The Friday Openings
Tomorrow is Bethesda's time to showcase their galleries, and tomorrow is the Bethesda Art Walk, with 17 participating galleries and art venues.
Free guided tours begin at 6:30pm. Attendees can meet their guide at the Bethesda Metro Center, located at the corner of Old Georgetown Road and Wisconsin Avenue. Attendees do not have to participate in tours to visit Art Walk galleries.
Ozmosis Gallery has "A Single Vision" by Deanna Schwartzberg, while Elyse over at Gallery Neptune has an exhibition of artists' made
bookmarks, Marin-Price has paintings by Roxie Munro. Many of her oils and watercolors are views from the roof of her sky-lighted loft studio in Long Island City, just across the East River from her home in mid-Manhattan. And Creative Partners has large watercolors by Valerie Watson.
We have the second solo show by Canadian photographer Andrzej Pluta, who uses a lot of darkroom tricks (like photographing the subject flowers underwater) to deliver some of the most unusual series of flower photographs in contemporary photography.
Read the review of his 2003 solo show here.
Thursday, April 07, 2005
Wednesday, April 06, 2005
Arts Agenda
The DCist Arts Agenda Listing has the best of this week's openings.
Time of the month for the Bethesda Art Walk on Friday.
Kahloprizes
Like every single one of the hundreds of art shows that I've juried or curated or organized over the years, it was an extremely difficult task. Putting together a group art show, no matter what the subject or focus, is never easy.
I reviewed about 500 entries and selected sixty or so for exhibition at art.com.
Check out the prizewinners here.
Tuesday, April 05, 2005
National Portrait Gallery
The National Portrait Gallery is scheduled to reopen in July 2006, and emulating their namesakes in England and Scotland, they are now institutionalizing and sponsoring a major new national competition for painted and sculpture portraits: The Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition.
Up to 500 paper entry forms accompanied by slides of the portrait will be accepted. Submit one or two slides for a painting and up to four slides for a sculpture. A paper entry form must be requested via e-mail from portraitcompetition@npg.si.edu after May 15, 2005. The entry fee will be $35, payable by credit card, certified check, or money order.
The Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition 2006 will be judged in two stages. First, a panel of experts will use an online jurying system to select approximately 120 semifinalist works. The Gallery will then arrange to ship these paintings and sculptures to Washington, D.C., where the panel will meet again in early March of 2006 to select the 50-60 finalists. These works will be installed in the National Portrait Gallery’s newly renovated second-floor special exhibition galleries.
Details here. I think that it is a shame that only two genres (painting and sculpture) are being admitted to the competition. That decision leaves out the potential for the NPG to explore other rich and vibrant genres like printmaking, collage, photography, even video.
Insider's Hint: I know one of these jurors quite well, and at least in that juror's perspective, he/she will be looking for portraits that really "expand" the definition of portraiture. I will be really, really surprised if a "traditional" portrait is chosen; but I could be wrong.
Don't Mess with the (Russian Orthodox) Church!
(Thanks Joseph)
"The director of the Sakharov Museum was convicted Monday of inciting religious hatred with a controversial art exhibition that was deemed "blasphemous and profane" by the Russian Orthodox Church.Read the story here. Password available here.
A federal district court fined museum director Yuri Samodurov and curator Lyudmila Vasilovskaya $3,600 each for organizing the 2003 exhibit, which featured dozens of artists' expressions on the subject of religion."
New Website
I keep forgetting to mention it, but our galleries website has been completely redesigned and relaunched.
New website has been designed by Mark Jenkins. Check it out here.
Monday, April 04, 2005
Art Prizes
Chris from Zeke's Gallery in Canada, has an interesting posting with a listing of a variety of American and International Art Prizes, links and the most recent winners.
See it here.
Congratulations
To Janet Solinger, now Vice President, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Public Programs, and who previously directed the now-national Smithsonian Resident Associate Program from 1972–1992.
Ms. Solinger has been selected to receive DC ArtTable's "ArtSpark" award, given to women who have achieved a distinguished career and made significant contributions to art in America.
Trawick Prize
This coming Friday is the deadline for artists to submit slides to the Trawick Prize. This is the third annual prize competition that awards $14,000 in prize monies to four selected artists.
Deadline for slide submission is Friday, April 8, 2005 and up to fifteen artists will be invited to display their work from September 6, 2005 – September 30, 2005 in downtown Bethesda at Creative Partners Gallery.
The competition will be juried by Olga Viso, the Deputy Director at the Hirshorn Museum and Sculpture Garden; Andrea Pollan, an independent curator, fine arts appraiser and art consultant and Dr. Thom Collins, Executive Director of the Contemporary Museum in Baltimore, MD.
The Trawick Prize was established by the generosity of local small business owner Carol Trawick. Ms. Trawick has served as a community activist for more than 20 years in downtown Bethesda. She is the Chair of the Bethesda Urban Partnership, Inc. and Chair of the Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District.
The Trawick Prize is separate and different from the Bethesda Painting Awards (also sponsored through the generosity of Ms. Trawick; the deadline for the Bethesda Painting Awards has already passed). But Ms. Trawick now ponies up $20,000 of her own money to award to area artists (the competition is open to DC, MD and VA artists); this is especially commendable because she's a small business owner who has stepped forward and put her money where her mouth is (in her community), while other area business giants have ignored repeated requests to help add to the prize monies. By the way, we contribute $1,000 for a Young Artist's Award.
Wouldn't it be nice if our area's business giants like... Giant Supermarkets, or AOL or Lockheed Martin each threw in a measly (to them) $20,000 to this pot of money so generously started by a small local business?
That would mean a local art prize of $80,000! That would certainly change an artist's day, presence and stature, uh?
Forward this link to major area business giants and maybe we can shame them into participating in what Ms. Trawick has seeded.
The application for the prize is online here.
Sock to the Jaw
And yet another person (in this case Sarah Corteau) challenges Blake Gopnik's treatment of a historical subject. She opens with:
In his March 26 Style review of the National Gallery of Art's Gilbert Stuart exhibition, Blake Gopnik used pop psychology to interpret the artist's portraits.Read the piece here.
Stuart's life was indeed rich with drama. Until his death, Stuart teetered on bankruptcy -- as likely an explanation for his prolific production as ego or desire for celebrity. But Mr. Gopnik never mentioned this fact, instead choosing to put Stuart on the shrink's couch.
Sunday, April 03, 2005
Wanna Go to a Gallery Closing Reception Today?
In "Existing to Remain," four artists use ceramics and other materials as a point of departure to study transformation in the artistic process. The title refers to designations on architectural drawings denoting what is to be destroyed and what will remain during renovation. Kate Hardy examines the slippery delineation between Art and Craft in public collections. Rebecca Murtaugh considers frequency, time, and permanence. Claire Sherwood looks closely at notions of the feminine in the transformation of materials like coal and cement. Dina Weston studies aggregation and biography in an installation that uses existing architecture.
DCAC is located at 2438 18th Street, NW in Washington and can be reached at 202/462-7833.
Friday, April 01, 2005
Thanks G.P.!
My day has been made and soon I will head out to the Arlington Arts Center for their opening tonite.
See ya there!
DCist Review
DCist has a review of the new William Christenberry show at Hemphill by Seth Thomas Pietras; the first of what I hope are many more visual art reviews by DCist.
Faces of the Fallen
Michael O'Sullivan writes some intelligent viewpoints about the Faces of the Fallen exhibition that makes up for the unexcusable pulpit-preaching piece earlier written by Philip Kennicott.
I do find this quote puzzling:
Vivienne Lassman, a former gallery owner and freelance curator who helped to install the final works, put it as bluntly as possible: "This is not an art exhibition."She's wrong.
This is an art exhibition.
The debate as to the quality of the portraiture could apply to any group show in the history of art; what clouds this issue is that politics got involved in the mix, and because neither the pro nor the anti-war sides were allowed to kidnap this project (the Honorary Chairs for the exhibition include Senator Dianne Feinstein (CA), Senator John McCain (AZ), Senator John Warner (VA), Congressman John Dingell (MI), and Congressman John McHugh (NY) among others), the sore losers on both extremist sides are whining. The show, as it stands right now (and as O'Sullivan points out), is is largely nonpartisan and agenda-free.
There are some really amateurish, inept portraits, and there are also some superbly well done portraits; but let's not mix words: it is an art exhibition, and a powerfully memorable one at that.
Plus, and as O'Sullivan points out:
After all, you don't go to a showing of the AIDS quilt, or "This Is New York," the open-to-all-comers traveling exhibition of photographs of 9/11 and its aftermath, and critique the sewing technique of the quilters or the tonal qualities of the mostly amateur shutterbugs' prints.I think that it is an impressive, emotional and memorable art project and send my thanks to every participating artist and the organizers for creating such a memorable event.
I also think that the artists who were rejected by the curator for trying to inject a political mix into the project have a solid and deep set of opinions that should be expressed, and I certainly hope that they unite and find a venue to show their anti-war or pro-war or political viewpoint portraits. If and when that happens, that will be good for the dialogue created by an important art exhibition, and their exhibition will also be art.
Thursday, March 31, 2005
Gallery Openings
Tomorrow is the first Friday of the month and thus the extended hours for the Dupont Circle area galleries.
Some key Dupont Circle shows not to miss are Maria Friberg's exhibition at Conner Contemporary, Laura Fayer at JET Artworks, William T. Wiley at Marsha Mateyka, Maxine Cable's room installations at Gallery 10 and Gabriel Jules at Washington Printmakers.
In Georgetown, Anne C. Fisher Gallery also has an opening titled "Resonance" for John M. Adams' paintings and Frances Sniffen's sculptures. From 6-8PM.
It's a tough call, but tomorrow I will be heading for the Arlington Arts Center to see the unfortunately named "Art with Accent: Latin Americans in the Mid-Atlantic States," curated by Susana Torruella Leval, Director Emerita, El Museo Del Barrio, New York.
That opening is from 6-9PM, and the exhibiting artists selected by Ms. Torruella Leval are: Aldo Badano, Juan Bernal, Gute Brandao, Mark Caicedo, Ana Cavalcanti, Irene Clouthier, Pepe Coronado, Gerard de la Cruz, Felisa Federman, Luis Flores, Eva Holz, Tamara Kostianovsky, Rosana Lopez, Carolina Mayorga, Lara Oliveira, Alessandra Ramirez, Victoria Restrepo, Helga Thomson, and Maria Velez.
I love the diversity of names, helping to smash the stereotype of "Hispanic" as a cultural segregator. The curator will also lead a round table discussion with participating artists, "Latin American" Art: Expectation and Reality, on Thursday, April 21 at 7PM. My vociferous views on this issue here.
The Thursday Reviews
In the WaPo, Jessica Dawson reviews Mark Dell'Isola at Govinda Gallery in Georgetown, and also reviews Prof. Peter Charles at Irvine Contemporary and has a little blurb on American Icons at Robert Brown.
At G.P., Kriston has an excellent review of Molly Springfield at JET Artworks.
In the City Paper, Louis Jacobson reviews Valeska Soares at Fusebox, while Jeffry Cudlin reviews Shimon Attie at Numark.
The CP also has a letter from J.W. Bailey coming to the defense of curator Annette Polan in the wake of the hubris caused by the "Faces of the Fallen" exhibition.
And finally, the CP has a great feature on painter Erik Sandberg. By the way, since the article doesn't mention it, Erik Sandberg is represented locally by Conner Contemporary Art, which has done a huge amount of work to promote his career and continues to do a superb job in giving Sandberg's name the recognition that it deserves; Erik is lucky to have such a hard working gallery representing his work.
These artist features, which the CP does rather regularly, is one of the key things that makes this paper such a great asset to our cultural tapestry, since none of the other area newspapers does anything remotely similar (unless it is a late obituary).
For the record, I think and have thought for many years, that Sandberg is without a doubt one of the best painters in our area, and I own two of his paintings.
Also for the record, his statement that he left our gallery because "They lost my damn number five times, or they never had my number," differs from my own recollections as to the reasons that he gave us (in a voice mail) for leaving the gallery, one of which was that "he had decided to be on his own and not be represented exclusively by any gallery." This was a couple of days after his very successful first solo show had closed. To this date, he remains the only artist who has ever "left us" voluntarily since we opened our first gallery in 1996.
We gave a very young Erik Sandberg his first solo show in Washington, sold nearly all of his work, and whatever didn't sell was then sold through Sothebys, to collectors in Europe and Japan. Nonetheless, for a variety of reasons, Erik chose to leave our gallery.
I remain a huge fan of Erik Sandberg's work.
Opportunities for Artists
Deadline: April 1, 2005
"In Focus: Photography Techniques and Trends." Juror: Sarah Kennel, Assistant Curator, Department of Photographs, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. This exhibition is open to artists working in all photographic processes. Artists are encouraged to expand parameters and traditional definitions. Award amounts up to $500. Exhibition dates: June 9 to July 17, 2005. Submission fee: $25 for images of 3 works. Deadline: Friday, April 1, 2005. For prospectus, email Clare here or send SASE to:
Target Gallery
105 North Union Street
Alexandria, VA 22314
or Phone: 703.838.4565
Deadline: April 8, 2005
The Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District is accepting submissions for The Trawick Prize: Bethesda Contemporary Art Awards. The 3rd annual juried art competition awards $14,000 in prize monies to four selected artists.
Deadline for slide submission is Friday, April 8, 2005 and up to fifteen artists will be invited to display their work from September 6, 2005 - September 30, 2005 in downtown Bethesda at Creative Partners Gallery.
The competition will be juried by Olga Viso, the Deputy Director at the Hirshorn Museum and Sculpture Garden; Andrea Pollan, an independent curator, fine arts appraiser and art consultant and Dr. Thom Collins, Executive Director of the Contemporary Museum in Baltimore, MD.
Deadline: April 8, 2005
Call for Entries for Artscape 2005. Complete application information is available at www.artscape.org.
Two exhibitions: One at the Baltimore Museum of Art Drawing Show/Juried Show Thalheimer Gallery and a second: The Baltimore Museum of Art and the Meyerhoff Gallery, Fox Building, MICA, Curated by Gary Simmons (A New York artist).
Application deadline: April 8, 2005. The BMA exhibition will focus on drawing based ideas. The Fox building show will cover all media.
Deadline: April 8, 2005
The Halpert Biennial 05, a national juried visual art competition and exhibition, is open to all two-dimensional visual artists, who are over the age of 18 and currently residing in the United States. Awards totaling $5000. Mary Agnes Beach (Museum Curator City of Coral Gables, Florida) will serve as juror. The Halpert Biennial is a part of An Appalachian Summer Festival-a multi-arts festival featuring music, dance, theatre and visual arts. Deadline for entries is April 8, 2005. Send SASE to:
Halpert Biennial 05
Attn - Brook Greene
Box 32139
423 West King St, Boone NC 28608
Deadline: April 11, 2005
Juried Annual Small Works Exhibition. Seeking works on paper no smaller than half of a dollar bill, no larger than a full dollar bill. Entry fee. No commission; insurance. $1000+ in awards.
Send SASE to:
Jacksonville State Univ.
Art Department
700 Pelham Rd N
Jacksonville AL 36265
Or call 256-782-5626.
Deadline: April 12, 2005
The Spectrum Gallery in Georgetown, DC is jurying for new members on April 12. For more information please call 202.333.0954 or visit www.spectrumgallery.org.
Deadline:April 15, 2005
"What's So Terrible About Being Beautiful?" A modern art exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art/A+M Galleries in Washington, DC which is looking for an artist to join three other prominent artists in its June exhibition. All media will be considered for this competition. The show will run from June 3 to July 1. Please email: curator_mocadc@yahoo.com for a prospectus or
mail a request to:
Peter Photikoe
Curator
Museum of Contemporary Art/A+M Galleries
1054 31st St NW
Washington DC 20007
Deadline: April 18, 2005
"Containers/Contained." Juror: Twylene Moyer, Managing Editor, Sculpture magazine. This exhibition is open to all artists working in all media, both two-dimensional and three-dimensional. Works can explore both the literal and the conceptual parameters of containers and containment. Artists are encouraged to think broadly and to expand traditional definitions. Award amounts up to
$500. Exhibition dates: July 22 to August 28, 2005. Submission fee: $25 for images of 3 works (slide or JPEG). Deadline: Monday, April 18, 2005. For prospectus, email
Target here or send SASE to:
Target Gallery
105 North Union Street
Alexandria, VA 22314
Or Phone: 703.838.4565
May 1, 2005
22nd Annual Art Competition sponsored by The Artist's Magazine. More than $25,000 in cash prizes will be awarded, and Top Award Winners will be featured in the
December 2005 issue of The Artist's Magazine.
Plus, 13 finalists will be featured in The Artist's Magazine's 2006 Calendar. There are five categories for artists to compete: Portrait & Figures, Still Life, Landscape, Experimental and Animal Art. Plus, there's a Special Student/Beginner Division for new artists.
For details and an entry form visit: www.artistsnetwork.com or email them at: this email address or call Terri Boes at:513-531-2690 x1328.
Deadline: May 20, 2005
Call For Erotic Artists! Juried show: Art @ Large, New York City's Erotic/Figurative Art Gallery. Juror: Grady T. Turner, New York based art critic, curator and author of "NYC Sex: How New York City Transformed Sex in America." All media and orientations in Erotic Art, Nudes, Sexuality - demure to explicit. Best of Show to receive solo exhibition in 2006. Either download the prospectus from this website or send SASE to:
Art @ Large
630 Ninth Av #707
New York NY 10036
Deadline: June 3, 2005
9th Annual Georgetown International Fine Arts Competition. With $1,000 in cash prizes and a solo show in 2006 for the Best of Show winner, the Annual Georgetown International has a call for artists. See details online here to download the prospectus or send a SASE to:
Fraser Gallery
1054 31st Street, NW
Washington, DC 20007
Deadline: September 15, 2005
i found your photo National Call for Submission of Donated Found Photographs. This is a unique Art exhibition of found photographs to raise money to fund a Photography Scholarship for an at-risk High School Senior aspiring photographer from the Washington, D.C. Area to attend Art School.
According to Bailey, this exhibition will feature donated found photographs submitted from across the country by both artists and non artists who have discovered or found a photograph somewhere that interests them: "I’m issuing a national call for submission for one found photograph to be donated to the exhibition from anyone interested in participating. I’m asking each finder of a submitted found photograph to include an index card with their submission that includes a personal statement about where the photograph they have submitted was found and what meaning it holds for them."
After the exhibition closes in late 2005, the original found photographs, index cards and other curatorial items from the exhibition will be collected and placed into an original one-of-a-kind handmade photography book. This book will be designed by photographer and handmade photography book artist, Melanie De Cola, of Reston, Virginia. To complete the project, the book will be auctioned on Ebay in early 2006 and the proceeds of the auction will be used to fund a the photography scholarship through the League of Reston Artists, a not for profit artist collective based in Reston.
Mail the original photograph, along with an index card that offers your thoughts on the meaning of the photograph and a description of where you found it by September 15, 2005 to:
James W. Bailey
Force Majeure Studios
2142 Glencourse Lane
Reston, VA 20191
Website: here
Wednesday, March 30, 2005
Congratulations
To Behroo Bagheri, who is the winner of the fourth annual Evolving Perceptions (EP) Iranian-American Fine Arts Scholarship.
In 1998, Behroo finished law school in Iran, soon thereafter she decided to move to California. Behroo decided that the paintbrush would be a more effective tool in exposing the exploitation, corruption and injustice that she observed and experienced. She shares, "It was painful to observe my fatherland going down, and not being able to speak out."
EP, which is a local DC area organization, is expanding the scholarship program and is seeking sponsors to donate to the fund. If interested in donating a tax deductible gift to Evolving Perceptions (a 501(c)3 organization), please contact EP at info@evolvingperceptions.com or call them at 202-607-0754.
Donkeys, Elephants, Pandas and... Piggybanks
From a just received news release:
"Recognizing the success of statue events around the world such as the Cows in Europe and Chicago, the Peanuts characters in Saint Paul, the Donkeys, Elephants and Pandas here in Washington D.C., we are proud to be creating Piggybanks in Washington, DC.The organizers have a call for artists and are hereby inviting artists to participate in this event by assisting local middle school students in designing and painting a piggybank statue. A website will soon be up, but in the meantime, to request more information please call Sara Higgs at (703) 741-7500 by Wednesday April 6, 2005.
The display of the Piggybanks as a form of public art will coincide with the Stash Your Cash program in Washington, DC Public Middle Schools.
Stash Your Cash teaches Middle School students hands on lessons in money management through their schools. The piggybanks will promote awareness of the campaign and will create public art throughout Washington, DC.
The campaign will feature a limited number of 4 feet tall, 5 feet long, and 3 feet wide piggybanks custom designed by middle school students with the assistance of Washington, DC artists. The piggybank statues will be on display throughout Washington, DC from the end of April to June. In June, the piggybanks will be auctioned off and proceeds will go to participating schools."
