Secrets
I missed the opening for PostSecret because of the bad weather and the fact that I was working till the last minute for my exhibit, but Alexandra Silverthorne didn't and she has great photos from the PostSecret opening here.
I'll be at the Georgetown gallery from noon until six PM today; come and say hi.
Saturday, December 17, 2005
Friday, December 16, 2005
Articulation at Pyramid Atlantic
Recently I walked the frozen tundra of Georgia Avenue in order to visit some of the venues in Silver Spring’s December Art Walk. And the highlight of the walk was an amazing installation at Pyramid Atlantic.
Created by Francie Hester and a multitude of other persons, this collaborative installation (titled "Articulation") is a touching in memoriam for Diane Granat Yalowitz.
Diane Granat Yalowitz was a journalist and writer for Washingtonian Magazine, where she was a senior editor and writer covering immigration, medicine and counseling. She died last year at the age of 49.
I am not a big fan of installations; most of them are a waste of time and space. However, the installation at Pyramid Atlantic is simply amazing.
Under Hester’s direction, people and friends who knew Granat worked on a project to wrap about 20,000 paper clips with bits of paper from her publications. The paper clips were then linked and joined together to make strings that dangle from the ceiling of the vault inside Pyramid Atlantic.
The instant allegory, especially when touched, is that of rain or a tropical scene, especially since the installation also includes the accompanying music of percussionist Luis Garay, sung without words by Joan Phalen (I am told as dictated by the mystical Chassidic tradition of "nigun").
There’s also a hypnotizing element by Lisa Hill: a digital screen that dynamically shows the process of wrapping the paper clips. It reminded me of a code breaking computer attempting to decipher an encoded message. Hill noted that "words surfaced, then disappeared, then resurfaced," and on the computer screen, the words float in an out of the mystical digital surface of the screen.
This installation was one of the most moving examples of the genre that I have ever seen, and it made me reflect on the power of words and art, when married together by skilled artists delivering something new and memorable to the dialogue of that often maligned genre.
The exhibit at Pyramid Atlantic goes through December 23rd.
Tonight's the night
Working till the last minute for my yearly opening in Georgetown tonight from 6-9PM.
Just finished "American Justice," charcoal on Paper, 7 x 29 inches, and the original drawing is matted and framed under glass to 10x32 inches.
See the other drawings here.
Cajun Christmas
Cajun Christmas is private home as a public art project by Laura Elkins running through January 28, 2006.
Cajun Christmas is a seasonal work painted by Elkins as
"if the devastation of the floodwaters in New Orleans has extended to my house on Capitol Hill. This work uses the house as painting support and is the latest piece in HOME wRAP, a group of monumental paintings that addresses the politicization of private life and the demise of domesticity."
Thursday, December 15, 2005
Annual Small Works at Multiple Exposures
One of my favorite photography galleries in the DMV area is Multiple Exposures (which used to be called Factory Photoworks). Located on the third floor of the Torpedo Factory, the gallery is home to some of the best photographers in our area, and certainly a treasure trove for photography collectors, as they usually have affordable (and excellent) work.
Kathleen Ewing, without a doubt one of the best fine arts photography experts in the world once wrote about this talented group: "Absorb the unique vision of these fourteen photographers. Through their eyes you will experience a moment in time, which you might not otherwise have seen. Enjoy their vision."
Their Annual Small Works show was juried by Kay Springwater (their monthly exhibitions are generally curated by invited jurors). Springwater selected 25 pieces for the exhibition, and from these my favorites were Link Nicoll’s amazing "Flying Baby," a spectacular image of a child cleverly photographed against a black background as if airborne. I also liked Colleen Henderson’s "Pamet Sound Blues," as well as a beautiful photo by Danny Conant, that amazing photographer who keeps re-inventing herself, titled "Yellow Roses," a pigmented print that exploits color as only a well versed photographer can do.
The exhibition runs through January 2, 2006.
One of my favorite photography galleries in the DMV area is Multiple Exposures (which used to be called Factory Photoworks). Located on the third floor of the Torpedo Factory, the gallery is home to some of the best photographers in our area, and certainly a treasure trove for photography collectors, as they usually have affordable (and excellent) work.
Kathleen Ewing, without a doubt one of the best fine arts photography experts in the world once wrote about this talented group: "Absorb the unique vision of these fourteen photographers. Through their eyes you will experience a moment in time, which you might not otherwise have seen. Enjoy their vision."
Their Annual Small Works show was juried by Kay Springwater (their monthly exhibitions are generally curated by invited jurors). Springwater selected 25 pieces for the exhibition, and from these my favorites were Link Nicoll’s amazing "Flying Baby," a spectacular image of a child cleverly photographed against a black background as if airborne. I also liked Colleen Henderson’s "Pamet Sound Blues," as well as a beautiful photo by Danny Conant, that amazing photographer who keeps re-inventing herself, titled "Yellow Roses," a pigmented print that exploits color as only a well versed photographer can do.
The exhibition runs through January 2, 2006.
Gray
The WaPo's Philip Kennicott has an interesting, if somewhat odd and out-of-place (for the WaPo that is) essay in today's paper.
Read The Bright Side of Gray here. (Kennicott would be in pure heaven if he lived in Seattle).
Panel on Homer
Renowned landscape artist Barbara Ernst Prey will be at the National Gallery of Art Sunday at 2:30 pm to speak on "The Watercolors of Winslow Homer."
Prey, who has a studio in Maine and lives on Long Island, joins Franklin Kelly, Curator of American and British Paintings at the National Gallery of Art and Judy Walsh, former National Gallery of Art Conservateur, in a Homer panel discussion.
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Bloggers do art
DCist is kind enough to use one of my images to pick up on the fact that three DC area visual art Bloggers are having art shows this week.
Read DCist's Arts Agenda here.
Borf canned
WaPo reports on the Borf guilty plea.
"Under terms of the agreement with prosecutors, Tsombikos will have to pay $12,000 in restitution. He'll have to surrender just about anything he used to make graffiti, including stencils, spray paint and his computer.But this is the one that gets me:
And he'll have to do something that might be harder for him than jail time: remove graffiti. For 80 of the 200 hours of community service that he owes, Tsombikos must help rid the District of the sort of eyesores left by graffiti artists like him."
"Tsombikos is scheduled to start classes next month at the Corcoran College of Art and Design, attorney Michael Madden told the judge.I'm sorry... WHAT?
So when the prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Alessio Evangelista, asked the judge to order Tsombikos to stay out of the District until the sentencing, Madden was concerned.
"This is an open city," Madden said, noting the District's status as the nation's capital. And on a practical level, Tsombikos lives in its suburbs and has friends in the District, Madden said.
But Leibovitz was unimpressed, pointing out that the teenager had just pleaded guilty to a felony.
Between now and his sentencing, she said, Tsombikos is allowed to come to the District for classes and court but for nothing else.
And she kept in place an order banning him from carrying art supplies of any sort -- an order that Madden said would be an undue hardship given Tsombikos's studies.
Once again, the judge didn't give any ground.
'Go to school,' she told Tsombikos, 'but you can't carry supplies to and from.' "
An art student in the United States of America has been forbidden from carrying art supplies to and from art school?
All this has Bailey fired up!
Mapping It
Rebecca Hinton has a most interesting map derived from US Census data showing the number art, entertainment, and recreation establishments (i.e. music venues, art galleries, cultural sites, for each U.S. state, according to the 2002 census (generalized)).
I would suspect that the census data would not include venues (such as libraries and restaurants, etc.) that also regularly display art as part of their daily business, since that's not their census code. And I bet that in DC's case, it also does not include the dozens and dozens of art galleries that are located inside the foreign embassies in our city, since those are not (technically) located inside the U.S. nor are they U.S. businesses.
Click on the map or go here, to see a larger map.
Well done Rebecca! You get an A+ from DC Art News!
Crawl
Last night I first had dinner (some excellent Dominican food) at Los Arrieros in Silver Spring and then saw the ArtDC fundraiser exhibit (where I bought a tiny watercolor by Patricia Hartnett), then I walked the frozen tundra of Georgia Avenue and dropped by Pyramid Atlantic to see the amazing Francie Hester collaborative installation "Articulation," in memoriam for Diane Granat Yalowitz.
Earlier on the day I also saw the two art shows up at the Art League in Alexandria and also visited the current photography show at Multiple Exposures and the current show at Target Gallery.
More on all those later, as I have a superbusy day today!
Opening this weekend
The Mitch Snyder Arts & Education Center, dedicated to providing homeless people access to education, computers and the arts, is holding an art opening this weekend, showcasing work done by homeless Washingtonians as well as local artists involved with the program.
They are seeking to raise awareness about homelessness, showcase the work of our artists, and raise funds for the Center.
The openings are Friday Dec. 16th, 5:30 – 7:30 pm and Saturday Dec. 17th, 12:00 – 2:00 pm. The openings feature recent artwork by Clive Turner, Qin Xi Lin & Lucy Umberger; a new exhibit: The Steps of Homelessness, which is a stairway display of poetry and artwork by residents of CCNV homeless shelter; new & used art sale to benefit the Arts Center, and music and refreshments.
Mitch Snyder Arts & Education Center
117 D St. NW, 2nd floor
Washington, DC 20001
202-393-1909 ext.300
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
DC Arts Commission Grants
Deadlines: January 18 and 20, 2006.
The New Media and Audio Program offers individual grants of up to $10,000 to artists and arts organizations for support of innovative New Media and Audio projects. Deadline: Jan 18, 2006.
There's also a "Folk Arts Mini Grants" of $1000.00 each. That deadline is January 18, 2006. The Folk & Traditional Arts Mini-Grant (FTA) offers quick response small-scaled grants up to $1,000 to artists and arts organizations practicing or supporting folk traditions.
For more info, go to this website and click on "Opportunities for Artists."
There's a "How to Apply" workshop at the Arts Commission on December 15th from 6 - 7 pm. (it is free). Call them for more info at 202-724-5613.
Wanna go to an opening tonight?
There is an opening at Los Arrieros Restaurant (7926 Georgia Ave., Silver Spring, MD) starting at 7PM. This exhibition is the artdc.org fund raiser. All artwork is for sale ranging from $50-$300.
If you believe in artdc.org and have a few bucks to spare, stop by and buy some art. 70% goes to the artist directly. The rest will be used to help them with marketing or printing costs, snail mail, and other promo avenues.
ArtDC.org has been growing in leaps and bounds and now has 685 registered users. Some of the artists in this show include: Vèrta Reyes, Matt Achhammer, Angela Kleis, Heather Levy, Kim Reyes, Robin Walker, Jessie Marie Maraschiello, Joshua Yospyn, Eric Reiffenstein, Rose Kane, Lola Akinmade, Matt Billings, Erin Antognoli, Andy Cleavenger, Lee Vaughan, John Spaulding, Mara Odette, Virginia Nostrand, Sheffied Burroughs, Christopher Goodwin, Richard Chu, Antoinette Wysocki, Darren Smith, J. Halloran, Behnam Farahpour, Patricia Hartnett and Stephanie Booth.
Songs about art, artists & painting
Anna L. Conti has a most excellent list of songs about art, artists and painting.
See it here.
Monday, December 12, 2005
WPA\C Presents: PostSecret
At last!
Washington Project for the Arts\Corcoran Association (WPA\C) is hostng the PostSecret exhibition, a public art project founded and curated by Frank Warren and first debuted in the much maligned (in the DC press that is) Art-O-Matic.
Nothing like spectacular success to make all the AOM critics eat crow, uh?
The opening reception (and fundraiser for Kristin Brooks Hope Center) will be held on Wednesday, December 14, from 6:00-10:00 p.m. ($10.00 suggested donation).
Warren's instructions were simple, and judging from his spectacular achievements, the results have been perhaps one of the most successful public art projects in history!
"You are invited to anonymously contribute a secret to a group art project. Your secret can be a regret, fear, betrayal, desire, confession, or childhood humiliation. Reveal anything --- as long as it is true and you have never shared it with anyone before. Be brief. Be legible. Be creative."In November of 2004 Frank Warren printed 3000 postcards inviting people to share a secret with him.
He then handed these out at Artomatic, in art galleries, slipped them in pages of library books, then slowly, the secrets began to find their way to his mailbox. The secrets were both provocative and profound, and some of the cards are themselves works of art. As Frank began posting the cards on his website, PostSecret took on a life of its own, becoming much more than a simple art project.
PostSecret has grown into a global phenomenon and (in my opinion) is the most flagrant missing piece of the 2006 Whitney Biennial!
Exhibition Information:
LOCATION: 3307 M St. NW Washington DC (The former Georgetown Staples store)
OPENING RECEPTION: Thursday, December 15th, 6:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.
FUNDRAISER: Wednesday, December 14th, 6:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.
Exhibition Dates: December 15, 2005 – January 8, 2006
Exhibition Hours: Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday 6:00 – 10:00 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays 2:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. or by appointment through WPA\C.
The book, PostSecret Extraordinary Confessions from Ordinary Lives compiled by Frank Warren, with a foreword by Anne C. Fisher, Ph.D. will be available for purchase during the exhibition, along with the Washington Project for the Arts\Corcoran Artist 2006-2007 Artist Directory.
See ya there!
Opportunity for Photographers
Deadline: December 31, 2005
The 2005 National Photo Awards is now accepting entries. Open to all amateur, emerging and professional photographers. A separate monthly print competition is also available. The competition offers cash and prizes for the winners in the various categories. Winners will be selected in several categories. $9.00 for each photo entered into the monthly competition, $14.00 for each single photo or $28.00 for each series entered into the main competition.
To request your 2005 entry forms and view past winners, contact:
2005 National Photo Awards
59456 330th St
Warroad MN 56763 or call 218-386-2100 email awards@mncable.net
Deadline: January 27, 2006
The 2006 Bethesda International Photography Competition. Open to all photographers 18 years and older. All photography not previously exhibited at the Fraser Gallery. The maximum dimension (including frame) should not exceed 40 inches in any direction. $950 in cash prizes. Details and entry forms here or email the Gallery for an entry form or send a SASE to:
Fraser Gallery
7700 Wisconsin Avenue
Suite E
Bethesda, MD 20814
301/718-9651
info@thefrasergallery.com
Sunday, December 11, 2005
Silverthorne on Group Show
Alexandra Silverthorne checks in with a quickie review of our current Winter Group Show in Bethesda.
Read the review here.
Saturday, December 10, 2005
The Evolution of a Drawing
Another one of the recurring themes that I continually revisit in my own artwork is the imagery of Saint Sebastian.
A few years ago I did a massive ink wash drawing of St. Sebastian. I was titled "St. Sebastian in a Dissolving Gene Davis Landscape," and I think that it eventually sold through Sothebys.com. It looked like this:
Anyway... that ink drawing was supposed to be the anchor for an oil painting that I never created, but the image of the martyr remained with me, and a couple of days ago I finished the following piece, which is charcoal on 300 weight paper, and about 4.5 inches by 16.5 inches.
This piece will be at my show opening next Friday at Fraser Gallery Georgetown. See more of the work for that exhibition online here.
Washington Glass School Moving Sale
The Washington Glass School is getting kicked out of their spaces due to the eminent domain "rights" of the city and in order to build the Nats' new stadium.
And thus they are hosting a Holiday Sale and Open House at their current spaces on Half St. SE. today.
This will be their final day at the old location before the big move, so they will be selling off every piece of glass and artwork thats in situ rather than move it.
Lots of food, art, glass, and music.
When : Saturday, Dec. 10th from 2 to 6pm - free of charge.
What : Washington Glass School's Holiday Party and Open House
Where : at the Washington Glass School
1338 Half St. SE
Washington, DC 20003
202-744-8222
Plenty of free parking right outside or they are 1 1/2 blocks from the Navy Yard metro (green line) on Capitol Hill.
ArtHelps Update II
I know that I've already reported on the ArtHelps auction, but I've got some more info and because this is an important auction for a good cause, I wanted to pass on more details.
Assuming everyone who bid and won comes back to claim and pay for their night's claim, they will surpass a total bid amount of $30,000 -- which also includes about $4,000 in bids for travel packages and about $14K coming from the art from the ArtHelps collection that was auctioned and will be divided three ways: to Food & Friends, DCAC and to the event itself.
The remaining $12,000 in bidding was done on donated works from artists and galleries who stepped up to the plate to raise some money and raise some awareness about art life in the DC community.
It's my hope that next year more galleries and more artists and more bidders will make the 2006 ArtHelps even more successful.
Friday, December 09, 2005
Bethesda Art Walk tonight
The snow has been cleared and the galleries will be open!
This is the second Friday of the month and thus it's the Bethesda Art Walk with 13 participating venues and with free guided tours.
And we will have our annual Winter Group Show, featuring an entire gallery full of new work by the artists that we represent as well as invited work by several past competitions prizewinners.
We will also be showing three small miniatures by our latest artist that we're now representing: Marianela de la Hoz.
If you recall, I fell in love with her work when I first saw it at the Mexican Cultural Institute a while back. I then visited her in San Diego, and now she will be part of our represented artists. For this group show she has created three small egg temperas with the usual play on imagery and words that attracted so much attention at the Cultural Institute and more recently at Scope Miami.
In this group show we will have three pieces by Marianela:
1. "Ideas Necias, mi cabeza-pelota bota" ("Stubborn ideas, my ball-head bounces") Egg tempera on board, 5.3 x 2.1 inches.
2. "Camina aparentemente libre" ("She walks pretending to be free") Egg tempera on board, 4.5 x 2.7 inches.
3. "Adiós de Tintorería" ("Farewell drycleaners style") Egg tempera on board, 5.3 x 3.1 inches.
More images of other artists here.
Naked Knitting
Remember the exhibition curated by Binnie Fry that caused all the ruckus because of the nudity in some of the crocheted figures? If not, see the original posting about it here.
Anyway, American Craft Magazine just published a review of that show.
Snowy Inspiration
For some reason snowy days seem to inspire me to get down and draw. And I was up and early this morning and finished the below, somewhat silly drawing.
It is titled "Woman on the Moon About to be Swept Off Her Feet by a Flying Bald Man." It is charcoal on 300 weight paper, and about six by five inches. It will be at my show, which opens next Friday at Fraser Gallery Georgetown.
See some of the other drawings that will be in the exhibition here.
The Police on D. Billy and Nathan Manuel
The world's number-one Google return for "anti Texas Longhorn"... ah... reviews D. Billy and Nathan Manuel at DCAC.
Read it here.
By the way, the artists will be having a talk at DCAC on Sunday December 11 at 5PM.
Over at Anacostia
I am hearing good things about the current exhibition at the Anacostia Museum: "Reclaiming Midwives: Pillars of Community Support"; the main exhibit focuses on the story of African American midwives.
Authentic Art has a great posting about the show; read it here.
Camille Mosley-Pasley, one of DC's best photogs is in the show (disclaimer: Camille is in my own private collection and we have sold her work through Sotheby's).
Studio Space
Deadline to apply: December 16 (must be received)
The City of Greenbelt announces that two studios will soon become available through the City’s Artist in Residence program. This program is open to residents of Maryland working at a professional level in any visual arts or fine crafts medium.
The studios are located at the Greenbelt Community Center – a National Historic Landmark housing a professional art gallery, history museum, digital video and TV production studio, darkroom, fine arts and ceramics studios, and other resources.
Advantages for the artist include: 24-Hour access; Low cost: $142 and $213/month, based on square footage; HEAT and AC included; Ample natural light; Ample free parking; Teaching opportunities; Easy access from I-95, the Washington Beltway, and the Baltimore/Washington Parkway; Supportive environment: 10-12 Artists in Residence participating; Short walk to Café, independent cinema, library, lake trail, gyms and other amenities
Contact Nicole DeWald at 240/542-2057, or ndewald@ci.greenbelt.md.gov if you wish to request an application, tour, or additional information.
Mmmm...
This is unexpected...
According to MyBlog stats, DC Art News actually sent more of our readers to MSNBC through our link, than MSNBC sent here through their mention of DC Art News on their Blog.
Thursday, December 08, 2005
ArtHelps Report
The ArtHelps silent auction last night was packed to the rafters with elegantly-dressed people, and there was tons of great food and good wine and beer, and bids were abundant and redundant and all for a good cause (benefiting Food & Friends and DCAC).
I ran into the fair Kathryn Cornelius, and for quite a while I was in a bidding fight for her donated work, until a tiny (and well-known DC area art activist and art organizer and all-around good person) threatened me with bodily harm if I continued to outbid her, so I retreated quietly into the background.
The auctioned artwork is online here by the way.
I also ran into the fair Heather Russell from Irvine Contemporary (their gallery donated quite a few pieces to the auction - well done!) and her cute sister from Richmond. Heather was also bidding madly on a few pieces, including this early Andrew Wodzianski oil (from when he was an MFA candidate at MICA). The painting received at least a dozen bids and went to a very excited couple.
This oil by Sondra Arkin was also attracting a lot of attention, going way over its estimated price.
This signature glass heart by Tim Tate also received fast and furious bids, which extended onto the back of the bidding form, and kept coming even as the deadline approached. It also caused a little controversy, as when the bidding forms were removed from the floor, apparently an extra bid was added on the way down to deliver the bid forms. The loser was heartbroken (pun intended), but it all ended well (I am told) because Tate agreed to donate a second heart and thus everyone is a winner.
The steal of the night?
This amazing sculpture by NYC artist Josh Levine was won by the fair Kristina Bilonick, gallerina for DCAC for let's say... a steal!
Good eye Kristina!
Read Alexandra Silverthorne's report here.
See Anne Marchand's report and many photos here.
Tape Dude in Paris
Mark Jenkins' work has a double page feature in December issue of the Paris-based mag "Etapes."
See it online here.
Art volunteers needed by two projects
There are a couple of art events brewing in our area that are looking for volunteers to assist with the art event itself.
First of all, for the last few months Catriona Fraser has been curating our first exhibition of 2006. That show, titled "Interface" seeks to present an exhibition of what happens when art and technology meet.
Several new works have been commissioned for the show, which includes work by Kathryn Cornelius, Claire Watkins, Scott Hutchison, Thomas Edwards, David Page, Philip Kohn and others.
One of the artists in the show, David Page (who was the 2004 Trawick Prize winner - one of his projects is pictured above) needs two volunteers 5'8" or smaller, weighing 160lbs or less. They should not be claustrophobic, asthmatic and should be in general good health. Contact David at david@davidpageartist.com.
And the Hirshhorn is seeking help with a Directions project that they are hosting at the Hirshhorn on Saturday, April 29, 2006. They are in the process of recruiting 40 to 60 residents of the greater DC area to be part of a performance organized by New York-based artist Oliver Herring (b. Heidelberg, Germany, 1964). The group of volunteers will perform simple, creative tasks on the Hirshhorn plaza over the course of eight hours.
The museum need volunteers who are interested in exchanging ideas and developing a sense of community through the arts. They hope to build a group ranging in age from teenagers to seniors and representing different professions and interests. They are looking for both artists and "non-artists."
To learn more about the project please visit this website. There is also a link to project information on the Hirshhorn home page.
If someone is interested in participating, all they need to do is fill out a short form available at the link above. Please feel free to contact Assistant Curator Kristen Hileman at the museum if you have any questions about the project.
If you would like to learn more about the artist, you might visit Oliver Herring’s page on the Art 21 site.
Power of the Web
The Wednesday snail mail delivered a dedicated copy of the 2006 Whitney Biennial catalog!
I am being asked to give video a chance (probably in response to this).
Gee... thanks!
Unclothed Political Art
Nekkid with a Camera has a great discussion going on about political art...
This is why newspapers' days are numbered: Immediate discussion on an interesting issue.
Join in here.
Go Sam! (oops! I mean Samantha)
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
Video Feedback
David A. Ross, the President of the Artist Pension Trust reponds to my Video Killed the Radio (and Art?) Star posting with the following:
As a curator working with video since 1971, I have encountered your argument several time before. As you may imagine, since the early days of video, the concern -- voiced in the Wash Po piece and in your response, has been the same: "Why watch video in a gallery when it is best viewed at home?"
On a certain level, that is true, if the work is intended for the social context provided by home viewing (on line or on TV). Or, if the work does not demand the formal support of a sculptural space (i.e. multiple monitors, live video components, projected work with complex sound elements, etc. etc.).
But finally it is also the social context of an environment that is not a theater and not a living room, but some other space generally (or formerly) reserved for the quiet contemplation of art objects that appeals to some artists using video to place information some may deem non-artistic (like documentary footage of everyday life). The friction of this mismatch is often a central element of the work, and not just a curatorial or artistic conceit.
But of course, when an artwork fails then all bets are off, and it can be revealed as lacking in many ways-- including it's use of gallery space.
David A. Ross
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
What to do and see this week
Wednesday: Time for the ArtHelps Silent Auction from 5pm–10pm at the offices of JAM Communications. Cocktails and hors d'ouvres will be served and it's all free and open to the public. See the donated artwork here.
Also on Wednesday, from 6-8pm, Art-O-Matic is hosting a happy hour at Warehouse Galleries and Theatre complex. The swirl for the 2006 show is beginning! They’re gearing up for a 2006 event. Catch up with friends and like-minded artists. Find out how you can be a part of the 2006 AOM sensation. Special beer prices.
Thursday: There is an artist reception on Thursday evening 6-8PM, 
Also on Thursday, Provisions Library hosts Provisions 101, a special reception from 6-8 pm. This is an opportunity to meet the Provisions staff, find out more about what they do and see their current exhibit (DeeDee Does Utopia: Propaganda Collage by Deborah Faye Lawrence). Refreshments will be served. Their hosts for the evening are Dru Ryan and Lalitha Gopalan. Dru is Editor of The Journal of Hip-Hop and teaches at George Mason University and Lalitha is Associate Professor at Georgetown University specializing in film and cinema studies. Dru and Lalitha will share their insights into alternative education and the links between art, activism and academia with special emphasis on film, media and visual culture. RSVP to Katy Otto at kotto@provisionslibrary.org or call 202-299-0460.
And at the McLean Project for the Arts' Emerson Gallery, Seeds: Gail Gorlitzz and Karin Birch opens on Thursday with a reception and gallery talk from 7-9PM.
Friday: This is the second Friday of the month and thus it's the Bethesda Art Walk 
Also on Friday, there's an opening reception for "i found your photo" from 6:00 – 9:00 PM on the 2nd Floor of the University of Phoenix Northern Virginia Campus at 11710 Plaza America Drive, Reston, VA 20190. For directions, please see the League of Reston Artists website. The "i found your photo" exhibition is a special benefit exhibition of donated found photographs that is presented by the League of Reston Artists. All found photographs that have been donated to this project will be placed into a handmade photography book after the exhibition closes. This book will be designed and created by photographer and book artist, Melanie De Cola. The one-of-a-kind "i found your photo" photography book will be auctioned on E-bay in May 2006 to fund a photography scholarship through the League of Reston Artists. The scholarship will be awarded to a Washington, D.C. area at-risk high school senior who aspires to be a photographer, to help him or her attend art school.
And back in DC, Irvine Contemporary has and opening for Sean Foley and Gina Brocker from 6-8 PM, and there's also an artist's talk on Sat. Dec. 10 starting at 2 PM.
And there's also an opening at the Capitol Hill Arts workshop this Friday for a "budget-priced-for-the-holidays" show entitled Wrap it Up. The opening is Friday from 5-7pm, and the all day sale is Saturday from 10 am-7 pm.
Saturday: A.Salon has a holiday art show from 5-8PM at Willow Street Gallery (6925 Willow Street, NW in DC).
Also on Saturday, December 10 and Sunday, December 11 from 12:00 - 6:00PM, Hemphill Fine Arts has booksignings for recent publications from fine art book publisher Nazraeli Press. William Christenberry, Joseph Mills and Tanya Marcuse will be in attendance for book signings on Saturday, December 10 from 12:00 - 2:00PM. Hot Cider and Cookies!
The Urban Arts Gallery at the Pierce School Lofts is having the opening for "Pattern" on Saturday, December 10 from 4-7pm. This month’s featured artists are Roberta Glick, Amy Lin, and Emily Dean. The Urban Arts Gallery is located on Capitol Hill at 1375 Maryland Avenue NE, Washington, DC and "Pattern" will be on exhibit through December 30, 2005.
And Union Printmakers Atalier has OH HO 05: A Holiday Exhibition of Contemporary Art opening on Saturday from 6-9PM. The group show brings together many well known artists from the Washington, Maryland, and Virginia area along with some new faces to the area's art scene. Expect to see prints, drawings, paintings, sculpture and photographs reflecting a variety of styles and approaches to each medium through January 28th, 2006. Lots of very talented artists participating including: Julia Bloom, Joseph Barbaccia, Chantal Bernicky, Iona Brown, Rosalind Burns, David Chung, William Christenberry, Warren Craghead, Dymph de Wild, Ben Ferry, Susan Finsen, Jenny Freestone, Pat Goslee, Susan Hostetler, Pauline Jakobsberg, J.T. Kirkland, Andrew Krieger, Judith Kahn, Alex Mayer, Kerry McAleer-Keeler, Michele Montalbano, Jody Mussoff, Robert Nelson, William Newman, Judith Nulty, Turker Ozdogan, Betsy Packard, Margaret Adams Parker, Randall Packer, Michael Pierce, Beverly Ress, Charles Ritchie, Russel Richards, Beverly Ryan, Clarice Smith, Terry Svat, R.L.Tillman, Helga Thomson, F.L. Wall, Mark Wamaling, Max-Karl Winkler, Ellen Winkler, Frank Wright and Scip Barnhart (the director of Union Printmakers and one of DC's top artists and art professors).
Art Show/DC Surfrider has a fundraiser at FC Gallery 7pm-2am ($5 suggested donation). The gallery is located at 916 Blagden Alley. Featured Artist: Steve Olson (LA Underground/Skateboard Overlord). Also features a massive interactive installation piece by Ben Ashworth, Anthony Smallwood and Dan Zeman; music, food and drink provided.
Also on Saturday and Sunday, The Arlington Arts Center has a Holiday Art Bazaar from 11-4PM. Drop by the AAC to find the perfect piece of art or craft for a holiday gift from 19 artists in the greater metropolitan area. The diverse media represented include ceramics, photography, jewelry, fiber, and much more.
And on Saturday Transformer hosts an opening reception from 7-9PM for "Little Creatures" through January 14, 2006 and featuring Marci Branagan, Julie Jenkinson, Thomas M. Lowery and Maki Maruyama. There's also an artists' talk on Saturday, January 7, 2006, at 4 pm.
Studio One Eight presents "Fully Loaded: New Work by Lisa Marie Thalhammer." The opening reception is on December 10th from 7-10 PM. Thalhammer has created, using her stylized approach to portraiture, an army of DC women that embodies the subjectivity of the contemporary American female.
Sunday: Carolyn Dutky Romano has an opening from 2-4PM for "Eye on the Underground" at The Art League Gallery in Alexandria. There's also an artist talk on Thursday, December 8 at 7PM (the show actually opens on Dec. 8).
I am sure that I missed some events... if so email me the details.
Arts Journal Expansion
Arts Journal is one of my daily must-reads, and often the source of stories, comments and links here in DC Art News.
And now it's undergoing a site face lift and major expansion right before our eyes.
Visit them often.
Arts Agenda
DCist's Arts Agenda is up.
Read it here.
DCist has been looking for months for someone to write about the visual arts and augment the weekly arts agenda.
So far they're doing an outstanding job of covering music, theatre, sports, restaurants and politics, but they are still lacking a voice to write some art reviews.
It's not easy uh?
Interested writers and would-be art critics should contact DCist at dcist-core@googlegroups.com
Congratulations
To our own Tim Tate, whose "Positive Reliquaries" series of three glass sculptures has been acquired by The Mint Museum of Art in Charlotte, North Carolina.
"Positive Reliquaries" consists of a set of three hand blown domes with spun glass nests and dotted eggs inside. The eggs in the nests are dotted to mimic the dots on dice, and signify the gamble of Tate's daily challenge with being HIV positive; the nests themselves are a recurring theme in his work representing rebirth and hope. The crown of each dome is topped with a red cast glass "positive" (+) symbol.
This is one of Tate's most personal and painful pieces. It speaks not of sorrow, but rejoices in rebirth. Most of Tate's works deals with healing in this manner: employing difficult moments in his life and using them to springboard into the future.
"Positive Reliquaries" is one of his finest examples of his content driven glass as Tate continues to drag glass away from the vessel and into the narrative context. Tate's current solo show at our Fraser Gallery Bethesda ends this coming Wednesday.
Monday, December 05, 2005
Opportunity for Unrepresented Artists
Deadline: On-going
The Center For Emerging Visual Artists is currently accepting applications to join their Regional Community Arts Program (RCAP) Artist Registry.
Artists in the registry will be eligible to participate in The Center's Community Exhibition Program, which includes exhibitions in public spaces such as hospitals, schools, parks, and more.
Requirements: Must be interested in exhibiting in public spaces; Must live within 90 miles of Philadelphia; Cannot have a contractual relationship with a commercial gallery; Works submitted must be available and ready to hang/install.
Please send up to 20 slides or digital images, a slide list (name, title, dimensions, medium, and price), and a resume to:
Genevieve Coutroubis
The Center For Emerging Visual Artists
Community Exhibitions
237 South 18th Street # 3A
Philadelphia, PA 19103
Phone: 215.546.7775 x11
E-mail: genevieve@cfeva.org
New Mexico Artist and Writer Residencies
Deadline: January 6, 2006.
The Santa Fe Art Institute is inviting artists and writers in all disciplines to apply for their residency program. Application forms are available on the web at www.sfai.org.
Successful applicants will be eligible to spend from one to three months at a preeminent contemporary residency program in the Southwest. Application fee: $25.00.
For details email swilson@sfai.org.
Secret's Out
Nothing like amazing success to make one's critics eat crow.
Who's got the second highest linked (and thus 2nd highest ranked by Technorati) BLOG in the entire world wide web?
None other than our own Frank Warren!
And the hardcover book by Frank Warren based on the phenomenal PostSecret project started by Frank at the last Art-O-Matic was just released and it's already the 16th bestselling book on Amazon.
The PostSecret Book, "PostSecret: Extraordinary Confessions from Ordinary Lives," is now available from Amazon.
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
Congratulations
To talented DC area artist Renee Stout (represented by Hemphill Fine Arts), whose monotype "See the Truth" (2002) a work that suggests a hand-drawn sign, has been gifted to the Hirshhorn by well-known DC area art collector Frederick P. Ognibene, who also donated Patrick Wilson's "1 P.M." (2003), a vertical triptych of subtle shades of grey and cream.
The Hirshhorn recently has received fifteen new acquisitions/donations and many of these works are currently on view in the museum as part of "Gyroscope," a program of dynamic, frequently changing presentations of the Hirshhorn's permanent collection.
Stout joins an extremely rare club: DC area artists in the permanent collection of one of DC's premier museums.
Porn Nostalgia
In response to my posting about Video and Art and what happened to porn theatres, a DC Art News reader (who also happens to be a terrific photographer) emails me the following nostalgia:
Your post made me nostalgic for the old porn joints. Benny's Home of the Porno Stars was one of my favorites.
It was one of the "classier" looking porn theaters. As a high school student, I walked by frequently on the way to my mother's job. I never went in but the uniformed doorman always yelled invitations to engage in obscene acts. I always had a creative string of obscenities to yell back at him. I think he really enjoyed that. I know I did.
My high school internship was at the DC Police Dept. As the lowly, stipendless intern, I stood in long lines to fetch lunch for the guys in my office in exchange for free lunch. If I was picking up a particularly big order, one of the guys would meet me on the way back to help carry bags or pick up drinks.
One of the carry outs I frequented was next to a place with $.25 XXX peep shows. From time to time, exiting patrons would follow me down the pedestrian walk way between 7th & 9th Streets and jerk off.
It brought me great pleasure to have a uniformed officer suddenly appear and scare the bajeebas out of the jerk-offs. Since they were office guys, they really weren't going to do anything to the jerk-offs but it was fun to scare them.
Alas, video, the internet and gentrification have changed all that. Even the bath houses and most strip clubs have evaporated. Now everyone gets home made sin instead of store bought sin. It's a shame I tell ya!
Mori at Arlington
I've been hearing good stuff about Mori: An Internet-based Earthwork by Randall Packer, Ken Goldberg, Gregory Kuhn, Wojciech Matusik at the Arlington Arts Center and Jessica Dawson wrote a good piece on the show here.
"Mori" is an Internet-based installation that uses the earth's movement as a living part of the process. In this installation, minute movements of the Hayward Fault in California are detected by a seismograph, converted to digital signals, and transmitted via the Internet to the installation in Arlington.
The Exhibition runs through January 7, 2006 and there's a lecture titled "Network Art" by Randall Packer, this coming Thursday, December 8, at 7:00 pm.
Sunday, December 04, 2005
More on stats
Truth Laid Bear reveals the silly stuff that some try to hide: stats!
It's pretty humbling too.
For example, based on number of average daily visits, DC Art News is currently ranked 657th in the world, just slightly ahead of the Baseball Crank and just behind Let it Bleed.
There are a couple of other visual art blogs on that page (which lists 501-1000 in the world).
One (a "national audience" Blog) is surprisingly just barely ahead of DC Art News but within striking distance.
And we're all easily whupped (virtually) by Pussy Talk, which comes in at number 531 with 1077 visits a day.
As far as I can figure it out, the highest ranked visual arts-related Blog in the world is Photographica ranking in at #494 with 1204 visits per day. If I am reading (and recognizing Blogs) these stats right, that would make DC Art News the 3rd highest ranked visual arts Blog in the Blogsphere!
And all that we post about (generally) is little ole DC stuff... and yet readers pop in from all over the world... is there a lesson for the Lame Stream Media there?
Here are the top 100 Blogs in the Blogsphere. I tried to figure out which were the top ranked DC-based Blogs and nearly became depressed in the process... either leftwingnuts or rightwingnuts or... nuts. There's probably someone good here that I am not recognizing as a DC area Blogger; if so, someone please let me know and my apologies in advance.
And if your Blog is not listed, then add it here.
These things really spin me off... If I said that NPR is going to cover an art show about an artist who is doing a whole exhibition about Mexican "Lucha Libre" (wrestling), where the artist takes his influences from an obsession with Mexican wrestlers and their masks. What would you think? Well... if you were slightly plugged in to the DC area art scene, you'd hopefully think Andrew Wodzianski and his recent Georgetown solo of Mexican wrestlers? Right? You'd be wrong, because NPR did not do a story of Wodzianski's elevation of Mexican wrestling to the realm of the fine arts in a gallery less than half an hour cab ride from the NPR studios, but instead sent a whole crew to the other side of the country to do a story about a photographer who takes shots of Mexican Lucha Libre and then has the exhibition in a bookstore!
And in case you're wondering, yes - we do blanket NPR with press releases about our shows.
I am almost resigned to the fact that most of our area's museum curators all but ignore their own backyard; but Noah Adams - you're breaking my heart!
Talking about Mexico and Mexicans... it baffles me that the egg heads in the Democrat Party cannot foresee what every contemporary Latino/Hispanic knows in his or her heart: One day, not too far in the future, as the Hispanic population in the US continues to grow, and because we are so diverse in thought, culture and perspectives, that one day, a decade or two from now, when Latino numbers make Latinos the largest ethnic minority in the US... the DNC will be shocked to "discover" that Latinos will not be obedient voters for the Democrat ticket only, and Latino/a politicians will run and win under the Republican party, and large percentages of the Latino vote will go to the right.
This will come as a shock to both the DNC and to their so called experts with a vowel in their last name but little otherwise of real knowledge of the immense diversity of the nations and peoples south of the US. "They" are making and will continue to make the mistake of viewing Hispanics/Latinos as a monolithic "group", rather than the racially diverse, culturally tied by language and "some" customs, but NOT a single-think group of people. As the millions continue to pour in from the southern border, expect the first warning shots to the DNC come from Hispanics/Latinos (mostly of Mexican ancestry) come from South Texas.
10 to 15 years from now... faster if the DNC continues to drift left.
Case in point: I know of not one single Cuban or Cuban-American "Lucha Libre" wrestler in the history of that sport... Although I did like the "El Santo" photo-comics when I was a teen in New York! They were awesome!
Saturday, December 03, 2005
In Baltimore...
I'm going to swing by Baltimore tonight after I get off work at the gallery, and drop by the opening reception for Robert Stuart Cohen at the Light Street Gallery.
Afterwards, if I have time, I'm going to try to make it to the 14K Cabaret to see Little Orphan Fannie, which I hear is really funny.
Opportunity for Artists
Deadline: December 19, 2005
The Chesapeake Gallery at Harford Community College in Bel Air, MD invites you to submit drawing-related works, which use unexpected materials, are on unexpected surfaces, and/or have unexpected content for When you least expect, which is a juried drawing exhibition open to all artists, with preference given to artists working in the Mid-Atlantic states.
Please send no more than five slides and/or digital images and an SASE to:
Heidi Neff
Joppa Hall
Harford Community College
401 Thomas Run Road
Bel Air, MD 21015
Or email digital images or web addresses to hneff@harford.edu.
Notification letters/emails will be sent out January 10. Accepted work must be delivered by February 15, 2005. The exhibit runs from February 20 through March 16, with an opening reception on February 21 from 6:30-8:00 PM. The Chesapeake Gallery does not pay for any shipping.
Flashpoint Request for Proposals
The Cultural Development Corporation (CuDC) is requesting proposals for exhibitions in the Gallery at Flashpoint’s September 2006 – August 2007 season.
This request is open to artists, curators, arts organizations, galleries and/or anyone choosing to present contemporary work in any medium. All proposals must be received no later than 6 pm on Wednesday, January 11, 2006.
For more info contact:
Rebecca Lowery, Gallery Manager
Cultural Development Corporation
916 G Street, NW | Washington, DC 20001
202.315.1310 (fax)202.315.1303
Email: rebecca@culturaldc.org.
Also see some interesting views on this subject being currently discussed at Thinking About Art here.
Opportunity for Disabled Artists
Deadline for receipt of international entries: March 24, 2006.
"Transformation" call for art. VSA arts invites artists to reflect on the many ways art transforms our lives, focusing on the influence of education and disability. Open to artists (ages 22 and over) who are committed to their artistic progress and who have a physical, cognitive, or mental disability.
A distinguished jury will review two slides of earlier work and three slides of current work within the span of 5 years. Recent work entered must be at the onset of disability. An entry-specific artist statement should be included with slides.
No entry fee; round trip shipping expenses covered; selected artwork does not have to be framed. For eligible media and entry forms in English, Spanish, French and ASCII visit www.vsarts.org/transformation. Braille and large print available upon request.
Exhibit will debut in Washington, DC during June of 2006.
Contact: Stephanie Moore, director of visual arts, VSA arts at stephaniem@vsarts.org or 202-628-2800.
cIndy
cIndy Blog is a podcast dedicated to independent and contemporary arts. In the podcast, Christopher A. Shields interviews artists and curators.
So far he has interviewed several people including Dale Chihuly, as well as the curator of the current Andrea Zitell show; in addition he will be soon interviewing the Deputy Director of PS1.
Visit cIndy Blog often.
Hoya Article
The fair LiJia Gong interviews me for the Georgetown Hoya.
Read the interview here.
Friday, December 02, 2005
Party on Saturday
Studio One Eight has a "Holiday Kickoff Champagne Party" which will take place tomorrow, Saturday December 3rd, from 7-10pm.
The party is for "Threesome: A Girl, a Guy, and a Gay" at Studio One Eight, which is a new gallery in Adams Morgan located at 2452 18th St. NW in DC. The show features new paintings and drawings by Dana Ellyn Kauffman, Gregory Ferrand and Scott G. Brooks.
Sounds like the place to be on Saturday night!
Tate is the word that we've heard (part III)
This is the last weekend to see Tim Tate's third solo exhibition, currently on display at our Fraser Gallery Bethesda.
Sales have been brisk, and nearly half the exhibition, which consists of 45 pieces, is sold. Tate's previous two solos have sold out, and this one (which is by far his largest exhibition ever) is well on the way.
Furthermore, two of his narrative wall panels have made their way to the permanent collection of the University of Virginia Art Museum, and we're now negotiating with two other museums for more acquisitions (none of them are DC-based museums... sigh).
And two of Tate's pieces will be part of 500 Glass Objects, to be published soon by Lark Books and edited by Susan Kieffer.
The show was reviewed by Dr. Claudia Rousseau. Read that review here. And the Washington Blade also did a nice article about Tate. Read that article here. And WETA TV did a little television piece.
I tried really hard to convince Jessica Dawson to come by and look at the show, but so far she has ignored all three of Tim Tate's shows (more on that later).
And, as many of you know, the new proposed baseball stadium is slated to land right on top of the current location for the Washington Glass School (Tate is the co-founder and co-director), and they're being kicked out through the eminent domain trick.
Their original intent was to move the school to Prince George's County in Maryland, but they are now working on an even better opportunity in Arlington, Virginia.
In the interim, the Washington Glass School will be holding classes in their temporary home at the Arlington Arts Center.
They will be reopening on a larger scale somewhere between March and June of 2006 with double the classrooms and triple the kiln space! This incredible opportunity came upon them quite suddenly, and I will keep you posted as to the status and exact location as soon as all papers have been signed.
Meanwhile come see the show before it closes next Wednesday.
Video Killed the Radio (and Art?) Star
Video killed the radio star
Pictures came and broke your heart
Oh-a-a-a oh
Bruce Woolley and the Camera Club
Michael O'Sullivan's eloquent review in today's WaPo makes a powerful point about art videos. Read it here.
And it got me to thinking.
I don't hide the fact that most art videos (which I have sometimes called artists' home movies) leave me pretty ambivalent, especially as I try to view them as art, rather than entertainment.
In the nearly 70 year history of artists' home movies, I can probably count in one hand the number of them that I would even remotely consider as something more than a low budget attempt at making a film, and most of those on that list start before the VCR was invented.
Nonetheless, it is a fact that most of the voices in the art world that count and weigh in a lot heavier than mine, do still view video (pun intended) as the leading edge for creativity in the modern dialogue of the visual arts (even though the genre is now in its 7th decade).
Witness the recent video overload in the Whitney Biennial list as the most recent evidence.
History lesson for anyone born after 1980 or so: Before everyone had VCRs or DVD players in their homes, if you wanted to see a movie, you generally had to go to a movie theatre, and many American cities had a seedy neighborhood where porn theatres were concentrated - when I was a kid in Brooklyn, that seedy area was in and around Times Square in NYC.
And just like video killed the radio star, it also killed seedy porn theatres all over the landscape but concurrently it gave the porn industry a huge new life that they had never hereto dreamed of and also gave them access to the privacy of the home as it eliminated the requirement to visit a seedy theatre in order to view a porn movie.
And as O'Sullivan intelligently deduces, now the Vlogging Revolution hands us all a brilliant opportunity to once and for all do for art videos what VCRs and DVDs did for the porn industry (in a sense), but in this case remove them from our galleries and museums and put them on the web, where we can watch them whenever and wherever we want!
This is a win-win situation for nearly all.
Not for us mossbacks, but it will open up gallery and museum space for other artsy stuff, whatever else "new art" may be lurking out there now disguised as technology (I predict some sort of hologram-type stuff). And for art video aficionados, it will deliver an exponential growth in the genre, as millions of weekend arts and crafts projects now take to the web and populate millions of Vlogs full of new videos.
And as soon as your Aunt Elvira (I do have an aunt so named) sets aside her weekend watercolors and oils, and picks up the new family digital camera (now fully capable of recording movies) and starts making art movies by the millions, I can guarantee that curators will leave tire tracks on their way to find something "new" in art.
The allure of the "new" in art has been an interesting topic for discussion over at Thinking About Art, and I found the below comment by Lou Gagnon right on the point of the issue:
Innovation, in technology, is important in that it offers "new" tools and techniques. What is made with these new tools and techniques is typically derivative of what was made with the old tools. Most innovation is fueled by a desire to make an existing process more efficient.Amen!
Humans have been mixing pigment with fat to document the human condition for tens of thousands of years. The innovations of fresco, oil or acrylic are derivative improvements. Photography offered efficient alternatives to painting in the already established need to document contemporary life (events, people and places). Video offers alternatives to photography in that the linear format has the potential to distribute a more explicit narrative.
Efficiency and effectiveness are not the same. The limit to a tool's effectiveness is in the imagination of the maker. In art, I believe effectiveness is measure by the power of a work to engage people. Does the engagement temporarily distract someone from his or her daily existence or does it shift his or her paradigms and actions? Work premised on technology will be irrelevant when the technology changes. Work premised on the human condition has the potential to be timeless. Have there been innovations in light, color or form? What about fear, love, desire, freedom or apathy?
The "new" in art is that unique intimate engagement between an individual and his or her relationship with these larger issues. That fragile union between the ephemeral and the eternal is magic.
Elephant Dung
We've all been bored to death with all the attention that some American museums have been getting online due to a variety of unethical lapses, deaccessioning of artwork, construction or deconstruction, parking lots, etc.
Yawn...
And over in that odd amalgamation of countries and peoples known as Great Britain, they're having their own issues (pronounced the BBC-way or eesssssius), with the Tate spending well over a million dollars (£705,000) in acquiring Christopher Ofili's work The Upper Room, which is partly made by using a few dozen dollops of elephant dung.
It's not the elephant doody that is the issue, but that at "...the heart of the affair is the fact that, when The Upper Room was purchased from him for £705,000 earlier this year, Ofili was himself a Tate trustee. This, critics say, represents a major conflict of interest. It also seems to contradict official Tate guidelines, which say: "Even the perception of a conflict of interest in relation to a board member can be extremely damaging to the body's reputation."
Read the story in The Independent here.
About ten years ago, something somewhat similar (in my opinion) on a much lesser scale, happened here in DC as a result of a very generous donation left in the will of DC area artist Gene Davis to the then-named National Museum of American Art (now called the Smithsonian American Art Museum).
Read that story, published in 1995 in the WaPo, here.
Thursday, December 01, 2005
Openings on 1st Friday
There's a ton of openings tomorrow, being first Friday and all...
Over in Georgetown, Addison/Ripley Fine Art has Wolf Kahn opening with a reception for Kahn from 6-8PM.
Also in Georgetown, Govinda Gallery has photographs by Mark Selinger in an exhibition titled "In My Stairwell." The opening reception is from 6-9PM.
And still in Georgetown, two of the Canal Square galleries are having openings from 6-8PM.
On the second floor of the Square, the Anne C. Fisher Gallery hosts a reception in honor of their well-received, current exhibition, South American Holiday. This lively exhibition by several South American artists is a feast for the eyes! It includes mixed media collages by Joan Belmar, paintings in acrylic on canvas and acrylic on paper by Patricia Secco, and monoprints, hanging paper constructions and the video Zapatos Blancos by artist Helga Thomson.
Under the Anne C. Fisher Gallery, our neighbor Parish Gallery opens a new group show with work by Floyd Coleman, Victor Ekpuk, Ron Flemmings, Liani Foster, Naza McFarren, Roberto Morassi, Deanna Schwartzberg, Stephanie Parish Taylor, and Yvette Watson.
On 7th Street, Zenith Gallery has the DC debut of Drew Ernst in an exhibition titled "Connected." The reception is Friday from 6-9PM and Ernst has an artist's talk on Saturday, December 3rd starting at 2PM.
Around Dupont Circle, Irvine Contemporary has Sean Foley: Rubes, Scuttlebutt & Loggerheads through December 31. The gallery will be part of the 1st Friday extended hours from 6-8PM, but the actual opening for Foley is December 9, from 6-8PM. Nearby neighbor Washington Printmakers has prints by Jenny Freestone, who teaches at the Corcoran. In addition to the extended hours from 6-8PM tomorrow, a formal opening for Freestone will be held Thursday, December 8, from 6-8 pm (and earlier there's aGallery Talk/Brown Bag Lunch on Thursday, December 8, 12-1 pm).
Most of the other Dupont Circle area galleries will also have extended hours from 6-8PM. Go see (and buy) some artwork!
The Quilts as Stamps
Remember the superb Quilts of Gee's Bend exhibition at the Corcoran? (If you don't then click here).
Well they are soon to be USPS Stamps!
Stats
Warning: Own horn tooting coming next...
November stats show that DC Art News received over 22,000 visits and nearly 26,000 page views during the 30 days of November, as readership has more than doubled since the beginning of 2005. And MyBlog stats show that in the last week alone, DC Art News sent over 2,000 visitors to other sites through a link offered here.
Still a drop in the bucket, but always growing!
And it still cracks me up how several of our fellow online art bloggers now hide their daily stats (which were once visible) under passwords in order to hide our/their relative insignificance in the overall massive world of information dissemination.
Insecurity is a difficult thing to conquer; let's all keep growing.
Pot Calling the Kettle Black
In an interesting and well-crafted review of "The Art of Richard Tuttle" at the Whitney Museum of American Art, the WaPo's Chief Art Critic writes (italics mine):
"Hilton Kramer, then a famously conservative critic at the New York Times, took the show as the perfect occasion to release some of his trademark bile. He called the exhibition "irredeemable," "pathetic," "a bore and a waste."Mmm... a review of the Pot's last couple of years' worth of art reviews may reveal a few violations of the Kettle's trademarks.
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