Padget Moving on
Jonathan Padget, who authors the twice-a-month "Arts Beat" column in the WaPo is moving on.
Starting Tuesday, he will be working as a the new Style copy editor. His arts editorial aide duties will be handled by Kate Wichmann through late March, with coverage after that TBD.
Everytime the WaPo says TBD for one of their arts column I get nervous; the last TBD that we're still waiting for the "D" was for the addition of a new freelancer to replace Glenn Dixon and bring the "Galleries" column back to once a week.
Obviously the WaPo has decided that they will keep "Galleries" to just twice a month and are too chicken to announce that fact.
If you don't get it, you don't get it.
Monday, February 20, 2006
Icy
I'm at the University of Arkansas at Monticello, and this morning the car was covered under half an inch of ice, which I am told it's quite unusual for this area!
More later.
Sunday, February 19, 2006
Thank You Marc and Komei
Before I get started: the more that I visit the new Katzen Art Center’s galleries, the more that it dawns on me that we now can boast to having one of the best visual art spaces in the Mid-Atlantic; the place is just amazing, and I am hypnotized by the way that walls pop in and out and curve around, forcing the visitor to admire not only what’s on display, but the space as well.
On display currently is the massive "Remembering Marc & Komei" exhibition through March 12, 2006.
This exhibition introduces 92 artists from the 2,500 plus art collection of H. Marc Moyens and Komei Wachi, the deceased owners of the now closed Gallery K in Washington, D.C.
This exhibition, the first to show the collection since Walter Hopps curated a show of Moyens’s collection for the Corcoran Gallery of Art in 1969-70, is a truly unique opportunity to view, study and learn what makes successful art collectors and successful art dealers often merge into one entity.
At first sight, the initial reaction is to try to write that Moyens and later Wachi had an amazing diverse and eclectic taste in art. Once we check that initial impulse with the fact that the collection spread over many decades, it is easy to see that their tastes and insights changed over the years, but never their curiosity and zeal to acquire and grow their collection.
In fact, it’s a fascinating guessing game to see what and who came first. This is not easy, as these two gentlemen collected both area and national artists as well as many European artists who were often known better abroad than in the United States.
It has been written that "Moyens and Wachi eschewed fashion in favor of the offbeat, the magical, and the visually arresting." And I would agree with some reservations, in the sense that I don’t think that they eschewed fashion, but were in several cases, ahead of the coming fashion trend, and like experienced collectors, often stuck with their instincts, and were handsomely rewarded later, once the ever swinging art fashion pendulum swung back to align with their selections.
Let’s walk through this amazing show.
On the ground floor gallery, we discover a very early Joe Shannon. Titled "Businessmen" and painted in 1970, it is a precursor to the harsh, warring paintings that Shannon would produce over the next 35 years. It is also curious to see a fully dressed Shannon appear in the painting (he’s the bearded man to the left), as Shannon usually makes his appearances in his works in the buff.
This talented Puerto Rican artist has been a key member of the DC art scene for nearly five decades now and he has been ignored way too long, and Shannon is overdue for a major museum retrospective here in DC.
Take a deep breath.
And then we are surrounded by my earlier points. How could a collection be so eclectic and diverse? How could the same collector that picked up John McLaughlin’s "#21-1959" possibly in 1959 and Annie Truitt’s "Arundel XIV" in 1975 and Morris Graves barely there pastel on paper "Bird of the Inner Eye" in 1955, also select Fritz Kothe’s "Honda" in 1966?
Because he or they, liked them.
And sometimes there are stories associated with the pieces, that remind us what kind of mensch these two gentlemen truly were.
There’s an amazing, and highly personal piece in the exhibition by DC artist Sidney Lawrence. It is called "Peaceable Kingdom" and Lawrence created it in 1982, when it was part of his solo exhibition at Gallery K.
The piece, which depicts the artist (Lawrence's face is in the sun) and was dedicated by Lawrence to his father (who had died about the time that the work was created and is depicted as the phantom face on the left) in a very intimate and story-telling world, sold to a local DC collector. The iconographic work depicts Abram Lerner, then Lawrence's boss at the Hirshhorn, talking to artist Jody Mussoff. Lawrence created the work from a photograph taken at an opening, and as he recalls, they were discussing the fact that a drawing by Mussoff was about to be bought by Joe Hirshhorn, and then donated to the museum.
This intimate, iconographic work was not an easy piece of art to acquire, and it shows a courageous and savvy collector with a very good eye for art.
A few years later the collector died, and his children, who obviously did not share their father’s valiant taste in artwork, asked Komei and Marc if they could return the piece and get their money back.
I was astounded that someone could be so bold as to ask to return a work of art acquired years earlier.
But I was even more astounded to discover that Komei and Marc, did indeed return their father’s money and then decided to keep the piece for their own collection.
It is also clear to see that these two gents liked surrealistic and fantastic images in their collection. There’s a spectacular Ernst Fuchs oil and tempera on board titled "Angel of Death" (c.1952-58) that reminds me of both Bosch and more specifically of DC’s own Erik Sandberg, who exhibited with Gallery K for a while, but is curiously not included in this exhibit, and probably should have been (if his work is in their collection).
But my favorite work in this genre was an odd painting of a bald lady, appropriately titled "Bald-Headed Lady" and painted in 1960 by Zoltan Von Boer, superbly standing alone in its oddity and outsider-like feeling.
Another masterful work in this genre is Margarida Kendall Hull’s (who was Sandberg's biggest influence when he was her student at GMU) jaw dropping "Lillith," painted by Kendall in 1993. Kendall Hall had a series of highly successful solo shows with Gallery K, and has since then, in a paradoxical departure, enjoyed spectacular success in Europe, where her work has been selling so briskly, both to museums and collectors, that Kendall now has a sizeable wait list, while all but disappearing from the local DC art scene.
There are other surprises from the area artists in this collection (besides seeing a dressed Joe Shannon).
Such as a great graphite on paper drawing by Fred Folsom titled "Chesterfields" and done by Folsom in 1978. Another one of my favorites is a dual litho by Scip Barnhart and Jody Mussoff, a joint self-portrait of these two well-known DC artists done in 1993.
Who else is there?
There are strong pieces by Lisa Brotman, Jean Dubuffet, Edward Dugmore, Pierre Soulages, and Ken Young. There’s a box (done in the 1950s) by Joseph Cornell, a 1977 Sean Scully and Sandra Skoglund’s weird Ciba "Revenge of the Goldfish" from 1981 and Andrea Way’s "Floating Time" from 1985.
But the lesson here is very simple.
When you love art, (if you can) you buy art. And then you buy what you
Thank you Komei; thank you Marc.
Saturday, February 18, 2006
From the Studio at the Katzen
The top floor gallery of the beautiful Katzen Arts Center’s galleries is currently hosting "From the Studio," a group show that brings together the artists that make up American University’s studio art faculty (both full time and adjunct professors).
It seems that more and more I like to reveal my hand very early on a review, especially when reviewing a group show, and let me tell you right away that the best work in this show is by Zoe Charlton, who is exhibiting several pieces from her Undercover Series (sorry - I don't have any good images).
Charlton, who works mixed media on vellum, is an artist who has managed to create and deliver on a very hard assignment: the marriage of sensuality with the most economical presentation possible. It is as in viewing her work, perhaps anchored by the bare presentation on vellum, we are seeing individual cels from an animated, sexy film, the kind that one would see at those artsy erotic film festivals in San Francisco or Seattle, but never here in DC.
In any event, this professor brings some fresh new ideas and loads of talent to our area, and I’m really looking forward to seeing more of her work over the years.
AU students seeking to learn how to paint properly, should all immediately sign up for Ben Ferry’s class (I hope that he’s teaching paining); he’s without a doubt the best technical painter in the faculty, and his mysteriously-titled painting "Jumping in the Grass," easily shows that even the most common of subjects (in this case a dog) can be elevated to a sublime place by that most ancient of mediums, which keep surprising all of those who keep clamoring that painting is dead. As long as talented painters such as Ferry wield brushes, painting will never die.
Trawick Prize finalist Jeff Spaulding shows why he nearly won that highly competitive prize a few years ago, and his "Endgame" sculptural installation was not only evocative in its mental references to Saint Sebastian, but also popped into my head that famous painting by Frida Kahlo where she has depicted herself as a deer full of arrows.
Luis Silva’s video installation, titled "March 6" and Susan Yanero’s weird and super busy "Mollie’s Life," a huge oil on canvas, rounded up what I thought were the most successful works in this group show.
Overall the exhibition is an excellent opportunity to peek inside the faculty at AU and discover both fresh new talent, established artists and the usual head-scratcher that comes along with any group show.
Exhibiting artists include Tom Bunnell, Zoe Charlton, Mary Cloonan, Billy Colbert, Tim Doud, Ben Ferry, Sharon Fishel, Carol Goldberg, Lee Haner, Kristin Holder, Tendai Johnson, Deborah Kahn, Don Kimes, Isabel Manalo, Mark Oxman, Randall Packer, Luis Silva, Jeff Spaulding, Robert Tillman, Seth Van Kirk, and Susan Yanero.
The exhibition runs through March 12, 2006.
Friday, February 17, 2006
Gopnik on Dada
The WaPo's Chief Art Critic reviews the terrific Dada exhibit at the NGA, and very early on the review he shows his solid neoCon right wing colors by throwing in the now blase reference to Abu Ghraib in an art review, which will surely merit a few thousand words of response from you know who.
And you get to read the review here and now (a day and a half early), as it will be published next Sunday!
The review also includes a really cool "Learn the ABC's of Dada" link. See that here. I don't know if the printed version of the review will carry it, but online it is a brilliant departure from the usual type of review, and yet another marker on the road to the burial of the printed press.
Well done to Gopnik and to the WaPo for this multimediaish review!
O'Sullivan on Bourgeois
Michael O'Sullivan has a really good review of the "Louise Bourgeois: Femme" exhibition at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore.
Read it here.
Midwives at Round House
Last night I snagged a couple of free tickets and went to see Midwives at the Round House Theatre in Bethesda.
The play is based on the #1 New York Times bestseller and Oprah's Book Club selection novel Midwives by Chris Bohjalian. It was adapted by Dana Yeaton and directed by Mark Ramont.
The play starts 15 years after the event, with a very pregnant woman making an entrance into a hospital room from within a very beautiful stage prop that arches over the entire stage. It is sometimes lit, and sometimes translucent, and it is sort of a remarkable cage where stripped tree branches are caged and suspended around and over the stage, looking like a huge Yuriko Yamaguchi sculpture.
The pregnant woman, we soon find out is Charlotte Bedford (played superbly by Kimberly Parker Green), and she now lives in the imagination of the retired midwife, who is recovering from cancer.
Narrated by a variety of characters, the play moves back and forth in time, slowly decomposing for the audience a set of clues and information about what happened on the night that the childbirth went wrong.
As Connie looks back on her mother's trial, both her and her mother (and silently the ghost of the dead woman) are attempting to understand and figure out what truly happened on that night, and heal the wounds left on their psyches in the years that followed.
The audience is treated to a very horrific re-enactment of the childbirth, which is taking place in the Bedford's home on a wintry and icy New England night. A night when the phone lines are down and the the roads are so slick with ice that no one can even get to their car when the delivery gets complicated.
The midwife, thus unable to get her patient to a hospital, tries courageously to save both the mother and unborn child while her inexperienced apprentice of three months and the woman's terrified husband (who is a minister and is played by Gene Gillette) generally get in the way.
The audience is led to believe that the mother dies but that the baby is saved thanks to an emergency C-section done by Sybil with a kitchen knife.
And this is where the issue becomes complicated, as first the the apprentice and then the husband suggest that maybe the mother wasn't really dead when the midwife cut her open.
And the rest of the play presents the case, showing bits and pieces of the trial, re-enactments of the operation, and the final resolution between mother and daughter, as to what may or may have not happened that night.
For the first twenty minutes or so of the play, the Charlotte Bedford character is completely silent, usually just ghost-stepping around the stage or sitting on the bed. And I was thinking to myself: "This actress has the best role ever in a play: no lines to learn!"
Soon I became fascinated by her silence, and began to realize how her facial and body postures were affecting the audience and I.
Eventually, when she spoke, both in her role as Charlotte Bedford and later as the voice for the judge in the trial of Sybil Danforth, it was clear to me that Kimberly Parker Green had the most difficult role in this play and she stole this show.
Kimberly Parker Green, managed to make her silent parts become integral parts of the discussions and fights going on between mother and daughter. In part thanks to excellent lighting, in repose she (because this actress is very fair skinned and light-haired), became almost like a Vermeer painting, except when her subtle facial expressions added fuel to an argument (Sybil can see Charlotte) or reproachment to an excuse.
One thing that I completely missed: Why were both Bedfords (the preacher and his wife) speaking with heavy Southern accents in a scene set in rural Vermont?
Either they have their geography wrong, or maybe I missed a part where they were Southeners who had moved to Yankee-land. In any event, it was a bit distracting and out of place with everyone else's lack of any noticable accent, as no one attempted a New England accent (caps instead of cops, ps instead of pierced, and yaaad instead of yard, etc.).
The play is powerful and well-directed, and the audience (average age around 65) visibly winced many times at the harshness of the events unfolding in front of them.
With the singular exceptions of Parker Green, and Lynn Steinmetz (who superbly plays both a nurse and a doctor in two different roles) I became somewhat annoyed by the rest of the acting performance.
In part this was a cascade effect from the extended arguing scenes between the midwife and her daughter. Both actresses kept the same tone and style of speech throughout all levels of fighting; the daughter very shrill and screechy, and the mother very stoic. Meanwhile I kept thinking: "This isn't how people really argue - at least no one that I know."
Nonetheless this is a very powerful play, and surprisingly eye-opening in the sense that it offers us a window into a nearly extinguished aspect of American life: the lay midwife.
The play runs through Feb. 26, 2006. Read the WaPo review of the play by Lisa Traiger here, and read the Wash Times review here, and the WCP review here. Isn't it nice how every paper in town reviews theatre? When was it the last time that we saw the big three review the same gallery show?
Sibyl Danforth: MaryBeth Wise
Charlotte Bedford: Kimberly Parker Green
Connie Danforth: Stephanie Burden
Bill Tanner: Paul Morella
Louise, Dr. Gerson: Lynn Steinmetz
Lori Pine, Anne Austin, Patty: Rana Kay
Asa Bedford, David Pine: Gene Gillette
Stephen Hastings: John Lescault
Dr. Lang, Barton Hewitt: John Dow
Parsons on Frenn
Adrian Parsons reviews our current Chawky Frenn exhibition at Fraser Bethesda.
Read the review here.
LAT looking for art critic reporter
This was emailed to me (not interested), but we all know someone who is somewhat qualified for this job, and who should apply to it, and who then should be hired by the LAT and then pleeeeease move to LA!
The ad:
Arts writer, Los Angeles Times:
The Los Angeles Times hopes to add an additional arts reporter to its staff. This person would be expected to break news, write a range of features and help analyze the exciting developments in visual and performing arts in the region and the country. This will be an exciting job for a writer with proven reportorial skills and the energy to keep up with the fascinating cultural life of L.A. Expertise in visual arts, architecture, classical music, theater, dance or any combination would be a plus, but curiosity and flair are what's required. Mail resume and clips to Lisa Fung, arts editor, or Bret Israel, Sunday Calendar editor, Los Angeles Times, 202 West First Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012. No calls or emails, please.
Opportunities for Artists
Deadline March 3, 2006
Photo Exhibition to Aid New Orleans. Photographs will be sold to benefit displaced New Orleans artists. Photos should include emotional and political statements thematic to New Orleans. Contact:
Denise Berthaiume
LeMieux Galleries
332 Julia St
New Orleans, LA 70130
or call 360-385-2135 or email mail@lemieuxgalleries.com
Deadline: Mar 15, 2006
Dimensions 2006. Open to all media. May 5 - June 3. Slide or Digital Entry. 1st prize: $1000. Juror: Brooke Anderson, Director of the Contemporary Center, American Folk Art Museum, NY. For prospectus send SASE to:
Associated Artists of Winston-Salem
301 West Fourth Street
Winston-Salem NC 27101
or 336-722-0340 or email staff@associatedartists.org
Deadline: March 31, 2006
Direct Art Magazine, Volume 13 Sixth Annual Competition for publication in Volume 13 of Direct Art Magazine, Fall/Winter 2006 issue. Twenty six awards; over $22,000.00 in value, including covers of magazine and feature articles. For prospectus e-mail Direct Art at mailto:DirectArtMag@aol.com or download the prospectus here.
Deadline: May 19, 2006
IX Annual International Fine Arts Competition. Open to all 2D artists (except photography) wall-hung sculptures, 18 years and older working in a realistic or representational genre. Enter via slides or digital files. The winner of the Best in Show award shall receive $500 in prize money. First, Second and Third Prize winners will receive $200, $150 and $100 respectively in prize money. Juried by yours truly. Visit this website for more details and an entry form or call 301/718-9651 or send a SASE to:
Fraser Gallery
7700 Wisconsin Avenue
Suite E
Bethesda, MD 20814
Deadline: June 15, 2006
International Juried Digital Art Exhibition. They are seeking entries from 2D artists for exhibition, Jul 5-31, 2006. Open to all styles, techniques, and themes (except racist references, comics, jokes, or caricatures). Submit only one work. Selected entries will be printed in color, A4 format, and framed (55x45cm) for exhibition. Prizes include 3-week solo exhibition, travel and accommodations to Venado Tuerto, Argentina. No entry fee. Please send entries with subject heading of full name and with message of name, DOB, address, title of work, technique, .JPEG attachment (min. 150dpi/in, min. 1MB) in A4 format, and attachment
with artist's photograph to address listed here email Oscar Poliotto.
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Eyelevel on Boozer
Eyelevel has an excellent profile on the very talented Margaret Boozer. Read it here.
Read my review of Boozer's last solo show here.
Visit Boozer's website here.
Bailey, Bailey, Bailey...
Bailey is on the warpath, or whatever it is that madmen from the South do when something gets under their skin.
In this case it deals with Charlie Finch and Artnet, and with the CSA, and with Ayaan Hirsi Ali, and with Freedom of Speech (I think).
Me on Video
The ArtsMedia News TV program has been putting some clips from the TV program on Google Video.
This is a clip of me from a show that we did last summer on outdoor art fairs.
And this is a clip of the Nicholas Nixon show at the NGA.
And this is a clip of the Warhol exhibit at the Corcoran.
If you don't get... you don't get it
The WCP has an excellent article by Mike DeBonis and Jason Cherkis on what happens to freelancers who don't toe the line and follow the rules at the WaPo.
The Rules:
Rule No. 1: Don’t Suggest That Your Beat Is Lame
Rule No. 2: Save Your Opinions for Your Review
Rule No. 3: Don’t Make Mistakes
Rule No. 4: Don’t Place a Post Superstar in a Negative Light
Rule No. 5: Don’t Tell Your Paper to "Eat... a ‘Bag of Cocks’"
Read the article here.
Congratulations
Catriona Fraser has just selected the photographers for the IV Annual Bethesda Photography Competition and they are:
The following photographers has been selected for the exhibition;
David Ashman, Annapolis, MD
Kerry Stuart Coppin, Providence, RI
Sandi Croan, Centreville, VA
Chris Davis, Arnold, MD
Adriana Echevarria, Bethesda, MD
Lee Goodwin, Washington, DC
David Hovgaard, San Jose, CA
Eleanor Owen Kerr, Baton Rouge, LA
Prescott Moore Lassman, Washington, DC
Veronika Lukasova, Washington, DC
Jesse Mechling, Bethesda, MD
Eric Moore, La Plata, MD
David Myers, Kensington, MD
Margaret Paris, Rockville, MD
Aleksei Pechnikov, Gaithersburg, MD
Victoria Restrepo, Potomac, MD
Chris Scroggins, Lutherville, MD
Bert Shankman, Olney, MD
Mary T. Vogel, Bakersville, NC
Cynthia Walker, Black Mountain, NC
Sigh...
The Philadelphia Inquirer has a great story on Zoe Strauss, the talented and exuberant Philly photog who was selected for the next Biennial.
Zoe is terrific.
And it also makes me sigh because I cannot recall the last time (or ever) when one of our local major newspapers ever had a story such as this one for one of our area visual artists (even the ones who have been selected in the past to exhibit at the Whitney).
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
A little help needed
Iona Rozeal Brown had two notebooks taken from her car last night as it was parked behind 1515 14th Street.
They contain all of the work she did in her recent 6 month residency in Japan. If anyone comes across any info about the the notebooks or about pages from the notebooks that have a hip hop asian feel, please get a contact number for the person and let me know.
New Art Blog
Mark Cameron Boyd has started Theory Now, a new art blog which he describes as "an ongoing discursive site about the relevance of art theory now."
Mark started the new blog so that his Corcoran students (from his "Theory Now" class) would have a forum for their discussions involving art theory, contemporary art topics, and plain old "shop talk" -- but they're open to "posts" from anyone.
Visit Theory Now often
Text Update
As most of you know, last year I was retained by the Washington Project for the Arts/Corcoran (WPA/C) to curate a multi-gallery exhibition for them called Seven.
After looking at nearly 30,000 slides and digital files, I organized seven thematic exhibitions in seven separate gallery rooms for them.
In one of the rooms I began the exploration of artists who employ textual elements as an integral, key part of their work. What was initially explored in that Seven exhibition has evolved into a "Text" exhibition, curated by me, which will open next April 1, 2006 at the Greater Reston Arts Center in Reston, Virginia.
Set aside that date and see you there at the opening!
New photo auction record set
A rare print taken by US photography pioneer Edward Steichen has set a new world record for the highest price ever paid for a photograph at auction.
The photograph (titled Pond-Moonlight ) was taken in New York in 1904 and was auctioned by Sotheby's for $2.9m, more than doubling the previous record.
It was put up for sale by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which has another copy in its collection.
Assimilation/Dissolution
There will be an artists' talk (Jeffry Cudlin, Christopher Hoeting and Jefferson
Pinder) and reception for Assimilation/Dissolution this Thursday, February 16th. from 6:00pm to 8:00pm at Flashpoint.
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Gimp
If you see me limping around, it is not from having worn my knee out from giving someone that once promised and well-deserved ass kicking.
This story is nothing compared to Tentacles but...
Today as I was getting dressed, I was barefooted, and as I have hardwood floors, managed to pick up a huge sliver in my left foot.
Luckily, I was standing next to my bed, and so I collapsed on top of it while holding my foot aloft, as one of the key things to do in the event of a sliver attack, is to isolate the attacked limb, lest we break the sliver and have to resort to emergency needle surgery.
So I managed to preserve the sliver intact on the bottom of my foot.
Next, what is needed is good light, and good vision, in order to extract the attacking sliver.
So, holding my foot aloft, I hopped over to the bathroom, and turned the lights on.
I then lifted my left leg, in order to do the acrobatic act of remaining balanced while exposing the sole of my left foot.
I however, failed to account for the bathroom door handle, and smashed my kneecap on the handle as I lifted the leg up, while attmepting to balance on the other foot.
Now I am really hopping on one leg and screaming bloody murder, as my knee complains bitterly at the unwarranted smash-up.
Eventually I manage to settle down, and to my relief the splinter is still whole and sticking out of my foot. Luckily, in a paradoxical way, it is a massive splinter, which is bad for the pain that it is delivering to my foot, but good for the fact that I can just grab it with my fingers and not spend several hours looking for the tweezers.
And so I grab it out, and I think that I performed a clean extraction.
Pheeew!
However, this is a massive rain-forest sized chunk of wood, and some blood begins to seep out. Since I do not know what sort of postmodern germs are now ferociously attempting entry into my blood stream, I decided to put some first aid cream on the wound.
Half an hour later and I still haven't found the cream, so I decide to use that bottle of iodine that has somehow managed to stay with me since it came with my first aid kit in Navy bootcamp eons ago.
Do they even make iodine anymore?
So I open the small bottle of iodine, and this bottle is so old, that the little plastic tip that dips into the iodine just falls off as I open it, landing squarely on top of my pants, after caressing my suit jacket on its downward spiral.
So now I have an iodine track on my jacket and on my pants; and a ruined suit, as iodine (as far as I know) does not come off.
I eventually put some of this prehistoric stuff on my wound, and as everyone knows, iodine stings like a M@#$%^&*^er.
I pretend it is the pain from all those germs being killed by whatever uberchemical makes up iodine (isn't iodine an element by itself?).
I think that I got all the wood out, but now my foot still hurts like crazy.
A day in the life of a gallerist.
Opening at the Katzen Tonight!
Body Languages: Mary Coble and Robert Flynt at the Katzen Center of the American University Museum.
Opens tonight, February 14th from 6-9pm. The exhibition runs through March 12, 2006.
See ya there!
Manon Cleary
To: All Washington, DC Museum Curators
Subj: Manon Cleary
Question: Now that one of you gave Sam Gilliam his well-overdue and richly deserved retrospective at the Corcoran, when is one of you going to step up and give Manon Cleary a museum show in her own hometown?
Does she have to die first?
Sincerely,
Me
P.S. From 2004.
Stripes
Osuna Gallery in Bethesda opens a new exhibition this coming Saturday, February 18, 2006, 2-6:30pm showcasing the opening of major works by Washington Color School artists Gene Davis, Tom Downing and Howard Mehring. The show runs through April 1, 2006.
Grants anyone?
The College Art Association assists artists financially in completion of MFA and Ph.D. programs. Grants of up to $5,000 are awarded to individual artists. Deadline is ongoing. For information, contact:
The College Art Association
Fellowship Program
275 7th Ave.
New York, NY 10001
Phone: (212) 691-1051
Website: www.collegeart.org
Bethesda Artists Markets
The Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District is currently accepting applications for the June 10 and July 8, 2006 Bethesda Artist Markets.
Bethesda Artist Markets are one-day events featuring 30 local and regional artists in the Bethesda Place Plaza. Applications can be downloaded from their website.
To request a hardcopy, please send a self-addressed stamped envelope to:
Bethesda Artist Market
c/o Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District
7700 Old Georgetown Road
Bethesda, MD 20814
The Bethesda Artist Market will be held from 10am – 5pm in the Bethesda Place Plaza located at 7700 Wisconsin Avenue in downtown Bethesda. The Bethesda Artist Market is produced by the Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District and is free to the public.
Artists must be 18 years of age or older. All fine art and fine craft are accepted including, but not limited to: painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, fiber art, digital, mixed media, clay, wearable fiber, furniture, glass, jewelry, leather, metal, paper, ceramics and wood are accepted. Reproductions are accepted. All booth space are 10’x10’ and all artists must provide their own white 10’X10’ tent. No staking is allowed and artists must bring their own weights.
Each artist must submit five slides of their work and one slide of their booth, application, a non-refundable entry fee of $10 and a separate check of $50 for the booth fee. Please call 301/215-6660, Ext. 17 with any questions.
Wanna go to an opening tonight?
The Physicality of Ballet is the MFA Thesis Exhibition by Pamela Nabholz, on exhibition from February 14 - 26, 2006, and the artist's reception is today, February 14, from 4 - 7pm at the Dimock Gallery, Lower Lisner Auditorium, George Washington University.
The WPA\C Experimental Media Series
Deadline: March 1, 2006
The WPA/C is calling all video, performance, and sound artists for their Experiemental Media Series - No membership in the WPA/C is required to enter.
Works from this open call will be selected by Kathryn Cornelius & Djakarta, and will be viewed on May 24th from 7:00 - 9:00 pm. This is the final night of a three-night WPA\C experimental media series held in the Corcoran Gallery of Art's Armand Hammer Auditorium.
Download calls here.
The WPA\C Experimental Media Series:
7:00 - 9:00 pm at the Corcoran Gallery of Art's Auditorium
Night One - March 30th - Curated by Kathryn Cornelius
Night Two - April 26th - Curated by Djakarta
Night Three - May 24th - Juried submissions from Open Call by Kathryn
Cornelius & Djakarta
Richard on Muhammad's Pics
The WaPo's former (and now semi-retired) Chief Art Critic discusses a little art history of images of the Islamic prophet that exist in our area and in many Islamic nations.
Read the WaPo article here.
Monday, February 13, 2006
Opportunity for People with Nokia Phones
Deadline: February 28, 2006
Nokia is sponsoring an online photography competition of photos taken with their phones.
All submissions are displayed on the competition website, which also includes attempts by the professionals to "shoot new" using Nokia's N90 camera phone.
This competition is free to enter.
Download complete details and submit your image today though this website.
WPA/C Auction a huge success
The threat of snow didn't stop buyers and collectors (although it stopped me, and I am sorry to say that I chickened out at the last minute and didn't go) and I am told that that WPA/C auction had an amazing turnout and the highest number of sales of artwork in auction history.
The pieces that didn't get any bids and are still available are listed on their website and will be sold at their starting bidding price.
There is available work by Jim Goldberg, Paula Crawford, Emily Hall, Carlton Newton, Richard Roth, Amy Gartrell, Tom Texas Holmes, Fritz Welch, Laurel Farrin, Jason Gubbiotti, James Hilleary, Madeleine Keesing, David Kohan, Carroll Sockwell, Nancy Blum, Myron Helfgott, Paul Ryan, Diego Sanchez, R.M. Fischer, George Herms, Marcus Lutyens, Trevor Amery, Michael Fitts, Marie Ringwald, Anne Slaughter, and Betsy Stewart.
Secrets on the air
That spectacular success story known as Frank Warren will be on the Kojo Nmandi show today on WAMU 88.5 to discuss his amazing PostSecret project.
Tomorrow, there will be a special one day only PostSecret event at the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore. Warren will have a couple hundred postcards on display, most, never before seen, He will also be talking about the project and signing books. The are also going to try to get the new PostSecret DVD playing.
Update: Listen to Warren on the air here.
Sunday, February 12, 2006
Chawky Frenn Opening
The professor opened his third solo exhibition with us to packed crowds this last Friday who came to see Frenn's latest. Below is the main gallery wall just before the opening:
Frenn is not an easy artist to sell because his work is so visceral in nature, and without an ounce of irony. In fact, in the three solo exhibitions that he has had with us, every single painting that has sold, has been acquired by either collectors from Europe or from New York. We've yet to find the Washington, DC collector with the courage to hang work so loaded with political or social commentary.
And Frenn, and his difficult work, is a perfect example of the many different parts that go into running an independent fine arts gallery with a focus and cultural dialogue that is serious and committed to developing both presence and substance.
He certainly packs the gallery with visitors, and it is obvious that his students adore him as a teacher, and the critical press has been all over him in the last few years, but it takes a special collector to hang work that is presented by a master painter who revels in delivering difficult subjects and harsh topic after harsh topic.
The New York Times once wrote that "Chawky Frenn is a painter who has nailed down the figurative mode, and this accomplishment gives him the license to convey anything he wants, including the grand theme: the elusive meaning of human existence."
The Washington Post wrote that his work "is most effective, however, not when it's taking rather obvious swipes at American imperialism... but when it's making subtler hints about xenophobia, homophobia, racism, sexism and other tools of oppression."
The show runs through March 8, 2006.
Snowbound
For a long time it looked like it wasn't going to stick, but it kept falling and falling and last night it looked like this:
And this morning is pretty deep out there; this is the view from my second floor window and looking out towards the front of the house:
And now a couple of things for sure:
- Althought the Soviet Socialist Republic of Montgomery County is the highest taxed county in the United States of America, and property taxes went up 69% last year, and Kommissar Duncan's appetite for more taxes continues to be legendary, my street will probably never be cleaned. I can only recall one time that it was actually cleaned, and then it was by the third or fourth day.
- One reason for that may be because at some point today, one of my neighbors will attempt to leave the cul-de-sac where we all live, and get his or her car stuck in the slight uphill, forever blocking any exodus for the rest of us, or any entry to any snow-cleaning truck that may actually get lost and wander into our street to clean it. This has happened every single year that I have lived here. I haven't been outside yet, but I bet that there's a stalled, stuck car out there already.
Saturday, February 11, 2006
Buy What You Love
Art Addict has a great tip on what art to buy; and I agree with her.
Read it here.
Reviews
Kriston Capps on Fusebox's last show.
Jeffry Cudlin on Ian Whitmore at Fusebox.
Jeffry Cudlin on Heike Baranowsky at G Fine Art.
Louis Jacobson on Vesna Pavlovic at Fusebox.
Mark Jenkins on Remembering Marc and Komei at the Katzen.
Louis Jacobson on Madame Yevonde at Kathleen Ewing Gallery.
Louis Jacobson on Jason Zimmerman at Irvine Contemporary.
Rachel Beckman on Jason Zimmerman at Irvine Contemporary.
Joe Dempsey on Maria Leontovitsch Manley at Alla Rogers Gallery.
Jessica Dawson on "What Sound Does a Color Make?" at UMBC.
Michael O'Sullivan on Appropriately: Five Artists Exploring Humor at the University of Maryland's Union Gallery.
Michael O'Sullivan on Assimilation/Dissolution at Gallery at Flashpoint.
JT Kirkland's Northern Virginia Gallery Round-Up.
JT Kirkland's 14th Street Galleries Round-Up.
Alexandra Silverthorne on Whippersnappers at Connor Contemporary.
Robin Tierney on Cupidity at Neptune Gallery.
Nigerian Art Scam
In the past I have discussed a little bit about the very convincing Internet scam that seems to address a lot of art from artists and art galleries. A few years ago (when this scam was very new) we came really close to losing a lot of money, but luckily (and only after we really pressed our bank for assistance) did we avoid it.
We still get 2-3 emails a week from the scammers.
Can You Picture That (which is a new DC Blog and has been added to the Blogroll) has a good tutorial of how the scam works.
All gallerists and artists should definately review this posting.
Visit Can You Picture That often!
Friday, February 10, 2006
WWIII
I think that the Right Reverend Bailey is trying to start World War III. Read it all here and start stashing up water and toilet paper.
He also seems to have his own wiretapping surveillance program going, as his Top Ten List of Art Bloggers indicates!
Borf in the hoosegow
DCist first and then the WaPo report that Borf will be doing 30 days in a DC jail.
The teenage graffiti vandal known as Borf got tagged yesterday -- with 30 days in the D.C. jail and a dressing-down that no one in the courtroom will soon forget.And the judge keeps on...
Borf, aka John Tsombikos, chose not to address the judge who was deciding his fate. But D.C. Superior Court Judge Lynn Leibovitz had a lot to say to the young anarchist from Northern Virginia. She didn't paint a pretty picture.
"You profess to despise rich people," she said. "You profess to despise the faceless, nameless forms of government that oppress. That's what you've become. That's what you are. You're a rich kid who comes into Washington and defaces property because you feel like it. It's not fair. It's not right."
The 30-day jail term is just the start. If Tsombikos breaks the law again within the next three years, he could be jailed for the 17 suspended months of his sentence. Regardless, he has to complete 200 hours of community service, including 80 hours of cleaning up graffiti. And he must pay $12,000 in restitution, money that better not come out of his parents' bank accounts, the judge said.The prospect of seeing what the inside of a DC jail looks like is a terrible visual to me; it will be eye-opening to see what this month will do to Mr. Tsombikos' future.
"In other words," she said, "not the bogus jobs that your father gives you in New York . . . a real job, going to work like the people you demean, earning it with paychecks and the sweat of your own brow."
But it was the prospect of a month at the jail that most worried Madden, who had asked for probation and pleaded with the judge to at least send Tsombikos to a halfway house.
She wouldn't budge, and she made it clear why.
"I want him to see what the inside of the D.C. jail looks like," she said, "because unlike every other person you've seen in my courtroom this morning, who have a ninth-grade education, who are drug-addicted, who have had childhoods the likes of which you could not conceive, you come from privilege and opportunity and seem to think that the whole world is just like McLean and just like East 68th Street."
"Well," she said, "it's not."
There's also a firestorm of comments going on at DCist; read them and add your comment here.
Irvine to move to Fusebox's space
According to Jonathan Padget in the WaPo, Irvine Contemporary will be moving into the space being vacated by Fusebox Gallery.
Because they were first in the area, and rightfully so, Fusebox had a sweetheart of a deal on the rent of that space. I suspect that the landlord will now want a lot more samolians for the space, and thus making Irvine's position a tougher one to negotiate.
If they can close a deal, it will be a terrific move for Irvine; fingers crossed!
Thursday, February 09, 2006
Closing Interface
Tomorrow is the second Friday of the month, and thus time for the Bethesda Art Walk, with 13 participating venues and with free guided tours. Opening hours for the receptions are from 6-9PM.
And today Chawky Frenn is hard at work hanging his very heavy work (Frenn paints on a highly prepared board that weighs tons. This board process he learned under the legendary Gregory Gillespie).
And yesterday we closed the door on Interface: Art & Technology, which became one of our most popular shows ever, and I think will be remembered as the exhibition that planted Claire Watkins as a name to watch over the next few years.
Time to brag.
Not only did all of Watkins' work sell out (including the amazing "Flock of Needles" which has found a new home in Great Falls, Virginia), but we actually now have a wait list for this talented artist.
And yesterday Thomas Edwards' annoying "I Blame You" accusing robotic finger found a home in a Baltimore collection that will also house a Scott Hutchison video and the drawing from which the video was created. And earlier on the week, Kathryn Cornelius' video "Retreat" sold to perhaps DC's best known art collecting couple.
And the show was well reviewed; below is a list of those reviews that have been brought up to my attention:
Washington Post
Washington City Paper by Cudlin
Washington City Paper by Metcalfe
Washington Post Express
Solarize This
InnerBias
Nekkid with a Camera
Shift (Japanese Art Magazine; report by me)
Irish Blood
Parker Dearborn
See you tomorrow at the opening... from 6-9PM.
Student Photogs
The Corcoran College of Art and Design has a Senior Photojournalism Thesis Exhibition opening at the Corcoran Gallery of Art on February 16, 2006, with a reception from 6-8PM. It is open to the public for only four days (from 2/15 through Sunday, 2/19 from 10AM-5PM).
I am particularly looking forwards to seeing Chris Combs' work, which he titles "Inside the Spectrum: A Visual Canvas of Autism."
In Combs' work, the stories of two young men - one seven years old, the other twenty- five, both autistic - and their families, are told through photographs and text.
Update: A DC Art News reader emailed me and tells me that she's already looked at the senior thesis exhibit and adds that another body of works to see is by one photographer named Arianne. According to the email, "she has incredible vision, a great work ethic, humility and integrity. Her project centers around a home for women recovering from drug abuse. Her effort really distinguishes herself from the rest of the class. In fact, I would normally never interject, but I am really moved to help this woman who I think has a great career ahead of her."
Update II: Another DC Art News reader emails me and tells me that "Wendy Galietta's stuff in the show is also quite impressive. She's documenting modern swingers (in the wife-swapping sense, not dancers)."
Opportunity for Artists
Cummings Money for Artists (MFA) has gift certficates to purchase art materials that are being awarded to individual artists in the Washington, DC metro area. The certificates are worth between $50 to $250.
You can apply online at any time, and there are no fees involved. Awards will be made throughout the year. After you submit your application, an example of your work will be posted on the CummingsMFA web site.
Wanna go to a party tonight?
Tapedude Mark Jenkins has new installations at Club Hell on 18th Street. They're having a party tonight starting at 10PM (no cover).
Details here.
I Saw You
Gallery Neptune has an interesting group show opening this coming Sunday, Feb. 12, 2006 titled "Cupidity."
Cupidity is based in a sense on the "I Saw You Ads" in the newspapers. Each invited artist created a piece inspired by an ad and then a writer wrote a news ad involving the piece.
The Cupidity artist/writer teams are:
Albert Schweitzer / Katherine Thompson
Alexandra Silverthorne / Heidi Mordhorst
Anna Edholm Davis / Susan Leonardi
Dana Ellyn Kaufman / Charlie Barnett
David Wallace / Mary Kay Zuravleff
Ed Bisese / Levi Asher
Elaine Langerman / Caryn Thurman
Glenn Friedel / Patrick Holway
Greg Ferrand / Bob Angell
Helga Thomson / Rebecca Pope
Jean Beebe / Dennis Greza
Kim Bentley / Katie McCaskey
Kirk Waldroff / Dorian Hamilton
Matt Sesow / Doreen Peri
Mike Janis / Claudia Rousseau
Scott Brooks / Frank Warren
Warren Craghead / Roger Noyes
Wanna go to an opening tonight?
The District of Columbia Arts Center (DCAC) hosts the opening for Crafts & Kisses tonight from 7-10PM.
Also this coming Sunday is the final chapter of their four part panel series "Who Do You Love?" This one will focus on installation and site-specific art. The scheduled panelists are: Mary Coble, Jayme McLellan and Ira Tattelman (and perhaps a couple of surprise guests). The event starts at 7:30 in the theater at DCAC.
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
Frenn Opens Friday
The Fraser Gallery of Bethesda is proud to host the third solo exhibition of acclaimed Lebanese-American painter Chawky Frenn, in conjunction with the publication of a 174 page retrospective book of the artist’s works titled Chawky Frenn: Art for Life’s Sake. 
Art critic Donald Kuspit, one of the most visible art voices of the 21st century, has written that Frenn "constructs a spiritual space in which the contemporary public can feel emotionally at home, however troubling the emotions his imagery evoke in them."
The New York Times wrote that "Chawky Frenn is a painter who has nailed down the figurative mode, and this accomplishment gives him the license to convey anything he wants, including the grand theme: the elusive meaning of human existence."
The Washington Post wrote: "From a classical nude contemplating a human skull to his latest series of still lifes of slaughtered animal carcasses, Frenn is an artist's artist (as opposed to a critic's artist)."
For this upcoming solo show, which opens with a reception for Frenn this coming Friday, February 10, 2006 from 6-9PM, the artist has created a whole new series of paintings depicting his disturbing impressions of the current historical state of affairs of the world, as well as his continuing exploration of classical nudes.
Frenn's works are used to controversy. In 2001, his Boston gallery decided to cancel a Frenn solo show at the last minute as a result of the Sept. 11 attacks.
In 2004, his exhibition at Dartmouth caused an uproar on campus. Frenn, who was exhibiting at the same time at Damien Hirst, managed to outshock Hirst.
I will be clear to admit that this is not an easy artist to exhibit in the DC area. Every single one of his paintings that we've sold over the years has sold to New York or European collectors, althought I am sure that were his work to be exposed to local gutsy collectors (and curators), Frenn would be appreciated (on a local scale) to the same extent that he's being appreciated on a national and international scale.
The exhibition runs through March, 7 2006 and there’s an artist’s talk by Frenn, discussing his new work, on Saturday, February 25, 2006 starting at 1 PM.
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Shift on Interface
The Japanese magazine Shift has this piece on Interface in their current issue.
Read it here.
Teague on Interface
Innerbias reviews Interface at Fraser Bethesda.
Tomorrow is the last day to see Interface! Read Teague's review here.
Sunday, February 05, 2006
The Fleer Gallery of Art
Brian Beutler has an interesting and original piece in the current Washington City Paper titled "The Fleer Gallery of Art: The Washington City Paper’s first set of collector collector cards. Bubble gum not included."
The first set of cards depict Fred Ognibene, Tony Podesta, Philip Barlow, Juanita & Mel Hardy, and Aaron Levine.
I guess that I am surprised by who's not in the article, as missing are perhaps two or three Ubercollectors with massive collections. One missing couple has, I would guess, around 4,000 pieces of art in their collection.
Brian Beutler: for your next set of cards, email me baby!
Heading South
I'm driving down to Norfolk today, hopefully arriving in time to be able to watch the Pacific Northwest Oceanic Warbirds from the beautiful leftwing nuts city of Seattle destroy the Blue Collar Steel Workers of Pittsburgh.
I'll be back either Monday or Tuesday.
Bailey on Kennicott
The Rev. Bailey opines on the WaPo's Phillip Kennicott's thin logic in Kennicott's Clash Over Cartoons Is a Caricature Of Civilization.
Read it here.
Saturday, February 04, 2006
Cubicle Ten Opening Tonight
Tonight Cubicle Ten is hosting a festive visual experience entitled "Without Formula" at 1827 Sixth Street, NW, Washington, DC.
With this project, Cubicle Ten, has collaborated with MP Development and will turn a newly renovated four unit condo building into a 3,000 square foot art gallery.
Cubicle Ten has selected the following artists to showcase in this exhibition:
Andrew Au, Zoe Charlton, Clark, Billy Colbert, Jeffry Cudlin, Rick Delany, Chris Hoeting, Candace Keegan, David Meyer, Bridget Lambert, Michael Platt, Jefferson Pinder, Jennifer Purdum, Colin Williams, Alex Schuchard, Jonathan Sears, and Trish Tilman.
Opening Reception is tonight, Saturday, Feb. 4, 2006 from 7pm-12:30am - Catering by Local 16 Restaurant. Tel: 202-247-0595.
Wanna go to an opening tomorrow?
Carl Root opens at Glenview Mansion tomorrow, Sunday, Feb. 5, 2006 with an opening reception from 1-4PM.
Wanna go to an opening tonight?
Robert "Rob" Redding author, nationally syndicated radio personality and editor and publisher of the Redding News Review, has a show (titled "Smeared")opening tonight at Warehouse Gallery across from the Washington Convention Center on 7th Street, NW through to Feb. 26, 2006. The artist reception is scheduled for Feb. 4, 2006 at 5 p.m.
Congratulations
To our own Andrew Wodzianski, who in spite of being Fraser Gallery's art critics punching bag, had a terrific opening last night at the Rodger Lapelle Galleries in Philadelphia and whose last solo at our Georgetown gallery will travel to Old Dominion University later this year!
"Who Do You Love?"
Ian Jehle is moderating a series of art panels at DCAC and it's time for round three coming Sunday.
On Sunday he's moderating the third panel of the four part panel series "Who Do You Love?"
This one will focus on the figure. The scheduled panelists are: Lisa Bertnick, Tim Tate, Allison Miner, Michael O'Sullivan, and Erik Sandberg.
The event starts at 7:30 in the theater at DCAC.
Feb 5 - Part 3: Using the Figure - panelists: Lisa Bertnick, Tim Tate, Allison Miner, Michael O'Sullivan, and Erik Sandberg
Feb 12 - Part 4: Installation, Site-specific - panelists: Mary Coble, Jayme McLellan, Ira Tattelman
Talking points will include:
- "Who's your great grand daddy?" - artistic lineage: personal and public
- "Within these hallowed halls" - public museums as the apex of the art venue pyramid
- "Raphael is my copilot" - technique, refinement and presentation vis-a-vis the Old Masters
- "The boys and girls of spring" - the influence of major collectors (Phillips, Mellon and others)
- "What's not to love" - gaps in the DC artistic paean
- "And now ..." - where does individual practice and our local art scene intersect the contemporary art world?
Solution
Opening today, Saturday, February 4th, 2006 4-8 pm at the Graham Collection, is the opening reception of "Solution," a group exhibition of new paintings, all of which address a problem facing the black community and suggesting a solution.
The Graham Collection
3518 12th St., NE Washington, DC 20017
Tel: (202)832-9292
Friday, February 03, 2006
Cudlin on Interface
The Washington City Paper's Jeffry Cudlin reviews our current "Interface: Art & Technology" exhibition at Fraser Gallery Bethesda and really likes Kathryn Cornelius' video.
Read the review here.
WPA/C Auction Preview
Last night I went to the WPA/C's preview of the upcoming auction, fully planning then to go on to the opening at Nevin Kelly Gallery.
The preview was quite good, and a veritable who's who of DC art bloggers, power collectors, artists and even a Corcoran curator or two.
I made the mistake of arriving at the preview on a completely empty stomach, as I had been working all day and forgot to eat.
"I'll grub at the preview," I thought to myself as I headed to the Corcoran.
So I get there a little early, get to walk around the entire auction set-up, nicely displayed on the second floor of the Corcoran. The works were selected by:
- Philip Brookman, Senior Curator of Photography and Media Arts, Corcoran Gallery of Art.
- Kendall Buster, Artist and Associate Professor, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond , VA.
- Howie Chen, Branch Manager, Whitney Museum of American Art at Altria and Independent Curator, New York , NY.
- Jean Efron,Principal, Jean Efron Art Consultants, L.L.C., Washington, DC.
- Ashley Kistler, Curator, Visual Arts Center of Richmond, Richmond, VA.
- Adolfo V. Nodal, Arts Impresario (currently Project General Manager of Not A Cornfield Project), Los Angeles, CA.
- Sally Troyer, Former Gallerist, Independent Curator, Art Consultant, Washington, DC
I then went down to listen to the curator's talk, and at the risk of sounding disrepectful, made the huge mistake of sitting on the very front of the auditorium. I say this because I thought that it would be a matter of 30 minutes or so, but by the time that it was over, it had consumed an hour and fifteen minutes, and I was squirming and struggling to keep my stomach from growling too loudly (at least I didn't fall asleep and started snoring, as did some poor bastard above me).
The talk started at 6:30PM, and it was interesting and informative. Present were Effron, Buster and Brookman, and essentially these three highly talented and creative people discussed how (with some rare exceptions) they selected work by talented, creative artists that (a) they had known for years, (b) taught at the Corcoran, (c) taught at VCU or (d) shared a studio with them.
I particularly enjoyed the presentation by the tiny Kendall Buster, who brought a refreshing group of Richmonders to the auction, including some of my favorite pieces in the auction by some of those amazing young artists coming out of VCU's sculture program.
And so I get upstairs around 8PM, to find that most everyone else had skipped the lecture and had done a locust number on most of the good food that the Corcoran always puts out.
So I grab a beer on an empty stomach (bad idea) and munch on some asparagus tips that are left over (is it just me, or are asparagus way overrated as food?), and luckily there's still plenty of nice fresh fruit, and some cheese, but obviously the good stuff has come and gone... sigh.
Back to the artwork and a little bit of chatting with super generous Ubercollector Fred Ognibene and artists Tim Tate, Margaret Boozer and many others. And a few more rounds to look at the artwork. By the time that I got done, it was too late to make it to the Nevin Kelly opening (sorry Nevin - owe you an opening visit).
First of all let me re-affirm that this auction is a terrific opportunity for collectors not only to acquire art by some very talented artists, but also to contribute to the well being of our leading artists' organizations: the WPA/C. Furthermore, under Kim Ward's exceptional leadership, this organization is not only back on track, but also ablaze with activity and enthusiasm.
Here are my picks for the best in this auction in no particular order:
Noelle Tan. Easily the best photograph in the auction belongs to this talented artist, and at a $600 starting bid, it should go early!
Ledelle Moe. This is one of a set of eight or nine sculpted heads exhibited together as one piece under the title "Congregation," by this artist. I am told that she teaches at MICA and has a studio in DC. I've never seen her work before, but I quite liked what I saw here, and I think that she will be one of the "finds" of this auction. She also appears to have an exhibition currently at GMU.
Luis Camejo. This monochromatic painting by this Cuban artist boasts of action and energy, and it reminds me of one of those old illustrations for 19th century pre-photography newspapers. A good addition for collectors of Cuban art.
Michael Fitts. An amazing master of fooling the eye, Fitts works on discarded metal to create amazing oil paintings within that genre. We represent him, and his work has been selling briskly, so this piece will probably go early and sell high.
Susan Jamison. This talented and fair artist is having one terrific run! Whoever bought her painting at "Seven" got a terrific steal. Since then Jamison (now represented by Irvine) has sold out at Scope Miami and has a waiting list for her artwork!
The auction is at the Corcoran on Saturday, February 11, 2006, and to attend please print out and return the RSVP card here.
See ya there!
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