Congrats!

To Jesse Cohen's artdc.org, which broke 1,000,000 hits for the month of January. They're growing at an amazing pace. Check out the Washington, DC Metro Arts team here.

Virginia Beach police seize photos


Butt crack showed, so the VAB cops seized the pictures photos; read the story here.

Update: Charges dropped! But mission accomplished - this story made headlines all over the world and made Virginia Beach look really moronic!

artDC returns this May

artDC, the District's only major international art fair, returns for its second year on May 16-18, 2008, with an opening night VIP Preview scheduled for May 15.

Read my review of artDC 2007 here.

The New Media section, which I helped to curate last year, also returns for a second year and "this small group of exhibitors will display a variety of digital, sound and installations of mixed-media works, along with other gallery artists."

artDC 2008 will also feature "Art W," which is described as "a project paying tribute to contemporary and historical women artists. As an invitational, Art W will highlight select women artists whose work merits special recognition. Art W will additionally be spotlighted in on- and off-site seminars addressing the topic of women in the arts and in special events with partner institutions in Washington."

They're also featuring SLICE, a special section featuring galleries who focus on "cutting edge art - a slice of the market not normally exposed to the international art market."

I suspect that we will see a lot more Mid Atlantic area galleries represented in this second year, as the relative success of the first year insures some sort of safety net for galleries with a limited art fair budget to do a "new" fair. I know this because one question that I get all the time as I wander through Philly's galleries is "how was artDC?"

And I know that we will see a lot more DC area galleries as well, as the fair's first year success now gives some sort of degree of assurance about the art being exposed to a large body of attendees and collectors.

Details and applications, etc. here.

Opportunity for Sculptors

Deadline: March 15, 2008 (postmark)

"Global Warming at the Icebox" - Philadelphia Sculptors is offering a great opportunity for artists interested in making artistic statements about environmental issues. They are sponsoring a major sculpture exhibition on the theme of global warming during Fall 2008.

"Global Warming at the Icebox" will be exhibited at the large and uniquely appropriate Icebox Project Space in the Crane Arts Building in Philadelphia. They are seeking submissions from artists working in three dimensions who can present original ways of approaching the theme and exploring the diverse ramifications of climate change. Interactive, multi-media, and installation works are encouraged.

The show will run from October 5, 2008 - November 15, 2008. All work must be submitted digitally. Selected artists will receive an honorarium of $750. The jurors are Adelina Vlas, Assistant Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and Cheryl Harper, independent Curator. The entry fee is $15 for Philadelphia Sculptors members and $25 for non-members (or discounted membership and entryfee of $45 for new members.) For prospectus and more information, go to this website or contact Leslie Kaufman at 215-413-9126, lesliekaufman@verizon.net.

Call for Artists

A splendid group of jurors -- including Dr. C. Everett Koop, Dr. Gary Vikan, Mr. Fred Lazarus, myself and others -- will be jurying the artwork for the The Innovators Combatting Substance Abuse Program next month in Baltimore.

The Innovators Combatting Substance Abuse Program has a call out for artists for original art to appear in a forthcoming book on art and addiction to be published by Johns Hopkins University Press.

Open to all artists and all media, including video on the subject of drug addiction, including alcohol, and recovery. A panel of jurors will select finalists, and each finalist will receive a $200 honorarium, with the top five receiving an additional $500, copy of the book, and inclusion in exhibitions in Maryland and Puerto Rico.

No entry fees!

Download entry form here.

McCabe on Bailey

The Baltimore City Paper's Brent McCabe closes the chapter on the recent furor over the Bailey-as-Ober appropriation issue and writes that "Bailey's outright copying of a local artist in her peer group is the first of many undercooked choices that makes New Work a brilliant idea with atrocious execution."

Bret makes some excellent points on the issue. Read the review here.

Ass Backwards

My series of works based on real and imaginary military ribbons and medals has created the complete opposite effect in the mind of at least one person who writes in YouTube:

Do you want to kill more innocent Americans with your ribbons. Why don't you campaign for peace?

See the offending work in the short video below...



And here it is finished.


"Iranian Campaign Medal", Oil on Canvas, 24 x 48 inches, c.2007
By F. Lennox Campello (from the Digitalia series)

Interesting show at Salve Regina

Salve Regina Gallery at the Catholic University of America has a really interesting show opening next Thursday Feb. 7, from 6-8PM.

On exhibition will be works by DC area artist Kurt Godwin, and the exhibit promises to be quite interesting, especially in view of the recent furor over the Bailey-as-Ober appropriation issue.


Godwin has been working on a series of "assisted ready-made" mixed media paintings for the last year and a half that works with the appropriation concept on a very different level.

Godwin tells me that because he was temporarily without a proper studio, he came up with the idea of downloading obscure old paintings (19th c. and earlier) by various (often Russian) artists

Finding separate scenes by two different artists with some sort of visual connection - a horizon line, trees that could match up, etc. - two different paintings can be then "fused" into a third situation.

The colors are matched with a variety of materials to solidify the connection; yet perspectives are at times skewed. Godwin says that what appears to be normal -- "looks like art" -- turns out to be oddly disjointed and perhaps eve unsettling at times.

Things don't "add up" in the newly reconstituted works. Inserting rusted out cars, planes, power lines and other sorts of junk into the placid landscapes bring these seemingly antiquated, traditional compositions into our day and age - for better or worse.

Godwin says that in the process of making these things it occurred to him that "over the millions of landscape paintings produced over the years what really is the point in starting from scratch?"

He continues, "with so many to choose from, one just needs a bit of a foundation as a jumping off place to add their own two-bits."

With this accelerated process there was clearly a high production level as the show will feature about 75 - 80 of these 8"x10" works. The show opens next Thursday Feb. 7, with a reception from 6-8PM.

The Salve Regina Gallery
Catholic University of America
620 Michigan Ave NE
Washington, DC 20009
202.319.5282

Go Home Already

DCist all but calls for the WaPo's Chief Art Critic to quit. Read that here.

Shauna Lee Lange on Honfleur

By Shauna Lee Lange

Southeast DC's Honfleur Gallery celebrated their one year anniversary with an exhibition of fine art and culture last weekend.

The show featured work by artists such as Alison Spain, Jonathan French, Justin Couch, Seneca Wells, Renee Woodward, Jonathan Royce, and Darren Smith. Some of the artists are members of the ARCH Artist in Residence Program and they all expressed their thanks to the gallery staff for their hard work in bringing to light new cultural beginnings and in helping to make the gallery a success.

The celebration featured a fine buffet table, thoughtful door prizes, open artists studios, and an energetic electric spark in tune with a wonderful jazz trio. Support for the Gallery seems to span age, race, artistic interest, and status. One of the ways we like to measure the health of a gallery is in the culture of open reception to children and youth. The anniversary celebration welcomed a young teen enjoying blackberries, an older teen wearing a "Make Music Not War" t-shirt, and a young man sitting patiently on black leather couches with his guardian.

When children are welcomed to explore art, and not kept at arms length from art gallery openings, it makes our world all the richer. Honfleur Gallery invites you to come in and meet the work of artists who are exploring photography, oils, woodworking, stitched canvas, and collage mosaics.

Happy Anniversary, Honfleur - may we be with you at year 5, 10, 25, and 50!

Early Look

I've been retained by the Longview Gallery of Washington, DC to curate an exhibition for them focused on student work.

The exhibition hopes to deliver a survey of the best artwork by undergraduate art students working in accredited art school programs in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, District of Columbia and Virginia.

I will curate the exhibition from both a submission process as well as visits to schools and studios. All selections and invitations will be made at my discretion.

Through this process, the exhibition also hopes to educate the selected students on the process of participating in a commercial gallery art exhibition, including advance preparations, presentation and delivery of artwork, opening receptions, dealing with the press, etc.

Calendar

May 5, 2008 - Deadline for receipt of entries to me

May 10, 2008 - Invited Artists Notified

June 5, 2008 - Deadline for Delivery of Art to Gallery

June 7, 2008 - Opening Reception

July 5, 2008 - Exhibition Closes

July 6, 2008 - Pick-up of Unsold Work


This exhibition is open to all art students 18 years and older who are enrolled in an accredited undergraduate art school program in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, the District of Columbia and Virginia. At my discretion, the exhibition may also include a piece by the selected students' art professor. All work selected must be for sale and framed and presented professionally to conservation standards. Open to all two and three dimensional media. The size of the submitted artwork cannot exceed 40 inches in any one direction (excluding frames).

There are no fees or charges associated with this exhibition and process. Accepted artists are responsible for any costs associated with delivery and return of unsold work. All preliminary judging will be done from digital entries.

A formal opening and reception for the accepted artists will be held on Saturday, 7 June 2008 from 6-8 p.m. at the Longview Gallery. The gallery is located at 1302 9th street, NW, Washington, DC 20001, Tel: 202.232.4788.

All the details and prospectus can be downloaded here. Art professors desiring to contact me to set up a school visit should contact me directly via email: lenny@lennycampello.com.

Wanna go to a DC opening tomorrow?

DC's Aaron Gallery has been around for a long time, but recently its direction has been taken over by a new generation of Cabadas, and the two Cabada sisters have already made a huge improvement not only in the way that the gallery looks, but also in completely making a whole new start for the gallery.

Look for this gallery to begin adding its contribution to the capital region's artistic dialogue.

And it may start this Friday, with the opening of a new exhibition by Chilean artistJoan Belmar and and talented DC area glass artist Kari Minnick. Join the gallery and artists on Friday, February 1st for an opening reception at 1717 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Washington DC at 6:30 to 8:30 pm. Contact info@aarongallerydc.com for further details.

Vanity galleries

A vanity gallery is an art gallery that "rents" its space to artists in order for the artist to have a show. Thus, the main driver in having a show at a vanity gallery is not necessarily the quality of the artwork, but the artist's ability to pay the gallery to host his/her artwork.

New York is crawling with vanity galleries, and the vast majority of European galleries are vanity galleries. In the US however, vanity galleries are often looked down upon by everyone, since they are essentially a "rental" gallery. A knowledgeable art critic or curator knows which galleries in his/her town are vanity galleries, and often ignore them, much like book critics ignore most self-published writers, who use "vanity publishers."

An interesting fact, at least here in Washington, is the fact that I have seen "reputable" galleries which sometimes cross the line and become "charge the artist" galleries or vanity galleries once in a while, as the mighty dollar (or lack thereof) calls.

Sometimes, when I was part of Fraser Gallery, we'd get a phone call from an embassy, or from the agent of a Hollywood actor who's also a "painter" or "photographer," or from an individual "artist," and they'll ask us how much would we charge to host a show by their "artist."

When we'd inform them that we do not rent the gallery for artists to have shows, they'd thank us and hang up. Then a few months later I'd see that "Hollywood artist" or "embassy artist" exhibiting in one of the area's "reputable" art galleries, and immediately recognize that - at least for that month - that gallery is making ends meet by renting the space to someone.

While I understand that most galleries are labors of love, and often run by the skin of one's teeth, I still find it somewhat distasteful, and dishonest - to appear (on the surface) to be a gallery that shows work based on merit, while at the same time showing work based on an artist, or a corporation's ability to pay.

And it's not just commercial art spaces. Several years ago, the WCP profiled a then a local non-profit, which inadvertently admitted charging a multinational corporation a hefty fee to put up an art show at the "reputable" non-profit art spaces.

One can even make the case that even some museums sometimes cross the line and become "vanity museums."

A few years ago I was astounded when a Culture Minister from one of the embassies in DC told me that they had finished a deal with a local museum to host the first ever retrospective of one of that country's artists for a fee of four million dollars! To him, it was "business as usual," while to me it was distasteful and dishonest and left a bad taste in my mouth about that museum for the longest time.

Opportunity for Artists

Deadline: March 28, 2008 (postmark date)

Ragan Cole-Cunningham, Director of Exhibitions and Education at the Contemporary Art Center of Virginia (CAC), is the Virginia Art Education Association’s (VAEA) 2006 Art Educator of the Year/Museum Division is the juror for the 2008 Arts Council @ Grace Competition.

Last year’s winners were: Linda Hesh (1st place), Kathryn Cornelius (2nd place) and Charles Westerman (3rd place).

The exhibition is June 21–August 1, 2008 and has awards of $2000.

To download the 2008 entry form click here.

Opportunity for Artists

Established by the United States Department of State in 1964, the Art In Embassies Program is a global museum that exhibits original works of art by U.S. citizens in the public rooms of approximately 180 American diplomatic residences worldwide.

To submit images to its staff for consideration in upcoming exhibitions please email .jpg or .gif images of your works no larger than 50k in size, to: artinembassies@state.gov.

Lucelia Artist Award winners

Are you curious about how the Lucelia Artist Award winners were selected? Join Sidra Stitch, former executive director of the Lucelia Artist Award and guest curator of the current exhibition, as she discusses each of the artists featured in Celebrating the Lucelia Artist Award, 2001--2006 and current issues in contemporary art.

McEvoy Auditorium — Lower Level Saturday, February 2, 3 p.m. Questions can be directed to (202) 633-1000 or saamprograms@si.edu.

Michael Janis

No objectivity here, but more evidence of why DC area artists who use glass as their means to deliver visual art are creating a new art movement centered on the Greater DC area...

Recently his public art glass and steel sculpture for the Hotel Palomar received "Best Artwork Award 2007" from Boutique Design Magazine, and The Onion singled out that sculpture as one of the reasons that Washington, DC is becoming a cool arts center. He's also been selling a ton of work at the major art fairs.


Lobby Sculpture Hotel Palomar, Washington, DC
Michael Janis, c. 2006 . Cast glass and steel - 4.5' x 6'

Michael Janis is represented in the Greater DC area by Gallery Neptune, in Richmond, Virginia by Red Door Gallery, and elsewhere by Maurine Littleton Gallery.

Janis will be in a three person show at Gallery Neptune titled "Closer" which is opening February 6, 2008.

Buy Michael Janis now.

Ober, Bailey, McNatt, Gopnik, and now Capps

Kriston Capps from the WCP confirms that there appears to be a dealer angle on the whole "Bailey as Ober" exhibition controversy in Baltimore and even makes a good case for the potential "adjustment" of the context and focus and word-spin of this show after the fact; here's the original news release on the show - there's nothing on Ober.

Read Capps here.

Here's an idea: how about some institution in DC or Baltimore sponsor a panel where Bailey, Block, Gopnik, McNatt, and Ober all sit down and chew this out and respond to the good questions raised by the visual arts blogsphere and take questions from the audience?

Maybe the BMA, or MICA, or School 33, or MAP, can step up and offer the place to host the discussion?

I'll moderate it for free.

Numbers

Between January 2007 and December 2007, this blog received 715,265 visits/page views, an all time new record for DC Art News, Mid Atlantic Art News, Daily Campello Art News.

Evidence of the huge thirst that exists for information and writing about the visual arts.

"If you don't get it, you don't get it"
- Washington Post ad slogan

Thank you!

This Saturday

On February 2, O'Neill Studios will be hosting a Party, Art Show and Silent Auction to benefit Autism Speaks. Their past events have attracted hundreds of people and raised thousands of dollars for important charities, all while showcasing the best of the DC art community. Around nine artists will be painting live as attendees party around them. All guests are invited to eat, drink, dance, buy artwork, and bid on some cool items. Special performance at 9 p.m. featuring the legendary DC band, the LivelyStones.

WHO: Art lovers, partygoers, charitable contributors, DC metro community

WHAT: Post-Holiday Party, Art Show and Silent Auction to raise money for Autism Speaks

WHEN: Saturday, February 2, 2008 6 p.m.- midnight

WHERE: LeftBank, 2424 18th St, NW, Washington, DC 20009

CONTACT: Christine Hamershock, christine@oneillstudios.com, tel: 301.530.9030