Ella Tulin

Bad news seldom comes alone.

Internationally renowned DC area sculptor (she lived in Bethesda) Ella Tulin died yesterday in Bethesda.

Our deepest sympathies to her family.

Ken Oda

I just found out that Ken Oda died on January 15, 2006, and this obituary in the WaPo is astonishing to me in its absolute lack of mention of Oda's massive contributions to the DC area arts scene through the publication of the Ken Oda Art Newsletter (KOAN), which for many years was the main documentation of what the Greater Washington area visual arts was all about.

You can add a personal note about Ken online in his WaPo obit here.

The Ken Oda Art Newsletter and later on the Ken Oda Art Newsletter ArtWOW website were for many years the strongest documentary voice of what was going on in the visual arts around here.

Ken Oda gathered a diverse group of writers, assigned reviews, interviews and article ideas to them, and then sent us around the Greater DC area to cover what was going on in our galleries and museums. He then assembled all of our reviews, cut and pasted a magazine together, had it printed and then hand delivered the magazine to nearly all galleries in the area as well as posted them to his many subscribers.

He was tireless in his zeal to expose to the public the great art scene that was and is the Greater DC area, and was one of the first voices around here to actually do something about the apathy of the mainstream media in covering our visual art scene. As an editor he was fair and sensitive to all points of view. Oda and I disagreed on nearly everything that dealt with contemporary art, and his tastes and mine (in art) were world's apart. Nonetheless, we shared many a glass of wine and many a beer discussing these differences, and his ability to always keep an open mind, and refrain from pushing his own point of view to the exclusion of others was one of his greatest gifts as an editor, art collector extraordinaire and friend.

At one point Ken burned out from the publishing demands and the magazine ended; I am told that a complete set of the KOAN Art Newsletter is now part of the archives of the Library of Congress, as a reference tool for historians and people who want to know what was going on on our area's galleries and museums in the 1990s; to a detail and granularity that none of the newspapers ever covered (and it has gotten significantly worse since then - back in those days both the "Galleries" column and the "Arts Beat" column were weekly columns and both of them focused on the visual arts).

And then Ken became one of the first to take his crusade to expose the DC art scene to the world on the Internet, and somewhere in the late 90s he started ArtWOW, with reviews, interviews and a message board, which for a long time was one of the only online voices to discuss and talk about DC area art.

Ken's illness took us all by surprise, and a few weeks ago most of the writers and friends who knew Ken Oda gathered to pay an homage to Oda. I recall that he looked frail, but was happy and loquacious as ever. In retrospect I now realize that Ken was probably hiding not only a lot of pain, but also making all of us feel better and secure about his presence.

Ken Oda will be missed, but his footprint and his legacy on the Greater Washington area art scene lives in the minds and hearts and resumes and bibliographies of the thousands of artists whose shows were reviewed in KOAN over the years, as well as on the silent thanks of future historians who will have access to the past issues of his newsletter to find out what the visual arts in Washington, DC were all about in the 1990s.

Farewell my friend, and thank you!

Update: In defense of the WaPo's short notice about Ken, the WaPo tells me that "although it falls under 'obituaries' on the site, it's technically what we call a "death notice" in the paper (much shorter, with bare-bones biographical info -- it doesn't even have his age!!). If a true, bylined obituary had been written, I'm sure his contributions to the art scene would have been mentioned."

Create an e-annoyance: go to jail

For the SOB who has recently kidnapped my email address and is now sending mass emails out to everyone (including me): annoying someone via the Internet is now a federal crime.

It's no joke. Last January 5, 2006, President Bush signed into law a new prohibition on posting annoying Web messages or sending annoying e-mail messages without disclosing your true identity.

So starting January 5, 2006, it's apparently actually illegal to flame someone under a false name in a blog's comments or any other place.

"The use of the word 'annoy' is particularly problematic," says Marv Johnson, legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union. "What's annoying to one person may not be annoying to someone else."

For some bastard to kidnap my email address and then send out mass emailings is annoying not only to me but also to everyone who gets it as if from me. I'm gonna find you buddy, and then I'm gonna take the new law into my own hands and kick your ass.

Read the story here.

Two New Caravaggios Discovered!

I just finished reading Jonathan Harr's superb The Lost Painting.

The book is the story, told by Harr masterfully as an art detective story of sorts, of the discovery of Caravaggio's The Taking of the Christ in a Jesuit residence in Ireland.

I strongly recommend it if:
(a) you like a detective story,
(b) want to learn a little about Caravaggio's life and
(c) want to learn a lot about restoring a painting.

Also note how even great masters can make an error when dealing with the figure. Look at the painting and then observe how the arm of Judas, as it hugs Christ and is partially covered by the metal-clad arm of the Roman guard, is way too short as the foreshortening has been completely screwed up by Caravaggio. Maybe that's why he's looking so intently at the scene (Caravaggio is the man holding the light in the extreme right of the painting).

But now (thanks AJ), the BBC tells us that: "Art historians have spoken of their shock and delight after two paintings discovered in a French church were found to be by old master Caravaggio. Pilgrimage of Our Lord to Emmaus and Saint Thomas Putting his Finger on Christ's Wound have hung in the town of Loches for nearly two centuries."

Read the story here.

More secrets

Looks like PostSecret is starting to break out nationally.

There is a piece on it in Newsweek magazine this week and a crew from ABC World New Tonight is today taping a segment that I think will be airing tonight in the next few days.

Yep... that's me

For all those of you who have emailed me asking... yes that's me on TV yapping about DC area art events on "ArtsMedia News" on MHz TV.

Parsons on Erickson and Pavlovic

Adrian Parsons takes a good look at the closing shows for Fusebox and Fraser Georgetown.

Read the reviews here.

Washington Sculptors Group

The Washington Sculptors Group is one of the most active and talent-loaded artists' organizations in our area.

I have been hearing good things and need to take a trip to Pepco’s Edison Gallery to see the Washington Sculptors Group and WPA/C's Sculpture Unbound Show.

But before I forget, I also wanted to mention (so that everyone can get this on their schedules) about Sculpture Now: 2006, an exhibition of the Washington Sculptors Group, juried by by my good friend and ubercurator Sarah Tanguy.

The exhibition opens on Feb. 6 and runs through May 5, 2006, but the opening eception is Thursday February 16, 2006 from 6:00-8:30 pm, with a juror's talk at 7:30 pm, on that same night. The exhibit will be at:

Washington Square
1050 Connecticut Avenue NW
(at "L" Street)
Washington, DC 20036
(Red line to Farragut North)
8:30am to 9:00pm, Monday through Saturday

Tanguy said about this exhibit:

"...the 42 selected works offer insights into the Washington Sculptors Group’s current interests as well as a spectrum of approaches, materials, and themes. From figurative stone studies, mixed media installations, to abstract steel compositions, the exhibition explores science and math, and to a larger extent nature, the self and culture."

Wanna go to an opening tomorrow?

The Arlington Arts Center's "Deja Vu: A New View" opens tomorrow with a reception for all 81 artists from 6-9PM.

The exhibition is a "robust exhibition of artworks created in the last three years by 81 artists who exhibited at the Arlington Arts Center before its expansion and renovation. This large and wide-ranging invitational show brings together works in sculpture, painting, drawing, collage, fine craft, photographs, prints, installation and video, offering a unique overview of the new works of many artists who are now familiar to the public. Some of the artists included are Foon Sham, Rebecca Kamen, Pat Goslee, Patrick Craig, Erik Sandberg, and Marc Robarge."

The exhibition runs through March 18, 2006.

Millennium Arts Salon

One of the really good benefits in living in such a vibrant art scene as the one that surrounds our Greater Washington, DC area is the astounding number of art venues that keep adding great positive things to our cultural tapestry.

One such good venue, and one that is new to me, is the Millennium Arts Salon, which is directed by Juanita and Mel Hardy. Their vision states that:

Millennium Arts Salon supports artistic expression and advances cultural literacy through its art programming, which includes exhibitions, gallery talks, and interviews of visual and performing artists, writers, art critics, and other prominent individuals in the arts.

See their 2006 Calendar of Events here.

Back from NPR

Just back from doing about 45 minutes on the Kojo Nnamdi Show discussing the Greater Washington area visual arts and artists along with the City Paper's art critic Jeffry Cudlin and the Katzen's Jack Rassmussen.

If you missed the show, you can listen to it on WAMU 88.5 FM by clickling this link for the first part and the end of the show here.

New gallery opening soon on U Street

Project 4 Gallery will be opening soon at 903 U Street NW Washington DC 20001 tel: 202/232-4340 and website here.

The grand opening reception is February 25, 2006 from 6-8:30PM featuring the works of Lori Grinker.

Welcome!

Silverthorne on Interface

Alexandra Silverthorne, over at Solarize This, reviews our current show at Fraser Bethesda; Interface: Art & Technology.

Read the review here.

He Who Owns the Walls (can censor it?)

A couple of weeks ago I told you that the Mid City Artists were holding their Winter Art Exhibition at the Results Gallery at Results the Gym Capitol Hill.

And Anne Marchand attended the opening together with artist Angela White and were surprised to discover that (as Marchand reports) they were:

"Surprised when two of Angela's oils on canvas weren't hung by the management because a certain part of the male anatomy was visible. A classical nude by Regina Miele was also NOT hung by the management."

Today in the WaPo's Reliable Source column, Amy Artsinger and Rozanne Roberts pick up on the story first reported by Marchand in her Blog.

The WaPo's Reliable Source reports that:

...it's in the club policy: "Because of our family-friendly environment, we don't hang artwork that adults wouldn't feel comfortable discussing with their children," said Sarah French , director of operations.

White's a "great artist," said French, but crossed the "no nudity" line: "You've got to be clothed outside the locker area."

Apparently that also applies to paintings and drawings.

See Adrian Parsons' post on this same subject here.

On the air on Wednesday

Later this week (on Wednesday, January 25, 2006) I'll be on the Kojo Nmandi Show discussing the Greater Washington area visual arts and artists as I usually do once a quarter or so. Tune in to WAMU 88.5 FM around 12 PM (noon).

If you have any questions or art issues, you can call Kojo during the show at (800) 433-8850 or you can email me questions to kojo@wamu.org.

After the show I will post here all the websites and information that we discuss on the air.

Bloggies

Congrats to Frank Warren's PostSecret blog, which has been nominated in a record five categories for the 2006 Bloggies awards, including Best American Weblog and Weblog of the Year!

See the finalists and cast your votes here.

Kirkland on PostSecret and Campello

Thinking About Art has a review of the amazing PostSecret phenomenom and also of my recent exhibition.

Read both of them here.

New gallery

There's a new gallery in town. Nowuno Gallery is located at 403 Constitution Avenue, NE in DC and can be reached at (202) 546-9071 and website here.

Nowuno represents the work of Henrik Sundqvist, Amanda Kates, Laurence King, Aaron Brophy, T.H. Gomillion, Eileen T. Wold, Robert Lindsay, Heather Levy, Jay Rees, James Green, Vèrta Reyes, and Rebecca Tiffany.

Welcome!

By the way Heather Levy is currently having a solo show at Gallery Frame Avenue, located at 4919 Cordell Avenue, in Bethesda (through Feb. 3, 2006). Read Alexandra Silverthorne's review of that show here.

Cosmos on Erickson

The fair Heather, from Two Timing the Cosmos, has a really eloquent review of the current Bruce Erickson exhibition at our Fraser Gallery Georgetown farewell show.

Read it here.

By the way, Heather is a pretty good photographer on her own right. See her work here.

Yuan Fu and the Katzen opening

So last night I went to the multi-opening reception at the Katzen Arts Center (I love that building by the way! And about time that we have a place in the DC area where one can actually park for an opening - for free - in less than a minute). And it was packed to the rafters with everyone and anyone in the DC area remotely interested in DC visual arts.

I saw and talked to most DC gallery owners, collectors, bloggers and artists (I skipped the grubs), and while talking to the talented Mary Coble (represented locally by Conner Contemporary and who is soon heading to Costa Rica on vacation and has learned that if you spell S-O-C-K-S, it literally means (in Spanish) "That's what it is."), I discovered that she's a vegetarian and thus I told her about the recent epiphany that I had while visiting Yuan Fu Restaurant in Rockville.

I will have to return to the Katzen and spend more time looking at the great exhibitions currently on display there. More on that later.

But, as promised to Mary, more on Yuan Fu Restaurant now.

I am not, have never been, and will never be a vegetarian. I respect people who are, but I am not one of them/you.

So it was with somewhat of a slight trepidation that I allowed myself to be invited into Yuan Fu a few days ago.

It was amazing Chinese food!

I had a culinary epiphany!

Let me tell you about it: To start, there's a little explanation about the food on the cover of their menus. It almost apologizes because all the dishes are labeled as if they were actually chicken, pork, seafood, beef, etc. and it reassures the public that it is all 100% vegetarian (they use gluten, tofu, vegetables and tofu skin for their dishes) and no MSG is used. They also discuss that they use less oil that the average Chinese restaurant, and there is even a special Non-Fat section of the menu.

And then you open the menu, and see the photos of the dishes; and they all look like the "real thing."

In other words, the kitchen artists at Yuan Fu actually take the vegetarian ingridents and shape and mold and color them to look (and taste) just like the real thing; it's an amazing feat of culinary trompe l'oeil and trompe la bouche at the same time!

I first ordered an assorted plate of appetizers, and my eyes couldn't believe that I was not eating duck, sausages, spring rolls, etc. I also ordered the roasted duck and cilantro rolls (which came with plum sauce... yummy) and they were delicious as well!

Then for my main course, we ordered Moshu Pork and Mahi. The pork dish looked and tasted like pork, and that nicely crisped skin on the Mahi was actually seaweed!

And the staff was great! When I actually ordered in Chinese, I thought the entire kitchen staff was going to come out and chat. The Chinese lady who owns the place came out, and then started talking to me in Spanish, and we began to discuss the significant number of Cuban people of Chinese ancestry, and how Chinese Cuban food has evolved into an interesting branch of culinary rarity.

Anyway: I loved this place and will return many times. Go visit them often.

Yuan Fu is located at 798 Rockville Pike, in Rockville and it is open Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. A lunch special is available from opening to 1:30 p.m. Telephone: (301) 762-5937 or (301) 762-5938.