Opportunity for Artists: Bethesda Fine Arts Festival

Deadline December 15, 2005

The Bethesda Fine Arts Festival, takes place next May 13-14, 2006 and it is a great opportunity to exhibit, see and buy great original art from 160 artists from all over the nation.

I know this first-hand, as I've now done it twice and have sold a lot of work, and I guess about 35,000 to 40,000 people came to this year's festival, and I bet more will come next year as the word gets out. The time to prepare is now! as you will need slides, displays, etc.

Send a SASE to:

Bethesda Urban Partnership
7700 Old Georgetown Road
Bethesda, MD 20814

For more information call the festival Director, Catriona Fraser at 301 718-9651. Download application form here.

Openings this week

Tomorrow, Warehouse Gallery hosts the opening for Where is the Peace?, an exhibition by mostly DC area artists where the artists examine war and peace in our world through painting, sculpture, photography, installations and video. The exhibition runs from September 8 through October 2, 2005 and the Opening Reception is Thursday, September 8th from 6-8pm.

Also on Thursday, the Arts Program Gallery at the University of Maryland University College in Adelphi, MD has an opening reception from 5-7PM for glass sculptor Alan Binstock's solo exhibition titled "A celebration of glass, steel and stone." The show runs until October 2, 2005.

On Friday, September 9, 2005, it is time for the Bethesda Art Walk, with 13 participating galleries and art venues. A free guided tour is also offered. See details of the tour here. Tours will 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. Noteworthy this Friday is the fact that the $14,000 Trawick Prize(s) will be announced at the finalists' exhibition at the Creative Partners Gallery in Bethesda. The announcement ceremony and catered reception will be from 6-9PM. Also noteworthy is Neptune Gallery's solo exhibition for Scott G. Brooks titled "Jumping Through Hoops." Reception for Scott is from 6-9PM. We will host the return to the DC area of former area artist (now living in Philly) Michael Sprouse, who returns with an exhibition of new paintings. The catered reception for Sprouse is from 6-9PM.

Also opening on Friday, Sept. 9 is Julee Holcombe at Conner Contemporary in DC. The exhibition, titled "Homo Bulla (Man in a Bubble)" opens with a reception from 6-8PM and runs until Oct. 22, 2005.

Kendall Buster's "Model City" opens at Fusebox on Saturday, Sept. 10 with an opening reception from 6:30 - 8:30PM. The exhibition runs until October 22.

Also on Saturday, Transformer has video artist Jason Zimmerman' "Fair Game." This is Zimmerman's first solo show and he has taken footage from over 150 episodes of Fox TV’s reality show "Cops" to create a looped video projection of foot chases edited into one continuous sequence. According to Zimmerman: "the fast paced movement, and rough-cuts of each clip, stream endlessly into one another creating a scenario where the police and the criminals are caught-up in an endless game of cat and mouse." The opening reception is Saturday from 7-9 PM. Zimmerman will also have an artist's talk on Saturday, October 1, 2005, starting at 2PM.

Still on Saturday, Photoworks Gallery at Glen Echo has guest artists joining the Photoworks faculty in exhibiting their work in the Photoworks Gallery. Representing a range of media and artistic perspectives, the Faculty/Guest show is a celebration of the broader Washington area arts community and offers a window on the local artistic influences that have shaped the work of Photoworks photographers. Artists will be on hand at the opening reception to answer questions and discuss their work. Opening Reception Saturday, September 10 from 5:00 to 7:00 pm, and the exhibition runs until Sept. 28, 2005.

And Hemphill Fine Arts also has an opening on Saturday, from 6:30 - 8:30PM, when they host Renee Stout's Fragments of a Secret Life and Joseph Mills' Anarch Angel. The exhibitions run until Oct. 29th. George will also host a book signing and cocktail party (you must RSVP ) for Mills' book Loves of the Poets, on Tuesday, Sept. 20 from 6:30-8:30PM and an art talk and conversation with Renee Stout and Stephen Bennett Phillips (Curator of the Phillips Collection) on Saturday, Oct. 1 from 10-11:30PM (RSVP required and $12 per person).

And David Adamson has an opening for an old schoolmate of mine, Chuck Close (no, not same class, geez). The exhibition is titled A Couple of Ways of Doing Something and opens with a reception on Saturday from 6-8PM.

And the ubiquitous Mark Jenkins expands upon his current "Storker" exhibition at our Georgetown gallery by setting up an outside installation in the Canal Square (31st and M, NW), where he will set up an entire yard sale of tape sculptures. Jenkins intends to make a variety of the usual objects found in a real yard sale, but made out of tape. As part of the installation and event, Jenkins will then barter with buyers, like a real yard sale, and sell the tape sculptures after agreeing on a price. All proceeds will be donated to charity. The "yard sale" reception will be from 12-6PM. See ya there!

On Sunday, September 11, photographer Scott Lassman opens an exhibition from a new series of photographs entitled "Come Unto Me," which documents life over the past year at All Souls Unitarian Church in Mount Pleasant. The exhibition will be held in Pierce Hall at All Souls Unitarian Church on 16th & Harvard Streets, NW.

Also on Sept. 11, artist G.C. Myers is having an artist's talk at the Principle Gallery in Old Town Alexandria commencing at 1:30 PM.

If I missed anything of substance, email me.

Tate on TV

Well... his pad actually.

If you ever wanted to see Tim Tate's swank artists' condo, it will be appearing on HGTV Thursday night at 8pm on the show "Small Space, Big Style."

More Katrina Art Fundraisers

An update on Katrina Art fundraisers. Also Solarize This has a great listing here.

Matt Achhammer.

James W. Bailey.

F. Lennox Campello.

Warren Craghead.

Catriona Fraser.

Paul Goode.

Duane Kaiser and also here.

J.T. Kirkland.

Tracy Lee.

Heather Levy.

Gary S. Medovich.

Jiha Moon.

Alexandra Silverthorne.

Meghan Taylor

Samantha Wolov.

Medovich for Katrina

Gary Medovich steps up to the plate with two limited edition digital prints, each signed and numbered 3 from an edition of 25. Size is 16x20 inches. Each print is individually available and for sale to the highest bidder with all proceeds donated to the relief fund. Email your bid to Gary here.

The auction will close at noon next Monday, Sept. 13, 2005.

PostSecret

Frank Warren's Secret Project continues to roll!

The PostSecret Book, "PostSecret: Extraordinary Confessions from Ordinary Lives," is now available from Amazon.

Currently, it is in the top ten pre-orders on Amazon and is near the top 100 sales rank for all books.

Pre-order the book here.

And next December 15, 2005 through January 8, 2006, the WPA\C presents Post Secrets.

Opening Reception: Thursday, December 15, 2005 from 6-10pm
Fundraiser: Wednesday, December 14 from 6-10pm for Kristin Brooks Hope Center ($10 suggested donation)
Location: Former Georgetown Staples Store, 3307 M Street, NW, Washington, DC 20007
Exhibition Hours: Wed, Thurs, Fri 6-10pm, Sat & Sun 2-10pm

Closing the book on Seven

Now that Seven has ended, I wanted to do a littlre recap and toot my horn, and review what was accomplished by this massive show.

One of the goals of Seven was to expose as many new WPA/C artists as possible to the public. At least half of the artists included in Seven had never participated in a WPA/C exhibition before, and 24,000 slides later (twice-viewed) a full third of them were new names to me.

A second goal was as a fundraiser for the WPA/C, and this exhibition has, I am told, become their best selling gallery show ever. Among the dozens of sales made during the show, three of Washington's best-known power collectors and one major corporate buyer came away with artwork from Seven.

A third goal (my goal) was to bring some fellow gallerists to the exhibition, in the hope that they would find some new artists among the lot that I selected for the exhibition. To date, several artists that I know of have been picked up for (or offered) representation by DC area galleries (and one by a California gallery!).

Furthermore, the focus of the "Text" gallery in Seven has become of interest to a couple of area curators, and look for that group of artists to push the theme and focus in an area art venue soon, and later in a Virginia museum.

Seven was widely reviewed in the press, with the expected range of flavors from such a large exhibition, from the expected dismissal by the WaPo, to online reviews by G.P. and by The Artery, to a rousing endorsal of a review by The Georgetowner.

The show was also discussed on CNN and was filmed as part of a new art documentary film.

And, although the City Paper did not review this massive show (tsk, tsk), they did profile several of the artists who came across to their writers and critics' attention through Seven (such as Samantha Wolov and Ben Tolman).

And last but not least, a rousing "well done!" to Kim Ward of the WPA/C for busting her tail in all aspects of this show, as well as to my two co-curators, Sandra Fernandez and Adrian Schneck, and to the the Rupert family for the generous donation of their magical spaces.

Where is the Peace? Opens on Thursday

Warehouse Gallery hosts Where is the Peace?, an exhibition by mostly DC area artists where the artists examine war and peace in our world through painting, sculpture, photography, installations and video. The exhibition runs from September 8 through October 2, 2005 and the Opening Reception is this coming Thursday, September 8th from 6-8pm.

Artists in the exhibit include:

John Aaron, Sondra Arkin, Joan Belmar, Ib Benoh, Gabriela Bulisova, Cynthia Carter, Randi Cecchin, Travis Childers, Richard L. Dana, John De Fabbio, Michele de la Menardiere, Rick Delaney, Laura Elkins, John Hayes, Matt Hollis, Djakarta Jacobs, Michael Janis, Mark Jenkins, Joroko, Maria Karametou, Joanne Kent, George Koch, Katya Kronick, Heather Levy, Rosetta McPherson, Gary S. Medovich, Joseph Merchlinsky, Rosa Naparstek, Claudia Olivos, Dino Paxenos, Rob Redding, Ann Ruppert, Rolf Rykken, Hussein Saidi, Anita M. Schmied, Alexandra Silverthorne, Fierce Sonia, Kim Stark, Ann Stoddard, Karen Joan Topping, Ruth Trevarrow, Ellyn Weiss, and Andrew Wodzianski.

Opportunity for Artists

Deadline: September 15, 2005.

UNLOCKED: Open Exhibition 2005, Arts Council of Fairfax County.

Artists from DC, MD, or VA are encouraged to apply. Artists working in any media can submit up to four (4) slides, the first two (2) will be considered for exhibit.

This year's Juror is Andrea Pollan, independent curator and past Exhibitions Director at the McLean Project for the Arts. Cash prizes totaling $2000. Entry Fee: $35 (waived for current members). Exhibition will take place November 4 – December 2, 2005. For more information, please contact ajerardi@artsfairfax.org or 703.642.0862 x 5. The prospectus is also available on their website.

Jiha Moon for Katrina

Curator's Office next hosts the exhibition Symbioland: Works by Jiha Moon. The exhibition opens on Saturday, September 10 and runs through October 15, 2005. A reception for the artist takes place on Saturday, September 10, from 6 to 8 pm.

As part of the exhibition, they will donate the proceeds from the sale of the piece "Tie the Knot" to a charity helping the victims of Katrina. See the image below:



Curator's Office micro-gallery Hours are Wednesday - Saturday, 12 - 6 pm and by appointment.

Curator's Office
1515 14th Street NW
Suite 201
Washington, DC 20005
www.curatorsoffice.com
tel - 202.387.1008
fax - 202.387.1066

Lichtenstein Painting Slashed in Austria

A German woman from Munich visiting the Kunsthaus Bregenz exhibition "Roy Lichtenstein — Classic of the New" in Austria pulled a pocket knife from her purse and delivered several slashes to a painting by Pop artist Roy Lichtenstein.

Read the story here.

Catriona for Katrina

The fair Catriona Fraser has one of her spectacular infrared photographs from her "Seven Celtic Nations" project on auction with all proceeds to be donated to the The Southern Arts Federation's Emergency Relief Fund to assist arts organizations and artists residing in Gulf Coast communities most devastated by Hurricane Katrina.


Bid for "Balvenie Castle, Scotland" here.

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Keegan for Katrina

The fair Candace Keegan has one of her sensual paintings up for auction at her website, with all proceeds going to the American Red Cross.


Bid for it here.

Bailey on Katrina

If Art Blogs were eligible for Pulitzers, then I'd vote for Black Cat Bone, who is doing an amazing job reporting from inside the devastation and focused on the effects upon the area's art world.

Read it all here.

More Katrina Art Fundraisers

Two new artists in the below listing of area artists who are having artwork for sale/auction and who will donate the proceeds to a reputable charity to help with the Katrina disaster. If anyone else knows of anybody else, please email me. Be generous. The new artists are Heather Levy and Meghan Taylor. Also Solarize This has a kicking listing here.

Matt Achhammer

James W. Bailey

F. Lennox Campello

Warren Craghead

Paul Goode

Duane Kaiser and also here.

J.T. Kirkland.

Tracy Lee

Heather Levy.

Alexandra Silverthorne

Meghan Taylor

Samantha Wolov

ArtsMedia News Returns

The second season of the TV show ArtsMedia News returns in a couple of weeks, and we'll be videotaping a segment next week.

As some of you know, I am the talking head (or often voice) discussing the Greater DC area art scene, doing reviews of area shows or interviewing DC area artists and curators.

The show airs on Thursdays at 8:30PM and and Saturdays at 8:30AM on the MHz TV Network.

In some of the next few segments, we'll be covering the Alexandria Festival of the Arts next weekend, and later on I'll be taking the camera crew (maybe next month) through some of the openings of the Dupont Circle galleries on their First Friday Art Walk.

Bethesda Artist Market Returns Sept. 11

On Sunday, September 11, 2005, from 10am-5pm, the Bethesda Artist Market returns to Bethesda Place Plaza, 7700 Wisconsin Ave, Bethesda (one block from the Bethesda Metro stop). The event features artwork and fine crafts for sale by nearly 30 regional and local artists working in painting, photography, jewelry, turned wood, blown glass, metalwork and mixed media.

Details here.

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Arts on Foot Returns September 17

Arts on Foot is a one-day event on September 17, 2005 from 11AM-5PM celebrating arts in the Penn Quarter. The event takes the place both as a street festival and in neighborhood venues and institutions between 4th and 14th Streets, from Pennsylvania Avenue to L Street.

The Art Market is located in the "T-Shaped" Street Festival adjacent to the Hotel Monaco and National Portrait Gallery (currently closed):

Street Festival Location:
F Street, NW between 7th and 9th Streets
8th Street, NW between E and F

In addition to the Art Market artists, museums, restaurants and theaters will have activities in the Street Festival and there will be a stage with music and dance performances.

Details here.

Dawson on Coble

Jessica has a very good interview with Mary Coble in yesterday's WaPo. Read it here.


More on Coble at Conner Contemporary here.

Emergency Relief Fund to assist arts organizations and artists

I'll be donating all the proceeds from my Katrina art auctions (plus my own donations) to the Southern Arts Federation.

The Southern Arts Federation has established an Emergency Relief Fund to assist arts organizations and artists residing in Gulf Coast communities most devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

Distribution and decisions on the use of funds will be made by state arts agencies. Donations may be made by check or credit card. Please make checks out to: Southern Arts Federation Emergency Relief Fund.

All donations are tax-deductible. Please, click on the following link to complete the donation form -- here.

David Dombrosky
Contemporary Arts Manager
Southern Arts Federation
1800 Peachtree Street NW
Suite 808
Atlanta, GA 30309
404-874-7244 ext. 22
FAX 404-873-2148

Katrina Art Fundraisers

Below is a listing of area artists who are having artwork for sale/auction and who will donate the proceeds to a reputable charity to help with the Katrina disaster. If anyone else knows of anybody else, please email me. Be generous.

Matt Achhammer

James W. Bailey

F. Lennox Campello

Warren Craghead

Paul Goode

Duane Kaiser and also here.

J.T. Kirkland.

Tracy Lee

Alexandra Silverthorne

Samantha Wolov

DCist looking for art writers

DCist is looking to improve its visual arts coverage, but in order to do that they need writers who are qualified and willing to review galleries, art venues and museum shows.

If you are interested, contact Rob Goodspeed at Rob@DCist.com.

Katrina Art back up at Ebay

I've relisted the artwork that Ebay removed yesterday.

See and bid for one or both of them here. All proceeds will be donated to a reputable Katrina relief fund.


Bid for the Kahlo oil here


Bid for The Morrigan here

Also opening today

JET Artworks has the opening for GO FIGURE! – a group exhibition of 22 artists running from August 31 – October 8.

This exhibit is a survey of artists working in a variety of media – painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, and video – all using the human form, face, or figure in some way.

There will be two receptions – September 2 and 9, 6-8pm. JET Artworks is located at 2108 R St. NW 202.232.4407 / hours are Wed-Sat 12-6, Sunday 12-4PM.

Katrina and the Arts

Just follow Bailey's Blog and you'll begin to shake inside your soul at the destruction and loss.

Bailey is doing a spectacular job so far in leading the Arts BLOG reporting from inside the destruction area.

And we all knew that he would, didn't we?

Auctions cancelled by Ebay

In case you're wondering what happened to the two auctions that I had going, to raise some funds for the Katrina victims, they have been terminated by Ebay. They sent me the below email:

We appreciate that you chose eBay to list the following listing(s):

7347481288 - The Morrigan signed Celtic print 4 Katrina Relief Fund
7347617747 - 1981 Frida Kahlo oil portrait signed 4 Katrina relief

However, your listing was in violation of eBay's Charity policy and has been removed from eBay. We have credited all associated fees to your account and notified eBay users associated with the transaction that it has been cancelled.

We would like to take this opportunity to let you know what part of your listing is not permitted.

Your listing(s) contains the following information:

Title States: Katrina Relief Fund
Description States: All proceeds from this auction will be donated to one of the charities helping with the effects of Hurricane Katrina.
Title States: Katrina relief

I've asked Ebay why they terminated it; perhaps they have a blanket policy like this in order to avoid scams.

Update: I've relisted both items. Bid for them here.

Openings

Tomorrow is the first Friday of September and thus usually time for the openings and extended hours of the Dupont Circle area galleries. However, because of the holiday weekend, it seems that some of the area galleries are having the opening receptions next week sometime. Make sure to check their websites for the correct times.

Anyway, I've already mentioned the Mary Coble performance at Conner. This is also the last few days to see the "Introductions" exhibition at Irvine; this is the acclaimed show of some talented young artists who have recently graduated from art colleges on the East coast. The show closes Sat. Sept. 3, 2005.

A few doors down, Washington Printmakers has "Interior Alternatives," recent monoprints and monotypes by Carolyn Pomponio, and they are having a reception for the artist from 6-9PM.

Also on Friday, Monument Snowboards is having their End of Summer Bash at Club FIVE, located at 1214-B 18th Street, NW Washington, DC. Why am I mentioning that event here? Because Kelly Towles, Adam Stab, and Ron Thompson will be exhibiting work at the party, and get this: They're having an open bar from 9:30 to 10:30PM! You can pay $5 instead of $10 if you go here and RSVP. Please go and support a small indie snowboard company and the artists; all for $5 for on open bar hour of fun!

There are loads of new openings next week, both in the District and in Bethesda; check later for those times and places.

Kahlo for Katrina Relief

I've put a second piece of my artwork online at Ebay to raise funds for the victims of Katrina. This piece is an original oil wash on gessoed paper that I did when I was a student at the University of Washington School of Art. It measures 19x15 inches and it is matted to 24x20 inches in a white, pH-balanced, acid free mat.


Bid for it here

The piece is part of my well-documented obsession with the image of Frida that started in 1977 when I first visited Mexico City. It has a very low starting bid price.

Artwork for Katrina Relief Fund

Following the lead of a few other DC area artists, I am putting one of my pieces of artwork for bid on Ebay, and I will donate all proceeds of this and other forthcoming auctions to one of the many relief funds for the victims of Katrina.

On auction is a signed, limited edition print titled "The Morrigan," from my Pictish Series. It has a very low starting bid!

"The Morrigan" is a limited edition, signed and numbered print on paper. Signed, titled, numbered (3 of 10) and dated 2005 in pencil recto on front and also signed, dated and titled in pencil recto on verso. Comes with a Certificate of Authenticity and Provenance. Stamped with artist's stamps on verso. The signed print is 3 x 12 inches on 60 weight paper. Matted in a pH-balanced, acid free white mat to 8x20 inches.


Bid for The Morrigan here

The 2005 Trawick Prize

10 Finalists Compete for $14,000 in Prize Money!

Ten finalists will display their artwork at The Trawick Prize: Bethesda Contemporary Art Awards exhibition held at Creative Partners Gallery in downtown Bethesda. The top four winners will be awarded $14,000 in prize monies making this visual art competition one of the largest in the nation. The exhibition will run from September 6 –30, 2005, with a public opening scheduled for Friday, September 9 from 6-9pm in conjunction with the Bethesda Art Walk.

Creative Partners Gallery is located at 4600 East-West Highway in downtown Bethesda, and gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 12-6pm.

Nearly 400 artists from Maryland, Virginia and Washington D.C. submitted work to the third annual Trawick Prize. The first place winner will be awarded $10,000, second place will be honored with $2,000 and third place will be awarded $1,000. A "young artist" whose birth date is after April 8, 1975 will also be awarded a $1,000 prize sponsored by our Fraser Galleries.

The 10 artists selected as finalists are:
Christine Buckton Tillman, Baltimore, MD
Bernhard Hildebrandt, Baltimore, MD
Dean Kessmann, Washington, D.C.
Michele Kong, Baltimore, MD
Gabriel Martinez, Washington, D.C.
Maggie Michael, Washington, D.C.
Jiha Moon, Annandale, VA
Daniel Sullivan, Baltimore, MD
Sonia Denise Tassin, Baltimore, MD
Jason Zimmerman, Washington, D.C.

Entries were juried by Olga Viso, Director of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden; Andrea Pollan, an independent curator, fine arts appraiser and art consultant and Dr. Thom Collins, Executive Director of the Contemporary Museum in Baltimore, MD. Catriona Fraser, my business partner and co-owner of the Fraser Gallery with locations in Bethesda and Georgetown, is the non-voting Chair of The Trawick Prize.

The Trawick Prize was established by Carol Trawick in 2003. Ms. Trawick has served as a community activist for more than 25 years in downtown Bethesda. She is Chair of the Bethesda Arts & Entertainment and past Chair of the Bethesda Urban Partnership, Inc. Ms. Trawick is the owner of an Information Technology company in Bethesda, Trawick & Associates. She is also the generous sponsor of the annual Bethesda Painting Awards.

The second annual Trawick Prize was held in September 2004. David Page from Baltimore, MD, was awarded the 2004 "Best in Show" with $10,000; Jeff Spaulding of Bethesda, MD was named second place and was given $2,000; Randi Reiss-McCormack of Lutherville, MD was bestowed third place and received $1,000, and the 2004 "Young Artist" award of $1,000 was given to Marci Branagan of Baltimore, MD.

For more information, please visit www.bethesda.org or call 301/215-6660.

Slides from Digital Files

A few years ago I posted about making slides from your digital files. It was available through Slides.com.

And now Colorslide.com can make slides from your digital files for as low as $1.65.

Mary Coble's blood

When I was in art school at the University of Washington in Seattle, one of the practices that was in vogue at the cool art places outside campus were "blood etchings," where one would use a scalpel to "draw" on someone's skin (usually the back), very lightly, so that it would just barely open the skin and cause a thin line of blood to appear. Then paper would be applied to the finished "drawing," and a blood etching would be produced. With luck, a second "ghost" image was also then produced.

This Labor Day weekend, at Conner Contemporary, Mary Coble brings that practice to spectacular new heights and will stage a live performance in which hundreds of names of murdered GLBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual, and trans-gendered) hate-crime victims will be continuously inscribed all over her body, using a tattooing needle without ink. The action will continue for a period of over ten hours, beginning at 6pm on Friday, September 2nd. The gallery will be open until 8pm that evening. The entire event will be webcast live here.

Throughout the performance contact blood impressions will be made on paper after the tattooing of each name. An exhibition of the prints and performance documentation will then be on view from September 9 - October 22, 2005.

Great Art at Great Prices

Bid online for terrific art at great prices in a benefit auction for Whitman-Walker Clinic.

Bid here.

Interviews

DC's Pretty City has a terrific profile of the Vancouver's street srt scene with interviews of artists weakhand, the dark, Office Supplies Inc. and nokin.

Read it here.

And Dana Ellyn Kaufman answers questions at Black Cat Bone.

And earlier Bailey had Matt Sesow here.

Brutal

I have a brutal work week this whole week, and next week the Campello sisters are coming to visit.

Tons of new shows opening as the art season begins this Friday. Check later for more details.

Silverthorne at 2AM

Alexandra has a great idea!

And she's not even in the shower!

Read her idea here.

Tape Guy in the news

Mark Jenkins' current exhibition in our Georgetown gallery will be next week's "Best Bet" in WETA TV's Around Town program and also the "Hot Pick" of the week by the Washington Times.

MSAC Hosts Visual Artists' Registry

One of the largest registries of its kind, this free resource for regional artists seeking to promote their work and hosted by the Maryland State Arts Council, has been successfully connecting artists with curators, collectors, and buyers for more than 20 years.

With a steadily growing artist membership, MSAC and MAP are able to provide ready access to the images, resumes, and other relevant documentation of nearly 1,800 active artists in the region. The in-house Resource Center is open to the public and free of charge, Tues - Sat, 11am - 5pm. During regular hours appointments are recommended, but not necessary. For info, email them at registry@mdartplace.org or call 410-962-8565.

Opportunity for Artists

Deadline: Friday, October 7, 2005

Arlington Arts Center - Drawing: Tradition and Innovation. Exhibition Dates: November 15, 2005 to January 7, 2006.

All artists living or working in Virginia, Maryland, Washington, D.C., West Virginia, Pennsylvania, or Delaware are invited to enter. Drawings in any media on any kind of ground will be considered. No size restrictions, but work must fit through a standard double doorway. Outdoor works will also be considered.

Artists may submit slides or CD, application form, resume, and application fee. To obtain more information or to download a prospectus, visit their website at www.arlingtonartscenter.org, or call them at 703/248.6800.

For more info:
Arlington Arts Center
3550 Wilson Blvd
Arlington, VA 22201

Prospectus here.

Gallery Talk Tomorrow

Don't forget that the artists in the "Text" gallery of the Seven exhibition will be having a gallery talk about their work tomorrow starting at 2PM. Refreshments, art and art talk! All free and open to the public.

Molly Springfield, JT Kirkland, Denise Wolff, Mark Cameron Boyd and Michael Janis will discuss their artwork and themes. Warehouse Gallery 1021 7th St, NW, Washington, DC 20001.

Drawing Session tomorrow

Mr. Dave Quammen of MOCA in Georgetown, will be hosting an open drawing session at Light Street Gallery, 1448 Light Street, in Baltimore, on Sunday, September 18, 2005, from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm. There will be a live model for this session; the fee is $10.00 per artist.

To RSVP and for more info contact Dave Quammen at 202.966.0366 - 202.361.3810 cell - or email him at figuremodel@verizon.net.

Katzen

Submission guidelines for submissions to be considered for future shows at the American University Museum are posted here.

Submissions should be mailed to:

Jack Rasmussen
Director and Curator
American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center
4400 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20016-8031

Silverthorne on Fitts

Alexandra Silverthorne interviews Seven artist Michael Fitts.

Read the interview here.

Jacobson on Bailey

In the WCP, Louis Jacobson delivers a superb review of J.W. Bailey's current show in Reston.

Read the review here.

Text Gallery Talk

Featured artists from the "Text Gallery" in the current WPA/C group show SEVEN host a reception on Sunday, August 28, 2.00pm.

Molly Springfield, JT Kirkland, Denise Wolff, Mark Cameron Boyd and Michael Janis discuss their artwork and themes. Warehouse Gallery 1021 7th St, NW, Washington, DC 20001. Free to public.

See ya there!

Plane Pics

Herewith some plane shots from the flight from El-lay [The City of Angels] to San Diego.

So we take off from LAX


And we follow the coastline to San Diego


And we're about to land in San Diego


And as we are about to land, I notice how much the plane's engine looks like a shark!



And the plane has almost landed; safe and sound!

Plastic Photos

Herewith some photos from the Mark Jenkins opening last Friday. Later tonite I'm heading to Bergamot Station for some gallery meetings.

The fair Catriona Fraser


DCAC's Kristina Bilonick and her friend Paula


Plastic Man Assaulting Me


Solarize This' Alexandra Silverthorne having fun

Lots more opening photos here and J.T. Kirkland's review of the show here along with reviews of several other shows.


And the famous car, wearing one of those red clown noses that have been popping in sculptures and statutes all over town

In La-la Land

I'm running on two hours sleep, exhausted and thinking of a yellow moon.

More later... I promise.

Storker Photos

Alexandra Silverthorne has some photos of the Storker opening last Friday.

See them here.

Plastic Opening


In spite of the rain, last night's opening for Mark Jenkins and his plastic tape car was the largest one so far this year. I will have lots of photos up later, but meanwhile above is a shot of Mark being videotaped as part of the art documentary being filmed by Deno Seder.

The car couldn't be fitted through the gallery doors, so it was parked outside on the Square. It was then removed last night and will be parked somewhere in DC throughout the rest of the exhibition.

More photos and the car's location later.

Openings tonight

Don't forget that the five Canal Square Galleries have their extended hours and/or openings tonight from 6-9PM.

The five galleries are inside the Canal Square at 31st Street and M in G'town.

We will have Mark Jenkins.



See ya there!

Jacobson on our Summer Show

The WCP's Louis Jacobson reviews our current Annual Summer Group Show at our Bethesda gallery.

Read the review here.

Jacobson also reviews the current Academy 2005 show at Conner.

Read that review here.

Hsu on Wolov

The Washington City Paper's Huan Hsu has a cool article on Seven artist Samantha Wolov in the current issue of the CP.

Read it here.

Backers

In the last few days I've had a couple of emails from separate artists asking if I knew who the "backers" of a local gallery are.

What's a "backer," you may ask?

A backer is someone, usually an anonymous partner (often with more money than sense), who backs the gallery with money, so that the risky business of staying afloat as a business can be accomplished while at the same time dancing on the leading edge of visual culture.

Anecdote: I was once giving a DC area museum director a ride to his/her home, as the director had come to visit the gallery to look at our show. On the ride home, we started to discuss area galleries, and to gossip about them.

"So you guys are doing pretty well," the director notes, "with two galleries and all."

"It's a lot of work," I answered.

"So," says the director looking at me, "who's your backer?"

I looked at the director with a slight grin on my face, as I've been asked this question a million times before and I have such a good answer.

"For our first gallery in Georgetown," I began to answer, "it was Mr. Visa and Mr. Mastercard."

"For the large, new Bethesda gallery," I continued, "it was Southern Financial Bank's loan officer!" (We paid the entire loan off in our first year at Bethesda, by the way, as I hate owing money).

The director looked at me with a strange look, obviously a little disconcerted by the look of childish glee on my face.

Anyway... back to "backers."

In the last two or three months we have been approached by two separate individuals offering to "back us" in opening a gallery in Florida. One "backer" wanted to back a Fraser Gallery in Miami, while the second one offered to back us in opening a gallery in West Palm Beach.

We turned them down, naturally, it's already too much work running two galleries, and of course, with any "backer" comes a loss of total control of the business; money talks.

Mini Dawsons

Jessica Dawson has a few mini reviews in today's WaPo.

Read them here.

Gallery Director Needed

Artstaffing.com is currently seeking to fill a Gallery Director position for an important Washington, DC client of theirs.

The Gallery Director must have at least five years of experience in contemporary galleries. Excellent client relations, the willingness to develop and implement new
projects and initiatives and the ability to take the gallery "to the next level" are essential. A self-motivated approach and a BA in Art History or related strongly preferred; some experience in NYC or LA galleries and art fairs a plus. Salary $40K plus escalating commission rate.

Please send resume with detailed cover letter and names of three references to recruiters@artstaffing.com or call 212-779-7059 for more info.

Wanna work on a mural?

Every Saturday from 3 to 7pm this summer, a mosaic mural is being erected at 13th and Good Hope Road, SE. The mural is made completely of mosaic materials found from around the city. These materials include bathroom tiles, flat colored glass, old china, bottlecaps, seashells, keys and much more.

The project needs volunteers who are interested in helping create the mural. No drawing or art experience necessary!

Material donations are also welcome, especially small bathroom tiles and flat colored glass (scraps are fine too)... especially the color red! All material donations will be picked up and tax receipts are available upon request.

This mural is made possible by a grant from the DC Commission of Arts and Humanities, Facilitating Leadership in Youth (FLY), and Art on the Block.

for more info:
DC Commission on Arts and Humanities
Jill Blankespoor
blankespoor@yahoo.com

Studio Gallery looking for a new director

Deadline: Thursday, September 15, 2005.

Studio Gallery, the longest-established artist-owned cooperative gallery in the metropolitan Washington D.C. area, located in Dupont Circle, seeks a part-time Director to start work September 2005.

This person would be the public face of a gallery known for over 40 years for its standard of excellence as well as its mission to promote outreach and education in the visual arts.

Areas of responsibility : management and coordination of gallery operations, sales and marketing, liaison with artists, exhibitions and public relations . The candidate should have a background in and enthusiasm for the visual arts and good communication, organizing and writing skills. Computer literacy, including familiarity with website and graphic technology, is essential. Base Salary plus Commission

Please contact: Andrea Kraus, ARKRAUS@aol.com or 301.229.7878

Or submit resume, references and one-page writing sample to Andrea Kraus at the mailing address below:
Studio Gallery
Andrea Kraus
7701 Oldchester Road
Bethesda, MD 20817
t: 301.229.7878 or arkraus@aol.com or www.studiogallerydc.com

August

August always gets a bad rap as being a slow month for the visual arts around here. It's not true. There are a few exhibitions around our area that I need to get to in the next few days:

1. Academy 2005: The First Five Years at Conner Contemporary Art. The annual invitational survey of work by recent graduates in Washington/Baltimore area college art programs. The exhibition's curator and founder, Jamie L. Smith has selected paintings, drawings, digital photography, sculpture and performance art by the following artists: Jason Bulluck – Howard University, Andrew Haskell – Georgetown University, Stephanie Hulbert – Catholic University, Patrick Kelly – The George Washington University, Maki Maruyama – Corcoran College of Art and Design, Jenna McCracken – The George Washington University, Julia Rommel – American University, Zach Storm – Corcoran College of Art and Design, Kate Taylor – Maryland Institute College of Art, Bret Webb – Maryland Insititute College of Art, and Virginia Warwick – University of Maryland.

This year’s special anniversary celebration also features new work including video, drawing, and photography from the following past Academy shows 2001 – 2004 alumni: Lisa Bertnick - Corcoran College of Art and Design- Academy 2001; Karin Horlbeck - Maryland Institute College of Art - Academy 2002; Noah Angell - Corcoran College of Art and Design - Academy 2003; and Mary Coble -The George Washington University - Academy 2004.

2. "Burnversions" - Solo Exhibition of "Rough Edge Photography" by James W. Bailey at the Reston Community Center.

3. The Human Form at Touchstone Gallery and juried by Anne Goodyear, Ph. D., Assistant Curator at the National Portrait Gallery.

4. Beyond Synergy at the Anne C. Fisher Gallery in Georgetown.

Bailey on Mark Cameron Boyd

Bailey has an excellent interview with Seven artist Mark Cameron Boyd.

Read it here.

Congratulations


To our area's own Michael Brand, the head of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, who has been selected to serve as the new director of the Getty Museum.

New Washingtonian editor

DCist reports that Garrett Graff, editor of Fishbowl DC, announced yesterday that he'll be scaling back his duties at the Mediabistro blog to take over as editor-at-large of the Washingtonian magazine.

Washingtonian magazine currently does an abysmal job of visual arts coverage of the Greater Washington, DC area. Essentially it consists of a couple of pages of museum show listings.

They do a brilliant job of restaurant reviews, theatre reviews, book reviews, etc. But as usual, our visual arts scene is completely ignored for the most part.

It is my hope that this talented new editor will be willing to augment the magazine's local cultural coverage to include a monthly gallery and museum review column. If anything, I think that he will bring some refreshing new tools, ideas and vigor to the magazine.

Silverthorne on our Summer Group Show

Alexandra Silverthorne checks in with a review of our current Annual Summer Group Show at Fraser Bethesda.

Read the review here.

Opportunity for (some) artists

Deadline: August 29, 2005.

Intermedia Arts is looking for five to seven female artists from Mexico, Somalia, and the former Soviet bloc to exhibit their work as part of the Immigrant Status: Faith in Women exhibition.

Website: www.intermediaarts.org; e-mail: sandy@intermediaarts.org Phone:(612) 871-4444

Publishing company looking to purchase or commission artwork

Deadline: August 31, 2005

American Technical Publishers, a publishing company, is looking to purchase or commission artwork that explores the theme of learning, teaching, apprenticeship, sharing knowledge, technical skills, or vocational/technical trades.

Artwork and subject matter must be suitable for a corporate and diverse environment. Electronic submissions preferred, either by web address or a PC-formatted CD, but slides will be accepted as well. Send work with pricelist and/or proposal and pricing for commisioned art with SASE or contact:
Jennifer M Hines
American Technical Publishers
1155 W 175th St
Homewood IL 60430

E-mail: jmh@americantech.net
Website here.

Coldiron

One of the stitches that make up a city's cultural tapestry is alternative art venues, and smart artists realize this to showcase their work, as the worst place for an artist's work is put away somewhere other than being showcased. There are lots of such alternative art venues all around our area.

An exhibition of sculptural fused glass artwork by Cindy Ann Coldiron will be presented through October 11, 2005 at Cox Communications, 3080 Centerville Road (first floor) in Herndon, Virginia.

This exhibit showcases the movement and rhythm in the unique pattern and designs in kiln fired glass. In this exhibit, one can observe everything from glass "boats" to vivid seaflowers. The focal point of the exhibit is the group of twelve spring inspired glass tiles and glass bars on aluminum.

This exhibit is sponsored by the Arts Council of Fairfax County. Appointments to see the exhibit must be made in advance through Alice Webb, Corporate Art Program Manager at 703-642-0862 (ext 8) or via email at awebb@artsfairfax.org.

Bailey, Bailey, Bailey...

Bailey at his best.

Read it here.

Metcalfe on Tolman

One of the most unique pieces in Seven is a spectacular drawing by Ben Tolman titled "Garden of Earthly Delights."

This is one artist with a singularly interesting Crumbesque vision. The current issue of the City Paper has a terrific piece on Tolman by John Metcalfe.

Read it here.

I bought three Tolmans at DCAC's current Wall Mountables show.

Seven side effects

One of the goals that I had hoped to accomplish for Seven (besides making it a success as a fundraiser and expose WPA/C members' work), was to also drag some of my fellow gallerists through the exhibition in the hope that they could find some artists of interest to them.

Thus far, I am told of at least five artists from Seven who have been signed up or offered contracts or exhibitions by area galleries.

Cool uh?

Mark Jenkins Opens This Friday

TAA Reviews

J.T. has some good reviews of a few area shows.

Read them here.

Torres Interview

Bailey has a terrific interview with Seven artist Alessandra Torres.

Read it here.

Seven on Film

Yesterday an international crew filmed the Seven exhibition at the Warehouse.

They seemed to prefer (and focused upon) Alessandra Torres' installation and photographs, Kathryn Cornelius' video, Tim Tate's glass sculptures, Margaret Boozer's floor "crack" installation and Joe Barbaccia's sculptures.

In the next few days they will be also filming Mark Jenkins' street sculptures around DC, which they also liked a lot.

It was interesting to me to get a sort of outsider "validation" about the quality of the show and the artists, from an experienced crew and director who have done a lot of traveling, filming, interviewing and art hopping around the world, and still have loads of praise for the artwork being created by our area artists.

Cool uh?

Opportunities for Artists

Deadline: September 10, 2005

The 2005 International Figure Exhibition. Red Dot Fine Art will hold its 2nd Annual International Figure Exhibition November 14th - December 3rd at Red Dot Fine Art located on historic Canyon Road in Santa Fe, NM.

The exhibition call is open to all individuals working in two dimensional and three dimensional work in a realistic figurative style in any media. There is a non refundable $30.00 entry fee for up to three works and additional $5.00 fee for each additional work. Exhibition Dates: November 14th - December 3rd, 2005. Fee: $30 for 1-3 images (slides or JPEG) $5 for each additional image submitted. Prospectus here or send a SASE to:
Red Dot Fine Art
ATTN: Figure Exhibition
616 1/2 B Canyon Road
Santa Fe, NM 87501

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Deadline: November 14, 2005

National Juried Art Exhibition. Slide deadline November 14, 2005. $8500 in cash awards divided in three separate categories for 2 and 3-dimensional Fine Art and Photography completed within the past 2 years. For prospectus send SASE to:
Baker Arts Center
624 N Pershing
Liberal KS 67901.

For more information call: 620/624-2810. E-mail: bakerarts@swko.net

National Association of Women Artists

The National Association of Women Artists is a non-profit organization founded in 1889. They are seeking membership applicants from professional women artists in all media. Members are provided with juried and curated exhibit opportunities in NYC and across the US.

Applications are due Sept. 15 and March 15. Download application at: www.nawanet.org or send SASE to:
NAWA
80 5th Av #1405
New York NY 10011

Moser in Canada

Congratulations to our own Lida Moser, who is currently having two separate solo shows in Canada.

The first is at the La Société historique de Québec, where dozens of Moser's photographs from the 1950's (of the province) are on exhibition.

More details (in English) here.

Lida Moser's works are in the collection of nearly 40 museums worldwide.

Locally she's in the permanent collection of the Library of Congress, the Phillips Collection, the Corcoran Gallery of Art and the National Portrait Gallery.

You can read the WaPo review of her last solo with us here.

Bethesda Art Walk

Tomorrow (Friday) is the Bethesda Art Walk.

The Bethesda Art Walk features 13 galleries and studios that open their doors from 6-9pm on the second Friday of every month. Dowtown Bethesda galleries showcase artwork created locally, nationally and internationally including painting, photography, sculpture and mixed media.

You can enjoy several galleries by walking throughout downtown Bethesda’s fun-filled streets. The free Bethesda 8 Trolley stops within a few blocks of each Bethesda Art Walk gallery, and runs continuously throughout the duration of the Art Walk.

We will have our annual Summer Group Show, which includes new work by David FeBland (his "Circle the Wagons" is pictured below), John Winslow, Tim Tate, Michael Sprouse, Maxwell MacKenzie, and others.

See ya there!

Seven in Art Film

Seven will be filmed this week as part of a documentary on contemporary art being produced by Deno Seder Productions.

Their art films and videos have won top honors at the Paris Art Film Biennial at the Georges Pompidou Center, the Berlin Film Festival, the Taipei International Film Festival, the Chicago and Houston International Film Festivals, the New York Underground Film Festival and others. One of their films, "Andy Warhol," was screened at the Corcoran during their Warhol exhibition.

Arts Agenda

The DCist Arts Agenda here.

Opportunity for Artists

Deadline: September 16, 2005.

My good friend Jonathan Binstock, who is the Curator for Contemporary Art at the Corcoran, will be the juror for Mid-Atlantic New Painting 2006.

The Mid-Atlantic New Painting 2006 exhibition is a juried competition highlighting new developments in painting throughout the mid-Atlantic region.

At least $2000 in awards will be distributed. An exhibition of the selected works will be on display in the Ridderhof Martin Gallery from January 26 to March 3, 2006. This will be the fifth contemporary art competition held by the University of Mary Washington Galleries. Entry fee is $30.

The deadline is September 16, 2005. Details and prospectus here.

Capps on Seven

Kriston Capps polices Seven.

Read his review here.

Bailey on Wolov and Brooks

Bailey interviews two of Seven's more controversial artists:

Samantha Wolov here

and

Scott G. Brooks here.

Wanna go to an Opening?

Tomorrow, Wed. Aug 10, from 5-8PM, Spectrum Gallery in Georgetown will be hosting an opening for Under the Influence: Photography by Tom Wolff & Friends.

Wolff taught photography at Glen Echo Park for 30 years, from 1975 until 2005, and this show showcases his work as well as some from his star students: John Borstel, Presscott Moore Lassman, Leta Osteen, and Emily Whiting.

Subject Matter

The visual arts carry a monkey on their back that none of the other genres of the fine arts have to deal with: the proprietarization of subject matter.

So, no contemporary artist would dare to, let's say, paint ballerinas (sorry but Degas closed that subject), or harlequins, etc.

And some subject matter, by the nature of the subject itself, would be labeled as saccharine by the nicest of critics. Say kittens, horses, puppies, mermaids.

Do we have a screwed up sense of what makes the visual arts tick or what?

This powerful painting, titled "Allegory of a Gay Bashing" by Scott Brooks has been receiving a lot of attention in the "nude gallery" in Seven. It is an homage by Brooks to the brutal murder of Matthew Sheppard.

And this painting swings representational painting's most formidable weapon (and the one that keeps painting as king of the hill in spite of all the critics and curators trying to kill it): The ability to convey an entire and diverse range of emotions with just one glance.

"Allegory of a Gay Bashing" delivers horror, beauty, politics, history and homage all in one swoop.

And this tremendous work will probably never be sold to anyone by Brooks, because it would take immense courage to display this work of art anywhere in this nation; not just DC, but anywhere. Someone can prove me wrong and buy it from Brooks and display it in their home, or office or even a museum somewhere - but I doubt that there's a collector or museum in the USA with the cojones to hang this work.

And to get to the beginning point of this ramble, in spite of the horror delivered by "Allegory of a Gay Bashing", many people get stuck on one area: the cute puppy and kitty at the bottom of the castrated nude.

I've been in the room when I hear people discussing it. It seems like the cute puppy and kitty sitting on the ground, and staring at the viewer, evoke a higher sense of revulsion than the castrated man himself.

I've noted people's sense of repulsion caused by juxtaposing the two disparate sets of images. I think that they are repulsed by the cute animals being forced to share a scenario with a tortured man. Why are they there? people ask each other, a note of discomfort in their voices. Even the eloquent Amy Watson was disoriented by the presence of the animals and (in her terrific review of the show) felt that they undermined the painting.

Cute kitty and cute puppy... taking the attention away from disturbing image. How dare Brooks paint cuteness, especially in this context?

I don't know why Scott did it, but I think that it is the key that makes this painting truly repulsive and immensely successful all at once. Take them out, and you have a strong, powerful painting. Put them in, and you create a million questions, enormous angst and a desire to physically remove the creatures from the canvas itself.

And maybe without even realizing it, Scott has also reclaimed an artist's right to paint or draw anything that he or she so desires, and take the unjustified saccharinity of a subject and turn saccharine into anthrax with a few deft strokes of a painter's brush and a disorienting sense of juxtapositioning of subject matter.

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Update: Sam Wolov has some thoughts on this subject.

Bailey on the WPA/C

Bailey jumps in on the issue raised last week by the City Paper on the subject of the WPA/C Directory, and in the process James gives a rousing endorsement to the WPA/C's current interim Executive Director (Kim Ward), which I second vociferously.

Read Bailey's posting here.