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.

Two DC galleries to close

In the world of art dealers and art galleries, most of them are run through the skin of one's teeth and are usually a labor of love on the part of the dealer. When a gallery "survives" for a few years and then establishes itself as a permanent fixture on a city's art scene, that cultural tapestry gains another member and we all benefit.

Two important and longstanding members of the Washington, DC area art scene will close their physical spaces in the near future. When we lose important galleries, all galleries and the art scene itself suffers.

Kathleen Ewing, considered by many for many years to be the premier photography gallery in the DC region, and whose owner was once dubbed by a national art magazine as one of the top 100 most influential persons in the international world of fine arts photography announces that:

For over 30 years, it has been my privilege to work with a great group of photographers, especially those in the DC area. It has been a community of mutual support and admiration. The aesthetic rewards have been extraordinary, but it has always been a challenge to meet the financial obligations of a public gallery space. For many years, the gallery was supported in part by my important position as Executive Director of the Association of International Photography Art Dealers [AIPAD]. That position ended in December 2007. Since that time, I’ve made every effort to find a new source of income and increase the sales in the gallery. The timing for these efforts could not have been worse.

Tough times unfortunately provoke tough decisions.

After much soul searching and with a serious reality check, I know the best decision for all of us is that the Kathleen Ewing Gallery will give up its public gallery space on P Street in Dupont Circle and move the operation back to my home in Cleveland Park. The Cleveland Park town house is where the gallery began and it will be a positive move to retrench in this location. Back in the mid 70s, Ben Forgey, writing for the Washington Post, reviewed a Mark Power exhibit on view in my private gallery. People came and enjoyed the show. Perhaps, the salon atmosphere of a private gallery will be once again appealing.

The concept in this new location will be to enhance the gallery’s website, work more directly with specific clients and use CD images for clients’ review. The very nature of operating an art gallery, here and everywhere, has changed dramatically in the past few years. From my point of view and from others in the field, the Internet and the proliferation of international art fairs have created a significant decline in gallery attendance. Additionally, maintaining an art gallery in Washington, DC has always been difficult. This move to becoming a gallery “open by appointment” is a reflection of the realities of the current climate.

I sincerely appreciate the support and camaraderie I have received from my photographers/artists, collectors and clients. The spirit of the gallery will continue into the future. Just in a different venue.

Best wishes to all. Kathleen Ewing

Jane Haslem, who has been running a gallery business for 50 years (Chapel Hill NC - Madison WI, & DC) will soon end her gallery operations and concentrate on www.artline.com which is coming up on 15 years old. Haslem was not only a positive fixture of the DC area art scene, but easily one of the first online explorers for the world of art in the new frontiers (back in the early 90s) of the Internet. It was because of her and artline.com that when I first opened our first gallery in Georgetown in 1996 that one of the first things that we did (even before we opened the physical spaces) was to create an online website for the gallery, which back in 1996 was a rather almost unique thing for a DC art gallery.

Back in 1992, when I first re-moved to the DC area, both these giants of art dealers befriended me as I freelanced my way to every newspaper and magazine which would take my gallery reviews (back then as many as 6-7 outlets a month). When four years later I became the co-owner of a tiny Georgetown gallery which eventually became two galleries over the years, it was often through their insight and advice that a novice gallerist moved forward.

We will all miss their physical spaces in the Dupont Circle area, but know that they will continue to do wonders for the DC area art scene in their own ways; Ewing with her private dealer space out of her home and Haslem with her pioneer online site.

Thank you Jane and Kathleen, for the many great years of art.

Art Fraud Alert

This person is going thru re-title.com and they believe that this person is involved in fraudulent activity such as ID fraud.

First Name: Steve
Last Name: Adams
Email: steveadams7189@yahoo.com

Message:
Hello to you out there. I am so excited that I came across of your work on internet search,I am interested in purchasing some creative artworks from you let me know their various prices.and how much discounts are you going to give? I will be happy to have these selected artworks hanged in our new home in South Africa. As well, I want you to take out the shipping cost.I have been in touch with a shipping firm that will be shipping other house decoratives, We are travelling from our Dallas home to our new apartment as soon as possible.On Paying for the artworks,I will be glad to pay you with a Bank draft or Cashier check in Euro funds that can be easily cashed at your local bank,please let me know on how to proceed, Have a wonderful day. Take Care, Mr Steve Adams....

Two DC galleries to close

As we all know, Zenith Gallery recently closed after 30 years on the DC art scene. I've just learned that two more long established DC art galleries will close soon as well.

More later.

Footloose Trooper

That's my baby daughter Elise to the left, and she just had an opening night for Footloose at the Tacoma Musical Playhouse in Tacoma, Washington.

She performed the opening in spite of having brochitis.

A little Campello trooper, no?

And she's also on the traveling "Mercer Girls" show for the 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle.

Next at Hamiltonian

Congrats!

To Shanye (Ken) Huang, a Chinese-American artist, from Silver Spring, MD. Inspired by his artwork, an interesting music/ballet performance -- the world premier of "Chun Zhi Ge" (Spring Song Festival) will be held at 8pm on March 21 at the LaGuardia Performing Arts Center in New York, with one of his paintings "Tapestry of Dreams" as backdrop.

Details here.

Wanna go to a Morristown, NJ opening today?

I'm in this exhibition, with two pieces on the subject. The show is at the Therese A. Maloney Art Gallery at the College of St. Elizabeth in Morristown, New Jersey. Click on the image for more details. The opening is Monday, March 16, from 4:30-7:00PM.



See ya there!

For Art Dealers and Galleries

Art in America magazine has finally gone online and the site is looking pretty decent.

Their annual comprehensive directory, which lists art galleries and dealers across the nation will be published in June. You can add your galleries' info here.

Opportunity for Artists

Deadline: March 27, 2009 (postmark).

The Fine Arts League of Cary is 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. I will be the juror for this show.

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

Hungary Comes to Washington

Two interesting exhibition with a Hungarian flavor to them come to the American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center, Lajos Vajda: Bridge Builder and Another Time —Another Place: Contemporary Hungarian Video Artists. Both exhibitions showcase Hungarian art and open to the public Tuesday, March 17, and close, Sunday, April 19.

Vajda Lajos: Bridge Builder is the first comprehensive survey in the United States of the work of Vajda Lajos. The exhibition presents collages, paintings and graphic works from Vajda’s Parisian photomontages to his late monumental charcoal drawings, culled from mainly European private and public collections.

Another Time—Another Place: Contemporary Hungarian Video Artists is a selection of photo installations and video by young contemporary Hungarian artists.

The museum is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday. Admission is free. For more information call 202-885-ARTS (2787).

New York Art Fairs Roundup

Read and weep here.

Wanna go to a Bethesda Opening Tomorrow?

Still available

This past Saturday, the Washington Project for the Arts hosted the 28th Annual Art Auction Gala at the Katzen Arts Center. The event serves as WPA's major fundraising effort each year while also providing an opportunity to showcase the work of regional and national artists.

They sold over 80 works of art on Saturday and raised much needed funds for the organization. In spite of these sales, they fell short of their fundraising goals and are asking their supporters to considering purchasing one or more of the unsold works.

Their website has been updated to show the works that remain available and the current sales price. As of this moment there are 30 works available priced from $500 and up. In addition, they have 24 table sculptures available starting at $250.

Maggie Michael, Nail, Tuck, Pin, 2007 / $2400
Latex, ink, spray paint, pins, nails, and string on canvas / 20" x 16"
Courtesy of the Artist and G Fine Art
If you are interested in purchasing work, please direct all inquiries to the WPA: 202-234-7103 ext 4 or 5.

Responding to Cuba



I'm in this exhibition, with two pieces on the subject. The show is at the Therese A. Maloney Art Gallery at the College of St. Elizabeth in Morristown, New Jersey. Click on the image for more details. The opening is March 16, from 4:30-7:00PM.

See ya there!

Take a cab

WaPo's Chief Art Critic Blake Gopnik does something that he has never done in the city that he writes for and instead he takes a stroll through the galleries and spaces of Paris. Read it here.

And earlier, something that he also has never done for his own hometown: a review of gallery shows worth noting... in New York. Read that here.

Congrats!

To DC area artist Matt Seesow, who has been invited to participate in the 43rd annual "Meeting of Naive Artists" in Trebnje, Slovenia in June.

Represent!

Crystal Bridges to Be Delayed?

The opening of Wal-Mart heiress Alice Walton's Crystal Bridges museum of American art may be delayed by a year or so, the Associated Press reports.

The museum itself has not announced a delay to the original 2010 opening date, but Bob McCaslin, the mayor of Bentonville, where the museum is being built, said in a recent state of the city address that the museum would open in 2011. A subcontractor for the project, designed by Moshe Safdie, said that the job "will run through 2011."

Read the story here.

Rent this Bethesda condo

C'mon people, you're hemming me up! Rent this condo already!


This is a really nice two bedroom, two bath, three level condo in Bethesda in Pooks Hill, close to everything... minutes from the Beltway and I-270 and all the Bethesda restaurants and galleries and NIH and the Naval Hospital.... in a quiet Bethesda backstreet; see the listing here.

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.