Lucelia Artist Award Nominees for 2005 Announced
The Smithsonian American Art Museum has announced the nominees for the museum's 2005 Lucelia Artist Award. According to the press release, "nominated artists show a sustained commitment to distinctive work that challenges conventional thinking and expectations about the nature of art. This award is part of the museum's continued commitment to contemporary art and artists through awards and acquisitions."
The 15 artists nominated for the award this year are Doug Aitken, Matthew Barney, Andrea Fraser, Tom Friedman, Ellen Gallagher, Roni Horn, Byron Kim, Maya Lin, Jennifer Pastor, William Pope.L, Fabian Marcaccio, James Siena, Catherine Sullivan, Lisa Yuskavage and Andrea Zittel. Nominated artists work in a diverse range of media including architecture, film, installation, mixed media, painting, photography, sculpture and video.
"The Smithsonian American Art Museum is pleased to acknowledge the significantc ontributions by these selected artists to the vibrant conversation taking place in the contemporary art world today," said Elizabeth Broun, the museum's Director.
The Lucelia Artist Award, established in 2001, annually recognizes an American artist under the age of 50 who has produced a significant body of work and consistently demonstrates exceptional creativity. Jurors nominate artists who will be recognized as one of the most important and influential artists of his or her time.
The $25,000 award is intended to encourage the artist's future development and experimentation. Previous winners were Kara Walker (2004), Rirkrit Tiravanija (2003), Liz Larner (2002) and Jorge Pardo (2001).
The award winner is determined each year by a panel of five distinguished jurors elected from across the United States, each with a wide knowledge of contemporary American art. Jurors determine the award winner in a day of discussion and review and remain anonymous until the winner is announced. Past jurors have included John Baldessari, Dan Cameron, Lynne Cooke, Richard Flood, Gary Garrels, Elizabeth Murray, Jerry Saltz and Robert Storr. The jurors remain anonymous until after the award is announced.
Sidra Stich, executive director for the Lucelia Artist Award, and not the SAAM, is the one who invites jurors to participate and she coordinates the nomination and jurying process. Since the 1970s, she has specialized in contemporary and modern art as a curator, teacher and writer. Stich is also the director of "art SITES," a series of contemporary art, architecture and design handbooks published in San Francisco. Applications are not accepted for this award. The 2005 winner will be announced in April.
The New York-based Lucelia Foundation, which funds the award, supports the visual arts, specifically 19th-century American and contemporary art.
By the way, SAAM is scheduled to reopen on July 4, 2006.
Friday, January 28, 2005
Thursday, January 27, 2005
I'm not a mossback... I'm a crackpot!
I thought that I was a "mossback,", but the LA Weekly's Doug Harvey has now convinced me that I am a crackpot!
When critics, gallerists, curators or artists get their knickers in a knot over the need to promote traditional - generally figurative - art as an antidote to the rising tide of decadent, superficial, sensationalist hucksterism, they are relegating themselves to crackpot status. The issue isn't so much the viability of figurative work, as the mainstream art world easily embraces a handful of token figure painters like Elizabeth Peyton or John Curran [sic] every few years. Nor is it merely the fact that they are swimming against the tide of Modernism with its utopian sense of inevitability and its flagship aesthetic of reductive minimalism. What truly isolates them is the siege mentality with which they declare their dedication to representational craftsmanship, a passionate testifying that is out of place in the convivial social whirl of the art marketplace.Harvey rants against "sixty-something New York based art critic Donald Kuspit" here, as if Kuspit's age has anything to do with his views.
It's all supposed to be a review of a show curated by Kuspit called "California New Masters" at Gallery C in Hermosa Beach, but ends up being somewhat a tirade against Kuspit and Kuspit's opinions on modern art and it even crosses into diminishing the exhibition space and showing a crack in California'a art armor and inferiority complex with NYC:
Kuspit can hardly be described as an art-world outsider, though. A contributing editor to Artforum and several other major art magazines, professor of art history and philosophy at SUNY Stony Brook, and the author of a score of books as well as the official Encyclopedia Britannica entry on art criticism, Kuspit is more of an insider than most Duchamp scholars will ever be. In Columbia University's National Arts Journalism Program's 2002 survey of visual-arts critics, he ranked as the 33rd most influential art theorist in all of history. Still, when the opportunity came for Kuspit to curate an exhibition demonstrating the kind of work he believes offers "the possibility of making a new aesthetic harmony out of the tragedy of life, without falsifying it," that opportunity was nowhere in or around Manhattan, but in the unlikely community of Hermosa Beach in a clean, well-funded space called Gallery C.Does that mean that it can only make an art statement in Manhattan?
Probably.
Harvey doesn't like Kuspit's views on modern art and uses the unfair broad brush of generalizing, which is his right as a writer and critic, as as he clearly submits that he's partially in the right side of the argument because he is an artist: "it has been my impression from my own study of art history, my experience as an artist (I myself am a Master of the Fine Arts)..." blah, blah, blah...
People on either side of this "argument" are not crackpots; they are people with opinions, just like Harvey. The "argument," by the way, doesn't really exist other than in the words of puerile writing like Harvey's (in this case - I've never read Harvey's writing before, do not know it, nor him and will not paint all of his writing with one adjective) and fools like me who bite this kind of hook every time.
Me? Mossback and Crackpot and proud of it! And I guess I'll miss the "convivial social whirl of the art marketplace."
The Thursday Reviews
Jonathan Padget looks at Pyramid Atlantic in the WaPo and Jeffry Cudlin is eloquently descriptive but somehow leaves me somewhat wondering what he really wants to say (as far as a final opinion) with the last line in the dual shows at Numark Gallery in the WCP.
Last line: "His work manages to be attractive without actually being desirable."
Printmaker Jenny Freestone tells me that this coming Saturday January 29th and Sunday January 30th, from 12 Noon until 6pm, a group of Washington area printmakers will he having a sale of their works in aid of Union Printmakers Atelier, Inc.
Sale is at 926 Blagden Alley, NW (926 N St. Rear) in Washington, DC (Mt. Vernon Square Metro stop).
Artists include: David Chung, Scip Barnhart, Jody Mussof, Jenny Freestone, Andrew Kreiger, Robert Nelson, George O'Connel, Fred Folsom, Bill Woodward, Hi Gates, Kevin MacDonald, Wonsook Kim, and many more. Call Jenny Freestone at 301.655.4910 for more details.
On TV
Filming a TV review of the group show currently being showcased for the re-opening of the Arlington Arts Center, which finally re-opened after three years of being refurbished (originally it was supposed to take less than a year).
It will air next Thursday.
I will also write a review of the show. A heads up: Best of Show easily goes to Richmond artist Claire Watkins.
Read Michael O'Sullivan's excellent review of that show here
Secrets as Art
One of the Artomatic projects or art ideas that really sunk a hook into me, was this really odd and unusual project that had blank postcards where people could write their secrets.
What a terrific idea!
The creator of this idea is Frank Warren, and he is one of the artists whom Anne C. Fisher Gallery is currently showcasing in her beautiful gallery in Georgetown; and I've just been made aware of the Post Secret BLOG, where anyone can post a secret or read someone else's secret.
Is this a new kind of art? Is this the marriage of reality TV with "reality art"?
I don't know, but there's something definately new going on here. Anyone can contribute... and everyone is invited to anonymously contribute a secret to the PostSecret project. Your secret can be a regret, fear, betrayal, desire, feeling, confession, or childhood humiliation; Reveal anything - as long as it is true and you have never shared it publicly (and anonymously) before.
Steps: Create your own 4"x6" postcard and tell your secret anonymously. Then stamp and mail the postcard to the address at the bottom. Some tips:
(a) Be brief – the fewer words used the better
(b) Be legible – use big, clear and bold lettering
(c)Be creative – let the postcard be your canvas.
Mail your secret to:
PostSecret
13345 Copper Ridge Rd
Germantown MD 20874
Wednesday, January 26, 2005
Shrinkage <----- click on that! (Username: obfuscator and password: whome)
[By the way: (And thanks to AJ)... for sites that ask you to register: If you encounter a registration screen when you click on a link, try bugmenot.com, which will provide you with password access]
Karey Kessler
I am hearing really good things about the Karey Kessler exhibition at DCAC. I hope to go see this show over the next day or two, as Sunday I am flying to California for a week.
The exhibition, titled The Fleeting Instant of Now: Recent Works by Karey Kessler, runs until February 20, 2005.
Class Project
Tracy Lee had a class project in her (now over) brief George Washington University MFA stint, but she was told to "stop doing nudes" and instead she did this.
And Tracy Lee has now switched MFA programs to GMU.
Bravo Tracy Lee!
Visual Art Reviews at DCist
Starting today, together with DCist colleage Cyndi Spain, I will be doing full reviews and mini reviews for DCist, separate from what goes on here in DC Art News.
DCist reaches well over 3,000 visitors each day, and this new aspect of the site will certainly add a new dimension and voice to our warming art scene.
Read today's mini reviews here.
New Curator at Hirshhorn
As revealed in MAN, New York City curator Anne Ellegood is getting a government job and heading to Washington, DC to become an Associate Curator at the Hirshhorn.
Ellegood is a former art critic for New York Arts magazine and was a former Curatorial Associate at the New Museum of Contemporary Art in Manhattan as well as the former curator for the Peter Norton Collection.
Welcome to DC!
Tuesday, January 25, 2005
Critical Alignment (Part... whatever)
"And just at the moment painting is a highly fashionable art form. It's having a bout of serious twitches. In the past few years I can think of several major exhibitions that have identified a new spirit in painting... and there have been many other smaller ones.Read the whole article here.
Or go round the trendy commercial galleries in London. Painting is currently so fashionable, it's on the verge of being unfashionable again."
Thanks AJ.
That big troublemaker J.T. Kirkland, over at Thinking About Art is incensed that the Ellipse Arts Center is seeking proposals for a summer 2005 exhibition, an Arlington-specific nine-hole miniature golf course: The Tour of Arlington Classic Mini-Putter.
I agree with J.T. and it seems to me that this beautiful gallery space, which only does four exhibits a year, could come up with a better summer show that a putt putt golf course inside the gallery.
Not to be defeated by a silly "art" project, some of the artists who comment on Thinking About Art have come up with some interesting "suggestions." Read them here and make sure to scroll to the top.
Congratulations to artist Lisa Bertnick, whose work will be included in Material Whirled, opening next Friday in Miami's Bettcher Gallery.
Lisa Bertnick is a 2001 graduate of the Corcoran and works at Hemphill Fine Arts. Other artists in the group show include: Ray Beldner, Kara D'Angelo, Scott Cawood, and Luis Sanchez.
Monday, January 24, 2005
Me on DC photographer Adrienne Mills in Paint Magazine.
See more work by Mills here. I own some of her photographs. Adrienne shows at Market Five Gallery.
Mark Jenkins and I traded artwork. One of his Pubic Hair Tapestries for my snow day drawing of Eve and Lillith.
Talking of snow, here are some more plastic men enjoying the stuff and two below:
A Painting a Day
(Thanks to ANABA) A Richmond, Virginia painter named Duane Keiser is painting one painting each day and posting them on a daily basis on his Blog.
He writes:
"Most of the paintings on this blog will be postcard-sized oil sketches (I call them Postcard Paintings.) I paint them on site, using a modified cigar box as an easel. Occasionally I may post a larger, more finished painting, in which case I'll include the dimensions. If you would like to purchase a Postcard Painting, they cost $100."And guess what, most of the paintings are quite good and Mr. Keiser has practically sold all of them. Brilliant use of the power of the Web marrying to a forceful way to keep creating on a daily basis.
Opportunities for Artists
Deadline: January 31, 2005
Homage to Frida Kahlo. Online juried exhibition curated by yours truly. No entry fee. All entries done online via digital images. 1st Prize: Airfare, hotel and expenses for 3-day/3-night trip for two to the Frida Kahlo Museum in Mexico City, Mexico. (Total package valued up to $2,500), 2nd Prize: $1,000, 3rd Prize: $150 towards a Print on Demand order through Art.com Original Art & Photography.
Deadline: February 3, 2005
2005 Bethesda International Photography Competition. An international photography competition hosted by Fraser Gallery Bethesda. Juried by Connie Imboden. Nearly $1,000 in cash awards as well as a solo show in 2006 for the Best of Show winner and invites to group shows for all other award winners. $25 for three slides. Download an entry form here or call 301/718-9651 or email us here or send a SASE to:
Bethesda International Photography Competition
Fraser Gallery
7700 Wisconsin Avenue
Suite E
Bethesda, MD 20814
Deadline: February 15, 2005
The Constance Art Gallery in The Helene Center for the Visual Arts at Graceland University is reviewing proposals for solo or group exhibitions for the 2005/06 and 2006/07 seasons. Open to all media and US artists 21+. February 15, 2005, deadline for entry. Insurance, honorarium, postcards, no commission. Send proposal letter, 20 images in slide or CD format, resume, statement and SASE to:
Julia Franklin
Dept of Art-Constance Art Gallery
Graceland University
1 University Place
Lamoni IA 50140
Or call 641-784-5329 or email her here.
Deadline: March 7, 2005
48th Annual National Juried Art Exhibition: At the Rocky Mount Arts Center in North Carolina. Open to all US artists in all media except video and installations. $3,300 in prizes. Juror: George Hemphill, President and Director of Hemphill Fine Arts Gallery and Art Consulting in Washington, DC. Postmark deadline for slide entry is March 7, 2005. Exhibition dates: April 30 - June 26, 2005. Download a prospectus here (see Artists Opportunities). Or e-mail your street address to this guy. Or call the Rocky Mount Arts Center, Rocky Mount NC at 252/972-1163.
Deadline: March 15, 2005
Studio Montclair seeks entries for their 8th Annual Juried Exhibition, "Taboo," May 1-15, 2005, Makeready Press/Gallery 214, in Montclair, NJ. Cash Awards. Juror is Jerry Saltz, Senior Art Critic, Village Voice, 2001 Pulitzer Prize Finalist in Criticism, Contributing Editor to Art in America, lecturer, teacher. Entry Fee: $25 for 3 slides. For a prospectus send #10 SASE to:
Studio Montclair
Box 3041 Memorial Station
Upper Montclair NJ 07043
Or call 973/744-1818 or download the form from their website. Postmark deadline is March 15,
2005.
Deadline: March 25, 2005
Residencies for Ceramic Artists. The Northern Clay Center (Minneapolis, MN) announces the deadline for its 2005 McKnight Artist Residencies for Ceramic Artists for mid-career ceramic artists residing outside of Minnesota. Residencies are 3 months in length and include a $5,000 stipend, a $300 honorarium for presenting a public workshop or lecture, studio space, and a glaze and firing allowance. Responsibilities include participation in a group exhibition and a written final report at the end of the residency. Application Deadline is Friday, March 25, 2005 by 5 pm. For more information and to receive an application, please contact the Clay Center at 612-339-8007, visit their website at www.northernclaycenter.org, or write to them at:
Northern Clay Center
2424 Franklin Av East
Minneapolis MN 55406
Sunday, January 23, 2005
COSTCO sells Picasso Doodle
(Thanks AJ). COSTCO (yes, yes... COSTCO) has just sold a Picasso doodle done on the back of a bookcover for $40K. Read the story here.
They currently have a Chagall litho (several Chagalls actually) and also a Modigliani litho and a Leger litho for sale.
I am curious as to how these works, and works like this one get into the COSTCO system?
Thinking About Art sends a sarcastic "thank you" to the WaPo for their minimalist coverage of the visual arts in today's Sunday Arts Section.
Sunday Arts has only 237 words about the visual arts within its 12 pages of Sunday Arts.
And this counts as part of the coverage:
ARTActually this seems quite interesting, so I will try to attend; besides, around here sex and art is still quite a radical concept, as Scott Hutchison's tempest in a teapot proved a while back.
ART ABOUT SEX, gender and feminism is everywhere today. Some younger artists even see it as old hat -- they prefer to make work that's closer to good-looking fun. On Tuesday, the Hirshhorn Museum and the art history department at George Washington University are sponsoring a talk by Carolee Schneeman, who was one of the 1960s pioneers of sex-themed art by women. It should remind us of how radically out-there such artmaking once was.
-- Blake Gopnik
At George Washington University's Dorothy Betts Marvin Theater, 800 21st St. NW. Tuesday at 7 p.m. Free. Call 202-633-4674 or visit hirshhorn.si.edu
Opening Re-scheduled
The opening reception for GMU Prof. Chawky Frenn's (represented by us) solo show at the Washington Theological Union scheduled for today has been cancelled and rescheduled to February 6 from 3 to 5 PM.
I've never been to the Washington Theological Union and I am looking forward to see what their gallery space looks like and how it marries to Frenn's intensely political art.
Saturday, January 22, 2005
Snowy days (and it's really coming down now) always put me in a mood for a couple of things: (a) Hot Buttered Rums and (b) Drawing.
So here's the latest creation, a small charcoal on paper drawing:
I call it "Lillith and Eve," depicting a romanticized view of Lillith controlling the Snake as she laughs with Eve. They are both laughing at Adam, who is out of the picture.
Back to the basement... I mean "my studio."
Opportunity for Artists
Deadline: March 21, 2005
Gallery Neptune, an independent art gallery located in downtown Bethesda, announces a Call for Entries for The 6th Annual Bethesda Literary Festival. Artists are asked to submit one of the following: functional book marks, non functional book marks (work that may include 3D elements) or design concepts for theoretical or "unbuilt" book marks. All entries must be original art, suitable for hanging and fit within a 12 inch square.
Details and entry forms are here.
Looking for Models?
Figure Models Guild is a terrific area resource for artists who'd like to draw from the live model. They have open sessions (usually held at MOCA DC).
See their schedules and sessions here.
Yoda
It's snowing here in Potomac, and a little while ago there was a scratching at my front door and when I opened it, there's Yoda (made famous in "Tentacles") with half a tree limb in his mouth and wanting to play.
After I throw it around a few times, I'm going to keep the wood and then will keep sending him out for more and maybe he can get me some good kindling and save me the trouble!
Some shows and openings around town...
American University's Professor Deborah Kahn's new work is on exhibit at the Watkins Gallery at AU. Kahn is a 2004 Guggenheim Fellow in the Visual Arts. The works will be up until February 5, 2005.
Touchstone Gallery has recent works by Piotroski until February 6, 2005.
"Built: New Furniture by Keith Fritz" is on at Strand on Volta until February 12.
Eileen Olson's "Another Realm - Mt. Athos" is at Spectrum through Feb. 13.
Amy Ross and Robert Gutierrez opened Jan 21 at Irvine Contemporary and are on until Feb. 27.
Also opening last night at DCAC was "The Fleeting Instant of Now: Recent Works by Karey Kessler." The drawings will be up until February 21, 2005.
A third opening last night was at Georgetown's Govinda Gallery, where Chris has photographs of Bob Dylan by Ken Regan in an exhibit titled "Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Review." The show will be on until Feb. 26, 2005.
Also until Feb 26 is the current exhibition by Janos Enyedi at Kathleen Ewing Gallery. These pieces have to be seen to be believed; Enyedi is an absolute master of the American Industrial Landscape.
"Layered Dreams," recent works by Leila C. Kubba opens Tuesday, February 1st from 6 - 8 p.m. at Karma (19th and I street, NW). Works on view through Feb. 28, 2005.
"In Dialogue With the Elders" - The sculpture of Greg Metcalf and paintings by Champneys Taylor. Opening Reception at Salve Regina Gallery, Catholic University of America will be on Wednesday, February 2, 2005 from 6-8 pm.
Victor Ekpuk opens at Pavilion Fine Arts Gallery, Montgomery College, Takoma Park campus from February 7 through 17 March, 2005. Victor Ekpuk is a fascinating artist who is marrying traditional African art with contemporary concepts. He will open with a slide presentation and conversation with the curator (Dr. Francine Farr) on Monday afternoon, 1:00 PM February 7th at Student Lounge, Montgomery College, Takoma Park Campus.
DCAC Raffle Winner
Congratulations to Buck Downs, who won the 2004 DCAC Gallery Raffle. His exhibition will be in December 2005.
Guns and Hypocrisy in the World of Modern Art Blogging – An Old Testament Point of View... with a Little Bit of Humor.
A guest piece by James W. Bailey:
There's been a rumor floating around the art blog circuit the past couple of weeks concerning a reported incident involving an UCLA art student who supposedly brought a gun to an art class being taught by artist/teacher Chris Burden (the dumb-ass artist who in the 70s had himself shot in the arm with a rifle) and who proceeded to scare the shit out of his classmates by threatening to commit suicide right in front of their very imaginative MFA-high-tuition-paying eyes. The rumor also suggests that this frightening suicide attempt was nothing more than a dramatic performance art piece offered up in tribute to Burden.
When I first read the breaking news reports (properly vetted, of course, through rigorous journalistic art blogging standards and practices) echoing across the Internet among certain highly credentialed art bloggers, I nearly fell out of my vintage cane back rocking chair on the veranda of my ancestral Southern Gothic mansion in Mississippi with a seizure brought on by endless waves of laughter generated by the possibility that such a poignant story could in fact be true. I actually laughed so hard over this comic what-goes-around-comes-around scenario that I probably spilled half of a bottle of my father’s finest Jim Beam bourdon through the ancient cracks of the veranda into the inspiring Mississippi soil resting silently underneath my genteel family’s Ante-Bellum Greek Revival abode – hopefully, that whiskey will inspire some truth to sprout up out of the ground about this rumored gun issue.
But the more I laughed over these gun reports, the more I realized that something really wasn’t very funny about some of what I was reading on some of these art blogs. I retired inside to the library, gathered my composure, poured another stiff drink, lighted one of my illegal Cuban cigars given to me years ago by a former County Sheriff (a righteous Southern dude who's currently serving time in a Texas federal prison because of his excessively close association with the infamous Dixie Mafia) and began to harmonize on this matter of Guns and Hypocrisy in the World of Modern Art Blogging.
And here it is...
Full Disclosure: I’m from Mississippi; I’m a hard-core anti-political Southern anarchist artist who holds most hierarchical powers that be in total contempt; and I’m also a member of the National Rifle Association, as was another radical Southern-born anarchistic artist/writer by the name Mr. William S. Burroughs (who I am honored to say I counted as a correspondent friend before his death in 1997) on all counts.
Southern liberals with guns - it's a Deep South religious thing that I will not waste valuable server space on DC Art News site explaining or justifying. Let me just simply comment that I’m indeed an extreme liberal Southern artist who knows a thing or two about how to use firearms.
GUN REPORT: I'm especially transfixed by the ease of use and accuracy of the M9 Beretta 9mm. If guns had existed in the Old West Biblical era Holy Land, our savior Jesus Christ would have carried a M9 Beretta 9mm. The M9 semi-automatic pistol weighs two pounds and has a maximum effective range of 50 meters. It has a staggered 15 round magazine with a reversible magazine release button that can be positioned for either right- or left-handed shooters. The M9 is a semiautomatic, magazine-fed, recoil-operated, double action pistol, chambered for the NATO 9mm cartridge. The service pistol is a close personal defense weapon and is deadly accurate.
I take it that the dumb-ass art student at UCLA, just like his counterpart art teacher back in the day, weren't deploying real weapons. I believe Burden used a .22 caliber rifle -good for shooting squirrels and pulling off art stunts, I suppose, but not for killing people. I’m anxious to learn what weapon the dumb-ass art student was packing. No doubt whatever his combined student loan and art scholarship could afford – minus all deductions for condoms, beer, nightly internet porn hook-ups, black market electronic goods and male hair care products.
Anyway...
I also know a thing or two about speaking direct to the subject without gagging on the coughed-up phlegm of politically correct speech patterns designed to convey my false sensitivity on issues of such national importance as some dumb-ass art student walking into a classroom and trying to one-up his more famous art teacher who himself pulled a pre-MTV Jackass stunt way back in the day when smoking cheap pot with long-haired anti-Vietnam War radicals and burning American flags made in Mexico while reciting English translations printed in the Philippines of anti-capitalist poetry by Mao was considered chic (Of course, many of these committed raging sincerely angry artists remained true to their dream to change the world, grew up, got married, settled down in Northern Virginia, went to work for the defense industry mind-melding their software programs into a more efficient satellite guided missile killing system and now enjoy nothing more than having missionary position sex once a quarter so they can ease into a post-coital reading of their online 401k statements to see how the market is treating them).
A certain collection of the more dedicated art sensitive radicals, however, settled into similarly comfortable life styles of "teaching" art at the university level... as if art can be taught.
But that's a fraud subject for another day.
Chris Burden and Guns -
I don't know Chris Burden, I've never met Chris Burden and I don't give a damn about anybody named Chris Burden. I' not inspired by bullet holes in Chris Burden' body anymore than I'm inspired by the entirety of Chris Burden's body of work. I don't consider him to be a great artist. I do believe that he must be a smart and clever person to have parlayed his 70s era gun stunt into the career, success, fame and money he now enjoys - that I do find inspiring. I also recognize that he has undertaken significant efforts during recent years to divorce himself from Shoot because he wants to be perceived as an architect/artist.
Chris Burden is a married 57 year old member of the art elite who lives in the lap of luxury in California – I've actually seen his home as a friend of mine in California once lived mere blocks from Burden. In short, Burden has a lot invested in his public perception and has demonstrated in the past his fruitful ability to manipulate the press for his own gain. This rumored dumb-ass art student gun stunt will probably prove out to be yet another example.
But, for the sake of argument...
The Dumb-ass Art Student –
What can I say? If everything is true as is reported on the art blogs (and God knows that if it's reported on a left coast art blog it must be true), then he's a dumb-ass. But in my libertarian/anarchistic world even dumb-ass art students, just like dumb-ass art teachers, ought to be protected by a little thing called Freedom of Artistic Expression. This kid didn’t shoot anyone and it wasn't a Columbine situation. For Christ sakes, everybody I knew in Mississippi as a student carried a knife and/or gun to class and we never experienced a major life threatening knifing or shooting. Some serious wounds? Sure. But I don’t recall anyone ever dying.
The angry froth among certain art bloggers over what UCLA should do to this student is laughable. UCLA knew exactly what they were getting when they hired Burden. Indeed, they gleefully promote the Burden-style attitude on their web site.The Department of Art is committed to a professional art training within the context of a liberal arts university. Visual artists are responsible for some of the most provocative and enduring expressions of culture. At UCLA, emerging artists are provided with the tools they need to express themselves in ways that are meaningful in the social context in which they live and work.I assume the school provided the dumb-ass art student "with the tools they need to express themselves" – a gun – "in ways that are meaningful in the social context in which they live and work."
The department attracts gifted and motivated students who thrive in an environment that encourages autonomy. They are drawn not only to the outstanding creative faculty, the University's resources, and its location in one of the world's leading art centers, but also to a program that encourages them to develop as artists. The result is a distinguished list of graduates who have made significant contributions in their field.
What's curiously missing from Burden's bio (he’s a professor of "new genres") on UCLA’s web site is any reference to Shoot. One wonders why...
Supposedly, according to the rumor, Burden has quit teaching at UCLA because the university has refused to expel the offending dumb-ass art student.
Imagine UCLA hiring a paroled Charles Manson to teach a creative writing class, having a student of his class decide one day that he’s going to one-up Charley by ritually killing the Dean and his family in the hopes of being imprisoned so he can become an American Icon (serial killers in America automatically qualify for Pop Icon status), going to trial and being acquitted for lack of evidence, re-enrolling in Charley’s class, and having Manson scream, bitch and moan that UCLA has to either expel this kid or he's quitting.
Moral of the story: Be very careful about elevating Asshole Pop Icons to Sainthood and be even more careful about whom you hire to work for you.
Chris Burden and the dumb-ass art student and whether he pulled a loaded gun and fired it or didn't and whether Burden and the art students were scared or not is irrelevant to me. It's almost like worrying about some multi-millionaire asshole in California who might have had Frank O. Gehry build a titanium-sheathed house on a steep dirt mound and having it slip down the side of the mountain into the ocean after God decides to take a drunken piss on the left coast. In a world where a Tsunamis can kill hundreds of thousands of poor people, the problems of a gargantuan narcissistic ego-jackass not being able to find his precious Ferrari under 50 feet mud don't amount to jack-shit.
Or put it this way: If you're an aspiring artist who believes you've got to get an art degree to be taken seriously in the art world, don't be a sucker for an MFA at UCLA because it damn sure doesn't guarantee a Whitney Biennial invite. Find better things to do with your art time than sitting in a class being manipulated by an AARP member-eligible art dinosaur and subjecting yourself to the risk of being shot by an ADD dumb-ass art student sycophant.
Theo van Gogh and Guns – My Only Serious New Testament Concern
Here’s what happened to Theo van Gogh in the real world that I care about:
Van Gogh had received death threats after his film "Submission" was shown on Dutch TV. See the film here.
It portrayed violence against women in Islamic societies.
The film was made with liberal Dutch politician Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a Somali refugee who fled an arranged marriage.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali has been under police protection since the film was aired. She has also received death threats and has renounced the Islamic faith.
For making this film, Theo van Gogh was rewarded by being chased down like a dog and repeatedly shot by a radical extremist Islamic right wing piece of shit that was part of an organized conspiracy. The murderer then placed a note on van Gogh’s bloodied corpse and slammed a knife into his chest.
And the reaction from the art world elite on this crime – silence.
The reaction from the art blogger community – near silence.
Theo van Gogh was slaughtered on the streets in Amsterdam by a bunch of radical conspiring religious assholes that hated him and his art and who believe they have the perfect right to kill anybody they target to advance their sick agenda.
I am deeply troubled that the art world has yet to rise up and demonstrate its collective outrage over what happened to Theo van Gogh. But the deafening sound of silence over this matter is not a mystery to me – the art world establishment has boxed itself into a corner with its politically correct doctrines and now finds it almost impossible to defend controversial artists such as Theo van Gogh and what should be his basic right under the concept of Freedom of Artistic Expression to express himself, even if some of his views were indeed intended to be insulting to certain people.
The reasoning among the politically correct art elite goes something like this: "Well, it’s a real shame about van Gogh, but he really brought it all on himself with his outrageous words and art and should have been more sensitive about offending the deeply and sincerely held religious views of some of the minority members of his community. If his art had just been more culturally sensitive, this horrible crime probably never would have taken place."
I find it appalling that so much energy has been spent writing so many words that have been posted over a host of art blogs that express such outrage over what the dumb-ass art student did or may have done concerning this still rumored event at UCLA. Where were these moral voices, or anonymous internet-handle-delivered words, when Theo van Gogh was violently killed in the real world? I have taken the time to review some of these sites and find it very interesting that there was at the time, and has been since, a dearth of expressed outrage.
I think I know why: The Fear Factor – In this country it is perfectly acceptable to the art world elite to be an artist who pisses on the Bible, smears cow shit all over a statue of the Virgin Mary or rams a photograph of the Pope up the ass as a performance piece. These people get extolled. You can even make an anti-Bush "documentary" and become a goddamn millionaire, win major international film prizes and have people back home hype you for an Academy Award for Best Picture.
Sure, the usual right wing Republican assholes jump up and down and demand your grant money be rescinded, but that’s usually about as far as it goes. The talking heads get to chatter and the offending artist or filmmaker gets invited be on "Larry King."
But the cultural elite here and abroad know this fact for sure – if you dare insult Islam by pissing on the Koran or smearing cow shit over a statue of Mohammed or ramming a photograph of any radical Islamic leader up your ass as a performance art piece, you will have just guaranteed that your butt will be placed on the world-wide Jihad Art Assassination Squad fatwa hit list and that your name and address will be broadcast nightly on Al Jazeera.
Even the younger generation of art bloggers has heard of Salmon Rushdie, I hope.
I am very grateful to DC Art News for publishing my letter the day after Mr. van Gogh was brutally murdered condemning the extremist conspiracy of religious fanatics responsible for his death.
My letter can be read here.
I am also very grateful that there are other voices out there in the art world wilderness speaking with clarity on this issue.
Here is one of the very few: Peacetalk.com.
I am profoundly grateful to Mr. Pieter Dorsman for his bravery in staying on top of this story.
Artists and art bloggers need to stand up for higher principles than the false immediacy of politically correct doctrines that seem to be so highly valued in the insulated world of those who pose no risk, and dare not to pose a risk, to the established order.
And if certain parties in the art blogging community are unwilling to risk their lives standing up in defense of a consistent definition of Freedom of Artistic Expression that protects every creative person no matter how offensive their words or art, then at least do us all a favor by engaging in a modicum of basic fact checking before hyper-ventilating about meaningless art rumors involving dumb-ass art teachers and art students who like to play with toy guns out in California.
Sincerely,
James W. Bailey
FACT CHECK:
I called and/or emailed the following parties to verify if the above referenced rumored story was true. The truth of this rumored story can not be confirmed by any of the following parties that I have communicated with as of Wednesday, January 19, 2005. Chris Burden has not responded to my email.
1.) Editorial Staff of the Los Angeles Times
2.) Editorial Staff of the LA Weekly
3.) Editorial Staff of the The Daily Bruin
4.) The Office of the District Attorney of Orange County
5.) UCLA Department of Art
6.) UCLA Chancellor’s Office
7.) UCLA Department of Security
8.) Personally emailed Chris Burden
By James W. Bailey
Friday, January 21, 2005
Openings Tonight
Tonite we have the five Canal Square Galleries (MOCA, Fraser, Anne C. Fisher, Parish and Alla Rogers) having our openings. We and Anne C. Fisher have a select group of Artomatic artists. Come and join us from 6-9 PM for some Sangria and good art.
Canal Square is at 31st Street and M, NW in Georgetown.
See ya there!
The Weekend Review
Michael O'Sullivan has a superb review of the Arlington Arts Center's re-opening show.
Read it here.
Info needed
I've received a series of emails in reference to the comments about the DC Warming Panel made by Anon. It has been called "near fiction."
I could really use some help from any of the forty-plus people who were there to please comment on what is fictional or made up in the posting. I asked for comments and feedback when I posted it, and I renew that call.
Update: Sharp as always, Kriston nails it. I owe him a beer.
Update Two: I've now received a series of emails from people who attended the panel, and the only thing that seems to be in question about Anon's facts (I stress "facts" and not "opinions," which are his/her right to make) was the issue of the Pollan question and how/if it was answered.
Thursday, January 20, 2005
The Thursday Reviews
Jessica Dawson has several mini reviews today in the WaPo. Read them here. Still no news from the WaPo as to who will be hired to augment Dawson's twice-a-week reviews. Something new in Jessica's writing (at least new to me):
I also loved Galo Moncayo's installation "So far, I do not know," with its garden of stereo speaker cones arranged faceup like lily pads emitting belches and pops.At the WCP, Jeffry Cudlin reviews Adam Fowler at Flashpoint.
DC Warming: First and Second Reports
I received the below report from one of the people who was present at the DC Warming Panel. It was sent anonymously, and so I debated posting it here.
However, it does raise some interesting points and hopefully some debate. It will also hopefully come across as intelligent and constructive criticism, which is nearly always good. I'd love to hear more reports and present all sides, if there are any more sides. Here it goes:
This panel started off like all the other panel discussions that have ever happened before on the DC art scene: A comparison of DC to some place else. Oh the insecurity! Will it always be THE defining essence?Comments and responses on this piece are welcome.
DC is the District of Columbia. There is no place else in the United States of America that compares.
The District of Columbia is not a state. It's not even really a city. It's located below the Mason Dixon line but refuses to be called southern. It's a town, filled with people from somewhere else. It is accustomed to a slow moving pace of the bureaucratic cogs.
There is no rotting industrial core for flies to dwell.
DCAC has always provided a stable for flies off the fetid alleyway.
There is a curatorial convenience of plunking Washington area artists into a regional box, and since this panel was being led by a Washington area curator, the discussion began inside the box.
Henry Estada was a refreshing new voice outside the box. Estada glowed with the confidence of a professional and the perspective of the outsider, the Latino "other". He repeatedly opened up doorways and attempted to lead the group outside of the box, but in the box they remained. And a group discussion never really evolved. Instead of a moderated group discussion, we had a direct question and answer panel, which is fine, but frustrating when panelists refused to answer the direct questions that they were given.
The most irritating panelist was "critic" Tyler Green. First off, one has to wonder why he is even on a panel about the DC scene when his interests seem to lie anywhere else but the District of Columbia. Andrea Pollan asked an important question that he was unable to answer: Why does he focus so much energy on criticizing the critics?
Could the answer be because it is easy? What DC artist has Tyler Green championed, that was not already championed by someone else?
Tyler Green revealed his ignorance of the DC scene by making a point that no artists in DC make political art or that there is no history of political art in DC.
Oh really? Well, what was Steven Lewis doing? Excuse me, that was political art. What was Tom Nakashima doing (the other local who happened to receive a Joan Mitchell grant?) That's political art. Kendall Buster's husband Siemon Allen makes political art. But some might argue that Siemon Allen isn't a Washington artist anymore.
What about Hemphill's exhibition of Eduardo del Valle & Mirta Gomez, Cornell Capa, Bob Adelman, Eve Arnold and others. Does it really matter if these artists live in the Washington area or not? Well, Tyler Green claimed he had to go to Marfa, Texas to see political art.
It is simply not true.
It's even easier to argue the point and bring up racial and sexual political art that is being made here.
What is Jefferson Pinder making? Political art. Nekisha Durrett is making political art. Oh, you don't think that is what Tyler Green was talking about, eh?
Well, it cannot be denied that current flashpoints of national political debates include race, homosexuality, and religion.
An audience member asked a legitimate question to the panelists, where do they (the experts) see the next trend in Washington area art? Pause. Mouths drop open and Pollan finally spews sarcastic with "what'ya think we're FORTUNE TELLERS?"
Well, that type of response is a real conversation killer. You get more flies with honey.
Is sarcasm kind or is it mean-spirited? Could that type of response be born of an insecurity? Could a kinder response, while perhaps lacking the charge of mean-spirited humor, been more productive to the arts community as a whole? More productive to outreach efforts that, in fact, could sustain the local market in the long run?
Where is Tyler Green's critical response?
Flies overhead were privy to audience members whispering about content driven craft as being the next big Washington trend. Perhaps the sarcasm from the experts rendered them reticent.
Jerry Saltz coined the term "The Super Paradigm."
The Super Paradigm has overt weaknesses, including its vastness, lack of positive charge focused around change, an inability to form coherent groups and a tendency to undervalue the local. Other art centers are scenes more than worlds; they generate artists in clumps and clusters and are enormously supportive of their own. The Super Paradigm processes everything individually. It is so large that it's hard to get a fix on what's going on in it.
The upside of the Super Paradigm is that while more bad art surfaces, everything is potentially viable within it. Artists over 35 have a chance. This is creating permutations and anomalies.
Where does Washington, DC fit into The Super Paradigm? What permutations and anomalies are arising? What (or who) is proving to be the positive charges focused around change? Obviously, Philip Barlow, Henry Estada, and Victoria Reis are some. Had there been more focus on developing a group discussion, perhaps these panelists could have shown themselves to be the real "outside the box" thinkers that they are.
Artists make the work they are compelled to make, then they usually start to bump into members of their "tribe" all over the place, becoming aware of kinships formally or conceptually with other artists (or writers, etc.). Geography really has nothing to do with it.
It is more like shared webs of sensibility/influence/intuition/concern that are much larger than the immediate physical geography. An artist may find their local "tribe" first from sheer convenience, but that doesn't mean it ends there, or that the local connections will end up necessarily being the strongest at the end of the day.
There was an audience member who made a statement that political art was possibly the only path by which DC could distinguish itself and have a recognizable "movement." BUT, more importantly - in our globalized world & (art)world, why would such a specific, place-bound reference (politics) be the "only way" DC could stand out? We need bigger webs, man, bigger webs.
MORE HONEY = MORE FLIES
We need wide angle thinking among our (self-anointed) "movers and shakers."
The first way to conquer the insecurity is to honestly admit to it.
Anon
A second report was phoned in by Joseph Barbaccia, an artist currently showing in our Bethesda gallery, who started by making the observation that there were "a lot of flies, all slow and groggy from the cold," and to Joe it underscored a point in that he felt that the evening's discussion was more akin to "DC Freezing" than warming!
Joe expressed the point that he feels this way because no arguments or heated discussions on the subject of the panel was ever raised. However, he noted that he expressed this to Tyler Green, who convinced Joe that no arguments are needed to assure the vitality of the DC art scene.
Joe further adds that "there was no vitality in the panel or audience," and because there were eight panelists, a lot of time was consumed in just introductions, and that the two hours went by very quickly. He also noted that he had heard that some of the panelists were not aware that a $20 entry fee was being charged.
Barbaccia also pointed out to me that "Tyler Green was the only one saying anything of substance that addressed the DC Warming theme," and that Green made the point that "when people in Los Angeles or New York look at DC, they only think of museums and not so much of galleries."
Barbaccia also noted that the panel rarely addressed the DC art scene "warming," but he feels this was mainly because there were just too many panel members, the audience was never engaged (only 6-8 questions were asked from a crowd of 40 or so people). Joe wants to know: "where are the facts?"
Sounds like we need DC Warming Part II! (A smaller panel perhaps?)
Anyway, I applaud both DCAC and ArtTable for organizing this panel, kick-starting some discussions (at least here) and maybe they can get a round two to have the panelists react to these commentaries and suggestions in version two?
Tomorrow Kriston at grammar.police has promised to put up his personal observations of the panel in his most excellent Blog.
Anyone else who was there and who would like to add their two cents, please email me.
P.S. One of the panel members was identified in the ArtTable news release as "Henry Estada." Is that his correct last name or is it "Estrada"?
Update: It is "Estrada" and not "Estada." And for the record, in my opinion there's no such thing as "Latino/a Art."
Update Two: Andrea Pollan, moderator of DC Warming responds:
Dear all,
I was the moderator of the panel that Faith Flanagan kindly organized for ArtTable. It was a broad mix of panelists including an artist, a collector, arts administrators, curators, an art consultant and an arts journalist. Naturally with such a broad range of interests, and so many panelists, and so little time, I could only scratch the surface of such a rich and fertile terrain.
To the Anon contributor, certainly you have a right to your perspective and opinions. My comment about whether we see new trends developing in Washington, DC was certainly not meant to be sarcastic. As I recall, I smiled and said, "You mean fortune-telling?" It was intended to be light-hearted and certainly not mean-spirited. Sorry if you felt it was a conversation killer, but I recall it raised the discussion about political art. (And that's such a rich subject-plenty of material for another panel.)
Any curator knows that one should always take cues from the artist and the artistic output and not try to impose an artificial framework upon a city. Zeitgeists come and go. I see such a huge diversity of artistic output and aesthetic strategies among this city's artists, that I cannot say that I see a stylistic trend that is unique to this city. If anything, the artists of thiscity are becoming aware of global trends and want their work to enter that important context.
The idea of DC Warming had more to do with the growing level of interest in contemporary art that seems to be emerging (there's that word) across the city. Not a "Who's Hot" panel. If it had been a "Who's Hot" panel, it would have been called that. Personally I tend not to like those kinds of panels because they tend to serve the market and media more than the artist in the long run.
ArtTable is a wonderful national organization of women arts administrators from all kinds of backgrounds, not just contemporary art. The programs are meant to edify the membership and allow us to know what directions are occuring in other museums, galleries, educational institutions, and publications. I was happy that ArtTable opened this panel up to the public.
On a personal front, I have dedicated the better part of my life to making DC an exciting art city working with over 2000 artists, 80% of whom live in this area. And I won't even mention the 24/7 I have put in trying to do outreach to develop new audiences for contemporary art. So, I hardly feel that your characterization of me as elitist is appropriate. But then again, I believe in freedom of speech. So that's why I choose to work with interesting and provocative artists.
Andrea Pollan
DC Warming
If anyone took any notes or has any comments on the DC Warming Panel and discussions, please email them to me, as I'd like to give that panel's comments and observations wider exposure here.
Inaugural Installation
Because of the Presidential Inauguration, DC is in a state of security lockdown, and the last thing I want to do today is to be anywhere near downtown Washington. But unfortunately I have to install the new show that opens tomorrow, so I think that I'll be hanging that show later tonight.
Listen Missy
Listen Missy is a new (to me anyway, as it has been around since 2000) DC Blog with interesting photos and commentary. Some good shots of her visit to MOMA here.
Visit often.
The Tale of an Art World Lawsuit
This excellent article by Walter Robinson is one of the main reasons why our only "backers" or "investors" are Mr. Visa and Mr. Mastercard.
One of the basic laws of Cryptology is that there are no coincidences... and our Richmond neighbor ANABA seems to have found quite a few coincidences in a possible "insider art trading" issue.
Read about Douglas Fogle, a Mehetru painting, and an intelligent Blogger waiting for a clarification.
Wednesday, January 19, 2005
Thinking About Art has a few good reviews from J.T.'s gallery walk-through last Saturday.
Tomorrow and Friday I will be hopping around the 7th Street corridor and the Canal Square galleries and will discuss some of those shows.
Guest Editorial: Does the absence of an arts movement mean art is not... moving?
Guest Editorial by Malik M. Lloyd
"The art of any society emerges from the beliefs, attitudes, organization and structure as well as the inherent creativity and energy of that society. The truths and standards generally accepted are also those which underlie all artistic expression.
We are at the dawn of a new millennium. The 21st century has come bringing with it the new age of technology, terrorism and war. Modern technology has transformed the way we communicate, conduct business and for some us, it has changed the way we do art. Terrorism and war have forced us to take a closer look at not only other cultures and religions, but to examine those things in our own religion and culture that shape us and make us what we are today.
If it is true that art is reflective of the beliefs, attitudes and structure of society, when the history books are written about the current era what will they say about the art of the new millennium?
Popular music, unlike the visual arts, has a distinctive array of current trends and movements with the sounds of hip-hop, rap, gangster rap and neo-soul. Like most arts movements of the past, these musical forms were met with hostility and apprehension. History has taught us that revolutionary change often comes with a high price tag.
In art, there are numerous examples of arts movements that were not accepted by the masses when the work was first exhibited. In his work titled, Modern Art, Trevor Copplestone points to this same lack of acceptance regarding Impressionism, Futurism and Surrealism in the 20th century.
When the Impressionist first exhibited in a group show in 1874 their work was ridiculed, compared to the scribbles of a child, called wretched and insulting.
Copplestone writes this about Futurism: 'In 1909, the Futurism manifesto was published, extolling the beauty of speed, the virility of the new machine-based society and the possibilities inherent in the nascent scientific age of a new dynamic humanism. On the whole the movement was met with ridicule that its activities deliberately invited.'
In 1924, the first surrealist manifesto was issued. Surrealism appeared in many different artistic forms, including poetry, fiction, music and films. Surrealism is often thought of as an attitude to life and society as opposed to a style in art. During the 1930s, surrealist work was put on display in most countries. Without fail, these exhibitions were met with incomprehension. Moreover, the mainstream press vilified surrealism. Copplestone notes when the 1936 International Surrealists Exhibition opened in London that the Daily Express wrote that it was 'unfit' for the public, which was probably due to the overt sexuality used extensively in the early surrealist works.
Many art historians have argued that pop art was one of the most accepted by the public from its very onset, which was due to it being the first art form in which the lifestyle of the popular culture dictated the art. In the late 1950s in London and New York, pop art took as its subject matter from the common imagery of American culture as defined by the advertising industry. Pop art addressed trendy fashionable images. The qualities desirable for pop art was popular, low-brow, mass-produced, young, witty, sexy, gimmicky, glamorous and big business. Pop was anti-art, or at least, anti-high art.
Currently, in the visual arts, diversity seems to be the operative word. Depending on the which gallery one steps into, regardless of the city, state, country, you can readily view abstract art, impressionistic, cubism as well as a variety of other styles and mediums. No particular style, method or medium has dominated the art scene in the first few years of the new millennium nor has any group of artists developed manifestos declaring new artistic intent or motive.
Via chose or as a result of an absence of a current artistic style, fashion or 'movement' visual artists appear to be more focused on things that interest them on a more personal or individual level. They appear to be working more within themselves and producing work that is connected to their own personal experiences, interest, influences, heritage or history. A kind of 'individualism' appears to be the constant theme within the art of the new millennium.
Regardless of which direction that we decide to travel, history books will be written. It is up to you to create the text."
Malik M. Lloyd
FIND ART Information Bank
Tuesday, January 18, 2005
2004 Bloggies
Hey! I've been asked to be a voting panelist for the 2004 Bloggies! Too late to try to bribe me... I've already voted.
Opportunity for Artists
Washington, DC personal trainer Colin Shah will be opening his own gym soon in the Foundry Building in Georgetown. He would love to display work by local artists on a monthly (possibly longer) basis in his reception area/lounge.
Any artists who are interested in exhibiting their work should send a CD or printed images of their work (no slides please!) along with a SASE to:
Colin Shah
1900 35th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20007
Legal Issues for Arts Professionals
Date: Tuesday, February 8, 2005 (snow date Tuesday, February 15, 2005)
Time: 1-4pm. Location: Morgan Lewis Washington, DC
1111 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20004
Presenters: Elena M. Paul, Esq., Executive Director, Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, and Alexei Auld, Director of Legal Services.
Description: As creators of intellectual property, arts professionals should be aware of issues affecting their work. This workshop provides an overview of legal issues in the arts and the three areas of the law that affect all arts professionals: copyright, contracts, and entity formation. An additional threshold issue faced by arts professionals is choosing the right legal entity for their business, including answering the basic question of whether the right structure is a for-profit or not-for-profit model. Registration required. Email staff@cultural-alliance.org with name, address, phone, email address. Free for Cultural Alliance Individual and Affiliate Members. $25 for Non-members; the fee can be applied to membership.
Send me your words
In the past I've asked readers to email me your reviews of visual art shows that you'd like to see published here. The best thing for art is more art, and in 2005 I want to expand DC Art News to include more reviews from diverse voices.
So let me encourage you again to email me your reviews.
A couple of reminders
Today is the DC Warming panel at DCAC. It starts at 6:30PM.
The Synergy Art Project will have a meeting for interested artists at Karma Restaurant on January 24, at 6PM. Karma is at 19th and I, NW.
Next Thursday is the 3rd Thursday of January, and thus the 3rd Thursday extended hours for the 7th Street corridor galleries. From 6-8 PM.
The following day on the 21st, is the opening night for the Canal Square Galleries in Georgetown. From 6-9PM.
Monday, January 17, 2005
Tentacles (A man, an axe and a doctor: A tale of pain and art)
Someone who was raised in Brooklyn shouldn’t own, and much less, try to use an axe.
What follows is a true tale of horror, of entropy and the second law of thermodynamics, of chaos and order, of the laws of the universe, of near death, of irony, of music, and ultimately of a new form of art. All of the characters are real, and if I could remember their names, I would name them.
I begin.
The back of my house has a rather wooded large area with many trees, and it also backs into an even larger wooded common area that I share with my neighbors. I am really a big fan of warm cozy fires, and during the winter I usually light one up every night.
A while back I went around and collected a lot of wood from fallen branches and also a lot of wood from a tree that had fallen months earlier. This wood had been cut, but needed splitting, so I bought an axe to split the wood myself.
How hard could this be? After all, I remember how President Reagan, while he was in office, was so fond of being filmed splitting wood in his ranch in California. If an 80-year-old President could do it, and make it look so easy, then surely a virile 40something could do it as well.
So I went to my local hardware store and bought an axe.
Act One, Scene I
It was a day much like many other balmy December days we’ve been having this winter. There was a little chill in the air, but more like a spring day than a winter day. I had gathered quite a haul of neatly cut sections of the tree trunk, each about nine to twelve inches in diameter, and had placed them to the side a large tree stump, which I planned to use as the base to split the firewood. 
The ground was wet and the grass was moist, as it had been raining the previous few days, but although the radio had announced that there would be rain later, I thought I would have a couple of hours to split all the wood before it began to rain.
I would be good exercise as well.
Gloves in hand, I placed the first piece of wood on the stump, took one or two slow –motion practice tries, just to get the motion and aim right, and then took my first mighty swing of the axe.
There are some instances on this planet, when the laws of gravity seem to take a couple of nanoseconds off. Like when one is walking down a path, and a rock, as if by magic, jumps from the ground and lands inside your shoe. How does that happen? Is it evidence of magic? Time travel? Even if one considers a viable explanation, the most common of which is that the other shoe kicks the rock into the partner shoe, it takes some extraordinary physics and flight acrobatics to imagine a rock being kicked by one shoe, flying sideways through the air as you walk on and sliding into the other shoe. I prefer to believe that the rocks jump straight up and floats into the shoe.
The violent action of swinging the axe to split the firewood must have caused a ripple in the time space continuum, for otherwise I cannot imagine or recreate what followed next.
For one thing, I completely missed the firewood waiting to be split and barely nicked the edge of the tree stump. But this bare touching of the tree stump must have caused a tremendous vector change in the arc of the axe swing, and to add more physics to the event, the brand new axe, (with its nice slippery handle, aided by my brand new - and even more slippery - cotton gardening gloves (I should have used leather work gloves)) slipped away from me.
And aided by the wet grass under my feet, I lost my footing and slipped towards the oncoming axe. At some point, I suspect that both the axe and I were completely airborne and approaching each other in perfect flight synchronicity.
And in some incomprehensible act of flying physics, the axe went in a perfect flight pattern back towards me and between my legs.
Act One, Scene II
The axe blade missed my family jewels – barely.
I know this because I still have balls and because the tip of the blade nicked the small of my back. But I came as close to being a eunuch as anyone in the history of mankind has come; but the blade missed.
But the top of the handle didn’t miss and it crushed my balls.
Before I describe the pain, let me tell you that I've been kicked in the balls more than once. I have been an avid student and practicioner of the martial arts since I was 13 years old, and have competed in many full contact tournaments, and have been accidentally kicked in the balls many times. I have also had my share of juvenile and drunken sailor fist fights, where someone's foot or fist has delivered a painful blow to my genitals. And it does hurt intensely!
But this axe handle crushing my privates was a new dimension in pain.
And this new pain took on a new meaning as I collapsed onto the wet, muddy ground.
It was an almost exquisite pain, with shape, form, smell and incredibly enough, fireballs of vivid color dancing to music. During this time, I had a vision of how Christ and Jimmy Hoffa truly died; in fact I learned how every fucking thing in the Universe has died, and how every living entity in this Universe and the other infinite Einsteinian numbers of Universes will die. And in all cases, their death involved or will involve an axe.
Time ceased to flow, or perhaps it simply slowed down in order to make my agony more intense, which by the way, would have been impossible, as I had already maxxed out the agony scale for mankind.
And I know this is silly, but I swear that I heard the music from Guns & Roses’ Sweet Child of Mine emanating, in perfect tune to the pain, from my brutalized gonads; especially the part where the bag pipes come in.
Thus I do not know how long I agonized on the forest floor. A wet tongue belonging to Yoda, my neighbor’s dog, whimpering as he obviously felt my pain, resuscitated me.
I opened my eyes for the first time since I fell, and looked at Yoda’s handsome face. "Yoda," I whispered between clenched teeth, "kill me." He looked at me with his intelligent eyes and licked my face again. "Please bite my neck," I begged. "Kill me now!"
Yoda twisted his head in that almost human way in which dogs do, and walked away. For a minute there I thought that the stupid beast had gone to fetch a stick to play with, as he loves to fetch sticks. Had he done this, I would have kicked him in his balls. But he just vanished from my sight and then started to bark outside my neighbor’s back door.
By now the pain had diminished to a white searing pain on a planetary scale equivalent to a thermonuclear device being exploted at the core of the Earth, so the word diminished is quite bogus in this sentence. But, I sincerely wanted to find out how much damage I had done, and since by now my pants were quite soaked from the wet ground and the mud, I needed to check to see if I was bleeding.
Act One, Scene III
So I unbuttoned my pants, lowered them in agonizing ecstasy, and reached down to feel the state of my boys.
Which is precisely the moment that my neighbor, apparently being brought to the scene by Lassie-wannabe Yoda’s barking, made her appearance, as I am feeling my bruised sacs.
So I rationalized (the brain is an incredible asset) that I'd better explain, although the last fucking thing that I wanted to do at that moment was to chat with this Grandpa Munster look-a-like. But I figured that if I didn’t explain, she’d make a bat-line to her phone and report me to the vice squad.
And being the super nice lady that she is, she tried to hide her laughter, and understood, and asked me if I wanted her to call an ambulance. "Tentacles," she said (and she did say "tentacles" instead of "testicles"), "are very fragile."
"No shit Grandpa Munster," I felt like saying, but instead I moaned to her that it was OK, and that I’d drive myself down to the hospital.
It had begun to sprinkle, so she wished me luck and went back to her house.
And then it really began to rain; hard, cold rain.
And then the act of crawling back to my house became another exercise in agony, as I discovered that (a) I couldn’t walk because of the pain and (b) I couldn’t crawl on my knees, because of the pressure on my jewels.
So I sort of "rolled" towards my house, and then developed a sort of walking on all fours, legs quite widespread and putting most of the weight on my hands, as the rain fell on me.
So I finally make it to the house, thoroughly soaked and quite covered in mud. And (of course) the day before I had cleaned my house from top to bottom, and the thought of the irony of this alignment of misfortunes dawned on me as I muddied the floor of my pristine home.
I debated whether to change clothes or not, and decided that it would be impossible for me to physically remove my shoes, as my boys had by now begun to swell to an impressive size, and any pressure on them caused me to yelp like a newborn child. So I grabbed a towel from the laundry room, crawled to my van, put the towel on the seat, and climbed in to an internal symphony of new pains.
And I began the drive to the hospital emergency room.
Act Two, Scene I
Sometimes the lights on Democracy Boulevard align in timing so that one can go all the way from Seven Locks to Old Georgetown Road without hitting a single light.
Other times, a driver hits every goddamned light on the road.
Guess which of these two cycles of light synchronicity was to be my fate on that painful day?
Yep! Stop at every light, and to make matters worse, I couldn’t really "sit down" and was actually driving while holding most of my weight on one hand pushing against the car seat in order to attempt to float me above it, all the while leaning forward, sort of the way that scary old people in Florida drive.
I eventually pulled into the parking lot of the hospital, and of course there is not one single parking spot available on the ER area, so I have to park in the lot across the street, and do my crawling on all fours routine, in the rain, across the road, which as some of you may know, is quite a busy road. However, since Yoda had failed to kill me, I was somewhat hoping that I’d get run over by a car, and mercifully have it put an end to my agony.
But no one ran me over, although several cars did slow down, but I suspect it was so that they could get a look at the idiot crawling on all fours across the road, in the rain.
But in due time, I did arrive at the entrance to the ER, and at the very last minute I almost did get run over by an ambulance, bringing in someone with a medical emergency.
And so I finally enter the ER, muddy, wet, cold and still in spectacular pain.
Act Two, Scene II
I imagine that most ER personnel have seen just about everything that humankind has to offer in terms of shock, but by the alarmed expression on the male nurse at the check-in station, it was clear that he was somewhat concerned by my appearance and by my manner of movement on all fours; I also noticed that the security guard was also somewhat alarmed (and armed).
He asked me what the problem was, and as I explained what happened, both this Gaylord Focker wannabe and the guard, who had drifted within earshot, actually had the gall to burst out laughing.
And I made a silent promise to myself that in a few weeks, if I survived this ordeal, I would hunt Nurse Focker-wannabe and kick him in the nuts.
So after the whole delay of data input and insurance verification, Nurse Focker tells me to have a seat, and wait, as the doctors (plural) are all attending the patient who had just come in via the ambulance.
"What’s his problem?" I asked, not out of concern, but thinking that there are precious few emergencies in the world that could take precedence over my distress.
And Nurse Focker explains that the patient is a 96-year-old-man who’s having a heart attack.
And I’m really close to start debating that at 96, he’s had a good life, and he's probably caused his own heart attack because of Viagra, so let this geezer go and assign me a doctor, preferably well armed with a needle full of painkiller. But I hold my tongue, and wait in my own private water puddle.
Several ice ages later, Nurse Focker says that I am to be seen, and asks me if I have a preference for a doctor. In retrospect, I think that he was asking me if I wanted a male or female doctor, but by now my social graces had completely vanished, and I told him that I’d like Dr. Kavorkian. He didn’t laugh.
I am then taken to the back, and told to undress, put one of those silly robes that show your ass, and sit on the bed and wait for the doctor. Somehow I managed to undress on my own, and laid on the bed, with my legs bent and wide open, much like a woman waiting for her gynecologist.
A little while later, the curtains open and the doctor comes in: A female doctor, of course, probably picked by Nurse Focker to make my life more miserable.
And not just any female doctor, but probably the only female doctor who had also been a body extra in Baywatch. And to my utter amazement, in the middle of this intense agony, my sick male brain still finds time to align a couple of thought patterns that whisper inside my head: "WOW, she’s hot!" before resuming sending new and novel pain patterns to my groin area.
"What have we got here?" she asks using the imperial "we" that annoying doctors like to use.
"We, doc," says I, devoid of any social skills by this point, "have a serious fucking case of smashed balls, and an even more serious need for some potent pain killer." And I begin explaining what happened.
And just like Nurse Focker and the rent-a-cop a few minutes earlier, Dr. Carmen Electra, Medicine Woman bursts out laughing while she’s probing and feeling down there, hands encased in latex gloves.
Laughter induced watery-eyes and all, she then tells me that it looks like there’s no internal injuries, but that she’ll order a scan to double check, and that I need to ice down my groin area in order to reduce the swelling. "You’ll be OK in a few days."
Pheeew!
I thank her, and ask about a shot for the pain. To my astonishment she says that just a couple of Tylenols should do the trick. "Doc," I plead, "I am in really in some aggravating bad pain here."
"Don’t be such a baby," she responds, "You should try childbirth if you want to know what real pain is."
She’s lucky she’s a woman; otherwise I definitely would have kicked her in the balls.
Act Two, Scene III
A few days later, and things appear to be back to normal; I’ve been telling people that I have a back pain, and thus the strained walk.
And at some point, it dawns on me that the whole sequence of events, with the improbable occurrences, the diverse set of characters, and the Three Stoogian physicality of the act, is a new kind of art; a new kind of performance art that is, where really spectacular true events of common daily life assume astronomic personal presence and thus cross the border into a personal artistic quality, the like of which will never be repeated by any other soul on this planet.
So my performance piece is over: I call it Tentacles (not Testicles).
J.T. has a good report on the Caio Fonseca talk that occurred last Thursday at the Corcoran. Read it here.
And over at Angstbabe, Tracy has had it with the GW MFA program and is switching to GMU's. Read her reasons here.
Sunday, January 16, 2005
DC Warming
DC Warming is a panel focusing on "Movers & Shakers" and the new energy in the DC contemporary art scene. It will be held this coming Tuesday, 18 January 2005 at 6:30 p.m. at the District of Columbia Arts Center.
Cost for this event: Members $15, Guests $20. This program is limited to 50 people. Please RSVP to Mary Beth at dc@ArtTable.org or telephone 202.332.0099.
Panelists include:
Andrea Pollan, Director, Curator's Office (Moderator), Jayme McLellan and Victoria Reis, Co-directors, Transformer Gallery, Maggie Michael, artist, Allison Cohen, art consultant (Sightline) and IP lawyer (solo practice), Tyler Green, art critic for Bloomberg News and blogwriter, Modern Art Notes, Philip Barlow, art collector and DCAC Board Member, and Henry Estada, independent curator.
