Margaret Bowland and the Stolen Painting - Part II

Remember the whole saga two years ago of how New Mexico art dealer Klaudia Marr allegedly conned the National Portrait Gallery to ship a painting by New York artist Margaret Bowland to a third party who apparently had paid Marr for the painting, even though, according to Bowland, Marr and Bowland had ended their relationship (and Bowland had earlier notified the NPG of this, and claims she has never received a penny from the painting's alleged sale).

Portrait of Kenyetta and Brianna, Oil on linen, 2008. 80 x 72 in. (203.2 x 182.9 cm) by Margaret Bowland
Read this article in the New York Daily News by John Mazulli about a law suit Bowland has filed against the NPG over the loss of her painting. I have obtained a copy of the complaint filed in Federal Court in Brooklyn and it is reproduced below:

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
_____________________________________
:MARGARET BOWLAND HARRIS,
:(A.K.A.) MARGARET BOWLAND,
:Case No : _____________
:Plaintiff,
:
:v.
:COMPLAINT
:PURSUANT TO THE FEDERAL TORT CLAIMS ACT 28 U.S.C. 1346(b) & 2671-2680
:Defendants.
:THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION &
THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY,
_____________________________________

Plaintiff, by and through counsel, alleges as follows:

PARTIES, JURISDICTION & VENUE

1. Margaret Bowland Harris (“the artist”) lives and has a studio in Kings County, Brooklyn, NY. The artist’s professional name, under which she shows her paintings and is known to the public is Margaret Bowland.
2. The National Portrait Gallery and its parent organization The Smithsonian Institution, both located in Washington, D. C. are two of the most prominent museums and cultural forces in the United States. Both organizations are a part of the United States government.
3. This Court has jurisdiction over this matter and venue is proper because the artist’s residence in Kings County, NY is within the
jurisdiction of this Court. 28 U.S.C. 1402(b) & 1346 (a).
4. The artist initiated her claim by filing a Standard Form 95
with the office of the General Counsel of the National Portrait Gallery on January 12, 2011. This date is within two years of the date of the incident or occurrences which form the basis of this claim.
5. The artist was notified on July`22, 2011 by the Office of the General Counsel of the Smithsonian Institution that her claim had been denied.
6. All preconditions for an action based on the Federal Tort Claims Act having been established, the artist then timely filed this
Complaint.

THE PAINTING AND THE PORTRAIT COMPETITION

7. The artist created a painting in oils on canvas entitled “Portrait of Kenyetta and Brianna,” (“the painting”). The painting is approximately six feet six inches tall and six feet wide and depicts three life size female figures.
8. The painting was exhibited at the Klaudia Marr Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico from October 17, 2008 to November 29, 2008.
9. The Klaudia Marr Gallery was owned and operated by Klaudia Marr (“Marr”).
10. On or about November 15, 2008, the artist was notified that the painting had been selected for the Outwin Boocheever Portrait Competition at the National Portrait Gallery (“the NPG”) in Washington D. C.
11. The NPG sent a shipper to pick up the painting at the Klaudia Marr Gallery and deliver it to the NPG on or about November 29, 2008.
12. The artist signed an Incoming Loan Agreement (“the agreement”) dated November 29, 2008 with the NPG. The period of the loan was March 1, 2009 to October 1, 2010.
13. On February 26, 2009, in an email to both the artist and Marr, the NPG stated that Marr had acknowledged that the artist was the legal owner of the painting. Marr never objected to the statement by the NPG that the artist was the legal owner of the painting.
14. The exhibition of paintings from the NPG portrait competition (the exhibition”) opened on October 23, 2009 and ran almost one year, closing on August 29, 2010. The painting was named one of six finalists in the competition and at the end of the show was awarded “The People’s Choice Award.”

THE RETURN OF THE PAINTING

15. Under the terms of the agreement, the painting was to be released by the NPG at the end of the exhibition only to the lender (the artist) unless the NPG was timely notified otherwise in writing by the lender.
16. The artist never notified or authorized the NPG to release the
painting to anyone other than her.
17. Under the terms of the agreement, in case of any change in legal ownership of the painting during the period of the loan, the new owner shall give the NPG legal proof of such a change as soon as possible.
18. The NPG never received notice or legal proof that the ownership of the painting had changed from the artist to anyone else.
19. The credit line used by the NPG during the exhibition and in the catalogue of the exhibition was “From the collection of the artist.”
20. As the exhibition drew to a close, the NPG sent the artist two emails about returning the painting. These emails were sent to an email address that the artist had not used for over a year instead of to the email address the artist had been using for numerous emails between herself and the NPG during the past year. The artist did not receive the emails sent to the old address.
21. The NPG had the artist’s telephone number and street address but did not try to contact her through them. The artist never received any U. S. mail, overnight delivery service mail or telephone calls from the NPG about to whom the painting should be sent.
22. The NPG sent a “carbon copy” to Marr of its second email to the artist on August 27, 2010.
23. Not quite nine hours after the NPG cc’ed Marr with its email to the artist, Marr sent an email to the NPG directing that the painting be sent directly to her client, David Naylor of Santa Fe, New Mexico (Naylor).
24. Despite these facts: that during the exhibition the painting had been credited as being “From the collection of the artist;” that the artist had never authorized the NPG to send the painting to anybody but herself; that the NPG had never received any notice or proof that the painting had an owner other than the artist; and that, once the NPG attempted to confirm where the painting should be sent, the NPG had never contacted the artist by telephone, U. S or overnight mail or by the current email address in its possession, NPG shipped the painting to Naylor.
25. When the artist learned that Naylor had the painting, she contacted him several times in an attempt to either get the painting back or to receive payment for it. Naylor claimed to have already paid Marr for the painting, and to date he has neither returned the painting nor paid the artist anything for it.
26. Marr has never paid the artist anything for the painting.

FIRST CAUSE OF ACTION
BREACH OF CONTRACT

27. By signing the Agreement, the NPG was contractually responsible for returning the painting to the artist.
28. The NPG was in breach of the Agreement when it shipped the painting to Naylor.
29. As a consequence of the NPG’s breach of contract, the artist has been deprived of a valuable work of art which lawfully belonged to her.

SECOND CAUSE OF ACTION
NEGLIGENCE

31. The NPG owed the artist a duty of care to insure that the painting be returned to the proper person.

32. The NPG failed to take reasonable steps to insure that the painting was shipped to the proper person.
33. Failure to take reasonable steps to insure that the painting be returned to the proper person makes the NPG negligent in its duties to the artist.
34. As a result of the NPG’s negligence toward the artist, the artist has been damaged by being deprived of a valuable work of art which is lawfully hers.

WHEREFORE, plaintiff requests this Court to award compensatory damage of $100,000, against the United States of America, the Smithsonian Institute and the National Portrait Gallery and such other and further relief as appears reasonable.

Dated: January 19, 2012
New York, NY

Update: Read Court House News take on the issue here.

Update 2: Read an almost personal attack on Bowland by Julia Halperin in ArtInfo.com here

Book Signing

There will be a book signing for my 100 Artists of Washington, DC book on February 16 from 6:30 - 8:30PM at the gorgeous BlackRock Center for the Arts in Germantown, Maryland.

Bring your own book (buy it at Amazon here) or get a copy from me at the Center (it will be cheaper at Amazon).

Many of the artists in the book will be there, so this is also a good opportunity to get your copy signed by them as well.

I will also be giving a talk about how this book came to be, and the selection process (an update) for the next two volumes.

BlackRock Center for the Arts
12901 Town Commons Drive
Germantown, MD 20874

301.528.2260 (administrative offices)
301.528.2266 (fax)
info@blackrockcenter.org (e-mail)

See ya there!

Zhang Daqian Surpasses Picasso As Top Auction Earner

Chinese artist Zhang Daqian has knocked Picasso from a very high pedestal.

The artist generated $506.7 million from auctions in 2011 alone. Close behind the best-seller was another Chinese artist, Qi Baishi. Warhol was third ($324.8 million) and Picasso ($311.6 million) -- the former top seller -- took fourth. Another Chinese artist, Xu Beihong rounded out the top five with $212.9 million in sales.

Read the whole story here.

New book for 2012?

Just stirring to get a new art book out for 2012... all the stuff has to be done in 2-3 months in order to get a end of year publication.

For 100 Artists of Washington, DC I turned all the material into the publisher by August 2010, and yet the book didn't come out until April of the next year!

By the way, there will be a book signing on February 16, 2012 from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m at the BlackRock Arts Center in Germantown.

This is how you do it!

As constant readers know, I often post and bust online art scammers on DC Art News. But now artist and anti art scam samurai Katie Moe has taken the blade directly to the ever growing business of scamming artists out of their artwork.

Her blog Stop Art Scams deserves constant visits.., visit her online here.

Wilmar Villar Mendoza: Another Hero Dies

On Thursday evening, Wilmar Villar Mendoza died pursuant to a 56-day hunger strike protesting his unjust imprisonment by the brutal and murderous Castro regime.

He was imprisoned on November 2, 2011, after participating in a peaceful demonstration calling for freedom, human rights and democracy.

Wilmar was charged with “contempt” and sentenced to four years in prison in a hearing that lasted less than an hour.

Here's a picture of Wilmar during the peaceful demonstration (the "crime" according to the Castro regime) that cost him his life.

The sign reads "No More Lies."

From Human Rights Watch:

Prison guards placed Villar Mendoza in solitary confinement after he initiated the hunger strike on November 25, his wife said. He told his wife he was stripped naked and placed in solitary confinement in a small, cold cell. The last time she was allowed to visit her husband was on December 29, she said.

Read that report here.

In an official statement, President Obama said:

President Obama’s thoughts and prayers are with the wife, family, and friends of Wilmar Villar, a young and courageous defender of human rights and fundamental freedoms in Cuba who launched a hunger strike to protest his incarceration and succumbed to pneumonia.

Villar’s senseless death highlights the ongoing repression of the Cuban people and the plight faced by brave individuals standing up for the universal rights of all Cubans. The United States will not waver in our support for the liberty of the Cuban people. We will remain steadfast in our outreach to the Cuban people through unlimited Cuban American family visits and remittances, purposeful travel, and humanitarian assistance to dissidents and their families in support of their legitimate desire to freely determine Cuba’s future.

Lucy, Desi and Fidel

Below are three shots of "Lucy, Desi and Fidel." Charcoal, conte, LCD screen and Powerpoint presentation on paper. 3.5 x 13 inches framed to 16 x 26 inches.

Update: This piece is now in the collection of a major art collector in Miami Beach, Florida!

Cody Calamaio on Jesse Cohen

The Gazette's Cody Calamaio has a very cool profile piece on even cooler and good bud Jesse Cohen, the founder, driver and soul of artdc.org, now with over 2,400 members.

Read the piece here.

Drawing meet Powerpoint


A work in progress; the alternate Universe story so far:

We're sometime in the late 1950s, and late one night, Cuban actor and band leader Desi Arnaz, one half of the "I Love Lucy" TV super hit heads home to discover his wife, the gorgeous and talented Lucille Ball, in the arms of a fellow Cuban, soon to become an icon himself, if because of more brutal causes. In the background, a B&W TV set from the period plays scenes from "I Love Lucy."

Artomatic Returns to Crystal City in 2012!

Wooo Hoo!

The DMV's most spectacular art energy generator,Artomatic, returns to Crystal City in 2012 for their unique, massive, liberal and most Democratic free arts event, to be held in the biggest Artomatic building ever, from May 18 - June 24.

Artomatic will partner with the Crystal City Business Improvement District (BID) to transform the Transwestern Presidential Tower at 2511 S. Clark St. in Crystal City into a vibrant arts community that celebrates creativity and creates a unique and exciting event for tens of thousands of visitors - all free to visit.

Registration information to exhibit work at Artomatic will be available soon. Meanwhile, check it all out here.

Bethesda Artist Market

The Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District is looking for local and regional artists to display and sell their fine art and fine craft during the Bethesda Artist Market. This year’s Market will take place on three Saturdays this summer: June 9, July 14 and August 11.

· Each artist must submit five images of their work and one image of their booth.

· The images must be representative of the work the artist plans to exhibit at the Bethesda Artist Market.

· A non-refundable entry fee of $15 must accompany the application.

· A $50 booth fee will be required for each Market the artist attends, due after artist is accepted into the show.

Apply online here. If you would like a mail-in application, please send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to:

Valerie Hillman
Bethesda Urban Partnership
7700 Old Georgetown Road
Bethesda, MD 20814

Free Seminar Booked

On February 11, 2012 from 1-5pm, The Brentwood Arts Exchange and I will be once again hosting my well-known “Bootcamp for Artists” seminar at no cost to the artists.

As I predicted, the seminar is now fully booked. If you are still interested in signing up, contact them at 301-277-2863 / fax. 301-277-2865 / tty. 301-446-6802 and you'll be put on a waiting list.

If you love beauty

Then see this...

Arty Bollocks Generator

Just visit this for your instant "artist statement".

Gopnik on art prices

A pile of stools for $575,000. A cabinet full of surgical instruments for a cool $2.5 million. The global economy’s in a tailspin, but among the world’s elite collectors, works are selling for record prices.

Why Is Art So Damned Expensive? asks former WaPo art critic Blake Gopnik in Newsweek; read the Gopnikmeister here.

Call for Artists: Bethesda Painting Awards

Deadline: Submissions must be received by Friday, February 24, 2012

The Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District is currently accepting applications for the seventh annual Bethesda Painting Awards. Up to nine finalists will be selected to display their work in an exhibition during the month of June at Gallery B in downtown Bethesda, and the top four winners will receive $14,000 in prize monies.

Best in Show will be awarded $10,000; Second Place will be honored with $2,000 and Third Place will receive $1,000. Additionally, a “Young Artist” whose birthday is after February 24, 1982 may be awarded $1,000. Artists must be 18 years of age or older and residents of Maryland, Virginia or Washington, D.C.

All original 2-D paintings including oil, acrylic, watercolor, gouache, encaustic and mixed media will be accepted. The maximum dimensions should not exceed 60 inches in width or 84 inches in height. No reproductions. Artwork must have been completed within the last two years and must be available for the duration of the exhibit.

Each artist must submit either 5 slides, application and a non-refundable fee of $25. Digital entries will be accepted on CD in JPG, GIF or PNG format.

For a complete application, please visit www.bethesda.org, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to:

Bethesda Painting Awards
c/o Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District
7700 Old Georgetown Road
Bethesda, MD 20814

Or call 301-215-6660 x117.

Cirenaica Moreira

Just had a wonderful few days with the amazing Cuban photographer Cirenaica Moreira (whom we represent), who was one of the invited guest photographers for the National Geographic Magazine prestigious annual Photography Seminar.

"La Libertad es una palabra enorme" [Freedom is a huge word] by Cirenaica Moreira
In addition to Cirenaica Moreira, the seminar included presentations by David LaChapelle with Robert Draper, Kitra Cahana, Gillian Laub, Paolo Pellegrin with Anthony Bannon, Robin Schwartz, and Anthony Suau of Facing Change.

This was Moreira's first ever trip to Washington, DC, although she has exhibited around the DMV widely (read Lou Jacobson's review in the Washington City Paper eight years ago here.

Moreira's discussion of her work, and the natural curiosity that people feel towards Cuba and all things Cuban elicited a lot of good questions from the audience, including several questions that someone who has to return to that brutal dictatorship simply cannot answer for fear of who may be in the audience. This is one gutsy and talented photographer; check out her photographs here.


That's me in the center, with Cirenaica's husband Aurelio to my right and Cirenaica (who bears a striking resemblance to former WaPo art critic Jessica Dawson) to my left, and one of Moreira's photographs - part of the Campello collection - on the wall behind us

Armory Week

Help! Any DMV galleries or dealers that are doing any of the NYC art fairs during Armory Week: send me an email with details, as I have a national art magazine who wants me to write an article focused on DMV galleries in NYC during the fair week.

Deadline in a week: Hurry!

Viva La Revolución Big F-Up!

The company that manufactures Mercedes-Benz luxury cars unleashed outrage among Cuban-Americans in Miami and other cities on Thursday for using the image of Argentine revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara to promote their vehicles.

Read the whole story here.

Free Seminar for Artists

On February 11, 2012 from 1-5pm, The Brentwood Arts Exchange and I will be once again hosting my well-known “Bootcamp for Artists” seminar at no cost to the artists.

This seminar is suitable for all visual artists interested in taking their careers to the next level.

Ever wondered how to maximize the attention your work gets from the press, galleries, and museum curators? How to present your work in a professional manner and save money in the process? How to tap into grants, awards and residencies? How to approach a gallery?

Then this is the seminar for you! This program is free, but space is limited to 40 persons, and last year lots of artists were turned away because it filled up so quickly! You can sign online here.

This program will be held in MNCPPC’s Brentwood Arts Exchange on the 1st Floor of the Gateway Arts Center, 3901 Rhode Island Avenue, Brentwood, MD 20722, just over the District line on Rhode Island Avenue.

See ya there!

Four free WPA Memberships

An anonymous donor is offering a free 1-year membership to Washington Project for the Arts (WPA) to four local artists in the DC/metro area. To receive further information or submit your request for consideration, please contact Carolina Salvador at poetsdaughter27@gmail.com.

This is a very generous offer. I have been a member of the WPA for decades and the WPA offers its artist-members some very valuable resources; if you are not already a member, I strongly recommend that you join it.

I hope over time this pledge idea will gain traction among members, donors and other supporters so that more and more artists may join WPA at no initial cost.

A UPI photo of the year!

Congrats to DMV area photog Colin Winterbottom, who if of course not only a highly talented photog, but also one of the artists in my 100 Artists of Washington, DC book, which as someone just unfortunately found out last night (when they needed an emergency copy for some odd reason) is not in stock at Kramers Books in Dupont Circle (what's up with that Kramers?).

Anyway, back on focus: Congrats to Colin, as United Press International has just selected one of his photographs as one of one of its News Photos of the Year for 2011.

Colin took the award winning photograph (I'll have it here later today) from the top of the Washington Monument while working under commission from Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc. and the photo was publicly released by the National Park Service in the fall.

Our Small Rooms

Two D.C. artists, Michele Banks and Kendall Nordin, whose work "focus on the delicacy and complexity of autonomic cellular processes: Banks through jewel-toned watercolors, and Nordin via a site-specific mixed-media installation" opened tonight at the gorgeous Open Gallery at the Cafritz Arts Center, Montgomery College, and I've already heard some good things about it.

The show goes through March 9, 2012 and the reception is Feb. 9; more details here.

Open Gallery
Cafritz Arts Center, Montgomery College
Hours: Monday–Friday, 8 a.m.–4 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m.–4 p.m.
Location: The Open Gallery is on the ground floor of The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation Arts Center located at 930 King Street on the west side of the Takoma Park/Silver Spring Campus. Parking is available in the West Garage, located immediately behind the center. For more information: Call 240-567-5821 or visit this website.

Calls for Entry: Experimental Media 2012

Interactive Installation Deadline: Friday, January 13, 5pm
Video Screening Deadline: Friday, February 10, 5pm

Curators: Max Kazemzadeh, Assistant Professor of Media Art & Technology, Gallaudet University and Jonah Brucker-Cohen, Assistant Professor at Parsons MFA in Design and Technology and Parsons School of Art, Design, History, and Theory.

Washington Project for the Arts is currently accepting submissions for two open calls as part of Experimental Media 2012. Consisting of an exhibition of interactive installation works, a video screening program, and a series of workshops, Experimental Media 2012 will explore recent developments in the field of art and technology, including the growth of open source software and hardware, the emergence of grassroots do-it-yourself hacker communities, and the increasing ubiquity of networked devices in daily life. While highlighting the creative potential of this new technology, Experimental Media 2012 also seeks projects that explore the broader social and cultural implications of these rapid changes.

Experimental Media 2012: Exhibition Component

Exhibition Dates: April 12 - May 20, 2012
Location: Artisphere, 1101 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA, 22209
Submission Deadline: Friday, January 13, 5pm
Download the full call here
Submit Online here

AU opens 2012 season

The American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center will open its 2012 season on Saturday, January 28, with four new exhibitions, including Anil Revri: Faith and Liberation through Abstraction, an exhibition of introspective works by artist Anil Revri, a native of New Delhi, India.

Revri, an alumnus of Washington’s Corcoran College of Art and Design, constructs his paintings on a grid, and the repetition of finely detailed geometric elements offers viewers numerous optical rewards. But these are also contemporary spiritual paintings analogous in their functions to Tantric Art, and its distant relation the Byzantine icon.

Byzantine icons were thought to be windows into heaven. Through the icon, the viewer could know God and experience the miraculous. It was expected the Byzantine iconographer would lead a life of prayer, meditation, and fasting. For Revri, too, as a Tantric Artist, painting is a spiritual act, an act requiring discipline and devotion.

“They are beautiful, their craft is breathtaking, but their success depends on whether they further us, and the artist, along in the process of enlightenment,” said Jack Rasmussen, director and curator of the American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center.

The exhibition is sponsored by the Indian Embassy.

In addition to Anil Revri: Faith and Liberation through Abstraction, three other exhibitions will open January 28 at the American University Museum — Gabarrón’s Roots, Raoul Middleman: City Limits, and Regaining our Faculties: Zoë Charlton, Tim Doud, Deborah Kahn, and Luis Manuel Cravo Silva.

Anil Revri: Faith and Liberation through Abstraction and Gabarrón’s Roots close Sunday, April 15.

Raoul Middleman: City Limits and Regaining our Faculties: Zoë Charlton, Tim Doud, Deborah Kahn, and Luis Manuel Cravo Silva close Sunday, March 18.

(dis)figure

Jessika Dené Tarr
(dis)figure
Jan 13, 2012 - Opening Reception 6pm - 9pm

Curated by Jacqueline Hoysted, this exhibition showcases thirty-four new works on paper by Jessika Dené Tarr. Each piece explores the human figure by presenting ideas about its invention and reinterpretation.

CountDown Artspace
4526 Cheltenham Drive
Bethesda MD 20814

Nome is frozen!

...and the Coast Guard has ice breaker issues... read the NYT story here.

World’s first Art Decathlon to be at DC Arts Center

Four artists compete in 10 categories to claim the title of best artist.

If the best all-around athlete is one who most efficiently balances speed, strength, technique, and endurance, then what defines the best all-around artist?

This good-natured competition sparks the debate around the issue of what it means to be the best all-around artist, challenges individuals to try their hand at new disciplines, and gives exposure to artists who embrace working in various media.

In the spring of 2011 DCAC posted an open call for individual artists in the DC metropolitan area to submit proposals that explore the significance of what “unspecialized” means to being a working artist today. Artists were told they had to “compete” in ten artistic areas: Textiles/fiber art, Painting, Drawing, Video, Printmaking, Photography, Collage, Sound, Conceptual Art, and Sculpture.

Applicants from diverse backgrounds were narrowed by DCAC’s Visual Arts Committee to four semi-finalists: Shanthi Chandrasekar, Lee Gainer, Lisa Rosenstein, and Mary Woodall. During the six-month run-up to the exhibition, designated commentators Buck Downs, Patrick McDonough, Karen Joan Topping , Hays Holladay and Ryan Holladay, covered the progress of the decathletes on a blog as the artists created work for the show, with each commentator being assigned an artist to visit once a month. Shanthi Chandrasekar likened her experience to "learning to drive on the expressway" and Lisa Rosenstein states "this competition has changed the way I look at my whole working process."

The opening reception for The DCAC Art Decathlon will take place on Friday January 13, from 7:00 – 9:00 and will culminate in an artist’s talk and awards ceremony on Sunday, February 5 at 5:00.

The work of all the semi-finalists will be on view at DCAC from January 13 to February 5, during which time it will be viewed and judged by an eight-person panel including George Hemphill, Andrea Pollan and Vivian Lassman. Two discussion panels will be held during the exhibition, one focused on the relationship of athletic competition and a second on art and the creative process for the four finalists. Dates to be determined.

Follow the decathletes and their progress at dcacdecathlon.wordpress.com.

Great lecture and discussion

Yesterday's talk and discussion by the very talented Magda Campos-Pons at the National Museum of African Art was amazing!

And it was really well-attended.

Go to this today...

This Saturday, January 7, at 2 pm in Mezzanine, Sublevel 1 of the National Museum of African Art: The human hurricane known as María Magdalena Campos-Pons!!!

Cuban-born American artist Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons discusses her work of the last 20 years, focusing on the installation art, performative photography, and cultural activism that have gained her international recognition. Art historian Steven Nelson (University of California at Los Angeles) joins the artist in a conversation about her family history in Nigeria, Cuba, and Boston and its influence on her poignant artworks. This program is free, spread the word!!!

Image: still from "Not just Another Day", 1999, Version #2, silent video projection, María Magdalena Campos-Pons.

My 2008 studio visit with Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons can be read online here. Read it and prepare to be impressed by this dynamo of an artist.

“When I am not here/Estoy Alla” c. 1994 by Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons

SELECT: WPA 2012 Art Auction Gala


SELECT: WPA 2012 Art Auction Gala - March 3, 6:30pm - 11:30pm

Don't miss your opportunity to purchase original works of art by top talents and support the work of Washington's premier not-for-profit organization dedicated to supporting artists and presenting the best in contemporary art!

New location: 1800 L Street NW, DC (Special Thanks to Somerset Partners)

Click Below To Purchase Gala Tickets Online

Individual Patrons

Corporate Patrons

For More Information or to Purchase by Phone or Email

Contact Christopher Cunetto at ccunetto@wpadc.org or 202-234-7103 x 5

Still damaged

A 36-year-old woman was accused of causing $10,000 worth of damage to a painting by the late abstract expressionist artist Clyfford Still, a work valued at more than $30 million, authorities said on Wednesday.

Read the whole story here.

US Rep. Ros-Lehtinen on the SI

U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee (and who is a Cuban-American), made the following statement on the Smithsonian Institution’s upcoming trips to Cuba under a so-called People-to-People Cultural Exchange Program:

“The Smithsonian's 10-day trips to Cuba will amount to little more than a tropical vacation. Americans participating in these trips will not see the brutal reality of the Castro dictatorship. They will not be visiting run down hospitals where sick Cubans have to bring their own bed sheets and medications, nor will they have the opportunity to sit in a court room where peaceful pro-democracy advocates are sentenced because due process and a real judicial system are non-existent.

The nature of the Smithsonian's upcoming trips to Cuba becomes clear merely by looking at the ad promoting it. The ad fails to mention that Cuba is a state-sponsor of terrorism or that Castro's thugs repeatedly and routinely beat and harass the innocent Ladies in White while they peacefully march down a street. It does not mention that an American citizen is being held hostage by the regime simply for seeking to lift the veil of censorship that the dictatorship imposes on the Cuban people.

Americans will not be able to interact with a typical Cuban family as they conduct their daily desperate search for food, stop by a dormant newspaper's office that no longer operates because there is no freedom of the press, or visit the ever-growing prisons where countless political prisoners languish in their cells for exercising freedom of expression. These are the real cultural experiences in Cuba. Instead, these tourists will experience a false depiction of Cuba through a biased and censored 'tour' of the island.

It is deeply disappointing that the Smithsonian Institute, primarily funded by American taxpayers, is facilitating access to U.S. dollars, which enables the Castro regime to make a hefty profit. The trips not only illustrate a blatant disregard for human rights conditions on the island by an entity that receives U.S. government funding, but provide the deplorable Havana tyranny a sense of legitimacy.

Why is this US Rep. doing this? Not that you'd ever see this on American television, which for some reason focused a lot of time and effort on the uprisings in Egypt, Libya and Syria... but chooses to ignore the ever-growing uprising, led by Cuban women, going on 90 miles south of Florida.

Witness this (Via):

This week, female pro-democracy leaders took to the streets of the central Cuban town of Santa Clara to demand the release of their colleague, Ivonne Malleza, who remains imprisoned without charges since November 30th.

As a result, they too were arrested, albeit for short term.

Here's the disturbing testimony of their arrest:

Idania Yánez Contreras described her time behind the bars as "horrible." According to the dissident, in her cell "the guards, under the orders of State Security, were screaming obscenities at us" and even threatened with raping the women. Yanez denounced that one of the obscene threats she has not been able to forget was that "they began to tell me 'I am going to sleep with Idania because she has the largest ass.'" She added that the guards were "raffling" the women amongst themselves, choosing which one they would rape.

Meanwhile, Damaris Moya also suffered verbal and physical attacks. "I was treated horrible under the orders of Captains Andro, Yuniel Monteagudo and another by the last name Gil," denounced the co-president of the Central Opposition Coalition, adding that the initial violence occurred in front of her young son who is only 13 months old. "He was desperately screaming in the arms of his grandmother while the agents were applying martial arts immobilization locks on me. And that’s how they dragged me to the police vehicle and later to the detention center." In the case of her husband, Yanoisi, he was beaten and "choked and he now has his face swollen... they also punched him on the stomach and in the testicles."

The same official - Yuniel Monteagudo - was also responsible for the brutality against Antunez, even while he was detained in the back seat of a police vehicle. "That official told one of the Rapid Response agents: ‘punish him during the entire trip,'" explained Antunez, "and then they started to punch me the entire way. While he was hitting me he was saying 'piece of shit [N-word], scream 'Fidel Lives.'" The dissident responded with the contrary. "I started to scream 'Down with Fidel,'" amid even more blows, "and that’s how the entire trip was until we reached the police unit of Santa Clara." The blows against Garcia Antunez resulted in numerous swellings on his head, and he is currently suffering from dizziness and lack of vision in his left eye, where he was also hit.

However, the dissident affirmed that although 2012 began with lots of violence against the peaceful Resistance, something positive was that during one of the marches in demand for freedom of those who were detained on that morning, "neighbors of Santa Clara were also fed up with the violence and joined the protest…they would scream 'abusers,' 'hunger and misery' and some of these citizens were even arrested." Antunez, like Idania Yanez and Damaris Moya also affirmed that they would not give in or give up in the face of the terror that the Cuban dictatorship tries to impose on its people. "Despite the beatings," assures Antunez, "I feel satisfied and convinced that now, more than ever, we are witnessing the final days of the tyranny." The dissident classified 2012 as a year of "importance" for the Cuban Resistance.

Damaris Moya also sent out a direct message to dictator Raul Castro. "If the supposed measures which Castro was enforcing are just to massacre us, well then we will be massacred because we are going to continue with our marches demanding food for the people, demanding justice and always out on the street." Idania Yanez echoed this same attitude: "Here we are, and we are going to continue with our actions."

Notice how the N-word was used against one of the Afro-Cubans while he was being beaten... another example of the mostly ignored racist nature of Castro's Workers Paradise.

For what it's worth, I've got a feeling that 2012 is the end of the reign of the longest-lasting dictatorship in the world, and in that end, it will be courageous Cuban women who will drive a stake through the heart of the Castro vampires and their enforcers.

Free Bootcamp for Artists Seminar

On February 11, 2012 from 1-5pm, The Brentwood Arts Exchange and I will be once again hosting my well-known “Bootcamp for Artists” seminar at no cost to the artists.

This seminar is suitable for all visual artists interested in taking their careers to the next level.

Ever wondered how to maximize the attention your work gets from the press, galleries, and museum curators? How to present your work in a professional manner and save money in the process? How to tap into grants, awards and residencies? How to approach a gallery?

Then this is the seminar for you! This program is free, but space is limited to 40 persons, and last year lots of artists were turned away because it filled up so quickly! You can sign online here.

This program will be held in MNCPPC’s Brentwood Arts Exchange on the 1st Floor of the Gateway Arts Center, 3901 Rhode Island Avenue, Brentwood, MD 20722, just over the District line on Rhode Island Avenue.

See ya there!

For your Saturday: Do this!

This Saturday, January 7, at 2 pm in Mezzanine, Sublevel 1 of the National Museum of African Art: María Magdalena Campos-Pons!!!

Cuban-born American artist Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons discusses her work of the last 20 years, focusing on the installation art, performative photography, and cultural activism that have gained her international recognition. Art historian Steven Nelson (University of California at Los Angeles) joins the artist in a conversation about her family history in Nigeria, Cuba, and Boston and its influence on her poignant artworks. This program is free, spread the word!!!

Image: still from "Not just Another Day", 1999, Version #2, silent video projection, María Magdalena Campos-Pons.

My 2008 studio visit with Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons can be read online here. Read it and prepare to be impressed by this dynamo of an artist.

“When I am not here/Estoy Alla” c. 1994 by Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons

GRACE gets a new Director

The Greater Reston Arts Center (GRACE) is pleased to announce leading arts advocate and administrator Damian Sinclair has been named the new Executive Director of GRACE effective February 6. Sinclair will replace President and CEO John Alciati who will retire after a six year tenure. Alciati will rejoin GRACE’s Board of Directors where he had served prior to his appointment to his executive position.

Sinclair, 34, was the Arts & Events Director of the Reston Community Center in Reston, Virginia since 2008. Before that, he served as the Director of Development at Arena Stage in Washington DC. Prior to Arena, Sinclair was the Executive Director and brainchild behind the region’s recognized Capital Fringe Festival, creating and growing the event into one of the largest and most exciting annual cultural art offerings in the Washington DC region.

"Under Alciati’s leadership, GRACE and its highly rated Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival are recognized for bringing high caliber arts programming to the region,” said GRACE’s Board Chair Holli Ploog. “Damian has the experience and skills to maintain this momentum. His experience, coupled with his passion and enthusiasm for GRACE will help guide the organization to the next level, focusing on the importance of arts within communities, expanding our reach and increasing our brand identity.”

"I am excited to come to GRACE," said Sinclair. "This organization is poised to make a major cultural impact on Reston and the Greater DC Region. The coming of METRO to the area and the potential growth of our community means that GRACE will need to meet the artistic and cultural needs of a larger and more diverse audience. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to drive that process."

As the Arts & Events Director of the Reston Community Center, Sinclair programmed a Professional Touring Artist Series, expanded artistic outreach into Reston area schools and the greater community, and helped provide performing elements for many of Reston’s annual festivals. He designed an exciting and innovative performance component for GRACE’s Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival which helped raise the profile of the already successful event.

As Director of Development at Arena Stage, Sinclair served as a major gifts officer and a leader in the organization responsible in part for an annual budget of $3.3 million and a capital campaign of $125 million. He was part of the team that helped guide the organization through a nomadic transition that saw it depart its longtime home in Washington, DC to take up temporary residence in Crystal City, VA.

As Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Capital Fringe Festival, Sinclair built an organization from scratch that in its first year featured over 100 performing artists (in theater, dance, music, puppetry, and experimental art) presenting over 400 performances in more than 30 venues over 10 days. In his role at Fringe' Sinclair was selected by Washingtonian Magazine as one of its 2006 People Who Made a Mark on DC and Capital Fringe was awarded the 2007 DC Mayors Arts Award for Innovation in the Arts and the 2007 Momentum Award from the Downtown DC BID.

His career in the DC area began as the Director of Marketing for Woolly Mammoth Theater Company where he grew audience participation to record levels and helped move the organization into its new home at 7th& D Streets, NW. Sinclair moved to Reston, Virginia in 2003 with his wife after beginning his career in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as the Director of Communications at The Wilma Theater and as Managing Director of the critically acclaimed and award winning experimental interdisciplinary ensemble, Pig Iron Theatre Company.

We send Damian our best wishes to continue to take GRACE forward!

Torpedo Factory Art Center Visiting Artist Program – Summer 2012

Deadline: February 15, 2012

Emerging and experienced artists are invited to apply for one, two, or three-month residencies between June 1 and August 31, 2012.

The Torpedo Factory Art Center (www.torpedofactory.org) in Alexandria Virginia is home to more than 140 visual artists working in 82 studios. Artists create in a wide variety of media including painting, fiber, jewelry, ceramics, printmaking, and sculpture. The Torpedo Factory is open to the public every day; visitors are invited and welcomed into studios to watch artists at work, ask questions, and purchase original art – allowing the public an opportunity to share in the excitement and fascination of the creative process.

The projects undertaken by Visiting Artists for this self-directed, creative residency must be compatible with available working studio spaces and facilities.

Visiting Artists will be provided with studio space and will be able to display and sell original work.

Finalists will be selected by juror Paula Amt, owner of gallery plan b in Washington DC.

There is no application fee.

Download the Prospectus and Application Form from www.torpedofactory.org/vap.

Send questions to: vap@torpedofactory.org. No telephone calls please.

Manon Cleary's Memorial

Manon's memorial is Friday, January 20, 2012, 6:30pm at the Arts Club of Washington. It is fitting that one of the DMV's greatest artists gets remembered at the District's most classical arts venue.

Last Supper for Dictators

As I've discussed before, about a decade ago I did a huge pen and ink drawing entitled "Last Supper for Dictators".

The piece was exhibited at one of my solos at the old Fraser Gallery in Georgetown, and subsequently sold to a New York collector via Sotheby's auction.

It depicted a last supper scene with the principals being Latin American dictators. Che Guevara was The Christ, Fidel Castro was Judas Iscariot, Evita Peron was The Magdalene, etc.

For 2012, once I resolve the electric and wattage issues associated with having 13 LCD screens all in one circuit, I am going to revisit that theme again, and this time the video (or Powerpoint) component of the drawing will amplify the presence of the dictators.

The original drawing from a few years back focused on Latin American dictators, and this second version will do the same; however, it will be slightly updated historically, as version one had some historic dictators in the piece, such as Haiti's Papa Duvalier, the Perons from Argentina, Fulgencio Batista from Cuba, etc.

The selection process is now open, and once again I plan to have Che Guevara as The Christ (he's a natural for it) and Fidel Castro as The Judas (also a natural for it, since it was Castro who had a hand in Guevara's betrayal in the Highlands of Bolivia).

Who else will make the tableau? Perhaps Hugo Chavez from Venezuela? The issue in "modernizing" the imagery is that Democracy - other than in Cuba and Venezuela - seems to have finally taken root in Latin America, and modern dictators are not as abundant as they once were.

Maybe I'll have to expand the search to include the entire world and add that new weird little fat guy from North Korea, and behind the scenes' dictators like Russia's Putin.

Any ideas?

Happy New Year's... and on this date:

Rodrigo Llançol de Borja was born on 1 January 1431 in the town of Xàtiva in the Kingdom of Valencia, one of the component realms of the Crown of Aragon, in present-day Spain.

He would become not only one of the most controversial Popes of all time, but also the man who would seed the legend known as the Borgias!

His parents were Jofré Llançol i Escrivá and the Aragonese Isabel de Borja. His family name is written Llançol in Valencian and Lanzol in Spanish.

Rodrigo adopted his mother's family name of Borja in 1455 following the elevation to the papacy of his maternal uncle Alonso de Borja as Calixtus III, the first Spanish-born Pope (and here you thought that until recent times all Popes were Italian!).

Even though for years Rodrigo was a Cardinal and eventually became Pope Alexander VI, he had multiple mistresses, and his children from one of them, Cesar (which was his name and how he signed documents, but known in Italian as Cesare) and Lucrezia, continued his seed and presence in a family destined to become one of western history's most nefarious names.

Via Alexander VI was known for his patronage of the arts, and in his days a new architectural era was initiated in Rome with the coming of Bramante. Raphael, Michelangelo and Pinturicchio all worked for him.[18] He commissioned Pinturicchio to lavishly paint a suite of rooms in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican, which are today known as the Borgia Apartment.

In addition to the arts, Alexander VI also encouraged the development of education. In 1495, he issued a papal bull at the request of William Elphinstone, Bishop of Aberdeen, and King James IV of Scotland, founding King's College, Aberdeen. King's College now forms an integral element of the University of Aberdeen.

Alexander VI, allegedly a marrano according to papal rival Giuliano della Rovere, distinguished himself by his relatively benign treatment of Jews. After the 1492 expulsion of Jews from Spain, some 9,000 impoverished Iberian Jews arrived at the borders of the Papal States. Alexander welcomed them into Rome, declaring that they were "permitted to lead their life, free from interference from Christians, to continue in their own rites, to gain wealth, and to enjoy many other privileges." He similarly allowed the immigration of Jews expelled from Portugal in 1497 and from Provence in 1498.

New Year's Prayer

While you're hopefully enjoying welcoming 2012 at parties or with your loved ones tonight, please remember Cuban pro-democracy leader Ivonne Malleza Galano, who is currently on a hunger strike in a punishment cell of the infamous maximum security prison of Manto Negro.

Throughout 2011, Malleza, a member of the Ladies in White, has led a series of peaceful protests in Havana parks that have been met with great popular support.

That led the criminal Castro regime to brutally arrest her on November 30th (here's a video of the protest and arrest).

Also arrested (and still in prison) was her husband Ignacio Martinez Moreno and fellow activist Isabel Hayde Alvarez Mosquera.

Consider dedicating your New Year's prayer and wish to Ivonne's release and to the freedom of all the Cubans who have been now brutalized for over five decades.

DC in American Contemporary Art Magazine

The current issue of American Contemporary Art magazine has a focus piece on DC area shows and discusses the recent FALL SOLOS 2011 at the Arlington Arts Center, Percy Martin's solo show at Parish Gallery in Georgetown, and Frederick's version of Art-O-Matic.

Read it online here; starts in page 16.

Congrats!

To my good buds and DMV uberartists Tim Tate & Michael Janis - each one of them has been named as recipients of Fulbright Scholarships. This March, both of them will be heading over to the University Of Sunderland and to the Institute for International Research in Glass (IIRG) in the United Kingdom. Janis is represented locally by Maurine Littleton and Tate by several galleries.

Also congrats to the very talented Jason Horowitz, who just won a Franz and Virginia Bader Fund grant of $15,000 for his impressive photographic works. He is represented locally by Curator's Office.

Postcards from the Edge



I'm in this benefit art show; check it out online here.

List free on Ebay

Got any artwork taking up space and looking for a new owner? For the next two days you can list for free on Ebay.

Ebay is pretty much bottom feeders only when it comes to art acquisition, but hey! what have you got to lose other than your time?

5 x 5 Curators selected

First of all, congrats to my good friend and ubercurator Laura Roulet; now the release from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities:

Mayor Vincent C. Gray and the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities (DCCAH) have identified the five curators chosen to complete 25 ground-breaking public art installations, totaling $500,000 in grants, for the 5x5 Public Art Project presented with the National Cherry Blossom Festival. The installations will be unveiled and showcased during the Festival's Centennial Celebration, March 20 - April 27, 2012. 5x5 is the new temporary art project that will result in 25 public art exhibitions and be installed concurrently throughout the District of Columbia to activate and enliven publicly accessible spaces and add an ephemeral layer of creativity and artistic expression to neighborhoods across the District. The Festival's Centennial Celebration commemorates the 100-year anniversary of the gift of trees from Tokyo to Washington, DC and will showcase unprecedented arts and culture. The groundbreaking 5x5 Public Art Project offers a unique cultural experience for over one million people expected to take part in the nation's greatest springtime celebration.

A five-member selection committee carefully chose five curators from more than 90 submissions. All media and art forms were considered, including, but not limited to visual art, performance, light, digital, projection, and event-based work.

"We considered submissions from curators locally, nationally and worldwide and, ultimately, these five curators demonstrated an impressive body of work," said Lionell Thomas, Executive Director for the DC Commission on The Arts and Humanities.

The five selected curators named below must select five artists each to create five bodies of public work. These five curators will lead the 5x5 implementation process and will manage and oversee each artist's concept, budget and schedules. The installations can be of any duration, but they can not exceed four months.

Amy Lipton; New York, NY: Amy Lipton is the east coast curator and co-director of ecoartspace, a bi-coastal non-profit organization that creates opportunities for addressing environmental issues through the arts since 1999. She has curated numerous exhibitions for museums, galleries, sculpture parks and environmental centers, and has written for books and publications. She organizes and participates on panel discussions and lectures frequently on art and the environment. Amy's 5x5 project is titled "BiodiverCITY." She has chosen five artists whose works address biodiversity both in scientific and cultural terms.

Justine Topfer; San Francisco, CA: Justine Topfer of Out Of The Box Projects is an international curator and writer based in San Francisco with a particular interest in public art. For six years she has been working collaboratively in Australia and internationally with a broad spectrum of contemporary artists, art organizations, institutes of higher education. Justine's project name for 5x5 is "Betwixt & Between," a reference used to denote a liminal state; one which we pass through oblivious, as we rush toward the next thing. Justine asked her group of selected international artists to create five public interventions which breathe new life into the ordinary, reinvigorating the fabric of the urban environment.

Richard Hollinshead; Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, UK: Richard Hollinshead is Director of Grit & Pearl, an artist, designer and curator, and holds a BA, MA and PhD by Practice with a specialism in contemporary projects for heritage landscapes. Richard's 5x5 project is titled "Magnificent Distance." It is based around Washington DC's best known epithets, City of Magnificent Distances, drawing inspiration from exploration of the rich territory that exists between that ideal and "reflect the character and identity of the city [Washington DC.]"

Laura Roulet; Washington, DC: As 5x5's sole local curator, Laura Roulet is an independent curator and writer, specializing in contemporary and Latin American art. She has organized exhibitions in Puerto Rico at El Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, la Galería Nacional, and in Washington, DC at the Art Museum of the Americas, the Mexican Cultural Institute, Edison Place Gallery, Hillyer Art Space, Project 4, Fusebox, and the DC Art Center. Laura's 5x5 exhibition is titled "Activate => Participate," and has chosento work almost entirely with local artists to create communal, multi-sensory experiences for diverse audiences. All fall under the conceptual umbrella of "relational aesthetics," where a temporary community is formed through the shared experience of an ephemeral art event.

Steve Rowell; Culver City, CA: Curator Steve Rowell is an artist, curator, and researcher working in and between Los Angeles and Washington, DC. His spatial practice involves the overlapping aspects and perceptions of technology, culture, and infrastructure on, beneath, and above the landscape - contextualizing the built and the natural environment, appropriating the methods and tools of the geographer and cartographer. Steve's 5x5 project is called "Suspension of Disbelief," selecting five artists who will investigate the fringes of the monumental core: airspaces, zones of exclusion, perimeters, liminal landscapes, waterways, shorelines, perceived non-places, and lesser-known or overlooked (sometimes even conspicuously absent) memorials, around the National Mall and along the federal periphery.

Congrats to all the curators and I'm looking forward to the results...

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Home Cooking

Home cooking

Since tonight is Nochebuena, and per request,I've been preparing the classic Nochebuena Cuban feast for the night.

The fare for tonight:

Cuban Roasted Pork
Mariquitas with Mojo Sauce for Dipping
Sweet Corn Tamales
Broiled Yucca with Garlic Mojo
Broiled Ňame with Olive Oil
Moros y Cristianos (Rice and Black Bean Soup)
Cuban Nochebuena Salad

And from our family to all: a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a Terrific 2012 to all!

Just looking...

Artists and Art Fairs (Part II)

On Tuesday I related how almost a decade ago, the founders and organizer of a European art fair called Art Basel (which of course, takes place in Basel, Switzerland), decided to try an American version of their successful European model and started an art fair in the Miami Beach Convention Center and they called it Art Basel Miami Beach or ABMB for short.

And I told you how that one mega art fair spawned a few satellite art fairs in Miami at the same time and how by now there are over two dozen art fairs going on around the Greater Miami area and art collectors, artists, gallerists, dealers, curators and all the symbiots of the art world descent on America’s coolest hot city in December and art rules the area.

I also pointed out, that if you are a visual artist in 2011 and are not aware of these events, and are not trying to get there (get your artwork there is what I mean), then something really big is missing from your artistic arsenal (unless you’re happy just painting or drawing or photographing or sculpting, etc. and could care less who sees and possibly acquires your work – if that’s the case, then skip the rest of this post and more power to you!).

But, if like some of us, the commodification of your artwork doesn’t bother you, and the fact that when you or your gallery sell one of your pieces, you feel honored and pleased that someone laid out their hard earned cash to simply add one of your creations to their home or collection, then Miami in December should be in your radar.

But how to get there? The fairs are mostly gallery-based – that means that galleries are invited or juried to exhibit; not usually individual artists --- more on that later – but there are some other ways to begin to crack the Miami art fair presence, and today I want to share some of my ideas.

Let’s start with gallery-based artists.

If you are already represented by a gallery, why not discuss Miami with them? The enormous expenses associated with the art fair scene are the main reason that most art galleries do not consider them. And this is a darn good reason, as most galleries are run by the skin of their teeth and the expense associated with doing an art fair are enormous and could wreck an entire financial plan in less than a week.

But, what does it hurt to bring it up to your gallerist? Who knows where that may lead?

I am still shocked at how many art dealers are not even aware of the potential financial and exposure rewards of doing an art fair.

Let me be clear: I don't want to hype this issue as a surefire path to moving artwork. But, this much I know… for roughly the same amount of money that a gallery spends on a full page ad in a national art magazine, you can get a small booth in some of the satellite fairs and the return on their investment has a lot more avenues than taking a chance with an ad.

Gathering information is the key thing… bring the subject up to your dealer, and if they want more info, have them email me… the best thing for art is more art.

How about if you are a cooperative gallery? Why not consider applying to one of the art fairs and spreading the cost of the booth amongst the exhibiting artists? A word of warning: the better fairs are juried and that means that someone gets always rejected. But the same key that allows cooperatives to survive for decades (spread the expenses) should and must be the key to give them a presence at the art fairs!

And many, many co-ops are routinely showing now at art fairs in Miami, NYC, LA, London, Madrid, etc. The fact that they are returning to the fairs means that they’re having a positive experience there.

The look and feel of the fairs is different as well. Many of them are booth fairs – that means that a white cube booth of plain white walls, ready to be drilled and hung with art, is the main model.

Fairs such as the original Art Basel Miami Beach, Pulse, Red Dot, Scope, Art Miami, etc. are on this model. At least one of them (Red Dot) in 2011 allowed individual artists to apply for the first time and had quite a few artists’ booth in their huge tent in Wynwood District, right next to the Scope Art Fair and across the street from Art Miami (these latter two only accept galleries).

There are also hotel fairs. These are fairs that essentially take place in a local hotel, where the room is often emptied out and turned into a temporary gallery by the out of town galleries. The best hotel art fair in the world, according to many, is the Aqua Art Fair, held at the Aqua Hotel in Miami Beach, and having just participated in it, add my name to the list of people who thinks that this is the best hotel art fair on the planet. And at Aqua I saw at least two cooperative galleries…

There are also individual artists-based fairs – after all, with 22-25 art fairs around the area, new models are apt to develop – and they have! The Pool Art Fair is one of these, focusing on unrepresented artists. They had a bit of a drama this year in Miami, as the fair was shut down by Miami police due to "lack of a permit", but this fair has been around for seven years, so I'm sure they'll be back next year with all the right paperwork.

A little Googlin’ of Miami art fairs (or just art fairs in general) will reveal just how many fairs there are and where.

The key thought to leave you with: think art fairs and think Miami, New York, LA, Chicago... and think of a way to get there.

Opportunity for Figurative Artists

Deadline: February 6, 2012

First juried show at established Washington DC gallery located in Georgetown. Theme: You, Me and Everybody Else. Artists are encouraged to consider broad contemporary interpretation of the figure.

Fee: $15 FOR 3 IMAGES. For details and entry form go to UP FRONT page on this website. Juror and curator is artist and writer Lilianne Milgrom. Questions? Email upfront@mocadc.org with a subject line You, Me and Everybody Else

Artists and art fairs

If you are a visual artist or art dealer/gallerist in today’s ever changing visual art world, and you’re not aware or know about the Miami art fairs that take place each year-end and are clustered around Miami and Miami Beach, then you have a problem that needs urgent attention.

Almost a decade ago, the founders and organizers of a European art fair called Art Basel (which of course, takes place in Basel, Switzerland), decided to try an American version of their successful European model and started an art fair in the Miami Beach Convention Center and they called it Art Basel Miami Beach or ABMB for short.

This was nothing new in the American art fair scene, as even in Miami art fairs such as Art Miami had been going on for years. But whatever right timing and combination of European flavoring added to Miami's Cubanized international art scene did was spectacular and ABMB took off like Meat Loaf's second album's title.

In the halcyon days of the healthy economy of those days, the art fair proved to be a spectacular success, with millions of dollars of artwork by the blue chip names of the art world exchanging hands at ABMB as collectors from all over the world congregated in Miami’s balmy December to be seen at the sharp point of the spear of the contemporary art world.

ABMB’s success soon spawned other art fairs, which are called “satellite fairs”, since they all revolve around ABMB’s dates and presence on America’s coolest and most international beach city. The evolution of these satellite fairs was fed by the fact that ABMB focused almost exclusively on European galleries and a handful of the top tier American New York galleries.

In those days, even if you were the best gallery in Chicago, or LA or Miami itself, you had zero chance to be invited to ABMB.

And thus satellite art fairs with names like Scope, Red Dot, Bridge, Pulse, NADA and others began to appear around Miami at the same time as ABMB. Soon, someone came up with the novel idea that these art fairs could also take place in hotel rooms, and the “hotel fair” was born. Many of these also began to appear, none better than the Aqua Art Fair, now called “the best hotel art fair in the world.” Having just done Aqua, I can testify brother, that the Aqua organizers have it down, and in my limited opinion, this is indeed the best hotel art fair in the world.

Back to my story... by 2010, even with the economy in the doldrums that refuse to go away, there were 25 art fairs going on around Miami starting roughly around November 28 through the first Sunday of December.

Yes dear readers, 25 art fairs at once! Some developed a tight focus, such as for Asian art or photography, others tried to establish an artist-oriented focus, but in general, all recognized that something special happens each December in Miami.

By now the figures are mind blowing: I am told by Miami journalists from Rumor Control that during that week of the ABMB art fairs, roughly 20% of all the art work sold in the world exchanges hands in Miami.

Furthermore, as the magnitude of the event grew, so did the attendance by both the “need to be seen” crowd and by even more worldwide collectors and, just as importantly, the press.

Thus now the news media not only discusses what’s new or who’s hot in the art world, but also they let us know who Sly Stallone or other Hollywood stars of all magnitude are acquiring. It has become cool for Hollywood stars and wannabes to collect art, which in most Einsteinian dimensions is a good thing.

The concentrated press reporting has also made celebrities out of mega collectors, such as the Miami based Rubell or DeLaCruz families.

Most of the art fairs are gallery-focused; that means that it is art galleries, as opposed to individual artists, who exhibit artwork. The prices for the booths are spectacularly expensive, and generally, a small 200 sq. ft. booth can start at $10,000 or more, and a large booth can run as high as $100,000. And this is before a gallery adds other associated costs such as shipping costs of the artwork, transportation to/from Miami, customs, food, car rental, hotel and salaries.

For most galleries around the world it is a daunting economic investment, which can turn into a financial disaster if sales fail to materialize.

Around the DMV, only a handful of local area galleries took the risk over the last few years. Spaces such as Conner Contemporary, Civilian Art Projects, Hamiltonian Gallery, Fraser Gallery, Irvine Contemporary, and a precious few others, took the venture out to Miami. One local dealer, Art Whino, began its own model and sets up its own ABMB space in Miami during that week.

“I meet more art collectors that week in Miami than the entire year in DC,” related one local art dealer.

“Over the years,” added another, “about 80% of my sales take place at, or because of art fairs in Miami, New York, LA, etc.”

The opportunity to actually sell art is a powerful magnet to tempt art dealers to take the economic plunge. “My openings in Norfolk are always packed, and the shows get good press coverage here,” notes Norfolk’s Mayer Fine Art’s director Sheila Giolitti, who has been also going to Miami for the last few years (disclosure: she represents my work), “And yet, the Norfolk area has a very limited market for contemporary art. If it wasn’t for the art fairs, keeping a gallery in this area would not be a viable option.”

Read: "Because of Miami and other art fairs, I wouldn't be able to have a gallery in Norfolk." Norfolk should be grateful to Miami...

Individual artists have also begun to use the Miami opportunity to showcase their own approaches. None of these have been as cool or successful as Calder Brannock’s Camper Contemporary.

Camper Contemporary is a mobile gallery created and curated by Calder Brannock. According to the artist, “It is a fully functional art gallery set up inside an altered 1967 Yellowstone camper. Camper Contemporary gallery poses a solution for many problems a gallery faces in the modern art market. It allows the gallerist to showcase work in a clean controlled gallery environment without being tethered to rents or a geographic location. The mobile gallery model allows the gallerist to maintain a physical space where work can be displayed with all the benefits and gravitas of a traditional gallery while easily reaching collectors at art fairs and other large art markets.”

So how does an artist get to Miami if he/she is not represented by a gallery, or their gallery doesn’t do art fairs or chooses not to bring your work to the party?

Some ideas next later...

Opportunity for Collage Artists

Deadline: December 31, 11.

2012 marks the centennial of the inception of collage in the field of painting. Strange Glue - Collage is 100 is a three-part exhibition series that will open in September of 2012 and run through June of 2013. Collage is ubiquitous in contemporary culture and it is arguably the most democratic of artistic processes. The exhibition series aims to explore the current status of collage methodology within contemporary art practices as much as it endeavors to examine the conceptual and political manifestations of this evolving artistic strategy. To apply, please visit the Thompson Gallery website for a prospectus and/or follow this link.

Opportunity for Artists of the Nude

Deadline: January 27, 2012

CIAO Gallery of Jackson, Wyoming is pleased to offer the opportunity to participate in their 5th annual "Naturally Nude", an exhibition of exceptional nudes. This show is open to all artists in any medium, traditional renderings as well as unique interpretations. Work must be original and ready to be displayed, clearly labeled with the artists name and contact information. No substitutions of accepted work. Art work must be for sale. This exhibition opening takes place on Valentine's Day evening and has become one of our most popular events for the gallery. $45 entry fee. Visit website for prospectus, or send a SASE to:

PO Box 1274
Jackson WY 83001

Questions? Contact Michele Walters at ciaogallery@yahoo.com or call (307) 733-7833.

Hand woes

Yesterday I was packing some Xmas presents and when I was taping up the shipping box, somehow my right hand slipped while I was cutting the tape and as a result I embedded the entire blade of the Exacto knife into the meaty portion of my left palm.

Sis in law drove me to emergency, where after a few lost hours I exited with a wounded hand hopefully on the way to recovery and one really gross image (taken while I was bored waiting for the doc in one of the emergency room cubicles) of what a very deep entry wound looks like.

New Xmas Song

Keep buying!!

Campello Pinot Grigio is available practically everywhere, most notably at Trader Joe's in those non fascist states where supermarkets can sell wine.

Reviews and comments here. For around six or seven bucks it has been getting rave reviews!

Keep buying!

Statement by the President on the Legacy of Laura Pollán

Today, as the National Endowment for Democracy awards the Democracy Service Medal posthumously to Laura Pollán, the founder of Las Damas de Blanco, we honor and celebrate her life by recognizing her significant contributions to the struggle to defend human rights in Cuba.

Laura Pollán and the quiet dignity of the Ladies in White have courageously voiced the core desire of the Cuban people and of people everywhere to live in liberty. Taking to the streets in peaceful protest to draw attention to the plight of those unjustly held in Cuba’s prisons, Laura Pollán and the Ladies in White have stood bravely against Cuban authorities who unleash mobs, and resort to house arrest, and temporary detention in a failed attempt to silence them. Through Laura Pollán’s and the Damas’ brave actions, the world bore witness to the repressive actions of Cuban authorities, eventually leading to the release of political prisoners wrongly jailed in the Spring of 2003.

Though Laura is not with us today, her bravery in the face of repression and her selfless commitment to democracy and human rights in Cuba, offer a living legacy that inspires us to keep moving forward. To Las Damas de Blanco who will watch or listen to today’s ceremony, you have our utmost respect for your efforts to stand up for the rights of the Cuban people even in the face of this weekend’s crackdown directed at you and we honor each of you as well.

The United States is steadfast in supporting the simple desire of the Cuban people to freely determine their future and to enjoy the rights and freedoms that define the Americas, and that should be universal to all human beings. I remain committed to supporting civil society in Cuba, including by protecting the ability of Cuban Americans to support their families in Cuba through unrestricted family visits and remittances.

The Castro brothers' criminal dictatorship will come to an end one day soon, and justice will touch the Castros and their fellow criminals who have brutalized the Cuban people for so many years.

It is a lesson in human will to see these brutal dictators throw the entire power of their 53-year-old repressive state machine at a bunch of valiant old women and have the Ladies in White show the Cuban police state what human will power and love for freedom is all about.

Laura Pollán, you will not be forgotten.

You won't believe this...

Hardworking Norfolk art dealer Sheila Giolitti is the owner of Norfolk-based gallery Mayer Fine Art.

MFA is not only Norfolk's best art gallery (in my biased opinion since they represent me), but also the only Norfolk-based gallery and one of 2-3 Virginia art galleries that does art fairs around the US and overseas.

This morning Giolitti woke up to the news that her gallery website had been hacked into by an extremist Muslim group who filled her website with anti Jewish, hate-filled slogans, causing her account to be suspended.

Who knows why the website was targeted, unless some idiot thought that the "Mayer" in Mayer Fine Art means that it is a Jewish-owned gallery, which it isn't.

I don't know if there's a relationship, but I am also aware of the fact that several artists' email accounts around the Tidewater area have been recently hacked into and hate-filled emails sent out, and this morning my own personal account had been shut down (for unknown reasons so far) and I had to go through a laborious process to restore it and hope that it was all a precautionary step from MS.

One word to those whose heart and actions are filled with hate: you reap what you sow.

Hizzoner's Weird Xmas Pic

"Mayor Jorge Santini of San Juan landed himself a spot in the famed Awkward Family Photo blog with his 2011 Christmas picture which depicts his family huddling around a taxidermied killing scene. As a leopard sinks its teeth into a poor creature’s throat, a little girl strikes a very sassy pose."

Read the whole thing online here.

Hockney Atop The Brits

A recent poll conducted by 'The Other Art Fair' asked thousands of artists of all ages who they thought was the most influential artist in the UK. The winner was David Hockney, leading many to ask: "really?" Hockney, known for his modern-pop appropriations of the traditional landscape, won a surprising victory over such giants as J.M.W. Turner, Francis Bacon and Thomas Gainsborough. Banksy made the shortlist, but influential Young British Artists (YBAs) Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin didn't even even make the top 10.

Read it online here.