Deadhead Wading

Earlier tonight, after spending hours on a clogged up I-95 drive from Philly, I arrived in Baltimore, parked for 61 minutes (cost me $13 bucks), then I waded my way through a couple of hundred deadheads hanging around the plaza where the beautiful spaces of the Maryland Art Place is located in Baltimore to drop my piece for "Out of Order," where MAP opens its doors to any artist who wishes to exhibit their work in their gallery. Work must be original and ready to hang. They will accept one piece per artist, with wall dimensions not to exceed 5’x5’. They will be open all night accepting work.

Details here.

I was number 299, so by 6:22PM there were already almost three hundred pieces on the walls, and I jotted down a few exceptional pieces, which I had intended to mention, but which I left in my van, which then some valet in the DC hotel where I am tonight already parked somewhere and thus you will all have to wait until tomorrow to find out who the real good finds in this auction are, and there are some terrific pieces of art being offered.

The Silent Auction and Gala is at 8PM, this coming Friday, April 11, 2008.

Out of Order

MAP’s infamous free-hung benefit exhibition is back! For twenty-four hours, the Maryland Art Place in Baltimore will open its doors to any artist who wishes to exhibit their work in their gallery. Work must be original and ready to hang. They will accept one piece per artist, with wall dimensions not to exceed 5’x5’.

Details here.

It keeps on rolling

The year 2008 Tim Tatetahon just keeps rolling... fresh from the Washington Glass School opening at Charlottesville's Migrations Gallery, Tate now opens a solo show and makes his Santa Fe debut with an exhibition at Jane Sauer Gallery titled "The Vague Haze of the Unconscious" and opening on on April 11 and running through May 6, 2008.

Opening at Migrations Gallery
Next: Philadelphia.

SF Art Institute halts exhibition

Citing threats of violence by animal rights activists, the San Francisco Art Institute said Saturday that it is canceling a controversial exhibition that included video clips of animals being bludgeoned to death, as well as a public forum it had scheduled to address the controversy.

Read the story here.

A Miami mural of Barack Obama generates some buzz

In a weird way - since we all are supposed to want to be governed and taken care of by big government and its inherent burocracy - this makes sense.

Read the Miami Herald story here.

It's all about the galleries

The current issue of Washingtonian magazine publishes something that it should have done ages ago: a superb article on the Greater DC area galleries by the CP's cappo-di-tutti-criticos Cristiano Cappo.

Read the article by Capps here.

Wanna go to an opening in New Jersey?

Greg Minah, who a few years ago made it to quite a few of the Art-O-Matic Top Ten lists that I ran, is having a solo show at Fusion Gallery in Collingswood, NJ about 10 minutes outside Philly.

The show is open now, and the artist reception is being held on April 12th (Second Saturday) from 6 - 10pm and the show runs through May 4, 2008.

Yay!

This just won a Pulitzer Prize and it is a good read - read it here.

Amy Lin at the Art League

Amy Lin's solo show "Interaction" opens this Thursday, April 10 from 6:30-8pm at the Art League Gallery in Alexandria, Virginia.

"Interaction" involves a blending of arts and sciences, but surprisingly, the blend isn't related to Amy's degree in chemical engineering - it relates to her childhood experiences with her Mom, who was a professor at the university doing research in human genetics. Each of the drawings in the show is inspired by a memory from her childhood in the biology labs. Amy is now represented by Heineman Myers Contemporary Art in Bethesda, MD, but some of us recall that she originally got her start at the Art League Gallery.

In the December 2005 Art League Gallery show, Lin was given an award by Anne Collins Goodyear, from the National Portrait Gallery, and it was there that I first saw her work and mentioned it in a review that I wrote for the Crier Media newspapers.

Since then her career and presence have taken out at an astounding pace, with enviable critical coverage in the press and a very hot sales trail.

Lin's drawings at the Art League appear courtesy of Heineman Myers, as "Interaction" was scheduled two years ago before she had signed with Heineman Myers.

"Sacrifice" 45x55 inches, colored pencil c.2008 by Amy Lin
Read DCist's Amy Cavanaugh's interview Lin here.

Buy Amy Lin now.

It's not a good time to be an art critic

It's not a good time to be an art critic. Much of what's written is pale. It is weak and descriptive to no purpose. Or at the other extreme it is pure jargon, laughable if read aloud to the uninitiated. Junk. In fact, if art critics actually believed that anything we said or wrote mattered, we would probably be shooting ourselves in droves.

Read Morgan Meis' really good article here... and if you don't even want to waste a few seconds to click onto the link... read some more:

Even a knowledge of art history antique and contemporary won't help you much. These days art isn't an insiders game so much as a contest in private languages. The artists are often working in their own heads and they don't feel much compulsion to translate.

This puts the critic and the curator in a hilarious position. Stripped of most of our authority, we fall back on tortured syntax and dubious vocabulary in order merely to say, in essence, that it is tough to talk about art these days. Here's a typical sentence from the Biennial catalog: "Charles Long's interest in opposing formal and metaphysical forces informs a complex sculptural lexicon marked by radical stylistic shifts that are difficult to categorize."

The simple translation of this sentence: "Help, I don't really know what Charles Long is doing or why."

Read it here.

Adopt a work of art

The Fine Art Adoption Network (FAAN) is an online network of artists, which uses a gift economy to connect artists and potential collectors.

All of the artworks on view on the site are available for adoption. This means acquiring an artwork without purchasing it, through an arrangement between the artist and collector. Their goal is to help increase and diversify the population of art owners and to offer artists new means for engaging their audience.

Visit them here.

Heartworks Online: Let the Bidding Begin

Nearly 100 contemporary artists from throughout the United States, and London and Paris, are now contributing work and performances for “HeartWorks, a unique, week-long Philadelphia event featuring music, video art, performance art and an exhibition of approximately 100 works of art, including painting, sculpture, glass, photography, jewelry, hats and more.

HeartWorks opens on Friday, April 18, 2008 at Johnny Brenda’s, 1201 Frankford Avenue and continues Saturday, April 19 through Saturday, April 26, 2008 in the Ice Box Project Space at the Crane Building, 1400 N. American Street. Tickets ranging from $10 - $125 are available at 215.546.7824; online at www.inliquid.com/heartworks; or at the Wilma Theatre Box Office, 265 South Broad Street. HeartWorks’ closing event on April 26 is a benefit and art auction for the Mazzoni Center, a Philadelphia health agency serving the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender community, specializing in HIV treatment and care.

Curator Christopher Veit (who is from my new hometown of Media, PA) credits the Mazzoni Center with saving his life and is taking the words of his mentor Pierson – “you only get back what you put out in life” – to heart in creating “HeartWorks.”

Veit, whom I met a few weeks ago and is an amazing Rennaissance man, has decided to give the place and people who helped him get well a benefit of works and performances donated by his friends. All proceeds will support the Center. Lifestyle Magazine is a major sponsor for “HeartWorks.”

Some of the artists contributing to “HeartWorks” include painters Elyce Abrams, Dave Bond, Anthony Campuzano, Jeff Elrod, Daniel Gonzalez, Robert Gutierrez, Ian Hokin, Pearl C Hsiung, Jackadandy, Michael Lazarus, Isaac Lin, Jay Schuette, Jeni Spota, Thaddeus Strode, Hiroshi Sunairi and Henry Taylor; sculptors Paul Lee and Jason Meadows; photographers Karl Hahn and Mary Pinto; mixed-media artists Shari Elf, Mark X Farina, Adam Helms, Thom Merrick, Sandeep Mukherjee, Michele O' Marah, Randy Polumbo and John Williams; fashion designers Paul Bernstock, Michael Costiff, Bettina Hubby and Thelma Speirs; jewelry designers Annie Costello Brown and Mikal Winn; video artists and filmmakers Zaina Alwan, who also creates murals, Tom Borgese, Paul Slocum, Jack Sloss and Kim Stringfellow; performance artists David M. Jones, Ann Magnuson, Kelly Marie Martin and Khembra Pfhaler; musician Chad Brown; and Ellie Greenwood, Gia Grosso, Tim Jackson, Daniel McDonald, Ji Shin and Lisa Sitko and yours truly! See all the artists here.

Mazzoni Center focuses on the healthcare needs of Philadelphia’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities, and specializes in the treatment and care of HIV / AIDS. For more information regarding Mazzoni Center, go to www.mazzonicenter.org.

You can view the art auction and bid on the artwork here and you can bid on my donation, a charcoal drawing titled "Superman Flying Naked" here. It is a charcoal drawing, 9x13 inches matted and framed to 16x20 inches.

Artists' Talks: Cara Ober

Randall Scott Gallery in DC has special Saturday afternoon discussion featuring Kriston Capps, Brandon Fortune and Cara Ober discussing Cara Ober's new work, and whatever else pops into their heads.

Saturday, April 5th, 5pm to 6:30PM.

Philly opening tomorrow

Florence Putterman “Noir et Blanc” and Elizabeth Bisbing “People / Places / Paper” open tomorrow in Philadelphia's Projects Gallery.

This is the second solo exhibition of Florence Putterman at Projects. Known for her textural paintings and bold, earthy colors, Noir et Blanc features works in only black and white, focusing the exhibition on Putterman’s keen image-making. In Projects Room they also will present Elizabeth Bisbing in her first Philadelphia solo exhibition entitled "People / Places / Paper."

Both open First Friday, April 4th with an artist reception from 5-8 p.m. and continues through March 26, 2008.

Virginians at ComicCon

Greater DC area artists Carolyn Belefski and Joe Carabeo will appear in Artist Alley at New York ComicCon on April 18-20, 2008. Artist Alley is a special exhibitor space forprofessional artists to display and sell their work.

NYCC will take place April 18-20 at the Jacob K. Javits Center in New York City and will host more than 400 exhibitors, hundreds of artists and over 150 special events.

Opening in Richmond tomorrow

Claire Watkins (kinetic sculpture, drawings), Joe Deroche (mixed media paintings and Rosana Barragan (performance) open tomorrow at Transmission in Richmond, VA. Performaces by Rosana Barragan will occur on the opening night at 8 and 9pm and the show runs April 4-26, 2008. The opening reception is from 7-10PM. Transmission is at 321 Brook Rd. (between Broad and Marshall St.) in Richmond, VA.

Watkins is one of the most talented artists that I have seen in quite a while. She has written about her work:

'The digestive system turns food into eyelashes. I am in awe of the minutiae and delicate actions that make up everyday life.

The machines I build reflect this awe and wonder. My work is intimate, curious and mesmerizing in its gestures. The translation of energy is both a functional and conceptual part of my work...With movement, I make machines that become creatures. I am fascinated by systems found within the body and the parallel structures located outside of it; the human brain and circuit boards, nerve systems and trees. How is the brain a computer and how is it an electrical storm?

The affects of electricity are curious. Neurons fire in your head with the memories of your life. Your toast gets burned. Electricity has a visual presence in my work, traveling through motors, lights, wires microcontrollers and drawings that are circuit boards. I want to expose the invisibility of electricity, a physical reminder of its presence.'

Closing on Sunday

Eric Finzi's terrific solo "My Double Life: musings on Sarah Bernhardt" at Heineman Myers Gallery in Bethesda closes on Sunday; don't miss this show!

Philadelphia Airport

It continues to perplex me how bad Philadelphia Airport is and how spoiled I was when living in the Dc area to have choices of airports and such a well-oiled machine in BWI or Dulles, or even Reagan National.

Of the dozens of flights that I have taken out of this airport in the last couple of years, one has left on time, and I have heard the most amazing excuses for delays, including one where someone forgot to charge a plane's batteries overnight.

This major airport also lacks a cell phone wait area, and as a result, cars double park on the offramp from I-95 - a rather dangerous and illegal issue.

And there seems to be a lack of electrical outlets, a serious issue in this age of laptops.

This airport sucks.

Denver to Launch Biennial of the Americas

In the historic tradition of Venice and Sao Paolo, the world's newest international contemporary art biennial is coming to Denver, Colorado.

Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper announced the city has received a $2 million grant from the Colorado-based Boettcher Foundation to help launch the Mile High City's inaugural Biennial of the Americas. Scheduled for the summer of 2010, the two-month-long curated event will be a celebration of contemporary art and ideas from throughout the Americas. The Biennial will feature two major cultural exhibitions, one focusing on the contemporary arts of the Americas and a secondary program, an "ideas pavilion," that will explore themes ranging from science to urban planning. Each program will be led by a respected curator.

Read all about it here.

Trouble in Reston

Bailey reports that there's art trouble in Reston, Virginia as Linda Hesh's "Stop The Conflict" posters that are part of the "Conflict" exhibition at the Greater Reston Arts Center and which were placed around Reston Town Center yesterday by GRACE staff have been ripped down and torn up.

Details and images here.

Update: GRACE sent out this note to the "Conflict" artists:

Dear Artists,

We would like you to have the correct information about an incident related to the exhibition.

As many of you know, Linda Hesh’s posters saying STOP THE CONFLICT have been torn down from the construction fence across from GRACE. Our director, John Alciati and I have met the individual and talked with him about why he has done this. (He torn them down twice) He claims to be working for the company that owns the fence and says that he was directed to do this. The fence is owned by the development company, Kettler, who has given us permission to use it to promote our exhibitions. In the fall we used the fence without incident for over 2 months with posters about FLOW: The Landscape of Migration.

We do not know this person’s motivation and we do not know who he really works for but we will try to gather more information. He does not work for the property management company and he does not work for Reston Town Center. Please do not say that he is a town employee. We are not sure who his employer is.

In the interest of dialogue we prefer to not make assumptions about this individual. On one positive note, during the second encounter he did tell John that he knew our intentions were good. Let’s not make assumptions about his intentions until we have further conversations with him.

We look forward to a wonderful opening tomorrow night. The show is fine testimony to your integrity as artists and your courage to speak the truth.

Best wishes,

Joanne Bauer
Exhibitions Director
Greater Reston Arts Center