Opportunity for Artists

The Ellipse Arts Center and The Washington Project for the Arts\Corcoran (WPA/C) present: Conversions. According to the press release, it is "An exhibition exploring spatial interpretations juried from three distinct points of view."

The Call: As their first collaboration, The Ellipse Arts Center and The Washington Projectfor the Arts\Corcoran are proud to present Conversions.

This exhibition will bejuried from digital images, slides, and site installation proposals by Sam Gilliam (established Washington, DC Artist), Dennis O'Neil (Director of Handprint Workshop International and teacher at the Corcoran College of Art & Design), and Heather & Tony Podesta (Internationally-known contemporary art collectors).

With this exhibition, The Ellipse Arts Center and the WPA\C hope to meld the distinct viewpoints of the jurors as well as offer submitting artists the opportunity to create site-specific installations. A $250 stipend will be awarded to all finalists who are selected to participate in Conversions.

Prospectus available here.

Critic on Criticism

Amy over at ARTery tipped me to a really interesting article by Jerry Salz on art criticism. Read that article here.

And Amy also notes that NYC gallerist and fellow blogger Edward Winkleman has responded and his response has created a whole series of interesting comments, with the usual anon attacks that seem to follow any art discussion, and the usual easily bruised writer who dishes it out with brutal gusto but can't take it when it bounces back, etc.

There are, however, otherwise some really good points in the comments.

The key issue to me?

Winkleman smartly notes that

With art, in New York City, there's no such guarantee you'll ever know [whether a critic liked a show], even when you know they saw it, even for the largest artists or most powerful galleries. If The New York Times, for example, on average, publishes 7 major reviews and two articles in each Friday edition, that totals about 470 reviews each year. The problem is there are more about 470 exhibitions per month*, meaning that more than 11/12ths of all exhibitions will not be reviewed in the Times. For the Village Voice, the number of reviews is fewer than half that. So if you are the lucky artist who gets a review, you've already beaten incredible odds. At that point, for the review to be unfavorable seems almost cruel.

Translate that into Washingtonese, and remember that the WaPo has only two gallery reviews a month, plus one in Weekend section every once in a while (and thank God for those!).

And, uh... the WaPo's Chief Art Critic is too good to write about DC area art galleries or DC artists on a regular basis (except to note when they are barely emerging).

So let's say... four gallery reviews a month (and yeah, I know once a month is the multiple mini-review day) at the WaPo.

And on any given month in the Greater Washington area there are (by the time you add the independent fine art galleries, the non profits, the embassy galleries and the cultural centers) around 100 different visual art shows to choose from.

And at least NYC has a whole bunch of newspapers, plus all the NYC-centric art mags, all the freebies, etc. to augment the NYT's coverage.

Other than the WaPo, we should be grateful that the City Paper covers as many shows as they do. But even adding the CP's coverage, the chance of an artist or show to be reviewed in print in our area is pretty slim.

As Larry David would say: "Pretty, pretty slim!"

So if we take Winkleman's point that "at that point, for the review to be unfavorable seems almost cruel" -- then we have some pretty f&^%$# cruel writers in the nation's capital area, don't we?

Art criticism should (in fact it must) have teeth; but it must also be even. When was it the last time that you read a published review around our area where the critic was really passionate about a show that she/he really liked?

Pretty, pretty cruel.

Kong

Last night I had dinner with that living legend known as Lida Moser, who was telling me stories about Alice Neel moving to Havana, after Neel married her first husband (who apparently was an art student in NYC and from a wealthy Cuban family). Neel related to Moser that she couldn't find women's shoes in Havana to fit her healthy Midwestern feet. I thought that was funny!

Afterwards, as I had received a couple of complimentary tickets to King King in the mail, I went to see the film, which was OK, but way too long and a bit annoying in a couple of areas.

The "lost island" scenes were terrific, and that was almost a movie by itself, but when Kong was fighting the Ty Rexes I glanced at my watch, and saw that it was already two hours gone by and I thought "Mmm... two hours gone and they haven't even got the monkey to Manhattan yet."

The movie also has an annoying effect of seeming like it was directed by three different people (the whole side story with the "Jimmy" character was lost on me), and even more annoying was the fact that the Anne Darrow character spends a ton of time running around a frozen New York in a negligee and she's apparently immune to the cold.

Other than that, the special effects were very good, the entire island scenes were outstanding (although the Kong fight scene with the Rexes took way too long, as did the dinosaur mass crash).

Curtis in MOMA

ANABA reveals that MOMA has recently acquired a Tony Curtis painting for its permanent collection.

Read it here.

Top Ten Lists

The end of the year is time for everyone to come up with their "Top Ten Lists" for nearly everything.

Email me yours for the top 10 art exhibitions in our area in 2005 and I'll post them here.

One Word Project

J.T. Kirkland, over at Thinking About Art, has been conducting a fascinating art project that he titles the One Word Project.

The project started here a while back, and so far about 40 artists have participated.

Essentially, here's the deal in Kirkland's owns words: "first, if I am not familiar with the artist's work I will want to review it (jpegs, Web site, maybe even a studio visit, etc). Once I get somewhat familiar with the work, I will communicate a single word that comes to mind about the art. I will ask that the artist write 100-500 words about the chosen word and what it means in their art. Because the "question" is so open ended, I think it will allow the artist much freedom to discuss their work and their thought processes. I would then like to publish the writing and a couple of examples of the artist's work on this site."

The One Word Project has been a terrific success, and Kirkland is planning to publish a book! See details on the book's progress here.

He's looking for more participants for a second project: The Artists' Interview Artists Project, and interested artists (and it is now open to all artists - not just area artists) should contact Kirkland at Thinking About Art.

Second Annual Bethesda Painting Awards

Deadline: January 31, 2006

The Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District is currently accepting applications for the second annual Bethesda Painting Awards. This is one of the nation's largest cash award painting prizes funded through the generosity of Carol Trawick.

Eight finalists will be selected to display their work in an exhibition during the month of June 2006 at the Fraser Gallery in downtown Bethesda, and the top four winners will receive $14,000 in prize monies.

Best in Show will be awarded $10,000; Second Place will be honored with $2,000 and Third Place will receive $1,000. Additionally, a "Young Artist" whose birthday is after January 31, 1976 will be awarded $1,000.

Artists must be 18 years of age or older and residents of Maryland, Virginia or Washington, D.C.

All original 2-D painting including oil, acrylic, watercolor, gouache, encaustic and mixed media will be accepted. The maximum dimension should not exceed 60 inches in width or 84 inches in height. No reproductions.

Artwork must have been completed within the last two years and must be available for the duration of the exhibition. Each artist must submit five slides, application and a non-refundable entry fee of $25. For a complete application, please send a self-addressed stamped envelope to:

Bethesda Painting Awards
c/o Bethesda Urban Partnership
7700 Old Georgetown Road
Bethesda, MD 20814

Or visit this website or call 301/215-6660

Wanna go to a DeXmas Party?

Note: Party actually starts at 10PM not 8! Details here.

Secret Visit

Yesterday I snuck away from the Georgetown gallery and visited the PostSecret exhibition at the former Staples store on M Street.

The place was packed!

I cannot recall a gallery or non-blockbuster museum event in the DC area (ever) where -- after the opening night -- there are actually hundreds of people in the art venue, hypnotized by the work on display, as what I saw yesterday around 4PM at Frank Warren's exhibit.

I was almost as mesmerized by the intensity on the faces of the visitors, as they went from card to card, reading funny secrets, sad secrets, gross secrets, silly secrets, shared secrets. I made several circuits through the exhibition: the first to look through the cards; the second and third to look at the people reading the cards, and how they became part of the exhibit itself.

Warren has really tapped into something here, and it couldn't have happened to a nicer person. And the WPA/C should be congratulated for bringing this spectacular event to the eyes and attention of Washingtonians; Kim Ward and her crew are really doing a spectacular job over at the WPA/C since Ward took over.

Whatever you do through January 8, 2006 - DO NOT MISS this exhibition, and bring people along with you.

And I sincerely hope that our area museum curators set aside their Washington apathy and also come and visit what is perhaps the greatest interactive public art project in the history of the genre.

Warren is making art history in our own backyard, and so I'm shouting to the Hirshhorn, to the SAM, to the NGA, and to the Corcoran: WAKE UP!

---

Exhibition Information:
Location: 3307 M St. NW Washington DC (The former Georgetown Staples store)
Exhibition Dates: December 15, 2005 – January 8, 2006
Exhibition Hours: Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday 6:00 – 10:00 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays 2:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. or by appointment through WPA\C.

Text in Art

As most of you know, I've become very interested over the last year or so in art that works with, or incorporates text. In Seven, I dedicated an entire gallery room to a group of artists working with text in their work. Next year I am taking those artists to an exhibition at the new Greater Reston Arts Center, and I am working now to also do it in a Virginia museum after that.

And speaking of text in art, I've been hearing good things about the exhibition by Rose Folsom at The Mansion at Strathmore Hall.

Folsom's show was a Hot Pick of the Week by the Washington Times.

Rose Folsom is an amazing calligrapher who has migrated the art of writing towards the fine arts, period. She writes:

At age five I wanted so much to write that I pestered an older playmate into teaching me. When I was seven, I took apart a little paper umbrella to find a tiny roll of Japanese newspaper inside. As I unrolled it, the magical characters were clearly trying to tell me something, but what? I ran to my parents and was told that only a Japanese person could read what it said. I daydreamed about a little girl my age on the other side of the world who could read and understand the tantalizing text. How I longed to know what it said! Meanwhile, the angular characters, lined up like little soldiers, spoke to me of an exotic world that sparked my imagination. This began a life-long fascination with the written word.

And I am told that the show at Strathmore (which I plan to see next week) offers a show that provides evidence that her fascination has delivered a superb show. C.D. Tansey writes about it:

One thing that impresses itself on the viewer is that the writing is not immediately decipherable... It demands a closer look. There is an attempt to communicate something, but the "written paintings" ask the viewer to actively set out to decipher what is there. We are not the merely passive receivers of the words, but we are asked to participate in a conversation.

Already we are in a different realm than the everyday world of words, which, more and more, are crafted so as to be quickly read and understood. Words have in many cases been reduced in our age to a means to and end. Words are how we understand how to get something done - buying, selling, informing, or getting from one place to another. The more transparent words are, the more useful, seems to be the conventional wisdom.

Words here in this show become not a means to an end, but actually a nexus of mystery and relationship. Relationship is the key word here, because often there is a dialogue going on the painting - a dialogue between two voices. Sometimes the dialogue is humorous, as in "He Said, She Said"; but more often the dialogue points at something more poignant.

In the paintings entitled "Letter to," one can't help but think of Emily Dickinson's "Letters to the World," and implicit is the idea of a soul in an almost heroic attempt at bridging a divide - sending a letter to reach the shores of another soul, almost like a message in a bottle cast into the sea.

This is interesting because in the era of e-mails and instant messaging, it has become true that a hand-written letter has suddenly become a rarity. The hand-written letter in this day and age signals a special care and attention, and a reaching out of a special kind.

Another thought: Just as Emily Dickinson took the metric of the traditional Protestant hymn, and used it as a foundation for a completely original and personal artistic expression - these paintings use the traditional form of calligraphy, and, while staying true to that tradition, charge the writing, the words, with an utterly personal and original meaning.

Another thought: the Protestant "motto," "Sola Scriptura," is here being given a second look. Yes, these are words, but they are also images! From the Cattholic point of view, this makes complete sense, because after all the "Word became FLESH, and dwelt among us." In their being willed into a picture, into a substantiality (of sorts), these word-pictures are a symbol of God's own creative activity. The word is not an abstract thing, but is tied to personal meanings, and personal history, tied to the world, and, even more importantly, tied to God's own ongoing conversation with the world!

And that, finally is what is most powerful about the paintings. Without being too heavy-handed about it, they allude constantly to God's own wish to converse with us - a conversation in which we are not just passive recipients, but in which we must RESPOND. In that conversation, we are caught up in a love, which while essential to our fulfillment, is at the same time an ever-present mystery.

The exhibition goes through December 30, 2005.

Secondsight Meeting

The next Secondsight meeting will be held on Friday, January 27th at 6.30pm.

Secondsight is an organization dedicated to the advancement of women photographers through support, communication and sharing of ideas and opportunities.

The guest speaker for the January 27th Secondsight meeting is Paul Roth, Associate Curator of Photography and Media Arts, Corcoran Gallery of Art.

Paul Roth is responsible for the museum’s extensive collection of photographs and manages its active exhibition schedule. His areas of expertise are postwar American photography and the history of film.

Mr. Roth will be discussing a variety of issues, including "What makes a photograph 'fine art'"?

Please visit www.secondsightdc.com for more information.

Secondsight
PO Box 34405
Bethesda, MD 20827
www.secondsightdc.com
301/718-9651

Secrets

I missed the opening for PostSecret because of the bad weather and the fact that I was working till the last minute for my exhibit, but Alexandra Silverthorne didn't and she has great photos from the PostSecret opening here.

I'll be at the Georgetown gallery from noon until six PM today; come and say hi.

Articulation at Pyramid Atlantic

Recently I walked the frozen tundra of Georgia Avenue in order to visit some of the venues in Silver Spring’s December Art Walk. And the highlight of the walk was an amazing installation at Pyramid Atlantic.

Created by Francie Hester and a multitude of other persons, this collaborative installation (titled "Articulation") is a touching in memoriam for Diane Granat Yalowitz.

Diane Granat Yalowitz was a journalist and writer for Washingtonian Magazine, where she was a senior editor and writer covering immigration, medicine and counseling. She died last year at the age of 49.

I am not a big fan of installations; most of them are a waste of time and space. However, the installation at Pyramid Atlantic is simply amazing.

Under Hester’s direction, people and friends who knew Granat worked on a project to wrap about 20,000 paper clips with bits of paper from her publications. The paper clips were then linked and joined together to make strings that dangle from the ceiling of the vault inside Pyramid Atlantic.

The instant allegory, especially when touched, is that of rain or a tropical scene, especially since the installation also includes the accompanying music of percussionist Luis Garay, sung without words by Joan Phalen (I am told as dictated by the mystical Chassidic tradition of "nigun").

There’s also a hypnotizing element by Lisa Hill: a digital screen that dynamically shows the process of wrapping the paper clips. It reminded me of a code breaking computer attempting to decipher an encoded message. Hill noted that "words surfaced, then disappeared, then resurfaced," and on the computer screen, the words float in an out of the mystical digital surface of the screen.

This installation was one of the most moving examples of the genre that I have ever seen, and it made me reflect on the power of words and art, when married together by skilled artists delivering something new and memorable to the dialogue of that often maligned genre.

The exhibit at Pyramid Atlantic goes through December 23rd.

Tonight's the night

Working till the last minute for my yearly opening in Georgetown tonight from 6-9PM.

Just finished "American Justice," charcoal on Paper, 7 x 29 inches, and the original drawing is matted and framed under glass to 10x32 inches.


See the other drawings here.

Cajun Christmas

Cajun Christmas is private home as a public art project by Laura Elkins running through January 28, 2006.

Cajun Christmas is a seasonal work painted by Elkins as

"if the devastation of the floodwaters in New Orleans has extended to my house on Capitol Hill. This work uses the house as painting support and is the latest piece in HOME wRAP, a group of monumental paintings that addresses the politicization of private life and the demise of domesticity."

Orgasm Art

Rub here.

Annual Small Works at Multiple Exposures

One of my favorite photography galleries in the DMV area is Multiple Exposures (which used to be called Factory Photoworks). Located on the third floor of the Torpedo Factory, the gallery is home to some of the best photographers in our area, and certainly a treasure trove for photography collectors, as they usually have affordable (and excellent) work.

Kathleen Ewing, without a doubt one of the best fine arts photography experts in the world once wrote about this talented group: "Absorb the unique vision of these fourteen photographers. Through their eyes you will experience a moment in time, which you might not otherwise have seen. Enjoy their vision."

Their Annual Small Works show was juried by Kay Springwater (their monthly exhibitions are generally curated by invited jurors). Springwater selected 25 pieces for the exhibition, and from these my favorites were Link Nicoll’s amazing "Flying Baby," a spectacular image of a child cleverly photographed against a black background as if airborne. I also liked Colleen Henderson’s "Pamet Sound Blues," as well as a beautiful photo by Danny Conant, that amazing photographer who keeps re-inventing herself, titled "Yellow Roses," a pigmented print that exploits color as only a well versed photographer can do.

The exhibition runs through January 2, 2006.

Gray

The WaPo's Philip Kennicott has an interesting, if somewhat odd and out-of-place (for the WaPo that is) essay in today's paper.

Read The Bright Side of Gray here. (Kennicott would be in pure heaven if he lived in Seattle).

Panel on Homer

Renowned landscape artist Barbara Ernst Prey will be at the National Gallery of Art Sunday at 2:30 pm to speak on "The Watercolors of Winslow Homer."

Prey, who has a studio in Maine and lives on Long Island, joins Franklin Kelly, Curator of American and British Paintings at the National Gallery of Art and Judy Walsh, former National Gallery of Art Conservateur, in a Homer panel discussion.

Tapedude on On Tap

Read the article here.