Weiss at Nevin Kelly

Ellyn Weiss' new work, titled "Dark Matter" will be shown at the Nevin Kelly Gallery from September 17 - October 17. I am told that it's all made of tar!

Opening reception, Thursday, September 17, 6 - 9 pm. Nevin's new space is right at the Columbia Heights metro.

Keeping a lid on cynicism and irony

... approach the art of seeing... in the spirit of an amateur... in the original sense of the word, as a lover, someone who does something for the love of it, wholeheartedly. The best amateur has the skills of a professional but true professionals stay amateurs at heart, keeping a lid on the cynicism and irony that can pass for sophistication in some circles. Skepticism is useful, and for critics, necessary. But in The Dehumanization of Art, in a section aptly titled "Doomed to Irony," the Spanish philosopher José Ortega y Gasset laments how our aversion to pathos and dependence on irony "imparts to modern art a monotony that must exasperate patience itself."

Michael Kimmelman
The Accidental Masterpiece

Tonight: Lida Moser at the Arts Club

Do this tonight!

Opening tonight and through Sept. 26, 2009, the Arts Club of Washington, DC (in the McFeely Gallery) will be hosting a solo exhibition of legendary American photographer Lida Moser, who now lives in retirement in nearby Rockville, Maryland. The opening reception is from 6:30-9:00PM.

This almost 90-year-old photographer is not only one of the most respected American photographers of the 20th century, but also a pioneer in the field of photojournalism. Her photography has been in the middle of a revival and rediscovery of vintage photojournalism, and has sold as high as $4,000 at Christie's auctions and continues to be collected by both museums and private collectors worldwide. In a career spanning over 60 years, Moser has produced a body of works consisting of thousands of photographs and photographic assemblages that defy categorization and genre or label assignment.

Additionally, Canadian television a couple of years ago finished filming a documentary about her life; the second in the last few years, and Moser’s work is now in the collection of many museums worldwide.

She was once called the "grandmother of American street photography" by an art critic, which prompted a quick rebuttal by Moser, who called the writer's editor and told him that she wasn't the "fucking grandmother of anything or anyone, and would he [the writer] ever describe Ansel Adams or any other male photographer as the 'grandfather' of any style."

Tough New Yorker.

I once sold one of her rare figure studies to a big famous photography collector from the West Coast (who collects mostly nude photography). There were four or five prints of the image, taken and printed around 1961, but one had all the markings and touch-up evidence of the actual photo that had been used by the magazine, and thus I sent him that one.

He called me to complain that although he loved Moser's work, that he wasn't too happy with the retouching, and could I ask Lida for one of the untouched photos.

Now, you gotta understand that these images were taken and touched-up by hand for publication in a newspaper or magazine (since they were nudies, the latter probably). They were not touched up for a gallery or an art show - they were "battlefield" prints of a working photographer.

I called Lida and explained the situation over the phone. "Sweetie," she said to me in her strong New York accent, "you call that guy right back and tell him that you talked to Lida Moser and that Lida Moser told you to tell him: Fuck You!"

I didn't do that, but just sent him an untouched vintage print.

Tough New Yorker.

Lida was a well-known figure in the New York art scene of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, and a portrait of Lida Moser by American painter Alice Neel hangs in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum in New York City. Neel painted a total of four Moser portraits over her lifetime, and one of them was included in the National Museum of Women in the Arts' "Alice Neel's Women" exhibition.

"Charles Mingus in his Apartment in New York City", c. 1965.

Among her body of works there are also loads of photographs of well-known artists and musicians that either hung around Lida's apartment in NYC or who were part of her circle of friends.



Lida Moser's photographic career started as a student and studio assistant in 1947 in Berenice Abbott's studio in New York City, where she became an active member of the New York Photo League. She then worked for Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Look and many other magazines throughout the next few decades, and traveled extensively throughout the United States, Canada and Europe.

In 1950 Vogue, and (and subsequently Look magazine) assigned Lida Moser to carry out an illustrated report on Canada, from one ocean to another. When she arrived at the Windsor station in Montreal, in June of that same year, she met by chance, Paul Gouin, then a Cultural Advisor to Duplessis government. This chance meeting led Moser to change her all-Canada assignment for one centered around Quebec.

Armed with her camera and guided by the research done by the Abbot Felix-Antoine Savard, the folklorist Luc Lacourcière and accompanied by Paul Gouin, Lida Moser then discovers and photographs a traditional Quebec, which was still little touched by modern civilization and the coming urbanization of the region.

Decades later, a major exhibition of those photographs at the McCord Museum of Canadian History became the museum’s most popular exhibit ever.

She has also authored and been part of many books and publications on and about photography. She also wrote a series of "Camera View" articles on photography for The New York Times between 1974-81.

Her work has been exhibited in many museums worldwide and is in the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery, London, the National Archives, Ottawa, the National Galleries of Scotland, National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC, the Library of Congress, Les Archives Nationales du Quebec, Corcoran Gallery, Phillips Collection and many others.

Moser was an active member of the Photo League and the New York School.

The Photo League was the seminal birth of American documentary photography. It was a group that was at times at school, an association and even a social club. Disbanded in 1951, the League promoted photojournalism with an aesthetic consciousness that reaches street photography to this day.


"New York City, Office Building Lobby" c. 1965


If you are a photographer, do not miss this opportunity to visit the Arts Club (every DC area artist should visit this great place once in a while) and meet one of the women who set the path for all of you. If you just love the arts, Moser is also a walking encyclopedia of anecdotes and stories about the New York art world of the 50s, 60s and 70s.

The Arts Club show is curated by my good friend Erik Denker, the Senior Lecturer, Education Division at the National Gallery of Art, who is also an authority on all things Moser. The show is titled "The World of John Koch" and depicts Moser's portraits of the renowed New York portrait artist John Koch taken over a 20 year span from 1954-1974. These photographs are exhibited in Washington for the first time and are only one of two portfolios of the portraits ever printed by Moser (the other was given to the Koch widow once the painter died in 1974).


John Koch, Silver Gelatin print by Lida Moser, c.1970
Read the WaPo review of one of her DC solo exhibitions here.

The opening reception is from 6:30-9:00PM. Do not miss it!

Opportunity for Artists

Deadline: September 30, 2009

Washington Dulles International Airport's Airports Authority is seeking artists with previous public art experience to develop three site-specific artwork proposals for the International Arrivals Building. Deadline: September 30, 2009.

Metropolitan Washington airports Authority
Office of Community Relations
Art Program
Attention: Margaret Bishop
1 Aviation Circle
Washington, DC 20001.

For more information, click here.

From Craiglist's

Gallery space for rent in Dupont Circle area in DC. Check it out here.

Congrats!

To DC area artist Cheryl Derricote, as two of her glass houses were selected for the 24th Tallahassee International, at the Museum of Fine Arts in Tallahassee, Florida. Show is up through 9/27/09.

Here is slide show of the exhibition.

O'Sullivan on the Trawick Prize

"The Trawick Prize: Bethesda Contemporary Art Awards is a dirty show this year."

Read the Washington Post's art critic Michael O'Sullivan's review of this year's Trawick Prize here.

Excellent review by O'Sullivan and I agree with him in the sense that Molly Springfield's work continues to amaze not only by its technical virtuosity, but also by the conceptual edge that she continues to give to it.

And a bravo to to the prize's sponsor: Carol Trawick!

Opportunity for Artists

Deadline: October 26, 2009

If you read this blog then you know that I've been always very impressed with the BlackRock Center for the Arts gallery's 1500 square feet of exquisite gallery space. With its high white walls and beautiful windows strategically placed, this gorgeous gallery allows in just the right amount of natural light. BlackRock Center for the Arts is located at 12901 Town Commons Drive Germantown, MD in upper Montgomery County, about 20 minutes from the Capital Beltway (495).

They currently have a call to artists and the call is open to all artists residing in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC over the age of 18.

Original artwork only. All work must be ready for sale and to be presented in a professional manner to the public at the time of delivery.

This call will cover exhibits in the gallery from September 2010 through August 2011. An exhibit may include one applicant or a combination of applicants, based on the judgment of jurors (i.e., 1 or 2 wall artists may be combined with a pedestal artist). A jury will select the artists and create eight exhibits to be included in the exhibit year. The jury panel is comprised of my good friend and gallerist Elyse Harrison, Jodi Walsh, and yours truly.

Jurying: First Week of December
Notification: Early January
Exhibit Year: Sept. 2010 – Aug. 2011

How to apply: All correspondence will be done by e-mail, so contact Kimberly Onley, the Gallery Coordinator at konley@blackrockcenter.org and ask her to email you a prospectus.

Don't wait to the last minute! Get the prospectus now!

Lest We Forget

"Studio View, 9/11"
Oil on Canvas c. 9/11/2001 by David FeBland

09/09/09 09:09:09

We experienced an unusual time warp yesterday: For a second it was 09/09/09 09:09:09.

Bailey took a cell phone image on the 9th second of the 9th minute of the 9th hour of the 9th day of the 9th month of 2009 at Tysons Corner Center in McLean, Virginia. This image is titled "Muslim Woman Shopping For The American Dream In Decline."

Did anybody else capture something special on 09/09/09 at exactly 09:09:09?

OPTIONS 2009

Please join the Washington Project for the Arts for the opening reception of OPTIONS 2009 on Thursday, September 17, 2009, from 6:00–8:00 pm at Conner Contemporary Art's new location at 1358 Florida Avenue NE 2nd Floor, Washington, DC 20001.

OPTIONS is a biennial exhibition featuring works by emerging and under-recognized regional artists without commercial representation. This 13th installment of OPTIONS is curated by Anne Collins Goodyear, Assistant Curator of Prints & Drawings, Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery and features work by Leah Beeferman, Jessica Braiterman, Graham Coreil-Allen, Younseal Eum, Andy Holtin, Sue Johnson, Kim Manfredi, Patrick McDonough, Jenny Mullins, Ding Ren, Matthew Smith, Polly Townsend, and Matthew Wead.

The exhibition will remain on view through October 31, 2009 and is open Wednesday through Saturday from 11:00am to 5:00 pm.

Artquotes

"A critic is basically an arrogant bastard who says 'this is good, this is bad' without necessarily being able to explain why."

Jonathan Jones
Art Critic
The Guardian

Annie get your camera

Celeb photog Annie Leibovitz may be losing the copyright to all her photographs and all her homes today...

Celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz may be better off declaring bankruptcy than battling a creditor suing her for breaching a contract related to a $24 million loan, bankruptcy experts said.

Art Capital Group, a New York-based company that makes loans using art as collateral, extended Leibovitz $22 million in September 2008 backed by the rights to her photographs and real estate in Manhattan and Rhinebeck, New York, court papers said. Three months later, she got $2 million more, according to a suit filed last week in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan.

The financing company sued Leibovitz, alleging she refused to cooperate in the sale of the copyrights to her photographs and won’t give real-estate agents access to her properties for sale. Leibovitz has to repay the loan with interest and other expenses by Sept. 8, according to the suit.

Read it in Bloomberg here.

Update: More troubles:

Last week she came under fresh financial pressure when an Italian photographer sued her for allegedly stealing images he took.

Paolo Pizzetti sued Leibovitz in federal court in Manhattan, alleging she took material he shot at sites in Rome and Venice for her own use in an advertising campaign.

Read that here.

New DC art space

Vivid Solutions DC is a new fine arts space to the Historic Anacostia District. They also offer the new digital printing technique, Digigraphie. In fact, they are the first Digigraphie certified lab in the United States!

The space is located at 2208 MLK Ave, SE and is currently open by appointment or chance; Contact Andrea Hope for a look at the current exhibit and a tour of the facilities. Vivid Solutions "offers high-end digital printing for fine art utilizing cutting edge Epson technology, with salon-style exhibition space highlighting digital/photographic art."

They are currently showing a solo exhibition of works by Chandi Kelley, running through tomorrow, September 8th.

Her "Timelines," inspired by the theme of memory and mystery, are constructed of bookends, antique books and wallpapers reminiscent of vintage patterns. Methodically photographed, the spines of the books function as a timeline reading from left to right. The text and image combine in a striking, evocative collection.

Find out more about Digigraphie here.

Things not to do at an opening

This happened this past weekend at an art opening in the Mid Atlantic region.

An artist has been begging a particular gallery to include some of his work in one of the gallery's shows. The artist has a BFA and an MFA, both from really good art schools, and has recently moved to the area and wants to establish himself in this new area. The gallery is by far one of the top galleries in the city.

Finally the gallerist gives in and includes the artist in a group show. On opening night the show does well and several major pieces are sold (none of the artist's work). In fact it is the gallery's second best selling show ever and a welcomed relief in these austere financial times.

The opening is well-attended and supposed to end at 9PM, and the artist hasn't bothered to show up, but finally makes an appearance towards the end, around 8:30PM.

It appeared that he'd been celebrating in a nearby bar, and is quite inebriated. To make matters worse, he's been handing out show cards at the bar, and inviting all the bar flies to come to the gallery and enjoy free wine. Quite a few of the bar flies accompany the artist and they walk from the bar to the gallery.

They make quite an "impression" on the rest of the art clients still at the gallery, and soon all, except the barflies and the artist, leave as 9PM approaches. At 9PM the gallerist tells the artist that the opening is over and the gallery needs to close.

The artist begs the gallerist to stay open a little longer (and here's where the gallerist makes a huge mistake), and the gallerist agrees, perhaps believing the artist's claim that one of the bar flies will purchase a painting; and more wine flows.

Soon it is clear to the gallerist that the artist's posse is just interested in free wine and she kicks them all out and closes the gallery. In the process of doing so, some of the drunks become nasty to her.

Chances of this artist ever being invited to exhibit at this gallery again? The same chance as a snowball in hell.

Chances of this artist (once the gallerist tells the story at the next dealers' association meeting) of getting invited by another gallery? Slim to none.

Moral of the story? Pretty obvious, uh?

Tell Congress

Tomorrow the U.S. Congress is scheduled to return from their summer recess and the Senate will begin consideration of S. 1023, the Travel Promotion Act of 2009. The House of Representatives is expected to take up this legislation later this year. Please tell your Member of Congress to support inclusion of the nonprofit arts and culture sector in this bill!

Andersonian Video

Just watch it, will ya! Today is my birthday and this is one heck of a great B-day present!

Announcing the United States Mint’s 2009 Call for Artists

Application Period One: Nov. 9, 2009
Application Period Two: March 8, 2010
Application Period Three: July 6, 2010

The Call for Artists was officially launched last Friday, August 28th, and their brand new website which launched at this time as well. The Call for Artists invites artists from all over the country to apply for a paid position as an Associate Designer in the successful Artistic Infusion Program (AIP). Artists in the AIP program have the opportunity to take part in American history through the contribution of designs for coins that will be enjoyed by all Americans. In the past, AIP artists have submitted successful designs for coins released through the 50 State Quarters® Program and the Presidential $1 Coin Program. This year artists can apply online! The program will run year-long with three cut-off dates for applicant review. The first cut-off date is November 9th, 2009.

Here is a short description of the program:

The United States Mints invites artists to be a part of American history through coin design. The Artistic Infusion Program (AIP) provides gifted artists the opportunity to contribute creative and beautiful designs for coins that will be enjoyed by all Americans. AIP artists have submitted successful designs for coins released through the 50 State Quarters® Program and the Presidential $1 Coin Program. Honorariums are $2,000 for each design submission and $5,000 for each selected design. Visit www.usmint.gov/artists to apply.

Visit this website for more information.

The Art Consultant Is In

Allison Marvin has made a career out of helping people do just that. She is the founder of Sightline, an art consulting business started in 2004. Marvin works with clients across the country, helping them navigate the art world and offering guidance on buying works for their homes and offices. She also leads tours of art spaces and introduces beginning and seasoned collectors to galleries and dealers.

... Marvin recently spoke to us from her home office about collecting, hanging and framing art, and where to go to find it in the first place.

Read the WaPo article on Marvin and her advice here.

Marvin has some really good solid advice, but I find it interesting that in listing the resources, and I know that newsprint space is an issue, that Marvin left out her own backyard's galleries in Bethesda, and no mention of Georgetown or R Street, or the various artists cooperatives (since price point was a focus of the piece) and for that matter the Torpedo Factory. If she's not aware of these places she's missing some of the best priced good artwork around town. But I bet she had a list three pages long which was culled by the WaPo to the 2-3 best-known galleries DC, all great spaces by the way.

Framing? Average cost for a custom framer in the DC area is about $70 an hour for labor on top of the materials' cost. Is there such thing as an affordable custom framer?

You bet! Drop me a note and I'll refer you to the most affordable custom framer in the area - prices are about 75% cheaper than any other framer in the capital region... and I've tried them all for years before I found this most affordable joint, just a few minutes from 495. And when I say 75% I am not exaggerating... just ask all the photographers who do the annual DCist Exposed show. Example: Custom matted and framed photo to a 16x20 inches size, black metal Nielsen moulding under glass, pH-balanced acid free white museum mat and pH-balanced, acid free foam core backing board: $25-$30 bucks, not $100 or $150 which is what you'll pay at most other custom framers around the nation.

Talking about decorating... decorating a baby's room is somewhat of an issue for someone like me. Having been forced to look at dozens of saccharine sweet animal prints and reproductions for the baby's room, I decided to create my own saccharine sweet baby paintings for Anderson's room; at least he'll have original artwork on the walls:


Andersonphant, Acrylic on Canvas. 24 x 24 inches. Circa 2009

Anderson Monkey, Acrylic on Canvas. 24 x 24 inches. Circa 2009

Trawick Prize Winners Announced

The Trawick Prize: Bethesda Contemporary Art Awards announced the top four prize winners on Wednesday evening during the exhibition’s opening at the Fraser Gallery.

René Treviño from Baltimore, MD was awarded “Best in Show” with $10,000; Molly Springfield of Washington, D.C. was named second place and was given $2,000; Jessie Lehson of Baltimore, MD was bestowed third place and received $1,000 and the “Young Artist” award of $1,000 was given to Hannah Kim of Falls Church, VA.

Entries were juried by Dr. Doreen Bolger, Director of The Baltimore Museum of Art; Kevin Everson, Associate Professor at the University of Virginia and Joanna Marsh, The James Dicke Curator of Contemporary Art at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

A public reception will be held on Friday, September 11, 2009 from 6-9pm in conjunction with the Bethesda Art Walk. The exhibit will be on display through October 3, 2009. The Fraser Gallery is located at 7700 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite E and gallery hours are Tuesday - Saturday from 11:30am-6pm.

The Trawick Prize: Bethesda Contemporary Art Awards was established by the amazing Carol Trawick in 2003 to honor the work of local artists and has become the region's top art prize and I am a huge fan of Carol Trawick.

The Trawick Prize is one of the first regional competitions and largest prizes to annually honor visual artists. To date, The Trawick Prize has awarded over $98,000 in prize monies and has received over 2,400 artist submissions. Founder Carol Trawick has served as a community activist for more than 25 years in downtown Bethesda; including working on legislation to designate communities in Maryland as Arts & Entertainment Districts. Additionally, she is past Chair of the Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District, past Chair of the Bethesda Urban Partnership, current Chair of Strathmore and Founder of the Jim and Carol Trawick Foundation.