Milena Kalinovska Top 10 Artomatic List

Milena Kalinovska is the Programs Manager for the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, and she made a concentrated effort to try to pick artists who were not in other people's "Top 10 Lists." In the end, some did cross over from her colleage's list mostly!

Art Enables
Anne Benolken
Greg Minah
Linda Hesh and Ami Wilber
Dale Hunt
Mark Jenkins
"Poets Room"
Ming-Yi Sung
Kelly Towles
The Washington Glass School

Kristen Hileman's Top 10 Artomatic List

Kristen Hileman is the Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. She sends in her Top 10 AOM list:

Artomatic “Poster-A-Day” Designers
Scott Brooks
Richard Dana
Linda Hesh and Ami Wilbur
Mark Jenkins
Mudishi Maternity Project
Pat McGeehan
Ming-Yi Sung
Kelly Towles
Denise Wolff

Donna Robusto's Top 10 AOM artists

Donna Robusto is the owner and director of the Ozmosis Gallery in Bethesda and she recently walked Artomatic and sends in her top ten picks:

Kelly Towles
Tiik Pollet
Jackie Greeves
John M. Adams
Rosana Azar
Aaron Quinn Brophy
Anna Shakeeva
John N. Grunwell
Matt W. Sesow
Matt R. Hollis

DC BLOGs on AOM

City Desk: The Progressive Review on Artomatic. Read it here and here.

Conspiracy of Sound on Artomatic. Read it here.

Art of the Possible on Artomatic. Read it here.

DC Musica Viva on Artomatic. Read it here.

Photo Net on Artomatic. Read it here.

And... the Art-O-Matic artists on Artomatic. Read it here.

Dealing with the WaPo

Today is the day that the Post is supposed to cover our area galleries in the Style section. And yet there's nothing. You better get used to it.

As reported here, the Style section has decided to cut its "Galleries" column to twice a month, rather than every Thursday.

And yet (and these are the kind of things that make no sense to me), there's a pretty good piece by a freelancer named Andy Grundberg on Six Centuries of Prints and Drawings: Recent Acquisitions at the National Gallery of Art. Grundberg is the Chairman of the Photo Department at the Corcoran and certainly quite qualified to augment either the museum or gallery review scene at the Post.

So the Post has decided to reduce their already measly gallery coverage in half because one of its two gallery art critic freelancers has quit; rather than just seek the services of another freelancer or give the assignment to people already in their freelance art stables, such as Grundberg apparently is!

Oh yeah... there's also piece in Arts Beat about art by prisoners on exhibit at a Lutheran Church somewhere.

Makes my head hurt.

What can our visual arts community do? It is so obvious that we're dealing with a mindset at the newspaper that is not very concerned with our area's galleries, artists and other visual art spaces that do not happen to be large museums. At least not in the same coverage proportions to what the Post already does for theater, music, books, TV, etc.

Their cultural apathy seems strictly dedicated to our area's galleries and artists.

I am told that the WaPo takes every letter received on an issue and multiplies it by 1500 readers who feel the same way, but who do not take the time and effort to write an old-fashioned letter.

So if you feel (like I do) that it is completely unacceptable for the Washington Post to only publish the "Galleries" column twice a month, even on a temporary basis (can you imagine the uproar if they decided to review only two movies a month? Or two restaurants? Or two theatre plays? Or two concerts? Or two books? D'ya get the point!!!)... then write the paper's editor a letter (a proper letter, not an email; and please be respectful, intelligent and civil) and let him know:

Leonard Downie
Editor
Washington Post
1150 15th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20071

Here is an example of a letter that I wrote to the Post's editor in 1999 bitching about their galleries' measly coverage and making some suggestions (one of them - the mini reviews - was eventually implemented and O'Sullivan has drastically improved gallery coverage in his Weekend On Exhibit column) to improve their coverage. Sad to think that the coverage back then was twice of what it is now (both the "Galleries" and the "Arts Beat" columns used to be published every Thursday back then)!

Chris Shott in the current issue of the WCP on Blake Gopnik:

MUSEFUL CRITIQUE

For all his ranting about "bad" art projects in the District this past year, Washington Post critic Blake Gopnik hasn’t actually done much to stop them. In fact, the Oxford University–educated art historian has done just the opposite.

To wit: Last spring, Gopnik ripped the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities’ "exciting public art project," PandaMania. In fact, he likened the task of painting blank panda statues to filling in a coloring book. "It would take a really skilled contemporary artist to turn a coloring book into something worth an art lover’s time," Gopnik wrote in a May 30 Post critique. "There probably aren’t more than a half-dozen artists in this city who could do it."

Oh, but Bethesda, Md., painter Marsha Stein thought she could find a few. So she formally challenged Gopnik to hand-pick a team of artists to compete against hers. Each team would paint a blank two-foot cube, with the public voting on the best one.

Gopnik politely declined the challenge. But that didn’t stop Stein: Her project has since evolved into a multiteam competition—albeit sans cubes—that D.C. filmmaker Nigel Parkinson is shooting for a documentary. Or maybe a reality-TV show.

"He just pushes people’s buttons," Stein says of Gopnik. "He does my job for me. He couldn’t have fueled this competition any better than by writing that article."

More recently, Gopnik issued a scathing critique of Artomatic 2004, the exhibition of works by some 600 area artists now showing in the former Capital Children’s Museum. In a Nov. 11 Post piece, he called the show "the second-worst display of art I’ve ever seen. The only one to beat it out, by the thinnest of split hairs, was the 2002 Artomatic, which was worse only by virtue of being even bigger and in an even more atrocious space."

"Artomatic isn’t only good for nothing," Gopnik concluded. "It’s bad for art that matters."

Again, artists responded. For starters, there’s The Official Artomatic 2004 Boo Blake Wall, an installation papered with angry letters from Artomatic exhibitors and dotted with Travis Miller– designed stickers that read: "Blake isn’t only good for nothing. He’s bad for art that matters." And sculptor Mark Jenkins has posted a phony news story reporting Gopnik’s kidnapping by "human figures made of packaging tape."

The wall is also splashed with red paint, some of which drips down into a plastic bag taped to the ground. "Somebody said it looks like bullet holes and blood," notes Artomatic executive-committee member Jim Tretick.

A less ominous homage to Gopnik appears at Artomatic’s Overlook Bar: A case of warm beer wrapped in white paper and labeled "One vintage case of Icehouse from Artomatic 2002: The worst beer from the worst show."

"That case of beer has been sitting in my basement for two years," says Tretick. "We were saving it for a special occasion."

Right beside the beer is a brand-new Clue game wrapped in a plastic bag for Gopnik. And the artists aren’t done yet. McLean, Va.–based graphic designer Jesse Thomas is now putting the finishes touches on a new collage inspired by Gopnik.

The tributes to Gopnik come as news to the critic. "I didn’t know about any of the Artomatic responses," he writes via e-mail. Gopnik’s own response? Something in Latin about judges and matters of taste: "De gustibus non...I guess."

Article copyright Washington City Paper.

The other day I walked into a Whole Foods supermarket to buy some olives and some Manchego cheese. As I strolled by Whole Foods' fantastic deli, I noticed that in this store they had signs in both English and Spanish.

I almost died laughing when I saw how the Thanksgiving turkey special had been translated! In English, the word "turkey" is the same for the country that spans Europe and the Middle East and for the Thanksgiving bird.

But in Spanish, the word for the country Turkey is Turquia, and the word for the bird is "pavo."

Guess what this store was selling as their Thanksgiving bird? Turquia! What a bunch of turkeys...

Happy Thanksgiving!

Corcoran Screws Up (Again): Twice in One Go

As I mentioned last night, there's another mess at the Corcoran, this time dealing with their ill advised (and now cancelled) decision to host "An Evening at the Cuban Interests Section."

Both sides of this issue astonish me: (a) that the Corcoran decided to host this event in the first place and then (b) that they bowed to indirect governmental pressure to cancel it.

Today's Post article by Jacqueline Trescott discusses that the Corcoran decided to postpone the event under some indirect pressure from the State Department.

I hope that they postpone it until that brutal, racist, and homophobic bastard who oppresses that poor island with a bloody boot is six feet underground.

This is a dictatorship that sends librarians to jail for twenty years for the crime of having Orwell's 1984 in their possession.

A homophobic regime that sends gay Cubans to jail for four years for the crime of being gay.

A merciless regime where anyone who tests positive for AIDS is immediately locked away in Los Cocos.

Jails that have been off limits to the International Red Cross since 1989.

No doubt that the Corcoran really blew it in even thinking about this idea as an event in the first place. According to Trescott's article, Margaret Bergen, chief communications officer for the Corcoran says that the Corcoran sponsors 130 public programs a year and about a dozen are of them held at embassies. She adds that the discussions don't discount politics, but politics aren't the primary focus, Bergen adds that "We are trying to have a dialogue about art."

You don't "dialogue about art" with dictators who crush and destroy artists in their own homeland. If anything, you try to reach the artists and dialogue with them directly. I can guarantee to the Corcoran that the Cuban Interests Section will not assist them with that.

Now that I got that off my chest...

Now I am disturbed by the fact that they blinked when the State Department put a little pressure on them.

Sorry guys: Now you're damned if you do and damned if you don't. That's what happens when you make stupid decisions in the first place and then lack the cojones to stand up to pressure.

Washington Post to cut in half its gallery coverage

Today I called the Style desk at the WaPo and discovered that the Washington Post intends to reduce their already measly gallery coverage to only twice a month. This is a reduction from their one weekly column: "Galleries," which is published on most Thursdays, a day which according to the Style section's banner, is supposed to be a day focused on "Galleries and Art News."

Yeah...

"Galleries" has been written for the last few years by freelance writer Jessica Dawson (that's right... Jessica is not an employee of the Post, but a freelancer assigned that column). The task of writing a weekly column to review area shows is not an easy one, and it takes a lot of time, effort and driving around to see a lot of gallery shows in order to pick one or two a week. So Jessica wanted some time off, and thus the Post hired Glenn Dixon a few weeks ago.

The idea was for Jessica and Glenn to share the column and each write a review every two weeks and thus cover the gallery scene with a review a week. Measly coverage in comparison to the Post's excellent and in-depth coverage of our area's theater, music, clubs, dance and other performace art... but better than nothing.

But then something happened, and Dixon and the Post had a dispute and Dixon quit.

And now, someone at the Post has made the decision to cut down the column to just twice a month. I don't know if this is a temporary decision or not. I have emailed Gene Robinson (editor of Style) and Chip Crews (temporary Arts Editor while John Pancake, the Post's Arts Editor, is away on a teaching gig).

I am hoping that this is a temporary situation while the Post finds another freelancer to augment Dawson's biweekly coverage. I cannot, even in my darkest Post-bitching mood, fathom that the Post's editor would think that it is OK to write two columns a month to cover the nearly 100 new visual art shows that our area's galleries and artists offer each month.

Let's keep our collective fingers crossed. More on this issue as I find out more.

UPDATE: Chip Crews (who is the Post's acting Arts Editor) tells me that the decision about the "Galleries" column "may change at some point but there's no timetable. Our arts editor, John Pancake, is on sabbatical until mid-January, and it's highly unlikely any permanent action will be taken before then." I volunteered my services, but it was declined until Pancake returns to make a decision.

Michael O'Sullivan's Artomatic List

If anyone truly knows Washington art spaces, art scene and artists, it is Washington Post art critic Michael O'Sullivan. And in addition to his review of AOM, he submits the following list and notes about his top choices for this year's Art-O-Matic:

Michael O'Sullivan's Artomatic List

Best installations: Ira Tattelman/Kathryn Cornelius
Best Abstract Paintings: John Adams/Louise Kennelly
Best Portraiture: Allison Miner/Ian Jehle
Best Serendipitous Pairing: Kelly Towles/Dale Hunt
Best Thematic Spaces: Eye Candy/Girlz Club/Washington Glass School
Best Photography: Matt Dunn/Dennis Yankow (aka Dns Ynko)
Best Sculpture: Liz Duarte/Betsy Packard
Best Found-Object Sculpture: Elizabeth Lundberg Morisette/Joroko
Most Searing Use of Autobiography: Dylan Scholinski

And a couple of Bests (some of whom I [O'Sullivan] mentioned in my article) that aren't on anyone else's list:

Lynn Putney
Gregory Ferrand
Ben Claassen
Jen Dixon
Dave Savage
Kevin Irvin

...and finally, a special thanks to Brash, the poet who goes around writing
diamond-hard little poems in response to Artomatic artists, and then taping
them to the walls.

Rob Goodspeed's Artomatic Top List

Rob Goodspeed is one of the hardworking editors of DCist and he has his Artomatic 2004 Artists of Note List here and he lists:

Charlie Jones
Gregory Ferrand
Carol Spils
Michele Banks
J. Steve Strawn
Kevin T. Irvin
Dana Ellyn Kauffman
Sepideh Majd
Thomas Edwards

One of the best DC-centric sites on the web is DCist, and Rob Godspeed has DCist's take on Artomatic including a great image (to the left) of Mark Jenkins' brilliant tape sculptures approaching the Washington Post's building "asking for Blake Gopnik."

Gopnik must be feeling like Clement Greenberg in having fueled such an artist's response; too bad it was 180 degrees off from Greenberg's.

Read the spoof Jenkins take on the Gopnik tape men sculptures here.

Bravo Jenkins!

P.S. And Jenkins is in my Top 10 List!

There's some weird stuff going on at the Corcoran because of their ill advised plan to stage "An Evening at the Cuban Interests Section."

There should be story in the Washington Post about this in the next few days.

Some good shows to go see...

Amy Marx at The Sumner
The Sumner Museum presents paintings by Amy Marx through December 31. The Show is entitled "On Earth As It Is". The Sumner is located at 1201 17th St at M st NW. Hours are M-F 10-5 and Saturdays 10-4. Phone number is 202.442.6060. Amy Marx is a jeweler and a painter, and at least with her paintings, she is obsessed with weather. And her paintings of weather patterns, storms, clouds, tornadoes, etc. are absolutely stunning! She has painted herself into a unique niche, where she is mistress of her domain.

Erik Sandberg at Conner
This guy is one of my favorite area artists, and I could choke him for leaving us, but still admire his brilliant talent, dark mind and Boschian creativity. His latest show at Conner Contemporary runs through December 23, 2004. A catalogue will be available. For further information call Leigh at 202.588.8750, or email her at info@connercontemporary.com.

Chan Chao at Numark
I am glad that Chao has returned to his nude work, as I wasn't a big fan of the work that got him into the Whitney Biennial. The return to his earlier-type work is right on time! An artist book, Echo, accompanies the show. The exhibition at Numark Gallery goes on through December 18, 2004.

Elyse Harrison at Neptune
Harrison has been a critical spark around our area for many years, both as an artist and also as an arts activist. Her latest work is on exhibition at Gallery Neptune until December 4, 2004. More info at 301.718.0809.

Anonymous at WPA/C
The WPA/C concept of ANONYMOUS returns with an opening preview reception on Thursday, Dec. 9, 6:30-8:30pm and the first day to purchase artwork is Friday, Dec. 10, 6-8pm.

This is a second installment of this popular show concept featuring all new artists and curators. 100 artists create two feet by two feet works of art to be sold for $500 each. Buyers will not know the artist until the work has been purchased. No works will be sold at the preview reception and only one piece is allowed per patron. Curated by: John Aaron, K.B. Basseches, Mary Del Popolo, Djakarta, Chawky Frenn, David Jung, Prescott Moore Lassman, Anne Marchand, Marie Ringwald and Alan Simensky.

Location: 1027 33rd Street, NW (Georgetown)
Times: Thursday & Friday 12pm-8pm
Saturday & Sunday 12pm-6pm

Janis Goodman at District Fine Arts
"Ebb and Flow," recent paintings and drawings by Washingtonian Janis Goodman, (who teaches at the Corcoran) explores the universal theme of constancy. Goodman's new series is devoted to water and its insistent repetition, even as the rest of the world is in flux. Her intelligent renderings of water capture the artist's intense devotion to observation and meditation. "Ebb and Flow" will be on view at District Fine Arts from through December 11, 2004.

A $500,000 Art Commission!

Deadline: December 17, 2004

The recently established McCormick Museum Foundation in Chicago will design, build and operate a museum dedicated to America's freedoms, with a special emphasis on First Amendment rights, and the civic responsibilities that accompany those rights.

As a major component of this museum, the foundation will commission a defining work of art that will be selected through an open, international, two-stage competition.

This piece will serve as the centerpiece of the museum and will be permanently located in the museum's two-story rotunda. The budget for the completed work of art is more than $500,000. Please visit the McCormick Museum Foundation's website for more information. Or write to:

McCormick Museum Foundation
435 North Michigan Avenue
Suite 754
Chicago, IL 60611

Louisiana and Indiana Calls for Public Art

Six Exterior Niches Commission $64,000 - Louisiana
Entry Deadline: November 26, 2004

The Percent for Art Program for the state of Louisiana, administered through the Louisiana Division of the Arts (LDOA) announces two public art projects at two sites at the LaSalle Building, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. They are seeking an artist to create site specific works to fit within six existing niches in the building façade of the LaSalle Building located in downtown Baton Rouge. There are three niches above the East entrance to the building, and three niches above the North entrance. Each niche is 5'4" x 5'4", with a uniform top to bottom 12" depth. The sides are 6" deep with a 6" side step. The artist is asked to address each niche, but is not required to do so in the same fashion. For example, one niche may be completely filled with an artwork, while another niche may be occupied by a smaller work. The artist's budget for the commission is $64,000.00, and includes all costs such as travel, material, fabrication and installation, as well as engineering and conservation consultations. Artists are encouraged to visit the site before submitting their application. The physical address is 617 North Third Street. The pieces must be permanent in nature, and require very little long-term maintenance. All appropriate media will be considered for this commission. The fabrication of the artwork will be done off-site by the artist. The artist is also responsible for installing the work in the niches. The Call for Artists as well as images of the building and grounds are accessible for view on the Louisiana Division of the Arts website under the Percent for Art link.

Interior Wall Commission (29' x 10') $30,000
Entry Deadline: November 26, 2004.

The Percent for Art Program for the state of Louisiana, administered through the Louisiana Division of the Arts (LDOA) announces two public art projects at two sites at the LaSalle Building, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Seeking an artist to create a site-specific permanent indoor wall piece for the main wall of the café in the LaSalle Building located at 617 North Third Street in downtown Baton Rouge. Because the café has many windows facing Third Street, this piece will be viewable from both the inside and the outside of the café. The total space available for the piece is 29' x 10', but the artist may designate smaller dimensions of the finished work or works. The artist's budget for the commission is $30,000.00, and includes all costs such as travel, material, fabrication, installation, as well as engineering and conservation consultation costs. The work must be permanent in nature, and require very little long-term maintenance. All appropriate media will be considered for this commission (not limited to 2-D). However, 3-D applicants should keep in mind that the wall was not constructed to bear an exceptional amount of weight. Artists are encouraged to visit the site before submitting their application. The fabrication of the work will be done off-site by the artist. The artist will be responsible for installing the work(s) on the wall when completed.The Call for Artists as well as images of the building and grounds are accessible for view on the Louisiana Division of the Arts website under the Percent for Art link.

Indianapolis Airport Authority, Indianapolis, Indiana.
Deadline: December 30, 2004

The Indianapolis Airport Authority, with Blackburn Architects, invites artists to submit their qualifications for design and design/fabrication opportunities at the New Indianapolis Airport. Projects include architectural enhancements and integrated, free-standing or hanging works of art. Artists should submit their qualifications under the RFQ for consideration for future opportunities. Finalists will receive RFPs and will be compensated for any proposal submissions. More than 7 million passengers traveled through the airport last year. The intent of the projects is to combine with services and design to create the most pleasant traveling experience possible. The artwork will also further the city's goals for cultural development and public art. The deadline for receipt of qualification packages is December 30, 2004. To download the RFQ in PDF format visit www.newindianapolisairport.com. For more information call (317) 875-5500 x230.

Software that Authenticates Art

(Thanks AJ). A new set of software tools, developed by a Dartmouth College team seems to be able to "fingerprint" the style of a painter's work and thus be able to detect fakes and imitations.

"There are properties in an artist's pen and brush strokes that aren't visible to the human eye, but that are there nonetheless. And we can find them, through mathematical, statistical analysis," said Dartmouth computer science professor Hany Farid, who developed the algorithms, along with math professor Daniel Rockmore and graduate student Siwei Lyu."

The article warns that:

"Museum curators and statisticians caution that the Dartmouth group's techniques have only begun to be tested. Using algorithms to back up scholars' suspicions is one thing; uncovering a fraud with just a computer, that's completely different. And in the art world, no scientific method is considered as sure as the eye of a seasoned connoisseur.

"This is very unusual," said Nadine Orenstein, the curator of the drawings and prints department at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. "We're all a bit skeptical."

Other artworld comments were just as skeptical:

"I’m highly skeptical of using the computer for this kind of approach," said Laurence Kanter, curator in charge of the Robert Lehman collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. "It’s very possible that a program like that could be exploited to great advantage, but I still need to be persuaded."

I suspect that they're all a bit scared actually, because they're about to (a) lose the gig of having the power to be able to authenticate something just by being a "seasoned connoisseur" and (b) about to (possibly) have an avalanche of their past "authenticated works" be reported as fakes.

Funky Furniture Auction

Remember the Funky Furniture controversy that made worldwide news?

Well, here's your chance to own some of the pieces from that newsmaking art exhibit... including one of the most famous paintings in the world.

This painting by our area's own Kayti Didriksen was seen by millions around the world in TV news, Jay Leno, and as part of one of the most downloaded images on the Internet a while back.

I will discuss this painting when I finish my all-comprehensive review of AOM later this week.

On Saturday, December 4th, 2004 at 9pm, all of the Funky Furniture works will be auctioned in a must-attend party/auction to be staged at the Funky Furniture display area at AOM. Admission to the cocktail pre-auction reception is $20 per couple, which also gets you a bidding badge.

Keep an eye on the Artomatic website, as they will soon have a pre-auction bidding website. And Funky Furniture's hardworking leader, Chad Alan sends the following:

"D.C. As It Was, Is, and Could Be

Five months ago a project began with a simple idea to create a modest collection of hand crafted furniture in the spirit of the approaching Artomatic. The exhibition was to take place in the City Museum one month before Artomatic in order to promote not only that event, but also the City Museum itself.

As the project moved forward, the collection grew substantially in size and importance. Artists created pieces that reflected their vision of how the District of Columbia can be seen in three distinct phases. Not everything is pretty or refined, but instead true.

All cities have dark sides that are often difficult to view, but those are some of the core elements that strive to make us become better citizens.

Upon the completion of the installation, it was decided that the collection needed to be removed from the City Museum for reasons varying from labels to suitability issues.

Twenty hours after the installation, the show had been dismantled and placed securely into storage. News of the cancellation hit the Associated Press and spread across the globe.

Many new venues for the show were considered, but it was determined to bring the collection home to reside in the 2004 Artomatic. Here you can view our ideas and concepts. Some of which you may agree, and many with which you may disagree, but that is what makes our city one of the world's greatest cities.

This collection will be put on the auction block on Saturday, December 4th at 9pm at Artomatic."

I hope a lot of people, a lot of artists and a lot of collectors come and see [and buy] these works; the artists will be there, and so will I.

Ann Marchand's Top 10 AOM List

Artist Ann Marchand, who is an exhibiting artist at AOM and has probably walked those dizzying halls many times now, sends in her top ten list:

John Aaron
Chuck Baxter
Frank Day
Lisa Farrell
G. Byron Peck
Betsy Packard
Matt Sesow
Ellyn Weiss
Angela White
Joyce Zipperer

Nevin Kelly, director and owner of the Nevin Kelly Gallery, whose Top 10 AOM list I posted earlier, sends in this thoughtful comment on AOM:

"I was really impressed by Art-o-Matic, awful art and everything. Gopnik clearly missed the point. Kudos to you for your blog. The event was perfect for sparking the discussion over "what is art?" and "what right does an artist (or self-perceived artist) have to exhibit?" The sheer energy of the event was art in itself. For a city that is not known elsewhere for its artistic community, this is truly a spectacular contribution."