Things I'm Sick and Tired Of

Sorry about the dangling preposition, but I've just about had it with irony in contemporary art.

Suddenly, all of that work seems heavy handed and cheesy.

More Troubles...

A month after he was arrested on the way to his own exhibition opening at the Institute of Contemporary Art for tagging property with graffiti, street artist Shepard Fairey stands to face new charges in the Massachusetts capital.

Read the ArtInfo story here.

Get your Kahlo on

Frida Kahlo remains not only one of the most influential artists of the 20th century, but her spectacular life experiences, her writing and her views on life and art have also influenced many artists throughout the years.

The Washington Post once described me as a "Kahlophile since age 17," and since the very first time that I walked into a museum in Mexico City at that age and came across Kahlo's "Las Dos Fridas," I have been hypnotized and seduced by this most Mexican of Mexican viragos.

Frida Kahlo Wearing an Elvis T-Shirt.
1981. Ink Wash Drawing. 24 x 20 inches.
By F. Lennox Campello
In the past couple of decades I have curated two hugely successful international homages to Frida Kahlo, both in partnership with the Cultural Institute of Mexico in Washington, DC and the last one also in partnership with the Museo Frida Kahlo in Mexico City.

And later this year I will be doing it again, this time in partnership with the Joan Hisaoka Healing Arts Gallery at Smith Farm Center in Washington, DC. This exhibition hopes to showcase the work in all mediums of artists influenced not only by Kahlo’s art, but also by her biography, her thoughts, and her writing or any other aspect in the life and presence of this remarkable artist which can be interpreted through artwork.

More details on deadlines, prizes, etc. soon! The all media exhibition dates will be July 1 - August 29, 2009.

AOM Registration Opens Soon

Registration to be part of Artomatic 2009 opens online Friday March 27th.

The tenth anniversary event will run from May 29 to July 5 at Half Street's 55 M Street, S.E. - blocks from Nationals Park - atop the Navy Yard metro in D.C.'s Capitol Riverfront neighborhood.

Artomatic is unjuried, unfettered, popular, crazy, and all artists are welcome. Registration is on a first-come, first-served basis and will end when space is filled. The artists and the public love this amazing art explosion, while the critics usually hate it in their Freudian need for a curatorial hand or someone in charge.

Artomatic.org will have all you need to know by March 27. For registration questions, e-mail register@artomatic.org. To volunteer, e-mail volunteer@artomatic.org.

Major Art Fair coming to DC


The third annual International Caribbean Art Fair is coming to the nation's capital later this year, a change of venue from its usual New York location, where ICAFair has been held for the last two years.

ICAFair, a first-of-its-kind art fair exclusively for the representation of Caribbean Art, will be held at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center from September 10-13, 2009.

ICAFair provides exhibition opportunities to galleries and art dealers representing artists of Caribbean heritage.

At $2,400 for a 12' x 12' booth, this fair is a steal compared to the booth prices of every other fair around, so it may attract enough galleries willing to take a chance in today's negative-driven economy. From what I hear, the fair has done well in the last couple of years.

If you're curious what constitutes "Caribbean heritage," see the definition here.

I also know that ICAFair organizers have already been working hard and have been meeting with Cultural Attaches at the Caribbean embassies in DC to forge partnerships and help create awareness in their home countries. They've also just announced a joint-lecture partnership with the IDB Cultural Center scheduled for June 11th at 6:30pm at their location in Washington, DC.

This is great news for the District's arts scene, and I really hope that some sponsors and the District of Columbia Commission on the Arts and Humanities step up to the plate to help make this art event a success.

Opportunity for Artists

Sign up Deadline: April 15th 2009
Postmark Deadline: July 1st 2009

The Canvas Project - Your work at the world's busiest airport!

Sign up to receive five 3"x3" canvases and a list of 5 user generated words that you are to interpret onto each canvas. The goal of the exhibition is to create a visual encyclopedia using mini canvases and artists from all over the world. At least one of your canvases will be published in an Art House book and one will be on display at the world's busiest airport, The Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

Everyone who signs up and sends back their work will be included in the book and the exhibition. They do not jury any of the work. Art House is all about community and you don't have to be a professional artist to participate in the exhibition. This project is about being creative and inspiring yourself and others.

Fee: $18

Sign up Deadline: April 15th 2009

Postmark Deadline: July 1st 2009

To sign up to participate, visit this website.

Black and Italian and Beechcroftian

Brewing around for a couple of months...

Vanessa Beecroft had better prepare for some serious damage control, since director Pietra Brettkelly's documentary on Beecroft, The Art Star and the Sudanese Twins, opens at Sundance tonight. The doc cluster-bombs her faddish fascination with Sudanese orphans and paints Beecroft as a hypocritically self-aware, colossally colonial pomo narcissist. The film is brutally effective because it lets Beecroft hang herself with damaging quotes and appalling behavior.

The documentary explores Beecroft’s experiment in Sudan, in which she attempts to adopt two Sudanese orphans and use them as subjects in her work. Wise to theory, Beecroft says her adoption will be “not just fetishization of the blacks. It will be a beginning of a relationship with that country.” The film documents the significant gap between Beecroft's theory and her actions.

Upon her arrival in the Sudan, Beecroft hurries to set up a photo shoot, hiding the cameras from the orphanage's sisters, calling the babies “these poor creatures.” Which baby should she photograph? “Either one or the other,” she says, “it doesn’t matter.”

Repeatedly, Beecroft claims that she “loves this culture” — but, in the film’s most disturbing scene, sisters from the orphanage try to stop her from stripping the children nude inside their abbey for an elaborate photo shoot. Beecroft refuses, complains, starts shooting again, and eventually loses a physical confrontation with one of the sisters, who takes the children away from her, furious that Beecroft is stripping children naked inside a church. “Christ, these people,” Beecroft moans, as she barricades herself inside, pushing a pew up against the door to keep the sisters out of their own abbey.

Read the report in NY Magazine here and Black Cat Bone here and the WaPo here.

"Many people are enraged," Amnau Eele, head of the Black Artists Association, told Page Six. "She wants to be famous on the backs of poor black children."

Opportunity for Artists

Deadline: March 13, 2009

UNICEF is seeking artists of all levels (beginner to professional) to contribute artwork to promote the Tap Project — a campaign to provide clean drinking water to children around the world. All of the works submitted will be eligible for a $500 juried prize and exhibition during World Water Week, March 22-28, at the Pepco Edison Gallery located at 701 Ninth St., NW in DC. Submissions will also be considered for use in print and online advertising in the Washington, D.C. metro area.

During World Water Week participating restaurants will ask diners to voluntarily pay $1 for the tap water they would usually enjoy for free. For every dollar raised, a child will have clean drinking water for 40 days.

All artwork should pertain to drinking water. Due date is March 13. Details here.

At the D'Art Center in Norfolk


In the many years that I have been jurying or curating art exhibitions around the nation, I have never ceased to be impressed each and every time by the diversity of the human mind when putting pen to paper, or brush to canvas or chisel to stone, or eye to camera view finder.

And yet, after well over 300 exhibitions in which I have had a hand in orchestrating, I can say with an enthusiastic attitude that the recent exhibition for Norfolk's D’Art Center (which opened last Friday) provided me, the juror, with one of the most pleasant and interesting and intelligent juried competitions that it has been my honor to put together.

Hundreds of artists from 17 states submitted work for the competition, so the talent pool was diverse and geographically diverse.

My first pleasant surprise in jurying this exhibition was the high number of really good entries from which I was to select the exhibition, or better said, competition. Those artists which I selected really brought their best to the show and competed well. And having said that, there were at least a dozen more artists, had space allowed it, that could have been included.

My second surprise was the significant number of really good three dimensional entries in the pool of submissions. I express this as surprise because generally, most of these national level jury shows are comprised of 90% two-dimensional work and a handful of sculptures or other 3D pieces.

The 3D pieces competed well, also a pleasant change of pace for me and my experience on this subject. Super entries such as Lesley Hildreth’s “Hares, multiplying like rabbits while waiting for the Tortoise,” a remarkable clay piece with multiple sculptures which marry oddly zoomorphic imagery with intelligent composition and design and a superb title that would have made Barnett Newman proud of the often ignored art of titling art.

Or in an almost 180 degree artistic U-turn, Sarah Haven’s elegant and minimalist “Ideal,” a ceramic, glaze and decal sculpture which uses clues to have the viewer interpret her work, rather than forcing her ideas upon us.

Another unusual surprise came to me in the work of Virginia painter Mark Miltz, whose trompe l’oeil work is very familiar to me. In his sculptural installation “Game,” Miltz brings something new to me, and certainly sure to raise some eyebrows in Norfolk, or anywhere else for that matter.

Mark Miltz. The Game. Sculptural Installation
Having said all that, the two dimensional artists represented themselves very well in this competition, from Chris Register’s superb “Vespa,” one of the best examples of how pen and ink can really flex its artistic muscles in the hands of a talented artist, to Art Werger’s flawless work, which really showcases what the art of printmaking can deliver in the gifted hands of a master printmaker.

In this postmodern world in which sometimes ideas and concepts receive more attention than the art itself, and where technical virtuosity is sometimes denigrated, Werger is a great example of how a real contemporary master can marry technical virtuosity with ideas, composition and creativity to deliver artwork of the highest caliber.

To those of you chosen for the exhibition, my congratulations on a well deserved accomplishment – it was a tough decision in a tough competition against your fellow artists. To those of you whose work did not make the show, I applaud your continued development as an artist and your desire to compete and show your work. It has been my honor and pleasure to look at all of your work.

Jury Duty

Deadline: March 27, 2009 (postmark).

I'm going to be jurying an art show for The Fine Arts League of Cary in North Carolina, and they are seeking entries for its 15th Annual Juried Art Exhibition to be held from May 8th to June 27th, 2009 in Cary/Raleigh, NC. Show awards and purchase awards will total over $5,000. Entries can only be mailed via CD. The postmark deadline for the mail-in registration is March 27, 2009.

Full details and a printable prospectus are available on the web here or call Kathryn Cook at 919-345-0681.

Goldberg: The Woman Behind the Flame at Zenith Gallery

By Rosetta DeBerardinis

“Art is truth,” declares Margery Goldberg, the owner of Zenith Gallery in Washington, DC’s Penn Quarter who yesterday closed ONLY the doors to her downtown store front, but not her business. And, if it is truth you want, she is your lady. Ms. Goldberg is one of the most honest and outspoken members of the Greater DC art community.

“When you own your own business there is no sabbatical,” she sighs. “You work all the time.” She wants to make it perfectly clear that she is NOT closing her business, but merely changing the way she does business. The success of Zenith has been reliant upon her visibility and her relationships with the artist and art patrons along with its ties to the community. “I haven’t had a day off in years,” she declares. “I am exhausted!”

Many of the readers of this blog were not born yet when Ms. Goldberg opened the doors to her first gallery on 14th Street in 1978. There she rented a 50,000 sq. foot industrial space and nurtured and supported 50 artists. She relocated Zenith Gallery to its present location on Seventh Street in 1986. Many of the artists who began their careers with her remain affiliated with the gallery or return to exhibit in her annual anniversary show. When asked why she wanted to be responsible for the career and welfare of fifty artists, she shot back, “I always take care of everybody”. And, her care-taking extends to her family, her dog Max and to the needs of her now deceased father.

“This is a bitter-sweet moment,” she laments. “I have wanted to do this for years but I waited until I hit a good round number. Thirty is a good one, much better than 18 or twenty-five. I wanted to do it on my terms.” The petite woman with coiled hair, a boisterous voice and one of the best sock collections on the East Coast, is a tough business woman with a big heart.

She is concerned about the impact the closing will have on the downtown business district. “Zenith is more than a gallery is a close-knit part of the community,” she explains. When Zenith moved on 7th Street, it was not the upscale real estate district that it is today. The million dollar condos and the yuppie chains did not exist and the rents were reasonable. Today, it another part of the city where artists have pioneered through urban blight and can no longer afford to remain.

However, Zenith is not moving because of the absorbent rent increases. That is something Ms. Goldberg wants to drive-home. Unlike other downtown landlords and developers, hers has been most supportive and wishes the gallery would stay. Zenith is leaving its brick and mortar because its owner needs a rest and believes there is a new way to operate in the art world. Most of the staff will remain on the payroll and so will the majority of the artists it represents. Although, she did admit that this is an excellent time to sever ties with those artists who are either difficult to deal with or whose work isn’t in demand.

“When I first opened, I had this motto: Genius, good-looks and money are not an excuse to be an asshole,” she says laughing. So, if you are one of those she recommends that you find another gallery, not hers. In addition to her disdain for prima-donnas, she has no great admiration for urban developers, D.C. Mayor Fenty or the Washington Post critics since Paul Richards. She accuses the developers of raising rents sky-high making downtown real estate too expensive for small business owners and that the District of Columbia offers little support for its small businesses, especially the arts. Her mantra is, “I am mad as hell and can’t take it anymore!”

As artists continue to whine about declining sales, the absence of press coverage and high commissions few understand or care about the responsibilities of the art dealer or gallerist who is chained to a storefront operation from opening to closing, answering calls from artists and customers, paying the rent on the white cube and mounting show after show each year. She predicts that storefront commercial galleries will begin to disappear. “Nobody can afford the rent and it’s not safe anymore,” she says. It was surprising to learn that Zenith is robbed almost once a week. No, they don’t break the large glass windows that would be too obvious. Instead the thieves snatch a small piece or sculpture, a cell phone on a desk or a wallet buried deep inside an employee’s purse. Ms. Goldberg attributes the lack of police presence as part of the problem. And, when she calls the police they claim to be unable to find the gallery.

Since art dealers and gallerists are a pivotal link between artists and their public and between sellers and collectors, her prediction about the disappearance of storefronts will have a definite impact upon the local art market. If she is correct, art galleries will soon become destination points and few will be able survive in obscurity. Nor does she believe chain galleries can survive in there. When asked why so many galleries fail, she provides a direct and honest response. “Anyone can open an art gallery,” she admits. “But, they have no freaking idea how hard it is- the hard work and the hours. It is for people who need to make money, not for the rich. It is for those who need to earn a living and who have a fire in their belly.” According to Ms. Goldberg, even rich contacts are a restricted audience because patrons only purchase a limited amount of art annually. Then, there is the daily grind which is so demanding and that most people simply don’t want to work that hard, despite their love for art.

When she closes the doors to the glass fish-bowel this week, Zenith gallery will begin to operate its new format. With most of the staff continuing and the construction of a gallery in her home, Ms. Goldberg intends to cast her entrepreneurial net far and wide. She will continue to work with her stable of artists and retain a relationship with the 20,000 people in her database. Watch out, she is taking her show on the road doing traveling exhibitions, studio visits, art tours, promoting her foundation, producing and exhibiting more of her own sculpture and dreaming about the 100-acre art community she hopes to develop. She may say she is tired but her ‘to-do list’ is quite long. I predict that Margery Goldberg will sleep late a few mornings here and there and take off a day or two once in a while, but this woman with fire in her belly will remain a noticeable flame.

Airborne


Heading home from Sedona... big news to come!

Artists' Websites: Kathryn Cornelius

DC uberartist and my good friend Kathryn Cornelius was once described snarkely as a "barely emerging artist." But the snarky comment backfired and success is the best revenge, and Cornelius has become one of the district's best known and most ubiquitous artists.

And it has been a busy couple of months for her... in February she exhibited with Your Last Neighbor and Transformer at VIDEOYO! in DC... This exhibition has since travelled to Delaware, and the opening of VIDEYO! Part Deux! is at the New Wilmington Art Association tonight, 6-10pm. The show/s are curated by Breck Omar Brunson and feature DC, Philly, and NYC-based artists.

Also in February, artist Lisa Marie Thalhammer and Cornelius put on a performance event called Soup Kitchen.

The piece was a part of Transformer's Summer Camp series. You can see pics on Transformer's site here and on their Facebook profile.

Also, in December she was profiled in the DC Modern Luxury magazine (along with some other great DC art folks!).

Also, if you are in DC, next Thursday evening from 6:30-9:30pm, she will be giving an artist talk entitled "IDEAS ART FREE," presented by Meat Market Gallery as the inaugural event in their Red Tape: Artist Talks series.

My good friend Jeffry Cudlin, Director of Exhibitions at the Arlington Arts Center (and the author of Cornelius' 2007 Curator's Office solo show essay), will give an introduction and she will share some of her past works, discuss a few of the major themes explored, and give a sneak preview of a few new pieces. Please RSVP to redtape@meatmarketgallery.com if you can make it.

Visit her new website here.

Free Artists' Webminar

I'll be giving a free 30 minute artists' webminar next Tuesday, March 10 at noon. Click on the image below for more info. The webminar starts at 12PM and will cover a whole host of subjects.

Power of the Web

"The Age of Obama," my first drawing of 2009 and currently on exhibition at Projects Gallery in Philadelphia as part of their Obama-rama exhibition (which may be traveling to a few American cities and the subject of a book), through the wonders of the internets has been acquired by an Irish collector and will be on its way to Ireland at the end of the exhibition.

World History Series: The Age of Obama
F. Lennox Campello
Charcoal on paper, c. 2009
13 x 9 inches matted and framed to 24x18 inches

Opportunity for Artists

Deadline: April 30, 2009

Philadelphia's Projects Gallery has announced a call to artists for its June-July 2009 Juried Art Exhibition entitled “Summer in the City”. The steamy summer months often prompt Philly residents to flee; but for the segment that remains, there is a certain magic to the sticky days and long nights. Emerging from their wintry cocoon, Philadelphians take to the streets and stoops, bikes and bars, parks and playgrounds.

They want art that captures that unique sensibility of summer in the city with a distinct Philadelphia flavor. Entrants may present work of any media or subject, but artists must be located in the greater Philadelphia and Delaware Valley region.

They are looking to discover emerging, established and/or outsider artists with a mixed media approach and urban sensibility. The show will be displayed June 5 – August 1, 2009 at Projects Gallery in Philadelphia.

Eligibility: Open to all artists who reside in the greater Philadelphia and Delaware Valley area. Work must be original and completed within the past 2 years. Works for consideration may be of any media but must be no larger than 36” W. All work must be available for sale. Gallery commission on sales is 50%. An artist statement and resume will be required from all accepted artists. Artist is responsible for transportation of work to and from gallery. Accepted video artists must supply viewing equipment.

Prizes: A “Best In Show” prize of $300 will be awarded by artist Frank Hyder.

To Enter: There is a non-refundable entry fee of $25.00 (U.S.) per artist for up to five entries. Additional detail images are permitted. Digital files of artist statements, resumes and/or bios must be included with image entries. Submissions must be digital 300 dpi at least 8” jpg, gif or tiff format on a CD or DVD. CD/DVD will not be returned. Do not send original artwork. No slides. Please include a list of entries with the following information: artist name, titles of images, media, dimensions, date and retail price of work submitted. All entries must be received no later than April 30, 2009. Make checks payable to: Projects Gallery. If any of these requirements are not met the submission will be deemed ineligible.

Mail entries, list of entries, entry fee to:
Projects Gallery
629 N 2nd St.
Philadelphia, PA 19123

Calendar
• April 30, 2009 deadline for entries
• May 10, 2009 entrants notified
• May 30, 2009 accepted works due to gallery
• June 5, 2009 opening reception
• August 1, 2009 exhibition closes
• August 3-5, 2009 pick-up work or prepaid shipping returned

Work will be juried by Projects Gallery’s Associate Director Sequoia Medley. In addition to the exhibition, press releases and images will be sent out and the exhibition will be highlighted on the gallery’s website. Please forward this to all interested parties.

Questions? Contact info@projectsgallery.com.

At the Artists' Gallery in MD

New Baltimore Gallery

Nudashank is a new independent, artist-run gallery space in Baltimore, Maryland. Their mission is to showcase young artists. Founded by Seth Adelsberger and Alex Ebstein, Nudashank "hopes to bring new blood into the Baltimore scene, benefiting the regional artists, and providing a new venue for national and international artwork."

The gallery hosts approximately 6 exhibitions per year, featuring group and 2-person shows. Their goal is to have a large inventory of available works including drawings, paintings, zines, and prints. The 1000 square foot gallery is located on the third floor of the H&H building in downtown Baltimore, which already houses the Whole Gallery, Gallery Four, and Floristree.

Sedonaing...

Done with some private family matters... done with some exhausting hiking (more to come)... done with some archeological visiting... done with loads of Mexican food eating (how come no East Coast Mexican restaurant offers nopalitos or carnitas?)... and now ready for some gallery hopping.

Memo to frozen East Coast: It's nice and sunny here.

Wanna go to an artist talk in DC tomorrow?

Artist Talk: Mark Cameron Boyd
Host: Hamiltonian Gallery
Start Time: Wednesday, March 4 at 7:00pm
End Time: Wednesday, March 4 at 8:30pm
Where: Hamiltonian Gallery