A Breath of Fresh Art Writing

One of the most pleasantly shocking things to unexpectedly find in the Washington Post's Style section on a Monday morning is a huge profile by the WaPo's chief art critic of a DC area artist.

Gopnik profiles DC area glass sculptor Graham Caldwell, whose show at G Fine Art runs through March 31, 2007. We also learn that Graham, is apparently soon leaving the DC area and heading back to NYC as well as the fact that "Caldwell, normally a trendy dresser -- a shy smile, slight build and artfully tousled hair give him teen-idol looks -- is in old khakis and a scruffy shirt."

This is the first time in my memory that I recall the WaPo profiling a living DC area artist; usually such profiles come in the form of an obit-type article. Kudos to Gopnik.

While I was gone

And nu, I am back from Sedona after an unexpected one day stop at Phoenix courtesy of US Airways.

I have tons of interesting stuff to discuss and report, but first I'd like to make sure that no one misses on the good stuff that happened while I was gone and playing hooky on blogging duties.

DCist Exposed opened at the Warehouse Gallery and it appears that Heather not only did a great effing job, but all of us in the rarified atmosphere of the fine arts arena may have seen the shape of things to come. From the volume of emails that I have received about this show, the opening was a spectacular success and has once again proven the power of the web. I add my vote to those hoping that DCist does this again and maybe even expand the concept, say to my idea about videos and DC, or painting, or sculpture. Bravo to DCist and Heather Goss! Go see this show and buy some really good affordable photography.

One of DC's best-known artists (with hundreds of Indie films about him) Tim Tate opened at Fraser Gallery [formerly co-owned by blah, blah, blah], sold a ton of stuff and had a cool article about the show at the Washington City Paper and a nice mention in the WaPo. Which brings me to the question: This is Tate's fourth solo show in DC and still he has never, ever been reviewed by the sole WaPo art critic charged with reviewing DC area art galleries. Why is GWU art history student Jessica Dawson ignoring Tim Tate? Who knows? Is the fourth time a charm? Maybe Jessica will now take the Metro to Bethesda and offer her thoughts on the artist bringing glass to the 21st century like Stieglitz brought photography to art. Go see this show and this may be the last chance for budget-minded collectors to acquire an original piece at very, very reasonable prices by this artist - news to follow!

My good friend Staff Sgt. Capps has a really good update on the hot issue of the Randall School, the Corcoran and the artists who have studios there. Read Capps' piece here and artist Karen Joan Topping's issues here and also artist Ellyn Weiss issues here.

Artomatic is one of the United States of America's premier visual art events, especially for emerging artists and beginning art collectors. It is usually denigrated by repressive art neocons and traditional art writers stuck on the mental payroll of an elitist artworld itself stuck on the shift gear of booshwah museum curators, symbiotic writers and critics, and a handful of NYC art dealers, all so far removed from 9to5 jobs and glued to oversized glossy magazines and books, that they (we) have failed to realize and actualize on the beauty and raw power and energy of the common human and their visual art creations. If you live anywhere near the DC area and want to know what being an artist, feeling like an artist and rejoicing in the spectacular sensuality and power delivered by being able to create and showcase art, then make sure that you become part of (as a participant, volunteer or visitor) Artomatic. And don't let the Hamelin-pied-piper minded neoconcritics scare you away from Art-O-Matic; I can fill pages of this blog with the success stories of artists who first surfaced through this most plebian and democratic of art events, including the top three new DC area 3D artists (artists that these same critics now (probably) wish they had acquired back in those seminal AOM exhibits). Who will be the new star of this coming AOM?

N.C. Wyeth mural to be moved

"The Apotheosis of the Family" is a 60-foot-by-19-foot mural by American art icon N.C. Wyeth which is to be moved from the Wilmington Savings Fund Society in Wilmington, Delaware (where it has been since 1932) to an unknown location.

I am told that the developer will move it to another spot (so far unknown to me). The final location of this massive mural has been uncertain since 2005, when the Wilmington Savings Fund Society announced plans for a new headquarters.

As part of the project, the WSFS "struck a deal to sell the building for about $4 million to Wilmington real estate developer Buccini/Pollin Group Inc. The deal is expected to close in early April."

This huge work of art belongs in Delaware, and "art conservators have estimated the cost to remove the painting's five canvas panels would range from $100,000 to $200,000," which is a very realistic and affordable price for a work of art that belongs in the tiny state for which it was created. Furthermore, considering the massive "old money" wealth of some Delaware families and businesses, this seems to be a prime (and cheap) opportunity for some company to get some great positive publicity in moving and re-installing this work of art in a Delaware institution.

"So far, "discreet inquiries" to find a new home in either a public building or a museum have not been fruitful, said Joyce Hill Stoner, a professor at the Winterthur/University of Delaware program in art conservation and the expert who oversaw conservation work on the mural in 1998. Stoner has been consulting with Buccini on the mural for more than a year.

Danielle Rice, director of the Delaware Art Museum, said Wednesday the museum has no space to accommodate such a large work.

"We would have to build a building for it," Rice said.

James M. Duff, director of the Brandywine River Museum echoed that sentiment."

"We hope this wonderful mural will be preserved, but it is too large for the Brandywine River Museum," Duff said in a statement.

The Delaware State Arts Council has had trouble finding a potential spot because of the "overwhelming size," said Stoner, a member of the council.

So far the real estate developer (Buccini/Pollin Group Inc.) has stated that "if possible he would prefer to see the work stay in the region," which is good news.

This is a call for the ubercompanies to come through with a good solution. Calling AOL, Lockheed Martin, MickeyDees and others.

Update: Check out a video of the mural by BB's Video Press here.

Returning home all sun burned and charged up from all the hiking and eating and gallery hopping. More later...

Sedona Vortex


A few days ago we hiked up to one of the Vortex sites overlooking Boynton Pass near Sedona.

One to watch

Every once in a while I keep harping about some DC area artists that in my professional opinion, sometimes colored by nepotism and enthusiasm, are not only "must haves" for collectors, but also excellent buys due to their current price points and level of artwork being produced.

Amy Lin is one of those artists that I have been recommending for a while. Her recent last solo at DCAC sold extremely well and now Washingtonian magazine is including her in a forthcoming article on "people to watch" under 40 years of age and they're profiling her for the article.

Venuszine recently also interviewed Amy; read that interview here.

I'm still in Sedona, AZ, and it continues to amaze me. Later today after some hiking I'll be doing some gallery hoping.

Weekend Openings

Even from way out here in Sedona, it's easy to see that the coming weekend is certainly one filled with the opening of important and interesting shows in the Greater DC area. Take a look below, set aside some gallery time and go out and see some shows.

Greater DC

Friday, March 9: It's the second Friday of the month, so it is time for the Bethesda Art Walk.

Tim Tate's "...but what have we gained?", his fourth solo at Fraser Gallery opens in Bethesda with an opening reception for the artist who [total lack of objectivity follows] many recognize as one of the leading forces in the movement that is dragging glass from the confines of craft and firmly plants it in the conceptual realms of contemporary art. I'm far from being objective with Tate's work anymore, but be ready soon for a major jump for this artist, and in this show Tate takes glass to new places again, including video. Go see the marriage of video and narrative glass. Opening reception for Tate from 6-9PM. Through April 7, 2007.

Jayme McLellan's Civilian Art Projects stops roaming around the capital and finds a permanent home at Cheryl Numark's original space on 7th Street, and Jayme has double Jasons for an opening offering: Jason Falchook "Contours & Detours" and Jason Zimmerman "Natural Acts" as well as a group exhibition in the project space with works by artists including Ken Ashton (DC), Jason Balicki (NY), Lisa Blatt (CA), Keshaun Blunt (VA), Breck Omar Brunson (DC), Erick Jackson (DC), George Jenne (NY), Jason Kalogiros (CA) and Nilay Lawson (DC). Opening Reception is Friday, March 9, 2007 - 6:30-8:30 p.m.

9x10 : WPA\C Member Show. In tribute to the late William Warren Parker’s support for emerging DC artists, his family has generously donated space at the William W. Parker (WWP) Gallery – housed in Mickelson’s Fine Art Framing at 629 New York Ave NW - to WPA\C for a new "nine-by-ten" exhibition series: 9 shows of 10 member artists each. These shows will provide a new outlet for WPA\C member artists, and each exhibition will present a diverse cross-section of the WPA\C membership to the public, showcasing works in all media. The 9x10 exhibitions will run monthly from March 2007 to January 2008. Show #1` runs from March 9 – April 6, 2007and features Stephen Borko, Sabine Carlson, Sheila Crider, Joel D’Orazio, Kid Flash (Steve Frost), J.T. Kirkland, Jeanette May, Betsy Stewart, Gia Tkablazde and Andrew Wodzianski. Opening reception: Friday, March 9, 6-8pm, WWP Gallery (Mickelson’s Fine Art Framing), 629 New York Ave NW, 3rd Floor, Washington, DC 20001. Info: 202.639.1737.

Saturday, Match 10: Long View Gallery in the city has opening on Saturday, March 10 from 6-8pm for Chicago-based artist Gerard Erley’s Poetic Landscape.

Sunday March 11: Super-talented photographer Jim Steele has an opening reception for his exhibition at the beautiful Athenaeum in Old Town Alexandria. The reception is from 2-4PM.

In Sedona

I'm in amazing Sedona, Arizona for the week for some hiking and some gallery visits to Scottsdale.

This place has been called the most beautiful spot in America and they were right! More later, including a very important DC area opening this Friday.

Hot Rockwell Found

“Russian Schoolroom,” a Norman Rockwell painting stolen in 1973 has been found by long-time Rockwell collector Steven Spielberg. Read the story here.

Airborne again today and heading to Sedona, Arizona for a little R&R and some gallery hopping around Scottsdale. More later...

Drawn to Art

Every once in a while I get an email from someone asking about where to take drawing classes in the Greater DC area.

The WaPo's Michael O'Sullivan answers that question and more in today's excellent article "Drawn to Art."

The League of Reston Artists also organizes and monitors life drawing sessions at the Reston Community Center at Lake Anne in Reston. Their schedule is on their web site here. The fee is $6 for Reston residents, and $8 for non-residents.

This coming Sunday

If you saw the piece about the Nevin Kelly Gallery and the 4Traits on DC's Fox5 Morning News this morning then you may know that The 4Traits, a group of four artists doing assembly line portraiture, will be in the Nevin Kelly Gallery on this coming Sunday from 1-5pm. Stop by 1517 U St NW in DC to have your portrait drawn for free.

Last Night

Was a packed house at Mate in Georgetown, where nearly everyone and anyone with a footprint in the Greater DC area visual art scene was present for the launching festivities for artDC.

Believe it or not, I hadn't been to G'town since we closed the original Fraser Gallery, which is about a block up the street on 31st Street, NW in Canal Square. The Parish Gallery, which used to be our neighbor in the Square knocked down the wall between the two galleries and now Norman Parish's old space looks really nice with the expanded area.

Anyway, Mate was packed to the gills and there was good food and an open bar, and all the head honchos for ArtDC were there, as well as their media co-sponsors, DC Magazine.

In addition to a significant number of handsome men and goodlooking women, who came clearly because of the magazine's co-sponsorhip of the event, many of DC area [also goodlooking] gallerists such as Leigh Conner, Martin Irvine, Julia Morelli and others were present, as well as some of the folks from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, a museum director or two, including Jack Rasmussen from the Katzen, a lot of curators like Vivienne Lassman, Sarah Tanguy, Angela Jerardi and others, and even some of the folks from the mainstream media who rarely come to openings showed up, including WaPotistas Michael O'Sullivan and the fair Jessica Dawson. Also saw some of DC's rare and few ubercollectors, such as Dr. Ognibene, Podestas, etc., some of which were actually co-sponsoring the event.

Didn't see too many artists, other than painters Candace Keegan and Sondra Arkin.

We were told by Ilana Vardy, the fair's director, that so far 80 or so galleries from 12 countries have been accepted into DC's first major international commercial fine arts fair, and it is clear that the artDC organizers are trying to align every possible thing that can be aligned to ensure that the fair takes root and that it becomes not only a commercial success, but also a recurring event.

The fair will take place April 27-30, 2007 at the Washington Convention Center, Hall E. Details here.

Lilith Waiting for the Apple

While I was in Colorado last week, I did a couple of drawings while watching TV in the hotel room at night.

Below is "Lilith Waiting for the Apple," 14" x 4" on 300 weight Rising white paper and executed while watching Rome on HBO, by far the best series on TV these days. Click on the drawing for a larger version.

Gopnik and African Art

The WaPo's chief art critic's recent review of "African Vision: The Walt Disney-Tishman African Art Collection" again presents this intelligent man's Oxford-made and flawed Anglocentric view of the art history of the world (remember the El Greco fiasco?) and has raised some interesting comments here and the ire of the Right Reverend.

Wanna go to an opening tonight?

The head out to the University of Maryland's Union Gallery for "I Walk the Line: Three Abstract Artists in the 21st-Century: Mary Early, Linn Meyers, and Douglas Witmer" curated by Jonathan Walz – PhD Candidate, Art History. Opening Reception: Thursday, March 1, from 5-7 PM and the exhibition runs through April 12, 2007.

Jury Duty

Last night was the first of a few nights hanging around Flashpoint in DC as part of a jury team selecting new media works for artDC. Together with ubercollector Philip Barlow, David Gariff from the NGA, independent curators Angela Jerardi and Laura Roulet, and Art in Embassies boss Sarah Tanguy, we spent a few hours reviewing the submitted works and found several good ones, but loads more left to review.

It was a long day, as I had spent the entire day in meetings in DC prior to circling 9th and G for 15 minutes looking for a parking spot at 5PM.

More later...

Congratulations

To super hardworking DC area artist Matt Sesow, who has one of his paintings being shown on the VH1 Top 20 Video Countdown (started last Saturday Feb. 24th). It repeats until this coming Saturday. Matt has built a mini-video on his website that shows the segment where they show his work. Click here to see it.

Matt also has a solo show opening next Saturday, March 3, 2007 in Oceanside/San Diego at the D Gallery. They have just under 70 of his paintings on display. Matt Sesow paints, shows and sells a lot.

Weekend Openings

Because it is First Fridays, the coming weekend is certainly one filled with the opening of important and interesting shows across the Middie-A. Take a look below, set aside some gallery time and go out and see some shows.

Greater DC

Friday: It's First Friday and most of the Dupont Circle area art galleries will have either openings for new shows or extended hours.

Studio Gallery will be featuring Jan Willem van der Vossen, who will be showing paintings on tile, cityscapes, and collages. A reception will be held Friday, March 2, 6- 8pm (in conjunction with the Galleries of Dupont Circle 1st Friday openings) and a second reception will be held on Sunday March 4, 2.30 - 5.30pm.

Conner Contemporary will be kicking-off Matthew Sutton's "The Kudzu Project" from 6-8 PM. Details here. Leigh will also have new drawings by Mark Bennett (same opening times).

Saturday: Andy Moon Wilson is at it again and this time Curator's Office will showcase a 1000 business card drawing installation plus additional large-format and scroll drawings. Let me be the first one to congratulate Andrea Pollan on taking on this hard-working young artist and also the first one to feel sorry for her in having to hang 1000 drawings in her office/micro-gallery! Business by Andy Moon Wilson runs Saturday, March 3 through Saturday, April 7, 2007 and opens on Saturday, March 3 from 6:30 - 8 pm.

Also on Saturday, Irvine Contemporary has "Joseph McSpadden: Flesh and Bone," on exhibition from March 3 - April 7, 2007 and opening reception with the artist on Saturday, March 3, 6-8 PM.

Baltimore

Thursday (OK, OK not really weekend): The Maryland State Arts Council 40th Anniversary celebration multi-media exhibition "New Legacies and Living Icons" at the James Backus Gallery in Baltimore, Maryland from March 1 - May 4, 2007. On exhibit recent works by Denee Barr, Min-Jung Cheon, Linda Day Clark, Richard Cleaver, Pepe Coronado, Jane Cottis, Annet Couwenberg, Brent Crothers, Laure Drogoul, Luis Flores, Carol Frost, Joan Gaither, Craig Herndon, Jose Mapily, Ulysses Marshal, Nancy Roeder, Jann-Rosen-Queralt, Joyce Scott, Rene Trevino, Deborah Winram, Gene Young, and Al Zaruba. Opening Reception Thursday, March 1st from 5-7pm with Gallery Talk at 6pm. Curated by Dr. Leslie King Hammond, Dean of Graduate Studies at the Maryland Institute College of Art. Location: Maryland State Arts Council James Backus Gallery 175 West Ostend Street, in Baltimore.

Friday: It's also First Fridays in Baltimore and most of the Fells Point galleries and art venues will have openings and extended hours. Details here.

Philadelphia

Friday: It's also First Fridays in Philly and most of the Old City's galleries and art venues will have openings and extended hours. Details here.

Projects Gallery concludes its group show season as it stages an exhibition that challenges the typical vision of the landscape show. Projects Gallery has selected artists who present a different view of the subject of landscape: “Altered Landscapes” opens Friday March 2 with a First Friday reception from 5-9PM. Work by Douglas Wirls, Nic Coviello, Frank Hyder, Steve Cope, Tom Brady, and Venezuelan painter Henry Bermudez. The exhibition continues through April 1st, 2007.

ColorField remix

More than 30 Washington area museums, galleries, arts organizations and businesses are participating in ColorField remix, the largest celebration of painting ever held in the Washington area.

Per the news release and website, "the event honors the 1950s and 1960s Color Field visual art movement and the Washington Color School, which put Washington, DC on the art world map. ColorField remix includes exhibitions, public art projects, artists' talks, lectures, children's programs, and special events honoring Color Field and Washington Color School painters as well as contemporary artists influenced by those movements. The project was conceived by The Kreeger Museum and is being held in partnership with Cultural Tourism DC, the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities and the Washington, DC Convention & Tourism Corporation."

Check out all the events, details and exhibitions that will be synchronized across the DC area between April - July 2007. Details here.