Rousseau on Photography

Dr. Claudia Rousseau, the art critic for the Gazette newspapers reviews our current Bethesda International Photography Competition show in today's paper. Read the review here.

Rousseau notes that:

The fourth annual Bethesda International Photography Competition coincided with the publication of a national art magazine cover that features the headline "Photography: What’s Hot" — both a question and a statement.

What is hot in photography these days? Art photography is more popular than ever. Collectors are willing to spend large sums, more than a million dollars in a recent auction, on individual prints. A look at the work of the competition winners now at the Fraser Gallery in Bethesda also indicates that traditional photography is still healthy — despite Kodak’s 2005 announcement that it would no longer manufacture black and white printing papers.

You can see the exhibition online here and you can read the rest of Dr. Rousseau's review here.

Airborne again...


Flying back from Ohio tonight... more later.

Jamison Opens at Irvine

Susan Jamison's long awaited solo opens at Irvine on April 6 with an opening reception from 6-8PM.

Jamison's had a tremendous 2005. For starters, I selected her for the Seven exhibition, where Martin Irvine discovered her amazing works and signed her up.

And Irvine Contemporary has done wonders for Jamison. She was taken down to Miami for scope, where I am told she sold out; she was also at Irvine's highly successful New York adventure recently.

And now Susan will make her DC solo debut in the front gallery of Irvine's space on Connecticut Avenue, while Robert Mellor takes up the rear gallery with a show of new work.

Both exhibitions will run from April 6 through May 5 with an opening reception with the artists on Fri. April 7 at 6 PM. Jamison and Mellor will also give gallery talks about their work on Sat. April 8 at 2 PM.

Flying to Ohio tonight and back tomorrow. Meeting with some museum bubbas to see if we can get an artist-to-be-named later his first museum show. More later.

Tale of two Jacks

Jack Boul Does The Art League

When I picked up the list of artists selected by juror Jack Boul for the Art League’s monthly juried exhibition, I was pleasantly surprised to read one of the shortest and most to-the-point juror statements that I’ve ever read.

Boul’s statement:

"In a recent review of the contemporary art at the 2006 Whitney Biennial, the reviewer said: ‘The state of our nation’s artists is grim.’

After selecting the show at the Art League, I disagree. Artwork is not in crisis. It is alive and well at The Art League. And I find it refreshing!"

Bravo Jack!

Boul reviewed 591 entries and selected 128 for the exhibition. His top award went to a very painterly oil by Nancy Tankersley titled Kitchen Pas de Deux. It is one of the rare times that I’ve agreed with a juror. It’s an intelligent and well-crafted painting. I also quite liked a pastel by M. McGurk titled "Corner Booth" that shows a Hopper-like, aloof blonde beauty, immersed in her own icy world of loneliness.

Sexy in a different way was M. Mitsuyasu's photograph titled "Night Blooming Cereus Portrait 16" and Jackie Saunders' always superb watercolor entry titled "Elena, Elegant." I also liked Isil Ozisik’s masterful wet-on-wet watercolors series "Rain." I know of no one in our area that can paint Washington, DC better than Ozisik.

But let me tell you about the piece that took my breath away.

"Pippy Takes a Ride" is a magnificent oil portrait by Edward J. Reed, who goes by Ted, and who teaches portrait painting at the Art League in Alexandria.

In this work, Reed captures that immensely difficult wisp of essence that makes a portrait change from a painting of a person to a portrait of a person.

He has not only captured the pretty-girl quality of the model (who is one of the most popular and talented Art League models around), but also managed to catch her presence and spirit. This is just not a painting of a deeply sensual woman dressed in tough biker gear; this is a work of art that steals a little bit of the soul and presence of the model and embeds it in the oil and medium and visual weight of the work.

WOW!

I was absolutely hypnotized by the work, and on a second and third view of the work, I noticed a clever hanging of the works around it. Right below the painting was a very sexy black and white photograph of a woman’s curled toes. The photograph is lined up directly below where Pippy’s legs end.

"Did you know?" I asked the gallerist at the Art League, "that those toes are the toes of the same model who posed for Pippy?"

The gallerist glowed. "Yes!" she smiled, "that’s why I put them there."

Jack Rasmussen does Target

While I was in Alexandria I dropped by the Target Gallery to see the show juried by my good friend Jack Rasmussen, Director and Curator of the Katzen Arts Center. He juried a show titled "Stretched Tight," with a fascinating set of works and artists, and like any group show, some superb selections and a dud or two.

The piece that took my immediate attention on the first go-round was Brent A. Holland’s "Self-Portrait," a gorgeous oil on panel work that reminded me of the hard-core grittiness of harsh realists such as Gregory Gillespie was.

I also like Pat Goslee’s continuing exploration of the vast, moist world of odd, sensual vaginalism in an encaustic work titled "In Her Synaptic Gap."

Three works by Cara Ober were awarded the Best in Show by Rasmussen, and were all three intelligent choices.

Another piece that I liked was Anna Davis’ "Back to the Cradle," another one of her bright paper-on-canvas-that-look-like-mosaics works.

The dud in the show (in my opinion) was Laura Yang’s "Untitled 533" which was a fair enough of a painting, except that I’ve seen this sort of "quickie" Marsley-like thing a million times over the last few decades, and it never worked for me the first time, and not this millionth time.

Overall it was a top notch show, a nicely-done juried job by Jack, and another good exhibition by Target, which continues to do well thanks to a well-developed juror pool that uses the best in our area to select work for the gallery each month.

Silverthorne reviews

Alexandra Silverthorne continues to take an in-depth look at our current photography exhibition.

Overall review here.

Review of Aleksei Pechnikov here.

Review of Lee Goodwin here.

Art Deal of the Week

My third pick is this intelligent New York photograph by American photographer Chris Davis.

It is titled "New York Niche" and the photograph measures 28x19 inches and then it is matted in a white pH-balanced acid free white museum mat and framed in a black metal moulding under plexiglass to a framed size of 36x24 inches. Photo is signed by the photographer. The price (including frame): $200. That's an incredible deal for this large photo.

To buy it call 301/718-9651 or email the gallery.

Artwork Needed for Charity Auction

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force is soliciting for artist donations for a silent auction held at the 17th annual DC Leadership Awards at the Omni Shoreham on May 6, 2006. All proceeds from the Leadership Awards benefit the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Foundation.

In exchange for your donation, you will receive a listing in their program and public acknowledgement of your gift during the auction. Participation in the Silent Auction is an amazing opportunity to promote your art to a highly desirable target audience, as well as provide support to a wonderful cause.

For further details, including deadlines and pick-up/drop off information, please visit www.thetaskforce.org. If you would rather have a form faxed, emailed or mailed to you, and for other inquiries, please contact David Swanson at dswanson@thetaskforce.org.

Opportunity for Photographers

Arts in Healing: Call for Photographers – "Celebrating a Spirit". On Wednesday, April 5, 2006. New Horizons, the arts education and cultural enrichment program at Children's National Medical Center and Sarah Mattingly, founder and director of Celebrating a Spirit, are inviting professional photographers to a new Children's National Medical Center initiative.

To learn more about this wonderful community project of love, please join them at Children's National Medical Center, 111 Michigan Avenue, NW, Washington, DC on Wednesday, April 5, 2006 at 5:30 pm in the Mini Atrium. For more detail information pleases contact Tina Lassiter, 202-884-3465.

Wanna go to a couple of artists' talk today?

First of all, the WPA\C Presents: Wallsnatchers panel discussion, today Sunday, March 26, 2006 @ 4pm (free) at the exhibition space at 3307 M Street, NW, WDC 20007
Talking points:
* Moving Street Art into the Gallery
* Street Art and Commercial Success
* Street Art and the community
* The Internet

Then there's an artists' talk hosted by Billy Colbert, tonight March 26, starting at 7:30pm at DCAC. Admission is free.

This panel discussion is a continuation of the DCAC's Sunday Artist Talk series -- an opportunity for DC artists to come together and talk about creativity in DC and in the greater art community.

Text Opens at GRACE April 1st

If you visited the Seven exhibition that I curated last year at the Warehouse Galleries, then you saw that one of the seven spaces had an exhibition where the artists all focused around the subject of text in art.

That concept has been picked up by a couple of other art venues, and next April 1st, a second iteration of Text, curated again by yours truly opens at the Greater Reston Arts Center in Reston, Virginia.

The artists in Text are Mark Cameron Boyd, Victor Ekpuk, Michal Hunter, Michael Janis, Molly Springfield, Tim Tate and Denise Wolff.

What: TEXT at Greater Reston Arts Center.

When: Opening reception on Saturday, April 1, 6-8 pm and Artists' Dialogue on Saturday, April 8, 7 pm.

Where: The brand-spanking new GRACE located at 12001 Market St., Suite 103, Reston, VA. Call 703-471-9242 for more info.

See ya there!

The Power of the Web

DC Art News reader Angela Lubinecky read this posting a while back. The posting made her aware of the "Arte de America Hispana" contest launched by HYP Network, the leading independent publisher of Spanish language yellow page directories in the U.S.

She then submitted a piece entitled "Floracion Hispana" and it won first place!

The unveiling of the winning work will be held on April 6th, 2006 at an awards ceremony in Washington D.C's Gala Hispanic Theatre - Tivoli. Mayor Anthony A. Wiilliams has been invited to make the opening remarks.

Angela Lubinecky's art will grace the 2006/07 cover of the VEGA Directorio en Espanol for Virgina, Maryland and Washington D.C.

Congrats!

Opportunities for Artists

Deadline: July 1, 2006

Arlington Arts Center – Call for Solo Exhibitions for 2007. Artists working in the six Mid-Atlantic states (VA, DC, MD, WV, DE, PA) may apply for solo exhibitions between January-December 2007 in one of the Arlington Arts Center galleries. All media will be considered. The grounds surrounding the building can accommodate outdoor sculpture.

More information and the application form may be downloaded from their website at www.arlingtonartscenter.org under Exhibitions/Artist Opportunities.

New website look

ArtDC has a new website and a new look!

Check it out here.

Ohmygawd

When Michelle sent me this link, all her email said was Ohmygawd... I concur.

What is it?

Dedication Honors Nude Britney Spears Giving Birth

A nude Britney Spears on a bearskin rug while giving birth to her firstborn marks a 'first' for Pro-Life. Pop-star Britney Spears is the "ideal" model for Pro-Life and the subject of a dedication at Capla Kesting Fine Art in Brooklyn's Williamsburg gallery district, in what is proclaimed the first Pro-Life monument to birth

Read the rest here.

Cudlin on Dada

If there was ever a perfect alignment of critic and show to review, I think that it is my good friend's Jeffry Cudlin's interest in theory and his superb CP review of Dada at the NGA.

The key to his review and to the show itself:

"More important, the number of seemingly Duchampian objects produced by the artist’s contemporaries begins to dull any sense of Duchamp as a solitary genius who single-handedly changed the course of modern art."

Nail has been hit dead-on the head, sir...

Parsons on Bollocks

God knows what sort of Google traffic that headline will get me, but DCist's Adrian Parsons has a really cool look at itsy bitsy bollocks at Transformer.

Read it here.

Goss and Capps on Morse

Kriston reviews Brandon Morse at Conner Contemporary for the CP here while Heather also reviews Morse for DCist here.

Job in the Arts

The Arlington Arts Center is looking for a part time administrative coordinator. Candidate must pay attention to detail, have a good phone demeanor, and experience dealing with the public (and sometimes, with kids!).

He/she should be able to work on multiple tasks simultaneously, and be able to manage a very quick-paced work environment. Some light physical labor is occasionally involved, and nights and weekends are sometimes required. Along with knowledge of all Microsoft Office applications (especially Excel and Access), flexibility, enthusiasm, and a sense of humor are essential. Experience with Photoshop and knowledge of Spanish would be an added plus. (Perfect for an artist who wants to work in the studio and have a job in the arts at the same time.) 20 hours a week, $10/hour.

Please send resume and cover letter via email to info@arlingtonartscenter.org, or via fax at 703.248.6849. No phone calls, please.

The Power of the Web

We're about to close a major acquisition by a major New York City museum (I just used "major" twice in one sentence) and it has all (well 98%) happened through the Internets.

Other that a phone call or two, most of the questions, answers, images, etc. and transactions have been accomplished through the power of the web.

And a second (fingers crossed) possible major (and multiple) acquisition by a major (geez... "major" again!) Brooklyn museum (did I just give it up?) has so far been coordinated, crafted and negotiated 98% through the Internets and 2% through snail mail.

More on that later.