Photography Opening this Friday

The opening reception for "The Art of Photography" at DC's Millennium Arts Salon (MAS) is this coming Friday, November 30, 6-8 pm.

MAS presents an exhibition of photographic artworks created by Washington-Baltimore Area artists in this season's program: "It's All About Art: Scholars Speak." This multi-year series examines the joining lines of visual arts, performing arts, and arts and letters. For the 2007-2008 season, MAS explores photography as fine art as a part of their salon conversations.

This exhibition is jointly curated by Barbara Blanco and Henry Ferrand. Featured artists are Michael Platt, Henry Ferrand, Adrienne Mills, Jonathan French, Denee Barr, Michael Parker, and Barbara Blanco. An Artists' talk is scheduled on Saturday, January 26th, 2008 from 4 - 6 PM at the Millennium Arts Salon.

By the way, Adrienne Mills has been posting a few excellent videos of her and various other artists' body painting extravaganzas at YouTube. Check them out here.

New Art Prize

The Gibbes Museum has announced a new Art Prize for Southern Art with the establishment of the Elizabeth and Mallory Factor Prize for Southern Art. Given to a living artist who is either working in the South or has contributed to the development of art of the South, the annual Prize will be accompanied by a $10,000 cash award.

This prize has been established by a generous gift from Elizabeth and Mallory Factor in honor of the Gibbes’ century long dedication to supporting living Southern artists. The inaugural prize will be awarded in May 2008. The selection process will begin in January with the shortlist announced in late February. A panel of experts will choose the shortlist, and the museum will make the selection of the recipient from the shortlist.

Eligible artists will be those who reside, work or are from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, or Virginia.

Starting on December 15, 2007, artists can either self nominate through this website, or gallerists, curators, directors and interested laypeople can nominate artists through the website. The website will remain active even after the prize is announced and will hopefully serve as a resource for curators, gallerists, collectors and connoisseurs. The deadline for nominations is 31 December 2007.

For more information contact:

Todd D. Smith
Executive Director
Gibbes Museum of Art
135 Meeting Street
Charleston, SC 29401

Or call 843.722.2706, ext. 21.

Baltimore Open Studios

On Saturday, December 1, 2007, from 4-7 PM and again on Sunday, December 2, 2007 from 2-5 PM, Mid Atlantic Art News Daily Campello Art News contributor Rosetta DeBerardinis will be taking part in the open studios at School 33 Art Center (she's in Studio #201) in Baltimore.

Go visit her!

Call for Artists

Deadline: Wednesday, December 10, 2007

Yours truly is honored to be the juror for Alexandria's Target Gallery for an upcoming juried exhibition titled The Five Senses.

The Five Senses will be an all media exhibition that features artwork which must incorporate two or more senses (touch, taste, see, smell, hear). The physicality of this exhibition aims to engage and stimulate the viewer through works that address all aspects of human sensation. The exhibition is open to all artists nationally and internationally.

Show dates: March 6 – April 6, 2008
Deadline: Wednesday,December 10, 2007
Reception and Gallery Talk: Thursday, March 13, 6-8pm

Download details and entry forms here or phone 703.838.4565 ext 4, or email them at targetgallery@torpedofactory.org.

Jackson Art Center Open Studios

Be sure to mark the date in your calendar and check out the open studios of around 35 artists at the Jackson Art Center on Sunday, December 2, 2007 from noon to 5PM.

Jackson Art Center
3048 1/2 R Street NW
Washington, DC 20007

Wanna tour the DC City Hall Art Collection?

At 12 p.m. on Wednesday November 28, the public is invited to the Wilson Building for a guided tour through the City Hall public collection of art on permanent display on floors 1-5 of the Wilson building. The tour will be lead by the talented Denee Barr, whose work is included in the collection.

This is a unique chance to meet with local artists featured in the collection and have a discussion on being an artist in the Nation's capital and to see a rich cross section of local artists (both established and emerging). This will be a bi-monthly occurrence.

The tour is free; however space is limited. Please RSVP to beth.baldwin@dc.gov with the number in your party. Meet at the Pennsylvania Avenue entrance — the building is located at 1350 Pennsylvania Ave NW. ID is required to enter the building.

Opportunity for Virginia Artists

Deadline: February 1, 2008

The Contemporary Art Center of Virginia (CAC) invites artists from across the Commonwealth to submit works in all media for their annual, juried New Waves exhibition. New Waves 2008 is an opportunity for CAC to support the work of Virginia artists by promoting recognition from the public and nationally recognized galleries and collectors, as well as providing an opportunity for these artists to sell their work.

New Waves 2008 will be on view April 11-June 15, 2008 in Virginia Beach. The exhibition will be seen during the Museum's nationally recognized and award-winning Boardwalk Art Show & Festival, which draws 350,000 tourists annually.

Prizes: 1st $3,500, 2nd $2,000, 3rd $1,000, and two Honorable mentions at $500 each.

Jurors: Heather Darcy Bhandari, curator and artist manager at Mixed Greens in NYC and Anne Surak, director of Project 4 in Washington, D.C.

Download application here.

Atlas

Below is a tiny drawing, about 5 inches tall by 2 inches wide or so. It is titled "Atlas Holding The Firmament," and it's now in a private collection in Norfolk.

"Atlas Holding The Firmament"
Charcoal on Paper by F. Lennox Campello
That small drawing gives birth to the below drawing, which is about 13 inches tall by 8 inches wide.

"Atlas Holding The Firmament" (Version II)
Charcoal on Paper by F. Lennox Campello
The most recent drawing not only gained in size, but also lost in sense of detail and became a more sparse, minimalist work.

Congrats

To one of my absolute favorite DC area artists, Molly Springfield, whose first New York solo show, "The world is full of objects," opens on Thursday, November 29 with an opening reception from 6 to 8 pm at Mireille Mosler, Ltd. The show goes through February 2, 2008.

Wanna go to a DC opening on Monday?

One of the capital area's most beautiful venues, The Organization of American States has an opening on Monday, Nov. 26th at 1PM of street photography by DC area photographer Tom Wolff.

New Baltimore Gallery

"Quintessence" is the opening exhibit at Paperwork Gallery and this inaugural exhibit opens a new space in Baltimore that will focus on all types of artwork on paper.

Dana Reifler and Cara Ober are behind this project and their goals are "to create new exhibition and sales opportunities for local artists in an informal setting; to exhibit a variety of types of artworks on paper; and to keep a curated flat file of available works on location."

Their first exhibit features small, unframed works on paper by 25 Baltimore artists, all priced at under $300. Among the artists exhibiting are Don Griffin, Rene Trevino, Amy Eva Raehse, Ruth Channing, Bill Schmidt, Jackie Milad, and Denise Tassin.

Opening reception is Friday, December 7 from 7-9 pm and the location is 107 East Preston Street. Gallery hours will be Fridays from 4-7PM and by appointment. For more information and images, please visit their blog here.

Congrats!

To the very talented DC area photographer Joe Mills, who is currently having a solo at Galerie Verdier in Paris.

Nude Art at UPenn

Live Nude Art — a benefit auction for Penn Design MFA class of 2008 - November 30, 2007, 6-9pm.

Auction Preview: November 28 and 29, 9am-5pm.

The University of Pennsylvania Graduate Fine Arts department class of 2008 is hosting a silent auction fundraiser to support their graduation thesis show. Attendees will be able to bid on artworks by internationally recognized artists, as well as University of Pennsylvania faculty, students, and alumni. The auction will be held on Friday, November 30, 2007 from 6-9pm in the Meyerson Galleries on the University of Pennsylvania campus. Works will be available for preview in the gallery November 28 and 29 from 9am-5pm. Admission is free and open to the public.

"The title has less to do with the subject matter of the art or the dress code of those in attendance, and more to do with the pleasurable and playful atmosphere of the auction," explained class of 2008 member Travis Heck. "These days, it is rare to find an auction that allows guests not only the opportunity to bid on works by critically noted artists, but also to drink, eat, and boogie down all in one fun and free evening," continued Heck.

Works by Terry Adkins, Jane Irish, Gabriel Martinez, Sarah McEneaney, Joshua Mosley, John Moore, Eileen Neff, Demetrius Oliver, Robert Pruitt, Zoe Strauss and others will be available. Live Nude Art will take place at the Meyerson Galleries in Meyerson Hall, located at 210 South 34th Street on the University of Pennsylvania campus. Clothed guests will be treated to the musical stylings of DJ PHSH with free refreshments served throughout the evening. For additional information, contact MFA Class of 2008 representatives: Gianna Delluomo: 215-900-9714, delluomo@design.upenn.edu or Simon Slater: 917-763-7034, simonslater@gmail.com

You won't see this on mainstream TV...

This TV clip is making the rounds worldwide in Spanish speaking nations.

In the clip, Spain's King Juan Carlos orders Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez to "shut up" as the XVII Ibero-American summit drew to a close recently in Santiago, Chile.

In spite of having his mike turned off, the Venezuelan strongman was continually interrupting Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, who was defending former Spanish PM Aznar, after Chavez insulted Aznar by calling him a fascist and adding that "fascists are not human. A snake is more human."

Rodriguez Zapatero, who is seeing speaking in the clip, reminded Chavez that Aznar was a democratically elected PM, but Chavez kept insulting and interrupting.

The king is then seen leaning forward and saying in Spanish: "Why don't you shut up?"

The king addressed Mr Chavez as "tu", which is the familiar version in Spanish of "you."

"Tu" is normally used only for younger family members, close friends, and children. In this diplomatic context it is regarded as insulting.

YouTube.com has dozens of rap and reggae versions of the verbal exchange, and the king's words have apparently become a popular ring-tone in Spain.

The latest in Hugo Chavez's political performance art.

The Twenty-Third Annual Mayor’s Arts Awards

Deadline: December 4, 2007, 5:30pm.

The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities invites you to submit nominations for the Twenty-Third Annual Mayor’s Arts Awards. The Mayor’s Arts Awards are the most prestigious honors conferred by the city on individual artists, organizations, and patrons of the arts. Awards will be presented and hosted by the Mayor at a ceremony on March 17, 2008. For more information please contact Lisa Richards at 202.724.5613.

Job in the Arts

Deadline: December 1, 2007

Candidates are invited to apply for the position of Director of the School of Art, Herberger College of the Arts, at Arizona State University.

Arizona State University is the largest public university in the United States and ranks among the top 100 universities in the world. The Herberger College of the Arts houses the program in Arts, Media and Engineering; the School of Art, the University Art Museum, the Department of Dance, the School of Music and the School of Theatre and Film.

The search committee will accept nominations and applications until the position is closed. Screening of candidates will begin immediately. For best consideration, application materials should be provided by December 1, 2007.

Nominations and application materials, including a letter of application, curriculum vitae, and the names and contact information for four (4) references should be sent, in confidence and preferably electronically, to:

Chair
Herberger College of the Arts, School of Art
Director Search
Arizona State University
260 Franklin Street
Suite 620
Boston, MA 02110

Or email to 91582@j-robert-scott.com.

Graphic Content

WARNING: Graphic Content, Philly's Print Center Annual Auction will be held on Saturday, December 1, 2007 from 6:00-8:00pm with an Exclusive Champagne Preview at 5:00pm.

The Print Center, one of Philadelphia’s oldest and most prestigious nonprofit cultural institutions, has set the goal to raise $35,000 with this year’s auction to support its outstanding visual art exhibitions and educational programs. Board of Governors President, Hester Stinnett said, “This will surely be our biggest and best auction in years. It’s going to be a great party, and we want not only to attract members of the art community, but individuals interested in visiting us for the first time.” Uninhibited bidding is welcome!

The Print Center Auction includes work by a large number of renowned local and international artists, including Thomas Brummett, Alida Fish, Carl Fudge, Guerrilla Girls, David Graham, Ann Hamilton, Daniel Heyman, Henry Horenstein, Jane Irish, Alex Katz, Roy Lichtenstein, Virgil Marti, D.W. Mellor, Bruce Pollock, Stuart Rome, Dieter Roth, Ron Rumford, Lawrence Schiller, Shelley Spector, Amanda Tinker and Richard Torchia.

Proceeds from The Print Center Auction fund group and solo exhibitions featuring local, regional and international artists and The Print Center’s continuing education program. Tickets are $25 by November 30, $30 on the day of the event December 1, and include delicious hors d’oeuvres and libations. The Exclusive Champagne Preview begins at 5:00pm and tickets are $100. Online bidding will begin November 19 at www.printcenter.org. For more information or tickets, please call Ashley Peel Pinkham, Assistant Director, at 215.735.6090 x2.

Californication: Thinking Out Loud

Today I heard on the radio that the Red Hot Chili Peppers were suing Showtime over the title of the Showtime TV series "Californication," which is the same title as the RHCP song.

And pretty much the same title as my 1978 pen and ink drawing "Kalifornication: The Rape of the Earth," done while I was a sophomore at the University of Washington School of Art in Seattle, Washington.

The "K" instead of "C" was a cool thing at the time - for example, some artsy people used to spell "America" as "Amerikka," etc. The drawing was done as a reaction to the huge changes taking place in downtown Seattle at the time, as the city revived slowly from enormous urban decay.

As I recall, I got a crappy grade for the drawing from Bill Ritchie, who was my drawing professor at the time. Nonetheless, I had 25 reproductions prints made from the drawing and sold them all during the four years that I sold my artwork at the Pike Place Market in downtown Seattle, where the Kalifornication was taking place. I still have the original.

"Kalifornication - The Rape of the Earth" c. 1978 by F. Lennox Campello
India Ink on Paper. 9.5 x 9.5 inches
I don't have any plans to sue either Showtime or the RHCP over the use of the made up word, but it got me to think about the lawsuit-happy society that we have become... and about Abu Ghraib imagery.

Musicians can "sample" music from the vast set of all music ever written to create "new" works. And many artists "appropriate" images to incorporate them into their work, although I am not sure how the Visual Artists Rights Act of 1990 reacts to that issue. Visual copyright appears to be a different aspect of the whole "sampling" or "appropriation" issue.

Which got me to thinking about Botero and the Abu Ghraib paintings currently on exhibit at the Katzen Arts Center in DC.

As we all know by now, Botero based the works on the infamous photographs taken by the mutants in charge at the prison.

Their photographs.

And thus my question: does the copyright to those photographs and associated imagery belong to whoever took the photos?

Do they have the right to sue the countless newspapers and news agencies worldwide who published the photographs without permission or payment?

Do they have the right to sue Botero?

Or, since the photographs were part of a heinous crime, do they forfeit the right to the copyright?

Who "owns" these images and the copyright to them?

An issue for a legal opinion; email me.

PS - If the RCHP want to send me 10% of whatever they get from Showtime or if Showtime wants to give me a free membership for life, I wouldn't turn it down and I would watch Dexter all the time!

Update: A Boterotista clarifies that:

"the paintings are all from the point of view of the suffering of the victims. He imagines them based on photos and written accounts but there is a huge difference. The photos are more like souvenirs taken by the poor dumb guards who mugged for the camera and took the wrap for the CIA and George II."

Good points!

Congratulations

To DC area painter Elena Maza, who will be getting her first museum solo show at the Museum of Florida Art and Culture in Florida.

The show opens on Dec. 5, 2007 and closes January 17, 2008. Maza will be doing an artist talk at the museum on Jan. 17.

This museum, by the way, has a terrific collection of works by the Florida Highwaymen, one of the most educational art stories of how the only art critic of any permanence is time.

Opportunity for Artists

Deadline: January 11, 2008

19th National Drawing & Print Competitive Exhibition at the College of Notre Dame. A minimum of $1500 available in purchase prize money. Drawings and prints (not photography) in any medium are eligible.

Juror: Jed Dodds, Artistic Director, Creative Alliance at The Patterson, Baltimore, MD. A non-refundable entry fee of $30 entitles the artist to submit up to three entries. For prospectus vist this website or send a SASE to:

National Drawing and Print Competitive Exhibition
Attn: Geoff Delanoy
College of Notre Dame of Maryland
4701 North Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 21210

Tim Tate: I told you so...

I've received some emails from readers asking how artists get on my "buy now" list.

Disclaimer: zip objectivity. For years and years now I have been advising collectors to buy Tim Tate. He has been, and remains one of the key "buy now" artists on my list for collectors.

This advice comes from a place that's a mixture of savvy art dealer (I was one of Tate's art dealers until mid 2006), art collector, prognosticator, and experience in digging out the details of what makes an artist "tick," coupled in most cases with that artist's work ethic and talent and luck. Hopefully those hard to quantify details are what balance my resulting objectivity vacuum in regards to Tate.

When Fraser Gallery gave Tate his first ever solo show in 2003, collectors could have picked up an original Tate piece for as little as $300 - many did, as that show sold out, and those prices are already a distant fact of the past.

I acquired the work below, titled "Positive Progression;" a piece discussed in this Washington Post review of that first solo show. At that seminal show I also broke another piece while packing it, and thus bought that one as well, and over the years have accumulated the world's largest collection of broken Tim Tates.


Over the years Tate worked very hard in his own peculiar marriage of biography, social commentary and need to drag glass away from the crafts world and towards the fine arts arena. "The Hirshhorn," a Hirshhorn curator once emailed me, years ago, "does not collect glass."

He worked at a pace that was amazing to behold, and brought new things into the fragile glass world that were amazing to witness: cement, metal, found objects, AIDS and HIV imagery, ceramics, terracotta, and most recently videos and a dizzying array of technology (motion detectors, voice recordings, etc.).

Tim Tate discusses his work on Push Pause TV show
Filmed at his most recent Fraser Gallery solo show
He also worked very hard to make sure that people noticed what he was doing; no need to wait for a curator or art critic to come to you; as every museum curator and art writer in the Greater DC area knows, Tate has no issue in picking up the phone and cajoling you into visiting his studio or his latest solo show. And the coverage has been spectacular, especially for the Greater DC area. Only the Washington Post's Jessica Dawson has resisted the uberartlandslide and managed to avoid reviewing all four Tate Washington, DC area solo shows.

He also worked very hard in public art projects that brought a new refreshing look to public art: He was the winner for the International Competition to design the New Orleans AIDS Monument. Also Tate public works are at Liberty Park at Liberty Center, Arlington, VA; The Adele, Silver Spring, MD; at the US Environmental Agency, Ariel Rios Building Courtyard, Washington DC; at the National Institute of Health, Hatfield Clinic, Bethesda MD; at the Upper Marlboro Courthouse, Prince Georges County MD; at the American Physical Society, Baltimore Science Center, Baltimore MD; at The Residences at Rosedae, Bethesda MD; Holy Cross Hospital, Silver Spring MD; The Carmen Group, Washington DC and many others in process.

Hard work.

And now the payoff is beginning to taking place. In the last year alone, in addition to being represented by the Fraser Gallery in the Greater DC area, Tate has now picked up additional representation by the Maurine Littleton Gallery (outside of Greater DC area and arguably one of the world's leading fine art glass galleries), the Duane Reed Gallery in St. Louis, the Jane Sauer Gallery in Santa Fe, and he's also in the process of completing negotiations with three other major galleries in California and Idaho and Philadelphia. In 2008 his European debut will take place with a solo show at Gallery 24, in Berlin, Germany, and talks with a British gallery should start soon.

Acquisitions by several museums (including the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Renwick in the DC area) have also all contributed to the development, and growth of this talented and ground-breaking artist.

The art fairs have also played an important part. SOFA NY was the start a couple of years ago, followed more recently by SOFA Chicago and AAF NY and also artDC. He's now heading to Art Basel Miami Beach where his work will be at FLOW. At the last fair in Chicago, Tate sold 14 sculptures (including a museum acquisition), and I am told that his newest video pieces were the buzz of the fair. In "Call for Redemption" (to the right), a motion detector triggers a video while a small speaker wails the Moslem call to prayers recorded by Tate at Istanbul earlier this year (where he was with Michael Janis teaching glass techniques at a workshop in Turkey).

The results from all these aggregate points and events yield an artist with a trail of many years of hard work now beginning to reap what he has sown. And because art is a commodity, prices are an indicator as well, and Tate's now start around $2,500 $3,500 and up, and look for the "up" part to continue to rise.

Buy Tim Tate now.

Update: [Added after Art Basel Miami Beach] And it looks like both collectors and museums are all in synch: Tim Tate's new and groundbreaking self contained video glass sculptures sold out at SOFA Chicago and sold out at Art Basel Miami Beach!

Too Funny...

Read this.

About time...

For years and years, when artists donated a work of art to a museum, all that they could deduct from their taxes was the cost of the materials to make the artwork.

However, this past March, Congressmen Jim Ramstad (R-MN) and John Lewis (D-GA) have introduced the "Artists-Museum Partnership Act" – a bill to provide a fair-market value tax deduction for works of arts donated by artists to arts institutions. By the way, Congressman John Lewis is an avid art collector himself and a very visible presence at the occasional art gallery opening in both DC and Atlanta.

This bill, (known in Congressional lingo as H.R. 1524) has been gaining Congressional co-sponsors, now standing at 58, with a number of them serving on the powerful House Ways & Means Committee.

The Senate bill, sponsored by Sen. Robert Bennett (R-UT) and Sen. Pat Leahy (D-VT), has 25 co-sponsors in the Senate.

Here's how you can help: The Congressional Arts Caucus recently circulated a “Dear Colleague” inviting members to join the bill as a co-sponsor. To see if your House or Senate member has co-sponsored this legislation, visit this website. If they have ignored HR 1524, then give them a call or email them a note scolding them for their apathy towards artists. You can email them or call them from here.

And if you don't do that, then you give up your right to bitch about everyone else's apathy towards the arts and the people who create it.

Slow Movin' Outlaw

Willie Nelson and Lacy J. Dalton (Lyrics by Waylon Jennings)

All your stations are being torn down a high flying trains no longer roar

The floors're all sagging with boards at a suffering from not being used anymore

Things're all changing the world's rearranging a time that will soon be no more

Where has a slow movin' once quickdraw outlaw got to go...

The whiskey that once settled the dust tasted so fine now taste so faint
And the mem'ries that once floated out come back stronger
And more clearly with each drink you take

And the women who warmed you once thought so pretty now look haggard and old

So where has a slow movin' once quickdraw outlaw got to go

This land where I travel once fashioned with beauty now stands with scars on her face

The wide open spaces are closin' in quickly from the ways of the whole human race

And it's not that I blame them for claming her bounty
I just wish they're takin' her slow

Cause where has a slow movin' once quick draw outlaw got to go

Tell me where has a slow movin' once quick draw outlaw got to go

Whitney Biennial 2008

The artists for the 2008 Whitney Biennial have been announced.

As usual, the list is essentially (again) the New York and California Biennial, with a sprikling of artists from a handful of other places.

Congrats to Philly's own Karen Kilimnik and the Charlottesville's Kevin Jerome Everson, who were some of the rare non New Yorkers in the show.

I just don't know how to fix this show so that it's just not another New York artists show...

artDC returns

artDC, the District's only major international art fair, returns for its second year on May 16-18, 2008, with an opening night VIP Preview scheduled for May 15.

Read my review of artDC 2007 here.

The New Media section, which I helped to curate last year, also returns for a second year and "this small group of exhibitors will display a variety of digital, sound and installations of mixed-media works, along with other gallery artists."

artDC 2008 will also feature "Art W," which is described as "a project paying tribute to contemporary and historical women artists. As an invitational, Art W will highlight select women artists whose work merits special recognition. Art W will additionally be spotlighted in on- and off-site seminars addressing the topic of women in the arts and in special events with partner institutions in Washington."

I suspect that we will see a lot more Mid Atlantic area galleries represented in this second year, as the relative success of the first year insures some sort of safety net for galleries with a limited art fair budget to do a "new" fair. I know this because one question that I get all the time as I wander through Philly's galleries is "how was artDC?"

And I know that we will see a lot more DC area galleries as well, as the fair's first year success now gives some sort of degree of assurance about the art being exposed to a large body of attendees and collectors.

On Collecting Prints

One word that has been hijacked from the art lexicon by the art merchants is the word "print."

A print is a woodcut, or a linocut, or an intaglio etching, etc. It is created by the printmaker, from beginning to printmaking. Anything else is a reproduction.

So if the original is a watercolor, or an oil, etc. and then you get digital copies of it, or four color separations, etc. all of those are reproductions of the original. However, it's hard to sell something when you describe it as a reproduction, and thus why dealers and artists alike describe their reproductions are "prints."

Giclees is a modern artsy way to describe a reproduction. Giclee is the French word for "spray" or "spurt." It describes the Iris burst printers originally used to make the beautiful new digital reproductions that started appearing in the art world around 15 years ago.

Nothing pisses off a printmaker faster than hearing a reproduction called a print.

On Tuesday, November 20th, from 6:30-8:00 pm, Pyramid Atlantic has an excellent opportunity for beginning and experienced print collectors: Pyramid & Prints: An Evening on the Potomac. This is a presentation by Mary Bartow, Director of Prints and Drawings, Sotheby’s New York.

The presentation will take place at the Old Potomac Boathouse, Georgetown (3530 Water Street, NW, Washington DC 20007).

6:30-7:00 pm Wine and hors d’oeuvres
7:00-7:30 pm Talk by Mary Bartow
7:30-8:00 pm Discussion and allocation of prints

Tickets: $100 and as their gift to you, an original print is included to add to your collection from one of the artists listed below. For tickets, please call 301.608.9101

Participating Artists include:

Andis Applewhite, Rob Evans, Joyce Jewell, Jake Muirhead, Tate Shaw, Maria Barbosa, Aline Feldman, Gabriel Jules (Zepecki), Nina Muys, Tanja Softic, Scip Barnhart, Micheline Frank, Maria Karametou, Lee Newman, Renee Stout, Dorothea Barrick, Helen Frederick, Barbara Kerne ,Minna Nathanson, Lou Stovall, Sally Brucker, Yolanda Frederikse, Madeleine Keesing, Judith Nulty, Henrik Sundquist, Wilfred Brunner, Jenny Freestone, Kathleen Kuster King, Martha Oatway, Lynn Sures, Judy Byron, Inga Frick, Robert Kipniss, Cara Ober, Terry Svat, F. Lennox Campello, Lonnie Graham, Mai Kojima, Mary Ott, Helga Thomson, Kathy Caraccio, Mary Heiss, Andrew Kreiger, Terry Parmelee, Caroline Thorington, Y. David Chung, Richard Hellman, Akira Kurosaki, Margaret Adams Parker, Claudia Vess, Charles Cohan, Ellen Hill, Bridget Lambert, Susan Due Pearcy, Vicky Vogl, Rosemary Cooley, Lisa Hill, Trudi Ludwig, Tracy Pilzer, Joyce Ellen Weinstein, Pepe Coronado, John Hitchcock, Tonia Matthews, Michael Platt, Ellen Verdon Winkler, Sheila Crider, Shireen Holman, Betty McDonald, Steven Prince, Liz Wolf, Lama Dajani, Joseph Holston, Kevin McDonald, Pyramid Atlantic Ann Zahn, Richard Dana, Tai Hwa Goh, Clay McGlamory, Andrew Raftery, Jason Zimmerman, Joan Danziger, Susan Goldman, Nancy McIntyre, Cecilia Rossey, Deron Decesare, Jody Isaacson, Michele Montelbano, Miriam Schaer, Erik Denker, Judy Jashinsky, Johanna Mueller, and Gretchen Schermerhorn.

By the way, Jose Dominguez is the new Executive Director of Pyramid Atlantic, and he starts on December 3, 2007. However, you can meet Jose at the opening of PM's CONTINUUM exhibit on Saturday, December 1st, from 6-8 PM with remarks from Katherine Blood (Curator of Fine Prints at the Library of Congress and the exhibit's curator), at 6:30PM.

Evolution of a drawing

It's always interesting how a piece of art evolves over time to be reborn (sometimes). Below is a ink and watercolor drawing that I did in art school around 1980.


I found it while rooting around the studio, and it's part of dozens of such drawings that I did in art school with people with all sort of things growing out of them.

And that 1980s piece gives birth to the following:

"Porcupine Woman"
Charcoal on Paper, 2007. 9 x 12 inches
By F. Lennox Campello

Speaker's Corner Tomorrow

The Arlington Arts Center is hosting Speaker’s Corner tomorrow, Saturday, November 17, from 12 – 4 pm . No subject is off limits! This is a special opportunity to speak out about issues of concern. Walk-ups are welcome, but if participants would like to reserve a 2 to 4 minute slot within a particular hour, they are advised to register in advance. Please call 703.248.6800 to register.

The program is part of "The 0 Project" - inspiration of artist Rosemary Feit Covey, an interactive installation art piece involving worldwide participation. Its official launch was at the Arlington Arts Center on October 5, where the centerpiece of the project—0 (Zero), a 300-foot long, 15-foot high banner that wraps AAC’s building on Wilson Boulevard — will be on view until February 2008.

Cornelius at Curator's Office

If you haven't checked out Kathryn Cornelius new work at Curator's Office then you are missing work by one of the Greater Washington DC's most refreshing and innovative young artists and another name on my "Buy Now" list.

Read the CP review by Kriston Capps here and the Artinfo.com review here and the essay by Jeffry Cudlin here. The exhibition goes through December 22, 2007.

Then go and buy Kathryn Cornelius now.

Call for Exhibition Proposals

Deadline: February 8, 2008.

The University of Minnesota Visual Arts Committee is now accepting applications for the 2008/2009 school year and there's no entry fee!

The Visual Arts Committee organizes nine solo, group, or theme-based exhibitions per year at the St. Paul Student Center''s 520 sq. foot Larson Art Gallery. It also organizes four solo exhibitions at Coffman Memorial Union''s Coffman Art Gallery.

Please make sure to include all of the following with your application:

* Note which Gallery you are applying for (coffman or larson).

* 2-5 slides of your artwork or digital images in jpeg format.

* Artists'' statement.

* Self-addressed stamped envelope for return of images.

The deadline for Fall2008/Spring2009 submission drive is February 8th, 2008, but they accept applications for consideration year-round. Send complete proposals to:

Minnesota Programs & Activities Council''s Visual Arts Committee
University of Minnesota- Coffman Memorial Union
300 Washington Ave SE
Minneapolis, MN 55455

Nude Bush Update

Remember when the below painting by Kayti Didriksen caused all that uproar at Artomatic and became the Internet's most downloaded image? It became the most popular contemporary political art of all time.

As an update, Kayti tells me that she

"Sold the painting to a diplomat who asked to remain anonymous. When I delivered the painting to his home in Brooklyn, I asked why he wanted it; his response was perfect, he thought that it was a great souvenir of his time in America."

Delaware Arts in Trouble?

Maureen Milford, writing for the News Journal, has an excellent article about the state of arts organizations in Delaware. Read that article here.

As an aside, I've yet to find one independently owned fine arts commercial arts gallery in Wilmington, If there's one, someone please let me know.

Randi Hopkins on Campello



Boston's Randi Hopkins at The Phoenix discusses the current exhibition Ozspirations at at the New England School of Art & Design and mentions my How Dorothy Killed the Witch.

"How Dorothy Gale really killed the Wicked Witch of the East"
Read it here.

Amy Lin Preview

I don't know how tonight's opening of Amy Lin's solo at Heineman-Myers Contemporary in Bethesda, MD went, but I dropped in yesterday to take a look at the work.

Buy Amy Lin now.

Wanna go to a Philly Opening this Friday?

Damian Moppett's After the Fall, which will run from November 16, 2007 - February 17, 2008 opens at the Temple Gallery in the Tyler School of Art. The openingr eception for the artist is Friday, November 16, from 6 to 8 p.m. The exhibition will be accompanied by several programs; for more information visis this website or call 215.782.2776.

Some good lots

Rago Arts and Auction Center has a Post-War and Contemporary Art Auction on November 17, 2007 (exhibition starts today) and as usual there are some great "estimated" deals to be had...

- A Gene Davis color pencils on paper.

- This Wolf Kahn pastel

- Also a great deal on this Teo Gonzalez.

- A signed Rauschenberg print for under a thousand and also this screen print for under a thou.

- A Sol Lewitt drawing for under $500. Also litho for under a thousand.

- Four huge William Christenberry Polaroid transfers in one lot estimated at around $800 each ($2K - $3K for the lot).

- Jenny Holzer estimated at $2,000.

I have conveniently not mentioned the lots that I am bidding for, but there are a lot more "estimated" deals to be had.

The Other Woman

Steven Earl Weber, the co-director of Kelly & Weber Fine Art in Philadelphia, will be guest curating a series of four shows in conjunction with the Coral Street Arts House.

The first of these exhibitions will be a duel site exhibit of the artist collective, The Other Woman.

The Other Woman consists of Darla Jackson, a sculptor, Laura Graham, a photographer, Laura McKinley, a painter, and Aubrie Costello, who works in various mediums. For this dual site exhibition Kelly & Weber Fine Art will be exhibiting the works of Darla Jackson and Aubrie Costello and the Coral Street Arts house will host the works of Laura McKinley and Laura Graham.

View a video interview with these artists filmed on a set built for one of Laura Graham's recent photographs and hear what they have to say for themselves and their artwork here.

Wanna go to some DC openings on Friday?

It's the third Friday of the month coming up and thus the extended nights and openings for the Canal Square Galleries at 31st Street, NW and M Street in Georgetown. While there check Rackie Diankha Diallo's work at Parish Gallery.

Danielle O'Steen on DC

Danielle O'Steen pens a really good over view of what's going on the DC area for artinfo.com.

Read it here.

Delaware Area Artists' Sale

Creative Wilmington has 115 Regional Artists on exhibition that want collectors to purchase artwork directly from them priced at $250 or less. Exhibition is Saturday, November 17 from 10AM - 5PM at Creative Wilmington.

Artwork by Lynette Ashby, Jennifer Marano, Kinga Baransky, Karen Mason, Larissa Baransky, Helen Miller, Jo Bellamy, Joe Miller, Frank Bielsky, Kelley Morris, Teresa Bland, Nick Mowers, Charles Bowden, Monique Mueller, Kim Bowman, Gaye Murphy, Mike Bryand, Nicolle Nicolle, Robert Bullock, Elizabeth Norton, Lauren Caddell, Christine O'Connell, Stephen Cai, Gail O'Neil, Todd Carignan, Maria Ortado, Kate Cathey, Karen Pait, Macon Cathey, Peter Patterson, Deborah Cavenaugh, Lori Payne, Robyn Chapman, Brooks Pearce, Sarah Collier, Candy Pegram, Francisca Dekker, Brian Peterson, Lois DeWitt, Deborah Petoskey, Timothy Dols,Courtney Pickett, Karen Domaney, Nancy Ping-Robbins, Jamie Dorfman, Wendy Pittillo Rae, Jude Eden, Michael Polomik, Jay Edge, JG Priestly, Jennifer Elder, George Rabito, Daisy Faith, Dennis Reifsnider, Paula Fitzpatrick, Kay Robbins, Gina Gambony, Loraine Scalamoni, Kit Garfield, Lara Schuhmann, Wade Giddens, Mick Scott, Cape Fear Camera Club, Donna Simpson, Pamela Kim Hartman, Florence Simpson, Lisa Haskins, Stephanie Smith, Barton Hatcher, Lee Spivey, Steven Heiner, Dixon Stetler, Deborah Hendricks, Polly Tait, Geoffrey Henshall, Sarah Tector, Jack Hernon, Sue Thompson, William Hubbard, Nii Narku, Rebecca Huntzinger, Nia Thurber, Julia Jensen, Clay Trotter, Angela Johnson, Laura Venters, Mitzy Jonkheer, Sandra Vigneri, Jennifer Joyner, Maike Walbrecht, MZ Julee, Gail Beavers Walls, Sharon Kane, Cindy Weaver, Michelle Kaskovich, Tracy Weaver, Rachel Kastner, Travis Weller, Doug Kazantzis, Sarah Westermark, Mary Kate Kennish, Kee Wilde-Ramsing, Aiden Kenny, Rhonda Willett, Gloria Madill, Mike Williams, Beth Maisonpierre, Amy Winston, and Mossy Wynn.

Wanna go to some Baltimore openings on Saturday?

Not only famous for its diverse art, but also for its sushi and good wines at their openings, Baltimore's Light Street Gallery opens its "Small Works Exhibit" on Saturday, November 17 from 6-9PM.

Also on Saturday, from 6-9 p.m. there's an opening reception at Gallery 211 for Washington, DC landscape artist Freya Grand. A catalogue of the show will be available at Gallery 211, with an introductory essay by Jack Rasmussen, Director of the Katzen Art Museum at American University in Washington, DC. For details phone 410-244-1340 or visit www.gallery211.net.

Wanna go to a Bethesda opening this Saturday?

Osuna Art Gallery in not-Brooklyn Bethesda opens The Washington Women Show with an opening reception from 5-8PM on Saturday, Nov. 17. The exhibition includes work by:

Nan Montgomery (painting)
Carol Brown Goldberg(painting)
Renee Butler(video installation)
Joan Danzinger (sculpture)
Dalya Luttwak (sculpture)
Nizette Brennan (sculpture)
Francie Hester (multi media)
Bernis von zur Muehlen (photography)
Dale Loy (painting)
Jean Meisell (painting)
Manon Cleary (painting)
Wendy Ross (sculpture)
Polly Kraft (sculpture)
Patricia Forrester (painting)
Lisa Brotman (painting)
Yuriko Yamaguchi (sculpture)
Andrea Way (painting)
Deborah Kahn (painting)
Sharon Fishel (painting)
Sherry Sanabria (painting)
Judy Jashinsky (painting)
Brece Honeycutt (painting)
Lisa Marie Thalhammer (drawing, mixed media)
Claudia Smigrod (photography)
Janet Fries (photography)
Jae Ko (sculpture)
Annette Polan (painting)
Emilie Brzezinski (sculpture)
Linn Meyers (drawing)

Ford Bell Responds

A few days ago I was puzzled by the answer given by Ford Bell, the new president of the American Association of Museums, to a question posed to him during an interview. Read all that here.

In response to my question, Mr. Bell emailed me a clarification:

Lenny:

Here is the context for my answer. Perhaps I wasn't clear enough.

Museum attendees, boards, staff, and volunteers do not reflect the diversity of our society. In Minneapolis, where I am from, we have the largest population of Somalis in the United States, the second largest population of Hmong, the largest population of Tibetans, and substantial populations of Hispanics and Native Americans. However, these ethnic and racial groups are substantially (almost completely) underrepresented on museum boards, and are not users of museums. I think it is incumbent on museums in this country to "demystify" museums, to make them less "white", both physically and programmatically, and to reach out to minority communities with creative, and relevant, educational, social and cultural programming. In the increasingly pluralistic society in which we are fortunate to live, museums will struggle if they are unable to reach out to different communities in meaningful ways.

In regard to the question, "Why would someone who has been elected to Congress in 2037 or 2047 have less 'experience' than someone elected in 2007 simply because they are from a different ethnic group?" I would submit that the vast majority of people now serving in Congress have experiences with museums, in fact, have visited museums since childhood. Today, school districts don't have the money for field trips, and school children don't go to museums in many states they way they did when I was a child. Will childhood trips to museums depend now on parents? And if the parents don't speak English, and/or are illegal immigrants and/or work three jobs and/or don't know what a museum is, are they likely to take their child to a museum?

AAM is committed to conveying - to funders, legislators, policymakers - the importance of museums to communities large and small, across the United States. We are committed to carrying the message that museum experiences are important for school children of all ages, and that these experiences contribute significantly to their educational progress and intellectual development. And, we hope to work with museums, our fellow museum service organizations, and museum professionals and educators to help insure that museums are welcoming and relevant to everyone in the community and that they resemble the community at every level - boards, staff and volunteers.

I hope that helps. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to clarify my answer.

Best wishes.

Cordially,

Ford

Stories

As the first African American museum built by a major American city, the African American Museum in Philadelphia is a pioneering institution that is dedicated to "Celebrating the Life and Contributions of a People." The museum focuses on what is unique about the African American experience, and does so by illustrating the intimate intertwining of one people's heritage, culture, and contributions throughout the fabric of the American experience.

Opening on November 15 and through January 21, 2008, they will host Kimberly Camp's "Stories." Camp’s paintings and dolls are a reflection of family and tradition, and have been shown throughout the United States and abroad in over one hundred prominent solo and group exhibitions.

Camp, a native of Camden, New Jersey, has also pursued a dual career as a museum administrator for the Barnes Foundation, the Smithsonian Institution and the Charles Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit.

RSVP to kcamp@kimberlycamp.com.

Open Studios in Arlington

On Saturday, November 17th, from 6:00-9:00 PM, the artists at the Columbia Pike Artist Studios in Arlington, VA will open their studios to the public - there will be art, food, wine, and many fine artists.

Wanna go to a Bethesda opening on Wednesday?

For a couple of years now I have been recommending to collectors that they should acquire art by Amy Lin.

On Wednesday, November 14th, Amy Lin’s "Silence" opens in Bethesda's Heineman-Myers. A reception for the artist will be held from 6 to 9pm and Amy will speak about her work at 7pm. This will be Lin's commercial gallery debut after a couple of highly successful solo art shows in non-profit art spaces around the DC area.

Besides my attention, Amy Lin has received considerable recognition for her work, including a terrific show recently at the District of Columbia Art Center curated by National Gallery of Art's curator Anne Collins Goodyear and a very positive review of her work in the WaPo for her solo at Northern Virginia Community College last year and a very cool profile by the Washington City Paper last December.

And Apple Computer company recently selected Amy’s work for their one-word campaign, which will showcase her work on college campuses across the US. Furthermore, Washingtonian Magazine recently picked Amy in their 2007 “40 under 40 to Watch.”

Buy Amy Lin now.

Wanna go to an Alexandria opening tomorrow?

Travels - Paintings by Jessie Mackay will be on exhibition November 11 - December 9, 2007 at Alexandria's beautiful Athenaeum, the only Greek revival building in the city.

William Zimmer, the contributing art critic for The New York Times has written that Jessie Mackay "is recognized in the art world as an artist who can go to the most desirable tourist destinations in Europe -- to the impoverished heart of Africa -- and the ability and desire to capture the colors of both places, as well as the people, with a great deal of sympathy, is a welcome, valuable resource."

The Opening reception is Sunday, November 11, from 4 to 6PM. When you get there, walk around this beautiful building and discover one of the hidden gems in the DC area.

For Women Artists

The National Museum of Women in the Arts has Archives on women artists. Eligible to women artists who have had at least one solo show in a museum or gallery. Files may include biographical information, resume, and up to 20 images (slides, transparencies, or photos). $10 fee. Send a SASE to:

Archives on Women Artists
The Library and Research Center
Nat’l Museum of Women in the Arts
1250 New York Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20005

Legal Seminar for Artists

November 15, 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 pm

Maryland Art Place (MAP) and Maryland Lawyers for the Arts (MLA) will present on Thursday, November 15, an Artists' Practicum: a guide to the basic legal knowledge necessary for artistic survival in the marketplace.

The session will cover contractual issues in the creative industry, copyright for nonlawyers, and the Visual Artists Rights Act of 1990. The panel includes MLA Board President Michael Yang, Esq., and board member Cynthia Sanders, Esq. The practicum will be held within MAP’s galleries. Admission is free and open to the public, but reservations must be made by calling 410-962-8565.

Grants for Philly Area Artists

Deadline: January 7, 2008 (Folk & Traditional Arts and Painting)

The Pew Fellowships in the Arts, a program of the Philadelphia Center for Arts and Heritage established by the Pew Charitable Trusts, awards grants to artists working in a wide variety of performing, visual, and literary disciplines. The grants provide financial support directly to the artists so that they may have the opportunity to dedicate themselves to creative pursuits exclusively.

PFA makes awards to artists working in twelve different discipline categories, which rotate on a four-year cycle. In 2008, applications are being accepted in the areas of folk & traditional arts, painting, and playwriting.

Fellowships may be awarded to artists at any stage of their career development, from early to mature, and to artists working in a wide range of aesthetics and traditions. Fellowship recipients are determined according to two primary criteria. First, and most important, applicants are judged on their artistic accomplishment and future promise. Second, panelists consider the impact that a fellowship will have on the applicant's career and artistic development.

Applicants must be practicing artists of demonstrated commitment and professional accomplishment, and must have resided in the five county Philadelphia area (Philadelphia, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery) for at least two continuous years at the time of application.

Up to twelve fellowships are awarded annually. As of the 2008 award cycle, the fellowship amount has increased to $60,000 from $50,000.

Visit the PFA website for complete program information.

Shauna Lee Lange on Andrea Reed's Sweet Struggle at The Target Gallery

Power Seeks a Vacuum

By Shauna Lee Lange

Years ago when I was working in Newport, Rhode Island, I had a mentor with whom I could safely share some of the idiosyncrasies of working with certain personalities. And I still remember what he said.

Power seeks a vacuum.

Meaning that power goes to where there is a void, to where the void can be filled by a personality larger than itself, and to where there is no competition.

And so it is with artwork that arrests us in its riveting, shocking, and disturbing elements. Powerful artwork causes one to shift entirely. And when that powerful artwork is directed at a subject that exists in everyday life, that we all walk around living with, but no one seems to really want to squarely address, well that's power seeking a vacuum.

Andrea Reed's problem, if she has one, is that she does not yet fully recognize the potentiality for the vacuum sucking up the her work or its message. If I had her here with me at this moment, I'd be doing some serious career planning with her and not just career planning the art world.

She's Al Sharpton and Jessie Jackson reincarnate. She's Rosa Parks and Harriet Tubman and Grandma Moses and Salvador Salgado, but she doesn't know it.

I wonder what's more dangerous: having the power, hitting the mark, daring to speak the communication, or doing all of that and not having any inkling of what you've accomplished.

I imagine it's kind of like sitting at a slot machine when you're an inexperienced gambler and then you hit the jackpot and you're not really sure what actually happened or what comes next. It's amazing, you're happy, you're thinking about the money; but you have no clue what it is you've actually done or how rarely it happens.

Several times during last night's opening reception at Alexandria's Target Gallery, one could hear the words, “powerful,” “disturbing,” “brave,” and “raw.” And all those adjectives are all true.

Reed seemingly does not completely recognize the timeliness of her black/racism/social condition message in a day of Duane Chapman, Don Imus, and Michael Richards and the controversies over demeaning language, its use, its application. Nor does Reed realize the power of an introspective and respectable examination of black stereotypes, black societal problems, and the black experience. She’s timely, she’s ahead of her time, and she’s behind the times all at once, it’s incongruent and it’s fascinating.

She says it herself: "I was fearful of how people would perceive the work."

And as you age, you realize that all that time you spent worrying about what other people think was time wasted. Why should she care what other people think of her blackface images? It’s honest. It’s true. It’s presented in a nonjudgmental way, almost like a mirror. I want Reed to walk proudly. What she’s done is amazingly brave. She’s worried the black population will see her as airing dirty laundry; she’s worried whites will see her as capitalizing on negative stereotypes; she’s worried about staying true to herself; and she’s swimming in a sea of contemplation. And I want her not to give a flying frog about what anyone else thinks, because when you’re a visionary, you get to stand alone.

And it’s lonely, and it’s scary, and it’s all the more powerful because you’re the only one responding to the call, listening to the drumbeat, answering the higher cause.

And as I was walking through the Target Gallery - and there's a lot of glare from the overhead lighting there - and I was thinking about how the glare in this case actually accentuates the large scale color photographs (a series of 10 diptychs on crimson/blood red background), giving a reflective appearance. It’s sort of like passing through the Vietnam Memorial; you can see yourself looking in at the picture. How powerful is that?

Today, the morning after, I find myself still conflicted about Reed. On the one hand, I feel bad that she herself honestly says, “I’m not exactly sure where I’m going to go. I don’t think the project is over and I want to continue with it.” She needs a serious mentor. She’s talent untapped. She’s it. She’s the real thing. And I’m thinking that Reed may not know where she's going to go, but I surely I have an idea.

I’m reminded of the time I saw Yoko Ono’s work in San Francisco. This is an artist! This is art!

And so it is with Reed. She has difficulty articulating what she’s trying to say, but the thing of it is - she doesn’t need to. It’s clear. It’s blackface. It’s the mask worn. It’s the clownish behavior. It’s the mask of who we are as a people and what we do. And who is behind the mask. We’re ignorant, you know, white and black, all of us – and what do we think about it? Killing each other, gang violence, fatherless homes, selling out in exchange for the big house, broken self esteem, trying to achieve unreachable ideals established by someone other than ourselves, searching through meaning in acquisition of money, and things, and respect, and acceptance. Oh Lord.

On the other hand, I’m so excited about Reed. She admits, “I’m young, I’m still growing, I’m still trying to find my voice.” One of the things about youth, and I would tell Reed this too, is that you don’t know what you had at the time you had it until much later in life. Any of us who goes back to look at a photograph of an earlier self may catch themselves saying, “Damn. I looked good.” But we didn’t really know it at the time, did we?

Reed doesn’t know what she has. She hit the jackpot, the end of the rainbow, the statement and work that takes some artists and photographers a lifetime to achieve. And she has it. She has it now. She could stop. Right here and never do another thing. She could go on tour. She could give lectures.

Commercially, she needs marketing; she needs exposure; she needs mainstream.

Personally, she needs serious representation. She needs mentors.

Reed can be the next voice of the people. Reed’s a revolutionary; she’s a seer; she understands; she gets it; she communicates it; she dares.

I go back through the gallery and I imagine the next life of these works. I’m thinking about redesigning the entire Barbie Doll Headquarters Enterprise. I’m imagining walking into a reception area with Reed’s “Barbie Girl” hanging behind a coiffed and reserved corporate greeter in front of a massively cold marble wall. “Barbie Girl” is an image that shows a young black woman, in hideous blackface makeup, squeezing the waist of a blonde, white Barbie Doll. A figure the woman will never have. A culture the woman will never relate to. And in the interim, the woman is holding her own mid-section. The smallest part of her is ever so enormous compared to the smallest part of the doll. This is what I mean by power.

Reed’s tapped into every woman’s pain. Every woman’s inability to reach Barbie Doll perfection. And it’s not enough that she points to this feminist, beauty, perfection complex, she then adds the experience of being black and being a black woman in this culture on top of it. It’s quiet, yet it yells. It’s subdued, yet it feels like being submerged.

Fear is a powerful thing. And I suspect Reed is fearful on some subconscious level of what she’s actually achieved. She has the vision of what she wants to say, yet she steps back from really standing firm in her own conviction. And this comes with age, too. She spoke last evening about how the experience of showing at the Target Gallery and the attending the exhibition was a bit overwhelming for her. She stumbles a bit as she speaks. She’s embarrassed when slide photos come up too dark on the viewing screen.

None of it matters.

You, Ms. Reed, overwhelm us! You’ve taken survey. You’ve taken a look around at the black experience. You’ve said this is what’s ugly to me and not only is it ugly to me; it should be ugly to all of us. And you’re right. Completely right.

Reed speaks about using the light in the photographs in an ominous way. And she shares the story behind “Crack Head” and her attempts in San Francisco to acquire a crack pipe for the photograph. She explains she went to several places and honestly communicated what she was trying to do and her vision for the photographs and still was met with resistance, mistrust, or disbelief. She states her own personal experience was altered from this difficult project. One attendee pointed out that the hand of the young man who is holding the crack pipe is dirty and grainy. Reed states this is a result of having each of her models apply their own blackface makeup and the residue resulting from that. And she says interestingly that once the models finished with their masks, there was a distinct transformation and a very different energy in the studio, one she tried to capture on film.

I wonder whether Reed considered not using blackface, and truly I was encouraged by the amount of research and background Reed conducted in approaching the project. The images of the elements of our culture would have been just as powerful without blackface as they are with. The blackface is an added and very strong message about the ridiculousness of such a life – who are we entertaining? Where is the enjoyment? Why is no one laughing?

Reed says she felt she needed to make a statement about how blackface started in the white community and then was an “art form” adopted by black artists. She says she struggles to portray these issues and all of sudden, the lecture space becomes electrified and a little nervous when one attendee asks whether it would have been a different viewing experience if Ms. Reed were white.

What? You have to be black to portray black issues?

You can’t understand what it is for the rich when you’re poor? You can’t understand or portray nature as an artist if you live in the city? My head started spinning; Reed handles the question with grace.

She’s young. She’s introspective. She’s from small town Peoria, Illinois, and she attended Howard University, and now lives in California. Her show features a piece entitled “The Bluest Eye.” It is inspired by Toni Morrison’s novel of the same name. And as I write this, my breathing becomes a little tight, for some reason, I still want to cry. The photograph shows a young woman removing the blue contact from one of her eyes and balancing it so gingerly on the tip of her extended finger. She has a skin condition, and she’s not Halle Berry. This is realism at its best. This is current, contemporary culture. Striving to be something we’re not out of rejection of what we are.

This is all of us, balancing some aspect of ourselves, whether its work, family, health, finances, ever so lightly on the tip of a finger, able to be blown away with the slightest wind.

Fragile.

So fragile and so fruitless this constant struggling to be something else.

Of the ten works, any one of Reed’s diptychs could stand alone. Fully alone in a one-woman show. And she’s clever, that Reed. You’re so fascinated by the semi-automatic pointed to a young man’s head that you hardly even see the weapon has the same embedded line as the young man’s wife-beater t-shirt.

Power. Care. Honesty. Shock.

Reed’s saying, I see it and this is what I do about it. I make it art so others can see it too. I ask the question. And if that’s not a leader, I don’t know what one is.

She speaks about the work from a technical perspective. The feel, the focus, the framing. She shares how she worked with people she knew to create authentic characters, used Polaroids for tests, and opted for the split frame. You see, when power finds the vacuum, power wants to fill it. So Reed split the frames into large format diptychs because she wanted to show racism’s fragmentation. The separation from the whole. And the black frame is impenetrable, a border that cannot be broken.

These are the reasons Reed won her spot on the highly competitive Open Exhibition Competition. I wanted to embrace the gallery management, and believe me; I rarely feel the urge to do that!

The Target Gallery's mission is to challenge perspective, and gallery operatives stated last night’s turnout was one of the best yet. Reed’s work was selected by a blind outside juror panel. The show runs to December 2, 2007.

Philly 1st Fridays Walkabout

Last Friday I went wandering through some of the galleries participating in Philadelphia's 1st Fridays gallery openings. The streets were packed with art loving people who obviously missed the Dawson memo that gallery crawls are dead.

My choices from the evening were actually located in the "back room" of the Rodger La Pelle Galleries. The gallery's main show was Matt Bollinger's "Auto Video," which was an interesting show on its own, but one of the wonders of being "new" to a city is discovering new artists, and in the back room of the gallery I discovered a series of breathtaking small paintings by Rachel Bess, who has a Gregory Gillespie thing going in her beautifully bizarre paintings.

I also liked Lauren Lyons photographs at Silicon Gallery, Christian Mendoza's maddeningly complex drawings at the huge Lineage Gallery and definately the three person show at Pentimenti but especially the film noir work of Matt Haffner.

Bethesda Art Walk tomorrow

Tomorrow is the second Friday of the month and thus its time for the Bethesda Art Walk with 13 participating venues.

My picks are once again focused on the really interesting group show at the Neptune Gallery - look for Jody Mussoff to stand out, and then what looks to be one of the best landscape photography shows of the year at Fraser Gallery. The photo to the left, "In Vitro Complex No.V" by Anna Druzcz, is simply amazing.

Also check out "On Myth" - mixed-media work on canvas and paper by Rob Hauck at Waverly Street Gallery.

Next week look to the long-awaited opening of Amy Lin at Heineman Myers.

More DC area openings here.

Come again?

Minnesotan Ford W. Bell, a former Democratic candidate for the US Senate, is the new president of the American Association of Museums, replacing Edward H. Able, who retired last years after 20 years at the association. Able earned $249,794 in 2006, so it's a well-paid and important art position!

Bell was interviewed by Nicole Lewis for the Chronicle of Philanthropy. Read that interview here.

One question's answer sort of caught me a little off guard:

What are your priorities?

How can we partner with other organizations around promoting diversity in the field. I'd like to set up a fellowship program with some of the historically black colleges and universities. Also, in 30 to 40 years, when 50 percent of the country is Hispanic, the halls of Congress are not going to look the way they do today. If the people in Congress then have had no experience with museums it's going to be hard to get support. And high on my list is collaborating more closely with other groups, including the Association of Art Museum Directors. We are not competing; if we succeed in strengthening museums, there is plenty of credit to go around.

Surely I am misreading this answer and Bell is not implying that the Congress people of the future, simply because they may be 50% Hispanic/Latino/Latina will have "no experience with museums"?

What does that mean anyway? Visiting a museum? Serving on a museum board?

Why would someone who has been elected to Congress in 2037 or 2047 have less "experience" than someone elected in 2007 simply because they are from a different ethnic group?

Am I misunderstanding Bell's answer? What "museum experience" do current Congress people have anyway that would be different in 30 years because of the ethnic demographic change being predicted?

Or is he saying that currently Hispanics have no "experience" with museums and thus the American Association of Museums needs to start working with Hispanics so that in 30-40 years...?

This gives me a headache. Surely I am misreading this answer in some way. I have sent the American Association of Museums an email asking for a clarification; let's see what response I get.

Art Jobs

11 art jobs and internships in DC.

Great deals

A really good art heads-up: There are some great deals to be had in this online auction of 124 lots by New York's Daniel Cooney Fine Arts.

Happy Anniversary!

The Maryland State Arts Council just celebrated its 40th anniversary with an exhibit of work by 40 Maryland artists, curated by Oletha DeVane, through December 19, 2007.

Check out the exhibition here.

The Blogger Show Opening Video

James Kalm posted the below video about The Blogger Show opening in New York a few days ago.

I have this drawing in the show at a steal for $100 which will be all donated to the galleries to help with the costs of the show. Call Agni Gallery at 917/683-0643 if you want to buy it or email them at agnizotis@yahoo.com.

In addition to showing the opening, the videographer talks to a lot of blogging artists about Charlie Finch's recent anti-blogger article.

Green

Like nearly everyone on the proper level of Maslow's hierarchy of needs, I am very interested and concerned about green issues in general.

My wife is an alumni of Sidwell Friends School in Washington, DC and because of that I am aware that all the construction going on there is on the leading edge of green architecture.

This is but one of many such projects going on around the nation. One of my cousins is one of 17 accredited "green" lawyers around the country, and she's now working with a task force to help counties and states "codify" the legal building codes of what makes a "green building."

I discussed with her that I thought that it would be ironic if "green buildings," once built, would then be filled with other enviromentally-colored objects, other than green, including art.

A green buildig full of possibly toxic objects? Does that muddy the "greenness" of the project?

I think so.

And thus a truly green project should whenever possible be then filled with green furniture, green appliances, etc.

Including green art.

In the Greater DC area, the only two green artists that I am familiar with are Erwin Timmers and Adam Bradley.

Both are exceptional sculptors who re-use artifacts, often discarded objects, to create works of art that are fresh and provocative. Both Timmers and Bradley have been doing this for years.

Timmers uses all kinds of objects, reuses common glass, etc. to deliver exceptionally intelligent sculptures which are so complex in character and materials that they are hard to label. See and hear Erwin discuss his work below:

Ever since he was an undergraduate student at GMU and then a graduate student at MICA, and now an Asst. Professor at a couple of DC area universities, Adam Bradley has been gathering metal and plastic car parts, rubber and other assorted junk and using them to create what can best be described as highly contemporary narrative works.

"Cast Iron" by Adam Bradley. Circa 2001
I am sure that there are other green artists out there - if so, drop me an email and a website address and I'll try to highlight some of you.

Be Green.

Update: NBC4 on Erwin Timmers

Job in the Arts

Howard County Arts Council is seeking a grants and program assistant. B.A., non-profit exp., strong computer & organization skills, able to handle multiple projects. Full-time, some evenings, salary mid-high 20s. No calls; send cover letter, resume, writing sample, and three refs by Nov. 16 to:

HCAC
8510 High Ridge Road
Ellicott City, MD 21043
Fax 410.313.2790
Email: coleen@hocoarts.org

Design the DC Arts Vanity Plate

Deadline: Friday, December 7, at 5:30 pm.

Design Fee: $5,000. The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities in collaboration with the District of Columbia, Department of Driver and Motor Vehicles is seeking an artist or artist team to design a specialty arts vanity license plate for the District of Columbia. The theme for the license plate is "Artistic License".

The design should inspire residents and visitors to support the arts and help bring attention to the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. This call is open to artists who live in District of Columbia. For more information, please visit their website. If you have further questions please email Deirdre Ehlen at Deirdre.Ehlen@dc.gov or call (202) 724-5613.

Opportunity for Photographers

Deadline: 28 December 2007

The Fraser Gallery (which I used to co-own) is hosting the 7th Annual International Photography Competition.

Details and entry forms here or call the gallery at 301/718-9651.