Venus for Sale
In the spirit of Duane Kaiser, and of J.T. Kirkland, and of Bailey, and of Alexandra Silverthorne, and after a few readers suggested it, I've decided to start posting some original artwork here for sale.
As there's no way I can do one of these a day (I applaud Duane Kaiser's incredible art work ethic!), it will probably be once a week or so.
The first piece being offered is an orginal charcoal drawing, circa 2004, titled "Venus Standing at the Edge of the World." The piece is approximately 5 inches high by 4 inches wide and it is matted and framed to 14x11 inches in a black, matte wood frame under glass. Signed, titled and dated on the front in pencil recto on lower margin, and also on verso. Starting bid is $99. Bid on this drawing here.
Starting bid is $99. Bid on this drawing here.
Thursday, July 28, 2005
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
Gallery Openings and Talks
Blee on Seven
There's a major review of Seven in the Georgetowner today written by their art critic John Blee.
I'll have a link up as soon as Georgetowner puts it online.
Update: The review is online; it's page 30 here.
The Power of the Web
So there's a heavy metal punk rock band from Illinois called Beneath the Hollow, who apparently read DC Art News and found Bailey's photography as a result.
And now those righteous young boys have approached Bailey and asked him about permission that would grant them a limited license to use one of his images from the "Cemetery Saviour" series for band promotional materials: T-shirts, etc.
And they've struck a deal! Bailey has more details and the whole story here.
Openings
There are a lot of openings this coming Friday... come back later for a list, and also a review of a couple of the shows currently on exhibit at the new Arlington Arts Center.
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
Opportunity for Artists
Warehouse will be hosting their 4th Annual Where is the Peace? show.
This 4th annual show at Warehouse is devoted to the Peace effort. The show opens September 16 (a week before the March for Peace in Washington and other cities around the country, September 24th) and will stay up through October 2nd.
Send digital images of your entries to Molly Ruppert at ruppertm@erols.com by August 17th to be considered for inclusion in the show.
New Arts Organization
The Dupont Society is a new arts organization. They are named after the Dupont Circle area, where is organization is based.
Their first exhibition opens next Sunday, July 31st at 1PM. Details here.
Welcome to our area's cultural tapestry!
Studio Space Available
The Arlington Arts Center has a vacancy in its large 600 square foot, 4-artist studio. Available for 2-year lease, with second and third two-year period renewable upon review and approval. Artists in group studio are eligible to apply for individual studios when available, but maximum residency for all AAC resident artists is six years. In addition to the studio, artists will have access to shared facilities, including lounge area, mini-kitchen, and bath with shower.
Deadline for applications is September 15. Space is available October 1, 2005. Selection criteria will include artistic merit, potential for collaborative outreach approach to art and to the community, and diversity of artist representation.
For more information and to download an application, visit the website at www.arlingtonartscenter.org or contact them at 703.248.6800 or via email at info@arlingtonartscenter.org.
The Arlington Arts Center is located at 3550 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA, 22201, one block from the Virginia Square Metro station on the Orange Line.
Monday, July 25, 2005
Nekkid pics
In a brilliant attempt to drive traffic to his new art Blog, Bailey is posting nekkid pictures of his ex-girlfriends.
See them here.
Sunday, July 24, 2005
New BLOG
Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the Blogsphere, Bailey has a new daily art Blog.
And he's already stirring the art pot by jumping into the MFA Boston debate.
Visit Black Cat Bone often.
Saturday, July 23, 2005
Friday, July 22, 2005
Bailey on BORF
Bailey, Bailey, Bailey...
The following article was intended for publication in the Washington Post upon the arrest of its anonymous writer, James W. Bailey, on charges of aiding and abetting the graffiti artist known as Borf. The article was leaked by a confidential source within the White House (Karl Rove) to DC Art News and is being published in advance of the arrest of Mr. Bailey. DC Art News does not have a confidentiality agreement with Mr. Bailey to preserve his anonymity as the writer of this special contribution to the Washington Post and is therefore publishing it in its entirety."For Those Too Young to Die (Yet Too Old to Tag), We Salute You!"James W. Bailey
by James W. Bailey
(Washington, D.C.) Minutes after the once-elusive graffiti artist known as Borf was transferred from Metropolitan D.C. police to the U. S. Marshall’s Service for extradition to Camp X-Ray in Guantanamo, Cuba, several hundred of his young angry disgruntled disciples had a message for those outraged by Borf’s graffiti.
"This is just the beginning!" chanted the mob as it hurled empty spray paint cans toward a frightened Mayor Anthony Williams who was standing linked arm-in-arm with shell-shocked federal officials outside the Municipal Courts Building. "Now even more rich suburban kids from Northern Virginia are going to invade your city and come out in protest, so this isn't the end!”
If the mob’s intent was to intimidate the nattily dressed mayor by raising the specter of in his words "spoiled prep school elitist Starbucks latte-sipping adolescent anarchist jackasses from across the Potomac" descending on every blank wall in the city until Borf, aka Michael Tsmobikos, is freed, it didn't work.
"You wanna-be punk artists are going down the wrong path," Williams frantically screamed while dogging cardboard stencils tossed like Frisbees his way. "Don’t you disrespectful jerks realize you're destroying private property?! Don’t any of you aesthetically lacking idiots understand the value of the free enterprise capitalist system and its importance to furthering a graffiti-free environment that is safe for tourists?! Is there even one suburban brat among you who has ever read any Ayn Rand?! Don’t any of you untalented fools realize that your so-called ‘tags’ aren’t really art in the first place?!"
As laughter erupted from the swarming gang of aggressive graffiti artists, a rancorous collective response of “Free Borf! Free Borf! Free Borf!” was also rudely hurled along with other accoutrements of the street graffiti trade at Williams and Vice-President Dick Cheney, who had agreed at the last minute to appear at the press conference announcing the federalization of Borf’s criminal case.
The gang of boys assembled from Great Falls, McLean, Reston and other high income zip codes in Virginia, met Williams's and Cheney’s paternal gaze with hard, unblinking stares of their own. Either it was the boldest of bluffs or the boys who confronted the representative powers of Washington, D.C. truly believed they could summon an army of graffiti artists/taggers who would swarm over the city's unprotected walls like rats in "Willard."
Recounting the confrontation 30 minutes later in the anteroom of his office at City Hall, Williams was still angrily shaking his head about the boys' "misplaced hero worship of this punk crap artist Borf."
"Borf and those rich white boys from Virginia who helped him and who support him declared war on the city," said Williams nervously shaking his fist. Asked what he was going to do about a possible resurgence of wide-spread anti-capitalist graffiti in the city, Williams angrily waved a copy of an ordinance he first proposed to Washington, D.C. City Council two years ago, only to see it narrowly defeated.
"We're reintroducing this emergency legislation next week that will make it a felony crime for white minors who are non-residents of the City of Washington, D.C. to buy or possess spray paint, indelible markers or etching acids, as well as all the other tools these graffiti terrorists use, including cardboard for their stencils," he said. "This thing, whether it's a fad or an art form, which every sane person knows it’s not art by the way, or just plain vandalism created to incite terrorist insurrection, as I believe it is, has got to stop. And this Mayor is damned determined to stop people like Bork dead in their tracks."
Vice-President Cheney, who joined Williams in his hurriedly relocated press conference, echoed Williams sentiments and explained the federal government’s role in the Borf case: "The outstanding investigative work of the joint city and federal task force that tracked down and arrested this so-called graffiti artist has at last put an end to the terroristic actions of Borf and has effectively ended the deluded notion that Borf’s tags were a respectable form of art. Borf’s tags were clearly not art. They were coded terrorist messages that were designed to encourage intellectually gullible and emotionally susceptible children to murder their parents while asleep in their beds. Tags like “Grown Ups Are Obsolete”. Any rational American knows what that message is attempting to communicate to the youth of America. It’s also quite clear to the government that Borf’s campaign of terror against the people of Washington, D.C. was being financed by Al Qaeda. Borf himself has confessed to traveling to Europe to protest the G-8 conference. As is quite clear from recent CIA reports, Al Qaeda financed most of those protestors. Borf has therefore been declared an enemy combatant and has been transferred to Camp X-Ray in Guantanamo, Cuba, for further torture, uh, a torturous, that is a very thorough interrogation."
When asked if he had agreed to the federalization of Borf’s crimes in order to placate White House demands that were tied to an impending announcement of Presidential support of the Mayor’s efforts to secure statehood for the district, Williams bristled: "That is pure B.S.! The Mayor of Washington, D.C. does not do the quid pro quo biding of the White House when it comes to protecting the citizens of this city from terrorists like Borf. This Mayor does the right thing. And the right thing was to allow the federal government to handle Borf."
Cheney offered a similarly stern response: "Look, Mayor Williams is a hero in the effort to defeat terrorism and to secure the apprehension of this terrorist thug Borf. As we all know, federal legislation has long allowed the RICO statue to be used to federalize the cases of young African-American gang members who engage in acts of graffiti terrorism. There was a loophole in the law. No one ever really saw the day when rich white kids would be bold enough to leave their comfortable suburban stomping ground to wage a terrorizing campaign against the City of Washington, D.C. with their Al Qaeda funded messages of anarchy and anti-consumerism. Obviously, we need to have Congress immediately beef-up the current anti-gang laws that are on the books. But the allegation that President Bush somehow suggested to the Mayor that if he didn’t support the government’s position on Borf that that action would threaten future support of DC statehood is ridiculous and is blog generated propaganda being spread by Borf’s anti-American supporters to increase the mythology of Borf among extremists."
Though Williams remains an implacable foe of anti-capitalistic graffiti, he isn't without a small degree of sympathy for young men like Borf. He insists that he understands their alienation, but he's more offended that people feel they have the right to assert their identity at the expense of property owners and taxpayers who'd rather not provide their walls for someone's therapy.
"Look, I’m a human being and understand the pain of other people. Borf’s mother came to me after his arrest to say her son was innocent," Williams said. "I told her that I felt sorry for her, but that she shouldn't hold her son in awe because there's nothing exciting about that punk. Let’s get real. Borf’s not even that charismatic. And worse, he doesn't even have a single original idea he can call his own. ‘For God sakes’, I told her, ‘he reads stupid French books on B.S. philosophy by some dead guy who committed suicide named Guy Debord!’"
In a highly emotional state, with his lips quivering as he spoke, Williams continued: "Look, it’s not like Borf's protesting the War in Iraq with his graffiti. He's not doing anything to advance society or politics. And he’s especially not doing anything to advance the concept of art! Sure, some graffiti is at least interesting to look at, but not Borf’s. His stuff is all crap! And it’s certainly not real art. To Borf’s supporting art critics, I ask this: what’s Borf’s original aesthetic message? What the lasting impact of his art? Where do you really feel Borf’s place will be in the future pantheon of great artists? Borf is a gutter punk wannabe artist and that’s where he’ll always be."
When questioned about the critical legitimacy of street graffiti as a respected art form, Williams nervously continued his defensive tirade: "Look, we have all kinds of real galleries and museums in the city where you can go and see some real art. Real art has no place out on the streets anyway. Real art ought not to be out in the real world where it’s exposed to the elements and can be rained on. Any person with half a brain that knows anything about real art knows that. The Washington Post’s chief art critic Blake Gopnik doesn’t like street art. He didn’t think those Party Animals were real art, did he? So I’m in respectable company with this opinion because I don’t either. Street art is for untalented artists who don’t merit gallery representation. My advice to people like Borf is to keep your so-called art off outdoor public property and spend more time in your studio learning how to paint pictures of the Washington Monument that you can sell to tourists at the Torpedo Factory."
In an extraordinary related development, President Bush deviated from the script of his weekly press conference on Iraq, also held on the same day, to comment on the Borf situation. The following is a transcript of Bush’s remarks:"I’m reminded that today that this young fella Borf who’s been painting these evil statements about kids killing their parents, has finally been arrested.A legacy of presumed guilt levied by the President of the United States of America is certainly too heavy a public burden for anyone with common sense to bear willingly. Since his arrest in Washington, D.C., many of Borf’s friends, and even some of his most outspoken critics, have raised the possibility that Borf may be the unluckiest of patsies – a Lee Harvey Oswald, if you will, of the contemporary art world. Some wonder whether the true culprits are, indeed, the growing legion of disaffected educated suburban white kids now threatening to scrawl their defiance of the law on walls in the hearts of metropolitan cities all over America in Borf's name.
Terrible kid. And make no mistake here, he's a terrorist. This kid Borf.
It’s a sad day in some ways this day that’s today, with Borf being arrested. This Culture of Death thing that I’m always talking about has infected Borf and his supporters.
And some of these elitist academic art idiots... uh intellectuals call Borf’s bagging [sic tagging] art! Well, that’s just plain dumb. Bagging [sic tagging] death slogans around town is not art! Every real American knows that! You can’t spray paint a sign that says 'Kill Me Mommy' and call that art!
What’s wrong with the youth of today?
And what about that big Borf head painted over there on the bridge by the river? That was an act of terrorism. Somebody could have been killed looking at that awful thing. Could have gotten distracted and driven their car into the Potomac. We can’t have stuff like that going on in the nation’s capital.
The federal government, this President of the United States of America, has a solemn obligation to protect the people of this country from evil merchants of death like Borf.
Your President knows what good art is. I think good thoughts about good art all the time.
And good American people of good conscience know what really good art is all about too.
Borf, well, that’s not really good real art. We all know that.
It really hurts me at a very personal level that some have suggested that this President doesn’t like art. George W. Bush loves art. Laura and I have more Thomas Kindkade paintings at home in Crawford than we’ve got heads of cattle.
Your President loves art. Let me repeat it: George W. Bush Loves art. Real art that is. But Borf’s not a real artist.
Look, this President ordered his State Department to approve the selection of that great American artist Eduardo Rusario [sic Ed Ruscha] to appear at the Venice Benfoldsfive Finale [sic Venice Biennale] over there in Italy. This exhibition features some really good rock solid thought provoking contemporaneous art [sic contemporary art].
Eduardo now is a real American artist. Works with a style called Mini-anti-female-materialism [sic minimalism]. Real cutting edge stuff, man! I don’t pretend to understand it, but I just know this: Eduardo’s art ain’t telling people to go out and burn an American flag like Borf’s so-called art is doing. Eduardo’s art is not encouraging children to kill their parents.
And Eduardo’s art, well, I just think that his art is the kind of condom-draineous art [sic contemporary art] this country needs more of. We need more artists like Eduardo making more of that mini-van-ballistic [sic minimalist] stuff. That stuff makes you think, man! But it don’t make you think about things Americans ought not to be thinking too much about. You understand what I’m saying?
The American people need to know that their President loves really good contempt-for-paineous art [sic contemporary art] like the minimum-wage-unrealism [sic minimalism] stuff that Eduardo makes.
But let me also emphasize that really good American art, know matter what style it is, even good graffiti art if there is such a thing, also needs to be confined to what I call the 'WWW – white-walled world.'
Wanna go to an opening tonight?
Art from Arlington opens at the new Arlington Art Center tonight with an opening reception from 6-9PM.
See ya there!
Artrain USA
Artrain USA, an art museum housed on a train, addresses the shortage of and lack of value placed on cultural programming in American communities by introducing the arts to individual residents while helping communities build their capacity to grow and sustain cultural programs.
Artrain USA provides quality art exhibitions complemented by strong art education programs and community outreach activities. For 34 years, Artrain USA has traveled to as many as 35 communities and reached 100,000 people annually. Since 1971, approximately 3 million people in 750 communities across 44 states have visited Artrain USA.
Artrain USA hosts the contemporary Native American art exhibition, Native Views: Influences of Modern Culture.
This exhibit will stop in Manassas, Virginia from July 28-31, 2005. Artrain USA is looking for artists to make art work on site during its stop in Manassas and they are looking for volunteers. If anyone is interested, they can send contact Philip Barlow at philipbarlow@msn.com and he will pass it along to the appropriate people. Artists do not have to be Native American to participate, just willing to help support this worthy project.
Thursday, July 21, 2005
WaPo on Seven
Jessica Dawson has a mini review of Seven in today's Washington Post's Galleries column. Read it here.
Scotty is dead
James Doohan, the Canadian chief engineer of the Starship Enterprise in the original "Star Trek" TV series and movies who responded to the command "Beam me up, Scotty," died Wednesday. He was 85.
Fair winds and following seas, Scotty.
Airport run-in
It's an odd application of the Second Law of Thermodynamics, but I am always amazed at how chaos and order seem to cease to exist at airports.
I've had some interesting airport experiences in my life (none weirder than this one), such as sitting next to Darth Vader and selling him a drawing, or meeting Ana Mendieta when she was a graduate student (and getting a drawing from her).
But tonight, when I arrived at Dulles, I ran into Vance.
Vance is an American of Chinese ancestry, who happens to be an ex-Army Ranger, and one of the most lethal people on this planet. This is the kind of a guy who can kill you in a dozen different ways before you even know he's killing you.
Me: "Vance! What are you doing here?"
Vance [stares until he recognizes me]: "Lenny! I didn't recognize you... you're wearing a suit!" [Vance's imagery of me is in other style clothing].
Vance: "What's with the hair?" [I've been growing my hair]
Me: "What have you been up to?" [actually sounded like "What'cha bin up ta?"]
Vance: "Been training for a big fight in Argentina." [Vance is part of an "under-the-noise" circuit that fights for big money in freestyle fighting all over the world - a few years ago he actually lost an eye in a fight].
Me: "Mmmm.."
Vance: "I think a broke my clavicle in training though..."
Me: "Ahh..."
Vance: "I've been on travel though... so I haven't had time to see a doctor."
Me: "You should before you enter that tournament..."
Vance: [looking at me like that "here's your sign" comedian from the Blue Collar Comedy Tour] "yeah..."
Me: "see ya Vance..."
Vance: "Take care Lenny..."
Airports...
Wednesday, July 20, 2005
BORF vs The WaPo
We all know that street artist/graffitist/vandal BORF was arrested recently and that WaPo reporter Libby Copeland wrote this piece on the subject.
And then, several of the below have turned up on the sidewalks near the WaPo building...
and...
A little trivia for you (don't ever play Trivia Pursuit against me)... Vandalism is from the word Vandal. The Vandals were a German tribe that, at the fall of the Roman Empire, swept across Europe leaving behind a trail of destruction, wreckage and... uh... vandalism.
They eventually settled in southern Spain as a people. The land that they settled in is today known as Andalusia... the word Andalusia is a derivative of the Arabic Var Andalus which borrows from the Latin Vandalus... or The Land of the Vandals.
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
Opportunities for Artists
Deadline: July 28, 2005
New York Hall of Science Juried Exhibition - DIGITAL'05: "EXQUISITE" is the 7th Annual International Digital Print Competition & Exhibition organized by Art & Science Collaborations; Oct. 1, 2005 - Jan. 15, 2006 at The New York Hall of Science, NYC. Digital'05 invites an examination of the nature of "exquisite" in all of its ramifications. This year's juror is Lynn Gamwell, Director of the Binghamton University Art Museum, Binghamton, New York, and Curator of the Gallery of Art and Science at the New York Academy of Sciences, New York City. $5/per image submission. See Prospectus for full details & Online Entry Form here
Deadline: July 31, 2005
Thousands of photographers compete in the annual International Photography Awards (IPA) competition. Fifteen finalists (eight professionals and seven non-professionals) are nominated for IPA's top award: The International Photographer of the Year Award, and invited to the Lucie Awards (October 17 at the American Airlines Theatre), where one winner will be announced, earning the coveted Lucie and $10,000. Visit their Web site for a competition entry form: www.photoawards.com.
Deadline: August 12, 2005
Texas Erotic Art Show - An erotic art theme exhibition open to all interpretation of erotic art, on all forms of medium. This is a commission free exibit. Deadline for entry is September 5, 2005. Handling fee of $20 per piece on all work sold The Exhibition will be held Oct. 21-22, 2005 in Austin, Texas. Early Submission Fee $30 for 1-4 slides, prints or images on CD. Please include $5 for each additional slide, print or image on CD. Late Submission Fee $40 for 1-4 slides, prints, or images on CD. Please include $10 for each additional slide, print or image on CD, deadline Sept. 16th. Online entry form at this website or e-mail: info@mavericksunarts.com or send SASE to:
Maverick Sun Arts,
2900 W Anderson LN C-200-#351
Austin TX 78757
Deadline: Feb 28, 2006
Yavapai College is seeking contemporary
work in all media for 4-5 week display, 2006-07 school year. Insurance. Please send 15 slides, list, resume, statement, SASE, etc to:
Edie Dillon
Yavapai College
Visual & Performing Arts
1100 E Sheldon St
Box 6850
Prescott AZ 86301 or call 928-776-2031 or email edie_dillon@yc.edu
Opportunity for Artists
The Greater Reston Arts Center (GRACE) is requesting proposals for exhibitions for its main gallery space for periods of approximately 4-6 weeks. Proposals will be accepted from artists, independent curators, or arts organizations.
Visit this website for more details.
Frank's Back!
Frank Van Riper's award-winning photography column in the Washington Post has been re-launched!
Frank Van Riper on Photography has appeared in the WaPo since 1992, first in the Friday Weekend section and for the past five years in the Camera Works section of Washingtonpost.com.
However, Van Riper has been absent from CameraWorks for more than a year. Principally, this hiatus allowed Frank and his wife and partner Judith Goodman to complete work on their six-year book project on Venice: Serenissima: Venice in Winter.
With that book now done, Van Riper has resumed his regular space in CameraWorks -- in a new incarnation that will allow even greater display of photography, as well as give Frank a chance to offer more timely reviews and recommendations of what is new and notable in the visual arts world, both in Washington and elsewhere.
This is a good thing for our area's cultural tapestry. Welcome back Frank!
Two Billion Dollars
Is what's needed urgently by the Smithsonian Institution in order to "maintain its 660 buildings and care for the millions of objects, documents, and photographs in its collections over the next decade."
Read it all here.
Monday, July 18, 2005
Sunday, July 17, 2005
Drawings
Since yesterday I didn't spend all day at the International Comic Book Convention - because of the huge lines - I instead decided to go do some artwork.
Because I work in charcoal, I always bring some supplies with me while I travel: pencils, sticks, paper and erasers, plus a fixative spray can.
So I bought a six pack, packed it inside a plastic garbage can from my hotel room and covered it with ice and drove to Spanish Landing to do some drawings. And I found an empty bench, and set up to draw some small drawings...
I ended up doing a few small drawings overe the next few hours.
And below are some of the pieces that I did while enjoying the sun and a few beers:
Two Nuns in a Window
A Pictish Witch
And I had done these two the night before in my hotel room; they are inspired by my interest in the legend of La Llorona:
La Llorona (from a photograph by the great Danny Conant.)
La Llorona Laughs
Saturday, July 16, 2005
Characters
Yesterday and again his morning I took the trolley to the San Diego Convention Center to go and spend the day at the International Comic Book Convention. When I got there, around 11AM... there was already a huge line to get in - at least three or four thousand people, if not more, and the streets were just packed.
So instead I decided to take some fun snaps (I hate waiting for anything; especially waiting in line).
This young kid made this entire outfit himself and it's a pretty good Edward Scissorhands... down to the the plastic kid-safe scissors
And then these Manga-costumed kids see me taking Edward's picture and yell out: "Take our picture too!" And so I do...
The girl on the left seems to be saying to the one putting her sunglasses and bags away: "C'mon! Hurry Uuuuup!"
Manga!!!
Did you guys know that Imperial Storm Troopers could wear glasses under that white helmet?
Robocop
Then I spotted this Imperial Stormtrooper (short guy) and his blue-haired wife (or partner). He was wearing those cool, Japanese Samurai wooden sandals that add [like] four inches to your height.
And a dark Sith Lord posed for me...
And Robocop is still attracting attention...
And then I spot Security...
And so I asked them to pose for me
And then I spot The Green Lantern and The Hawkman
And then I catch Mrs. Hawkman coming out of the little girls' room
The Justice League poses for me... including a sullen-looking, knock-kneed Batman
Two hotties posing...
Clark Kent obviously forgot to take his watch off while changing into Superman inside the phone booth. And by the way... now we all know where Clar k Kent's clothes go once Superman rips them off: in a duffel bag!
Two color-coordinated Storm Troopers with a vision-corrected Jedi Knight
And the girls say goodbye...
Opportunity for Artists
Maryland Art Place (MAP) is putting out a call for artists interested in exhibiting their work as part of a curated exhibition that will take place in MAP’s galleries during the final weeks of 2005. Artists are being asked to submit a maximum of ten images of recent or new works on a CD or in slide form, including a one page image index outlining details of each submitted artwork, listing title, date, medium, dimensions and any other pertinent information. (No original works or master slides should be submitted for review.) Artists are given free reign to create works: inspired by; limited to; or resistant of; sensibilities normally related to kitsch.
If selected to participate in this exhibition, the artist’s chosen work will be exhibited along with their brief statement and bio. Many works for this exhibition will be selected during a studio visit by MAP’s Director of Programs, Lisa Lewenz or a guest curator. Artists are encouraged to consider submitting work ranging from small objects to large room-sized installations. This exhibition will celebrate irony, style and a full array of responses to kitsch as an important genre.
This call for entry requires that artists desiring consideration must complete an application form (found online at www.mdartplace.org) and submit a CD with proposed images as a maximum of ten 300dpi 5x7” medium sized jpg copies (or a sheet of ten slides) with a corresponding image index, and a recent copy of your resume. After review, unless previously arranged, application materials will be forwarded to the Maryland State Arts Council Visual Artist Registry—a free resource housed and maintained by MAP that promotes Maryland artists. Artists without a Visual Artist Registry file will be asked to open one if it has not been previously created. Thus, please do not submit a self-addressed stamped envelope, as application materials will not be returned. IF a self-addressed envelope is enclosed, please use stamps only (not dated postal strip.)
Artists will be responsible to coordinate delivery, installation, and removal of their work. Please send all application materials in one envelope to:
KITSCH!
MAP
8 Market Place
Suite 100
Baltimore, Maryland 21202
There is no entry fee or cost to participate. Questions? Call 410-962-8565 or email llewenz@mdartplace.org (put KITSCH in the subject line.)
Friday, July 15, 2005
Comics
OK, OK... I know this is geeky, but tomorrow I'm spending all day at the International Comic Book Convention.
Openings tonite
The five Canal Square galleries in Georgetown will have their usual 3rd Friday openings tonite from 6-9PM. New shows or extended hours (6-9PM) by Anne C. Fisher, MOCA, Parish, Alla Rogers and Fraser.
We will host the artists selected by juror Jack Rasmussen for the 9th Annual Georgetown International. Jack will be awarding the cash awards around 7PM tonight.
The galleries are all inside the Canal Square at 31st Street, NW and M Street. Since I am in San Diego, I'll miss the opening, but go and see some art!
CNN on Seven
CNN videotaped a segment with Kim Ward, the Acting Executive Director of the WPA/C. The interview covered the history and mission of the WPA/C, a bit about Warehouse, a few shots of the show, and a plug for the Artist's Directory.
I do not have the schedule for the air times; hopefully next week. It will be on for the last five minutes at the top of the hour on CNN Headline News in certain markets. I do know that they will show the spot 8 times a day for one week before the show closes.
Blogspheric Grid
Anna L. Conti has a Blogospheric Grid of what some of the mugs in the Art Blogsphere look like.
See them here.
In San Diego
A while back, when I was trying to make reservations for this trip, I couldn't figure out why all the hotels were booked.
I have arrived in San Diego (tired and Joneseying), and discovered that the reason for the lack of hotels is the fact that this weekened is the world famous San Diego Comic Book Convention.
Thursday, July 14, 2005
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
Airborne today
Flying to Denver.
On the way there I will be reading Zorro by Isabel Allende.
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
Wanna go to an opening?
As part of the rekindling of the WPA/C, they have started an exhibition series called "Turning the Pages," which will exhibit artists from the WPA/C Artists' Directory.
The first installment features Edda Jakab, Christopher Saah and Nicolas F. Shi.
Curated by Ingrid Nuss and Ding Ren, The Turning the Page series will provide an opportunity to examine and explore more closely the work of select artists represented in the 2006 WPA\C Artist Directory.
When: Thursday, July 14, 7-9 PM
Where: Coldwell Banker - Dupont
1606 17th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20009
Exhibition hours: Mon-Fri 10am-6pm or by appointment (202) 387-6183
Wanna do a mural?
Deadline: September 1, 2005.
In fact the largest mural in Maryland!
The Baltimore Mural Program and Maryland General Hospital is seeking an artist or group of artists to design and execute the Maryland General Hospital mural: a 20,000 square-foot project, which will be the largest mural in Maryland.
Full RFP is posted here (click on "Arts" and then "Baltimore Mural Program").
For additional information, contact Ms. Randi Vega, BOPA Director of Cultural Affairs, at 410-752-8632 or rvega@promotionandarts.com.
Art Walk in Silver Spring
The fair Candy Keegan has a nice listing of today's Art Walk in Silver Spring.
Details here.
Monday, July 11, 2005
New England
Today was a spectacular New England day; the kind of day that makes one realize why they called this part of the nation New England. It looked, felt and smelled like the Home Counties, but prettier! (And I know, as I spent six weeks in Harrogate, England a few years ago).
Lectures and presentations and conferences went well; and I heard a question from a billionaire that I'd have thought would never be asked by someone in her tax bracket; she actually asked: "How much is that?"
Live and learn.
Next: Airborne from New Hampshire to Philly and Joneseying something fierce.
Chalk 4 Peace
"Chalk 4 Peace" - Chalk Painting Competition
The Mayor's Office on Asian Pacific Islander Affairs, the DC Commission for the Arts and Humanities and the Museum of Modern ARF are co-sponsoring a chalk painting competition at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library Promenade in Washington, DC on Friday, July 15, 2005 11:30 am - 4 pm.
More info here.
Wood
The "gun" fired by the punk in California that was heard around the art world and caused Chris Burden to freak out turns out to have been made of wood!
Read it here.
Burden, the shot and the whole event did inspire Bailey's I Shot Chris Burden online project.
Opportunity for Artists
Deadline July 31, 2005.
Afrika Midnight Asha Abney passes that there will be a community wide Art Exhibition at 21st & S St NW Washington, DC on 31 July. Free and Open to the public. Interested artists should contact Todd Smith at smitty11@gwu.edu.
Sunday, July 10, 2005
In New England
After an incredible start this morning that ended up in me having to buy a new ticket... that story later.
But I am here after a brief stop in New York City.
New England is absolutely gorgeous! My friend Rich (who's from Boston) picked me up at the airport, and even he was commenting how gorgeous New Hampshire looks.
Airborne today
Heading north to New England. Re-reading Vonnegut's Breakfast of Champions on the flight there.
Don't forget, today is the is the Bethesda Artists Market, inside Bethesda Plaza and around our gallery. From 10 - 5PM. Details here.
Saturday, July 09, 2005
Heading off
Tomorrow, Sunday July 10 is the Bethesda Artists Market, swing by and see 35 or 40 fine artists and craftsmen selling their work inside Bethesda Plaza and around our gallery. From 10 - 5PM. Details here.
I won't be there, as I am flying up North to New England for a while, and then to Colorado and finally to the Left Coast; I'll be back home by the end of July.
I'll continue to try to post from the road.
The Gallery
Last night we had a very large opening, although somehow all the sales took place today, although Saturdays are usually pretty quiet in Bethesda.
Seven
A couple of artists featured in Seven have emailed me and have found galleries interested in them! An unexpected benefit for them, but something that I knew was a possibility and thus why I asked my fellow gallerists to come and see the show, and why I dug deep into the WPA/C files for new names.
CNN will be doing a segment on Seven next week. I'll miss it as I will be somewhere out West, but Kim Ward from the WPA/C will represent! As soon as I have a viewing schedule, I'll pass it along.
Donations Needed
Artwork is needed to be donated for an online art auction to benefit the Whitman-Walker Clinic in DC, the leading provider of HIV/AIDS services in the DC metro area.
It's being forced to drastically reduce its services due to a shortage of funds. The Washington Blade's June 10th article has more details.
Artists who participate in the benefit to gain attention and promotion of their work through the auction and are listed in link to artists' own web pages. Email or call Basla Andolsun if you are interested or with questions. I intend to donate work and hope that some of you will do as well.
Mammaries
I've already heard good things about "Angst for the Mammaries," which opened yesterday at Touchstone Gallery, and where artists Candace Keegan, Adrienne Mills, Raymonde Van Santen, Amy Glengary Yang and Joyce Zipperer confront "growing angst over the artistic depiction of bare breasts in an era of diminishing personal freedom. Viewers are invited to explore and document their opinions on bare breasts in contemporary art and culture."
A discussion with the artists, moderated by Judy Jashinsky, will take place at 7 pm, on Friday, July 15, 2005.
Opportunity for Artists
1460 Wall Mountables
1460 Wall Mountables: DCAC's Annual Open Exhibit: July 29 - September 4, 2005.
DCAC Membership Benefit Opening: Friday, July 29th from 7-9 PM
Don't miss DCAC's annual fundraising event where you can show your art, sell your art, and compete with other artists to win $100! Buy your own 2' x 2' space or just come to the opening reception on July 29th. This is one of the best artists' opportunities in our city. Everytime that that I've done this show, I've sold all the work and had a great time in the process! Here's how it works:
· Each 2 ft. x 2 ft. space is only $10.
· DCAC members receive one free space.
· Become a DCAC member at the event and receive three free spaces for a total of four free spaces.
· Art must be 2 feet x 2 feet or smaller (spaces may not be combined.)
· All art must be wall mountable.
· $100 prize for the most interesting and innovative use of a 2' x 2' square.
· Artist may hang anytime Wednesday, Thursday or Friday, July 27, 28 between 2-7:00 PM and July 29 between 2 and 6.
· Spaces are available on a first come basis.
· Bring your own hanging tools.
Call 202/462-7833 for more information.
Friday, July 08, 2005
OPTIONS artists announced
Dr. Libby Lumpkin has selected the artists for the OPTIONS 2005 exhibition. Read the news release here.
The selected artists are listed below; I am familiar with a name or two, but do not know the work of any of them, except for Field's paintings in Strictly Painting V:
Bayo Abiodun
Judy Baumann
Jorge Benitez
Anne Benolken
Sheila Blake
Chad Caldwell
Kimberly Caputo
Tim DeVoe
Suzanna Fields
Lynn Galuzzo
Emily Hall
Lori Larusso
Ryan Mulligan
Mark Robarge
Lindsay Rogers
Amanda Sauer
Gary Thompson
George Tkbladze
Randy Toy
Susan Vaughan
Gallery Tales
A while back, at a very crowded opening in our Bethesda gallery, one of the persons in attendance was this huge man, dressed like Neo from the Matrix movies (all in black in some kind of Father Sarducci leather outfit). Long hair and a huge Satanic ornament around his neck-chain completed the costume, although with this dude, you could tell that he dressed like that normally.
Anyhoooo... As this Neo-wannabe is swishing around his huge six foot five frame in his leather skirts; drinking our Sangria from one end of the gallery to the other, he knocks down a small framed piece under glass.
It hits the floor, and because it's fairly small, the glass doesn't shatter. Neo-wannabe attempts to re-hang it as I approach him.
"That's OK," I say, "I'll take care of it," and as I re-hang it, I notice that the glass is chipped in one corner. No big deal, the art is OK, and after all, it was an accident. I wave off to the alarmed artist, who is on the other side of the gallery, but has noticed that her work was in harm's way.
Neo sees me notice the broken glass and says: "The glass was already broken."
I turn around, look up to his face, and say: "No sir, I framed these myself yesterday, and the glass was not broken, it just broke when it fell; that's OK we'll replace the glass."
Neo says: "No man, the glass was already broken."
I breathe deeply, trying to control the Brooklyn streets side of me. "The glass was not broken... all you had to say was 'I am sorry.'"
"No way!" says Neo, "the glass was already broken," and he starts to walk away.
I grab his leathered arm, and say to him: "Get out of my gallery."
He turns and looks at me a bit confused. "Get out of my gallery," I say again.
"Look man, OK, I am sorry," he mutters.
"Get out of my gallery," I say a little louder, and people are now nervously noticing the confrontation. He starts to walk away towards the door, as he gets by the front desk, he actually turns around and offers me his hand. "No hard feelings," he says.
Brooklyn is barely under control now, raging in my chest and scratching and itching to get out. Catriona Fraser, behind the desk, looks incredibly alarmed. "Please get out," I growl to Neo, "you don't know how close you are to an ass kicking."
He swishes out. I turn around to face our opening crowd of white-faced, silent art lovers, and try to find the place inside me to again try to sell some art.
Another day in the life of an art dealer.
Artists' Talk
Movies based on books -- not to mention plays, TV shows and even other movies -- are pretty common. Contemporary art exhibitions with literary roots are harder to find. Taking their inspiration from Jonathan Swift's 1726 satirical allegory "Travels Into Several Remote Nations of the World" (aka "Gulliver's Travels"), the artists' collaborative known as KIOSKdc is presenting "Traveling With Gulliver" at the D.C. Arts Center through July 24. The four artists, whose work involves installation, drawing, video and cartoon "chapters," will discuss the show and its themes on Sunday [July 10]at 3. Call 202-462-7833.For more info on District of Columbia Arts Center, visit their website.
-- Michael O'Sullivan
Thursday, July 07, 2005
Openings tomorrow
Tomorrow is Bethesda's time to showcase their galleries, as it is time for the Bethesda Art Walk, with 17 participating galleries and art venues.
Galleries will host their openings from 6-9PM.
Free guided tours begin at 6:30pm. Attendees can meet their guide at the Bethesda Metro Center, located at the corner of Old Georgetown Road and Wisconsin Avenue. Attendees do not have to participate in tours to visit Art Walk galleries.
We will host our Summer Group show, with new work by gallery and invited artists.
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
CNN to cover Seven
Since it is (apparently) of national interest... perhaps the local papers can consider it of local interest as well?
48
Tonight, when I got home from a really nicely fierce day, I had 48 emails from people who wrote to me that they had submitted a question to Steve Reiss, Asst. editor of the Style section of the Washington Post.
Since he only patronized my question (as far as the visual arts anyway), I recommend that you email your question to Mr. Reiss directly, while info'ing his boss (Deb Heard) and the Post's Arts Editor: John Pancake.
Heard can be emailed here: heardd@washpost.com
Pancake can be emailed here: pancakej@washpost.com
Reiss can be emailed here: reisss@washpost.com
Patronizing
Few things make me madder than someone patronizing me. Here's the Assistant Style Section editor's answer to my question:
Question: By the time that one adds up commercial art galleries, non-profit art galleries, alternative art spaces, embassy galleries, and cultural art center galleries, there are over 100 new art shows every month in the Greater Washington, D.C. area, making it one of the largest and most active visual art scenes in the nation.Now, do you see why this is a losing battle for our area's art galleries and our visual artists, when these sort of answers are being given?
And yet the Style section has diminished its already dismal gallery art coverage to a twice a month schedule by Jessica Dawson. And The Post's Chief Art Critic (Blake Gopnik) focuses exclusively on museum shows, and does not review local art galleries. By comparison, his colleagues at the NY Times and LA Times (for example) review both museums and their cities' local galleries. The Arts Beat column also focuses on arts news events and rarely on local galleries.
What can the Style section do to improve local gallery coverage, say to the same (or even 50%) of the level as local theatre coverage (which is covered in Style on a nearly daily basis)?
Steve Reiss: I understand that no one likes to hear that their gallery show isn't going to get reviewed. But while we've got a lot of talented critics and reporters in the Style section (Thank you, Don Graham!), we don't have enough people or money to cover everything we would like to and we have to make choices. Some of those choices are based on quality, some are based on popularity, some are based on the interests of the individual critics. A while back, we reconfigured one of Jessica Dawson's monthly columns so it would feature a half-dozen galleries instead of just one or two. As for Blake Gopnik, he is a prolific writer and I find it hard to argue that we should be giving up reviews of major museum shows so he can write more about galleries that have a much smaller audience.
By the way, the Jessica Dawson "reconfiguration" so that it would "feature a half-dozen galleries instead of just one or two:"
(a) predates Style reducing her coverage from weekly to twice-a-month, and
(b) I suspect was made by the WaPo following a suggestion that I discussed with their Arts Editor (a really nice guy and a very hardworking editor named John Pancake) when Ferd Protzman left the Galleries column... as a means to review more galleries.
WaPo site down
The WaPo website that takes the questions for Steve Reiss is down.
I suppose that you can try to email Mr. Reiss the questions here: reisss@washpost.com
URGENT!
Today, at noon, Steve Reiss, Asst. editor of the Style section of the Washington Post takes questions about arts coverage in the Washington Post.
This is an opportunity for those of us who have been concerned for years about the Style section dismal coverage of the visual arts, especially since the Galleries column went to a twice a month schedule, to ask Mr. Reiss as to why the Post does not cover the local visual arts to the same level as local theatre, music, performance, etc.
You can submit questions here. Please be intelligent and respectful.
Here is my question to Mr. Reiss:
By the time that one adds up commercial art galleries, non-profit art galleries, alternative art spaces, embassy galleries, and cultural art center galleries, there are over 100 new art shows every month in the Greater Washington, DC area, making it one of the largest and most active visual art scenes in the nation.
And yet the Style section has diminished its already dismal gallery art coverage to a twice a month schedule by Jessica Dawson. And the Post's Chief Art Critic (Blake Gopnik) focuses exclusively on museum shows, and does not review local art galleries. By comparison, his colleages at the NY Times and LA Times (for example) review both museums and their cities' local galleries. The Arts Beat column also focuses on arts news events and rarely on local galleries.
What can the Style section do to improve local gallery coverage, say to the same (or even 50%) of the level as local theatre coverage (which is covered in Style on a nearly daily basis)?
Devlin show in the news
Our current Andrew Devlin exhibition in Georgetown has received a couple of nice mentions in the press. Eliza Findlay writes here for The Connection newspapers, while Beverly Crawford writes here for the Times Community newspapers.
See the exhibition online here.
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
Wanna go to an opening?
Heather Levy opens at Cafe Luna tomorrow. The reception for Levy is from 7-9PM.
Cafe Luna is located @ 1633 P St., NW Washington, DC (202) 387-7400. The show runs until Aug. 6th, 2005
Inspiration
This next five city travel that I have commencing next Sunday will give me an opportunity to catch up on reading; with half a dozen flights involved, I can knock off at least six or seven books.
And I think that I will re-read one of my favorite books of all time: Gunter Grass' "The Flounder."
This will be my third or fourth reading of this fascinating book, which is sort of a macabre, dark re-telling of the story of the talking fish who grants wishes. It all begins in the Germanic Stone Age, when the magical, talking fish is caught by a fisherman at the very spot where millennia later Grass's home town, Danzig, will arise.
Like the fish, the fisherman is now immortal, and down through the ages they move together, as the fish teaches the fisherman art, and breaks him away from the power and dominance of Teutonic women. He then blends German history, cooking recipes and a healthy dose of darkness into a fascinating story, where at the end, so tired of the mess men have made of the world, the fish allows itself to be captured by three Socialist East German women, who promptly put him on public trial for offenses to womanhood.
This book, everytime that I read it, inspires artwork from me. Below is "Sieglinde Huntscha and The Flounder," circa 2000. About 5 x 20 inches, and somewhere in a private collection in Cleveland.
The Franz and Virginia Bader Fund
Deadline: September 30, 2005
The Franz and Virginia Bader Fund welcomes applications from visual artists aged 40 years or older, who live within 150 miles of Washington, D.C. and can demonstrate that they have the potential to benefit as artists from a grant.
The Franz and Virginia Bader Fund does not, however, accept applications from filmmakers, video artists, and performance artists. In December 2004 the Franz and Virginia Bader Fund awarded three grants, one of $20,000 and two of $15,000 each.
The deadline for applications is September 30, 2005. Application forms may be downloaded from the fund's web site: www.baderfund.org or may be requested by sending an email to grants@baderfund.org or by calling 202-288-4608.
Short (Busy) Week
I've got a hell of tight week for the next few days, as I am flying North to New England on Sunday afternoon and will be away for the next two weeks on a five city swing.
Bad timing for this trip, as I have some really fierce reasons to be home, but such is destiny.
In addition to my normal workload, because Catriona is in Scotland shooting (photos not deer), this week I have to deinstall the current Bethesda Painting Awards show, which ends tomorrow. The show did surprisingly well, with quite a few sales, especially multiple sales by transplanted New Yorker John Aquilino, who actually has a solo opening this coming Sunday at Strathmore. Then on Thursday I have to install the next Bethesda show, which is our annual Summer Group Show (opening is this coming Friday from 6-9PM).
I also got to prepare everything for the opening by the way...
Somewhere in there I got fit in meeting one of the major art collectors in the area, and give him a tour of Seven, as he's specifically interested in discovering some new work by our area artists, and I also have a deadline for the Crier newspapers, as well as a catalog intro essay deadline for an artist in New Orleans (the artist who won the huge Frida Kahlo exhibit that I juried for Art.com), picking up the fair Catriona from the airport as she returns from Scotland, and then deliver and install a ton of Tim Tate's recent sales.
And yet... one makes time for what's really important.
Close call
I have a "to do" list in my house closely approaching the size of a Stephen King novel, and so on Independence Day I decided to tackle a couple of the most immediate ones.
And thus I climbed the roof(s) to clean the gutters and install a gutter gard so I won't have to do this absolutely gross task every few weeks. Can you already see where this is going?
My house has three separate levels of roofs and five gutter lines, so I need one ladder to climb to the first roof, and a second ladder to reach the second level roof.
At the risk of blowing the ending to this story, let me remind you that I've already fallen off this roof once last year, when I was stung by a wasp and lost my balance and managed to fall and somehow not even get a scratch.
Yesterday, as I finished the top roof, and was climbing down to the lower roof, the ladder slipped, and as it did, my legs went in between the ladder steps as ladder and I rolled down the roof. I was able to stop rolling near the edge of the roof, but my lower legs sandwiched between the ladder steps received an immense pressure blow that really F%$&*@ hurt. I sat on the roof top just inhaling the pain and wondering how close death sometimes whizzes by us on a daily basis. Tonite my shin bones have a couple of blood knots on them the size of half a golf ball. I also managed to scrape the top layer of skin off the palm of my hands.
I've been shot at (twice: once in Brooklyn as a teen and once in Lebanon as a Navy officer); I've been in a helicopter crash at sea near Larnaca, Cyprus; I've capsized in a small boat in the Bay of Naples and a second time off Benidorm, Spain; I've fallen off a moving motorcycle in Monterey, California; I've been in a fight with three guys with knives who tried to mug me in a bathroom in Philadelphia; I've been hit by a car (resulting in an eight month stay at Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn); and I've been stung by a scorpion in a bed in Virgin Gorda, BVI.
And yet, it's the little, unexpected things like a slipping ladder, that remind you that life should be enjoyed everyday, lest darkness fall at the most unexpected time.
Kirkland on Seven
Thinking About Art has some really good photos from the Seven opening.
See them here.
Monday, July 04, 2005
Shoot and Sue
Photographer Philip-Lorca diCorcia is being sued by subject over a long-distance street shot. Read it here.
And loads of interesting comments on the general subject at Your Future is Used.
Bailey... ehr... being Bailey
Congrats to James W. Bailey, whose photograph Man on a Crutch has been published in the current issue of 3rd Floor Magazine, a terrific art/literary publication out of Baltimore. And below Bailey with a guest piece:
"All Ya’ll Yankees Are Warmly Invited to Come on Down South Anytime and See Ya’ Kin and ‘Kindred Spirits’!"
By James W. Bailey
Well, if there were any doubts, rest assured that American culture is up to its ass in alligators now, according to two recent Washington Post articles, "Upscale Tastes Invade Wal-Mart’s Hometown," and "Durand’s ‘Kindred Spirits’ Debuts at National Gallery."
It seems as though little ole Bentonville, Arkansas, the womb of all commercial things trash de blanc, is shedding its redder than redneck-trailer-park-gigantic-satellite-disc-in-the-front-yard-next-to-the-broke-down-pick-up-truck-on-cinder-blocks flyover state reputation as a shopping paradise for NASCAR worshipping Southern Baptist families with 2.1 children and 3.9 Rottweilers in favor of a more impressionable tourist destination as being the Rodeo Drive of the South that caters to upscale diamond-drenched gold-laced hot-springs-spa-relaxed divinely cultured Southerners whose parrot-head mullet-topped men have jettisoned their Jimmy Buffett “Margaritaville” muscle shirts designed for Budweiser induced pot-bellies and whose pregnant-before-13 women have abandoned their starched buffon hairdos and glued-on painted fingernails of Christ on the Cross for the more elevated continental experiences of dining on foreign owned exotic chain restaurant cuisine, buying pimped-out Confederate-glory-themed painted Hummers and, this is the really funny one, perusing and collecting real art in a gin-u-wine brand new “Painter of Light ™” inspired art gallery district!
And what’s inspiring this radical post-TVA electricity modernized hillbilly make-over of a place in the middle of nowhere named Bentonville, Arkansas? It may be the favorite American artists and art-museum-for-American-artists-only-dream of an Arkansan billionaire woman named Alice Walton.
As we have for generations said in Mississippi: “Thank God for Arkansas!”
A lot of strange, weird and funny things have been known to happen in the incestuous isolated coves of the Ozarks, but nothing is funnier in the pretentious liberal world of New York City ivory tower high art than watching the painfully serious inside art players like Michael Kimmelmann of the New York Times spin in a mesmerized panic when they’re facing a cultural crises that involves the collapse of civilization – the fall of the American high art empire in this case being the chance that some of the meaningless jobs and puffed-up reputations of New York City’s finest art elites may have to be exported across the Mississippi River to the gravel dirt road hinterlands of the Razorback State; and, man, are the Artfanistas spinning like a bunch of psychotic tops now that Alice Walton has “stolen” their precious “Kindred Spirits” from right out under their noses as a seed for future planting in the fertile American museum gumbo moonshine soil of Bentonville.
How in the world did this “travesty” happen?
Well, many of us cutting-edge right wing conservative artists (I know, you’re snickering in a foul mood about that phrase because you didn’t know we existed, right? Well, don’t blame us for your ignorance. Try directing that dismayed anger toward ArtForum, Flash Art and Art in America for keeping you in the dark!) have been arguing for quite some time that the next pivotal art movement in the continued hemorrhaging of the cultural divide in America will be the unstoppable rise of the right wing conservative contemporary artist and their concomitant support through a intricate sympathetic web of mega-rich Republican personalities and conservative foundations far removed from the debauched east coast urban liberal cultural mecca of New York City – and not to gloat and rub it in your face, but with the recent wonderful announcement from the Walton Family Foundation that a treasured piece of American art is going to be moved to the founding hometown of Wal-Mart, we finally get to tell you we told you so!
For far too long right wing conservative artists have been virtually ignored, or worse, violently marginalized, by the postmodern art establishment whose ground zero is in Manhattan. We took our hits and we patiently waited for our moment and we studiously drew our inspiration for future success by watching a lot of reality themed television shows like the “Survivor” and listening to far too much AM talk radio. The right wing political and cultural punditry, as exemplified by such good folk as Bill O'Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, etc., showed us the righteous path to our glorious victory by demonstrating an amazing level of skill and success at the mass-media level of entertainment.
These people are funny as hell and they're truly entertaining. The left can ridicule them all they want, but we all know that the left WATCHES and LISTENS to them.
Of course, we were as well - and we were also taking great notes.
But the dirty little secret in the world of leftist high art, however, was that for a very long time nobody was watching or listening to the celebrated corral of the usual suspect leftist artists but leftists; and as far as note taking went, it was mostly confined to the shallow recording the pretensions of the vapid.
Some of us out there in the heartland have been predicting the ascendancy of a group of critically reviewed right wing artists that will literally blow the roof off the art world with some high energy C-5 explosive art and draw Americans by the tens of millions into a new cultural mainstream of right wing avant-garde art.
The future is now and forget about stupid rotting sharks in tanks, people!
The Museum of Modern Art will have to change its name, undertake another capital campaign and maybe increase its size by eighty fold this time to accommodate the wild Daytona Beach-spring-break-party-style crowds that will turn out to see great conservative works of art, such as an installation performance piece jointly sponsored by the NRA (National Rifle Association) and the PBR (Professional Bull Riders) in which Ted Nuggent blows the heads off live wild deer with a .357 Smith & Wesson revolver with a laser scope in the Red, White and Blue Gallery of the Neo-Right Wing Conservative Museum of No More Bullshit Postmodern Art for Americans Only!
Although New York City (because it let its liberal arrogance induce its failure to see the bright future of American artists who are registered voting Republicans taking the art world by storm) will continue in its rapid decline as being a hot bed for creative artistic energy, at least the red flyover state of Arkansas got the message about where art in America is destined to head and will soon be rivaling the Left Bank of Paris in the early 20th Century as the place for all real artists to be to be seen, heard and discovered.
Hopefully, the Walton Family Foundation sponsored Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art will stimulate the fast-track ascendancy of right wing conservative artists into the mainstream of high art experiences; and, prayerfully, that new movement will quickly force disgruntled burned-out visionless leftist artists into underground caverns located among those mysterious coves of the Ozarks where they and their incestuous sycophant postmodern cheerleaders will be compelled to rethink their projects and approaches – similar to what’s happening at the political level in this country right now with the Democratic party.
Eventually, these left wing artists and their obliging art philosophers might return to the real world with a new energy and commitment to engaging a wider spectrum of thought and to delivering it to an earned audience that doesn’t jump up and down in masturbatory celebration of every dumb thing they create – but, honestly, I wouldn’t hold my breath too long hoping for that to happen because the peculiar disease of postmodern leftism in contemporary American art is a terminal condition that devours the minds of its deconstructed creators, as well as ravages the pretentious pedantic thoughts of its hyper-ventilating critical promoters, reductive therapy obsessed approving critics and Xanax zoned-out head-bobbing spiritually zapped ritually depressed fans.
But in the meantime, as a rock solid born-again hard-core right wing conservative artist from Mississippi who’s been empowered by the Holy Spirit to see the aesthetic future light of America, and who’s also extremely jealous and somewhat begrudgingly proud of this aggressive aesthetic action by my déclassé Arkansas brothers and sisters in Christ, I want to let all ya’ll Yankees in New York City know that you’re warmly invited to come on down South anytime to see your kin and “Kindred Spirits”. I’ll have my kin folk in Arkansas leave the front porch light on for you in case you get into town late.
"How ya’ll been doin’, darlin’? Welcome to Wal-Mart’s Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art! Ya’ll don’t forget now to stop by our two-hundred thousand square foot gift shop on the way out."
"‘Mam, we’ve runnin’ a three for one special on ‘Kindred Spirit’ Martex bath towels that ends today! And sir, the Automotive Department of the gift shop just got in yesterday some of those brand new NASCAR Thomas Hart Benton signature series seat covers for the Ford F-350. And ya’ll are especially blessed to be with us this mornin’ ‘cause in just thirty minutes the Reverend Jerry Falwell, one of America’s leading Christian art critics, will be presentin’ a lecture in the St. Ronald Reagan Conference Room #1 entitled, 'Modern Art Paintings That Jesus Would Hate and the Devil Would Love'."
"And please remember in the South we usually close down early in the evening during week days and we’re open till 6:00 pm on Saturdays, so plan your trip accordingly; of course, we’re closed all day on the Lord’s Day, except for Wal-Mart."
James W. Bailey
Experimental Photographer
