Margaret has historically worked in ceramics, her vision and skill certainly demands that she be simply addressed as an artist. But I don’t run the art world, as fond of labels as it is.

Luckily, in this show Boozer smashes the notion (no pun intended) of her being a “ceramic artist.” This work is simply too complex, (and simple) to rationalize, or define – much like chaos theory.

What Boozer has done, is not only to recognize that all around her are potential sources for material to create art, from the rich, red clay that she dug from her backyard, to the shiny, black tar that she removed from the guts of a tar mixing truck, but also to introduce a sophisticated mixture of manipulation and randomness to the final product.

When we walk into the one room gallery in Georgetown, the viewer is immediately struck by the minimalist elegance of the work, hung as it is in a clean, open style that allows the half a dozen pieces ample breathing room.

In several large pieces, Boozer has splashed slip into a frame, transforming the liquid clay, for a moment, into a sort of prehistoric paint, much like our ancestors in Alta Mira did. She then has encouraged the clay’s natural tendency to crack and bend and create lines. This is where randomness, aided by her creative hand, comes to play. In others, she mixes porcelain slip, or stoneware, tar and steel.

In the end, and when hung vertically, we are offered a surprisingly elegant and visually challenging work of two dimensional art that breaks the barrier into three dimensions. The eye is sometimes fooled, especially when one looks at the pieces closely, into seeing an earthy painting – much what an abstract expressionist would deliver. Step back a foot or two, and you are looking at an aerial photograph of a rich desert, full or dried rivers, gorges and hills. In “The Present is the Key to the Past,” she has even spray painted a straight bluish line, almost resembling a road. The duality of the effect is brilliant – and because the manipulation of the media is driven by the randomness of the result – unexpectedly recognizable as a variety of subject matter that crosses genres between representation and abstraction, and painting and sculpture.

In a second series of works (Intrusion series), Boozer removed chunks of dried tar that accumulates over the years in the guts of those stinky tar trucks that are always fixing up street cracks. The resulting forms are surprisingly sensual and organic.

Here again, the effect of randomness is complimented by the artist’s sharp detection of the visual magnetism of these unexpected forms. Created by the ordained rotation of the tar truck’s mixing mechanism over a period of years, and dried by the off and on process of the mixer’s heating system, these forms are surprisingly interesting to the eye.

When hung on the wall, the shiny black forms sometimes resemble a horizontal beehive, but like no bee on Earth would build. Other pieces have a strange sexual association to them, as if we’ve been offered a voyeuristic view of a new sexual organ no one knew existed.

Lastly, she has pushed the envelope even further in one major piece titled “Angle of Incidence.”

This work, is a living, wet, moist slab of porcelain slip that is still drying, unfinished… one would be tempted to say. As it dries, it will eventually “finish” – but not before the element of randomness is introduced and becomes part of it.

And in this piece, it is not just the random effect of how the material will crack and split as it dries. In its finished stage a few weeks from now, the work will also include the addition of fingerprints. “Ooops I didn’t know it was wet,” said the slim, blue-haired woman who touched it at the opening reception – her finger mark is now part of the artwork, as is the beer that her friend spilled on the slab, creating a yellowish film on the center of the work.

And thus randomness and the disquieting order of beer being spilled at an art opening, somehow align to help finish this piece.

In these visceral maps, organic sexual forms, and evolving works, Boozer has created something that is refreshingly new while being pleasant to the senses of visual enjoyment and mental intelligence. In this show, this artist has smashed her “label.”

Margaret Boozer “Land/Marks” is at Strand on Volta Gallery, 1531 33rd Street, NW in Georgetown, Washington, DC until June 5, 2004. The gallery can be reached at 202.333.4663.

Opportunities for Artists...
Deadline July 15, 2004.

Rockville Arts Place 2005 Call for Entries. Rockville Arts Place is accepting exhibition proposals for its 2005 schedule.

Thematic and media-based exhibitions will cover all media. Special category for ceramic artist entries for a clay exhibition, February 20 - March 26. Group and individual entries accepted. Work must have been completed in the last three years. The entry fee is $25. Rockville Arts Place is a membership organization that serves artists with exhibition opportunities, professional development programs, and master workshops. Visit www.rockvilleartsplace.org to download a 2005 Call for Entries or contact Shelly Brunner at gallery@rockvilleartsplace.org or call her at (301) 309-6900.

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Deadline August 2, 5pm 2004

BlackRock Center for the Arts in Germantown announces 2005 Call to Artist. Executive director Nancy E. Petrisko recently announced an invitation for artists to submit slides and proposals for artwork to be displayed in BRCA's exhibition gallery in 2005.

The call is open to individual artists or artist groups with original work only and covers exhibits in the gallery from January through December 2005.

A jury of local art experts will select works for approximately 10 exhibits of five weeks each. Most exhibits feature solo artists, but some may include more than one artist, based on the judgment of the jurors.

The application deadline is August 2, 2004 at 5pm. An application fee of $25 is required. To receive an application, call 301.528.2260 or write info@blackrockcenter.org. Artists will be notified and exhibits scheduled in September 2004.

BlackRock's gallery is open Monday through Friday from 10am through 5pm and Saturday from 10am to 2pm. Admission to the gallery is free.

For information about the 2004 gallery exhibits, call BlackRock Center for the Arts at 301.528.2260 or visit BlackRock Center for the Arts' website.

BlackRock Center for the Arts is located at 12901 Town Commons Drive, Germantown, Maryland, near the intersection of Middlebrook Rd. and Route 118 (Germantown Rd.).

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Deadline June 12, 2004

The newly renovated Arlington Arts Center will reopen this summer. They have issued a call for entries for 10 artists for solo exhibitions in the spring or fall of 2005. Artists living or working in Virginia, DC, Maryland, West VA, Delaware, and Pennsylvania are eligible to apply.

Proposals should be made for the exhibition of recent work completed within the last three years which has not previously been exhibited in the Washington area. Entry fee $25 for non-members.

For more info, go to: this website and click on "Solo Exhibitions, 2005, Call for Entries."

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Deadline June 15, 2004

Call for Entries for Fall Exhibition, Montpelier Cultural Arts Center – Maryland.

DIALOGUE.art.technology.imagery. Montpelier Cultural Arts Center is located on the beautiful grounds Montpelier Mansion in Laurel.

Submissions are encouraged from artists working in a variety of disciplines: photography, painting, graphic design, printmaking, video, and new media for DIALOGUE.art.technology.imagery on view September 8-Oct. 28 at Montpelier and held in conjunction with the Mid-Atlantic regional conference of the Society for Photographic Education.

Deadline for submissions is June 15, 2004. Call (301) 953-1993 for exhibition prospectus or download PDF versions at this website.

The inaugural Bethesda Fine Arts Festival, which took place over the weekend was a spectacular success. I would guess around 20,000 to 25,000 people showed up to view the work of 122 artists from around the nation. From talking to the artists and crafts people, sales were quite brisk as well, which is always good to hear. I sold about twenty drawings.

This fine arts festival is well on its way to become one of the top ten outdoor art festivals in the country. Area artists should really consider doing it next year. Contact Bethesda Up! for details for next year's festival.

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Teaching Position at AU

Applications will be reviewed June 1 - Studio Teaching position, American University – DC. American University. Assistant Professor, temporary one-year position. Beginning Fall 2004.

Qualifications: MFA in Painting. Exhibition record and teaching experience. Proven ability to work in an effective manner with both undergraduate and graduate students.

Responsibilities: Teaching: Teach undergraduate courses in painting, drawing and general education studio courses. Teach in graduate thesis seminars, drawing and graduate critiques; student advising. Scholarship/Creative Work: Active exhibition record. University Service: Serving on Department, College and University committees.

Salary competitive dependent on experience and qualifications. Applications will be reviewed beginning June 1, 2004 and continue until the position is filled. Include letter of application, curriculum vitae, 20 slides of own work and 20 slides of students' work, three letters of recommendation and SASE.

Studio Search Committee Department of Art
American University
4400 Massachusetts Avenue NW
Washington DC 20016-8004.

Questions? Call or email Glenna K. Haynie at ghaynie@american.edu, (202) 885-1671

Glen Echo Park Call to Artists for Course Proposals.

Deadline May 24, 2004.

The Glen Echo Park Partnership for Arts and Culture Inc (GEPPAC) invites artists to submit Course Proposals for their Fall and Winter 2004-05 sessions.

Course proposals are sought for all age groups in the areas including fiber arts, decorative arts, metals, jewelry, enameling, art history, and other arts, crafts and media. Course proposals for ages 13 and older should not include the subject areas of pottery, drawing, painting, and photography. Deadline for Fall/Winter ’04-‘05 Course Proposals is Monday, May 24, 2004. You will be contacted no later than June 2 with your proposal status.

Applicants should have relevant teaching and/or professional experience. When submitting your course proposal, include resume with three professional references, teaching experience, and education history.

GEPPAC is a non-profit organization, newly established to manage the operations, facilities and programs in Glen Echo Park. Its mission is to manage educational, artistic, historical, cultural, environmental and recreational programs at the Park in a manner that is attractive and accessible to a diverse population of users, financially self-sustaining, and sensitive to the needs of the neighboring community. Glen Echo Park is host to a variety of arts, cultural and environmental education programs, some operated by resident groups and others managed directly by GEPPAC.

For more information about course proposal requirements visit this website and click on Teaching Opportunities. Or contact Adrienne Lewis, the Education Program Manager at alewis@glenechopark.org.

Just back from spending the day burning in the sun at the Bethesda Fine Arts Festival.

It was great! Lots of people, and I sold quite a bit of work... in fact I came home ready to frame new pieces for tomorrow, but got engaged on the phone in a great conversation with a kindred ancient soul and now it's too late for framing, so instead I'm posting some recent thoughts and news.... see below.

Come see 120 plus artists tomorrow at the Festival. I'll be there.

Do you want to know why art criticism can never ever be objective, but always comes loaded with a critic's personal agenda?

Read Blake Gopnik's piece in the Post. Gopnik does not like painting, and subscribes to the somewhat dated and debunked theory that "painting is dead."

Since painting refuses to die, and collectors refuse to let it die, and dealers refuse to let it die, and curators refuse to let it die, the pushers of this antiquated theory that once made news in the 60s, try to rationalize it, as Gopnik brilliantly does in this piece.

However, once you realize that this is on the "agenda" of a particular art scribe, it sounds as empty now as it did in ther 1960s.

Notice how he labels Robert Hughes, one of the planet's most respected and influential art critics, and probably the best-known contemporary art critic in the world, as "Conservative" simply because Hughes would bury the "painting is dead" slogan in the same grave as "happenings" from the 60s and 70s.

It is a shame that such a gifted and influential writer as the Washington Post's chief art critic is, will go all the way to London to visit that distant city's art galleries, but cannot be bothered to visit or write about his own city's art galleries on a regular basis.

Yawn...

One of the things that seems to have hindered the visibility of the Greater Reston Arts Center is the development of a genuine and credible exhibition committee or group or guidance to advise on the programming and exhibition philosophy of the new Arts Center.

In my opinion, after sliding by far too long with inconsistent policies and practices, I’m happy to report that a friend of mine tells me that such a panel was instituted a few weeks ago!

She says that the new panel is being chaired by Michael Monroe, formerly of the Renwick. GRACE will be retaining Deborah MacLeod (former director of McLean Project for the Arts) to help develop and/or curate a new direction in their programming and exhibitions.

I am posting this because I hope this means that GRACE is moving in the right direction. It is a very nice space, and having curated a show there a few years ago, I really want to see them become a firm member of our arts tapestry.

GRACE also needs to do something to restore the reputation of their Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival, which has slipped in the last couple of years, and was even boycotted by many artists last year for their huge price increase for an exhibition booth. This is one of the great outdoor art festivals in the nation, but it needs to be more artist-friendly.

Tomorrow and Sunday is the inaugural Bethesda Fine Arts Festival. The event will feature 120 national artists representing photography, painting, jewelry, furniture, pottery and mixed media, plus live entertainment and Bethesda's best restaurants. The artists' booths will be around Bethesda's Woodmont Triangle along Norfolk and Auburn Avenues.

See you there!

Artist Studios

Artist Studio Space Available at Passageways Studios, Riverdale.
$185 per month, approximately 200sf, skylight, 24hour access, all utilities included. For more information call Debbie Hoeper at phoeper@aol.com or call 301-622-2915.

Studio Space Available. Located on Rhode Island above the Mount Rainier Post Office. Space is approximately 2300sf, excellent light with northern and southern exposure. Suitable for graphic design artists, painters, musicians. $8/sf. Call 202-746-1038 for more information.

Tonite is the Bethesda Art Walk from 6-9 PM and we're hosting an opening reception for the second solo show by Tim Tate.

Tim Tate, the 2003 Washington DC Emerging Artist of the Year, is an openly gay artist who has been HIV-positive for over 20 years and who now finds himself as one of the hottest and rapidly rising artists in our region. Read the Washington Post pick here.

Seventeen galleries and shops participate in the Bethesda Art Walk.

See you there!

The Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County (AHCMC) will hold a workshop on how to prepare an application for Fellowships for Artists and Scholars. This one-hour workshop will be held Thursday, May 6 at 7:00 p.m. at AHCMC, 4405 East West Highway, Suite 401, Bethesda, MD. The workshop offers a step-by-step approach on how to prepare an application for a Fellowship. There is no charge to attend.

Fellowships are available in five categories:
1) visual arts
2) media arts
3) solo dance performance or choreography by an individual
4) history and social sciences
5) historical, critical or theoretical approaches to the arts.

Fellowships of up to $3,000 each provide will funding to an individual to support his/her artistic or scholarly development. The artists and scholars selected must have a minimum of four years of achievement in an art or humanities discipline and must have presented or participated in at least one art or humanities activity in their discipline in Montgomery County during the three years preceding the application deadline. Applicants must have been a resident of Montgomery County for at least 12 months prior to submitting the application.

The application deadline is Tuesday, June 29 at 5:00 p.m. Funds are awarded for use between November 1, 2004 and June 30, 2005.

Prospective applicants are urged to call AHCMC at 301-215-7227 to reserve a space in the workshop, to obtain more information, or to inquire about other grants for which they may be eligible. The Fellowship application is available by sending an e-mail to grants@creativemoco.com.

Opportunity for photographers...

The Rawls Museum of Arts, which is directed by a very talented and hard working director (Leigh Anne Chambers), has a call for photographers for its annual juried competition.

Entries will be received at RMA from 10-5, Friday, September 3, and September 4 and 5 from 1-5. RMA reserves the right to deny entry of any work considered not suitable for display. Exhibition dates are September 10 – October 3, 2004. Call them at 757-653-0754 for a prospectus.

I'm back from Norfolk...

The best way to buy art supplies is from catalogs, and now Dick Blick, one of the best is having a sale.

Call for Sidewalk Art in Takoma Park
Deadline: Tuesday, June 08

The City of Takoma Park is soliciting proposals for sidewalk art. The selected work is to be incorporated in a larger streetscape project planned for Carroll Avenue this summer.

ELIGIBILITY: Open to all artists or artist teams

PROJECT BUDGET: $10,000 (includes but is not limited to artist fees, materials, fabrication, and installation)

DEADLINE FOR PROPOSALS: Proposals must be submitted to the City of Takoma Park's Procurement Officer, 7500 Maple Avenue, Takoma Park MD 20912, by 5:00 pm on June 8, 2004.

GENERAL DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS: The selected artwork is to be located along one side of the Carroll Avenue sidewalk and installed at ground level. It must be essentially flush with the surface of the sidewalk to avoid the creation of a tripping hazard.

The area in which the selected artwork is to be installed is best described as a slightly undulating 6-inch ribbon or strip, 800-feet in length that is broken up by driveways and intersecting streets and private walks. The selected artwork will be located along the sidewalk, nearest the residences. The sidewalk, to be constructed of poured concrete, will be 4-inches thick.

The following general design considerations have been developed to guide the selection of the artwork.

·Artwork should be of an original, site-specific design and may include text, found objects, texture, ornamental symbols, and/or color.

·Artwork may be continuous in its appearance or located at scattered sites along the defined project area. It must not impede or hamper the smooth flow of pedestrians along the sidewalk or create a tripping hazard.

·Artwork should be complementary to the historic context and architectural character of the neighborhood and planned streetscape improvements.

·Artwork must withstand prolonged exposure to local weather conditions.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: More detailed information and a copy of the Request for Proposal can be found on the City's web site at www.cityoftakomapark.org

For more info:
Takoma Park
t: 301.891.7224 or SaraD@takomagov.org

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Gateway Georgia Avenue Revitalization Corporation is seeking arts teachers for all ages for a first floor 350 sq.ft. classroom space with lots of natural light. Beginning in September, the space can be used for dry art classes, such as painting, drawing, quilting, crafts etc.

The classroom space will be a part of a proposed 3,100 sq.ft. arts incubator with artist studios and a gallery. The space sits under a newly-renovated apartment building in Silver Spring, on the corner of 13th and Kennett St. with public parking across the street. According to the Dept. of Housing and Community Affairs, 1,400 units of new housing will be built within a 2 block radius of the space over the next 3 years. The adjacent Shepard Park community has an average household income of $138,523 and 23% of the households have children.

If you have any questions, or are interested in learning more about teaching opportunities at the space...

For more info:
Gateway Georgia Avenue Revitalization Corporation
t: 301.562.1400 or f: 301.562.5945 or david@gatewaycdc.com or www.gatewaycdc.com

Nicely sunburned from the Bethesda Artist Market yesterday... nice crowds and about 30 artists showed up.

I'm heading down to Virginia Beach for the rest of the week to do some lectures. Will try to post more stuff tonite.

One of the things that still amuses me, is how terrified most people are of actually entering a gallery.

As those of you who have been to our Bethesda gallery know, the gallery is encased in glass. In other words, the entire inside space is exposed to the square of Bethesda Place because all the exterior walls are made of glass.

This is bad for heating and/or cooling costs ($400 a month), but good because the entire exhibition is always visible from the outside.

Therein lies the problem!

99.9% of all people will circumnavigate the outside walls, cupping their hands and peering in... sometimes they go around several times, like sharks, and often point and discuss the artwork. And yet they never come in!

Every once in a while, when our former neighbor in the square (Discovery Channel) and now our new neighbor (Comcast) holds a fire drill, the square is filled with several hundred people at once. The drills last maybe 45 minutes.

And the masses walk around the gallery, looking in through the glass, discussing the art, and out of hundreds of people, maybe two or three brave souls dare to come in, but not before asking "is it OK to come in?"

And on Sundays, our other neighbor, the Original Pancake House has a hour waiting list, which means that 40-50 people are always hanging around the square. And yet, despite the fact that they circle around and peer in, only a precious few ever come in (although our biggest sales ever have been to some of those Sunday pancake eaters!).

Often, in the spring, we have the two front doors propped open. And this also causes some interesting situations. Every once in a while, someone will stand on the outside of the opened doors, and stretch (as if as the end of a precipice) and look inside for a few minutes. It is as if one of those Star Trek force fields is between the door line and the gallery.

Even a smile and a "you can come in" often just gets a silent smile back... not even a response.

My conclusion: there's something about an art gallery that terrifies most people. I call it galleryphobia and have defined it as:

Galleryphobia (Gall-e-ree-pho-bya) – The unjustified, deeply rooted fear of actually entering an art gallery. Usually exhibited by attempting to see the entire exhibition through the glass windows from the outside, rather than stepping into the welcoming, temperature-controlled space.

This coming Sunday is the Bethesda Artist Market and I will be there along with 30-35 area artists selling artwork. Goes from 10-5:30 PM at Bethesda Plaza.

More info here.

Not often that a new masterpiece is "discovered."

A small but anatomically correct wood carving statute of Christ on the cross is set to "cause a stir in the art world this weekend as it appears in Florence for the first time, billed as a hitherto unknown masterpiece by the city's most famous artist, Michelangelo Buonarroti."

Regular DCARTNEWS reader Darin Boville makes a good point about my posting below and that we shouldn't snicker at Shreveport's awful sculptures when we have atrocious sculptures like the unfortunate Korean War Memorial - a magnificent design by the way - but awfully executed by sculptor Frank Gaylord.

Some of the figures are way out of any human proportion that I know of... also some of the hardware is as if the sculptor had taked toy guns and made molds from them....

In fact, the more I think about it, the more I convince myself that our Korean War sculptures are worse than the MLK memorial statutes in Shreveport!

This is so funny! DCARTNEWS reader and area artist James W. Bailey sent me this great link announcing that the city of Shreveport had won "bad art poll" and not only that, but it also received over 40% of the vote!

It seems appropriate that Picasso, perhaps the world's greatest artist ever, is the first one to smash the $100 million dollar auction price. Read the Sotheby's story here.

Norman Rockwell's Four Freedoms: Paintings That Inspired a Nation opens on May 15 and runs to my birthday on September 6th! at the Corcoran Gallery of Art.

Co-organized by the Corcoran Gallery of Art and the Norman Rockwell Museum and presented in conjunction with the dedication of the new National World War II Memorial, Norman Rockwell's Four Freedoms: Paintings That Inspired a Nation celebrates four of the artist's most well-known paintings.

Rockwell created Freedom of Speech, Freedom from Want, Freedom of Worship and Freedom from Fear after President Franklin D. Roosevelt's speech addressing these four fundamental freedoms of all Americans in 1943 (except of course, for Americans of Japanese ancestry).

Rockwell's unexpected rise to the upper crust of the fine arts world, after being maligned for so many decades, and in spite of the dislike of his work by many elistist curators, has been a pleasant surprise of the modern art scene.

Only Nixon could go to China and only Rockwell could paint stuff like this back in the 60s.

The District of Columbia Arts Center is one of the great cultural jewels in our city, and next Friday they will be celebrating their 15th anniversary with a gala at historic Halcyon House in Georgetown.

Since its inception in 1989, DCAC has presented more than 100 visual art exhibitions and well over 500 performance events. Poets, painters, actors, storytellers, sculptors, and performance artists have been drawn to DCAC, which features an 800-square-foot gallery and a 50-seat black-box theater. This interdisciplinary arts space is a vital cultural asset in our area. Last year alone, the DCAC gallery's programming included 11 visual art exhibitions featuring six D.C. artists, as well as artists from Cuba, Miami, Philadelphia, Croatia and Taiwan.

The gala will feature food, open bar, 10 piece band, outdoor performance, and the huge studio of artist John Dreyfuss - the largest artist studio in DC and possibly one of the largest in the world. I've been to Halcyon many times, and just a visit to this gorgeous house is worth the admission price. For more details, contact DCAC at 202.462.7833.

Next Friday, on May 14, from 6-9 PM we're hosting an opening reception for the second solo show by Tim Tate.

Tim Tate, the 2003 Washington DC Artist of the Year, is an openly gay artist who has been HIV-positive for over 20 years and who now finds himself as one of the hottest and rapidly rising artists in our region.

Tate has had an extraordinary couple of years, with some spectacular accomplishments. Amongst these, in addition to being selected as the "Washington DC Emerging Artist of the Year" at the last Annual Mayor's Arts Awards, Tate also recently won the international design competition for the International AIDS Monument to be built in New Orleans, he also founded the Washington Glass School - already a prime arts force in our community. He is also the Founder of the Gay and Lesbian Artist Group in Washington, DC.

His work has recently been acquired for the permanent collection of the Smithsonian's American Art Museum's Renwick Gallery and last week, together with Whitney Museum Curator Lawrence Rinder, he was a key panelist in the Hirshhorn Museum's panel on Arts and Healing.

Tate works in glass, and nearly all of his imagery deals with HIV and healing. He is considered by many to be the finest contemporary glass artist in the region, and is a brilliant creative talent who has gone beyond mastery of the technical skills of the art of fine art glass and is now pushing the genre into new areas where content is the prime force behind the work. Tate marries his artwork with intelligent ideas and conceptual dialogues that bring forth reactions, opinions and set forward a whole new conversation and path for the genre of fine art glass.

Using events and details from his personal life as well as public issues, Tate incorporates this as a rich set of conceptual ideas so that his work is no longer about the technical frontier of the art glass genre, or the use of colors and forms – it is all that and more.

How? Tate breaks new ground by adding a new vocabulary to the genre: A vocabulary made of content that requires and understanding of what the artist wants to express. In doing so, Tate has absolutely changed and refined his art and vision, a change that was first kindled by the death of his mother, which he expressed by an obsessive desire to create small, beautiful glass hearts, which have nothing to do with religion, but childhood memories of JFK imagery in his home. In another series of works, dealing with HIV, undefined forms within tall cylindrical towers of nebulous glass come into focus as the towers are spun – defining symbols and crosses that represent cures for diseases, both physical and cultural.

Tate studied at Dale Chihuly’s Pilchuck Glass School in Washington State, Corning Glass in New York and Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina.

His first solo exhibition at Fraser Gallery Georgetown in 2003 sold out, and we currently have him scheduled to open this new show at Fraser Gallery Bethesda on May 14 through June 8, 2004. Titled "I Never Claimed to Have a Map to Get to The Heart Of This Or Any Other Matter...." at this exhibit Tate will open a new series of works in glass addressing his obsession with HIV and healing.

Ken Trapp, former Curator in Charge of the Smithsonian's American Art Museum's Renwick Gallery has written the following about Tate's new work that we will be exhibiting this next month:

"HEART-SHAPES WITH FLAMES ATOP AND WORDS ACROSS THEIR FRONT, SLICES OF GLASS LAID ONE ATOP THE OTHER TO CREATE A SOLID VESSEL IMPRISONING A FIGURE, AND STILLED BODIES EMBEDDED IN A GLASSY TOMB, ARE SOME OF THE SUBJECTS IN TIM TATE'S MOST RECENT EXHIBITION "I Never Claimed to Have a Map to Get to The Heart Of This Or Any Other Matter...."

AND YET THESE OBJECTS ARE NOT MORBID OR REPULSIVE. BY TAKING ON THE CLICHES OF OUR CULTURE TATE LAYS DOWN A CHALLENGE FOR HIMSELF, A CHALLENGE HE IS UP TO. IT IS EASY TO MISREAD HIS IMAGES: HE MUST BE A DEVOTED CATHOLIC, FOR INSTANCE.

FOR TATE, THE OBVIOUS IS NEVER SO CLEAR. HE SUBVERTS THE SACRED BY TREATING ICONS AS SECULAR IMAGES---A HEART IS NOT NECESSARILY A HEART, BUT AN IMAGE FILLED WITH CONTENT. HIS USE OF TEXT IS NEVER TRITE OR PANDORING, BUT RATHER TAKES US ON HIS PERSONAL ODISSEY OF HEALING.

IN OTHER PIECES, HIS FIGURES ARE VEILED AND COVERED, ONE WITH THEIR MATERIAL OF IMPRISONMENT, REMINDING US OF TATE'S FEELINGS OF INVISIBILITY IN SOCIETY. IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO SEE SUCH FIGURES AND NOT BE REMINDED OF HOW MUCH THE DISCOVERY OF SELF IS A DAILY EXERCISE OF UNCOVERING LAYERS WE HAVE ASSUMED OR IMPOSED ON OURSELVES. THIS SHOW REPRESENTS A JOURNEY WORTH EMBARKING ON......

Sandra Ramos, one of the leading Cuban artists in the world, and whose American debut takes place at Fraser Gallery Georgetown this coming May 21, made the national news recently when she had her visiting visa denied to attend her solo show opening reception.

And now Ramos has enlisted a powerful friend in her effort to get a chance to attend her American gallery debut: Senator Paul Sarbanes from Maryland.

In a letter to the gallery, Senator Sarbanes directed the gallery to request that Ramos apply again for a visitor's visa and Sarbanes wrote: "If Ms. Ramos is willing to reapply, I will be pleased to provide a letter in support of her application by email to the Consulate on her behalf."

The US Department of State has been denying visiting visas to Cuban artists since the beginning of the year. Ramos is considered by many to be the leading Cuban artist of her generation and has previously visited the US many times. Her work, which deals with many taboo issues of Cuban society and government, is in the collection of several American museums, including MOMA in New York and MFA in Boston.

For figurative artists...

2nd Annual Figurative Art Online Competition from www.Atelier-rc.com. The First Prize winner will be the featured artist for the Summer 2004 Edition to be launched on 28 June 2004, the 427th anniversary of the birth of Peter Paul Rubens. For details visit:this web site.

After a long anticipated wait, one of our area's best printed resources, the 2004/2005 Artist Directory will be delivered to WPA\C on Friday, May 7, 2004.

Distribution of pre-paid directories begins at their Artist Directory Launch Party from 4-8 PM at the Gallery at Flashpoint, 916 G Street, NW, Washington, DC, 20001. Please bring family and friends and stop by the launch party to pick up or purchase the new 2004/2005 Artist Directory as well as check out the WPA\C sponsored show, Anonymous.

Many DC area art galleries, including us will also be selling the directory. Any artists wishing to be included in next year's directory, should contact the WPA/C.

Just back from two days at Arts in the Park in Richmond, still going strong after 34 years. A bit rainy and windy, but still managed to sell a few pieces of artwork.

Later on today I'm heading down to Richmond for Arts in the Park.

More often than not, most conceptual art, and nearly all video art, has a problem with the fact that often the idea behind it all is more interesting than the real or "delivered" art.

There seems to be a new sort of conceptual "art" out there developing among the popular mass of reality in places such as Ebay.

In projects such as this one, the mass participation, and concept behind the project is as interesting as anything that one sees in a highbrow museum.

Thanks to Martin Allen for bringing it to my attention.

Washington's first Art BLOGger, Tyler Green, looks at Jim Dine at the NGA and makes a good point about the NGA being a "living-artist-adverse institution," although his logic on Dine is a bit thin, as I don't think that Dine is a "safe, serviceable artist" but in fact one of the most boring artists to have put graphite or charcoal to paper.

The Post's Paul Richard had earlier reviewed this show and had some different conclusions.

If you're going to pretend to be knowledgeable about DC art galleries and the DC art scene, then you have to get out and go to galleries - not to their websites and not to museum lectures - but to galleries and museums and lectures and artists' studios and university shows, etc.

It takes a lot of time, and a lot of gasoline, and a lot of patience. But then, and only then, can one honestly say that one can write about a city's art scene.

Tonite I went to a well-attended opening at Strand on Volta Gallery in Georgetown, where I saw an excellent and really groundbreaking show by one of our key area artists, Margaret Boozer.

Boozer is one of those area artists whose work immediately grabs you with the thought: "WOW! Just when I thought there was nothing new left in art."

More on that later, as I plan to review her show...

The opening was quite good and well-attended, with many DC area artists in attendance as well as the Post's Chief Art Critic and his lovely wife (my kudos to Blake and we hope to see him at more gallery openings and we hope that his editor (John Pancake) makes him write more about DC area art galleries and terrific DC area artists like Margaret Boozer, so that they can have a chance to go from "DC area artist" to just "American artist" at a national level. Gopnik and Pancake can do it via the Post - but they (and it) have to align to make it happen.

Also present was Dr. Jonathan Binstock, the Corcoran's Curator for Contemporary Art... it's good to see Binstock visiting local galleries and seeing what we're showing... he's a great breath of fresh-air over his predecesor. Binstock wrote his thesis on the art of DC's best-known painter, Sam Gilliam, and hopefully the Corcoran will soon announce when Gilliam's well-deserved and first-ever perspective is held there.

Just had to post this, sent to me by British artist and DCARTNEWS reader Martin Allen

Trawick Prize for Area Artists...

The Trawick Prize: Bethesda Contemporary Art Awards. Deadline for slide submission is Friday, May 21, 2004. The 2nd annual juried art competition awards $14,000 in prize monies to four selected artists. Up to fifteen artists will be invited to display their work from September 7, 2004 - October 2, 2004 in downtown Bethesda at Creative Partners Gallery. The 2004 competition will be juried by Jeffrey W. Allison, The Paul Mellon Collection Educator at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts; Peter Dubeau, Associate Dean of Continuing Studies at the Maryland Institute College of Art and Kristen Hileman, Assistant Curator at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. The first place winner will be awarded $10,000; second place will be honored with $2,000 and third place will be awarded $1,000. A "young" artist whose birth date is after May 21, 1974 will also be awarded $1,000 (donated by Fraser Gallery). Artists must be 18 years of age or older and residents of Maryland, Virginia or Washington, D.C. Original painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, fiber art, digital, mixed media and video (VHS tapes only) are accepted. For more information, please contact Stephanie Coppula at scoppula@bethesda.org or call 301.215.6660 ext. 20. Website: www.bethesda.org.

Need to make slides from your digital files? Visit Slides.com

Cultural Development Corporation is currently accepting applications to the Flashpoint arts incubator for residency beginning between June 2004 and January 2005. First priority will be given to applications received by May 14, 2004.

FLASHPOINT RESIDENCY

Flashpoint is an arts incubator designed to assist small, emerging organizations and businesses develop the administrative infrastructure and financial capacity necessary to transition to more permanent facilities. Resident organizations housed at Flashpoint have access to state-of-the-art facilities and greater visibility in downtown. In addition, the residency program encourages professionalism among emerging artists and arts administrators. Residents grow their businesses in a collaborative office space with access to shared office equipment and administrative services.

Flashpoint’s resident organizations have access to technical assistance in key management areas such as administration, fundraising, finance, marketing, and board development. In addition, resident organizations have priority access to onsite rental venues, including a 900 square foot contemporary art gallery, a flexible 80-seat theatre lab, and a dance/rehearsal studio.

Application is available at www.flashpointdc.org.

Please submit completed applications to:
Flashpoint Residency Program
Attn: Julianne Brienza
Cultural Development Corporation
916 G Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001

For those of you who think there's nothing interesting currently being offered by Washington area galleries my only piece of advice is to get out and actually go visit some galleries.

In Canal Square, Parish Gallery has an excellent sculpture exhibition (runs until May 18) of Argentine sculptor Miguel Van Esso.

Parish next door neighbor to its left is MOCA, and Clark has mounted an interesting exhibit of early work by David Lynch, perhaps the Corcoran's most famous graduate.

Parish next door neighbor to its right is us (The Fraser Gallery) and we also have a very interesting sculpture exhibition by one of our area's most innovative young sculptors, Adam Bradley, whose work we've been showing since he was an undergraduate student at GMU (where he now teaches). Bradley works with found objects, and there's one particularly amazing piece in this show titled "Please" made completely out of discarded objects.

The life-size sculpture has open arms that beckon you for a hug. As you hug the sculpture, two levers on the back control her arms, which pull you in a tight grip and impale you on a host of knives, sharp objects and files which emerge from her stomach.

A couple of blocks up M street is Hemphill Fine Arts where George has another very interesting show: "Vote" - a show of Presidential Campaign photographs featuring work by Abbas, Bob Adelman, Eve Arnold, Cornell Capa, Raymond Depardon, Burt Glinn, Erich Hartmann, Hiroji Kubota, Constantine Manos, Wayne Miller and Alex Webb and also "The Hole Shebang" - with Eduardo Del Valle and Mirta Gomez's works on the subject of the Florida Ballots from the 2000 Presidential Election.

Kathryn Cornelius will be doing a performance piece in which she will "speak" on Postmodernity and Language.

Title: “Theory Will Eat Itself: Notes on Postmodernity from A – Z”
Date: April 29, 2004
Time: 7:30-9pm
Location: Georgetown University, Reiss 103 Lecture Hall. By the way... buy Kathryn Cornelius now.