Art fair people
Friday, September 23, 2022
Thursday, September 22, 2022
Monday, September 19, 2022
Star Trek at the Affordable Art Fair NYC
"Before Assimilation", Acrylic on vintage Star Trek blueprints by Andrew Wodzianski will be at booth D15 with Alida Anderson Art Projects, at Affordable Art Fair New York City in Chelsea Sept 22-25!
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| Before Assimilation Acrylic on vintage Star Trek blueprints by Andrew Wodzianski |
Sunday, September 18, 2022
Frida Flower
This work, "Frida Kahlo Flower" will be part of the Nueva Vida Charity Auction for cancer survivors and caregivers to be held at the Cultural Institute of Mexico in Washington, DC.
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| Frida Kahlo Flower by Florencio Lennox Campello, c. 2022 |
Save the date!
Cultural Institute of Mexico
2829 16th St. NW
Washington D.C.
Oct 15th, 2022 5:30- 9:30 pm
Saturday, September 17, 2022
Friday, September 16, 2022
Not my Problem by Marianela de la Hoz
Will be at CONTEXT Art Fair in booth A29 during Art Basel Miami Beach week of art fairs in Miami!
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| Not my Problem by Marianela de la Hoz |
Thursday, September 15, 2022
Empirical evidence for Murphy's Law
I live in a cul-de-sac in the Marylandian suburbs of Washington, DC. In order to drive from my house to the main street in the area, I have to drive three quarters of a mile and take three right turns in my neighborhood's streets.
The neighborhood itself is made up of single family homes - each one with its own driveway and two-car garage. Assuming that most people have their garage full of junk, there's ample space in their driveways for two cars to park and be off the street.
One of the planet's smartest minds is Malcolm Gladwell, who has eloquently discussed the 10,000 hour rule for becoming an expert at anything. He discussed this in his amazing book “Outliers.” As Gladwell tells it, the rule goes like this:
It takes 10,000 hours of intensive practice to achieve mastery of complex skills and materials.
I've somewhat adapted the rule to gather 10,000 points of data for an interesting experiment. Here how it started.
I moved into this house in 2009. Soon afterwards I started to notice an interesting and baffling series of curious events whenever I drove away from my house towards any destination (or the return trip) - for the first 3/4 of a mile they're nearly always the same. Or when I enter the same entry point (from the main street towards my house) and drive home. In other words, a round trip.
The streets leading to the neighborhood exit are mostly clear of parked cars, as nearly every house parks in their own driveways. Households with more that two cars do often park on the street, as do visitors, etc. Whenever a vehicle is parked on the neighborhood streets, it essentially blocks that side of the street, forcing any traffic on that side of the street to have to use the oncoming/other side of the street to continue on.
The neighborhood also has a lot of "regular" street walkers (not hookers), dog walkers, and runners, and car traffic is generally very light.
Vehicular traffic is generally very light in the neighborhood - usually only the people who live there, delivery vehicles, visitors, and garbage and/or recycling trucks.
A few months after we moved in, I noticed that there seemed to be a higher incidence of the following scenario... that one would expect statistically.
The scenario is that the incidence of two oncoming vehicles "meeting" at the spot where one side of the road is blocked by a parked car appeared to be weirdly tilted towards a Murphian dictate of events.
Add to that the odds of the random dog walker, stroller or runner, a parked car and two oncoming vehicles meeting at precisely the worst spot on the streets from my house to the neighborhood exit, and my curiosity was kindled.
And thus, I started to keep a log in my car - using a calendar book - to record these instances of two cars, driving towards each other, meeting at the narrowest space created by a third car parked on the street.
A few days ago, my 10 thousandth drive took place - about 12 years or so of trips, usually at random times of the day or night, and 12 yearly calendars full of data.
Of those 10,000 data points the following was recorded:
- No oncoming traffic was met whenever a parked car blocked one side of the road 4,611 times
- An oncoming car was met at the blocked spot (forcing one car to stop and wait for the other car to pass) 5, 389 times
- Of that 5, 389 times, 2, 673 times, not only where there two cars meeting at the "blocked" spot, but there were also either walkers, runners or dog walkers in the same narrow area - thus making driving maneuvers even more complicated.
54% of the time that I drove from/to my home I came across an oncoming vehicle at precisely the one spot (in an otherwise generally open street) where there was a third car blocking one side of the road!
Under what statistical scenario does that make sense when there are .75 of a mile of streets which are 98% empty of parked cars (on the street)?
Murphy!!!!!!!
Wednesday, September 14, 2022
Sleep is the Cousin of Death
Finished! Will be at booth D15 at the Affordable Art Fair in Chelsea in New York City 22-25 September!
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| Sleep is the Cousin of Death Mixed Media Painting on Paper 36x36 inches, c. 2022 |
Tuesday, September 13, 2022
Wayson Jones Artist Talk
Montgomery College’s Visual and Performing Arts Department presents Artist in Resident Wayson Jones Artist Talk on Wednesday, September 28th, 2022, at 1 PM.
The Montgomery College Visual and Performing Arts Department of the Takoma Park/Silver Spring Campus presents the first artist talk of Fall Semester 2022 featuring artist in residence Wayson Jones. He is a painter, musician, and spoken-word artist. A virtual artist talk will be given at 1pm on Wednesday, September 28th, 2022. This event will be held via ZOOM webinar. A workshop with the artist will be held on November 1, 2022, at 1:10 pm in room # CF 218 at the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation Arts Center, 930 King Street, Silver Spring, MD 20910. Both events are free and open to the public. Please go to www.montgomerycollege.edu/artsinstitute to register for the artist talk.
About the Artist
Wayson R. Jones is a painter, musician, and spoken-word artist. He received a degree in music from University of Maryland and later went on to perform with renowned poet Essex Hemphill, as part of Washington DC’s burgeoning Black LGBT arts scene of the 1980s and ‘90s. His visual art is informed by these experiences and by an exuberant approach to materiality and process. Wayson has had solo shows at BlackRock Center for the Arts, Arts/Harmony Hall, and the Northern Virginia Community College Margaret W. and Joseph L. Fisher Gallery and he is the recipient of a 2017 Individual Artist Fellowship from the Prince George’s Arts and Humanities Council. His work has been purchased by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, the Maryland/National Capitol Park and Planning Commission, MGM National Harbor, and The Hotel at the University of Maryland, and is in private collections in the DC area and nationally.
Monday, September 12, 2022
The curious case of the Washington Commanders and Washington state
Phone ringing...
Fill in the blank Graphic Design: Hello...
Someone in the Washington Commanders team: Hey! Is this Fill in the blank Graphic Design?
Fill in the blank Graphic Design: Oh, yeah... yeah - can I help you?
Someone in the Washington Commanders team: Yeah... hey we need a design for our new team name for our mugs and stuff...
Fill in the blank Graphic Design: No worries - I can have something back to you in a few days...
Someone in the Washington Commanders team: Great! We'd like our new "W" on top of the outline of Washington
Fill in the blank Graphic Design: Cool! Email me your new "W" and we'll design a great new graphic!
Someone in the Washington Commanders team: Great... I'm sending it over now.
Fill in the blank Graphic Design: OK man! Just got it -- I'll just put it on top of an outline of Washington!
Two days later and $20K in design fees later...
Phone ringing...
Fill in the blank Graphic Design: Hello...
Someone in the Washington Commanders team: Hey! Is this Fill in the blank Graphic Design?
Fill in the blank Graphic Design: Oh, yeah... yeah - can I help you?
Someone in the Washington Commanders team: Hey man... this is the Washington Commanders... I just got your email with the design - looks great!
Fill in the blank Graphic Design: Who's this again?
Someone in the Washington Commanders team: This is the Washington Commanders???
Fill in the blank Graphic Design: Oh yeah man... sorry... did you get my email with the new design?
Someone in the Washington Commanders team: Yeah... looks great man!
Fill in the blank Graphic Design: Thank you man!
Then this goes up for sale... cough... cough...
Sunday, September 11, 2022
Saturday, September 10, 2022
Friday, September 09, 2022
American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center - The Fall shows
7 Fall Exhibits Open Saturday at AU's gorgeous Katzen Museum...
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Thursday, September 08, 2022
The 2022 Trawick Prize winners are...
The Trawick Prize: Bethesda Contemporary Art Awards, a juried art competition produced by the Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District, announced the 2022 prize winners during last night’s awards reception.
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| WonJung Choi and Carol Trawick |
WonJung Choi of Richmond, VA was awarded the prestigious “Best in Show” title and received the $10,000 top prize. Caryn Martin from Baltimore, MD was named second place and given $2,000; Robert Martin from Staunton, VA was bestowed third place and received $1,000; and Evie Metz from Henrico, VA was awarded the Young Artist Award and received $1,000.
WonJung Choi, was born and raised in Seoul, Korea. Her series of sculptures, paintings, drawings, and installation explores the power of her every changing identity in the making. She’s studied the process of mutation and evolution undertaken by diverse organisms to adapt to their current surroundings reflecting her hybrid identity through the continuous interactions between herself, contemporary culture and society. Choi received her Master of Fine Arts from the School of Visual Arts in New York and her Bachelor of Arts and Master of Fine Arts in Sculpture from Hong-Ik University in Seoul, Korea. She has exhibited her work nationally and internationally, and has been awarded residencies at the Museum of Arts and Design and Artists Alliance Inc. (AAI) in New York as well as a fellowship at Vermont Studio Center.
2022 Trawick Prize Finalists
MK Bailey, Washington, D.C.
WonJung Choi, Richmond, VA
Marcia Haffmans, Richmond, VA
Ali Kaeini, Richmond, VA
Caryn Martin, Baltimore, MD
Robert Mertens, Staunton, VA
Evie Metz, Henrico, VA
Judith Pratt, Orange, VA
Entries were juried by Alexis Assam, Regenia A. Perry, Assistant Curator of Global Contemporary Art at The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VFMA); Thomas James, Visual Arts Curator at Creative Alliance in Baltimore, MD; and Maria del Carmen Montoya, Assistant Professor of Sculpture and Spatial Practices, Director of Graduate Studies, M.F.A. in Fine Arts and Social Practice, Studio Arts Program.
Founded by Carol Trawick in 2003, the regional competition is one of the largest prizes to annually honor visual artists. Ms. Trawick, a longtime community activist in downtown Bethesda, also established the Bethesda Painting Awards in 2005. She has served as the Chair of the Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District, Bethesda Urban Partnership, Strathmore and the Maryland State Arts Council. She founded the Jim and Carol Trawick Foundation in 2007 to assist health and human services and arts non-profits in Montgomery County, MD. The Foundation has awarded grants to more than 90 nonprofits in Montgomery County and funds the annual Trawick Prize and the Bethesda Painting Awards.
To date, The Trawick Prize has awarded more than $260,000 in prize monies and has exhibited the work of more than 160 regional artists.
The work of the finalists will be on exhibit at Gallery B, 7700 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite E, until October 2. Gallery hours for the duration of the exhibit will be Thursday-Sunday, 12 – 5pm.
Wednesday, September 07, 2022
For AAFNYC!
Working on another version of "Sleep is the Cousin of Death." This one is a 36x36 inches watercolor and I'll have it at the upcoming Affordable Art Fair New York City in New York City in a couple of weeks!
Tuesday, September 06, 2022
The Campello Art Fair Model (again)
I first proposed a slightly different version of this art fair model to all the organizations mentioned in this article about a decade ago, when there was (even then) a sense of art fatigue brewing in the art world. Result: zip, nada, nothing! No one even answered my letters (remember letters?).
In a post Covidian world, I suspect that a lot of people will still be a little leery of large group gatherings, and art fairs based on pre-Covidian standards may be a bit antiquated in the Brave Chickenized New World.
Herewith a revised Campello Art Fair Model.
The important thing to remember, as I mull, chew, and refine a "new" art post-Covidian fair model to replace the existing pre-Covidian art fair model, which in its American incarnations seemed to work well only in Miami and New York, but not so well in the West coast (and as we DMV-based folks have seen with (e)merge and artDC, not at all in the capital region), is the marriage of a legitimate art entity (a museum) with an art-for-sale process as a means to raise funds.
The seeds for this model already exist in the DC region with the Smithsonian Craft Show, now in its third decade.
Considered by many to be the finest craft fair in the world -- and from the many artists that I have spoken to over the years -- one of the best places to sell fine crafts as well, this prestigious and highly competitive juried exhibition and sale of contemporary American craft usually takes place each April for four days. It takes place at the National Building Museum in Washington, DC and it includes one-of-a-kind and limited-edition craft objects in 12 different media: basketry, ceramics, decorative fiber, furniture, glass, jewelry, leather, metal, mixed media, paper, wearable art and wood.
There were 120 exhibitors in their last show, including emerging artists and master craftsmen, over 30 of whom were first-time participants. Twelve of those selected were also first-time applicants to the show. All were chosen by a panel of expert jurors from a highly competitive field of close to 1,400 applicants.
So, we have a model for crafts in DC which has been working for over 30 years.
See where I'm going?
Can we envision the Smithsonian American Art Fair?
Or... The Smithsonian American International Art Fair?
The SAIAF would dramatically expand the business model of the Smithsonian Craft Fair to a National Mall-wide - outdoors - or even a citywide art fair anchored and guided by the Smithsonian Institution, and possibly either:
(a) spread throughout the various accommodating outdoor spaces at the various SI locales around the National Mall or even…
(b) in temporary art spaces, booth, or containers on the open spaces of the National Mall itself!
The latter is not as big of a deal as it sounds.
The National Mall already hosts a spectacular variety of outdoor events on the Mall spaces where complex display spaces are temporarily built, secured and just as quickly dismantled, grass re-seeded, and by Monday the Mall is back to normal.
Boom!
For art, all we need is protection from the weather and security. Perhaps even a combination of "free" (to the public) set of exhibitors (maybe out on the Mall) coupled with a paid admission set of exhibitors inside SI spaces -- or just make them all free to the public?
Details... details...
This new fair model would be open to both commercial art galleries and art dealers, as well as to art schools, and (and here's the key "and") to individual artists and cooperative artist-owned galleries.
Size matters… just ask Salvador Dali, who once said: “If you can’t paint well, then paint big!”
Would 1200 galleries, dealers, schools and artists in a mega, new-model art fair raise some interests from art collectors to come to DC for a long weekend in May?
It would if it attracted 100,000 visitors to the fair instead of 10,000 (like the looooong gone art fair artDC once attracted).
Are you aware that in May the Bethesda Fine Arts Festival in nearby Bethesda attracts 30-40,000 people to the streets of Bethesda for this artist-only street fine arts fair? or that also in May the Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival attracts the same number of people to the streets of the Reston Town Center to buy art from individual artists?
Both Bethesda and Reston have two of the highest median household incomes in the US. And I am told that the Greater Washington, DC region has the second highest concentration of multi-millionaires in the world.
The money is here - the key is to get the disposable income crowd in touch with the art.
Both Bethesda and Reston manage to accomplish this one weekend each year. Do not, under any circumstances assume that these are "street fairs" where teddy bears, country crafts, and dried flowers are sold. These are both highly competitive fine arts outdoor fairs where artists from all over the nation come to and compete for spots because artwork sells well.
I have seen $80,000 worth of sculptures sell to one collector in Bethesda and a painter with a price point of $17,000 sell out in Reston.
Do not let the snobby attitude of the high art world affect your preconception of what these two street art fairs are like; go visit one this coming (and hopefully post Covidian) and open your eyes. In 2021 the fairs slipped from May to later months… but I am sure that they’ll be back to May in 2022.
And because of them, and because of the success of Art Basel Miami Beach, we know that given a certain critical mass, people will come out to an art fair. The primary key for art dealers to have interest in an art fair is sales (and also exposure to new collectors, museum curators, etc.), but mainly sales.
If you are a British gallery, by the time you get yourself and your artwork to Miami Beach, you're in the hole a whole bunch of Euros and British pounds; if you don't sell anything (like it happened to a British gallery in artDC and an Israeli gallery at another fair), chances are that you won't return to that fair.
But increase the public attendance numbers exponentially, and Economics 101 tells you that sales will also increase exponentially. And unlike the hotel-deprived artDC location at the Convention Center, I am told by DC's tourist gurus that the National Mall is already a magnet location where visitors, regardless of where they are staying around the Greater DC region, flock to during their visits to the capital.
Since two major Greater DC area street art fairs already exist in May in the Greater DC area, we can even consider aligning the weekends so that both Reston, Bethesda, and the Smithsonian American International Art Fair all take place on the same weekend!
Offer free bus service between Reston and Bethesda and the National Mall for collectors to hop around during the fair weekend, and a public buzz alignment will begin to happen. The Smithsonian American International Art Fair starts on a Thursday through Sunday and both Reston and Bethesda continue to run on Saturday and Sunday. And the Smithsonian American International Art Fair is focused as a major fundraiser for the cash-hungry SI.
A formula of booth prices + perhaps a 5% commission on all sales (both tax deductible for American galleries) would take care of temporary Mall booth construction, re-seeding of grass, and booth construction inside SI venues and still yield a nice chunk of cash for the SI.
If there's commercial success and high public attendance, soon we'd see some satellite hotel fairs popping up all over DC and its easy-to-get-to suburbs; the Phillips will jump on the bandwagon right away.
ABMB had 26 fairs all over Greater Miami last December. Another DC-unique element to the above model, and an important element that only a Washington art fair weekend can add: include the Embassies!
In addition to all the above events taking place, the fair could also align with shows at 15-20 embassy galleries around DC. The embassies would showcase one (or a group) of their national artists, and then the fair would really have an international flavor, and the beginning seeds of an American Venice in the DMV.
DC is a small city; it's fairly easy to set up transportation between the embassies and the Mall. In fact, some embassies could probably set that up themselves.
I think that this "new" super model could (and eventually when someone delivers and implements it -- it will) challenge Miami Beach -- and yes, I am aware that DC in May is not Miami in December -- but I also think that the District's own museums and public attractions trump Miami's anytime, so the DMV has something different to offer the potential collector who may be considering attending a new art fair in a city (like DC) that also offers him/her some other cultural and visual attractions besides good weather, and nice beaches… and Calle Ocho.
DC art commissioners... Smithsonianos... DC city fathers and mothers.... call me!
Monday, September 05, 2022
Monroe sees her last visitor
I'm going to bring about 30-40 original works on broken Bisque to New York in a couple of weeks - now experimenting with breaking them further one the drawing is done.
This is "Monroe sees her last visitor." It will be at the Affordable Art Fair New York City in a couple of weeks in Chelsea.
Sunday, September 04, 2022
The 2022 Paint the Town Award Winners!
It was my distinct and unique honor to serve as the 2022 Paint the Town juror for the Montgomery Art Association, which together with the town of Kensington, Maryland stages this annual visual art exhibition and competition each year in beautiful Kensington, just outside of the District.
This was a very difficult show to juror - both the open exhibition at the Kensington Armory and the plein air competition which took place yesterday all over this beautiful Maryland town outside nearby Washington, DC. Below are the award winners selected by me - congratulations to all of them... it was a really difficult competition!
Let me repeat myself: as all great shows are, this was an immensely difficult show to judge, which is a good thing! The quality of entries was uniformly superior in almost every category, and the difference between first, second, third, and even some honorable mentions was minimal. The Portrait category in particular was tough to judge as there were so many really outstanding entries. And I was especially surprised by the Kensington category – there was not a single bad entry! As always, I am honored to be able to judge and comment on work of my fellow artists.
Kensington Category
1st Place & Best in Show (Bertha Clum Award): Historia Est Magistra Vitae by Dora Patin
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| Historia Est Magistra Vitae by Dora Patin |
2nd Place: The Hard Work by Paula Zeller
3rd Place: Early Morning on the MARC by Barbara Mandel
Honorable Mentions: Light Remains by Virginia Browning; At the Station by Susan Fitch Brown; Cedar Lane, 3 am by David Sommers
Landscape Category
1st Place: Golden Cloud by Sarah Clayton Davis
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| Golden Cloud by Sarah Clayton Davis |
2nd Place: Vaison La Romaine, France by Mary Vinograd
3rd Place: Water Meadows, Woodfield Road by Benita Kane Jaro
Honorable Mentions: Time Out by Margaret Ingram; Winter by Rajendra KC; Isle of Capri by Deborah Pollack; Tempest by Ting Rao; The House Before the Storm by My-Linh Rouil; Nature's Sculpture by Yik Chek Phan
Portrait Category
1st Place: I Will Conquer by Isabella Martire
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| I Will Conquer by Isabella Martire |
2nd Place: You Are Gone and That Scares Me by Ally Morgan
3rd Place: Summer Morning by Ting Rao
Honorable Mentions: Glow by Jennifer Lynn Beaudet; Gaby Is Musing by Nan Dawkins; Playing the Blues by Karen Merkin; Weathered by Ellen Yahuda; Stock Up Time by Vicky Zhou
Still Life Category
1st Place: Veri Peri Macaron by Jennifer Barlow
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| Veri Peri Macaron by Jennifer Barlow |
2nd Place: A Bear Necessity by Amanda Coelho
3rd Place: Waiting for Wings by Christina Webber
Honorable Mentions: Chatty Onions by Nan Dawkins; Roses Ride by Jack Hammond
Abstract Category
1st Place: Metamorphosis by Sandra Pérez-Ramos
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| Metamorphosis by Sandra Pérez-Ramos |
2nd Place: Rhapsody of a Hug by Martina Sestakova
3rd Place: Crows by Nancy Randa
Honorable Mentions: Composition 29 by Mari Craig; Coastal Dreams by Rosemary Fallon; Happy Wave by Raya Salman; Exploration by Jenny Wilson
Sculpture Category
1st place: Patchwork of Promise by Peijisan Art
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| Patchwork of Promise by Peijisan Art |
2nd Place: A Much Needed Break by Samantha Hecox
3rd Place: Ice Bucket by Nadia Hewchuck
Honorable Mention: Fort! by Anastasia Walsh
Photography Category
1st Place: The Gymnast by Arindam Dasgupta
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| The Gymnast by Arindam Dasgupta |
2nd Place: Warbler House by Julie Steinberg
3rd Place: Snow Day by Regina Boston
Plein Air Competition
1st place: Saturday Market by Vicky Zhou
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| Saturday Market by Vicky Zhou |
2nd place: OK Morning! by Robert Pearlman
3rd place: Water Fountain by Carrie Adler
Honorable mentions: Professor by Holly Buehler; Outdoor Seating, Kensington by Garine Magary
Student Invitational
Winner: The Bearer by Elielle Kayomb
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| The Bearer by Elielle Kayomb |
2nd Place: Hammer Brooch by Nadia Hewchuck
3rd Place: A Gazelle in the Water by Stephanie Fernandez
Saturday, September 03, 2022
Job in the Arts
Chief Executive Officer, International Arts & Artists
International Arts & Artist's Board of Trustees is immediately seeking a dynamic, skilled, experienced leader to become IA&A's next President and Chief Executive Officer when our founder David Furchgott retires this fall.
Ideal candidates will have:
- A passion for IA&A’s mission of increasing cross-cultural understanding through the arts.
- 10+ years appropriate professional experience, including at least five years in an executive role.
- Substantive connections in the arts and strong relationships with national & international arts leaders.
- A record of success in the growth of her/his past endeavors. • A deep understanding of, and a driving commitment to, the arts and cultural exchange.
- A history of effective leadership and the ability to motivate and inspire a small but talented team.
- Entrepreneurial instincts with strong business acumen with a drive for results, and a track record in building new relationships and developing new programs.
- Track record in building revenue earned and charitable revenue streams. Compensation ranging from $120,000 to $145,000 plus health insurance and other benefits, and reasonable moving expense reimbursement (depending upon experience).
To learn more about this great opportunity, download the full job description. To apply visit DRi Waterstone.
IA&A at Hillyer | 9 Hillyer Ct, NW, Washington, DC 20008
(202) 338-0680 | | atHillyer.org
Friday, September 02, 2022
2022 Paint the Town Labor Day Show
The 2022 Paint the Town Labor Day Show starts tomorrow in downtown Kensington, MD. Enjoy artist demonstrations, yummy food trucks, amazing art, live music, and more!
Come enjoy the art of over 200 members of the Montgomery Art Association. The event is free and open to the public. Stop by September 3-5 at the Kensington Historic Armory at 3710 Mitchell Street, Kensington, MD. Also over 175 artists painting on the streets of Kensington! Plein air painting at its best!
https://montgomeryart.org/labor-day-2022/
Thursday, September 01, 2022
Monoprint Collages by Rosemary Cooley at Washington Printmakers Gallery
Dream Forest: Chance Meeting - Monoprint Collages by Rosemary Cooley
October 1 – 30, 2022 at at Washington Printmakers Gallery
1641 Wisconsin Ave. NW, Washington DC
Opening reception: Saturday, October 1 from 6:00-8:00 p.m.
Washington Printmakers presents artworks of Rosemary Cooley, in her fifth solo exhibition at the gallery. Her painterly monoprints and collages reflect thoughts from the unconscious mind, a personal archeology based on a lifetime of world travel and cross cultural experiences, coupled with a love of art history and the materials of art making.
As a printmaker who has long honored process as a road to product, she now delves into the Jungian concept that one must disentangle from the Ego, and work intuitively, to reach a more powerful path.
In this exhibit, the artist celebrates notions of Individuation, of finding one’s unique personality apart from societal expectations. The Celebration of the Collective Unconscious, in which there are symbols which mankind has repeated throughout ages and over countless cultures, also plays a strong role.
The artworks are created from torn and cut monoprints, all hand pulled from an inked polymer plate onto various archival papers, ranging from thick to thin. This is where the Dream Forest begins, and where certain unexpected, even disparate entities come together to form a new sensory reality.
Unconscious thoughts spill into the real world in the form of landscapes, still lifes and abstract designs as monoprint pieces combine with old script, found in world markets, are transferred onto thin Japanese papers and added to the works. Often the work is sharpened with watercolor painting. And as a final step, Cooley's fascination with medieval manuscript illuminations is reflected in accents of 23k gold leaf.
This chance meeting of unrelated entities somehow creates a new reality when pasted down. As Jung said, “Often the hands know how to solve a riddle with which the intellect has wrestled in vain.”
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