Head North...

Andrew Wodzianki's Super! will open at the BlackRock Center for the Arts on Wednesday, September 29, and will run until Monday, October 25 with an artist reception schedule for Friday, October 1, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m.

"We are thrilled to have the edgy, fun, thought-provoking and talked-about work of Andrew Wodzianski in the BlackRock Gallery,” said Gallery Coordinator Kim Olney."

In an interview with the Gazette newspapers, Wodzianski said, “I just started to play on my fantasy, which was to gender bend [the figures].” For instance, one image shows Clark Kent in a dress with heroic Lois Lane carrying him through the air and another depicts Alice in Wonderland investigating the skirt of Wonder Woman.

Opportunity for Artists

Deadline: November 12, 2010

Gallery West in Old Town Alexandria has a call for artists for their 14th Annual National Juried Show (Exhibit Dates: February 9–March 6, 2011).

The all media show will be juried by yours truly and awards to total $1,000. Click here to download the prospectus.

Losing Hope

The artist whose poster of Barack Obama became a rallying image during the hope-and-change election of 2008 says he understands why so many people have lost faith.

In an exclusive interview with National Journal on Thursday, Shepard Fairey expressed his disappointment with the president -- a malaise that seems representative of many Democrats who had great expectations for Obama.

Read it here.

Cuban gay activist arrested

Last Friday, the Castro dictatorship arrested gay activist Aliomar Janjaque Chivás, president of the LGBT Reinaldo Arenas Foundation, for collecting testimonies that documented abuses against the gay community in Cuba.

The testimonies were to form part of a legal proceeding initiated at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague against the Castro regime for "crimes against humanity." They were subsequently confiscated by the Cuban authorities.

Janjaque was arrested while interviewing various men who had been interned in labor camps due to their sexual orientation.

New Drawing

I've fallen in love with the drawings, paintings and prints by 19th century German artist Ida Teichmann. Below is my homage to one of her best known works: Sleep.

Sleep (Homage to Ida Teichmann). Charcoal and conte on paper. 4 x 26 inches


Detail

Job in the Arts

The Cultural Development Corporation (CuDC), a non-profit organization dedicated to creating opportunities for artists and arts organizations that stimulate economic development and improve the quality of life in the DC metro area, is accepting applications for the position of Development Manager.

This full-time position works closely with the Director of External Relations to support organizational fundraising activities. This position will focus on individual donor development and special events but will encompass all aspects of fundraising.

Responsibilities:

· Work with External Relations Director to create and execute strategies for individual donor engagement including regular communication, fulfillment and outreach.

· Research, write and submit solicitation letters, proposals and reports for all sources of contributed income.

· Manage special events including Annual Gala, Source Festival Opening and 4-6 smaller events annually.

· Develop strategic relationships in the community and partnerships with other businesses/organizations.

· Work with Communications Manager on donor outreach strategy in conjunction with rebranding efforts.

Requirements:

· Dynamic fundraising skills with at least three years experience and proven track record

· Creative thinker with new ideas for donor engagement

· Superb writing, communication and analytical skills

· Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience

· Exceptional organizational and time management skills

· Expertise in MS Office, experience with QuickBooks Pro and Raiser’s Edge a plus

· Ability and willingness to work flexibly in a fast paced, fast growing non-profit environment

Salary: Commensurate with experience

How to apply: To apply, submit a resume with cover letter to:

Cultural Development Corporation
Development Manager Search
916 G Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001
e hr@culturaldc.org
f 202.315.1303

Initial review of candidates will begin immediately, but applications will be accepted until October 15, 2010.

See ya tonight!


Tonight is the opening for my first substantial exhibition in the DC area in four years. The show is at the School of Art & Design at Montgomery College's King Street Gallery, located in the beautiful Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation Arts Center at 930 King Street in the Montgomery College, Takoma Park/Silver Spring Campus.

The opening is tonight, Thursday, September 23, 5:00 – 7:30 pm. I hear there will be a TV crew at the opening, so it sounds like a fun night. There will also be an artists' panel on Monday, Sept. 27, at noon, for one hour. I will be available at the panel and after the panel to discuss and answer any questions that you may have about anything dealing with the visual arts, career, galleries, etc.

Top 6 mustaches in local arts

Can I just say Yay!

My mustache has just made the it to the "Top 6 mustaches in local arts"!

Check it out here.

My dear mustache is a "come and go" mustache these days... I keep growing it and then taking it off, then I grow it again, then I take it off...

I've had a mustache since I was like 16 or 17... and I hate shaving; especially my upper lip. Every time that I shave it this happens: I am well asleep and then I turn over and my naked lip hits the cold pillow and it wakes me up.

Arrrrgh!

Between somewhere in 1972-3 and 2009, the only time that I didn't have a mustache was when I was in Navy bootcamp.

And between 1974 and 1983 I had a full beard, which returned sporadically (such as when I served temporary exchange duties in the British Royal Navy in 1987-1989).

Then full again a beard from 1997-1999 when I sort of went Bohemian for a while again.

The Lenster in 1997
And then around 2004/5 the now classic waxed mustache made its initial appearance. And off and on from there on...

And it has had its payoff for me: I once got a free burrito at Chipotle because the lady making the yummy food really liked my bigote (Spanish for mustache) and gave me a free burro.

Congrats to fellow artists Adrian Parsons and Andrew Wodzianski, who also made the list... and BTW... please note how the "Arts" mustaches kick ass versus the politicians' mustaches.

Coolio Julio Jenny Rogers!

P.S. Emmett Burns (Clarence Thomas doppleganger at the bottom here), you need a new picture dude; a little smile would get a few thousand more votes next time!

There are those who build and those who destroy

(Via) Unfortunately, those that destroy remain in power in Cuba. Meanwhile, Cuban-Americans have just lost one of the greatest from those who build.

Last week, Ysrael A. Seinuk passed away in New York.

Seinuk, a worldwide authority on the design and construction of high-rise concrete and steel buildings, was a native of Cuba and a graduate of the University of Havana before going into exile in 1960.

Amongst his most notable New York projects are the Trump World Tower, Bear Stearns World Headquarters, Time Warner Centre at Columbus Circle, Trump's Riverside South apartments, the New York Mercantile Exchange, Four Time Square, 515 Park Avenue, the "Lipstick" Building, Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue, the Arthur Ashe Tennis Stadium in Flushing Meadows, 7 World Trade Center, The Galleria and the landmark 450 Lexington Avenue.

And those were just his New York projects. From Mexico City to Dubai, his work remains a testament to his unique talent. Yet, Cuba always remained prominently in his heart.

During a 2005 interview with the BBC, Seinuk was asked:

If you had the opportunity to return to Cuba tomorrow and were free to build something, what type of building would you erect and where?

His answer:

"Well, the key word in your question is freedom. Assuming things would take a normal path, towards democracy, I would go to Cuba even if it were to only build a small hut."

May he rest in peace.

The place to be tomorrow is...

First Campello gallery exhibition in DC area in 4 years!

Tomorrow is the opening for my first substantial exhibition in the DC area in four years. The show will be at the School of Art & Design at Montgomery College's King Street Gallery, located in the beautiful Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation Arts Center at 930 King Street in the Montgomery College, Takoma Park/Silver Spring Campus.

There will be all new drawings in my constant exploration of using the human figure to deliver social, historical, satirical, mythological and political messages. The show also includes work by the immensely talented Johanna Mueller, who was one of my top picks from the last Artomatic and whom I predict will steal the show, as well as Leah Frankel and Leslie Shellow, both of whom are new artists to me.

The show is curated by Dr. Claudia Rousseau and is:

An exhibit of works on paper depicting mythical themes, or themes connoting transformations—mythical, magical or organic.

The exhibit will include prints, drawings and installation works employing paper with wax and other media.

The opening is tomorrow, Thursday, September 23, 5:00 – 7:30 pm. I hear there will be a TV crew at the opening, so it sounds like a fun night. There will also be an artists' panel on Monday, Sept. 27, at noon, for one hour. I will be available at the panel and after the panel to discuss and answer any questions that you may have about anything dealing with the visual arts, career, galleries, etc.

The Hirshhorn Bubble

The National Mall in Washington has seen all sorts of enterprises over the years, but who would build a translucent, inflatable bubble there, protruding from the doughnut-shaped Hirshhorn Museum and looking, from renderings, like a giant jellybean colored robin's egg blue? And why?

That would be Richard Koshalek, the Hirshhorn's voluble director, who when announcing the 145-foot-tall bubble last December uncharacteristically said little about its purpose other than that it would host four week-long international events, every spring and fall, about contemporary art and culture.

Judith H. Dobrzynski writes in the WSJ about Richard Koshalek's visions for the Hirshhorn. Read it here.

Critical Exposure

Critical Exposure is a DC-based non profit organization which teaches DC public school students the power of photography and their own voices to advocate for school reform and social change.

Their upcoming auction, which is their largest fundraiser of the year, is coming next month. They will be auctioning off works by Mario Tama, Damon Winter, Jahi Chikwendiu and Ed Kashi, (as well as many others!)

The event is October 21st at the DLA Piper Building Atrium (500 Eighth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20004). You can buy tickets here or for more details contact:

Emma Scott
Critical Exposure
1816 12th St. NW
Washington, DC 20009
(202) 745-3745 ext. 20
www.criticalexposure.org
emmascott@criticalexposure.org

Artists' Websites: Johanna Mueller

I first came across the work of Johanna Mueller at the last Artomatic and was immediately seduced by it.

As her website declares, the prints of Johanna Mueller are imbued with personal mythology as she draws from her own narrative, cultural and historical references, pattern and design, and ancient myth and legend. The animals in her work are elevated from beast to mythic status as they take on human emotions and become metaphoric portraits of the artist and others.

You can see some of Mueller's work at the Myth & Transformations exhibition which opens this Thursday, September 23, 5:00 – 7:30 pm. The show is at the School of Art & Design at Montgomery College's King Street Gallery, located in the beautiful Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation Arts Center at 930 King Street in the Montgomery College, Takoma Park/Silver Spring Campus right off Georgia Avenue with plenty of free parking.

Joanna's work is also currently on view at the Arlington Arts Center in the FALL SOLOS 2010 exhibit. Exhibition dates: September 10 – November 7, 2010.

I hope Gaithersburg Germantown is ready for this...

Just noticed

Yesterday I was strolling Little Junes through the quad at American University and we stopped to look at the "Seurat" elephant sculpture by Sam Gilliam which is one of the "Party Animals" public art projects that the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities did a few years ago. As you may recall, artists painted a couple of hundred donkeys and elephant statues which are now all over the city.

The Gilliam elephant is right in front of the School of History building at AU and the poor beast is falling apart. I don't know if this is happening to any of the other "party animals" sculptures (or the similar panda project), but the elephant is riddled with surface cracks, as it appears that the elements have won the battle with the finishing element of the fabrication and the sculpture is cracking all over the place.

A Connie Slack panda across the quad seems to be in good shape, although if I remember right, the "party animals" preceded the pandas. But now I wonder if any other of these outdoor pieces are showing the effects of the DMV's severe weather extremes.

Zappa Sculpture in Baltimore

Mike Licht has some really good background info on the new Zappa sculpture for Baltimore.

Omnipresence

To coincide with the 2010 Congressional Black Caucus, the Black Artists of DC (BADC) were invited to present works at the Mandarin Oriental Public Art Gallery from September 17- Mid October, 2010. This project was sponsored in part by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.

Included in this exhibit, "Omnipresence", are a wide array of approaches and disciplines. Established artists such as E. J. Montgomery, Martha Jackson-Jarvis and Michael Platt are presented along side emerging artists, Daniel Booking, whose iconic photo of the black male nude, and Shaunte Gates' quasi graphic painting are both noteworthy.

In this small survey show of black DC artists, there are investigations that range from the conceptual to the painterly and each discipline or point of departure is handled proficiently. The digital divide between the graphic arts and the brush is being bridged. Worth a look-see to find out how the continuum of "AfriCobra" principles translate in the 21st Century, check this show out, which marks the vision of a young and upcoming curator in Zoma Wallace.

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.

I wrote this article on vanity galleries over six years ago and it is still getting new comments and an interesting argument between gallery dealers and artists. Read it and comment here.

Dr. Claudia Rousseau on Myth and Transformations

Myth & Transformations opens Thursday, September 23, 5:00 – 7:30 pm. The show is at the School of Art & Design at Montgomery College's King Street Gallery, located in the beautiful Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation Arts Center at 930 King Street in the Montgomery College, Takoma Park/Silver Spring Campus. Here is the essay about the show by its curator, Dr. Claudia Rousseau:

Myth and Transformations

As I was thinking about organizing this exhibition, I was inspired by the work of the four artists who so graciously accepted the invitation to show their work together here. These are Leah Frankel, Johanna Mueller, Leslie Shellow and F. Lennox Campello. All of them have been working and exhibiting in the Washington DC region for some time, and all of them, in one way or another, have shown interest in the themes of mythology and transformation.

Mythology has always captivated me. Since childhood I have loved the ancient stories that so often involve transformations to explain the origins of things, from animals to trees and stars. The ancient Roman writer Ovid’s wonderful book, the Metamorphoses, is all about change, and many of those tales, one might imagine, were, by Ovid’s time, already understood in metaphorical terms. My extensive researches into mythology—first for my master’s thesis into the Celtic legends that served as bridges to the Christian faith in Ireland, and later, for my doctoral dissertation, into astrological lore and tales of the origin of constellations—have filled me with a great love for this most human of practices. Mythology is universal, and many, probably the majority of myths, involve the theme of transformation.

Artistic expression of the concept of transformation, and allusion to mythological themes or archetypes is not limited to existing myths. Indeed, it is not limited to figural styles. The idea of transformation, especially as in so many myths, from some dark place into the light, from animal to human or human to some other form, from one plane of existence into another, can be expressed by abstract means. And, since the archetypes of myth are universal, they can be manipulated into new stories and meanings.

The work of Johanna Mueller fully illustrates this last point. Her work employs a mythical framework, most often without alluding to specific mythic sources. Hers is a personal world of fable, where the lioness is enlightened and the deer are connected by heartstrings. Many animal characters re-appear in her work, sometimes morphing into others. Mueller herself has said, “I want to create something of a ritual space, to create the feeling of the symbolic spirits of my creations moving from one form to another. I think that having these repeating forms take on different shapes and sizes helps to convey that idea.” Thus, the concept of transformation is also a part of her iconography. Mueller’s incredibly detailed plastic plate engravings provoke and resonate in the mind of her viewers, touching on their own mythologies.

F. Lennox Campello’s drawings are more grounded in familiar stories from ancient Greek, Roman and Celtic mythology, and from martyrology and hagiography. Campello’s Minotaur rises up with all the frightening strength that such a hybrid monster can project, dark and menacing. His Witch Dub shrieks in the black water that is the origin of the city of Dublin. The story of St. Sebastian, a favorite subject of artists since the Renaissance mainly because it was an opportunity to represent a male nude in Christian art, has had a new life in contemporary expression as the target of misunderstanding and persecution of all kinds.

On a more organic and less specific level, Leslie Shellow’s installation connotes the mythology of the Great Mother, the goddess who gives forth the life of the earth—plants, flowers, animals, people. Her paper forms and delicate drawings seem to literally be growing in the gallery, taking over the spaces. In this, Shellow’s work expresses both the benevolence of the Goddess, and her dark side as well. While Nature is life-giving, it is also chaotic and unpredictable, irrational and capable of great destruction. Shellow’s sensitivity to the transformational character of growth is evident, and accounts for the surprising power of her work. Simple paper rings are transformed into evidence of being.

Finally, the hand-made paper works of Leah Frankel express the notions of myth and transformation in more abstract ways. Frankel’s Grade is a work that connotes transformation from darkness into light, a theme that is at the core of many myths. Being abstract, the work provides a mythical framework that can carry stories projected on it by the viewer. The myth of Orpheus comes to mind, but so many stories about moving through the darkness to the light, to new life—or, even more fundamentally, the hidden mystery of birth—a theme that goes back as far as human pre-history. The Paperstack also shows movement from bottom to top, gently transforming the piled papers into a moving form. Frankel’s work is open to viewer interaction, providing a space for thought and physical response that is deeply personal.

Claudia Rousseau, Ph.D.
School of Art + Design at Montgomery College
September, 2010

Jerry Saltz on Bravo's Work of Art

But Work of Art reminded me that there are many ways to become an artist and many communities to be an artist in. The show also changed the way I think about my job. Over the ten weeks it aired, hundreds of strangers stopped me on the street to talk about it. In the middle of nowhere, I’d be having passionate discussions about art with laypeople. It happened in the hundreds, then thousands of comments that appeared below the recaps I wrote for nymag.com. Many of these came from people who said they’d never written about art before. Most were as articulate as any critic.

Read Saltz's thoughts on the show here.