10 Years of DC Art News!

It has survived three name changes, several hacking attempts, and three physical moves.

It has been the subject of praise, disdain, envy, threats, compliments, and happiness (for me anyway).

It has outlasted multiple fellow art bloggers who no longer blog and now shares cyberspace with multiple new ones who often do a much better job at it than I do.

It is now approaching three million visits.

Today is the 10th anniversary of Daily Campello Art News!

Read my first post here.

The art fairs and the unethical artist

I started to sell other artists' works while I was an art student at the University of Washington in beautiful Seattle. As I've noted many times, while I was there, I sold my own works at the Pike Place Market, helped to start a Student Art Gallery, and helped to connect buyers with some of my fellow artists. Then in 1996, my then wife and I opened the Fraser Gallery in Washington, DC and subsequently a second Fraser Gallery in Bethesda, Maryland. I left the Fraser Galleries in 2006 and the same year Alida Anderson Art Projects, LLC was created in Philadelphia, and in 2009 moved to the DC region, where it remains.

In all those years I've worked with hundreds and hundreds of artists, and I can count in one hand the number of artists whom I would call unethical due to their behavior in a business gallery relationship. I thank my lucky stars for that, but I also think that a vast majority of artists, for whatever artistic genetic reason, are good people.

But we are humans, and in any "industry" there are also bad apples, and my own 2-3 bad experiences with artists, plus the dozens of anecdotal stories from other dealers all add up to the fact that just as there are some unethical galleries, there are some unethical artists.

The art fairs' paradigm gives these artsy deviants a powerful new way to use their lack of decent ethics.

As I noted yesterday, for your average, independently owned, commercial fine arts gallery, signing up to go to an art fair not only opens up the gallery to a whole new set of predators in the art fair scene, but also requires a significant financial environment, which, if not returned by sales at the fair, often causes a gallery to close its physical space.

Most good, ethical and decent art galleries are more often than not run by the skin of the dealers' teeths, often financed at times by Mr. Visa and Mr. Mastercard, and nearly always a labor of love on the part of the owners.

You drop $10,000 to $15,000 bucks on an art fair, and come home with little or no sales, and an empty bank account... that often means that it's lights out for the gallery. I've seen and heard this happen multiple times in the decade that I've been doing art fairs.

As I've also noted before, there is a curious after effect to art fairs; I call it the "wake effect."

A ship leaves a wake on the ocean as it moves through the water; that wake can sometimes be hundreds of miles long and discernible for days.

I define an art fair's "wake" as events that happen days, weeks, and even years after an art fair has taken place.  These events can be sales, exhibition offers, curatorial interest, press, etc. The "record" for this is currently held by DMV area artist Judith Peck, who was recently approached by someone who saw her work at a Miami art fair four years ago and recently got in touch with Peck. As a result of that fair four years ago, Peck made a sale and was also included in a forthcoming art exhibition in Puerto Rico.

That's a heck of a long-assed wake!

The wake effect is important and nearly always present after a fair closes. It is part of a gallery's business prayer plan to survive the economic investments in attending an art fair.

In the Google age, the art of buying a piece of artwork has been Googlified and in any art fair one sees a huge number of people taking photographs of the art being exhibited (a tiny minority of these photographers ask permission first... cough, cough...) and then (here comes the "new" part) they take a close up of the wall text card with the name, price, media and title of the piece.

Potential collectors, art students, art teachers, other gallerists, and nearly every fair visitor from the People's Republic of China does this - it happens in every art fair.

Within minutes, a potential buyer can then Google the artist, even the piece, discover related works, other dealers representing the artist, etc. Minutes later, direct contact with the artist often begins, closely followed by emails to other dealers and/or the artist requesting price quotes and availability.

Some of this is very smart, as there are unethical art dealers who inflate artists' prices at art fairs in order to then offer huge discounts to potential buyers. An ethical buyer armed with good information is an informed buyer, and ethical art dealers have nothing to fear when dealing with them.

Approaching an artist directly undercuts the gallery's investment in the art fair and in promoting the artist's work. However, one can make the case that some novice buyers do not understand this relationship and thus their "direct" approach to the artist, rather than working with the gallery where they saw the artist's work, can be somewhat excused and attributed to a simple lack of understanding... cough, cough.

Experienced collectors who know and understand the commercial fragility of most art galleries, and how the artist-gallery relationship generally works, and yet bypass a gallery and go directly to the artist, should know better, but what can I say?

I know that this happens because I am nearly always one of the artists being exhibited at the fairs, not only by AAP, but also by multiple other art galleries in multiple art fairs. And I get emails from people who tell me that they "saw my work at the such and such art fair and love it" and want to know "what else I've got?" or what's "the best deal" that they can get on this or that piece.

I also know this because I've had our represented artists pass the emails back to us; this is what an ethical artist must do.

Our contract sets an arbitrary time limit on how long a commission exists after an art fair for a direct sale made by the artist as a result of someone seeing their work at the fair. It is all on an honor system, and I am happy to report that as far as I know, no one has ever screwed us out of a single shekel in "wake effect" sales.

I also know this because I work with multiple other galleries, some of which represent the same artists whom I work with, and they too understand the "wake" effect and let us know that someone has been requesting price quotes on an artist that we share.

Enter the unethical artist.

By know I am sure that you know where I am going... The unethical part comes when an artist is approached directly by someone, during or after an art fair, and associates the query with "seeing the art at such and such art fair..." and the artist does not pass the contact to the gallery and makes an independent and direct sale and excludes the gallery from its fair commission (pun intended).

Or the artist is suddenly approached directly by someone, during or after an art fair, and that someone is from the city/area where the fair is being/was held. And the artist does not pass the contact to the gallery and makes an independent and direct sale and excludes the gallery from its fair commission (pun intended again).

Real life example: A gallery exhibits artist Jane Doe in an art fair in Santa Fe. It is the first time that this artist has been exhibited not only in Santa Fe, but also the first time that Jane, who lives in Poland, has exhibited in the USA.  Suddenly Jane begins to get direct queries from people who live in New Mexico.

Hai Capito?

The unethical art fair

In the past I've often discussed and given examples of two unfortunate entities of the visual arts world: the unethical art dealer/gallerist and the unethical artist.

In the decade since I've been doing DC Art News I've given plenty of examples of both, usually culled from not only my own experience, but also from the experiences of fellow artists and art dealers.

There are other members of the unethical side of the art world, as there are in any profession: writers, critics, even collectors, but the explosion of the art fair scene has given birth to a whole new set of deviants from decency and moral ethic behavior.

Enter the unethical art fair.

This is an offshoot of the unethical dealer, as many art fairs' origins are the result of an art dealer or gallerist making the decision to organize one. Many good established art fairs, such as Pulse and the Affordable Art Fairs, for example, are good, ethical fairs owned by the same person: a British gallery owner with a savvy business drive. Seattle gallery owners practically invented the hotel art fair, and Aqua has the well-earned reputation as being the "world's best hotel art fair."

The explosion of "satellite art fairs" in cities such as Miami during Art Basel Miami Beach (ABMB) week, or Basel during Art Basel Week, coupled with the realization that many galleries now sell the majority of their art at fairs and not at gallery shows, plus the rising costs of rent in many markets, have yielded the unfortunate fact that many art dealers close their physical spaces and focus their attention on art fairs worldwide.

This December during ABMB week, there will be 26 or so art fairs throughout the Greater Miami area (plus countless other art events, openings, parties, etc.).

Most of those fairs are ethical fairs, hoping to come to the world's biggest visual arts dance. Most of participants in them will lose money, as participating in an art fair is a financially terrifying process to most galleries.

Booth prices at established fairs range from $7,000 or so up to upwards of $100,000 dollars. Hotel fairs are a little less, but then again, in my opinion there remains really one worthwhile hotel fair at ABMB: Aqua. The others still struggle to both establish a presence and to attract collectors. Aqua was purchased last year from the Seattle gallerists who created it, and because it is now owned by the same outfit that does Art Miami (in my opinion the best American art fair there is), CONTEXT, Art Wynwood, etc., it will probably expand its reputation as the best hotel art fair in the world.

The unethical art fair's model exploits the galleries' desire to be in Miami, or London, or Basel during the dance. It also exploits their inexperience with art fairs, lack of information on what is a "good fair" and a "bad fair" as we'll as embellished stories of the halcyon days of art fairs, when anything and everything that a gallery hung on a wall... sold.

It is also the result of the still somewhat fierce competition for acceptance into some of the key art fairs.

While I suspect that this brutal economy, coupled with a return to more traditional art collecting focus on the part of major collectors, and large financial art fair disasters for some galleries, have decreased the competition for acceptance into top notch art fairs such as Art Miami, Pulse, NADA, etc., they are still highly competitive and still more galleries apply than are accepted. It is the most basic rule of supply and demand. There are more galleries wanting to do these top art fairs than there are spaces available in them.

A whole "lower" tier of art fairs exist to cater to the newer galleries and the "rejects" from the "top of the food chain" art fairs. Some, like Scope, used to be top tier themselves, but Scope seems to be caught in a downward spiral caused, I suspect, by a combination of a once heavy-handed curatorial hand, plus a desperate desire to continue to achieve economic goals associated with healthier economic art times.

Others are fairs that last a year or two and disappear from the scene. Some get such bad reputations that they cease to exist, only to be reincarnated under different names, seeking to entice a whole new crew of inexperienced victims.

There is one easy two-part metric to gauge an art fair. The first part is to find out how long have they been around. That is not to say that a "new" fair is risky at all times. In fact, two of the newer Miami art fairs (CONTEXT and The Miami Project), immediately established solid reputations for both fairs on their first year.

But a new fair has more to deal with in order to achieve success, which nearly always means attracting collectors' (and their purses') attention. No matter how much critical attention a fair gets, if the dealers consistently lose money, chances are that they won't come back to that fair. Don't get me wrong! Critical attention is important, and a key part of gathering the crucial seminal collector interest, but if you are a small, independent galley that just dropped $10,000 for a booth, plus another $5,000 for flights, hotel, car rental, art shipping and food, and you sell nothing, chances are that you're not coming back to that fair or to Miami, ever.

Part two of the metric is to see how many dealers return each year to the same fair. If a significant number of galleries return to the same fair each year, that usually means that they did OK at that fair. Fairs which have whole new rosters of art dealers each year, and little to none returning galleries, are fairs where the dealers are not selling artwork.

Point of order: every art fair, no matter how good, always has a number of dealers that do very well, some that break even and many who lose money; every fair.

None of the above discussions really clarify the "unethical fair"... Yet.

But in my opinion, the following facts all contribute to make an art fair unethical and to be avoided at all costs (pun intended):

- A fair that is organized by the same outfit every year or so with a different name because of legal or other issues associated with its previous name(s).

- A fair that caters and seeks and accepts any and all applicants - including the known predatory online dealers that exploit artists by offering them (at significant costs) exhibition at the fair. Most art fair organizers know who the predatory dealers are (artists and ethical dealers "out" them). If, in spite of this knowledge they still sell the predators a booth, then they are themselves contributing to the exploitation of the artists.

- A fair which starts as a "galleries only" fair and then (as not enough gallery applications are received) opens the process to individual artists, so that in the end dealers and galleries are mixed with individual artists. With the notable exception of (e)merge, which was designed from the start to couple art dealers with unrepresented artists, the mixture of individual artists and art galleries at the same fair seldom succeeds. This is generally due to the spectacular lack of business acumen and selling experience that most artists have (not all), and the disastrous "discounting" orgies that happen on Sundays when artists realize that the fair is almost over and they haven't sold squat.

For the last several years, around October, I get emails from (usually) DMV artists who are thinking of doing an art fair in Miami and have been approached by an outfit which is organizing a fair in Miami. In almost every case I try to talk them out of it. Instead I advise them to visit Miami during the fairs, see a lot of them, and talk to people. I try to talk them out of the significant personal financial risk of doing an art fair on the fly.

In almost every case, the artist does it anyway. Later, in Miami, they often swing by whatever fair I am in... Their long, sad faces adding more evidence to my empirical data gathering on this subject.

Next: Enter the unethical artist and the art fairs.

Airborne

Airborne today and heading to the Left Coast, where I will be part of a panel at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum at The University of Oregon.

I hope the Ducks don't discover that I'm a Husky until after the panel!

Google, Google, Google.... Sigh

"Users of Google's services could soon see their profile name, profile photo or comments appear in online advertising."

Read all about it here.

Art’s Insidious New Cliché: Neo-Mannerism

Scads of artists are trying to be junior postmodernists. A phalanx of work has appeared that might be called "Modest Abstraction" or "MFA See, MFA Do." It's everywhere, and it all looks the same. In sculpture there's Anarchy Lite. Those post-minimalist formal arrangements of clunky stuff, sticks, planks, bent metal, wood boxes, fabric, old furniture, concrete things, and whatnot leaned, stacked, stuck, piled, or dispersed around a clean white gallery. There's usually a subtext about wastefulness, sustainability, politics, urbanism, or art history. That history is almost always straight out of sixties and seventies Artforum magazines or the syllabi of academic teachers who've scared their students into being pleasingly meek, imitative, and ordinary.

 Read excellent piece by Jerry Saltz here.

Congrats to Hemphill!

Congratulations to Hemphill, who this year celebrates its 20th anniversary - in gallery years this is like being 100!

You can't even imagine the hard work involved in achieving and surviving as a respected art gallery in this town for 20 years.

20 more!

Games goverments play...

I went to the DO NOT CALL registry website today to renew my home number, and got this message:

Due to the Government shutdown, we are unable to offer this website service at this time. We will resume normal operations when the government is funded.

Debido al cierre del gobierno no podemos ofrecer este servicio telefónico en este momento. Nosotros reanudaremos el funcionamiento normal cuando el gobierno este fianciado.

To start with, this is quite an interesting Spanish translation of the English language statement. It appears to discuss some sort of telephone service... but I have no idea what the last word means... clearly someone typing the statement juxtuposed two letters and came up with a new word... cough, cough...

From the Google uses, I think "fianciado" is a Portuguese word, although most Google references are now just simply people referencing the DO NOT CALL registry and making fun of a vindictive government that shuts down websites that run (or at least should run) on automatic.

This is what the Spanish statement actually says:

Due to the closing of the government [missing comma] we can't offer this telephonic service at this moment. We will renew normal functioning when the government is "fianciado"

Cough, cough...

Less than a month left!

There’s less than a month left to apply for a VMFA Visual Arts Fellowship!

VMFA is offering awards to:

• Professional artists: $8,000
• Graduate students in the visual arts or art history: $6,000
• Undergraduate students in the visual arts (including college-bound high school seniors): $4,000

No application fee!  Applications due Friday, November 8, 2013.

For a PDF flyer, the application form, and all instructions on how to apply, visit this website: www.VMFA.museum/Fellowships.

Why can't WMATA put original regional art on SmartTrip Cards?

Was the question that NotionsCapital.com's Mike Licht asked me...

Read all about it here... Cough, cough...

Washington Redskin Potatoes

My wife Alida Anderson has a great solution to the Washington Redskins name controversy: Just change the mascot to a red potato and then call them the Washington Redskin Potatoes... Cough, cough... New helmet designs coming!...

Update: Upgrade number one to the brilliant idea above: What she actually said last night was to continue to call them the Washington Redskins, but to change the helmet design so that instead of the current one, it is now a ferocious-looking red skin potato!

Update 2: She also thought of another great name option: The Washington Federals! 

Sold at (e)merge... sold at AAFNYC... Miami next

The (e)merge art fair was a resounding success last week... we sold multiple works by Elissa Farrow-Savos, multiple works by Judith Peck, a work by Ric Garcia and multiple works by yours truly; see this nice review.

In NYC, the Affordable Art Fair was just as good, and all three artists (Anne Marchand, Jodi Waslh and Tim Vermeulen) had multiple sales each.

In addition to about 20 of my drawings, I sold two major video pieces, including the below work:

Young Photographer Worshiping at the Altar of Contemporary Photography
Watercolor, charcoal and gesso with embedded electronics
8x20 inches, matted and framed to 20x28 inches
In a Private Collection in Potomac, MD

What's next for us? CONTEXT Art Fair in Miami! 

When agenda takes over...

He said Bradbury once walked out of a class at the University of California at Los Angeles when students insisted the work was about censorship.

Read more about Ray Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451” and what it wasn't about here...

Wanna get some art grants?

Generating income from art in the form of either cash or cash equivalents is always challenging, especially for artists with unconventional ideas or for those who create art that may not be commercially viable. The good news is that the art world is one place where anyone who shows talent and promise, marketable or otherwise, can get help in a variety of ways including cash grants, residencies, employment or internships, allowances, free or low-cost studio space, art supplies, exhibition space, and so on. Receiving these types of assistance is not easy; application processes can be rigorous and competition is often intense. So in the interest of giving you a bit of an edge in situations where you're contending for a bequest, here's a brief tutorial on procedural matters.

Read more here...

Next Week: MCA Open Studios

On the afternoons of October 19th and 20th tour 20+ working art studios, in and around the Dupont Circle, Logan Circle, U Street and Shaw neighborhoods, better known as Mid City.  Visitors can enjoy DC’s glorious fall weather by hopping from one studio to another within vibrant Mid City and witness an expansive offering of art and culture by some of the city’s most talented and creative artists.  This bi-annual event, now in its 10th year, offers visitors a rare portal into the artists’ creative habitat and an opportunity for the public to participate in the District’s dynamic and diverse arts community.  The participating artists represent a great diversity of work, including drawings, sculptures, paintings, prints, photographs and mixed media.

Where we shop, where we eat and have fun -- all of it makes our community home.  Mid City Artists (MCA) Open Studios are an integral part of the distinctive character of the District and Mid City.  MCA offers studio visitors the exclusive opportunity to buy contemporary art direct from the artist studio.  While visiting the studios each artist offers refreshments as well as a good conversation about his or her art work.  Each studio is unique and locations range from retail spaces, old carriage houses, spare bedrooms, apartments to basements.  We hope you choose to spend your fall weekend with Mid City Artists.  We encourage you to make a day of it, stop by a several studios before and after brunch, and then hit a few more before grabbing an early evening cocktail on 14th Street.

MCA is a distinct and talented group of more than 35 professional artists who have come together to promote their work and to create an artists’ community in the central part of the nation’s capital.  Mid City is a hub of real estate development with soaring property values, new condos, trendy shops and restaurants.  There are more than 1,200 condos and apartments and 100,000 square feet of retail currently being built or recently completed.  Concurrently, at least 25 bars and restaurants have opened along 14th Street, adding more than 2,000 seats to the city’s dining scene.  MCA continues to contribute to this growth by infusing the neighborhood with authenticity, creativity and economic activity.

Numerous business sponsors support MCA by exhibiting member works throughout the year and during the Open Studios weekend. For example, Axis Salon will be exhibiting member artist Colin Winterbottom this fall and Doris-Mae, a curatorial project of Thomas Drymon, has a painting and installation up through October 20th. MCA is a driving force in keeping art and creative expression alive within Mid City.

Open Studios Participating Artists:  Sondra Arkin, Scott G. Brooks, Jane Cave, Michael Crossett, Gary Fisher, Charlie Gaynor, Charlie Jones, Sally Kauffman, Miguel Perez Lem, Lucinda Friendly Murphy, Betto Ortiz, Mark Parascandola, Dave Peterson, Brian Petro, George H. Smith-Shomari, John Talkington, Michael Torra, Robert Wiener, Colin Winterbottom. Others by appointment.

Almost final report...

Exhausted and home from the (e)merge art fair in DC, where today we sold several more Elissa Farrow Savos sculptures as well as several more of my drawings and also work by Ric Garcia... And in NYC the Affordable Art Fair crew is heading home, also exhausted but happy after a good fair in NY.

More later...

Art fair(s) report...

The NYC crew at the Affordable Art Fair continues to report good sales... Multiple sales for Anne Marchand, multiple sales for Jodi Walsh and multiple sales for Tim Vermeulen... That is great news!

The DC crew at (e)merge is also kicking it... Today we sold four sculptures by Elissa Farrow-Savos (including sales to a very well-known collector) and six of my pieces, including two major and very large embedded video pieces.

Five weird and wonderful works at the (e)merge art fair

Check Maura Judkis' take in the WaPo here.

Day One at the Fairs...

Last night was the opening nights for both the Affordable Art Fair in New York and the (e)merge art fair here in DC.

The NYC crew reported several sales - yay! And the DC crew saw sales of two Elissa Farrow-Savos sculptures and two Judith Peck paintings.

Come see us - in NYC at booth A-14 and here in DC in rooms 215-216.

Judith Peck, Lenny Campello and Mera Rubell at (e)merge 2013

(e)merge opens tomorrow

(e)merge art fair opens tomorrow!

Opening Preview
Thursday, October 3:
7pm - 9pm: Preview Party
9pm - 11pm: Concert by the Pool with MAIMOUNA YOUSSEF (live set) and John Thornley of U.S. Royalty (DJ set)

Details here.

Come see us in Rooms 215-216.

Opportunity for Public Artists

The Ballston Business Improvement District (Ballston BID), in Arlington, Virginia, seeks to commission multiple temporary public art installations that explore the interaction of art, science and technology in public space. The projects would be presented as an ongoing series in Spring 2014. We are primarily seeking responses from artists and innovators living or working in the Mid-Atlantic area.

The Ballston BID seeks to commission up to nine projects, for which it would provide stipends ranging from $2,000 to $12,000. The Ballston BID is seeking a mix of projects, in regard to their duration, media, location and budget; however, all projects must be located in or viewable from key streets and public spaces in the Ballston core. Questions will be accepted through September 30, and responses are due on October 7, 2013, 4 p.m. EDT. Responses will be evaluated by a committee of curators, arts administrators and artists familiar with this field.

For more information, contact their project coordinator Todd Bressi at art@ballstonbid.com or view their  Frequently Asked Questions.

Two fairs at once

We've never done two art fairs at once... but New York's Affordable Art Fair and DC's (e)merge art fair happen to happen at the same time and so for the first time ever, a DC area art dealer is punching the ticket for two art fairs at once in two different cities (gulp!).

It's all about the Benjamins... we've been doing exceptionally well with our art fair program at the art fairs over the last few years... even in this stinking economy... so why not?

And thus, you can see us this week at both of these:

Booth A-14

Rooms 215-216

Fall for the Arts at the Katzen

American University's Fall for the Arts will bring neighbors, students, faculty, and friends together through art. It's on exhibition now through Oct. 5th at the Katzen.

The day will feature an afternoon of dynamic Courses and Workshops including orchestral conducting, the history of audio recording, a playwriting class, and a discussion of the role of interruption as a catalyst for art, to name just a few. Classes suitable for children are so noted in the descriptions. 

Surprise performances will pop up when you least expect them. The day will conclude with an early evening cocktail reception in the Katzen Arts Center and a Live Art Auction featuring local artists. 

The event is open to the public and an invitation is extended to local residents, patrons of the arts, parents of AU students, and the entire AU community.

Check out the details, the artists, and the terrific artwork here. There's an amazing Alan Feltus that someone will get for a steal! Also check out this gorgeous Tim Tate!

You can register here.

Today at 2PM

Later today, Sunday, September 29, at 2PM I will delivering a lecture titled "On Identity in the Arts: What Does It Mean to be Latino?" at the Ridderhof Martin Gallery at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, VA.

The lecture is free and open to the general public, and from past deliveries of this lecture, I expect that it will continue to be informative, irreverent and eye-opening.

Directions to the gallery here.

Turn Art Lookers into Art Buyers

I go to a lot of art openings and typically don't hang around all that long at any one place. I look at the art and, when possible, have a few words with the artist, after which it's on to the next show. I recently had a chance encounter with an artist whose opening I had been to several nights before. We exchanged pleasantries, and I mentioned how much I enjoyed the show. The artist thanked me and, as we were about to part, asked somewhat cryptically, "Did you look at the art?" with emphasis on the word "look." Without thinking, I answered, "Of course," but then felt a curious twinge of guilt as I walked off wondering, well... did I really look at it? Yes I did, but the artist's implication seemed to be that perhaps I didn't look at it long enough. Hmmm. 

So I got to thinking-- what does it mean to "look at the art," and even more to the point, what does it mean to look at it enough? And even more importantly, what does it mean to look at art enough to become so excited about it that you decide to buy it? Enough according to whom? Who decides when enough is enough? And how does looking at art progress to buying that art? In particular, what does this "act of looking" mean from the artist's perspective as distinguished from that of the viewer (potential buyer)?

Read the entire fascinating piece here.

Judith Peck at (e)merge

Dialogue
Oil and Plaster on board
18 x14 inches
2013 Judith Peck
Will be in Room 215 at the (e)merge art fair next week

Transitory Window
Oil and Plaster on board
14 x11 inches
2013 Judith Peck
Will be in Room 215 at the (e)merge art fair next week

Art fairs in NYC and DC

This coming week is a double art fair week... here in DC is the third iteration of the (e)merge art fair, come check us out in rooms 215-216. And in New York is the Affordable Art Fair Fall version, and we're also there in booth A-14. Drop me an email if you need passes to AAFNYC.

In NYC we will be featuring the works of three vastly talented and well-known DMV artists: Anne Marchand, Jodi Walsh and Tim Vermeulen.

In DC we will have an equally talented group of artists, including the UK's Simon Monk, and the DMV's Christopher Baer, Judith Peck, Elissa Farrow-Savos, Ric Garcia and yours truly.

Moby Dick: Queequeg's Fast. Oil on Panel by Tim Vermeulen

Moving On. Ceramic on Textured Panel by Jodi Walsh

Pulse. Acrylic and mixed media on canvas by Anne Marchand

Lecture this Sunday at UMW

This coming Sunday, September 29, at 2PM I will delivering a lecture titled "On Identity in the Arts: What Does It Mean to be Latino?" at the Ridderhof Martin Gallery at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, VA.

The lecture is free and open to the general public, and from past deliveries of this lecture, I expect that it will continue to be informative, irreverent and eye-opening.

Directions to the gallery here.

The Phillips Collection to award Emerging Artist Prize

On October 5th, Phillips Director Dorothy Kosinski and Curators Klaus Ottmann and Vesela Sretenovic will select the winner of The Phillips Collection Emerging Artist Prize from works on display at the third annual (e)merge art fair. The award is the first of its kind for the museum.

“We are honored and thrilled that The Phillips Collection will award a prize to an artist exhibiting at (e)merge this year. The Phillips Collection Emerging Artist Prize will provide curatorial recognition and financial support for an emerging artist at a critical moment in his or her international career, said Jamie Smith, co-director of the (e)merge art fair  and one of the equally hardworking co-owners of Connersmith.

The winner will be announced during a panel discussion at (e)merge art fair, and the chosen work will become part of the Phillips’s permanent collection.

“This prize gives the Phillips the opportunity to support not only DC’s local creative community, but also to benefit from the international reach of this fast-rising art fair. We’re excited to continue the Phillips’s long history of supporting emerging artists through this partnership," added Klaus Ottmann, Director of the Center for the Study of Modern Art at the Phillips.

This is a very positive new development for the DMV's relationship with our local museums; well done to the Phillips!

After I stroll through (e)merge next week, I will try to predict, within three works, which piece the Phillips will acquire.

The Heart of the World opens this Friday

Opening Reception for "The Heart of the World" 

Over 50 works of art to be exhibited by artist Michael Francis Reagan.

Date: Friday, October 4

Time: 6pm-8:30pm

Location: Gallery A

2106 R St. NW

Washington, D.C 20008

This exhibit will run from October 4-October 31 and it open to the general public from 11am-5pm Tuesday-Saturday. 

This exhibit has already been reviewed by the WaPo's gallery critic, Mark Jenkins as one of the top 10 fall exhibits in Washington D.C. 

Trapped Batman

Trapped Batman III
Oil and Alkyds on Wood
11.8 x 11.8 inches
2013 Simon Monk
Will be in Room 216 of the (e)merge art fair next week

Art Installer Job

Artisphere in Arlington County, VAseeks an experienced and capable technical assistant providing art installation services. This will ensure the smooth operation of the visual arts areas of Artisphere. Artisphere, Arlington's cultural center, offers a wide range of visual and performing arts programs, including music, dance, visual arts and theater. The 62,000 sq foot campus includes a ballroom, three performance venues, three visual arts galleries, Wi-Fi town hall, and is located in the heart of Rosslyn, a major transit hub for bus and metro rail.
 
Duties and responsibilities: 
• Partner with both in-house and outside curators for preparation and planning of exhibition installation. Installation and de-installation of a variety of works of art, in all media, for up to 30 exhibits per year.
• Maintain inventory and storage of works of art on display. 
• Maintain inventory of installation supplies and tools. 
• Participate in and/or manage process for drop off/ pick up of art work for juried exhibitions, special exhibitions, and site-specific installations. 
• Complete condition reports on all works of art received and shipped. 
• Assist in the training of volunteers and interns in gallery procedures. 
• Assist in maintaining the appearance of exhibition space including dusting, sweeping, cleaning of plexi, paint touch-up, as well as care and cleaning of miscellaneous exhibition furniture.
• Assist in maintaining ongoing exhibitions with works of art that may require daily examination, repair and maintenance. As needed, consult with curator and artist on most appropriate method of maintenance.
• Collect, organize and present data for price sheets and labels for exhibition.
• Assist with the installation/deinstallation of stationary and new-media based donor/sponsor initiatives.

 The employee must have the following:
• Excellent planning and organizational skills.
• Ability to read floor plans specifications and diagrams.
• Familiarity with the use of power tools.
• Skills in patching and painting walls.
• Able to lift and carry up to 50 lbs.
 
The employee must understand proper handling of fine artwork of a variety of mediums, including digital media and the installation of video/electrical equipment.

Details here.

At the Affordable Art Fair NYC next week...

This coming week is a double art fair week... here in DC is the third iteration of the (e)merge art fair, come check us out in rooms 215-216. And in New York is the Affordable Art Fair Fall version, and we're also there in booth A-14.

There are 57 galleries from all over the planet at the fair.

In NYC we will be featuring the works of three vastly talented and well-known DMV artists: Anne Marchand, Jodi Walsh and Tim Vermeulen. Drop me an email if you need passes to AAFNYC.

Moby Dick: Queequeg's Fast. Oil on Panel by Tim Vermeulen

Moving On. Ceramic on Textured Panel by Jodi Walsh

Pulse. Acrylic and mixed media on canvas by Anne Marchand

Congrats to Matt Sesow!

The United Nations Postal Administration (UNPA) released six new postage stamps on Friday, 20 September 2013, focusing on the talents of artists with disabilities. The stamps were issued in conjunction with the United Nations High Level Meeting of the General Assembly on disability and development on 23 September in New York City. You can see images of the event here.

The stamp images, titled Break Barriers, Open Doors, include a painting by the DMV's own Matt Sesow, self portraits by artists Chuck Close and Josephine King, a painting and Sargy Mann, a group photograph of the China Disabled People’s Performing Art Troupe, and an individual photograph by Pete Eckert.

“This project led us to an incredible pool of talented artists who provided stamp images that send powerful messages of achievement,” noted UNPA Creative Director, Rorie Katz. “Their focus on creating world-class art is an inspiration to everyone. We are pleased to pay tribute to their accomplishments through our postage stamps.”

The stamps, issued in US dollars, Swiss francs and Euros, will be sold at United Nations stamp shops in New York, Geneva and Vienna. They can also be purchased at http//unstamps.org, or by calling the New York office at 1-800-234-8672.

To learn more about the High Level Meeting of the General Assembly on disability and development go to www.un.org/disabilities. The Meeting, which includes heads of states, is expected to result in a concise, action oriented outcome document to provide policy guidance and strengthen efforts of the international community to ensure accessibility for and inclusion of persons with disabilities in all aspects of development efforts.

The Artists’ Stories

The artists, whose worked is featured on the six postage stamps, have a diverse background that is united around the visual arts. Their stories are as inspirational as their art. For detailed information about each artist, go to… http://unstamps.un.org/doc/Publication/bulletin_107.pdf

46¢
Chuck Close (USA)
Self-Portrait II (2010)
Chuck Close is an award-winning visual artist noted for his highly inventive techniques used to paint the human face. Though a rare spinal artery collapse in 1988 left him paralysed, he has continued to paint using a brush-holding device strapped to his wrist and forearm. He was presented with the prestigious National Medal of Arts by President Clinton in 2000 and was appointed by President Obama to serve on The President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities.

$1.10
Josephine King (United Kingdom)
Tears And Laughter, France 2009,
Ink on paper
“My work is based on personal experience and has progressed massively since I recovered from being severely ill and suicidal during a breakdown caused by my Bipolar illness. Since that experience my painting began to reach new depths that it never had before. I was newly compelled to express my darkest feelings and my work started to avalanche. Even if I had wanted to, I would not have been able to stop its flow.” “When I am painting I reach a state of mind where I’m in another world, a world of unknown territory. I am not conscious of where I am. I paint through pure feelings.” “My voice is just one amongst millions but if there are people who identify with my work and are moved by it, then I feel I have succeeded. I tell a personal story, yet if I depict pain or suffering it is universal. I paint from the heart and with honesty.”

F.s. 1,40
Sargy Mann (United Kingdom)
See the Girl with the Red Dress On,
Oil on canvas 60” x 44”
The painter Sargy Mann was diagnosed with cataracts at 36, and went on to lose his sight completely. But in his mind’s eye, his vision did not fade. Mann found new ways to keep working and today his paintings are more acclaimed than ever. “I was saying to someone … how incredibly lucky I have been. I had about 25 years’ apprenticeship for going blind. It was a bugger, but I kept working out how to paint over those 25 years, and my brain kept finding new ways to see the world”.

F.s. 1,90
China Disabled People’s Performing Art Troupe (China)
The China Disabled People’s Performing Art Troupe was founded in 1987 to provide people living with disabilities a platform to express themselves in a special art. The Troupe’s guiding principle is the pursuit of Truth, Honesty and Virtue which it emphasizes in all of its activities. The performers, with varying degrees of hearing, visual and physical disabilities, impart their glamour through dance and performances with spectacular sets and elegant, colourful costumes. The artists are true professionals who dramatically illustrate the creative spirit and potential that lies at the heart of every person, regardless of physical challenges imposed through disability.

€ 0,70
Pete Eckert (USA)
Electro Man
“I didn’t take photography seriously until I went totally blind. I was trained in sculpture and industrial design. I have always been a visual person and planned to study architecture at Yale, but then I started to lose my sight.” “I was on my own to find a path. It took me two years to recover and figure out what to do. My first photography outing after a thousand questions at the camera store started it all. People liked the photos. I had found a medium.” “I view my work during the event of taking the shot in my mind’s eye. I ‘see’ each shot very clearly, only I use sound, touch, and memory. I am more of a conceptual artist than a photographer. My influences come from my past memory of art and what I now find in the world at large. Occasionally people refuse to believe I am blind. I am a visual person. I just can’t see.”

€ 1.70
Matt Sesow (USA)
Dive Bomb
When Matt Sesow was eight years old, he was struck by the propeller of a landing airplane near his home. The accident resulted in his left arm being severed and the loss of his left hand. Without formal art education, Matt Sesow discovered painting as a hobby while working in the computer field. In the evenings and on weekends he played with painting and began selling his work to self-taught and outsider art collectors. In 2001, after establishing himself within the art community as a powerfully diverse and independent painter, Matt Sesow retired from his computer career to pursue his art full time. He has exhibited and travelled across the United States and securing new collectors internationally including significant exhibitions in Spain, France and Slovenia. Matt continues to be an independent artist who makes a living by selling his work directly to fans

Latino Americans on PBS

PBS is currently running a fascinating six hour documentary titled "Latino Americans" that "is the first major documentary series for television to chronicle the rich and varied history and experiences of Latinos, who have helped shape North America over the last 500-plus years and have become, with more than 50 million people, the largest minority group in the U.S. The changing and yet repeating context of American history provides a backdrop for the drama of individual lives. It is a story of immigration and redemption, of anguish and celebration, of the gradual construction of a new American identity that connects and empowers millions of people today. Learn More..."

I will have a full discussion on the documentary once that it is finished, but so far I have mixed feelings, several of which are anchored (unfortunately for PBS) on my pedantic need for historical accuracy, and while learning quite a bit about early Mexican-American history (so far most of Latino-Americans is really Mexican-Americans, and that's understandable, as Latinos of Mexican ancestry make up about 65% of all "Latino Americans"), I've shaken my head at some of the historical issues raised when they start discussing some of the rest of us... or some general pedantic teeth-grinding misnomers - "Dear PBS, it is the Medal of Honor and NOT the Congressional Medal of Honor."

By the way:

Become a part of the LATINO AMERICANS project. Make a video describing what being Latino means to you, share your family traditions, tell us how you celebrate your heritage and culture or let us know about your role models. Share your story and become part of ours.

You can submit your video here.

And another by the way, this coming Sunday, September 29, at 2PM I will delivering a lecture titled "On Identity in the Arts: What Does It Mean to be Latino?" at the Ridderhof Martin Gallery at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, VA. Free and open to the general public...

The Last Copy of The Constitution

The Last Copy of The Constitution
Charcoal and Conte on Paper
Framed to 22 x 24 inches
Circa 2013 by F. Lennox Campello
Will be in rooms 215-216 of the (e)merge art fair next week

Opportunity for Artists

A Holiday Arts Exhibit in Harbor East

Application Deadline: October 18, 2013

On behalf of Harbor East Management Group, Maryland Art Place is pleased to announce an open ‘Call to Artists’ for this year’s “Window Wonderland,” a storefront, holiday initiative within the Harbor East corridor. Storefront installations will be on view from Friday, November 29, 2013 – Friday, January 3, 2014, with a formal unveiling scheduled for Thursday, December 5.

This year fifteen retail locations are participating in this public art project. Artists will be expected to work with their partner retailer and should consider day and nighttime visibility when proposing an installation. Tours of participating retail locations will be offered on Monday, September 30 @ 6pm. Please meet in the lobby of the building at 650 S. Exeter Street. Please RSVP to sofia@mdartplace.org if you plan to attend.
Selected artists will receive a $500 honorarium and the winner of the “Best in Show” window installation will receive a $1,000 cash prize from Harbor East.

 

For more information please visit mdartplace.org and download the full prospectus and application form here.

Wodzianski and (e)merge

In the last two years, many have noted that (e)merge has somewhat carved out a niche for itself in the area of performance art. And there is some very strong merit in this assessment - after all, who can forget Andrew Wodzianski’s exhausting performance while re-enacting the shipwreck scene from Moby Dick and floating in the Skyline Hotel's pool atop a coffin for two days?

Wodzianski is back for 2013 (e)merge, this time doing “Self Portrait as Jack Torrance.” In this endurance-based performance, “the artist replicates the obsession of Stephen King’s protagonist/antagonist in The Shining. Repetitively typing a prescriptive proverb inside the hotel lobby, the artist, acting as Jack Torrance, is condemned to artistic failure.”

To help with the performance there's a Kickstarter campaign going on - Check it out and contribute here and check out Andrew's performance next week at the (e)merge art fair -- October 3-6 at the Skyline Hotel.

Celebrating Norm Parish

Millennium Arts Salon - In cooperation with many Arts organizations will join in celebrating the life of Norman Parish on Saturday Afternoon, November 2, 2013.

Norman Parish and the Parish Gallery of Georgetown has meant so much to so many: visual artists from around the world...the book signings and artist talks...the photography community...the collectors...the celebrities...the Art Dealers Association...his many, many gallerist friends...All of us have benefited from that signature smile, that stentorian voice, that wonderful jazz, and that conviviality that was so much of the experience fostered by Norm Parish and his widow Gwen through 22 years, 170 exhibitions, and countless special events at the Gallery. 

Let's celebrate Norm's life, and gather to recommit ourselves to embracing each other in the community of art fans and patrons so beautifully fostered at the Gallery.

As details firm, look to this space for details on venue and time.  Those of you who wish to support this celebration, please write back to mel@millenniumartssalon.org with your expressions of interest.

Artists needs assistant for (e)merge

Participants for Performance

Borjana Ventzislavova is looking for participants to take part in a unique performance during the e(merge) Art Fair in Washington DC between 3-6 October 2013.


 

Conceived by the artist Borjana Ventzislavova, "15 minutes constitutional bed stories" is a performance in the public area of The Capitol Skyline Hotel. At the performance, visitors are invited to take a 15 minutes rest and/or to read passages from The Declaration of Independence and/or The Constitution of the United States of America in a proper bedroom set. The participants will be asked to express the way they respect the freedom documents through their actions, gestures or/and voice. 

 

Everyone is welcome to make a personal comment on the U.S. primary documents and / or just to relax in a bed for 15 min.


 

During the performance the artist will take Polaroid pictures. Every participant will be given an artwork signed by the artist.

Times and dates of the performance:
Thursday, October 3, from 5 pm to 8pm
Friday, October 4, 3 pm to 6pm
Saturday, October 5, 3pm to 6pm

To participate in the performance Please subscribe for participation by sending an e-mail to: call.la.casting@gmail.com

 

There is no age restriction for the event but they do ask that persons under 16 are accompanied by an adult.

Wanna go to an open studio tomorrow?

DC and California: Works by Sidney Lawrence

"DC and California: Works by Sidney Lawrence"

Opening Tuesday, Oct. 1, 6-8 pm
Artist talk Friday, Oct. 11, noon (approx. 40 minutes)
Where: University of California Washington Center's Alcove Gallery
1608 Rhode Island Ave NW (one block east of Connecticut Ave at Scott Circle, look for the flags).
Exhibition continues through Thursday, Oct. 31.

Day hours are 8 am to 8 pm. Weekend entry by door security. Gallery is to the left, with occasional UCDC events.

Information: sidneylawrenceart.com or 202-246-6963

Go to this tonight!

Ryan McCoy - Paintings

Opening Reception

Thursday, September 19th
6:30 - 8:00pm  

RSVP at the facebook event page

Show Dates: September 19 - October 20

Long View Gallery is pleased to announce RYAN MCCOY :: PAINTINGS, an exhibition by Ryan McCoy, opening on Thursday, September 19, with a public reception from 6:30-8:00pm. The exhibit will be on view through October 20, 2013.
In RYAN MCCOY :: PAINTINGS, McCoy presents a new body of work where he attempts to structure meaning through specific materials to create a personal iconography about time, place, and memory.
“With a consideration for the limitations of written language – that words are just approximations of thoughts and feelings – I attempt to structure experiences and memories from my life through material. The materials I use signify important moments from my life. The materials, representing otherwise disparate moments, are structured onto the canvas or into a space to create new intersections of meaning for me. They are a physical representation of how I feel and think; I try to say what I cannot say with words. This forms the basic logic through which the work is made. I try to just make really honest and personal work.”
McCoy’s work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, and is included in collections on four continents. McCoy earned his MFA and BFA from George Mason University and teaches at various schools in the DC metro area.

Long View Gallery

Warning to Artists

I know a lot of you have artwork on Saatchi Online... so:

Dear Artist,

We have recently been contacted by someone called Sophie Dare who is claiming to want to acquire a lot of works by Saatchi Online artists. I have subsequently discovered that she is contacting artists directly and asking to buy multiple works from them and offering all kinds of incentives. We have heard that one artist (not from Saatchi Online) sent her many works a while ago as part of an agreement and never got paid.

So we would strongly advise not to respond to any emails from this person.

We are very sorry about this and are trying to be as vigilant as possible with cases like this in order to protect Saatchi Online artists.

 

Rebecca Wilson

Chief Curator and Director of Artist Development, Saatchi Online
Director, Saatchi Gallery