Supple at Warehouse

Perhaps one of the biggest voids between art critics and the other side of the fine arts equation (artists, gallerists and curators), is that most art critics seem to be fond of always giving the other side advice.

This advice is generally not only wrong, but often naive to the extreme of being laughable. Such as the art blogger who once wondered online why most galleries didn't publish nice fancy catalogs with each exhibition, and recommended that gallerists did this in order to be taken seriously by art critics.

Gallerists who read this advice immediately filed it in the round file while at the same time they try to balance the gallery books using magic in order to pay all their bills on time.

So I think that it is a good thing when an art critic, or an artist tries his hand at organizing an art show from idea to exhibition, including dealing with other fellow artists and/or art critics.

And so we come to the exhibition titled "Supple" and organized by fellow DC area blogger J.T. Kirkland, who for the past few years has developed before a worldwide online audience into an artist, a writer, an opinion voice of other artists' works, a critic of exhibitions and now a first-time curator.

Currently on exhibit through May 12 at the Warehouse Gallery complex on 7th street, NW in DC, "Supple" is an interesting example not only of the curatorial process itself, but also of the evolving nature of what it takes to be a good curator.

"Supple" is an excellent exhibition, packed to the rafters with an enviable "Who's Who in DC" of a particular nuance and sense and genre of art that has a direct link back to the curator's own work in the way it looks and feels.

The fact that a first-time curator, with no previous curatorial experience under his belt, or even that deep of an exhibition record as an artist, was able to put together a really good exhibition of several of the DC area blue chip artists speaks volumes both about the curator himself, and his work ethic, and also about the power of the web.

I know that Kirkland worked his virtual and real ass off in working to put this show together. Kirkland smartly aligned the exhibition to coincide with DC's first major international art fair, and I would bet that as artDC returns in 2008, we'll see a "Supple II" return, becoming the defacto first "satellite" show to artDC. I also know that Kirkland was able to extend his online connectivity (as a well-known blogger) to reach both artists, gallerists and writers to make "Supple" take place.

As we all know, a near disaster almost took place when Supple's original landlords somehow pulled out at the last minute and caused a show cancellation almost immediately followed by an offer from the good folks at Warehouse and a new home for the show.

By the time the exhibition opened, I am sure that young Mr. Kirkland had both a few few gray hairs and also a tremendous amount of valuable new experience and insight under his belt that 90% of art critics and writers lack.

My original plan was to attend Supple's opening last week, but as I walked out of ArtDC, I was absolutely exhausted from being on my feet all day since 4AM, and thus I headed home while I waved goodbye to Tim Tate, who was heading to the opening.

The next morning at artDC, the whole place was buzzing about Adrian Parsons' circumcision at the opening. That's his foreskin in the image below, so get it out of your system and let's move on.


Later that day I visited both Supple and the No Representation show at Warehouse (review on No Representation coming soon), and got a tour of the exhibition by Adrian Parsons.

I wanted to return on my own, and paid a second visit, a little more quiet and away from the whole sensationalist issue of Parson's penis art event, and because I wanted to give the other artists the perspective, time and effort that they deserved.

As I have noted, Kirkland did something really smart in putting his first curatorial effort together; he showcased some really talented folks who need little introduction.

People like Robin Rose, Colby Caldwell and Graham Caldwell.


He put them together with proven talent from the likes of Linn Meyers, Adam Fowler and James Huckenpahler.

And then he added some new, emerging talent such as Laurel Lukaszewski (who is emerging as the new star of Artomatic) and the forementioned Adrian Parsons.

And on a quiet visit to the show, in my opinion, the newcomer, Laurel Lukaszewski steals the show.

Her piece "Cascade" (image to the left) was created to be exhibited in this show.

It is as perfect for this earthy gallery space as a work of art can be.

Lukaszewski's piece has a hard-to-define sense of organic sensuality that seems to more often than not, find a place in porcelain in the hands of a master.

It is so fragile and so delicate that we want to blow on it to see if it moves, while at the same time being afraid that it will come crashing down.

Graham Caldwell's untitled piece is another one of my favorites in this exhibition. Every time that I see a new Caldwell I glow in the knowledge that the DC area is so lucky to have not one but two of the best of the new breed of glass artists who is dragging glass away from craft and firmly planting it into the fine arts.

When the history of glass in the 21st century is written, historians will discuss the profound effect on the new directions in glass, so different from each other, that the two DC glass geniuses, Tim Tate and Graham Caldwell, cast for the genre while working in the same city.

For "Supple" Caldwell has presented a piece that, much like Lukaszewski's, has a subtle sense of being organic and fragile, but unlike that porcelain work, Caldwell's glass and steel sculpture is also (and paradoxically) strong and almost moving.

I say moving in the sense that the piece reminds me of a powerful arterial work, with life giving power coursing through the delicate glass, married to the powerful steel. It is this paradox, glass and steel, fragility and strenght, life and death (part of the artery is detached from itself) that makes this an "Oh WOW" work of art and a key element of "Supple."

I am a big fan of both Linn Meyers and Adam Fowler, but for both these two talented and hard working artists I have one piece of advice: Mondrianism.


Both Fowler and Meyer's works in Supple are superb examples of their current artistic presence; in Meyer's case another one of her delicate ink and colored pencils on Mylar, and in Fowler's case another one of his amazing (hard to find another word to describe his process) hand-cut graphite, multi-layered works on paper.

In both cases, the process to create their work is so unique, and their individual styles so singular to the artists, that a Fowler is immediately recognized as a Fowler, and so is a Meyers.

And thus the potential trap of Mondrianism, or I defined it many years ago, the danger of an artist getting stuck on a very successful process to deliver and create work, and failing to explore alternative venues once that process and its associated imagery has been exhausted.

Having said that, it's far from that point (yet) for both these artists, and their contributions to Supple also add to make Kirkland's first venture into the gray-hair-making process of curating an art show a very successful debut, making us looking forward to "Supple II."

Wanna go to a Manassas, VA opening tomorrow?

Area artist Lou Gagnon, together with Susie Slabaugh White and Brook Forrest White from the Flame Run Glass Studio from Louisville, Kentucky open at the Center for the Arts' Caton Merchant Family Gallery (9419 Battle Street, Manassas, Virginia 20110, 703.330.2787).

The Opening Reception is May 5th, 6-8 pm and there's also a Spring Gallery Walk today, May 4th, 6-9:30 pm.

Gould on the DC tax hike pinch

The CP's Jessica Gould delivers a really good report on the effect of the DC property tax hike on the Warehouse Gallery and Theatre complex and other arts establishments in the neighborhood.

Looks bleak.

Supple issues

The WCP's Kriston Capps reviews the "Supple" exhibition at Warehouse Gallery in the current issue of the CP. The curator, J.T. Kirkland has some issues with "three inaccuracies in the review, each of which could be damaging to my [Kirkland's] repututation as a curator."

Read Capps' review here.

Read Kirkland's Letter to the WCP Editor here.

Comments on this later...

Artomatic Party Tonight

If you've been putting off going to AOM, tonight all of the exhibiting artists are setting up a second opening party with munchies and drinks. In addition to a full cadre of artists, May 4th promises to be as energetic as Opening Night, which saw over 3,500 people attend. In addition to the artists, there are over 15 events on the schedule.

The party starts at 6PM and goes to 1AM. Parking is free after 4PM and the entire multi-floor party is free and open to the public.

It's not my chob, man

The American Association of Museums has selected Ford Watson Bell as its new president.

Bell then stated that the troubled Smithsonian remains "a great institution," which is not too debatable. But he then added, "I have no advice for them."

Good start.

Here's Bailey's take on the subject.

O'Sullivan on Artomatic

Washington Post art critic Michael O'Sullivan has been writing about art for the WaPo longer than the other two active critics at the Post (Blake Gopnik and freelancer Jessica Dawson). Like Gopnik, O'Sullivan is married to a DC area artist, but unlike Gopnik, O'Sullivan knows the DC area art scene probably better than Gopnik and Dawson combined.

As such, when O'Sullivan goes to review the so widely maligned Artomatic, I feel that he does so from the perspective of someone with a long history of knowing some of the artists there; someone who has been to every Artomatic and to almost every museum show in the DC region in the last 15 years or so, and to a ton more DC area art galleries than Gopnik has ever set foot in.

So O'Sullivan comes prepared with a set of critical eyes and mind that do not visit an open show like AOM with a predisposed mind like nearly every other DC area art critic does. And tomorrow's WaPo will have O'Sullivan's review of AOM which includes this piece:

So let me say this before I get in too deep: I come to praise "Artomatic," not to bury it.

To anyone familiar with "Artomatics" past, it will come as no surprise that there's more to loathe than to love. But you know what? The ratio is no worse than at an off-price store like Syms, where you have to pick through racks and racks of stuff you'd never wear before -- maybe -- stumbling across that one amazing find. The long odds haven't stopped anyone from shopping there, and they won't keep me away from "Artomatic."

Read the review here.

There's also a lesson in this review to all the young Turks who in their 20s or early 30s already think that they can spew out constant words of critical dismissal in tuto for nearly everything they see, ignoring all the lessons that they are yet to learn from what they have not seen.

It's a very transparent mistake of young pens and combative minds seeking to always try lift the scab rather than deliver constructive criticism that has both teeth and substance. I have done it myself, and learned from it.

Bravo O'Sullivan!

Cinco de Mayo

This Saturday people will be drinking tequila and Mexican beer on a planetary scale, celebrating the fabled "Cinco de Mayo" date.

I always have fun asking people what "Cinco de Mayo," celebrates, and some of the answers that I have gathered over the years have been hilarious. Here's a quiz in fun:

Cinco de Mayo celebrates:

- May 5, 1810 - Mexico declares independence from the Kingdon of Spain. Eleven years later the Spanish soldiers get the memo and leave Mexico forever.

- May 5, 1848 - With the fearsome Spaniards gone, the United States goes to war with Mexico and grabs a huge chunk of land from the former Spanish colony. The Mexicans invent the term "gringo" to refer to the Americans.

- May 5, 1862 - The pissed off Mexican Army, under the command of Texas-born General Zaragosa whips the French Army at the Battle of Puebla. The shamed French Army never ever gets any respect on any other battlefield and becomes the practice runs for the German Army.

- May 5, 1900 - Tijuana bartender Jose Cuervo is horrified to discover that somehow an agave worm has been bottled accidentally in a tequila bottle that he was about to open. Disgusted he throws the bottle in the garbage. It is picked up by six drunk US Navy sailors on liberty, who drink the whole bottle and then get into a fist fight as to who gets to eat the worm. Cuervo notes this bizarre event and takes notes.

- May 5, 1938 - Mexican actress Margarita Carmen Cansino changes her name to Rita Hayworth and becomes an instant Anglo sensation in Hollywood.

- May 5, 1969 - Mexican-Americans decide that from now on they are be called "Chicanos."

- May 5, 1972 - The Nixon administration decides that Mexican-Americans are to be called Hispanic from now on. Other Americans of Latin American ancestry are also rounded up under this cultural name.

- May 5, 2000 - Hispanics decide that from now on they are to be called "Latinos" because Europeans from Spain and Portugal have joined the gravy train and have been declared "Hispanics" as well.

- May 5, 2025 - At 12 noon, with a majority population of Mexican-American ancestry, the state of California secedes from the United States of America and re-joins the Estados Unidos de Mexico.

- May 5, 2025 - At 12:45 PM Mexico declares its intentions to begin drilling for oil off the coast of California and begins moving the Mexican Army to round-up the Hollywood crowd.

- May 5, 2025 - At 1:00 PM California secedes from the Estados Unidos de Mexico. The Mexican Army promptly deserts and become instant residents of California. At 1:30PM, California asks to be re-admitted into the Union. The United States declines to take them back and begins building a wall along the California state line.

All in fun!

Be safe drinking and celebrating out there and Viva Mexico!

Loads of gallery openings tomorrow

Tomorrow is not only "Cuatro de Mayo," but also the first Friday of the month, and thus tons of galleries in DC and Philadelphia will have extended hours and new shows openings.

Details on Philly openings here.

Details on DC openings here.

The Personal Picture Plane

The Personal Picture Plane is an exhibition by Philadelphia and New Jersey based artists Ellen Abraham, Jim Brossy, Aurora Deshauteurs, Richard Elzo Dunn, Jessica Makin, Louise DeSalvor Masi, and Carol Taylor-Kearney. The exhibition is curated by Carol Taylor-Kearney and it was recently exhibited at the Gloucester County College's College Hall Gallery and is currently on exhibition at StrataSphere Exhibition Space in Philadelphia through May 27th.

Wanna go to another DC opening today?

The Independent Artists Forum presented by the Art Group of the Staff Association of the Organization of American States has an exhibition by The Independent Artists Forum: Ethel Bustamante, Haydeh Rastin, Marjolein van Milligen, Marion van Ruiten and Wendy Plotkin-Mates. The Opening Reception is today Thursday, May 3, 2007 from 5:45 to 8:00 p.m. At the General Secretariat Building (1889 F St., NW Terrace Level, Washington, DC 20006).

Wanna go to a DC opening tomorrow?

"Roman Vishniac’s Berlin" opens May 3 at the Sixth & I Historic Synagogue (600 I Street NW in DC) with a reception at 6:30 pm. Opening remarks by special guests Mara Vishniac Kohn (daughter of Roman Vishniac), Klaus Scharioth (Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany), and Aubrey Pomerance (curator of the exhibition and archivist of the Leo Baeck Archives at the Jewish Museum Berlin). RSVP to 202-408-3100 or info@sixthandi.org.

New DC gallery

A new gallery will open at 1353 U Street, NW in Washington, DC next year. More later...

Mega Art Show Ideas

The WaPo's former Chief Art Critic (and now mostly a resident of soggy Scotland) Paul Richard, writes about the disappointing numbers of visitors attending the Corcoran's mega exhibit "Modernism."

It's not easy predicting or creating museum exhibitions that will attract huge numbers and put some money in a museum's coffers, especially at $14 a pop, as the Corcoran's entry fee is. I've heard nothing but good things about the Corcoran's new director (Paul Greenhalgh) and at least he's trying to get the Corcoran back on track and also out of the red.

And museum directors are caught between a rock and a hard place when selecting exhibitions that have a good chance of being popular. In the elitist world of most art critics and the art world cabal, any exhibition that is popular with the masses is immediately suspect of being low brow.

The American art world generally does not trust the American public's sense of taste when it comes to visiting an art exhibition. If they line up around the corner, then the exhibit is too popular and thus... ah... "popular."

Nonetheless the Mid Atlantic Art News Mega Exhibition Ideas Department has been hard at work with some suggestions almost guaranteed to bring huge masses to the Corcoran, or any other museum in the nation for that matter.

Lines like the ones we experienced in DC with the Vermeer exhibition, or the Van Gogh exhibition, or the WPA/C PostSecret exhibition, or in Philly with the Dali exhibition.

Frida Kahlo - In celebration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo (1907–1954), the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, in association with the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), will present a major exhibition of the artist’s paintings spanning her career. Curated by art historian and Kahlo biographer Hayden Herrera and Walker Associate Curator Elizabeth Carpenter, Frida Kahlo will open at the Walker October 27, 2007 – January 20, 2008, before traveling to the Philadelphia Museum of Art and SFMOMA. Why Kahlo is not coming to any DC museum is a mystery to me, and I can already hear the k'ching of cash registers in those museums selling posters, books, etc.

The Art of Comic Books - Hollywood gets it, so when will the artworld get it? Comic book characters generate big bucks for la la land, and I suspect that a massive survey of original artwork by both the vintage artists of the early to mid 20th century, as well as the cult icons like Frank Frazetta, Berni Wrightson and others, coupled with the young new hard guys and gals is sure to (a) expose the brilliant genre of art that is comic book art, and (b) get huge lines to see the original boards for Superman, or Batman, or Spidey, or Frazetta's spectacular series of Conan, The Barbarian illustrations.

PostSecret - Why someone hasn't done this on a massive scale is beyond me. Imagine a museum lined up with 100,000 postcards of Frank Warren's secrets. If they stood in lines around the block when the WPA/C did it in hard-to-get-to and hard-to-park Georgetown, imagine what it would do in a highly visible museum setting and to that scale.

The Ivy League and Seven Sisters Nude Photographs - It was an apparently long-established and bizarre custom at most Ivy League and Seven Sisters schools for incoming freshmen to pose nude for a series of photographs. In some cases, pins were attached with adhesive to their backbones at regular intervals from the neck down. These "posture photos" were in some of these schools a routine feature of freshman orientation week, and designed to "discover" those students with an erratic postural curve, and those were then required to attend remedial "posture classes." I kid thee not. Both George Bush presidents, Bob Woodward and many other now famous folks were required to do it at Yale. At Vassar, Meryl Streep did it, and at Wellesley, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Diane Sawyer also did it. Can you imagine the lines of people waiting to peek at a naked Dubya?

Ansel Adams Revealed - There are some fill-in-the-blank American art icons whose name alone guarantees a mega show because their art has become part of the American identity. In addition to Adams, other such artists include Georgia O'Keefe, Norman Rockwell, Andrew Wyeth, Andy Warhol and maybe Hopper. Because the Library of Congress owns thousands of Ansel Adams negatives created while Adams worked for the Dept. of the Interior, I suspect that a hard-working curator could dig and put together an exhibition of seldom seen Adamses.

Sports Art - People are always yapping about political art (yawn), which is simply another genre or subject that artists look at once in a while. And if we simply consider focusing an art exhibition on a particular subject matter, just to get a general survey as to what artists are doing on that particular subject, then a potential idea would be a survey of sports-related art. What has happened in this genre since the great George Bellows paintings? Some photos have become an iconic part of Americana, such as the great Ali - Liston photos. What else is out there?

Other interesting ideas (not guaranteed to be mega exhibits):

Ebay Artists - At any given time there are around 150,000 lots classified as art on Ebay and around 12,000 by self-representing artists. Ebay is generally where bottom-feeders dwell (for the most part) in the world of art. But we also know that it's not that unusual anymore for museum curators to occasionally troll through Ebay looking for specific stuff. Can a decent exhibition be curated from the massive numbers of artwork being exposed through Ebay? Just an exhibition of copy cats may be fun.

Blank Canvas - Imagine that a local museum sets up 100 4 ft. x 4 ft. blank canvasses on easels and sets up an online and snail mail lottery where artists from all over the world submit their details and at a certain point 100 of them are picked at random via a lottery style (or a curated process I guess) and selected to come to the museum for a specific period of time and create a painting live and in situ.

Googlart - A variation of the above, but a more contemporary approach, where the museum sets up 25 big LCD screens in a cool minimalist way, and each screen in hooked up online and connected to a wireless keyboard somewhere else in the museum, where visitors can type in some sort of search parameter and using some new dorky CGI script of whatever, in conjunction with Google Image Search, be constantly presenting images on the screen, say 10 seconds each? Because this is the USA, some sort of safety net to try to avoid porn would be needed, so perhaps a hidden human in the loop to prevent porn from going to the screens may be a good idea. Get Google to sponsor the exhibition, pay for the screens and for the minimal software development and you're set!

Any more ideas? Email me.

Tyler School of Art Seeks Exhibition Coordinator

Deadline: May 21, 2007

The Department of Exhibitions & Public Programs at Tyler School of Art, Temple University, is seeking an Exhibitions Coordinator to administer an ambitious contemporary art programs at Temple Gallery in Old City Philly and on Tyler's Elkins Park campus.

These programs are designed to contribute to the intellectual liveliness of the artistic community in Philadelphia, and to have a national impact as a forum for the debate of significant artistic issues. Tyler Exhibitions seeks a highly organized individual to work with the Director on public relations, planning, budgets, overseeing students, and all aspects of gallery and office administration.

The Successful candidate will be flexible, detail-oriented, and able to work on multiple projects simultaneously. Position requires minimum three years art gallery or museum experience, strong writing skills, knowledge of contemporary art, experience with office administration including expertise with Word, Access, and Excel.

Cover letter, resume, and three references to:

Sheryl Conkelton
Tyler Exhibitions
7725 Penrose Ave
Elkins Park, PA 19027

Pyramid Atlantic Art Center Seeks Executive Director

Pyramid Atlantic Art Center, a contemporary visual arts center and gallery in Silver Spring, MD, dedicated to creation, exhibition and appreciation of paper, prints and book art, seeks a new Executive Director to succeed founder, Helen Frederick, who has been running the joint for over 26 years.

The new person will direct, inspire and oversee art programs through collaboration with external artistic leaders for the organization's programming and artistic activity. Reporting to the Board, they will work closely with local, regional and broader philanthropic community, including state and local agencies, to cultivate financial and other support.

Experience should include: arts background, proven leader with entrepreneurial flair, experience with diverse fundraising of $500k annually, experience leading a management team and staff through change process, Master's or Bachelor's degree in Art, Arts Management or related field.

Click here for a full job description. To apply send email with your cover letter, resume and salary requirements to: successionusa@gmail.com.

Opportunity for Artists and Curators

Deadline: June 15, 2007

The Greater Reston Arts Center (GRACE) is requesting proposals for exhibitions for its main gallery space for periods of approximately 4-6 weeks. Proposals will be accepted from artists, independent curators, or arts organizations.

Visit this website for more details.

PostSecret Artist at Artomatic

My good friend, local artist and one of the world's best-known artists, Frank Warren, the talent behind the spectacularly successful PostSecret project, will be signing copies of his books at Artomatic starting this weekend.

Copies of Warren's three bestselling books, "PostSecret: Extraordinary Confessions from Ordinary Lives," "My Secret: A PostSecret Book," and his latest work, "The Secret Lives of Men and Women: A PostSecret Book," will be available for purchase during the signing events.

Launched at Aromatic in November 2004, PostSecret is an ongoing community art project where people mail in their secrets anonymously on one side of a homemade postcard. More than 80,000 postcards have been received. PostSecret has attracted interest from around the world, and the project's Web site, www.PostSecret.com has been visited by more than 70 million people.

"None of this would have been possible without Artomatic," said Warren, a Germantown, Md., businessman. "For me, Artomatic was a gateway to a new more creative and fulfilling life."

The PostSecret signings will take place on Friday, May 4, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.; Saturday, May 5, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.; and Saturday, May 12 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Visitors to Artomatic can also watch a video presentation of some of the
PostSecret postcards Warren has received in room Yellow 6B25.

For directions and hours, call the Artomatic infoline at (202) 544-1005.

Opportunity for Artists and Curators

Deadline: October 15, 2007

The Howard County Center for the Arts, a 27,000 square foot facility located in Ellicott City, Maryland, is seeking proposals from artists and curators nationwide for solo and group exhibits for the 2008-2009 gallery season.

All original artwork in any media, including installations, will be considered for the general review. The Arts Council is also accepting slide submissions for two specific upcoming exhibits: Illuminations (working title), a juried exhibit of artworks with light/illumination as the primary medium, and an untitled exhibit of book arts. Work previously shown at the Howard County Center for the Arts will not be accepted for review, nor will work previously submitted to the gallery program in the past year. There is no fee to apply.

Artists must be at least 18 years old. Artists and curators should submit up to 20 slides with an accompanying slide list, an artist/curator statement, resume and application to exhibit, along with a self-addressed, stamped envelope with sufficient postage for the return of application materials. Incomplete applications will not be reviewed.

Call 410-313-2787 for an application or download it here. Submissions are accepted on an ongoing basis, however, deadlines to be included in the next review is October 15, 2007.

Wanna go to a Germantown, MD opening tomorrow?

Artomatic Picks

Artomatic has created a means for the artists to pick their own favorites. See their picks here.

ArtDC delivers more than expected

By the time I finish writing this multi-faceted review and opinion piece on the capital's first international fine arts fair, it will all be over and done, and tired gallerists and dealers and their assistants may be still in the process of tearing down exhibits, bubble-wrapping work to be delivered to new owners or shipped back to galleries, or perhaps to the next fair, and figuring out their next step.


Some will have made a lot of money, others will wonder how they will pay bills incurred in attending this fair, others will still be working the phones trying to close last minute deals. But overall, I suspect that most of them will come back next year.

Because I have a very deep interest in what artDC was doing, can do and will do for the region - both as an art critic and as an art dealer and as an artist - I spent a lot of time at the fair, really trying to peel the onion and look inside it from all three perspectives.

I saw the beginning of what I think is something good for the regional visual arts. It is silly and unfair to compare (as some have done) artDC to Art Basel as Art Basel is now. Perhaps a fairer comparison (no pun intended) would be to compare artDC 2007 to Art Basel 1969 or 1970. And even that may be a little unfair to both Art Basel and artDC, as the latter is perhaps more sophisticated and better presented, than Basel was in those early days of artfairdom.

Like anything done in a group, there were some excellent galleries, some bad choices, and the vast number of galleries were quite adequate for DC's first art fair. The fact that the organizers were able to bring dealers from Europe, Latin America and Asia, speaks volumes for their hard work in selling Washington, DC as a viable art market.

The money certainly is here, although as anyone who's ever tried to sell a piece of art in the area knows, the collectors themselves are far and few in between, and a significant number of the 125,000 millionaires who according to Census figures live in the Greater Washington, DC region do not generally buy artwork with the same zest and zeal that they obtain mini mansions in Potomac and ride around in huge SUVs or expensive weekend motorcycles.

Why? Because to a certain extent, many of them lack the "formation" (as a Communist would say) to really understand, appreciate and know the difference between a "picture" and a work of art.

It's not that they are stupid or uncultured - after all, most of them are first generation, self made men and women, often from blue collar backgrounds, who worked their way up the food chain and made themselves what they are today.

Savvy businessmen, too many sharp lawyers, brilliant computer geeks, enviable technocrats - and all with little, if any, exposure to the arts, and more importantly, exposure to the availability of the arts.

Walk down M Street in Georgetown, or King Street in Alexandria, or Bethesda Row in Bethesda and you'll find many example of stores that successfully market, display and sell very expensive "pictures." They are usually located where most "real" galleries can't afford the rent - the prime real estate for business, right around the corner from Benetton, or Banana Republic, etc. They sell "pictures."

"Pictures" by movie stars, or musicians, or Spanish/Italian or Russian surnamed "painters" delivering "hand-embellished" Giclee canvasses with pretty pictures of Impressionistic women, or large wine glasses with cigars, or women with floppy hats, or Surrealistic landscapes... or Kincaid.

They are not cheap either; and these stores are doing gangbusters. So someone is buying these "pictures."

Why?

Because the buyers think it's fine art and they do not know any better.

Why?

Because they were not exposed to art in their upbringing. Not because their parents were bad, uncultured people, but because their parents were hard-working stiffs who worried about the rent, the electric bill, the food bill and paying for junior's college so that junior could get a Computer Science degree and go on and invent AOL.

And in college, junior probably was not exposed to art other than the two or three peripheral courses that he needed to get his electives; certainly not to buying art, or even aware that art was for sale.

And then junior works hard and becomes a millionaire, and now has disposable income out the yingyang, and looks around for expensive toys, because as George Carlin is fond of saying, we all love to collect "stuff."

And he sees ads for expensive cars, expensive furniture, expensive cigars, and he reads tons of reviews for the latest trendy restaurants, etc. But he's never really made aware that there's also art out there, for our local media has a spectacular sense of apathy towards the visual arts in our area. The Washington Post is the only major American newspaper that has a freelancer deliver around 25 reviews a year to cover an entire year of DC area gallery shows, and they allow their chief art critic to review only museum shows. Very little attention is placed upon our art galleries by the newspapers, certainly not commensurate with the amount of print space that they give theatre, music, dance, fashion, etc.

So junior doesn't know that the DC area has a really good and creative visual arts scene.

Thus when junior takes a stroll through the city's main shopping streets, he doesn't know about the side streets where the galleries are, but sees the stores passing for art galleries that sell the pretty, expensive "pictures," and then junior assumes that this "stuff" is art.

And he drops a ton of money for a pretty "picture." It happens all the time, otherwise these stores would go out of business.

But instead it is the art galleries that go out of business: Veerhoff (after 125 years), Numark, eklektikos, Fusebox.

Every once in a while, junior - usually by accident - discovers a reputable art gallery, and sometimes a real collector is then born. It has happened to me, as a dealer, many, many times. But for every one of those, thousands of others remain on the dark side, or worse still, think that they have to go to New York to find contemporary art.

And this is where an art fair like artDC makes its first impact upon our region.

Because the organizers clearly hired a sharp, savvy PR firm, the fair received a substantial amount of publicity, and it was clear from the numbers of people who attended the fair, that somehow the word got to junior, and a lot of juniors and juniorettes visited artDC 2007.

And hopefully the seed was planted in some of them and it will germinate so that they begin to learn the difference between what they have been buying and what else is out there, and more importantly: what else is in the DC area.

I am not sure if artDC has a way to gather the financial success or failure of the gallerists who took a chance with this first fair. They will answer that question in 2008. Those who return next year will be an indication of those who did well in 2007.

From my own observations, some of the local galleries were doing well. By Friday morning Curator's Office had already sold several large pieces, and while I spent the day doing the video review (will post soon), several dealers told me that they were also doing well. As you will see in the video, I even helped to close a $12,000 sale for a Catalan gallery from Giron, Spain. And on Saturday I witnessed a Miami gallery closing a sale for over $200,000 big ones.

Like any art fair, not everyone was doing well. A British gallery had not broken the ice by late Saturday evening; I hope that they did well on Sunday, which I am told had the largest crowds of the fair, which was expecting around 10,000 visitors in total.

And in addition to getting the word about art to junior, artDC also made sure that all of DC's precious and few art collectors also came to the fair. I saw most of them there on Thursday night, and many returned on Friday and Saturday.

On Thursday night a major ubercollector with a building named after him picked up his 9th Tim Tate piece at the fair. He was but one of many of the area's ubercollectors who was acquiring work at artDC. He is one savvy collector by the way, as he now owns one of Tate's seminal works that marry video and glass.

So the organizers got people to come to the fair. I must admit that I was hugely skeptical that this was going to happen, and even told them months ago that it would take a small miracle to get crowds to come, and pay, to see a visual arts event in our area.

I was wrong and they did a superb job; keep that PR firm!

So what about the art itself? What did junior and the area's ubercollectors get to see, and buy?

The diversity of the artwork was as I expected it would be. Anyone who has been to major art fairs would know this. There was art to satisfy nearly every imaginable taste, and attempts to cover all trends in both the primary and secondary art markets, although there was the usual limited number of sculptures.

Sculptures are difficult and expensive to ship.

Some have commented on the lack of "cutting edge" artwork at the fair. I'm not really sure what this means, although I suspect that in this case the comment was birthed because the writer either (a) skipped the new media section (I helped to jury that) and that silly but interesting "perpetual art machine," or (b) became visually overloaded at his/her first art fair. Next year artDC 2008 should invite the artists from Dorkbot DC to join in the new media salon.

But let's assume that there was very little art in someone's personal sense of what is "cutting edge." Let's also assume that you are a gallerist in Spain, or the Republic of Korea, or China, or Viet Nam, and that you are planning to attend DC's first ever art fair.

If you have done fairs in Miami, or New York, or Madrid, or London, then you know those places well enough, and know what sells there. You are -- after all -- a commercial gallery in the business of selling art. And if you are an independent, fine arts gallery, the business of selling art also comes coupled with a hard-to-define aesthetic ethic to also present work that helps to establish the gallery's reputation as a fine arts dealer - otherwise you're selling "pictures."

But you know very little about Washington, DC.

And so you do a little Googling, call a few people, read a few online blurbs, and try to gather some intelligence on the DC art market.

Good luck with that.

And so, as you prepare to buy airline tickets for you and your staff, and get hotel reservations for you and your staff, and hire a holding company in DC for the artwork that you're shipping from Korea, or Spain or China ahead of time, and pay for the crating and shipping, etc., and deal with American customs, you want to make sure that whatever you ship to DC is a mixture of your heavy hitters for sales or museum acquisitions, coupled with work that delivers an artistic continuity to your gallery's presence on the world scene.

This is not easy to foretell for a new market.

And some foreign and national galleries did well, and others probably failed miserably; but they all learned something. Same thing for the regional galleries. At around $8,000 for a booth, by the time that you add up all the expenses of staff salary, etc., even the locals had to sell at least $20,000 worth of art at the fair just to break even.

The artwork they and others brought included some of the best examples of Latin American masters that I've ever seen outside of the Miami fairs or perhaps ARCO. It included most major names like Matta, Lam, Pelaez, Portecarrero, Fini, Orozco, Mendieta, Rivera, Sequeiros, Botero, etc.


They also brought a boatload of the super hot Chinese market that some DC area art galleries (such as Irvine Contemporary Art) are also tapping into.

ArtDC probably brought the first mass exposure to the region of this vibrant Chinese art. "Another Look: New Art From Shanghai," a pavilion of 12 artists from the Shanghai area, was a coup for whoever planned it, as it displayed a dozen artists that curator Liu Jian told me would give a wide range of examples of artistic diversity in Shanghai, rather than the stereotypical view of Chinese art that we're already getting from the Western viewpoint.

They also brought young European talent to the fair. I particularly liked The Steps Gallery's (from Bristol, England) stable of recent British MFAs; artists such as painter Juliet Rose, sculptor Kuldeep Malhi and others.

I also liked one of Galeria Giart's (from Giron, Spain) young painters, Xavi Vilaro's hyper-realistic massive paintings. The Europeans also brought plenty of the big, dead guns, and if Picasso, or Dali and a dozen other in-the-style-of Surrealists was your thing, then you were happy.

The North Americans also did well. Chicago's Aldo Castillo Gallery brought Carolina Sardi's "Snowing Over Miami" installation and it was a hit at the fair, as was Toronto's Artcore brave sculptures such as "3 Men Standing" by Steve Gibson. Have we ever seen nude older men in a public place in DC recently?


Miami's Hardcore Art & Contemporary Space had a superb sculptural installation by Hiroshi Ohashi (which sold almost immediately) as well as some provocative videos by various artists. Miami's Cernuda Arte brought the heaviest of the Cuban heavy hitters, with vintage works in the hundreds of thousands by Amelia Pelaez, Wifredo Lam, and others (there was a lot of Cuban art in the fair by the way).


And to no one's surprise, the regional galleries more than held their own and in some cases excelled above the competition. Graham Caldwell's piece at G Fine Art probably had the best spot at the fair and was by far the best sculptural installation in artDC.


Parish Gallery delivered in their specialty: contemporary and vintage art by African-American artists and truly stood out because of it.

Philadelphia's private dealer Dolan/Maxwell also stood out with their strong grouping of vintage Philly artists. Baltimore's Goya Contemporary had a superb mix of blue chip artists (such as a really unique Keith Haring) together with brilliant work by emerging and mid career artists like Liliana Porter and Timothy App, as well as some breathtaking works by Madeleine Keesing.

Migration from Charlottesville seemed to be doing well at the fair, and had several huge Polaroids by Swiss installation-photographer-wizard Joachim Knill which were some of my favorites in the whole fair, and Douz and Mille more than held their own in the New Media area which truly had a very cool range of video projections and installations.

Randall Scott Gallery also showed well, especially the burned glass abstractions of Etsuko Ichikawa, which are reminiscent of the gunpowder pieces of Cai Guo-Qiang, but Ichikawa is developing her own method involving the use of molten glass that makes Cai's seem like childwork in comparison. Also notable were the imaginary teen worlds of photographer Julia Fullerton-Batten, and the gorgeous mixed media pieces by Cara Ober, which were my wife's favorites in the entire event.

Like any large art fair, there was also gimmicky stuff that bordered on kitsch and wall decor, such as the resinated Chinese poster-like work, and the large icons of JFK and Jackie made out of tiny photographs to resemble the op-art that Dali painted by hand in the 60s and they also were almost a copy of the process that Inga Frick did by hand cutting and pasting (before one could do this in PhotoShop) in the 80s and 90s.

But overall there was a glorious and typical visual overload of a lot of different art all in one huge location, which by the way, was superbly planned and very ample in size, with wide walking avenues between the booths, and not the usual congested halls that seem to characterize most art fairs. Visitors could walk and see a lot of different art that they'd rarely get to see in one place.

And this is where an art fair like artDC makes its second impact upon our region.

Another unexpected windfall from the fair was the exposure of DC area artists to other galleries. On Friday I was part of introducing the work of a well-known DC area artist to a British gallery who is very interested in his work.

Also on Friday, while doing a video interview with a Spanish gallery, the owner discussed that she was very interested in exploring the local artists and seeing if she could find some artists to bring back to Spain. By Sunday I had connected her with a couple of artists that I felt fit into her artistic focus, and she had chosen to bring back works by one local artist.

And other than those two personal anecdotes, I am sure that it happened with other galleries and artists. I am also aware of a major gallery with galleries in two US cities which hooked up with Tim Tate.

And thus it seems like the fair managed to help establish a connection between area artists and out-of-area galleries. I am sure that it worked the other way as well, and I'd be curious to hear from DC area galleries who picked up new artists that they "discovered" at the fair.

And these connections is where an art fair like artDC makes its third impact upon our region.

I believe that the artDC folks have signed a three year contract with the Convention Center, so it appears that they're in this for the long haul. And I believe that now is the time for quick thinking artists and curators and business-savvy dealers to start planning what they're going to do around and with artDC 2008.

A shout to the Scope and Bridge and AAF and other art fair moguls: Let's get some peripheral fairs going next year!

Local coverage of artDC

Yesterday I popped into the press office over at artDC and checked out the wall of press coverage about the fair so far.

It's clear that the fair's PR staff has done a super job getting the word out, and the press has generally responded quite well, especially the art bloggers.

The three major local newspapers have also done quite well, with the Washington Post -- no surprise here -- essentially ignoring the fair in the Style section (Style's editor Deborah Heard just doesn't get that she continues the decline started by her predecessor Eugene Robinson), while covering it nicely in the Weekend section and via online bits here and there.

The Washington Times delivered a spectacular, multi-page, multi color orgy of images in covering the fair (on Saturday), which I also can't find on their sucky website, because although I can find the story, the link is bogus (Update: Here's the valid link).

In the City Paper, my good friend Kriston Capps wrote a piece which curiously questioned the fair's business practices in dealing with non-profits, rather than discussing the art itself (impossible to do ahead of time) or the effect of the fair on the region. In the end (I think) it actually came out in favor of the fair organizers' interest in ensuring that the area's non-profits had a presence (there are 22 of them at artDC) at the fair, which as the article points out, is something most other art fair organizers don't care about.

Gopnik on artDC

I saw Blake Gopnik and his lovely and talented wife (painter Lucy Hogg) at artDC last Friday. Today the Post's Chief Art Critic writes a small blurb about the fair, but it's what he writes about the capital area galleries in today's Sunday Arts (I was unable to find the piece online Update: Here's thelink) that caught my eye:

"It's hard, trying to run a commercial gallery in Washington. Try to get the attention of art lovers and you're competing with the city's great museums, which are better places to see art than any gallery could ever be. Try to get the money of art collectors and you're competing with New York, where there's more art to see. In an attempt to remedy the situation, many local galleries, as well as some from farther off, are participating in this weekend's ArtDC..."

Gopnik goes on discussing the fair, but in this paragraph Blake has shown his first crack in the armor that has essentially protected most of him from being interested in the region's art galleries and artists, and also shows a clear understanding of the difficulty of running the business of an art gallery in the region.

I hereby take back 50% of all the negative things I've written and said about this man's writtings.

Maybe 25%... OK, OK... 50%

ArtDC Quicklook

I've spent the last three days over at artDC, although yesterday was a visit to create a video review of the show which will be posted as soon as Jeanie is done with the editing.

My first impression of the fair as a whole has been very positive, and I will expand on it later. But generally, artDC has brought a breath of fresh air, fresh art, fresh collectors and fresh opportunities for both DC area art galleries and DC area artists.

Almost three solid days at the fair, and interviewing dozens of gallerists, and meeting and chatting with dozens of DC area art collectors and artists, have given me a deep insight into the fair (and its effects on the area), that I think will reveal some surprising (and unexpected) benefits to the region that go past just having the capital region's first international arts fair.

As a dealer, and as a critic, and as an artist, and as an experienced art fair goer (my first art fair visit took place while I was living in Europe in the early 1980s), I think that I bring a set of multilevel experienced eyes that other area writers (so far) have not had time to develop because of age, or lack of fair-going experience, or zero business acumen, and even snarky personal agendas.

If you are an artist, a gallerist, an art collector, or just a person interested in seeing the beginning of something good and positive for our reginal arts scene, go and visit the fair tomorrow, it's last day.

I will have a full review shortly.

Update: Excellent review of the fair by Mark over at Ionarts. Read it here.

Waaaay behind

If you've emailed me in the last couple of days, I'm not ignoring you, it's just that I've been floating between artDC and the Warehouse the last two days and haven't had time for email... have at least 200 in the inbox and a gazillion in the spam checker.

I'll get to them by Monday.

Wanna go to a DC opening tonite?

Right across the street from artDC (which is being held at the DC Convention Center), the Warehouse Gallery is hosting a show of local artists called “No Representation” from April 26 to May 12, 2007. I've already seen it (twice) and it looks great.

The show, curated by Molly Ruppert, Sondra N. Arkin, Ellyn Weiss and Phillipa P.B. Hughes, will include all media and has two rules only: all of the art is by local artists and all the work is abstract. Artists in the show are artists include: Sondra N. Arkin, J. Belmar, Mark Cameron Boyd, Renee Butler, Tory Cowles, Laurel Farrin, Michael Gessner, Janis Goodman, Pat Goslee, Tom Green, Eve Hennessa, Kristin Holder, Brece Honeycutt, Becky Jones, Joanne Kent, Adrian Loving + Ayodamola Okunseinde (Dissident Display), Aubrie Mema, Elizabeth Morisette, Emily Piccirillo, Lynn Putney, Marina Reiter, Nooni Reatig, Chris Tousimis, Dan Treado, Andres Tremols, CC Vess, Gail Vollrath, Anita Walsh, Rex Weil and Ellyn Weiss.

The opening is Saturday, April 28 starting at 6 pm.

Artsy Prepuce

In case you don't know, a prepuce is an old word for foreskin. The most famous prepuce in the world is the Holy Prepuce, and maybe, as of last night, the most famous prepuce (at least in Washington, DC) hanging in an art gallery now hangs at the "Supple" exhibition in the Warehouse Galleries, as last night Adrian Parsons self circumcised himself in front of a rapt audience. He then hung the foreskin on the gallery wall.

Adrian with his foreskin hanging on the wall
At the start... yesterday I attended the gala opening for artDC, and the place was packed with dealers, collectors, press and artsy folks.

I left pretty late and pretty tired (I had risen at 4AM in the morning as I had an early morning appointment in Annapolis).

And so I unfortunately decided to head to bed, rather than head on over to Warehouse across the street.

It was there, at the opening of "Supple," that Parsons may have become the world's first arts mohel.

But tonight, after spending the whole day at artDC, around 10PM I did go to see "Supple" and also "No Representation" at Warehouse, and while there we ran into Parsons, who gave me a walking tour of "Supple" and he described the whole self-circumcision performance for me.

Below is a video of the self-circumcision - all normal warnings apply:

Video of Adrian Parsons' Shrapnel Performance
Update: YouTube has removed the video, but the CP has it here

If you can handle it, check out the photographs of the performance and the self-circumcision here.

Reviews of Supple, No Representation, and artDC coming soon. The men go: Ouch!

Wanna go to a Baltimore opening tonight?

The Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) highlights eight first-year students in MICA’s graphic design master of fine arts (M.F.A.) program in conjunction with the Graphic Design MFA Thesis Exhibition. First-Year Graphic Design MFA Exhibition provides a glimpse into the work of emerging artists and graduate students in the College’s graduate programs. The exhibition takes place in Bunting Center’s Pinkard Gallery at 1401 Mount Royal Avenue, with an opening reception on Friday, April 27, 5–7 p.m.

The eight students showcasing their works are Kim Bentley, Viviana Cordova, John Corrigan, Hyun Soo Lim, Gregory May, Kelley McIntyre, April Osmanof, and Yue Tuo. The exhibition goes through May 2, 2007.

Wanna go to a Bethesda opening tomorrow?

On Friday, April 27th from 6-9pm, Heineman Myers Gallery in Bethesda, MD has an opening reception for “Colorfieldremix: Saturated.”

This will also be an artist party and Zoe Myers is encouranging colorful attire and she promises that "colorful cocktails will be served."

Numbers

Mid Atlantic Art News is now averaging over 21,000 visits a week. This is a re-affirmation of the interest in the visual arts in the region.

And, according to this map, the visitors are coming from all over the world.

Thank you.

Reliable Sourcing

The WaPo's Amy Argetsinger and Roxanne Roberts, who pen the Reliable Source column for the WaPo, discuss art casualties of Artomatic's 3500-person opening reception.

Read it here.

CBS does Artomatic

DC's Channel 9 went to see Artomatic and this is what they videotaped.

The video includes interviews with artists Dana Ellyn, Matt Seesow, the amazing Frank Warren from PostSecret, George Koch, and Tim Tate.

Is she busy or what?

"Barely emerging" DC area artist Kathryn Cornelius may be in the process of graduating to "emerging."


She has a live performance on the opening night of artDC, this Thursday at 8pm as part of the Curator's Office presence at the fair. Cornelius writes:

I am especially excited about this performance because it involved a lot of participation of multiple parties as a portion of its conceptual underpinnings, which has been an interesting way to work... I am grateful for all those individuals and organizations that have been a part of this piece -- thank you!

Then she has some photographs in a show at the Palazzo delle Arti in Naples, Italy. The exhibition is called Eroi! come noi...? (Heroes! like us ...?) and runs April 5 thru June 27, 2007. Curated by Julia Draganovic of The Chelsea Museum in New York, the exhibition includes artists Charlotte Ginsborg, Marco Giovani, Ilya Kabakov, Tom Sanford, and Hu Yang among others.

Also, this spring she will have a video work displayed in a group video show at Galerie Anita Beckers in Germany.

Buy a Cornelius this weekend - do not wait any longer.

Future of Warehouse Theatre and Galleries Uncertain

Via Wonkette I learned last nigt that the future of the Warehouse Galleries and Theatre in DC is suddenly quite uncertain.

A couple of years ago I curated "Seven" for the WPA/C and it took place in seven of the eight gallery spaces that Warehouse hosts in the buildings built and owned by the Ruppert family for many, many decades. In the process I got to know its owners, Molly and Paul Ruppert, quite well.

Molly Ruppert is an independent, feisty, hardworking person with a kind, open heart that nonetheless is able to integrate business and kindness with a sharp art savvy personality and an indefatigable sense of community. Together with Paul, they are a hands-on business model that make up the main workforce at Warehouse, be it as bar tenders, waiters, gallerist or theatre managers (they do have an excellent chef!). And yet, the Warehouse is not a money-making operation.

But she and Paul and their buildings are an asset and an important part of the cultural tapestry that makes up the Greater Washington, DC area art scene.

While I was curating "Seven," Molly and I discussed the surrounding neighborhood, and the important cultural contribution that I felt Warehouse had added by retaining a little cultural DNA for a neighborhood that was almost swallowed whole by the huge Washington Convention Center.

Not that I think that the Convention Center is a bad thing; in fact it is a great asset economically to Washington and to the neighborhood, but a neighborhood also needs places like Warehouse to remain alive, and not just become another soul-less block of cookie cutter businesses and franchises.

In discussing the surrounding buildings, Molly confided in me that she was bleak about the future of her property, and that she had already turned down several offers from developers to buy her family buildings. However, she suspected that once these developers got the ear of the city administrators, she would be forced out of the neighborhood.

"How can they force you out?", I asked.

She answered by telling me that she suspected that at some point the city would double or triple her property taxes, effectively making it financially impossible for Ruppert to continue her business model or even ownership of the spaces.

And it is brutally ironic that at the same time that we're all congratulating Molly Ruppert's sense of community for stepping up and saving J.T. Kirkland's "Supple" project, we get the news that Warehouse property taxes for next year are increasing over 500%!

A 500% property tax hike is an obscene tax hike no matter who or what for, but especially in a city such as Washington, DC, which owes so much of its revitalization to private industry and to hard-working small businesses like the Warehouse.

I am not sure what "we" can all do, but I have a few ideas, and the first one is for organizations such as the Washington Commission on the Arts and Humanities, and the Cultural Alliance of Greater DC, and other such cultural organizations and entities of the capital region to step up and use whatever contacts or networks they have to make sure that (as I suspect), in the same way that some developer got the "ear" of some city politician, that these organizations in turn get the "ear" of some political allies (or even get Hizzoner's ear) to ensure that this obscene tax hike gets reviewed and reduced or eliminated, and Warehouse afforded a chance to remain in place as one of DC's leading cultural icons.

Update: Jessica Gould of the WCP already had stepped up to the plate and had a great posting on this issue yesterday here.

ArtDC opens tomorrow

The capital's first major international fine arts fair opens tomorrow at the Washington Convention Center. Not that you'd know it by the coverage that our local newspapers have given it so far, but this is the biggest thing that has happened to the visual arts around here in a long time, maybe ever.

The opening night festivities will benefit the Cultural Alliance of Greater Washington. Considering the boost that the Cultural Alliance of Greater Washington is getting from this visual arts event, I sincerely hope that (a) more visual arts organizations and galleries join the CAGW and (b) that CAWG increases what they do to boost the visibility of DC area visual arts.

Thursday, April 26, 2007
Washington Convention Center, Hall E
800 Mount Vernon Place, NW, Washington DC

5:30-7:30, Drinks and Hors d' Oeuvres - Tickets are $100
7:30-9:30, Cash Bar - Tickets are $30
For tickets call 312-587-8124 or email jrabion@dc-artfair.com

On Friday, April 27 the fair is free and open to the public, after that: April 28-30, $12; $5 for seniors and students. 11 a.m.-7 p.m. April 27-29, and 11 a.m.-5 p.m.

Call 866-727-7953 or visit this website for details.

Since on Friday the fair is free, there's absolutely no excuse for not getting into an orgy of art this Friday.

First drop by and spend a couple of hours at artDC, then swing by the Warehouse Gallery across the street, have a beer or a cup of coffee and say hi to Molly Ruppert, then take the Metro over to Crystal City and visit Artomatic, which has a ton of parties and music events going on till 1AM. And ferchristsakes: buy some art somewhere along the line!

See ya there!

Wanna go to a DC opening tonight?

With an exhibition titled "Inside/Out", Washington artist, Raye Leith, unveils a group of portraits of well-known figures grouped with Washington insiders and power players.

Her series, part of a New York project of 100 portraits she recently embarked on, includes larger than life figures such as John Lennon and Albert Einstein as well as such Washington players as Septime Webre (Director of the Washington Ballet), Valerie Plame (exposed CIA operative), President of the United States George W. Bush, and Mayor of Washington, D.C., Adrian Fenty.

Inside/Out opens on April 25th and runs through May 20th, 2007 at Knew Gallery in Georgetown.

JS Adams' Artomatic Top 10 Picks

DC area artist JS Adams writes:

Not being able to participate in this year's Artomatic, it was strangely freeing to view it all from a different perspective as an outsider. As ever, a handful stood out among the roughhewn and ordinary. For me, specifically:

Photographers: Phil Nesmith's ferrotypes, the in-camera collages of Erin Antognoli and selections from the Past Presence series by Joanna Knox

John Adams' sublime site-specific wall drawing; and the conceptual reinterpretations of urban street scenes/movement by Jessi Moore.

Glass artist Tim Tate for his mini/multi-media reliquary, Expectations Denied.

Kudos to the group of eighth floor artists – who through either sweeping grand gesture or intimate engagement – hold your attention amidst an otherwise vast and cold exhibition space: Rob Lindsay – who, forgive the pun, takes printmaking to new levels; amazing anthropologic-inspired ceramics by Novie Trump; Veronica Szalus' skewered newsprint totems; and Keith Stanley's elegant ikebana.

What continues to please me most about Artomatic is the discovery of new artists, plus seeing evocative and innovate, new directions from favorites.

I always knew that he was a dork

DC area uberartist Tim Tate (who just had a record-breaking sales weekend at an art fair this last weekend) will be speaking at Dorkbot DC tonight (Tuesday, April 24, 7-9 PM). This meeting will be held at the Lapis Auditorium of the Artomatic Space (6th Floor, 2121 Crystal Drive, Arlington, VA).

Other speakers will include circuit bending audio artist Peter Blasser, and Second Life virtual world architect Jack Whitsitt.

By the way, if there's one reason to visit AOM, it is the amazing marriage of science and art that the Dorkbot DC artists have at Artomatic.

The WPA\C Experimental Media Series - ColorFieldremix

You just can't catch your breath this month if you love the visual arts and live in the DC region!

As part of the Colorfield.remix events going on around DC, Richard Chartier has curated a show for the WPA/C that has been described to me as "different --- new work, and a lot of sound and media... it is amazing, I previewed it yesterday. Richard has found work that incorporates a fresh look at color and sound."

Done through the WPA\C’s Experimental Media Series, this project challenged artists to reinterpret the Color Field artists with experimental video, sound and performance pieces, and Richard Chartier curated the one opening Wednesday, April 25, 2007 7:00 – 9:00 pm at the Corcoran Gallery of Art's Armand Hammer Auditorium (free and open to the public), and Brandon Morse on Wednesday, May 30, 2007 (same place and times).

Details here

Grants for DC artists

Deadline: Wednesday, May 23, 2007 at 7 pm

The Small Projects Program (SPP) offers grants up to $1,000 to individual artists and arts organizations. The program seeks to make grant funds more accessible for small-scale arts projects. Projects may include but are not limited to:

- Art presentations
- Assistance in fundraising, marketing and management
- Documentation of artistic activities through photography, brochures, portfolios and demo tapes
- Conferences, workshops or seminars that will enhance artistic and professional development.

Details here.

Funding For Professional Fine Artists And Their Families

Emergency funding from the Artists' Fellowship is available during times of emergency, disability, or bereavement. The Fellowship does not accept requests from performance artists, filmmakers, craft artists, hobbyists, commercial artists, or commercial photographers. For more information, contact:

Artists' Fellowship, Inc.
47 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10003
Tel: 646.230.9833

Colorfield openings

Below is a video of the last openings at Conner Contemporary and Marsha Mateyka Gallery in DC which are part of the whole Colorfield.remix project going on around the capital. The video starts silent, allowing viewers to revel in the works on display, and then has an interview with Ryan Carr Johnson around the end of the first silent minute.

Video courtesy of 205 Lavinia Street, Videos for Artists/Galleries/Events.

Call for Public Art in Takoma Park, MD

Deadline: Friday, May 4th, 2007

The City of Takoma Park, MD is soliciting proposals for public art. The selected work is to located on the Metropolitan Branch Trail in the City.

ELIGIBILITY: Open to all artists or artist teams

PROJECT BUDGET: $15,000 (includes but is not limited to artist fees, materials, fabrication, and installation)

DEADLINE FOR PROPOSALS: Proposals must be submitted to the City of Takoma Park's Department of Housing and Community Development, 7500 Maple Avenue, Takoma Park MD 20912, by 4:30 pm on May 4, 2007.

GENERAL DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS: The selected artwork is to be located on a green area adjacent to an off road section of the Metropolitan Branch Trail and installed at ground level. The area is an irregular shape and roughly 1400 square feet.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: More detailed information and a copy of the Request for Proposal can be found on the City's web site at www.takomaparkmd.gov

For more info: call 301.891.7219 or email DavidS@takomagov.org

Supple exhibition is back on

Yesterday I told you that J.T. Kirkland's "Supple" exhibition had been cancelled at the last minute (it was). But now Kirkland has been offered a new space and "Supple" is back on and will open at the Warehouse Galleries this Thursday, April 26 at 7PM.

All the details here.

This whole process has been not just a valuable learning experience for Kirkland, but also another example, in its resolution, of the terrific sense of artistic community that exists in the Greater DC area, in spite of the apathy of the lamestream media.

Kudos to Molly Ruppert of Warehouse Galleries for being such a good mensch!

Busy Week

April continues to roar as a spectacularly busy art month in the Greater Washington, DC area.

Artomatic continues to attract thousands of visitors to Crystal City, Virginia. Make time to swing by AOM this week.

With an exhibition titled "Inside/Out" at Knew Gallery, Washington artist, Raye Leith, unveils a group of portraits of well-known figures grouped with Washington insiders and power players. Her series, part of a New York project of 100 portraits she recently embarked on, places larger than life figures such as John Lennon and Albert Einstein alongside such Washington players as Septime Webre (Director of the Washington Ballet), Valerie Plame (exposed CIA operative), President of the United States George W. Bush, and Mayor of Washington, D.C., Adrian Fenty. Inside/Out opens on April 25th and runs through May 20th, 2007 at Knew Gallery in Georgetown.

Also in DC, the District's major international art fair, artDC opens on Thursday at the Washington Convention Center. Several DC area galleries are participating, as well as dozens of national and international galleries. There are also loads of art talks and panels scheduled as well as a section on "New Media," part of which I helped to curate. Details here.

Colorfield.remix activities continue throughout the DC area with a variety of events scheduled, including the opening of a new show titled "ColoField remix: Saturated" at Bethesda's Heineman Myers Gallery. Zoe Myers has handpicked 19 contemporary DC area artists whose work owes a debt to the Color School. Opening reception on Friday, April 27 from 6-9PM.

Also on Friday, April 27, at 7pm, at the Cultural Institute of Mexico (2829 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009), and you need to R.S.V.P. to (202) 728-1675 or icm@instituteofmexicodc.org, is "Directions: DC Contemporary Latino Art," curated by DC area artist Irene Clouthier and my good friend Laura Roulet, a DC-area based independent curator. Selected artists include Roxana Bravo, Irene Clouthier, Coronado, Edgar Endress, Muriel Hasbun, Gabriel Martinez, Tomás Rivas, José Ruiz, Catalina Torres and Ricardo Zapata. Feature presentation: “Bola Suriana”, playing music from Michoacán, Mexico. Through June 15, 2007.


In Bethesda, on Friday, April 27th from 6-9pm, Heineman Myers Gallery in Bethesda, MD has an opening reception for “Colorfieldremix: Saturated.” This will also be an artist party and Zoe Myers is encouranging colorful attire and she promises that "colorful cocktails will be served."

Right across the street from artDC (which is being held at the DC Convention Center, the Warehouse Gallery is hosting a show of local artists called “No Representation” from April 26 to May 12, 2007. The show, curated by Molly Ruppert, Sondra N. Arkin, Ellyn Weiss and Phillipa P.B. Hughes, will include all media and has two rules only: all of the art is by local artists and all the work is abstract. Artists in the show are artists include: Sondra N. Arkin, J. Belmar, Mark Cameron Boyd, Renee Butler, Tory Cowles, Laurel Farrin, Michael Gessner, Janis Goodman, Pat Goslee, Tom Green, Eve Hennessa, Kristin Holder, Brece Honeycutt, Becky Jones, Joanne Kent, Adrian Loving + Ayodamola Okunseinde (Dissident Display), Aubrie Mema, Elizabeth Morisette, Emily Piccirillo, Lynn Putney, Marina Reiter, Nooni Reatig, Chris Tousimis, Dan Treado, Andres Tremols, CC Vess, Gail Vollrath, Anita Walsh, Rex Weil and Ellyn Weiss. The opening is Saturday, April 28 starting at 6 pm.

Bummer

If like me, your plans this week included attending the J.T. Kirkland-organized "Supple" exhibition in DC, last night Kirkland informed me that the show, which he has been working so hard to make happen and which was supposed to open this week, has been cancelled.

Details here.

Update: Looks like JT may have found another space not too far from the original space. More later...

Opportunity for artists

Deadline: May 4, 2007

The Capitol Hill Arts Workshop (CHAW), a 35 year-old nonprofit multi-disciplinary arts education organization, is joining the School Libraries Project to solicit and select artists to design and produce murals in eight public school libraries on Capitol Hill. This exciting opportunity will take place in the summer of 2007. The approximate size of each of the murals is 10 ft. x 10 ft. Up to $2500 honoraria provided, pending funding.

For more information, please visit this website or contact Moira Connolly at moira@chaw.org or call her at (202) 547-6839.

Selection Process & Deadlines
Artists must submit original design proposals to the Selection Committee by May 4, 2007. Please submit the following:

1) Design proposal on an 8.5 x 11 inch piece of paper. Artists may submit up to three designs per school library.

2) A slide sheet or digital photo CD of former completed projects (if available).

3) Completed submission form.

New Shows Open at the Katzen this week

Several important shows open AU's Katzen on Tuesday, and several more open the first week in May. The openings receptions to celebrate the AU Museum’s spring season and all these new shows, will be on Saturday, May 5, from 6 to 9 p.m, kicking off at 5 pm with a gallery talk on the American prints by Baltimore curator Jay Fisher. All shows will be open for viewing during the reception, so save May 5th on your art calendar..

On view starting Tuesday:

"Resolutions: New Art from Northern Ireland," is a 49-piece, multi-media show introducing 21 artists who are part of an extraordinary cultural resurgence in a region long plagued by violence, religious strife and social upheaval, opens Tuesday, April 24, at the American University Museum at the Katzen. This centerpiece of the "Rediscover Northern Ireland" program, was curated by Museum Director Jack Rasmussen. Through Sunday, July 29, 2007.

Also opening Tueday is "Black Masters," which is a a mini-survey of fifteen paintings and works on paper by fourteen black artists from the 19th and 20th centuries. This rare look at African-American artists is a good thing not only for the Katzen, but also for the whole DC area museum scene, which sorely lacks a proportionate curatorial look at art by African-American art and artists. Kudos to the Katzen and to Jack Rasmussen! At 5PM there will be a lecture by Sherman Edmiston, owner of the Essie Green Galleries in Harlem, New York City, and Lou Hudnell, American University School of Education. Through Sunday, May 27, 2007.


Also opening on the 24th is "High Fiber," a tapestry show by nationally known artists Squeak Carnwath, Enrique Chagoya, Chuck Close, Bruce Conner, Rupert Garcia, April Gornik, Hung Liu, Alan Magee, Ed Moses, Deborah Oropallo and William Wiley. Through May 13, 2007.

"Made in America," The Washington Print Club 19th Biennial also opens on April 24, and runs through Sunday, June 24, 2007. More than 100 examples of printmaking in America over the past 70 years — including works by George Bellows, Jack Boul, Jasper Johns, Faith Ringgold, Richard Tuttle and many others.

Finally, three out-sized brightly colored steel sculptures by Jules Olitzki — from the Vermont-based artist’s last major works, the Cyclops Series of 2006 — enliven the Katzen Arts Center’s plaza parallel to Massachusetts Avenue. The works, from the collection of Dr. Cyrus and Myrtle Katzen, comprise the AU museum’s contribution to the Colorfield.remix celebration going on around the District.