Go there first, then see all the other artists participating in the event.
12-5pm Saturday December 10... start at 3700 Otis Street, Mt. Rainier, MD.
Wednesday, December 07, 2016
Gateway Arts District Open Studios this Saturday
Go there first, then see all the other artists participating in the event.
12-5pm Saturday December 10... start at 3700 Otis Street, Mt. Rainier, MD.
Tuesday, December 06, 2016
The 11th Street Bridge Park project
The 11th Street Bridge Park is a nonprofit project led by Building Bridges Across the River at THEARC based in Southeast D.C. Every dollar they spend comes from generous donations from corporations, foundations and individuals like you. Did you know that in addition to securing $45 million to build the Bridge Park, their team also annually raises:
- $210,000 for the Anacostia River Festival
- $1 million+ for the implementation of our Equitable Development Plan
- $40,000 for urban farms working with local faith communities
- $200,000+ for additional cultural programming like September’s Lantern Walk
The Bridge Park is positively impacting the community and creating opportunities for residents in so many different ways. We need YOU to be a part of it. DONATE TODAY.
Monday, December 05, 2016
Heading back to the DMV
Heading back home in a super early flight from Ft Lauderdale - another ABMB art week in the bag!
Sunday, December 04, 2016
Context, the last day
Today was probably the most crowded day at the Context Art Miami fair in Wynwood, and from the reports that I got throughout the day, it was also packed at Aqua and at Scope.
Over at Scope I worked a morning telephonic sale for Tim Tate for a major piece heading to a well-known collector in Naples, Florida.
In spite of the large crowds, and the hundreds and hundreds, and hundreds of photographs that people always take (of the art) at the art fairs, it was somewhat slower, as far as sales go, although Jodi Walsh did manage to place a large clay installation with a local collector in Miami.
As we were closing at 6PM, I did manage to sell a large drawing, which happens to be my latest piece; it's always great to close the fair with a last minute fair.
As we always do, we had strategically parked the van by the loading gate - this means getting to Wynwood at 7AM to find a parking spot, and then hanging around for 4 hours until the fair opens. But the huge payoff is that then we were out of there by 7:30PM!
From there we headed to Miami Beach to load Tim Tate's work that was featured at the Scope Art Fair.
That load out was another story - the way Scope is located right on the beach necessitates a complex chess games of vans and trucks, etc., all apparently requiring police escort into the sand. It also means that no one really gets to park close to the tent, which means that the artwork has to be schlepped one piece at the time on the sand, as no wheeled vehicle to carry multiple pieces can be used (because of the sand). Also, for some inexplicable reason, the Scope management doesn't allow hand-carrying of work via the tent's loading dock. This requires even longer treks in the sand, all resulting in a brutal load in/out procedure for those who hand-carry/drive their own art.
Lesson learned? If you do Scope, then it is imperative to use an art delivery service and pay them to deal with this nightmare.
In spite of all of this, and via the use of a couple of hired hands, there were four of us loading, and it took about two and a half hours... by 10:30PM we were heading to Little Havana, hoping to hit the sack for an early morning wake-up, as Audrey hits the road for the drive back to the DMV around 4:30AM and my flight departs around 6AM.
Another year, another big dance done!
Over at Scope I worked a morning telephonic sale for Tim Tate for a major piece heading to a well-known collector in Naples, Florida.
In spite of the large crowds, and the hundreds and hundreds, and hundreds of photographs that people always take (of the art) at the art fairs, it was somewhat slower, as far as sales go, although Jodi Walsh did manage to place a large clay installation with a local collector in Miami.
 |
| Wall Installation by Jodi Walsh |
As we always do, we had strategically parked the van by the loading gate - this means getting to Wynwood at 7AM to find a parking spot, and then hanging around for 4 hours until the fair opens. But the huge payoff is that then we were out of there by 7:30PM!
From there we headed to Miami Beach to load Tim Tate's work that was featured at the Scope Art Fair.
That load out was another story - the way Scope is located right on the beach necessitates a complex chess games of vans and trucks, etc., all apparently requiring police escort into the sand. It also means that no one really gets to park close to the tent, which means that the artwork has to be schlepped one piece at the time on the sand, as no wheeled vehicle to carry multiple pieces can be used (because of the sand). Also, for some inexplicable reason, the Scope management doesn't allow hand-carrying of work via the tent's loading dock. This requires even longer treks in the sand, all resulting in a brutal load in/out procedure for those who hand-carry/drive their own art.
Lesson learned? If you do Scope, then it is imperative to use an art delivery service and pay them to deal with this nightmare.
In spite of all of this, and via the use of a couple of hired hands, there were four of us loading, and it took about two and a half hours... by 10:30PM we were heading to Little Havana, hoping to hit the sack for an early morning wake-up, as Audrey hits the road for the drive back to the DMV around 4:30AM and my flight departs around 6AM.
Another year, another big dance done!
Saturday, December 03, 2016
Context Saturday: Best day so far
We departed our beach hotel in Hollywood and will spend the next two nights in my cousin's fortress in Little Havana, as we have done for the last few years.
Different scent in the crowds at the Context Art Miami fair today; there are still loads of women as slim as rifles, and men in impossibly tight pants, but there are also a lot more folks at Context not to be seen, but to see the artwork.
Saturday saw the sale of another Tim Vermeulen painting, two of my drawings, a major hook-up between Jodi Walsh and a NYC design firm, and Audrey Wilson got invited to participate in a curated show at Union College in upstate New York.
Different scent in the crowds at the Context Art Miami fair today; there are still loads of women as slim as rifles, and men in impossibly tight pants, but there are also a lot more folks at Context not to be seen, but to see the artwork.
 |
| Tim Vermeulen,me, Jodi Walsh and Georgia Nassikas |
Friday, December 02, 2016
Context Friday: The collectors arrive
Large crowds at Context today and a different sense in the air... more purpose to the buyers.
We had multiple sales today at the Context Art Fair... both my large mixed media videos found homes, as well as several drawings, plus three oil paintings by Tim Vermeulen and a wall sculpture by Elissa Farrow Savos.
Also some visits by DMV artists doing some of the other fairs.
We had multiple sales today at the Context Art Fair... both my large mixed media videos found homes, as well as several drawings, plus three oil paintings by Tim Vermeulen and a wall sculpture by Elissa Farrow Savos.
Also some visits by DMV artists doing some of the other fairs.
The curious case of Fidel Castro and La Quinceañera
Yesterday at the Context Art Miami fair, one of the cleaning ladies was nearby our booth and speaking on her cell phone using the machine gun steccato of Cuban Spanish that drives other Spanish speakers crazy.
"Cubans," once wrote the Argentinian writer Jacobo Timerman, "use Spanish as a weapon."
I could tell that she was trying to calm someone down on the other side of the conversation. When she hung up, she burst into tears.
Alarmed, I walked up to her and asked what was wrong. Prior to this event, we had exchanged pleasantries and she had told me that her family was from Matanzas. With tears on her face, she related that she had been speaking with her niece in Cuba.
It seems that her niece was in the middle of her Quinceañera party when the Cuban police showed up.
A Quinceañera party is the coming of age party that Cuban girls, and girls throughout Latin America celebrate on their 15th birthday. It remains one of the most important and strongest traditions of the Spanish-speaking world.
In Cuba, because of the extreme necessities of the Cuban people, setting up a Quinceañera party often takes years of preparation, usually in close coordination with relatives in other countries who can hand-carry and bring the required items needed to stage the most important social event in a young girl's life.
In this case, the teary cleaning lady told me that she had made half a dozen trips in the last two years binging party items, shoes, dress, candy, stockings; the list went on and on as she sobbed.
The local police showed up to the party, and informed the family that they were in violation of the official nine days of luto (mourning) for the death of Fidel Castro Ruz; parties and music-playing was strictly forbidden.
All guests' names were taken down and all were ordered to leave. When La Quinceañera's mother began to cry and complain to the police, she was pushed to the ground and punched in the mouth. When La Quinceañera's father tried to help his wife, he was also beaten and then arrested.
That's why this nice cleaning lady was trying to calm her abused family members across the miles, and then broke down once she hung up.
"Even after that desgraciado is dead, he's still abusing us," she sobbed in Spanish. I hugged her, and we cried a little together.
That's Cuba after Fidel, week one.
"Cubans," once wrote the Argentinian writer Jacobo Timerman, "use Spanish as a weapon."
I could tell that she was trying to calm someone down on the other side of the conversation. When she hung up, she burst into tears.
Alarmed, I walked up to her and asked what was wrong. Prior to this event, we had exchanged pleasantries and she had told me that her family was from Matanzas. With tears on her face, she related that she had been speaking with her niece in Cuba.
It seems that her niece was in the middle of her Quinceañera party when the Cuban police showed up.
A Quinceañera party is the coming of age party that Cuban girls, and girls throughout Latin America celebrate on their 15th birthday. It remains one of the most important and strongest traditions of the Spanish-speaking world.
In Cuba, because of the extreme necessities of the Cuban people, setting up a Quinceañera party often takes years of preparation, usually in close coordination with relatives in other countries who can hand-carry and bring the required items needed to stage the most important social event in a young girl's life.
In this case, the teary cleaning lady told me that she had made half a dozen trips in the last two years binging party items, shoes, dress, candy, stockings; the list went on and on as she sobbed.
The local police showed up to the party, and informed the family that they were in violation of the official nine days of luto (mourning) for the death of Fidel Castro Ruz; parties and music-playing was strictly forbidden.
All guests' names were taken down and all were ordered to leave. When La Quinceañera's mother began to cry and complain to the police, she was pushed to the ground and punched in the mouth. When La Quinceañera's father tried to help his wife, he was also beaten and then arrested.
That's why this nice cleaning lady was trying to calm her abused family members across the miles, and then broke down once she hung up.
"Even after that desgraciado is dead, he's still abusing us," she sobbed in Spanish. I hugged her, and we cried a little together.
That's Cuba after Fidel, week one.
Wednesday, November 30, 2016
Context Day Two
Brutal drive to Wynwood to get to the art fairs - that needs to be fixed... how? see this.
Bit of a slow day, as all dealers seem to be commenting about how the separation of Context Art Miami from its sister megafair Art Miami has/will affect Context.
Personally I think that Context has begun to outshine its elder sister - not just me, but loads of collectors have expressed similar views; only time will tell.
With Audrey at the wheel of the huge cargo van, we arrived just in time after spending nearly an hour to go the last 2-3 blocks in Wynwood. By eleven AM we were set.
I strolled a little and spent some time speaking to Ciara Gibbons from Gibbons & Nicholas, a wonderful Irish gallery with a powerfully curated booth dealing with socially inquisitive artwork that addresses the worldwide problem of mass migrations. It would be good to see that artwork and those Irish artists in a DMV museum... very appropriate to these interesting times.
In the late afternoon we finally broke the ice and sold one of my drawings to a nice French couple from Miami Beach; it was soon followed by a sale of one of the very talented Georgia Nassikas to a Miami couple.
Later on the day there was a sports celebrity sighting in the booth, as legendary golfer Phil Mickelson and his wife dropped by the booth, took notes and pictures and admired some work... more on that later.
As the fair closed at 8PM, as we were packing we spent 45 minutes with a last minute collector who ended up buying two of my drawings and commissioning three more.
Day two done.
Bit of a slow day, as all dealers seem to be commenting about how the separation of Context Art Miami from its sister megafair Art Miami has/will affect Context.
Personally I think that Context has begun to outshine its elder sister - not just me, but loads of collectors have expressed similar views; only time will tell.
With Audrey at the wheel of the huge cargo van, we arrived just in time after spending nearly an hour to go the last 2-3 blocks in Wynwood. By eleven AM we were set.
I strolled a little and spent some time speaking to Ciara Gibbons from Gibbons & Nicholas, a wonderful Irish gallery with a powerfully curated booth dealing with socially inquisitive artwork that addresses the worldwide problem of mass migrations. It would be good to see that artwork and those Irish artists in a DMV museum... very appropriate to these interesting times.
In the late afternoon we finally broke the ice and sold one of my drawings to a nice French couple from Miami Beach; it was soon followed by a sale of one of the very talented Georgia Nassikas to a Miami couple.
Later on the day there was a sports celebrity sighting in the booth, as legendary golfer Phil Mickelson and his wife dropped by the booth, took notes and pictures and admired some work... more on that later.
As the fair closed at 8PM, as we were packing we spent 45 minutes with a last minute collector who ended up buying two of my drawings and commissioning three more.
Day two done.
Artomatic is coming back on 2017!
Building on a partnership that started in 2007, Artomatic will return to Crystal City
to host a signature event in the spring of 2017. They anticipate
attracting a large and diverse crowd showcasing a variety of creative
work, including visual art, music, film, live performance, fashion, and
more.
Look for more information about the next Artomatic in January when they kick off the New Year with a spring event in Crystal City!
The curious case of the Miami Art fair week, Wynwood, and traffic
There is a certain connection that exists between the success and survival of big events, the hosting city, people, businesses and traffic.
Make it hard for people to get to a concert venue, and they won't go. Make it difficult for people to get to a sporting event, and they'll stay home and watch it on TV.
Make it impossible for people to drive to art fairs during ABMB and they will not go to the fairs.
The cities of Miami and Miami Beach have a cash cow going on with the explosion of the Art Basel week of art fairs. By my unofficial count, there are no less than 26 art fairs going on around the Greater Miami area, plus countless side art events, plus museum parties, etc. They generate a lot of business for the local area, a lot of tax revenue for the cities and a lot of good stuff for Miamians.
And all that is in extremis if the cities (and the fairs) do not do a better job of traffic management.
"All they need is some police presence guiding and directing traffic!" noted the exasperated Uber driver. "Just like they do for concerts or football games; you never see this kind of traffic nightmare in those cases... why?... because the friggin' cops are on the corners directing traffic!"
I suspect that in those cases, the events/venues have a contract with the local police force, so that they pay a fee to get the traffic coverage. For the last two nights in Wynwood, traffic has been a nightmare, often taking over an hour to move one traffic light. I hear that in Miami Beach it is even worse.
Unless resolved, this is going to kill the fairs in Miami and Miami Beach. We've already heard complaints over the last years - this year has been the worst. "You can't get an Uber or a Lyft," noted an exasperated collector via text last night. "They can't get in the area!"
This has to be fixed.
All the Wynwood art fairs, and all the Miami Beach art fairs needs to get together and arrange for police support during the art fairs - there hasn't been any for the first day or two...this is not just advice, but a must do unless they see the traffic jams kill attendance and thus infect the subsequent death of the fairs. You never want to hear: "I used to go to the fairs, but now it's impossible to even get in... so..."
Art fairs are run by business entities; not artists - if this issue is this clear to most attendees and most exhibitors (who also have to get to the fairs in and out), then they must also be clear to the most casual observer.
Miami/Miami Beach: Fix the traffic jams, or the fairs will die off.
Update: On Wednesday and Thursday night cops magically appeared (at least in Wynwood) and traffic improved significantly - it's still packed, but at least moving a little!
Make it hard for people to get to a concert venue, and they won't go. Make it difficult for people to get to a sporting event, and they'll stay home and watch it on TV.
Make it impossible for people to drive to art fairs during ABMB and they will not go to the fairs.
The cities of Miami and Miami Beach have a cash cow going on with the explosion of the Art Basel week of art fairs. By my unofficial count, there are no less than 26 art fairs going on around the Greater Miami area, plus countless side art events, plus museum parties, etc. They generate a lot of business for the local area, a lot of tax revenue for the cities and a lot of good stuff for Miamians.
And all that is in extremis if the cities (and the fairs) do not do a better job of traffic management.
"All they need is some police presence guiding and directing traffic!" noted the exasperated Uber driver. "Just like they do for concerts or football games; you never see this kind of traffic nightmare in those cases... why?... because the friggin' cops are on the corners directing traffic!"
I suspect that in those cases, the events/venues have a contract with the local police force, so that they pay a fee to get the traffic coverage. For the last two nights in Wynwood, traffic has been a nightmare, often taking over an hour to move one traffic light. I hear that in Miami Beach it is even worse.
Unless resolved, this is going to kill the fairs in Miami and Miami Beach. We've already heard complaints over the last years - this year has been the worst. "You can't get an Uber or a Lyft," noted an exasperated collector via text last night. "They can't get in the area!"
This has to be fixed.
All the Wynwood art fairs, and all the Miami Beach art fairs needs to get together and arrange for police support during the art fairs - there hasn't been any for the first day or two...this is not just advice, but a must do unless they see the traffic jams kill attendance and thus infect the subsequent death of the fairs. You never want to hear: "I used to go to the fairs, but now it's impossible to even get in... so..."
Art fairs are run by business entities; not artists - if this issue is this clear to most attendees and most exhibitors (who also have to get to the fairs in and out), then they must also be clear to the most casual observer.
Miami/Miami Beach: Fix the traffic jams, or the fairs will die off.
Update: On Wednesday and Thursday night cops magically appeared (at least in Wynwood) and traffic improved significantly - it's still packed, but at least moving a little!
Tuesday, November 29, 2016
Context Day One
Today was the VIP opening at Context Art Miami in Wynwood... we got there a little early, in order to get some time to walk the fair before the opening.
After parking I got me a cortadito on the walk from the parking lot to the fair. I am convinced that Cuban coffee is the real reason that crack never took hold in Miami. The cortadito was $1.87 in Wynwood... In most places in Hialeah you can get one for a quarter.
Booth 326 looked really good - there was Dulce Pinzon, Audrey Wilson, Jodi Walsh, Georgia Nassikas, Tim Vermeulen, Elissa Farrow-Savos and Alma Selimovic - and my art - rocking the booth!
Meanwhile, over in Miami Beach's SCOPE Art Fair, Tim Tate was manning our booth at that fair showcasing his new work... but more on that later.
Opening night was the usual stroll of impossibly slim women in impossibly high heels, and handsome young dudes in tight pants and sockless long shoes. There was also a lot of very good tasting food and plenty of Prosecco flowing.
My family started arriving in waves, and I spent much of the night speaking to them... collectors also came by, most notably Texas ubercollector Ardis Bartle.
With most of my family members in one place together, I brought out a folder with around 100 lithographs and etchings that I had done 1977-1981 while a student at the University of Washington School of Art... I wanted to give them a choice of some of them as gifts.
Soon my familial peeps were spreading out the prints on the table and selecting them as a group. A few minutes later I noticed that several other people were also gathering around the table and selecting work. When I say "other people" I mean strangers.
Before my mind got this fact clear, I realized that people were helping themselves to the artwork - just anyone... not just my family.
By the time that I reached the folder, about 20 prints remained - I say maybe a third of those were in my family's new art collection; the rest now belong to perfect strangers who never bothered to ask a question, but just angled in, got some prints and left.
I guess that my artistic collectors' base just got expanded! cough... cough...
After parking I got me a cortadito on the walk from the parking lot to the fair. I am convinced that Cuban coffee is the real reason that crack never took hold in Miami. The cortadito was $1.87 in Wynwood... In most places in Hialeah you can get one for a quarter.
Booth 326 looked really good - there was Dulce Pinzon, Audrey Wilson, Jodi Walsh, Georgia Nassikas, Tim Vermeulen, Elissa Farrow-Savos and Alma Selimovic - and my art - rocking the booth!
Meanwhile, over in Miami Beach's SCOPE Art Fair, Tim Tate was manning our booth at that fair showcasing his new work... but more on that later.
Opening night was the usual stroll of impossibly slim women in impossibly high heels, and handsome young dudes in tight pants and sockless long shoes. There was also a lot of very good tasting food and plenty of Prosecco flowing.
My family started arriving in waves, and I spent much of the night speaking to them... collectors also came by, most notably Texas ubercollector Ardis Bartle.
 |
| Audrey Wilson, Ardis Bartle and Jodi Walsh |
With most of my family members in one place together, I brought out a folder with around 100 lithographs and etchings that I had done 1977-1981 while a student at the University of Washington School of Art... I wanted to give them a choice of some of them as gifts.
Soon my familial peeps were spreading out the prints on the table and selecting them as a group. A few minutes later I noticed that several other people were also gathering around the table and selecting work. When I say "other people" I mean strangers.
Before my mind got this fact clear, I realized that people were helping themselves to the artwork - just anyone... not just my family.
By the time that I reached the folder, about 20 prints remained - I say maybe a third of those were in my family's new art collection; the rest now belong to perfect strangers who never bothered to ask a question, but just angled in, got some prints and left.
I guess that my artistic collectors' base just got expanded! cough... cough...
The big ABMB Week Art Dance starts tonight!
Alida Anderson Art Projects invites you to the
VIP Opening Receptions of
CONTEXT ART MIAMI
Tuesday, November 29th @ 5:30-10pm
Alida Anderson Art Projects is
proud to participate for the fifth year in a row, in this year's CONTEXT ArtMiami fair, taking place November 29 - December 4 in the Wynwood Design
District of Miami.
The gallery will feature work
by Dulce Pinzón (Mexico), Jodi Walsh (Canada), Alma Selimovic (Bosnia), Elissa
Farrow-Savos (US), Tim Vermeulen (US), Georgia Nassikas (US), Audrey Wilson
(US) and F. Lennox Campello (US via Cuba).
We are located in booth 326, near the fair’s center collectors’ lounge.
 |
| Intemperance Detox Simulation... by Audrey Wilson - Context Booth 326 (Photo by @peted301) |
The gallery is also proud to
sponsor a gorgeous public art spaces installation by New York City artist
Matthew Langley in space SP10. On display are 35 of his small artworks – the largest
presentation ever!
 |
| Detail from Matthew Langley installation |
We are also at the SCOPE ArtFair in Miami Beach, where we’re showcasing a solo booth by Washington, DC
artist Tim Tate. His work is in booth D29 at SCOPE. Their VIP opening is also Tuesday, November 29 from 4-8PM.
 |
| Tim Tate at SCOPE Art Fair |
The gallery has a few complimentary
passes for the art fairs left, please contact us at info@alidaanderson.com for more
information.
Monday, November 28, 2016
Let me count the ways...
 |
| How Do I Love Thee? (Sonnets to The Portuguese) 36x36 inches, circa 2016 Charcoal on Paper by F. Lennox Campello |
 |
| How Do I Love Thee? (Sonnets to The Portuguese) - Detail 36x36 inches, circa 2016 Charcoal on Paper by F. Lennox Campello |
Come see it at the CONTEXT ART MIAMI fair in Wynwood - booth 326!
Sunday, November 27, 2016
Art Scam Alert!
Be aware of this SOB trying to steal artwork from artists!
From: John Marcus
My name is John Marcus from NC. I actually observed my wife has been
viewing your website on my laptop and i guess she likes your piece of
work, I'm also impressed and amazed to have seen your various works
too, : ) You are doing a great job. I would like to receive further
information about your piece of work and what inspires you. I am very
much interested in the purchase of the piece (in subject field above)
to surprise my wife. Kindly confirm the availability for immediate
sales. Thanks and best regards, John Marcus
My name is John Marcus from NC. I actually observed my wife has been
viewing your website on my laptop and i guess she likes your piece of
work, I'm also impressed and amazed to have seen your various works
too, : ) You are doing a great job. I would like to receive further
information about your piece of work and what inspires you. I am very
much interested in the purchase of the piece (in subject field above)
to surprise my wife. Kindly confirm the availability for immediate
sales. Thanks and best regards, John Marcus
Raul Castro is just as bad (if not worse)
 |
| The man being tied to a tree by Fidel Castro is a Cuban peasant from the Sierra Maestra. He refused to give his crops to the Cuban revolutionaries, and was "condemned" to execution for refusing. The man covering his eyes is Raul Castro. |
 |
| Here he is being executed. The man firing the rifle is Raul Castro |
 |
| The aftermath of the execution - all duly recorded by the camera. The man standing in the background by the collapsed victim is Fidel Castro. The man to the left of Raul Castro is Che Guevara. |
At Scope installating
It all starts today as Audrey Wilson begins installation of Tim Tate's pieces at the Scope Art Fair in Miami Beach!
Come see his new work in booth D29!
Come see his new work in booth D29!
 |
| A Silence Opens 2016 by Tim Tate. 24 x 18 x 4, silver plates and colored frame, mirror, ceramic, LEDs |
Saturday, November 26, 2016
Finally, he's dead!
It had to happen, after all, the old Celt was in his ninth decade, and yet, it was still somewhat of a surprise when the announcement came that the world's longest reigning dictator, Fidel Castro Ruz was dead.
Those Celtic people from Iberia's northern mountains last a long time, and Castro's generation was a particularly long-lived ones. "Estan hechos de hierro [They're made of iron]", my mother used to say.
But he's dead, and it sounds like he died in his sleep, or otherwise peacefully, unlike the tens of thousands of Cubans under his boot who died in pain, or under torture, or drowning, or against a firing-squad wall, or while being lobotomized... all because of him, via him, through him, as a result of him... him, him, him.
"El Caballo" was one lucky Celt - he escaped multiple attempts on his life; all while millions of his countrymen also escaped the hell that he made his island into.
After Fidel died, his spirit, as all do, arrived at the Pearly Gates. He stretched his tall frame and started walking towards the gate. To his relief, he noted that they were open. He also noted a tall, bald man standing outside the gates.
"I've been waiting for you," the man said in Spanish... clearly Cuban Spanish from Oriente province.
"Campello?," said Castro, recognizing the man, after all, they once spent many months together in the Sierra Maetra, "Why are you here, outside the Gates?"
My father comes a little closer to Fidel, who is still a little unsure of himself, probably for the first time in his life... ah afterlife. "As I said," repeats my father, "I've been waiting for you." He also stretches himself and he's just as tall as Castro.
Two tall Galicians facing each other.
Castro begins to speak when my father's fist smashes into his mouth, and the meaty part of Castro's inner lip shreds into his teeth. He stumbles backwards, spitting blood and teeth; his inner lip is wedged between his front teeth, making it hard to speak. He looks back, fear in his veins, looking for an escape venue. He then notices that there is a black hole nearby, and that rancid smoke and screams of pain come from within it.
Even Castro knows where that leads - after all, he studied in his youth at exclusive Jesuit schools. A privileged part of his upbringing from the upper class landed gentry of Cuba's Galician blue blood society.
He turns to my father as another fist smashes into his perfectly Aquiline nose; a Roman nose like the ancient statues. It makes a crunching sound, the bone shatters and blood begins to pump out of the nose, joining the blood from his mouth.
This is pain like Castro has never felt before. Suddenly his mind is flooded with thousands of memories of broken noses and broken teeth; all the memories of the Cubans that his henchmen tortured and killed over the decades.
He stumbles a little, trying to avoid my father and at the same time trying to avoid the black hole. He thinks that he hears a melee of voices coming from the hole - they call his name.
His first name, like Cubans once called him.
He cannot defend himself; he was always a coward. Even in the attack against the Moncada on that 26th of July long ago, he was the first to run and only one of a handful who got away. When he was finally caught, the black Cuban Army Lieutenant who captured him, recognized Castro and protected him, as that Lieutenant had once known Castro as children. It saved Fidel's life.
How did Castro repay this honorable man? He was one of the first Cubans executed in 1959. It was clear that Fidel was too embarrassed by his cowardly behavior to leave that man as a witness to it.
He's gotta talk his way out of this, but his lip is still caught and jammed between his front teeth, and his stammers and lisps. The lisp brings to mind the thousands of maricones that he sent to concentration camps for the crime of being gay. Many were accused of being gay simply because of speaking with a lisp, a gruesome logic if one side is armed with guns and power.
"Work Will Make Men Out of You" said the sign to the entrance to the concentration camp for gays and lesbians.
The next fist strikes him on the forehead and he stumbles and falls backwards. Now he feels the heat coming out of the black hole and the voices calling his name grow louder. The soundings inside his injured head is augmented with the images of the tens of thousands of gay men that he ordered "cured" via lobotomies.
He screams in terror and the thin strand of lip meat that has been wedged between his front teeth finally snaps and he's free to beg for mercy, but the blood is now pouring really fast into his throat and lungs, and he gasps for air.
My father's next punch strikes at his throat, and the Comandante begins to choke. Now his brain is filled with the over 60,000 Cubans who drowned at sea while attempting to escape from Cuba. He's drowning in blood and cannot understand how one can die twice.
One can't.
My father looks at him, and whispers the accusation that only Cubans who fought against Batista on the streets of Havana and Santiago and Guantanamo and many other Cuban cities know. Cubans who fought in the mountains of the Sierra Maestra and the Escambray; Cubans who risked their lives, and their families' lives to fight against a bloody tyrant, only to have that tyranny replaced with one a million times worse.
"Traidor", my father whispers as he kicks Castro down the black hole into the waiting hands who want to tear, the waiting teeth who want to bite, the waiting flames, which wait to burn.
There is no scream on the way down.
My father turns and slowly walks through the Gates... he's been waiting for Fidel, and now his wait is over.
"Un hombre puede ser traidor, pero un pueblo... jamas!"
Those Celtic people from Iberia's northern mountains last a long time, and Castro's generation was a particularly long-lived ones. "Estan hechos de hierro [They're made of iron]", my mother used to say.
But he's dead, and it sounds like he died in his sleep, or otherwise peacefully, unlike the tens of thousands of Cubans under his boot who died in pain, or under torture, or drowning, or against a firing-squad wall, or while being lobotomized... all because of him, via him, through him, as a result of him... him, him, him.
"El Caballo" was one lucky Celt - he escaped multiple attempts on his life; all while millions of his countrymen also escaped the hell that he made his island into.
After Fidel died, his spirit, as all do, arrived at the Pearly Gates. He stretched his tall frame and started walking towards the gate. To his relief, he noted that they were open. He also noted a tall, bald man standing outside the gates.
"I've been waiting for you," the man said in Spanish... clearly Cuban Spanish from Oriente province.
"Campello?," said Castro, recognizing the man, after all, they once spent many months together in the Sierra Maetra, "Why are you here, outside the Gates?"
My father comes a little closer to Fidel, who is still a little unsure of himself, probably for the first time in his life... ah afterlife. "As I said," repeats my father, "I've been waiting for you." He also stretches himself and he's just as tall as Castro.
Two tall Galicians facing each other.
Castro begins to speak when my father's fist smashes into his mouth, and the meaty part of Castro's inner lip shreds into his teeth. He stumbles backwards, spitting blood and teeth; his inner lip is wedged between his front teeth, making it hard to speak. He looks back, fear in his veins, looking for an escape venue. He then notices that there is a black hole nearby, and that rancid smoke and screams of pain come from within it.
Even Castro knows where that leads - after all, he studied in his youth at exclusive Jesuit schools. A privileged part of his upbringing from the upper class landed gentry of Cuba's Galician blue blood society.
He turns to my father as another fist smashes into his perfectly Aquiline nose; a Roman nose like the ancient statues. It makes a crunching sound, the bone shatters and blood begins to pump out of the nose, joining the blood from his mouth.
This is pain like Castro has never felt before. Suddenly his mind is flooded with thousands of memories of broken noses and broken teeth; all the memories of the Cubans that his henchmen tortured and killed over the decades.
He stumbles a little, trying to avoid my father and at the same time trying to avoid the black hole. He thinks that he hears a melee of voices coming from the hole - they call his name.
His first name, like Cubans once called him.
He cannot defend himself; he was always a coward. Even in the attack against the Moncada on that 26th of July long ago, he was the first to run and only one of a handful who got away. When he was finally caught, the black Cuban Army Lieutenant who captured him, recognized Castro and protected him, as that Lieutenant had once known Castro as children. It saved Fidel's life.
How did Castro repay this honorable man? He was one of the first Cubans executed in 1959. It was clear that Fidel was too embarrassed by his cowardly behavior to leave that man as a witness to it.
He's gotta talk his way out of this, but his lip is still caught and jammed between his front teeth, and his stammers and lisps. The lisp brings to mind the thousands of maricones that he sent to concentration camps for the crime of being gay. Many were accused of being gay simply because of speaking with a lisp, a gruesome logic if one side is armed with guns and power.
"Work Will Make Men Out of You" said the sign to the entrance to the concentration camp for gays and lesbians.
The next fist strikes him on the forehead and he stumbles and falls backwards. Now he feels the heat coming out of the black hole and the voices calling his name grow louder. The soundings inside his injured head is augmented with the images of the tens of thousands of gay men that he ordered "cured" via lobotomies.
He screams in terror and the thin strand of lip meat that has been wedged between his front teeth finally snaps and he's free to beg for mercy, but the blood is now pouring really fast into his throat and lungs, and he gasps for air.
My father's next punch strikes at his throat, and the Comandante begins to choke. Now his brain is filled with the over 60,000 Cubans who drowned at sea while attempting to escape from Cuba. He's drowning in blood and cannot understand how one can die twice.
One can't.
My father looks at him, and whispers the accusation that only Cubans who fought against Batista on the streets of Havana and Santiago and Guantanamo and many other Cuban cities know. Cubans who fought in the mountains of the Sierra Maestra and the Escambray; Cubans who risked their lives, and their families' lives to fight against a bloody tyrant, only to have that tyranny replaced with one a million times worse.
"Traidor", my father whispers as he kicks Castro down the black hole into the waiting hands who want to tear, the waiting teeth who want to bite, the waiting flames, which wait to burn.
There is no scream on the way down.
My father turns and slowly walks through the Gates... he's been waiting for Fidel, and now his wait is over.
"Un hombre puede ser traidor, pero un pueblo... jamas!"
Friday, November 25, 2016
Money for art
Art Money offers buyers interest-free loans, allowing art buyers to pay off the price of a work over the course of 10 monthly installments rather than shell out the full price tag of the piece in one fell swoop. A $10,000 work becomes an initial deposit of $1,000 and nine equal subsequent payments.Read about this really cool new resource as "Art Money, a New Startup, Is Offering Collectors Free Money to Buy Art."
This is indeed a potential game changer for galleries and new collectors!
Congrats to Jefferson Pinder
Each year, United States Artists (USA) awards $50,000 fellowships to the country's most accomplished and innovative artists working in the fields of
Architecture & Design, Crafts, Dance, Literature, Media, Music,
Theater & Performance, Traditional Arts and Visual Arts. Former DMV artist (now living in Chicago) and one of the 100 in my book about DC artists, Jefferson
Pinder is the recipient of the Joyce Fellowship in Performance and
Theater.
Fellows are selected through a rigorous,
highly competitive process involving hundreds of experts, scholars,
administrators and artists. USA Fellows spotlight the importance of
originality across every creative discipline, celebrating the broad
diversity of American artistic practices from coast to coast,
cultivating a creative ecology that is diverse in age, race, religion,
gender, and sexual orientation. Past
recipients of USA Fellowships include visual artists Glenn Ligon, Kara
Walker, Theaster Gates and Catherine Opie; cartoonist Chris Ware;
designers Kate and Laura Mulleavy (of Rodarte); performing artist
Meredith Monk; jazz composer Jason Moran; ballet dancer and
choreographer Benjamin Millepied; choreographer Bill T. Jones; and
writers Annie Proulx and Sapphire.
For more information about USA Fellowships, click here.
Jefferson Pinder's work provokes commentary about race and struggle. Focusing primarily with neon, found objects, and video, Pinder investigates identity through the most dynamic circumstances and materials. Through his meditative exploration with light and sound or his intensely grueling corporeal performances, he delves into conversations about race. His exploration of sound, music and physical performance are conceptual threads to examine history, cultural appropriation, and portrayals of exertion and labor. Creating collaged audio clips and surreal performances he under score themes dealing with Afro-Futurism and endurance.
His work has been featured in numerous group and solo shows including exhibitions at The Studio Museum in Harlem, the Wadsworth Athenaeum Museum of Art in Hartford, Connecticut, Showroom Mama in Rotterdam, Netherlands, The Phillips Collection, and the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC. At present, Pinder is preparing for the 2016 Shanghai Biennale, and has just finished a sculptural installation at the new Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture. Pinder resides in Chicago where he is a Professor in the Sculpture department at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
For more information on Jefferson Pinder, click here.
For available artworks by Pinder, who is represented locally by Curator's Office, click here.
Jefferson Pinder is ALSO representing the USA in the current 11th Shanghai Biennale with a work entitled Black Portal (2015). The exhibition is called "Why Not Ask Again: Arguments,
Counter-arguments, and Stories" and takes place at the Power Station of
Art, the first state-run museum dedicated to contemporary art in
mainland China. It was curated by Raqs Media Collective and co-organized
by Ugochukwu-Smooth Nzewi.
For more information about the 11th Shanghai Biennale, click here.
Context Art Miami - here we come!
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| Polarizing Mist Gun 2016, Audrey Wilson Glass, neon and found objects
Come see us in booth 326 at the Context Art Miami art fair Nov 29 - December 4, 2016.
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Thursday, November 24, 2016
Happy Thanksgiving
I hope that you all have the luck to spend today with your families... and I ask that we all think a thought for all of those who can't do that, especially our men and women in uniform stationed all over the world, and our sailors and Marines at sea.
Wednesday, November 23, 2016
Help to fund Alma
From hardworking and super-talented DMV area artist Alma Selimovic:
I am an artist who lives and creates in Mount Rainier, Maryland. I work with metal, but experiment with other materials such as plaster, digital media, photo transfers, fiberglass, etc. I have my own studio and I am involved in my local community, teaching art to kids at Art Works Now.
Six years ago, I would have never thought my life would have taken this direction. As one of the more prominent LGBTIQ activists in Bosnia and Herzegovina, I faced violence and threats. In late 2009, I came to the USA where I was granted political asylum.
I was new to USA, hardly making a living, struggling with language and barely making basic connections with other artists. For me, it was hard to imagine going to graduate school, having my own studio, and working endlessly.
But, here I am. Seven years later. I feel blessed to have a life I have. And, I would like to give something back. I took an opportunity to be an artist in residence at the INSTITUT FÜR ALLES MÖGLICHE, for two months (May and June, 2017) in Berlin, Germany. My focus there will be to create live digital drawings of people from Eastern Europe who are queer, trans and/or gender neutral. At the same time, I would like to record their life stories and incorporate them in the final work. I want to capture each person’s uniqueness and give their stories a different kind of voice. Incorporating visual and sound in my work is experimental for me and I am really excited to take that step. My drawings/instalations will be exhibited in Berlin, Bosnia, USA and potentially at a few other locations.
Where your money will go?
I would like to compensate travel and time of all of my models. Most individuals are transitioning or struggling in far worse ways than I ever did. I am turning to you for help. Please donate as little as you can or as much as you want. In return, you will become a part of this project and monitor its progress. You will also get a copy of my work, mailed to you upon my return to the US. If any of my work is sold during the exhibitions, part of the profit will be donated to LGBTIQ organisation in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Please help me help others tell their stories. Please help me make these stories count. Only together we can make change.
If you are not familiar with my work you can chek it out at www.almaselimovic.com.
Thank you,
Alma
Tuesday, November 22, 2016
Hurry!!!! Last minute call for artists!
Not much time... act now!
Her email is Laurie.Casey@gatesfoundation.org
If you're interested, please email Laura Casey by Friday, Nov. 26th!The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, through the work of its Employee Resource Groups (ERG), supports local organizations in different ways such as volunteering our time, sponsoring tables at fundraising events, and holding events to promote their work. This year, Latinos in Philanthropy, one of the five foundation ERGs, is hosting ArteFest on Thursday December 8th at 2:00pm, as a way of promoting the work of local Latino artists, such as yourselves. This event aims at promoting your work but also our culture among foundation staff and supporting our local Latino arts community.This event is an opportunity for you to promote your work and make yourself known to an audience who may not necessarily be familiar with your art. You are welcome to bring your business cards and any other promotional material you would like to distribute.It will not be possible to hang paintings in the conference room where the event will be held. Instead, we will provide you with easels as it has been done for past events. We understand that the standards you may be used to are different due to the high quality of your work; therefore, we thought it was important to communicate this information as soon as possible. On a personal note, prior to joining the Gates Foundation, I spent 15 years working with many of the area’s museums and galleries and private collectors, focusing on the accessible display of all types of works. I am happy to address any questions or concerns that you may have, pertaining to the set-up, logistics, and display at this small event. I may have even installed your work(s) in the past, in one of the public offices in DC, through a partnership my former company had with the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities.Because of the foundation’s nonprofit status, we are also not allowed to compensate you for your time; however, we can refund you for transportation expenses, if necessary.
The foundation is located at: 1300 I Street, NW (near the McPherson Square metro stop).
Her email is Laurie.Casey@gatesfoundation.org
“Unprecedented” Van Gogh Sketchbook Controversy
Two respected art historians ignited controversy on Tuesday when they proclaimed 65 ink drawings in a newly revealed sketchbook to be authentic works by Vincent van Gogh. But the Van Gogh Museum responded swiftly with a wholehearted rejection of the claim. So what are the opposing stories and why are art world experts describing the faceoff as “unprecedented”?Read the fascinating article by Abigail Cain here.
At The King Street Gallery
The King Street Gallery presents the 44th Annual Faculty Exhibition. The exhibit opens December 5, with a reception December 8. This exhibition features artwork by notable emerging and established DC artists. The prolific faculty and staff of Montgomery College’s Visual and Performing Arts department exhibit recent work in this annual exhibition. The show includes notable local artists Iona Rozeal Brown, J. J. McCracken, Michael Booker, Jake Muirhead, Renee Lachman, Jeremy Flick, Ellington Robinson, and Kate Kretz, among others.
Representing varied interests and backgrounds, faculty exhibit paintings, prints, photography, sculpture, and more. The 44th Annual Faculty Exhibition includes pieces previously exhibited nationally, as well as never-before seen artwork.
The 43rd Annual Faculty Exhibition runs December 5– January 27 at the King Street Gallery. A reception will be held Thursday, December 8 from 6–8 p.m.
The event is located at the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation Arts Center.
For more information, visit http://cms.montgomerycollege.edu/arts-tpss/exhibitions/. Free and open to the public.
Representing varied interests and backgrounds, faculty exhibit paintings, prints, photography, sculpture, and more. The 44th Annual Faculty Exhibition includes pieces previously exhibited nationally, as well as never-before seen artwork.
The 43rd Annual Faculty Exhibition runs December 5– January 27 at the King Street Gallery. A reception will be held Thursday, December 8 from 6–8 p.m.
The event is located at the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation Arts Center.
For more information, visit http://cms.montgomerycollege.edu/arts-tpss/exhibitions/. Free and open to the public.
Monday, November 21, 2016
Frida Kahlo Painting Rediscovered after 60 Years
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| Frida Kahlo, Niña con collar, 1929. Image courtesy of Sotheby’s. |
For six decades, the whereabouts of Frida Kahlo’s 1929 painting Niña Con Collar remained unknown. The only evidence that oil-on-canvas portrait had even existed was a black-and-white photograph taken by Lola Álvarez Bravo in the artist’s catalogue raisonné from 1988. Now, the work has resurfaced at Sotheby’s and is slated to go to auction next week as part of the house’s Latin America: Modern Art sale, with an estimate of $1.5–2 million. But the story of how the work arrived at the auction house is about more than its expected price tag.
Niña Con Collar has remained with a single owner, one of the artist’s former assistants, since 1955, the year after Kahlo’s death at the age of 47. As a token of gratitude, Kahlo’s husband Diego Rivera gifted the painting to this assistant, who had worked closely alongside the artist at her Mexico City studio.Read the whole fascinating article by Isaac Kaplan here.
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