Video Meet Drawing: Experiment II

Here is where you can read the process where last year I began the concept of marrying video technology with traditional drawing. And here is where you can read some of the initial reactions to the first piece during some of the art fairs in Miami.

SANCTUS GUEVARUS CASTRUM CANIS. Charcoal on paper, electronics, video player and video. 27.5 x 27 inches. Circa 2010 by F. Lennox Campello
So that was my first video drawing... a good success, if I may say so myself. I then asked several museum collectors and two of the top video collectors in the world: "Have you seen or know of anyone who is marrying drawing with video?"

The answer came back no. I'm not sure of this, but as far as I am concerned, if a few top notch museum curators have never heard of someone integrating video with drawing, and (more to my taste) two of the folks who regularly make it to art magazine lists of one sort or another concur, that makes me feel confident that I could be breaking new ground here and making Lennon and McCartney look bad.

So (in honor of Charlie Sheen... not really) here's Part Deux.

In a few weeks I will be in NYC at the AAFNYC art fair. The same folks who bring you Pulse. Over the years, I've had a spectacular sales record at this fair, and I wanted to show both Sanctus Guevarus and the new video piece there.

In my head, I've been playing with deciphering a series of these marriages of highly accomplished (what was it that Kriston Capps described me as... draughtsman? The first time that I read this Capps Police description of my work I thought of beer, which is a good thing) drawings together with videos related to the drawings' subjects.

The first series that came to my head was a series of video drawings on Latin American icons - each drawing showing them as an icon, with a little flavor of ancient Rome in the presentation of the iconic image with a few drops of human venom dropped in for good - in the video part.

With the serial murderer known as Che Guevara it was easy. That "historic first ever video drawing showed Che as a saint while the video exposed a documented firing squad ordered by that Argentinean psychopath.

For the second one, I wanted to approach the artistic love of my life, Austrian-Mexican painter Frida Kahlo (heh, heh... see what happens when we apply labels to people?)

Che and Frida are the two most iconic faces of the 20th century, and both seem to have very few degrees of separation from me; and both interest me tremendously.

Thus Frida Kahlo de Rivera is the second video drawing.

It all started with the drawing (note to self: next time start with the video).


Then I inscribed it with a Latin inscription, as icons tend to have, which proclaims: "Ave Frida, Nulli Secunda."

"Hail Frida, Second to None."

That was finished about six weeks ago. Then I struggled with the technical aspects of the video part. I wanted to have a good-sized screen play a video relating to Kahlo.

One lesson learned from the first drawing was the size of the screen, so I shopped around for larger (and more affordable) screens which could play videos. Then I bought several of them, tried them all out, wasted precious hours trying to decipher their badly translated manuals so that I could learn how to actually play a video on their machines, and eventually settled on a model. Most of the wasted hours also related to the software that I was using to convert the native video format of my camera to the MPEG-1, 2 and 4 that the digital player said it could play. In the end, it was all the fault of the conversion software, which was a commercial software. I discarded it, tried a free version that I found online, and not only was it super-easy to use, but it also worked great.

The drawing was finished, the custom made, hand-carved frame was done, and I had a video machine screen ready to go. Now all I needed was the video.

Add tons of hours researching Frida Kahlo videos. Did I mention that I wanted to show a Kahlo "home movie" as the video? Did I mention that I wanted an eye-catching Kahlo video? Did I mention that I wanted a controversial movie playing in my drawing?

So then hours looking for reference materials, which soon led me to three sources. I then purchased copies of all three biographical documentaries on Kahlo, and the one done for Mexican television was the one that yielded copies of rare footage of Frida.

I shot the video, did a little basic editing and tried it out. I then realized that I would have to install the video screen upside down, otherwise the remote control wouldn't work as there was no space left on the drawing to cut out a little hole for the infrared sensor. So I had to re-shoot all the videos, this time upside down, and re-edit them all.

The venom in this video is this short clip of a very feral Kahlo about to devour an intensely scared young girl. Was this a set up? Was Rivera filming the young offering that he had brought his wife? At the end of the clip, Kahlo says something to the camera person:


There is a word for this in Spanish: "escalofriante" (chilling).

I then cut out Frida's heart out of the drawing. This will be the window into her soul and the window into the scant "moving pictures" references of her life. It is a feral heart, armed with sharp fangs that bite huge chunks of life out of life.

Here is the drawing with the shape of the heart window which has been cut out of it:


And here is the drawing with the video screen playing the video. This will be fitted behind the drawing.



And here it is with the video aligned behind the feral heart window and playing in her heart.



And here is a close-up of the window in her heart:



And here is what the final piece will look like once matted, framed and assembled:


AVE FRIDA NULLI SECUNDA. Charcoal on paper, electronics, video player with remote control and video. 27.5 x 27 inches. Circa 2011 by F. Lennox Campello
Now to assemble it and frame it.

WaPo picks critic

The Post has selected a replacement for their art critic vacancy from "in-house" - did I call it or what?

Update: Stop emailing me asking who it is! The WaPo will announce it soon (there's already an internal memo) - my guess is that the chosen one is that guy who does all the "cultural" writing and architectural criticism... I can't think of his name now... ah... Philip Kennicott. My second guess, if "in-house" also means their new freelancers since Jessica Dawson left, is Kriston Capps.

Art and Taxes

You've just gotta read this.

(Thanks Mike)

Waiting for his Muffuletta


Anderson waiting for his Muffuletta sandwich at Mena's Palace in New Orleans.

Locomotive

You should see the damned good video drawing that I finished today while listening to this song over and over and (in the process) driving my wife and Little Junes out of the house...

Free artwork

British artist Lando Jones is launching a program of giving away free art prints of his work. Jones lives in Bristol, England, but he tells me that he will post them anywhere!

You can see the details here.

MPArtFest Call for Artists

Entries are now being accepted for the 5th annual MPAartfest, presented by McLean Project for the Arts, which will be held on Sunday, October 2, 2011 in McLean Central Park. Due date for submissions is June 1.

MPAartfest is a one-day juried fine art and craft festival that transforms McLean Central Park into a lively landscape of mini art galleries showcasing and selling the work of a diverse group of 40 juried artists from the mid-Atlantic region. MPAartfest includes activities to captivate art-lovers of all ages and draws thousands of people. Stroll through the Children’s ArtWalk to experience the work of young artists from McLean area schools. Budding artists may create their own works of art at the Children’s ArtTent and the Gazebo Stage will feature a variety of live performances throughout the day.

McLean Project for the Arts is located at 1234 Ingleside Avenue in the McLean Community Center. For more information and the MPAartfest Call for Entries form, please visit www.mpaart.org/artfest.php or call 703-790-1953.

Little Junes in New Orleans

Ooops!

A new "forever" stamp that was supposed to show the Statue of Liberty actually features a replica outside a Las Vegas casino...

Read all about it here.

Copyright Workshop

Do you have creative work that you'd like to copyright? Come learn about the basics of copyrights at this presentation and Q & A session from the Washington Area Lawyers for the Arts.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011 - 7 pm
Copyright Basics Workshop at Finnegan

Registration required - so register here.

Opportunities for Artists

Deadline: April 30, 2011.

Call for Entries: The Graceful Envelope Contest - Artists everywhere are invited to participate in the 2011 Graceful Envelope Contest, conducted by the Washington (DC) Calligraphers Guild under the sponsorship of the National Association of Letter Carriers.

There is no entry fee.

This year's theme is "Time Flies," so design an envelope that explores good times, quality time, the times of our lives, time travel, or any other idea you have time to develop.

Address the envelope artistically to:
The Graceful Envelope Contest
Washington Calligraphers Guild
P.O. Box 3688
Merrifield, VA 22116.

This is the contest's 17th year. The Smithsonian Institution's National Postal Museum created and administered it until delegating responsibility to the Washington Calligraphers Guild in 2001. The National Association of Letter Carriers exhibits the winners, which are also exhibited online at www.calligraphersguild.org. The complete Call for Entries (including categories for children) is posted on the Washington Calligraphers Guild website or you may contact contest coordinator Lorraine Swerdloff at swerdloff@gmail.com.

Check's in the mail

Being one of the lucky 53% of Americans who actually gets the honor to pay federal income taxes, I mailed my check today and tip my hat to the 47% of you who actually pay no federal income tax.

Having paid income tax since my very first job ever at age 13 (after school vacuum cleaning several stores along Pitkin Avenue in Brooklyn and also cleaning their bathrooms after they closed), I've managed to pay income taxes every year since that year and this past year was the most brutal tax year ever for me, even out-shocking last year's eye opener of a tax burden.

I'm one of those persons who is a social liberal and a fiscal conservative.

As such, it has also always escaped me the fairness of having about 1% of US households pay about 40% of all taxes collected in this nation and the other top 9% of US households combine to pay almost 75% of all taxes collected.

The reason that most European nations and especially the new democracies from the former Soviet empire adopted either a flat tax system or a Value Added Tax (VAT) system is simple: "It's simple!"

Every nation in Europe that I've lived in had a flat tax, except for the UK, which has a VAT (17.5%).

But here, the tax laws are so complex, and the loopholes so many, and the tax load so disparate and so huge, that we need an army of IRS folks to enforce them and an even bigger army of accountants and lawyers to interpret them.

Makes my head hurt; check's on the way.

Call to Latina Artists

Deadline: April 19, 2011, 5:00 PM PST.

The National Hispana Leadership Institute is having a call for Latina artists for their upcoming Art Contest. The National Hispana Leadership Institute (NHLI) invites Latina artists nationwide to submit artwork (in all media including paintings, sculptures, photography, etc.) that celebrates Latinas/Hispanic women.

NHLI – a national 501 (c)(3) organization based on Washington, DC – was established in 1987 to "address the under representation of Latinas in the corporate, non-profit and political arenas." NHLI will use the winning image to promote the 2011 Executive Leadership Training Conference and Mujer Awards Gala to be held November 3-4, 2011 at the Wilshire Grand Hotel 930 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90017. The Conference Theme is “Latinas Connecting Across Generations, Reaching New Heights”. NHLI will credit the artist in promotional materials during and after the conference included but not limited to: 2011 Mujer Award poster, award certificates, program cover, bags, mouse pads, annual report, and NHLI note cards. For any additional questions, please contact Victoria Morillo, Victoria@nhli.org, or please call: 703.527.6007.

Two Days Only: Sketchbook Project

Over 700 D.C. area artists participated in the Sketchbook Project (more on that number later) and it's coming to the DMV:

On April 15th & 16th, Hillyer Art Space is collaborating with Transformer and the Brooklyn based Art House Co-op to host The Sketchbook Project for two days in our gallery space. This exhibition is taking place in conjunction with Transformer's SKETCH exhibition (on view in April and May), which focuses on artistic development and the creative process and features the work of 16 Washington D.C. artists working in a variety of mediums.

The Sketchbook Project is a touring library and exhibition which features nearly 10,000 sketchbooks by artists from a variety of artistic backgrounds and nationalities. Each artist included in the project was given a brand new 5½" x 8½" moleskin sketchbook and requested to fill it with art demonstrating their own individual style and creative eccentricities.

The sketchbooks offer unique insight into the artistic process--echoing Process: Reaffirmation's focus--and work with one another to form a fascinating, fun exhibition. Audiences are invited to peruse over the inspiring books to their hearts' content!

I have something to confess. Back when I was first invited to participate in this, I thought that this was such a great idea that I couldn't resist adding my own twist to it and now there are 11 sketchbooks in that collection which have been created by yours truly as I took this brilliant opportunity to use the project as a means to explore the artists whom I could have been.

11 sketchbooks under newly minted names and personnas. A wide open opportunity to create 11 visually independent projects which are secretly tied to each other by a very simple clue in each work in the sketchbook.

And not all of them are DMV-based addresses, and the Three Faces of Eve become the Eleven Artists Within Lenny Project.

Go see this show! International Arts & Artists, 9 Hillyer Court NW, Washington, DC 20008.

Cell phone blues

I've left my cell phone very far away; it is being returned to me, so meanwhile, if any of you have been calling me... now you know.

Call for the Release of Ai WeiWei

Ministry of Culture of the People's Republic of China
(Minister Mr. Cai Wu)

On April 3, internationally acclaimed Chinese artist Ai Weiwei was detained at the Beijing airport while en route to Hong Kong, and his papers and computers were seized from his studio compound.

We members of the international arts community express our concern for Ai’s freedom and disappointment in China’s reluctance to live up to its promise to nurture creativity and independent thought, the keys to “soft power” and cultural influence.

Our institutions have some of the largest online museum communities in the world. We have launched this online petition to our collective millions of Facebook fans and Twitter followers. By using Ai Weiwei’s favored medium of “social sculpture,” we hope to hasten the release of our visionary friend.

Sign the petition here.

Artists' Talk

Time: Thursday, April 14 · 7:00pm - 10:00pm
Location: National Museum of the American Indian
Rasmuson Theater
4th Street & Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, DC

Global Africa: Kehinde Wiley

The Global Africa series presents international artists who are engaging with Africa in their work. New York-based artist Kehinde Wiley talks about his portraits of contemporary urban African, African-American, and Afro-Brazilian men in heroic poses. Painted in the style of Old Master portraits, these works reveal aspects of urban identity around the world. Wiley focuses his discussion on his World Stage: Lagos-Dakar series and his recent portrait series of African footballers from the 2010 World Cup.

A conversation between Wiley and internationally renowned Washington D.C.-based Nigerian artist Victor Ekpuk follows the artist’s discussion.

Victor Ekpuk is one of the 100 artists in the 100 Washington, DC Artists book.

Brilliant Opportunity for Artists

Deadline: May 2, 2011

This has got to be one of the more interesting call for artists ever, and I think that my good bud "Oil Can" Cudlin had something to do with it:

So the very fair Helen Allen is jurying a show at AAC, and the deadline is less than 4 weeks away, so apply now.

Allen is the creator and former Executive Director of the Pulse Art Fairs and current partner with Leigh Conner and Jamie Smith for sure-to-be-amazing upcoming (e)merge art fair in Washington, DC.

The show she's jurying for AAC is titled "Planning Process," and it asks artists to submit images of studies or preliminary drawings alongside images of finished works.

The call is open to Mid-Atlantic artists working in any and all media, provided there are 2-D studies of some sort involved. Painting, drawing, sculpture, installation, performance, video (storyboards!)... all of it qualifies for this very clever and intelligent call.

Download an application form here. I've already submitted my proposal, and I think that I've got a pretty good one, so you better start using your brain before you apply... because you're competing with The Lenster...

Whoever came up with this concept idea: you did good!

Sketchbook Project

Over 700 D.C. area artists participated in the Sketchbook Project (more on that number later) and it's coming to the DMV:

On April 15th & 16th, Hillyer Art Space is collaborating with Transformer and the Brooklyn based Art House Co-op to host The Sketchbook Project for two days in our gallery space. This exhibition is taking place in conjunction with Transformer's SKETCH exhibition (on view in April and May), which focuses on artistic development and the creative process and features the work of 16 Washington D.C. artists working in a variety of mediums.

The Sketchbook Project is a touring library and exhibition which features nearly 10,000 sketchbooks by artists from a variety of artistic backgrounds and nationalities. Each artist included in the project was given a brand new 5½" x 8½" moleskin sketchbook and requested to fill it with art demonstrating their own individual style and creative eccentricities.

The sketchbooks offer unique insight into the artistic process--echoing Process: Reaffirmation's focus--and work with one another to form a fascinating, fun exhibition. Audiences are invited to peruse over the inspiring books to their hearts' content!

I have something to confess. Back when I was first invited to participate in this, I thought that this was such a great idea that I couldn't resist adding my own twist to it and now there are 11 sketchbooks in that collection which have been created by yours truly as I took this brilliant opportunity to use the project as a means to explore the artists whom I could have been.

11 sketchbooks under newly minted names and personnas. A wide open opportunity to create 11 visually independent projects which are secretly tied to each other by a very simple clue in each work in the sketchbook.

And not all of them are DMV-based addresses, and the Three Faces of Eve become the Eleven Artists Within Lenny Project.

Go see this show! International Arts & Artists, 9 Hillyer Court NW, Washington, DC 20008.

Photogs at BlackRock

Since I had something to do in getting this show together, and these are some very talented camera wielders:

The three photographers exhibiting in the BlackRock Gallery this April give new perspectives to the everyday by layering images and creating intriguing multi-faceted art. The work of Alexandra Silverthorne, Erin Antognoli, and Beamie Young will be exhibited through April 30 with a free artists reception tomorrow, Saturday, April 9 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Alexandra Silverthorne uses the camera as a means to understand and explore spatial environments and encounters. As projects evolve, her photographs often move beyond the mat and the frame to become sculptural objects, projections, and installations. Current projects include the examination of conceived, perceived, and lived space, instinctual explorations of architectural structures, and nocturnal documentation of unfamiliar landscapes.


Her current project A Building In Which... is a photographic series that systematically explores the perceived physical structure of each room in a house. “Through the layering of multiple perspectives, the photographs create a visual record of the room while escaping singular concepts of time and space. Simultaneously, they mix the narrative of the house with the narrative of its residents to depict a unique, intertwined history,” said Silverthorne.

Originally from Washington, DC, Alexandra Silverthorne graduated from Connecticut College with a major in Government and minors in Art and Philosophy and from Maine College of Art (MECA) with a Master of Fine Arts. In 2003, Silverthorne co-founded Panorama Community Arts with the goal of providing art experiences to all residents of DC. Through this she taught workshops in photography, ceramics, and mural painting to youth and elderly in Washington. Since 2010, she has taught undergraduate darkroom photography courses at American University and the University of the District of Columbia as well as additional courses through MECA’s Continuing Studies program. In 2009, Silverthorne co-initiated the MFA Alumni Residency Program at MECA and currently serves as the Residency Coordinator.

Silverthorne received a fellowship to travel to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan for the 2004 annual World Conference Against A&H Bombs. She has also received several grants from the D.C. Commission on the Arts & Humanities as well as one from the Puffin Foundation. Her work can be found in the permanent collections of the John Wilson City Hall Building in Washington, DC and the Smithville Mansion Gallery in Eastampton, NJ. While she is based in Washington, DC, she can often be found zigzagging her way around the East Coast. For more information on Silverthorne visit: www.alexandrasilverthorne.com

Beamie Young embraces the technological advances of photography. “As an artist, I have been creating photographs for the past 36 years. My evolution as an artist parallels my professional development. In the past, I had darkrooms both at home and work. Today, I use my digital camera and Adobe Photoshop in both locations,” she said.

Young said she enjoys capturing unique colors, patterns, reflections, and light. “It is my hope that my images speak for themselves. I hope to share with the viewer a sense of wonder of the natural world and of the beauty that surrounds us, sometimes found in the most unexpected places,” she said.

Young has worked as a photographer and visual artist for the National Institute of Standards and Technology for the past 30 years. Recently, she said she has been working with High Dynamic Range (HDR) photography. “This technique allows me to create images with more detail in the highlights and shadows with almost surreal color saturation.”

Young is a member of the National Association of Photoshop Photographers and a Webmaster and Newsletter editor for The “Frederick Camera Clique” a photography club in Frederick MD. In 2010, she was awarded the Vincent Versace Award for Photographic Excellence. More information on her photography can be found at beamie.smugmug.com.

“By over overlapping multiple images in a single frame of film, I am unable to make connections that are not otherwise apparent, and was unable to uncover a spirit in a city that I initially viewed as cold, corporate, and soulless,” said Erin Antognoli. “I use my Holga camera as a way of digging deeper beneath the surface of my environment,” she said.

Upon moving to the Washington, D.C. area, Antognoli said she was challenged with taking photos in an environment that was completely foreign. She used her high tech camera with little success, and decided to go back to basics and use her Holga camera to take photos in the city. “The camera itself is incredibly simple – plastic, very few controls, and prone to irregularity. This method of making images placed much more of the emphasis on my own mind, for I have to decide what I want to say and how I want object to relate to each other, and then figure out how to translate that vision to film with minimal technical options,” she said.

“This process inevitably forced me to become more intertwined with my own environment, for I am taking the time to look for objects and shapes and textures that strike me, and might compliment each other well when overlapped in a frame. During all this. I found myself becoming more in tune to and comfortable with my surroundings while making my images,” she concluded. For more information on Antognoli visit: erinantognoli.org

Airborne

I'm heading down to Bailey's home turf as the family and I will be in New Orleans for the weekend as the Professor is presenting a paper at some conference in the Big Easy.

Tap Project

The UNICEF Tap Project celebrates the clean water we enjoy on a daily basis by encouraging supporters to give this vital resource to children in developing countries. UNICEF has saved more children’s lives than any other humanitarian organization, and UNICEF is committed to doing whatever it takes to achieve the goal of reaching the day when ZERO children die of preventable causes.

On Sunday, April 17, 2011, the UNICEF Tap Project DC campaign will be hosting a FUNdraising event to raise money for the UNICEF Tap Project with an extra raffle donation for UNICEF’s Japan relief. Purchase a ticket to paint your own umbrella and help UNICEF provide clean water to kids around the world!

They supply the materials and mission, you supply the vision! A $40 ticket (one umbrella and up to 4 artists) will provide a child with clean drinking water for 4 years!

To learn more about the world water crisis visit uniceftapproject.org for more information.

Perfect example...

The current candidates for President in Peru are a brilliant example of the cultural sillyness of the term "Hispanic" or "Latino."

Running for that Spanish-speaking nation's top office are Ollanta Moisés Humala Tasso - an indigenous Peruvian from one of the Native American tribes of that nation.

Also former president Alejandro Toledo, and lawmaker Keiko Sofía Fujimori Higuchi, a Peruvian lawmaker of full Japanese ancestry and daughter of former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, and lastly former prime minister Pedro Pablo Kuczynski.

Humala, Toledo, Fujimori and Kuczynski... all good Hispanic names... Humala is expected to win, but I'm betting on Fujimori.

Call for artists

Deadline: Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Public Talk: Monday, April 18, 2011, 4‐6pm with Alyson Baker, Executive Director, Socrates Sculpture Park and Dan Steinhilber, 2010 Public Art Residency Artist, at the WPA Office at 2023 Massachusetts Ave. NW.

Washington Project for the Arts (WPA) and the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities (DCAAH) have announced the 2011 Public Art Residency (PAR) Program, in partnership with Socrates Sculpture Park (SSP, the Park) in Long Island City, NY.

Now in its second year, the PAR Program is designed to instruct and inform artists about practical and conceptual issues related to the creation of public art. Through this program, artists will learn the fundamentals of developing a proposal for public
art work, identifying sources for materials and funding of projects, and access a support network for technical assistance and future opportunities related to creating and presenting art in the public realm.

One artist who resides in the District of Columbia will be selected to receive a two month paid residency and exhibition opportunity at Socrates Sculpture Park. The work will be exhibited under SSP’s “Open Space” program from September 10, 2011 to March 2012 (exact end/deinstallation date to be determined and agreed upon by the artist and SSP). Once the exhibit has ended, the artist will re-fabricate or re‐install, in Washington, DC, the work made through the residency. The artist will be required to give a public presentation about his or her residency experience and may also be asked to advise WPA on other public art initiatives.

Details here.

I think this is supposed to be a joke...

In reaction to the Paul Gauguin masterpiece at the National Gallery of Art that was attacked last Friday by yet another idiot, the very weird article "Three Works at the National Gallery We’d Have Defaced Before Gauguin" is a post in the Washington City Paper where CP art critics Kriston Capps, Jeffry Cudlin and John Anderson each pick a work of art at the National Gallery of Art they'd rather see "defaced."

I know these three guys, and I think that this is supposed to be an attempt at humor... but from reading the comments, it seems that a lot of readers missed the joke and some of the words in the article read to me as contemptuous (or as commenters noted) "openly hostile", and as "stuffy cultural elitism."

Apparently, the LA Times didn't think it was a joke and they write:

If she is deranged, one wonders: What is the excuse for the Washington City Paper, which Tuesday published a story with the headline "Three Works at the National Gallery We’d Have Defaced Before Gauguin"?

The alternative tabloid proceeded to "recommend" three works in the museum's collection more suitable for trashing than the Post-Impressionist picture, which is on loan from New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art to a popular traveling exhibition. One of the three writers even explains, "Actually, I've been defacing a work of art very subtly since September last year," claiming to regularly add colored pencil marks to a Sol LeWitt wall drawing at the museum.

So, dear readers... what do you think? Should these erudite and gifted writers hang up their Onion-wanna-be aspirations? or is this just a case of the WCP's "inject irony into everything" approach?

Personally I think that these three guys are pretty good art critics and really suck as comedy scribes.

And by the way, I know John Anderson well enough to know that he would never, ever actually deface any artwork, no matter how much it sucks.

And my good bud Jeffry Cudlin responds here.

When tyrants rule...

The Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, who disappeared into police custody in Beijing after he was arrested on Sunday while trying to board a flight for Hong Kong, is a fully 21st-century figure, global-minded, media-savvy, widely networked. He is also the embodiment of a cultural type, largely unfamiliar to the West, that dates far back into China’s ancient past.

Read the NYT article here.

Wanna go to a Bethesda opening this Friday?

Friday 8 April from 6-9PM.

More TV Drawings

These are all pen ink and then smeared with my wet finger; they are all done while watching TV and most likely than not, somewhat influenced by whatever I am watching...

Woman Carrying Pig
Done while watching Julia Roberts in Eat, Pray, Love


Woman Howling (Homage to Paula Rego)
Done while watching a documentary on Paula Rego


Rock Devil
Done while watching the National Geographic channel


Woman with Crow
Done while watching the new Camelot series on Starz


Woman Sewing Her Own Wound
One of those commercials for anti-depression drugs... I think


Woman Carrying Pig on Her Head
Done while watching Julia Roberts in Eat, Pray, Love

ChiComs Arrest Artist

Chinese artist and designer Ai Weiwei was detained by police at the Beijing airport before he could take a flight to Hong Kong yesterday. Even if you haven’t seen his current exhibition at London’s Tate Modern or those at Munuch’s Haus der Kunst and Tokyo’s Mori Art Museum, you still may know his work. Ai Weiwei helped design the “Birds Nest Stadium“ for the 2008 Olympics, the National Stadium of the People’s Republic of China.

Read Mike Licht's report here.

In the current issue...

American Craft magazine's current issue has a gorgeous multi-page piece on DC artist Tim Tate and his recent collaborations with Marc Petrovic:

Ask Tim Tate about the origin of his recent collaborations with Marc Petrovic - if you can beat him to the punch. The friendly, boisterous artist has a habit of plunging into stories, leaping ahead and around, as if his brain were a rocket fueled by honesty.

Read the article online here.

Tate's solo show at Chicago's Catherine Edelman Gallery opens next May 6; check out the new work here.

The curious case of Gov. LePage and the labor mural

For the most part I try really hard to keep politics out of this blog, and being a very proud independent able to discern the usual double standards of both the vast left wing nuttery and the even vaster right wing conspiracy, I think that I do a pretty good job of that task.

Except when politics cross over into art.


The above image is a 36-foot-long mural depicting Maine's labor history. The mural used to hang in the lobby of that state's Department of Labor.

Last weekend, Maine Governor Paul LePage ordered the mural removed from the Labor building. According to LePage spokesman Dan Demeritt, the administration felt that the mural depicted "one-sided decor" not in keeping with the department's pro-business goals.

"The message from state agencies needs to be balanced," said Demeritt, adding that the mural had sparked complaints from "some business owners" who complained that it was hostile to business.

The mural (which apparently will be relocated to the Portland City Hall) was created in 2008 by Maine artist Judy Taylor via a $60,000 Maine Arts Commission grant. There are excellent details of the mural in the artists' website here.

Politicians (and locally some museum executives) just don't seem to learn the lesson that every time they try to mix politics with art censorship, they lose.

And this ability to make these boneheaded decisions is not just restricted to local government, as both the Clinton and Bush administration found out when they both covered up the 1934 WPA murals on the 5th floor of the Ariel Rios building here in Washington, DC.

The Taliban tears down and destroys art; the brutal Castro dictatorship censors art and punishes artists; the ChiCom government censors art; the nut with the Elvis hairdo in North Korea decides what art is and artists there better toe his Soviet-realism line... What do all of these regimes have in common? They are all dictators.

But in our society, anytime that a politician enters into this arena, he or she is bound to lose. We don't suffer dictator-like behavior around here.

And hopefully Maine's governor and self appointed chief interior decorator now realizes that not only did he make a stupid (and needless) decision here, but also managed to paint himself (pun intended) in a really negative light to all of us, who will never accept art censorship, no matter from which nutty wing of the right or left it comes.

Next Saturday

TV Drawings

Being one of those persons who can often do two things at once, I used to always have a pad of paper and drawing instruments around me whenever I used to watch TV.

That sort of went away a few years ago, and then just as sudden, this process began a come back a few days ago. The below drawings are ink pen and then smeared on the paper with wet fingertips.

Woman Dancing with Pig
(Inspired by one of those commercials that no one has any idea what's being adverstised)


Homage to Goya (Los Caprichos)
(Done while watching a film on Goya)


Homage to Goya (Los Caprichos)
(Done while watching a film on Goya)


Leda and the Swan
(Inspired by an Aflack commercial)


The Policeman's Wife
(Inspired by watching a documentary on Paula Rego)


Woman with Hooves
(Inspired by a shoe commercial)


Woman Dancing with the Devil
(Inspired by a cheap Science Fiction movie on SyFy channel)


Dwarf Painting
(Inspired by the Paula Rego documentary)

For all you early lookers...

My pick for Best of Show? Easy: Ben Tolman.

Opportunity for Artists

Deadline: June 9, 2011

s.h.e. gallery in New Jersey is now accepting submissions for future shows. All media is being considered. Please submit jpegs of your work along with artists resume to tracy@shegallery.com. Accepting submissions by emerging and established artists. Send jpegs to tracy@shegallery.com.

Looking for studio space

Flux Studios is now accepting applications for two studio spaces:

Available May 1, 2011- 10 x 16 ft- $400 a month

Available June 1, 2011- 14 x 17 ft- $595 a month

Flux Studios is a 3000 square foot arts space in the Gateway Arts District that houses the studios of six professional artists. Each individual studio has ten-foot ceilings, concrete floors and walls of finished drywall over plywood.

They offer a friendly and collaborative atmosphere, 24 hour access, free on-site parking, a large flexible common area available to all members for projects, installations or teaching, an exhibition area with gallery lighting, a computer controlled studio kiln available for rent and a loading dock with garage doors.

If interested in applying, please contact Novie Trump at novie@novietrump.com

Tomorrow: Gilliam at the Katzen

On Saturday, April 2, from 6:00 to 9:00 pm, is the opening reception for "Close to Trees", a site specific installation by Sam Gilliam on the entire third floor of the American University Museum at the Katzen Center.

"Sam Gilliam first took his paintings off their stretchers in 1965, using the liberated canvases to transform gallery walls into three-dimensional abstractions. He has continued to experiment with the practice of painting and the line between painting and sculpture. For this exhibition, Gilliam will transform the 8,000 square foot space of the third floor of the American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center into an exciting and colorful work of art."

April 2 to August 14, 2011.

Gilliam also broke my heart when he declined to be included in my 100 Washington, DC Artists book (in spite of a joint press front that included several artists who tried to convince Sam to join in the project). Anyway, do not miss this opening and exhibition of work by the DMV's leading artist and a true innovator.

Opening this Friday in DC

International Art & Artists, Washington Project for the Arts, and Black Artists of DC have all gotten together to put together a show titled Process: Reaffirmation (at Hillyer Art Space, 9 Hillyer Ct. NW), curated by Gina Marie Lewis, Assistant Professor of Art, Bowie State Univ.

Opening Reception: Friday, April 1, 6-9pm

Artists Talk: Saturday, April 23 at 3pm

Featuring work by Anne Bouie, Daniel Brooking, Joel D'Orazio, Victor Ekpuk, Corwin Levi, Barbara Liotta, Adrienne Mills, and Cleve Overton.

Aperture magazine

"Judy and The Boys," currently in the collection of the Library of Congress, is perhaps Lida Moser's most iconic image and a gorgeous example of her work around the streets of New York City in the 1960s.

Aperture Magazine will feature this image in their April issue as part of a piece on the Photo League.

New Latin Music Legends Stamps: A Lesson in Labeling

A new set of five forever American stamps going on sale Wednesday honors Celia Cruz, Tito Puente, Carmen Miranda, Selena and Carlos Gardel. They represent a range of "Latin musical styles, including Tejano, tango, samba, Latin jazz and salsa."


Postal Service vice president Marie Therese Dominguez said the stamps are "a lasting tribute to five extraordinary performers."

I think that they may also be a lasting tribute to America's love to put labels on people.

You see, a couple of these "Latin" stars were actually born in Europe, albeit in "Latin" countries, if we accept that Portugal and France are still OK with that label.

So if the stamps are there to honor "Latin music", then I suppose it's OK to include Carmen Miranda (born in Portugal) and Carlos Gardel (born in France).

Gardel was without a doubt the king of tango, and although born in Tolouse, France of French parents, was raised in Argentina. Miranda, born in Portugal of Portuguese parents, was easily a star samba singer, a decent Broadway actress and a mega Hollywood film star popular in the 1940s and 1950s, when she was according to some sources, the highest-earning woman in the United States.

Tito Puente was a NewYorkRican, Celia Cruz was born in Cuba and Selena was an American-born singer of Mexican ancestry and called the "Queen of Tejano Music."

I wonder if Celia Cruz, "the Queen of Salsa", is the first Cuban-born person on a US stamp?

I'll have to research that...

Azucar!

Update: Man! The power of the web!

Less than a few minutes into this posting, someone already emailed me to tell me that Father Felix Varela Morales was the first Cuban on a US stamp back in 1997.

Update 2: And below is the photo from which the artist who designed these stamps clearly copied for the Miranda stamp:

Update 3: Also, Desi Arnaz in 1999.

Viral: Back to work...

Secretary goes back to work after 30 years... the video is only five seconds long but makes a very clear point:

Most...

Most recognizable true blue rock chords ever?

This:

or this:

Congrats!

To the very young DMV area artist Teresa Oaxaca, who is one of the top 15 finalists in the International Portrait Competition (Portrait Society of America, 2011)!

"Father Time", 64 x 62 in. Oil on Canvas, 2011 by Teresa Oaxaca
Her portrait of "Father Time" was selected among 15 out of over 1,800 entries in the Portrait Society of America's most prestigious competition.

Galleys

A while back I received the galleys for my 100 Washington, DC Artists book. I read them several times, trying really hard to find errors, knowing that no matter how hard I try, there will be some errors and wherever that error lands, some artist will be eternally pissed off at me.

I did find one error, and I corrected it. But I know that there are more out there, waiting to bite me in the ass after the book is published.

The book goes to print next week.

Order your copy here.

PS - By the way, over at Amazon, the book had been steadily holding a position at the 600-700,000 ranking, but there was one interesting day when it cracked the top 1,000 ranking.

Body art

F. Lennox Campello's right ankle tattoo.
Tattoo on skin, c. 1992. Designed by Lenny Campello.
Tattooe'd by unknown punk-looking British tattoo guest artist working out of the tattoo shop on the street below the Pike Place Market in Seattle, Washington.
For the record, it hurt like hell, and yes, I was very sober.

Saturday: Gilliam at the Katzen

On Saturday, April 2, from 6:00 to 9:00 pm, is the opening reception for "Close to Trees", a site specific installation by Sam Gilliam on the entire third floor of the American University Museum at the Katzen Center.

"Sam Gilliam first took his paintings off their stretchers in 1965, using the liberated canvases to transform gallery walls into three-dimensional abstractions. He has continued to experiment with the practice of painting and the line between painting and sculpture. For this exhibition, Gilliam will transform the 8,000 square foot space of the third floor of the American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center into an exciting and colorful work of art."

April 2 to August 14, 2011.

Gilliam also broke my heart when he declined to be included in my 100 Washington, DC Artists book (in spite of a joint press front that included several artists who tried to convince Sam to join in the project). Anyway, do not miss this opening and exhibition of work by the DMV's leading artist and a true innovator.

Product Placement

Quite possibly the king of all instant coffees and the quickest at-home way to feed your expresso monkey.

French at Mateyka

Christopher French, who used to be a DMV artist and a former Executive Director of the Washington Project for the Arts, currently has "Inventions and Recollections", an exhibition of recent paintings on Braille paper at the Marsha Mateyka Gallery in DC.

Join them for the artist's reception on Saturday, April 2, 3:00 - 5:00 pm.

Madness Selection

Last night I dropped by March Madness at the Torpedo Factory in Old Town Alexandria, where I had been asked to come by and select my favorite piece from the 200 entries submitted by artists for this fundraiser.

These pieces were all done on a 10 square inch panel, and once again the DMV artists rose to the challenge with an unexpected and diverse set of work. Each piece is then sold for $100.

I really liked Novie Trump's entry (which sold immediately - someone got a hell of a good deal), as well as Danny Conant's mixed media titled "Letter from Paris."

Other favorites were Alicia Roman's mixed media titled "Confess," Randolph Santa Ana's photoshop transfer "Death & Taxes I" and Christi Andrews' most excellent acrylic painting titled "Lo! Pressure."

More favorites: Allison Nance's cyanotype titled "Its all that I'm made of...", Kathleen Kendall's "Long Ago", Berrie Ripin's gorgeous terracota titled "Becoming", Lana Stephens' brilliant graphite and conte drawing "Teapot" (which also sold right away), Roy Utley's smart and minimalist "Airport Erotica", Christine Cardellino's acrylic titled "Princess", and Kevin Mellema's three umbrella studies, each one more minimalist that the previous ones.

My selection as "my favorite in the show"?

Mike Rayburn's highly accomplished, laborious and vastly ultra modern "Health Club", which is described as mixed media, but certainly fits that category of Walmartism. It is made of small tiles, curved needle nose plies (8-9 of them) and ball bearings.

Hard to describe... I wish I had an image, but quite an interesting and nearly machine-perfect piece; a perfect wedding between imagery and technology.

Reviews

Jacobson reviews Mateyka and Fraser.
Capps reviews Conner.
Rousseau reviews Fraser

Congrats!

Congratulations to Andrew Wodzianski, who has been shortlisted for the 26th Annual Mayor's Arts Awards!

FotoDC



FLASH is a month-long event created by FotoDC and sponsored by the Crystal City BID. Between March 17th and April 17th, 2011, the penthouse (12th & 13th Floors) of 2450 Crystal Drive in Arlington, VA will be filled with exciting photography shows and events. FLASH will encompass two curated photography exhibitions, a library of photography books, and a lounge for refreshments and discussion.

March 17-April 17, 2011
Mondays and Tuesdays: closed (available for private events)
Wednesdays and Thursdays: 5 PM – 10 PM
Fridays: 5PM - 11 PM; Saturdays: Noon – 11 PM; Sundays: Noon – 7 PM

Best Art Messiah

In the WCP's Best of 2011, Mera Rubell has been selected by the CP staff as the Best Art Messiah... Yay!

Best commercial art gallery selected by the CP readers? It is one that I've never heard of and I guess must be new and already packing enough votes: Toro Mata?

But then I find them on the web and from their website:

TORO MATA features a classic selection of furnishings, decorating accessories and artwork imported directly from the master artisans of Peru. Each item is handcrafted using only natural materials and methods that have been passed down through generations. We visit Peru regularly to discover new artists and unique products. Our frequent consultations with the artisans ensures the highest quality standards and allows for superior delivery of custom order requests. TORO MATA's new home at 2410 18th Street NW in Washington, D.C., includes the first floor shop and a mezzanine gallery. We are open to the public daily, including evening hours Tuesday through Saturday. Private product viewings and order consultations are provided to qualified wholesale accounts and interiors professionals by appointment.

Heh, heh... Fail!

Photography Exhibit Opening Premieres New Show, New Gallery

Saturday, April 2nd marks the opening of the photography exhibition “Looking In, Looking Through” at the new Howard Avenue Arts Incubator gallery. A reception to celebrate the inaugural show, open to the public, will be held from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm on that date. The reception and exhibition will take place on the top floor of the Gary Rosenthal Collection studio building, in Kensington's West Howard Avenue warehouse and antique district.

Curated by noted photographer Jim Auerbach, the exhibition features 10 local photographers, each showing 10 images, from landscapes and portraits to architecture and abstracts. Unifying the show is the theme “Looking In, Looking Through”: capturing the essence of a subject by looking deeply into it and communicating the context of a subject by looking through it to the wider world. The featured photographers include George DeBuchananne, Beth Koller, Peter Manzelli, Dave Mullen, Mario Ramos, Judy Saunders, Coriolana Simon, Jerry Weinstein, and Doug Wolters, as well as curator Jim Auerbach.

The works will be on display from April 2 through April 16. Gallery hours are Wednesday to Friday from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm, Saturday from 11:00 am to 9:00 pm, and Sunday from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm.

For more information, contact Curator Jim Auerbach at npajiim@aol.com, or 301.871.9060 and 301.807.1753; or Assistant Director Joy Parisi at joyartincubator@gmail.com, call 301.897.4152, or visit the website at www.artincubator.org

Sabbath, Classic Sabbath

Auto repairs woes

Considering that I've just dropped over $2600 for repairs to 2005 Chrysler Town & Country van, I figure that the least that I could do is tell you about some of the non monetary woes of dealing with this particular dealership (Darcars of Rockville) from the perspective of a guy bringing his van in for repair.

I made an appointment for a Monday and dropped my van on Sunday nite via their night drop off. By Monday afternoon I hadn't heard anything back from them so I called them and the service rep told me that he'd call me back. He did and shocked me by telling me that I had a small mint in repairs to be done (power steering, transmission, etc.). This is not a post of Chrysler vans, so I won't tell you how disappointed I am that I essentially had to change the power steering and most of the transmission after only 109,000 miles. Thank you Chrysler workmanship.

Later that day I received a call telling me that they wouldn't have enough time to fix my van on Monday and that they would like me to drop by and get a complimentary rental car. I showed up around 3:30PM and that's when some of the issues started.

When I got there, only one service rep was there and two customers in line. So I waited about 15 minutes or so until they were done and then explained my situation.

The service rep filled out the paper for the rental car and called a gent named Tim and assigned Tim to give me a ride to the rental car agency. Tim asked what car should he use to take me there and the service rep said for Tim to check and see if my van (which I saw on the side and not being worked on) was drivable. Tim disappeared into the shop to find out and then service rep began to take care of a new customer. At the point a second service rep showed up and he also began to take care of a separate customer. I waited.

Tim came back and stood by the side of the service reps, he told me that my van wasn't drivable and he'd need to use the dealership car. He stood patiently while my service rep ignored him and continued to assist his new client. Tim must have stood there for five minutes, at parade rest while the service rep didn't as much as look at him.

Then the other service rep grabs Tim and tells him to please drive his customer home. At that point I get alarmed... by now I've been there maybe 30 minutes.... and I start to talk to the other service rep to tell him that I was waiting first and needed Tim to take me to the auto rental place. But the service rep raises his hand, cuts me off and says: "Sir, I'll help you in a second, but I am working with this customer now."

Tim disappears with the customer and the second service rep comes back to me (my original guy was still helping his new customer - I think he was changing a bulb in his dashboard). When I explain the story to him, he apologizes and tells me not to worry, that Chris will give me a ride to the car rental company. He calls Chris, and they spend 10 minutes looking for a car to give me a ride. In one of the largest car dealerships in the US, there is none available, so the service rep tells me that he will call the car rental company and have them pick me up. He does so and tells me that it will be 15 minutes.

25 minutes later I come back out and he sees me and he calls them again. He apologizes again and tells me that they're on the way.

15 minutes later they arrive. I get in the car. The kid drives the car to the corner, makes an U turn and parks right across the street from DARCARS.

Yes, I had been waiting over 45 minutes to get a ride to a car rental company that was across the street. It was so unbelievable that no one said to me during the 45 minutes, "hey the car rental is across the street" that I didn't even get mad, but was astounded that I had wasted almost an hour waiting for nothing.

Next day it's 1PM and I haven't heard back, so I call them. The service rep asks me to wait while he asks the mechanic. It will be done at 4:15 he tells me.

I show up at 4PM, but the van is not ready... now I know that the times are just estimates, so I sigh and wait in the wait room. An hour later my van is done and by 5PM I am driving away, wondering how we waste time so easily sometimes due to lack of good communication.

On the good side, so far the van feels good again.

Anderson's opinion on this experience?

For your Friday art...

Tomorrow is March Madness at the Torpedo Factory in Old Town Alexandria.

* Artwork - 200 pieces of artwork on 10" square panels – each only $100
* Prizes - many of the panels will be loaded with prizes donated from local businesses (I will be one of the jurors for the prizes)
* Music - awesome beats by DJ Stylo
* Food & Drinks – wings, pizza, beer & more, provided by local businesses
* Beer - sposored by Old Dominion Brewing Company
* Games – join in the fun with a little fun competition!

March Madness is an exhibition of approximately 200 10x10-inch works of art. Torpedo Factory and DCarea artists, as well as local high school students and college students will create the artwork. It will be on display in the Target Gallery from March 17 – March 27. All work will be for sale for $100 with 10% of all sales being donated to the March of Dimes. In addition, several of the artworks will be “loaded” with prizes donated by local businesses. The goal of this fundraiser is to raise money and awareness for the March of Dimes, a charity that helps children in need, and to raise money for the Target Gallery’s 2011 outreach programming.

They have two main events to accompany this fundraiser:

#1. Kids Art Activity: The first is a March of Dimes sponsored art activity for kids whose families benefited from the March of Dimes. This activity was held at the Torpedo Factory Art Center’s main hall on March 19th from 11am to 1pm. This was used as a tool to help raise awareness for their annual “March for Babies” walk held in May 2011.

#2. Art Party: The second event will be a March Madness Art Party, which will be held tomorrow, March 25th from 7-11pm, and will be a ticketed event. This party will be held at the Torpedo Factory Art Center’s main hall right outside of the Target Gallery. The theme of the evening will have a NCAA March Madness Tournament pub like atmosphere, to include games, pub faire, live band, prizes and more. Click Here to learn about the Torpedo Factory’s Target Gallery Community Outreach.

Dates: March 25, 7-11pm
Where: Main hall of Torpedo Factory Art Center, right outside of the Target Gallery
Cost: $15 in advance; $20 at the door

Details here.

Coming to Gallery 555

Early look

American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center will have the AU Art Department's Student Exhibitions opening soon, with first year MFA students: April 2 through May 15
and MFA theses: April 23 through May 15.