Opportunity for Artists
Deadline: Oct. 31st, 2010
Art House sends you the sketchbook, then you make the art. Then Art House is taking all the sketchbooks on a 6 city tour to galleries and museums across the U.S. The goal of the exhibition is to encourage anyone to create artwork and build a collective of sketchbooks made by artists from all over the world.
Sign up at www.thesketchbookproject.com.
Art House Gallery
309 Peters St.
Atlanta, GA 30313
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Monday, May 17, 2010
McKaig on Eadweard Muybridge
Helios: Eadweard Muybridge in a Time of Change
By Bruce McKaig
Seen with 21st century eyes, the images and objects in this exhibition linger in a romantic, comfortable past, but their significance and impact on photography and cinema give the show a peculiarly contemporary presence, a mute visit from the past that coyly unveils the building blocks for much of photography and cinema today.
Eadweard Muybridge, a, walking; b, ascending step; c, throwing disk; d, using shovel; e, f, using pick. Plate 521, 1887. Collotype on paper. Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, d.c., Museum Purchase, 87.7.477.
A comprehensive retrospective of Eadweard Muybridge’s explorations in locomotion and photography is now at the Corcoran Gallery of Art through July 18, 2010.
Organized by the Corcoran and curated by Philip Brookman, chief curator and head of research, Helios: Eadweard Muybridge in a Time of Change includes numerous vintage photographs, albums, stereographs, lantern slides, glass negatives and positives, patent models, Zoopraxiscope discs, proof prints, notes, books, and other ephemera. The exhibit runs chronologically from his earliest works in stereo photography (3-D glasses are provided) to his landscapes of the American west, his surveys and work from Alaska to Panama, ending with extensive samples of his animal and people motion studies.
Looking at the beautiful albumen silver prints is a treat for anyone who stares at a computer screen much of the day. The material quality of the vintage prints is nothing short of majestic, with all the serenity and fortitude the glorious west of the past is expected to have. They only become melancholic, or tragic, if a viewer compares these images to contemporary aerial photography that shows the state of the land today.
In Muybridge’s motion studies, the subject matter is usually less majestic than Yosemite or the Pacific Coast. Although the motion studies were technical extravaganzas to achieve, the subject matter is simple and straightforward, often boring and banal. Frozen in time-lapse sequences, people and animals parody gestures that will never headline at Cirque du Soleil – tossing a hat, pouring a cup of tea, walking up and then down steps (OK, there are some more gymnastic gestures). In his efforts to document the mechanics of movement, Muybridge proceeded by splintering the movement into chunky slices. They might have been made as quasi-scientific motion studies, but when viewed based on how they look not why they were made, there is an edgy pathos to these flickering slices of movement, a futility akin to the myth of Sisyphus. It’s difficult not to contemplate the images based on how they look. Despite sporadic controversies about the quality of programming and leadership, the Corcoran is a museum of art.
Whereas movement can be equated with change, involving departure and arrival, these short flipbook-like clips endlessly loop through the same futile gestures, never leaving or arriving or sustaining – just moving. In the 1920s, Frank and Lillian Gilbreth attached glowing lights to wrists, arms, and legs of workers then filmed them working in the dark. These films were tools for consulting work on movement and efficiency. (Observing that surgeons spent too much time digging for tools, they suggested that surgeons keep their eyes on the patient and ask for tools as needed, thus, “Scalpel please.”) Like Muybridge’s locomotion studies, Gilbreths’ films, when contemplated for how they look not why they were made, evoke more misery than celebration, not the stuff for a propaganda campaign promoting the work ethic.
The exhibition ends with the brilliant idea of installing a few contemporary works whose influences can be traced to Muybridge. His influences spread over painting, photography, and cinema. Included in this part of the exhibit are works by Mitchell F. Chan and Brad Hindson (Canadian team), Stacey Steeks, and DC’s own William Christenberry, to name a few. The motion picture industries, motivated by commercial interests more than scientific study, have turned Muybridge’s chunky movements into fluid blockbusters. Last summer, I participated in a video piece by then-local artist Lisa Blas (currently living in Belgium) that directly references Eadweard Muybridge. In the piece, called The Jump (in progress, not included in this exhibition), Blas, replete with skirt and heels, repeatedly walks down the sidewalk and leaps over a pile of books on the history of art.
Eadweard Muybridge, Valley of the Yosemite. From Mosquito Camp. No. 22, 1872. Albumen silver print. Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, d.c., Museum Purchase, 2007.003.
There was a great deal of mobility in Muybridge’s life, both geographically covering vast regions of the planet, and professionally interacting with numerous individuals also working on photography, motion, and cinema. Born in Great Britain, Muybridge (1830–1904) first came to the United States in 1855 and worked as a publisher’s agent and bookseller. A few years later, following a serious stagecoach accident, he returned to Great Britain and learned photography. When he returned to San Francisco in 1866, he quickly established himself as a qualified photographer, working mostly with landscapes and architecture. These images were published under the pseudonym “Helios,” which, in Greek mythology, is the name of the god of the sun.
In 1872, businessman and race horse owner Leland Stanford – former Governor of California – hired Muybridge to use photography to answer the question: In full gallop, do all four horse hooves leave the ground at the same time? Unaided human observation cannot answer the question. Muybridge spent several years perfecting techniques to produce a series of photographs that do capture a moment with all four hooves in the air. Technically, this involved developing faster shutter speeds and faster emulsions to register the fleeting activity.
In 1874, Muybridge shot and killed his wife’s lover. Though he confessed to the crime, the court acquitted him, labeling the crime a “justifiable homicide.” Stanford had paid for his defense, which included a failed attempt to plead innocent by reason of insanity, claiming that the earlier stagecoach accident had damaged his brain.
After the trail, Muybridge traveled and worked in Central America before returning to the US in 1877. Between 1883 and 1886, he worked with the University of Pennsylvania and produced over 100,000 locomotion images. In 1893, Muybridge gave a series of lectures on the Science of Animal Locomotion in the Zoopraxographical Hall at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. He used his zoopraxiscope –“animal action viewer” -- to project his moving pictures, the first commercial movie theater. In 1894, he returned to England, published a couple of books, and died in 1904 at his cousin’s house where he had been living.
A catalog will accompany the exhibition, and with essays by Philip Brookman, Marta Braun, Corey Keller, Rebecca Solnit, and an introduction by Andy Grundberg.
Following its debut at the Corcoran, Helios: Eadweard Muybridge in a Time of Change will travel to Tate Britain in London from September 8 through January 16, 2011, and to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art from February 26 through June 7, 2011.
For more information about the exhibition, visit the Corcoran's website here.
For more information about Bruce McKaig, check out www.brucemckaig.com.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Cabaret [re]ReVoltaire
Mark your calendar on May 17th for night 2 of Cabaret [re]ReVoltaire!
Washington Project for the Arts and The Pink Line Project present Cabaret [re]ReVoltaire, curated by my good bud Alberto Gaitán. Join them for four evenings of food, drinks, art, poetry and performances.
Cabaret [re]ReVoltaire celebrates the historic Cabaret ReVoltaire series which was presented by WPA in 1992.
Night 2: May 17, 2010
Time: 6:30 - 9:30pm (doors at 6:00pm)
dinner style seating, food and drink available for purchase
ticket price: $20 (50 available tickets)
Emcee: Dody DiSanto
House Band: Bob Boilen
Performances by:
Bradley Chriss,
Happenstance Theatre,
Karin Abromaitis, Kristina Bilonick & Tzveta Kassabova,
Reuben Jackson,
Kristin Garrison,
Jim Hesla,
Prosser Stirling,
and Matthew Pauli
Videos by: Anarchy in the Kitchen, Ayo Okunseinde, Vin Grabill, Champneys Taylor, and original footage of Cabaret Re-Voltaire from 1992 shot by Matt Dibble and edited by him and Linda Lewett
Tickets can be purchased here.
Note: You MUST have a ticket in advance. Tickets will not be sold at the door.
Ryan Hill opens at Civilian
Opening Reception: Friday, May 21, 2010
Civilian Art Projects artist Ryan Hill continues his process of exploring the contemporary cultural imagination through found images and word associations. The works on paper found in “SuperFacial” play with ideas of the spectacular, the facial and glamour. Drawings based on images of spa treatments, facebook profiles, fashion magazines, and entertainment websites ask the question “how do we look at faces?” “what happens if we are not sure if we are looking at a face at all?” and “what do faces mean to us anyway?”
Ryan was initially inspired to make this series of related works by a friends wedding reception on Halloween’s eve at a New Orleans mansion.
The artist found interacting with the masked wedding guests both confusing and exciting since he couldn’t read the social cues from people’s faces when they spoke or reacted to his responses. Also, the artist wore a range of fake noses and teeth throughout the night, evolving them from smaller to larger prosthesis as it progressed. This social experiment gave the artist both a sense of glamour and invisibility, allowing his face to be read in ways unfamiliar to him. People projected their fantasies on his new features in ways that allowed him to maintain a comforting sense of anonymity. He found parallels to this process of masquerade on social networking sights, celebrity discussion forums and even in the act of how the public interpretation of art is a private act done in public.
Images are drawn onto the paper with some areas blocked out by frisket. Ryan then sprays layers of washes over the drawing and works back into them with ink and brush.
Ryan's textworks are enlarged from copious notes he takes while drawing. Words are often drawings in themselves or overlaid on top of images as a way of complicating meaning.
He presently experimenting with cutting out text and hanging them sculpturally on the walls. Like previous exhibit, "Everything Must Go," the nature of the textwork are based on personal anecdotes and imaginary personas.
The artist will also show his related collages and textworks along with a video collaboration with local DC area experimental filmmaker Rob Parrish.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Wanna go to an opening tomorrow?
One of my favorite artists on this planet is Mary Coble and her solo show "Source" and performance at Conner Contemporary Art in Washington, DC opens tomorrow, Saturday, May 15th, 6-8pm.
Important News follow: Mary Coble's performance begins at 2pm and will continue on into the opening which is from 6-8pm. Coble will also be showing video, photography and an installation piece as part of the exhibition.
New video and photographs by New Yorker Janet Biggs in an exhibition titled Nobody Rides for Free will also be on display. This is Biggs' first solo exhibition with the gallery.
Be there!
This weekend: go to Reston
Check out the artists juried into the 19th Annual Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival.
This is one of the best outdoor art festivals in the nation. It takes place on the streets of the Reston Town Center — Reston, Virginia, May 15 & 16, 2010. 10am — 6pm daily.
50,000 people will show up to look and buy art. Drop by and say hi at Booth 204.
Tomorrow: Gateway Open Studios
The many talented artists around the Gateway Arts District are having a joint open studios day tomorrow. You can also join the Washington Glass School as it celebrates its 9th Anniversary tomorrow with an Open House and Artwork Sale - art and craft from over 20 studio artists and instructors will be available.
WGS artists exhibiting include: Michael Janis, Tim Tate, Erwin Timmers, Syl Mathis, Robert Kincheloe, Jessica Beels, Nancy Donnelly, Sean Hennessey, Rania Hassan, Jennifer Lindstrom, David Pearcy, Anne Plant, Cheryl Derricotte, David Cook, Allegra Marquart, Chris Shea, , Nancy Krondstat, Kirk Waldroff, Allison Sigethey, and more! Torchwork demonstrations, discounts on class registrations, music, food & fun!
The surrounding artist studios (Red Dirt Studio with Margaret Boozer, JJ McCracken; Flux Studios with Novie Trump, Laurel Lukaszewski; Ellyn Weiss Studio) will be participating in the huge event, along with the Gateway Arts District’s Mount Rainier Day events along Rhode Island Avenue.
A free shuttle bus from the West Hyattsville Metro station will loop through the area beginning at 11:30am with a last run at 5:00pm. For more information and a PDF map go to the Gateway CDC web site here.
While you are in the area, check out the exhibition "Space / Place" which opens this Saturday, May 15th, from 5-7 PM, at the 39th Street Gallery within the new Gateway Arts Center in Brentwood, MD. The show will present the work of painter Matt Klos, draftsman Matt Woodward, and photographer Andrew Zimmermann. The work of each of the three artists presents a different concept of space and of how that space is used to describe a particular place.
It's all free and open to the public.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Opportunity for Artists
The WPA announces:
About the project:
In September 2009, the Washington Convention and Sports Authority (WCSA) and the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, DC Creates! Public Art Program (DCCAH) partnered to create an innovative approach to public art by transforming retail windows into a street side art exhibition entitled Windows Into DC. These temporary art spaces are popular ways to energize storefronts and windows, while drawing in visitors. For phase one of Windows Into DC, 14 DC artists were selected to paint on the storefront windows and install original works in the display windows. Now in phase two, the project looks to activate the space with incubator space, street festivals, a neon installation, portraits of DC residents, and original works of art in the display windows.
Washington Project for the Arts (WPA), through the support of DCCAH and WCSA, is inviting artists to submit proposals for Arcade, a street-level window gallery that will transform the Convention Center display windows along M Street NW between 7th and 9th Streets NW into showcases for art. Six windows will be available for the creation or installation of artworks, selected from artist proposals.
Artwork:
Creative use of the window space is expected. Painting, three-dimensional work, multimedia, photography, graphic design and site-specific installation are all welcome for consideration. Video will not be permitted for this phase. Artists should take into consideration the location and size of their preferred window in their proposal, and are strongly encouraged to visit the Washington Convention Center, located at 801 Mt Vernon Place, NW, to view the windows before submitting their application.
Submissions Requirements:
To apply for the Arcade exhibition opportunity, please send a brief written description and 1-2 images of your concept or the work you wish to submit for consideration (with dimensions) to submissions@wpadc.org with "ARCADE EXHIBITION PROPOSAL - YOURLASTNAME" in the subject line. Please be sure to include your name, address, website URL, and telephone number in your submission.
Schedule:
Deadline for proposals: Sunday, May 16, 2010, midnight
Artists notified: Friday, May 21, 2010
Installation dates: Friday, June 11, 9am through Monday, June 14 at noon
Exhibition opening: TBD
DCCAH/Mayor's RibbonCutting Ceremony: TBD
Exhibition run dates: June, 2010 through March 30, 2011
De-install dates: March 30, 2011 (subject to change)
Submission guidelines can also be found here.
For questions, please email submissions@wpadc.org or call them at 202-234-7103.
Art in Embassies Program
Established by the United States Department of State in 1964, the ART In Embassies Program is a global museum that exhibits original works of art by U.S. citizens in the public rooms of approximately 180 American diplomatic residences worldwide. For more information, contact artinembassies@state.gov.
19th Annual Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival
Check out the artists juried into the 19th Annual Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival. This is one of the best outdoor art festivals in the nation. It takes place on the streets of the Reston Town Center — Reston, Virginia, May 15 & 16, 2010. 10am — 6pm daily. 50,000 people will show up to look and buy art.
Pencil it into your schedule this weekend and drop by and say hi at Booth 204.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Commercials imitating art?
Am I the only one who thinks that the current AT&T commercial where they wrap up everything (buildings, beaches, etc.) in orangey material is a direct rip off of the whole Christo art legacy?
Remember when Mickey D's ripped off former DC artist Thomas Edwards?
Donnelly on Gopnik
Is there room for delight in the vocabulary of art? Perhaps. Sometimes perception is actually bigger than the current vocabulary of criticism. Not everybody wants always to be striving for a leg up, or to express anger or despair. Other sides of human experience are also valid, and a great relief.DC artist Nancy Donnelly argues that there is room and therefore disagrees with WaPo Chief Art critic Blake Gopnik. Read Donnelly's argument in the Post here.
Wanna go to an artist talk tonight?
The join "a pop up project" for a memorable artist talk starting at 6 pm with Margaret Bowland, whose work in the current show there is my favorite. She will be discussing her Murakami Wedding series, an artwork of which is currently featured at National Portrait Gallery and her series of powerful Thorny Crown drawings, exclusively available at the pop-up project exhibition.
Artist Talk and Reception
Wednesday, May 13, 2010
6 pm
625 E St, NW
Washington, DC 20004
Hillwood has a new director
Ellen MacNeile Charles, president of Hillwood Estate, Museum and Gardens, announced today the appointment of Kate Markert as executive director. Currently the associate director at The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Markert will succeed Frederick J. Fisher, who has led Hillwood as executive director for over 20 years and has long planned to make 2010 his final year heading up the former estate of Marjorie Merriweather Post in northwest DC. Markert, who will be Hillwood’s second professional director since its founding in 1977, will assume leadership on August 2.
Markert is co-author of The Manual of Strategic Planning for Museums (Altimira Press, 2007), which has become a trusted guide book for many museum directors and boards.
Art that sells itself
On Jan. 28, while on a business trip to Chicago, Terence Spies used his iPhone to monitor an eBay auction. He was trying to outbid a couple of rivals to win a black plastic box that was at the time on display at an art gallery in Seattle. Spies had read about “A Tool to Deceive and Slaughter,” as the piece is called, on a Reuters financial blog. That’s a strange-enough place for a collector to learn about art, but Spies’s interest seems even more curious given that the blogger Felix Salmon’s write-up of the piece’s sale was titled “The Uncollectible Artwork.” Even if Spies won the object, created by a young artist named Caleb Larsen, his ownership would be tentative: the technical innards of “A Tool to Deceive and Slaughter” carried a program that would relist the thing on eBay every week, forever. Indeed, the terms and conditions for submitting a bid clearly stipulated that the device must be connected to the Internet, constantly trying to resell itself at a higher price to someone else.Read the NYT story here.
The minimum bid was $2,500. Spies won with a bid of $6,350. “A Tool to Deceive and Slaughter” had generated a fair amount of buzz online when it first went up for sale as part of a show of Larsen’s work at Seattle’s Lawrimore Project gallery. And I understood why people found the concept compelling (or annoying) enough to write about it. But I wanted to know why somebody would find it compelling enough to spend thousands of real dollars to sort of own that concept.
Spies, who is the chief technology officer at Voltage Security in Palo Alto, Calif., describes himself as a collector of “baffling contemporary art.” (He mentions the almost monochrome panels of Anne Appleby and Molly Springfield’s meticulous drawings of photocopies.) He says another collector once advised him to buy art that “people have a reaction to — good or bad.” And “A Tool to Deceive and Slaughter” has elicited reactions ranging from “You’re really crazy” to “You’re slightly crazy.” He’s O.K. with that. It “sets people off,” he continues, “because it’s not even clear what you own.”
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Focus on Michele Banks
Craftzine has a cool focus on the work of DC area artist Michele Banks.
Atrial Fibrillation. 6 × 9" on 300 weight watercolor paper. Michele Banks
See it online here
Open House at the Washington Glass SchoolJoin the Washington Glass School as it celebrates its 9th Anniversary this coming Saturday with an Open House and Artwork Sale - art and craft from over 20 studio artists and instructors will be available.
Artists exhibiting include: Michael Janis, Tim Tate, Erwin Timmers, Syl Mathis, Robert Kincheloe, Jessica Beels, Nancy Donnelly, Sean Hennessey, Rania Hassan, Jennifer Lindstrom, David Pearcy, Anne Plant, Cheryl Derricotte, David Cook, Allegra Marquart, Chris Shea, , Nancy Krondstat, Kirk Waldroff, Allison Sigethey, and more! Torchwork demonstrations, discounts on class registrations, music, food & fun!
The surrounding artist studios (Red Dirt Studio with Margaret Boozer, JJ McCracken; Flux Studios with Novie Trump, Laurel Lukaszewski; Ellyn Weiss Studio) will be participating in the huge event, along with the Gateway Arts District’s Mount Rainier Day events along Rhode Island Avenue.
Washington Glass School & Studio
9th Anniversary / Open Studio / Sale
3700 Otis Street, Mount Rainier, MD 20712
202.744.8222
Noon til 6 pm, Saturday, May 15, 2010
Free and open to the public
www.washglass.com
Novel way to get glass into Hirshhorn
A few years ago, when I was trying to convince the Hirshhorn to accept a donation of some of the very early glass sculptures by a DC artist, a curator there (since then long gone) informed me that the "Hirshhorn does not collect glass."
That's a silly statement of course, like saying that the Hirshhorn does not collect granite or bronze or chocolate or mud (all of which are substrates of artwork in the Hirshhorn's collection). In other words, the substrate of the artwork shouldn't matter, right? What she really meant to say was that in her mind, all that she could visualize for glass was vessels and containers and Chihuly-like organic forms: craft
A bomb squad was called in Monday night after a UPS delivery truck crashed into the side of the Hirshhorn Museum, but no explosives were found.Read the whole story here. My dad used to work for UPS; let's all hope the driver is OK if he had a medical issue or something that caused this accident.
Officials said the truck was heading eastbound on Independence Avenue just before 9 p.m. when it swerved into oncoming traffic. The truck narrowly missed a car, jumped the curb, hit a light pole and a concrete flower pot barricade before slamming into the glass exterior wall of the museum's lobby, located at 7th and Independence SW.
Smithsonian spokeswoman Linda St. Thomas said the truck came about a foot into the circular-shaped building and shattered a large glass window.
Update: Mike Licht has the real scoop here.
Monday, May 10, 2010
At the end of the fair
Overall Mayer Fine Art sold nearly 40 works of art during last week's Affordable Art Fair in NYC. Work by Shiela Giolitti, Alexei Terenin, Heather Bryant, Michael Janis, Matt Sesow, and a few more artists, sold by MFA.
I sold about a dozen drawings, including three of the pieces that I had done for the Mera Rubell studio visit last week.
On Sunday I sold two big drawings, including "Fallen Angel" and "Superman Flying Naked and Close to the Ground in Order to Avoid Radar"; both of these were "Rubell visit drawings." I also sold a large female nude drawing titled "America Desnuda".
"Superman flying naked and close to the ground in order to avoid NORAD radar"" Charcoal on Paper. 20x24 inches.
Artist Jeremy Drummond to speak at MPA
Jeremy Drummond will give an artist talk about his current exhibition at MPA, Everybody Knows This is Nowhere: A Photographic and Video Installation.
Mr. Drummond is a professor in the Department of Art and Art History at the University of Richmond and he will speak at McLean Project for the Arts on Thursday, May 13 at 7 pm.
The talk is free and open to the public, but seating is limited and reservations are a must. To reserve your seat, please email info@mpaart.org or call 703-790-1953.
Sunday, May 09, 2010
Scots
Just found some notes that I wrote and had in my car when I lived in Scotland at the Little Keithock Farmhouse near Brechin in Angus. I used to have a Russian made Lada for a car. Perhaps the worst car ever made in history.
muckin = clean
croft = small farmhouse
jine = join
kill = overcome with weariness
swir = unwilling to work
auld Nick = the Devil
tint =lost
fit like? = how are you?
besom = broom
deen = done
barra = barrow
widna row its leen = would not hold it's load
siccan = such
soss = dirty wet mess
strae = straw
swipe = sweep
greep = gutter in the byre
fell sklite = fall heavily
neep = turnip
ben = through
soo = female pig
booin'doon = bending down
goon = gown, dress
midden = refuse heap
riggs = strip of ploughed land
tyke = dog
bumbee's byke = beehive
lang syne = long since
tyne = lose
Saturday, May 08, 2010
Vandals at work
A public art piece in Richmond worth more than $1 million was vandalized this week, prompting the president of the Vancouver Biennale to call on police to treat it as a serious crime rather than an act of mischief, should the perpetrator be caught.Read the whole story here.
"This was vicious and intended," said Barry Mowatt, president and founder of the Vancouver Biennale, which brings large public art installations from all over the world to Vancouver and, more recently, Richmond. "It should be treated as a crime."
At the end of the day...
Yesterday things picked up a little and some more artists at the AAFNYC showing with Mayer Fine Art have broken the ice.
Yesterday Sheila Giolitti sold four of her paintings, I sold my cool drawing of "St. Ernesto 'Che' Guevara", more Matt Sesow's sold as well as one Novie Trump sculpture and one of Rosemary Feit Covey's super cool "Peep Show" boxes and one of her wood engravings
In walking the fair a little I've really become quite fond of the breath taking photographic wax encaustic work by Leah MacDonald, represented by Galerie BMG from Woodstock, New York. MacDonald has some of the most innovative and sexiest work that I have seen in a long time.
Encaustic Photography by Leah MacDonald"
Friday, May 07, 2010
You never know...
Elderly couple comes by around noon or so, and spend a lot of time looking at one of Rosemary Feit Covey's "Peep Show" boxes. I spend a lot of time talking to them.
These custom made boxes each has a set of 10 wood engravings which are inserted into the box and "peeped" through the keyhole. They are engravings of women in various state of being disrobed, objectified and enjoyed. Not exactly the genre of art that one would expect your stereotypical 80something couple to acquire for their collection.
They express interest and walk away to look at the rest of the fair. "They are major collectors," whispers the gallerist across the aisle from me.
A few hours later they return and buy the piece.
Only in New York.
Dawson on One Hour Photo
The Post's Jessica Dawson has a really good article on the One Hour Photo exhibition project at the Katzen.
Read it here.
I have a pic in that novel show.
Gopnik on Abramovic
I for one, agree with Blake's review of the Marina Abramovic MoMA show, but Aline Martinez doesn't.
Read her letter to the WaPo here.
At the end of the day...
The 1,000 point drop in the market yesterday was buzzing through the crowd coming to the Affordable Art Fair in New York. However, having done this fair many years, it seemed that Thursday's attendance was quite good considering it was a Thursday, so there were mixed signals: good crowds + bad economic news = slower sales than preview night.
Also, last night was "Brooklyn Night" and the crowd seemed younger and more interested in the open bar for wine and beer and the cool DJ who was actually playing music from a record player... than in artwork.
At the end of the day Mayer Fine Art ended up selling Sheila Giolitti's second largest painting (a major sale), a few more paintings by Matt Sesow, and as the lights were being flickered at 9:30PM, one of my large drawings ("Eve and the Lilith"), which ended up being acquired by the Sonya Spann Collection.
Thursday, May 06, 2010
Thursday afternoon
Good crowds still and lots of artwork being sold at the Affordable Art Fair here in New York. The London gallery across the aisle from us is selling large color photos and they're flying off the wall (the price is right).
Tonight is "Brooklyn Night" or something - another party.
So far today we've sold a very large Sheila Giolitti painting (last year she sold 19 paintings). The one that she sold today was her second largest piece in the show and is heading to a collection in New Jersey.
Wednesday, May 05, 2010
Preview Night at the Fair
Today was the press night and VIP preview night at New York's Affordable Art Fair, held at 7 West 34th Street, right across the street from the beautiful Empire State Building.
In the many years that I have been doing the AAFNYC, tonight's opening was by far the most crowded and buzzy preview that I have seen. It seemed like most galleries were selling something.
Norfolk's Mayer Fine Art, showcasing several DMV artists including my work, also did OK, with several sales by multiple artists, including a couple of sales by Novie Trump, a major piece by Rosemary Feit Covey on hold, a few sales of Matt Sesow, and sales of four of my drawings, including my two largest pieces that I brought to NY: "Batman Naked" and "Suddenly she discovered that she wasn't afraid any longer".
One Hour Photo at the Katzen
One Hour Photo, is a quite novel exhibition opening May 8th at the American University Museum at Katzen Arts Center. One Hour Photo features works by 128 artists from 13 countries.
Each photograph will be projected for one hour and then never, ever seen again since all of the artists showing photos in this exhibition have signed release forms honoring and promising that those particular photos will not be reproduced or ever exhibited again. Adam Good, Chajana denHarder and Chandi Kelley curated this most interesting concept.
I have a piece in this exhibit, which I can't show you because, as I said above...
The opening is Saturday May 8th 6:00-9:00PM. Pinkline's Tara Hauser interview Adam Good here. Through June 6, 2010.
Tuesday, May 04, 2010
Unthinkable
Something that I thought would never happen just happened! I had lousy matzoh ball soup in a Jewish deli in New York City!
Walking along Broadway, around W. 38th Street is the culprit. A good looking Jewish Kosher Deli, with several Hassidic families happily eating inside, and so I thought to myself: "Mmmmm... matzoh ball soup..."
I sat down and was promptly given a complimentary small dish with four or five nice pickles and some excellent coleslaw... nice!
I then ordered the soup, enjoyed looking at all the happy customers and awaited my feast. Then I noticed that this was a combo Jewish Kosher deli and Sushi bar. A slight alarm went off, but then I figured that maybe it was Kosher sushi, if there is such a thing.
When the soup arrived I was shocked! Not only was it thin and watery chicken soup, but it also looked and tasted like those soups that one makes from powder... you know, the Lipton soup packet types that have those tiny, almost invisible noodles? Yep... that bad.
The matzoh was gigantic and tasteless - essentially plain dough.
I was shocked.
The matzoh ball soup at the Parkway Diner on Grubb Rd in Silver Spring, right past Chevy Chase off East-West Hwy in DMV is a gazillion times better!
In fact, the matzoh ball soup that my shiksa wife makes is a thousand times better than this crap that I had in NYC tonight.
What's going on here New York?
Style Resignation
Scott Vogel, the Arts editor at the Post, just resigned. From the WaPo:
We are sad to announce that Scott Vogel has resigned as fine arts editor. Scott is a masterful editor, passionate about his reporters, the arts and the newspaper. He has been a wonderful colleague, whose humor, talent and devotion will be missed and not easily replaced. We wish him well.
Shortly we will post for Scott's position, one of the most demanding and most rewarding in the newsroom, working with outstanding talent to cover this city's ever-evolving arts world. If anyone has suggestions for people who would build on our momentum, please let us know. In the interim, the also wonderful and talented Peter Kaufman will come help.
Bethesda Fine Arts Festival
This weekend is the Bethesda Fine Arts Festival, the highest ranked outdoor fine arts festival in Maryland and one of the top in the nation. About 30,000 people will enjoy and buy art from 140 juried fine artists and crafts folk from around the nation.
Saturday, May 8, from 10am - 6pm
Sunday, May 9, from 10am - 5pm
Bethesda's Woodmont Triangle, Norfolk & Auburn Avenues
Check out the juried artists here.
Want free tickets to the art fair?
The Affordable Art Fair NYC is this week, opening on Thursday in New York. Drop me an email if you want me to set you up with a couple of free tickets to the fair.
If you go to the fair, swing by and say hi... I'll be with Mayer Fine Art. Reports coming as time allows.
Monday, May 03, 2010
Art Criticism, Texas Style
Some nuts in Texas...
Are protesting a sculpture on the Texas Tech campus in Lubbock. They have mounted an instantaneous online petition a mere six years after the artwork was installed.Details from Mike Licht here.
YCT says the work, ”Tornado of Ideas” by Tom Otterness, commits sacrilege against the Masked Rider, a revered Texas Tech idol, depicting Him using a javelin to commit gross indecencies on a police officer. The work is also said to show two lesbians actually sitting together.
Sunday, May 02, 2010
Bethesda Fine Arts Festival
Next weekend is the Bethesda Fine Arts Festival, the highest ranked outdoor fine arts festival in Maryland and one of the top in the nation. About 30,000 people will enjoy and buy art from 140 juried fine artists and crafts folk from around the nation.
Saturday, May 8, from 10am - 6pm
Sunday, May 9, from 10am - 5pm
Bethesda's Woodmont Triangle, Norfolk & Auburn Avenues
Check out the juried artists here.
Saturday, May 01, 2010
Friday, April 30, 2010
Judkis on Wodzianski
With the exception of the interviews and the constant influx of well-wishers, Wodzianski is sleeping a little lighter, painting a little less, but still spending his mornings with the Washington Post and the Diane Rehm Show over a cup of coffee. “This is the most boring porn ever,” one commenter remarked on his live stream.The City Paper's Maura Judkis has a fascinating piece on the current Andrew Wodzianski performance going on in his 100sq. ft. residence. Read it here.
Wanna go to an opening this Saturday?
Addison/Ripley Fine Art in Geortgetown presents "an uncompromising selection of new works by Washington artist, Dan Treado. This work continues to surprise and delight with the artist's signature serial imagery; layers of color, light as air, add dreamy associations and an impossible depth to the lush surfaces. In some of the paintings, appropriated samples from selected illustrations and texts provide tense contrast. In others, a crazy quilt of disparate organic images is woven together by this talented painter. At once cryptic and mesmerizing, the paintings in this third exhibition by the artist at Addison/Ripley demonstrate a rich complexity and accomplished maturity."
The reception is Saturday, May 1st, 5-7pm.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Supergirl Flying Naked
The latest offering from my naked super heroes series. And just to stop the question: no, I'm not doing a drawing of Krypto, the super dog who belongs to Superman, and no, I'm not doing Superboy either, just in case.
Supergirl Flying Naked Above Gotham, c. 2010. Charcoal and color pencils on paper. 24 x 20 inches.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
At the Katzen
Convergence: New Art from Lebanon, the first comprehensive North American exhibition of art made in the aftermath of that country’s tumultuous civil war (1975-1990), is currently on exhibition at the American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center in Washington, D.C. It continues through Sunday, May 16.
In case you haven't noticed, this show has been getting a lot of critical attention both locally and nationally.
The exhibition includes nearly 50 paintings, sculptures, installations, photographs and media-based art by 29 artists—more than a third of them women—based primarily in Beirut. "Reflecting the memories, hopes, dreams and political and religious realities of a culture seeking to reclaim itself, the exhibition introduces Americans to the vitality and volatility of today’s art from Lebanon."
Locals are well represented in the show by work from GMU professor Chawky Frenn.
Let me say this again: The Katzen's exhibition agenda continues to impress me by its diverse mix of shows that not only bring international art and artists to the DC area - often setting such firsts as this one - but also has become the DMV's only museum space that pays attention to its own backyard.
Kudos to Jack Rasmussen.
By the way, this Friday, in in the Katzen Arts Center Rotunda, is the opening of the First-year MFA students exhibition.
LEF Foundation Grants
LEF Foundation Grants offers funding for contemporary works in the visual arts, performing arts, literary arts, architecture, design, film and new media. The intent of the grants are to provide opportunities to produce and present new work; to honor creative merit and foster critical discourse; encourage dissemination of work by emerging and under-recognized artists; increase exposure of established artists in regions where they have not been widely represented; to promote new concepts, technologies, and approaches that are experimental or innovative; to support work that may be considered controversial or provocative; and to enhance the voices of marginalized cultures.
Interested applicants should send a one page Letter of Intent. Applications accepted on an ongoing basis. For more information or program guidelines, contact:
LEF Foundation
945 Greene St.
San Francisco, CA 94133
Wanna go to an artist's talk tomorrow?
*a pop-up project invites you to join them for an upcoming artist talk with NYC artist Mikel Glass at 6 pm on Thursday, April 29th. The talk will be held in the former Numark Gallery space at 625 E St, NW Washington, DC 20004.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Mary Coble at Conner
One of my favorite artists on this planet is Mary Coble and her upcoming solo show "Source" and performance at Conner Contemporary Art in Washington, DC opens on Saturday, May 15th, 6-8pm.
Important News follow: Mary Coble's performance begins at 2pm and will continue on into the opening which is from 6-8pm. Coble will also be showing video, photography and an installation piece as part of the exhibition.
New video and photographs by New Yorker Janet Biggs in an exhibition titled Nobody Rides for Free will also be on display. This is Biggs' first solo exhibition with the gallery.
Be there!
New Art Market in Alexandria
The Opening day of a new art market in Alexandria, Virginia is June 5th!
Kimberley Bush is the creator and market coordinator for the Alexandria Art Market, or as she calls it: "your monthly dose of art in the heart of Del Ray."
The monthly market will be held on the 1st Saturday of June, July, August, September and November from 10-4pm at Colasanto Park at 2704 Mount Vernon Ave in the Del Ray neighborhood of Alexandria, VA.
Bush brought a proposal to the board of Directors to create an Art Market in December 2009 and the Board gave me approval to move forward in March 2010...and now they are set to go live June 5th!
She reports that she has many artists who have applied and expect the Opening Day on June 5th at Colasanto Park at the Del Ray Artisans Gallery to be huge. They also expect to have yummy eats and several multicultural performance groups. It is all free and open to the public.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Ladies in White
Why is the Cuban government so afraid of the current six women members — down from nine last week after the brutal beating by Castro's thugs — of the Damas de Blanco (Ladies in White):
After seven years of peaceful protests following Mass in Havana's upscale Miramar neighborhood, Cuba has begun blocking the "Ladies in White" from marching since the group never obtained written permission to do so.Details here.
This is their leader, an elderly lady named Laura Pollan, who is the wife of jailed Cuban dissident Hector Maseda Gutierrez.
Libertad!
Miami art critics fired
I don't know the who's and what's of the issue (yet anyway) are, but an email drive is underway to try to restore three art critics fired from the Miami Spanish language newspaper El Nuevo Herald. Here's the letter:
As people of the arts, we write to express our disappointment and frustration having learned about the decision of El Nuevo Herald to discontinue the collaborations of the art critics Ms. Janet Batet, Ms. Adriana Herrera and Mr. Carlos M. Luis, based on unfounded allegations of “conflict of interest”, brought by the owner of a local art gallery, who advertises in the art pages of El Nuevo Herald.
Ms. Batet, Ms. Herrera and Mr. Luis are recognized scholars of a long and distinguished careers in the field of the arts, in Miami and in other Latin American countries. Most relevant in this instance, is the fact that they have conducted their academic and journalistic work with the most rigorous ethics.
Losing their contribution to the paper, will certainly diminish the level of interest and intellectual impact of your publication.
The decision of El Nuevo Herald’s management has seriously compromised its editorial integrity, and its credibility damaged. We encourage you to reconsider this issue and provide a mutually agreeable solution for all the parties involved, and reinstate your readers trust in El Nuevo Herald.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Guajira Guantanamera
I am told that the most recorded song in the world is the Beatles' "Yesterday."
But among the top 10 most recorded songs in the world, and also the most recorded Spanish language song in history is the Guantanamera (real title is Guajira Guantanamera or the "Peasant Girl from Guantanamo").
Even if you don't know it yet, you've heard this song a million times. And yet, there is fierce debate as to who is the author of the Guajira Guantanamera? Who is the author of the musical introduction? and where does its chorus come from?
Most of this because originally in Cuba, the song was, other than the chorus part, an improvisational song, where the words to the song would be improvised by the singer as he/she sang it. There are no words to the Guantanamera!
In the 1960s Peter Seeger added the verses from Cuban poet Jose Marti in a performance at Radio City Music Hall in NYC and thus now the most common version of Guantanamera is the one with the Marti verses.
But this amazing song has no real written words - one just sings it and improvises as one goes.
Three versions below - The Sandpipers, Celia Cruz, Pete Seeger... and in Japanese.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Dawson on DMV
The WaPo's Jessica Dawson covered a wide range of the DMV art scene in this review(s): She covered shows at McLean Project for the Arts, Thomas Drymon Selects at the Studio Gallery, Carroll Square Gallery, Amy Lin's exhibit at Addison Ripley, and Andrew Wodzianski's Pop-Up living space in 100 sq. ft. performance.
Think about this: in order to cover all those shows, Dawson had to travel all over the DMV - and I'm sure that she visited a lot more spaces than those that she wrote about.
That is why writing art criticism is so time consuming: it takes a lot of gallery hopping just to produce a good round-up article like this one. Good job!
Andrew Wodzianski: 24/7
Click here or watch below:
Andrew Wodzianski Live from his 100 sqft home
Paneling
I'm part of the panel Special Seminar: Social Networking and Marketing Your Art, which is is today Saturday April 24, from 1-3PM. All the details are here.
Why not the visual arts?
A while back I was told by a writer (and later by a photographer) from the Gazette newspapers (which are owned by the Washington Post), that the WaPo has been using articles originally published/done for the Gazette to augment its coverage.
Years ago I suggested to the WaPo Arts Editor exactly the same thing: that they augment their visual arts coverage by publishing the reviews from the Gazette in their Style section, especially during the Dawson/Gopnik off weeks.
It made sense to me; they own the articles, so why not re-use them as needed. Like the Post has done with all of my constructive criticism and improvement ideas, they filed it in the round file and I've never heard back from them.
But apparently this "re-use" has been happening with some Gazette articles recently - but not the visual arts. I don't know which articles, and I don't know how to find out, and I am told that the Style section co-editor/editor (I'm not sure what he is) Scott Vogel doesn't answer emails, and I don't know who to ask.
However, it still makes sense to me. The Gazette has two really good writers in their employ to this end: Dr. Claudia Rousseau and Jordan Edwards.
Rousseau is a highly educated art critic and scholar with an impeccable pedigree and highly respected not only in our area, but also in Latin America, where she wrote art criticism in Spanish for many years before returning to the US. Read some of her recent reviews here.
Edwards is a journalist with a taste for the fine arts. Since I've been back living in the Soviet Socialist Republic of Montgomery County, I've been following his writing in the Gazette and he has earned my respect for the mind-boggling diverse genres of art that he covers for them. Check him out here.
How about it WaPo? If you don't get it, you don't get it...
Friday, April 23, 2010
Congrats!
The Cultural Development Corporation (CuDC) has announced the 2010-2011 Creative Communities Fund (CCF) grantees. Just over $50,000 will be awarded to 25 outstanding artists working in the DC-metro area. Grants will be given to artists participating in the Flashpoint Gallery, Mead Theatre Lab at Flashpoint and Source Festival programs.
Grantees include a wide range of visual, literary and performance artists; funds will support the creation of 12 new works for the stage and five exhibitions from visual artists.
“We are thrilled to provide cash grants to artists along with the space and support we offer through the Flashpoint and Source programs. The Creative Communities Fund enables Cultural Development Corporation to provide artists with the nurturing environment necessary to develop outstanding new work,” says CuDC Executive Director Anne Corbett.
Launched in 2005 by The Community Foundation for the National Capital Region, CCF seeks to improve the ability of artists to live, work and flourish in the DC-metro area. In 2008, CuDC was selected to be the Fund’s lead agency and entered into a two year partnership with The Community Foundation for the program’s transition.
The visual arts grantees are:
* Patrick McDonough, media: installationAlso my good friend Kristina Bilonick for the Source Festival | Artistic Blind Dates.
* Adam Griffiths, media: drawing, installation, mixed-media and painting
* Adam de Boer, media: painting
* Alexa Meade, media: installation, mixed-media, new media, painting, photography, sculpture, video and performance art
* Michael Dax Iacovone, media: photography, installation
Gleeks
My daughter Elise is auditioning for Glee's nationwide auditions. You can view her audition as she sings "Rehab" and then and vote for her here.
Statement
Glee | MySpace Video
Rehab
Glee | MySpace Video
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Bourgeon: A Local Arts Magazine
Bourgeon’s mission, through our online publication and community initiatives, is twofold: to increase participation in the arts and to improve access to the arts. Although artists and audiences are diverse, often they are not equally represented in the mainstream press. We believe that greater involvement in the arts can strengthen individuals and communities. Bourgeon is a program of the not-for-profit Day Eight.It's an excellent resource (they've been around since 2005!) to our area's art scene. Check it online here.
New drawing of an old drawing
This is my second version of this drawing, image courtesy of my reliable source book of poses for artists. In this version I expanded the negative, clean space dramatically and it has a huge effect on the composition - both visual and psychological - on the drawing. This is my third drawing of 2010.
"Suddenly, on a Wednesday afternoon, she discovered that she wasn't afraid of him any longer."
Charcoal on Arches Watercolor Paper, c. 2010. 30 x 22.5 inches.
Detail
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
At Arlington
Good pics here of the Arlington Art Center's Spring 2010 Solo shows openings. My good bud Jeffry Cudlin keeps doing a great job there.
Wodziansking...
DC artist Andrew Wodzianski is living small. He's also living under public view.
POP-UP LIVING is Wodzianski's latest over the top performance piece (after a still-unconfirmed casket piece in October) that houses the second tallest man in the DC art scene into of a 100 square foot cube (Note: ubercollector Phillip Barlow has him beat by an inch).
The minimalist space is considered Wodzianski's home until May 1, and while he does leave once in a while to teach courses at the College of Southern Maryland, he's spending a lot of time inside his new box. While inside his new digs, he's under the constant observation from not only a 24/7 surveillance camera, but also curious pedestrians on U Street NW.
Wodzianski says, "The work has many discussion points, which makes it fascinating for a lot of people. At its core, I believe my performance is straddling two issues: living with less, and perhaps more provoking - the separation between reality and fiction."
Wodzianski's "performance" hours:
Sunday, April 18 10:00 AM - Monday, April 19 6:30 AM
Monday, April 19 3:00 PM - Tuesday, April 20 11:10 AM
Tuesday, April 20 10:30 PM - Wednesday, April 21 6:30 AM
Wednesday, April 21 3:00 PM - Thursday, April 22 6:30 AM
Thursday, April 22 8:30 PM - Monday, April 26 6:30 AM
Monday, April 26 3:00 PM - Tuesday, April 27 6:30 AM
Tuesday, April 27 3:00 PM - Wednesday, April 28 6:30 AM
Wednesday, April 28 3:00 PM - Thursday, April 29 6:30 AM
Thursday, April 29 8:30 PM - Saturday, May 1 5:00 AM
Read and then see the NBC4 TV News piece here.
Read the Washington Post article on the performance here.
Check out some videos of the performance here and here.
Location: 1318 U Street NW
Washington, DC 20009
POP-UP LIVING is Wodzianski's performance piece in a much larger collaboration and cause. Wodzianski partnered with The JBG Companies, Studios Architecture, and Coakley Williams Construction for the Cultural Development Corporation's Pop-Up Gala. An additional four partnerships were formed to create POP-UP structures across the region. Each structure is on display until May 1, when they will be relocated to the CuDC's Gala at Longview Gallery. More information about the Gala, CuDC, and the other POP-UPs can be found at this website.
New Drawing
This is only my second drawing of the year.
"Writing with her finger on the floor, she plotted her revenge against men."
8 x 40 inches. Charcoal and colored pencils on board. c. 2010
"Writing with her finger on the floor, she plotted her revenge against men". Detail.
8 x 40 inches. Charcoal and colored pencils on board. c. 2010
Wanna go to a Maryland opening tomorrow?
Artists Circle Fine Art has its first 2010 exhibition, featuring the works of five local artists who were selected for their "immensely diverse portrayal of different subject matter, unique use of materials and incredible craftsmanship." Artists Circle Fine Art considers these artists some of DC’s “hidden art gems”.
Francie Hester is a long-time resident of the Washington, DC area. Armed with a variety of power tools and refined palettes of paint, Francie tackles thick, waffled sheets of aluminum to create abstract, dimensional works that have a raw, industrial – yet aesthetically beautiful – look.The opening reception will be held on Thursday, April 22nd from 6 to 9pm.
Angie Seckinger has thrived in the DC area as a corporate-industrial, studio product and editorial photographer for the past 25 years. Her little known secret? - She takes fantastic macro photos that are a testament to her technical mastery of the camera.
Alan Simensky is a self-taught artist residing just outside of DC. His bright, post-Pop-esque works incorporate recognizable imagery which have been referred to as both fanciful and witty. The show will feature several pieces from Alan’s Disgruntled series, portraying themes from the workplace.
Jessica van Brakle’s most recent body of work is inspired by construction in the DC area and an ongoing interest in nature and decorative textures. Jessica’s mix of precise, hand drawn lines with carefully painted organic patterns makes for an intriguing and striking body of work.
Pamela Viola began making photography-based images at the age of fourteen. Emerging as an outgrowth of her extensive experimentation with photographic transfer printing, her current photography work focuses on textural DC landscapes
Fierce Sonia at the Art League Gallery
The current “Paper Dolls” exhibition by photographer/model Fierce Sonia set all kinds of “new” for The Art League Gallery in Old Town Alexandria. For one thing, I am told that the opening reception and meet the artist function was one of the largest, if not the largest opening in the gallery’s long history.
And it wasn’t just the exceptional photography which caused all the “buzz” in the Greater DC arts community, but also the photographer herself (who is the subject of her own work), who contributed to the immense interest in this solo debut by one the area’s best known, drawn, photographed and painted art bodies. You see, Fierce Sonia is usually seen posing, rather than creating.
But a creator she is. Several years ago I came across her seminal photographic work, and even curated her into my WPA/Corcoran show "Seven", where her early photographs sold well. This new work, the first that I've seen since then, is a spectacular departure and growth from those early images of her nude body.
Ritual Repeat by Fierce Sonia
Her press release said it all:
“During her tenure as a figure model for The Art League School, Fierce Sonia quietly acquired a top-notch visual arts education. Motivated by the artwork she saw, she became eager to create her own work. She cabled her camera to her TV and released the shutter with an infrared remote. Sonia used herself as her own model, learning more about composition and technique based on what she saw on the screen.And for years, this muse for artists has been absorbing, truly by osmosis, an art education that is truly remarkable.
Her figurative photography has evolved to a new and exciting place. The focus is on process. In Sonia’s latest series “Paper Dolls,” the same images reoccur with confident changes to the surface. Her work is no longer straight photography. With the integration of painting and collage into her images, Sonia’s work has reached a new level.
The black and white images of herself are often printed on paper that has been painted white, which creates a rich texture. Each piece is created in a unique way. Previous prints may be collaged to create depth. Multiple runs of the same print may be made on the same piece. More painting, layering might be necessary to create the desired effect. These alterations to the surface blur the identity of the original image, and make the series of work about the medium and the process, and not about the subject matter.
Sonia’s work has been exhibited and won accolades nationally. She is a professional art model and muse for artists and photographers and has worked with nationally and internationally known artists.”
For "Paper Dolls", Sonia used her camera like a weapon; trained it onto her own body, put a focused mind to work on the photographs, and created a memorable set of images that make her solo debut one of the best, if not the best, photography shows that I’ve ever seen at the Art League.
And Sonia doesn’t simply follow in the footsteps of those who have focused the camera to themselves; most notably Cindy Sherman and Nan Goldin. She does that and then twists the weapon a little deeper into our visual cortex: she manipulates the image, she manipulates the paper, she manipulates our most primeval erotic thoughts with images of her body and imagery of bones, and repetitive imagery of thoughts buried deep inside our moist hereditary memories.
Material Things 13x 29 inches.
This is an old soul being displayed on these 21st century images. We knew her in the caves of Altamira and Lascaux, and her image graced the walls of Egypt, Greece and Rome, and perhaps a standing stone or two in the ancient lands of the Picts.
But this new 21st century imagery has been now manipulated, twisted, tortured, reworked and updated by Sonia. She brings it to a delicious 21st century dialogue where her image is no longer about herself. It is now about ideas, about texture, about layers, and about the sensually cognitive act of repetition. It is also most importantly about the harsh de-objectification of her own figure, or perhaps the attempt to do so, while leaving tantalizing remnants of her presence.
This is an artist who uses her body to make a living as a professional model. And in "Paper Dolls" she makes a bold statement about her own physical attributes that demystify that ancient quality that she possesses and re-invents her figure as part of the whole of her art, rather than the sole commodified subject of the art.
In refreshing this ancient imagery through a fresh set of eyes, Fierce Sonia accomplishment covers many roads and ideas, and seldom have they been traveled so successfully in a photographer’s solo debut.
The show is "Paper Dolls" and it is on through May 3rd at the Art League, inside the Torpedo Factory in Old Town Alexandria. Don't miss it.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Light at the end of the tunnel?
I think that the brutal dictatorship of the Castro brothers is beginning to show the secondary signs of the end of their world as they know it.
Cuba's Roman Catholic cardinal says the country is in one of its worst crises in recent times, with its people demanding political and economic changes sooner rather than later.More evidence here.
Meanwhile the Damas de Blanco keep marching in Havana and keep getting beaten up by Castro's thugs; but they do not give up. Other than the local news in Miami, you'd never know what's going on in Cuba from the US main stream media.
How Linn Meyers draws
Also, on Friday April 30th at 12:30PM, Meyers will be giving a talk at the Hirshhorn Museum with Carlene Stephens, Curator of Time at the Smithsonian Museum of American History, and Ryan Hill, Curatorial Research Associate at the Hirshhorn. The talk is part of a series called "In Conversation".
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