Select
The Washington Project for the Arts (WPA), the mid-Atlantic's premier alternative arts organization, has announced the dates for its Annual Art Auction Exhibition and Gala, SELECT. The curated exhibition will be on view Saturday, February 19 through Saturday, March 12, 2011.
Saturday, March 12, 2011 marks the 30th anniversary of the organization's well-known arts gala that includes a curated silent auction of more than 100 contemporary works by top contemporary artists, formal dinner, and performance art. Tickets to the auction gala start at $300. I have been selected to participate in this auction for the second year in a row.
The event will be held at 700 Sixth Street, an Akridge-managed property, in northwest Washington; it is expected to draw over 500 art enthusiasts.
In advance of the March 12 event, WPA will host an exhibition opening reception on February 19 from 6:00 to 9:00 pm and Curators' View on March 1 from 6:30 pm to 9:00 pm. These two events are free and open to the public. At the Curators' View, each Select curator will present and discuss their exhibition selections. In addition, WPA's prized Alice Denney Award will be presented by Robert Lehrman to Washington-based artist William Christenberry for his support of WPA and sustained commitment to the DC arts community.
The SELECT exhibition will be on view 11:00 am to 6:00 pm, Wednesdays-Saturdays, through March 12th. For a complete list of participating artists or images, please contact Kristen DeMarco at auction@wpadc.org.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Rattner Museum theft
"Bronze sculptures stolen from a Bethesda museum and vandalized were reportedly worth about $90,000. The thief allegedly sold them to a scrap dealer for $150.The cops had issued an arrest warrant Wednesday for Daniel Conticchio, 27, of the 4500 block of Ninth Street NW. Read the WaPo story here.
The artworks are back at the Dennis and Phillip Ratner Museum, after a worker at Montgomery Scrap in Rockville realized he had bought stolen goods. But most were "damaged beyond repair," Montgomery County police said Wednesday."
According to a later story in The Gazette, "Jessica Rivas, 22, listed on court records as living on the 9300 block of Old Georgetown Road in Bethesda — about a mile from the museum — was arrested Thursday at the same time as Daniel Conticchio, 27, of Washington, D.C., police said."
According to the Gazette, "Police issued a warrant for Conticchio's arrest Wednesday and found him and Rivas asleep in Conticchio's car in the Wildwood Shopping Center parking lot at Old Georgetown Road and Democracy Boulevard in Bethesda Thursday."
Makes my head hurt.
Early Campello
They have this computer program display at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum where you line up your face on the screen and it takes a shot and then transforms you into what you may have looked like as one of pre Homo Sapiens species. At the risk of opening myself to a million jokes (such as my wife: "You don't look that much different"), below is the Lenster as a Neanderthal.
By the way, read this fascinating NYT article on Neanderthal mating with modern homo sapiens and leaving his DNA on Europeans.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Torpedo Factory Art Center Visiting Artist Program
Deadline: February 28, 2011.
The Torpedo Factory Art Center invites emerging and experienced artists to apply for one, two, or three-month residencies between June 1 and August 31, 2011.
The Torpedo Factory Art Center (www.torpedofactory.org) in Alexandria, Virginia is home to more than 140 visual artists working in 82 studios. Artists create in a wide variety of media including painting, fiber, jewelry, ceramics, printmaking, cast and stained glass, and sculpture. The Torpedo Factory is open to the public every day; visitors are invited and welcomed into studios to watch artists at work, ask questions, and purchase original art – allowing the public an opportunity to share in the excitement and fascination of the creative process.
The projects undertaken by Visiting Artists for this self-directed, creative residency must be compatible with available working studio spaces and facilities.
Visiting Artists will be provided with studio space and will be able to display and sell original work.
Finalists will be selected by yours truly. There is no application fee.
Download the Prospectus and Application Form from www.torpedofactory.org/vap.
Annual Jury for TF Artists
The Torpedo Factory Art Center has announced the 2011 Annual Jury for Artist Members (February 28-March 3, 2011).
The application form, submission requirements and instructions are available at this website. Please direct inquiries to Michele Hoben, jury chair.
Next at the Arts Club
There are three openings coming up at the Arts Club of Washington (2017 I Street, N.W.), but the one that I'm really looking forward to is the one of new paintings by the superbly talented Michal Hunter.
The reception is Friday, February 4th, 6:30 to 9 PM, in the Monroe Gallery. (There are three shows opening same night in different galleries).
Opportunities for Artists
On-line gallery. AddictionAndArt.Org is seeking artworks addressing the complexities of addiction and recovery to post/share with a worldwide audience - for the good of mankind. Works in any media, completed in any year are eligible. www.addictionandart.org - go to "Share Your Art" in the menu. Questions: editor@addictionandart.org or call 301-639-3520 for submission information.
By the way, Big Think just listed the Addiction and Art book as one of the top 10 art books of 2010!
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Artist talk tonight
Newly minted Baltimorean and realist artist Hyeseung Marriage-Song has been invited to speak at the Charcoal Club of Baltimore’s monthly meeting on Thursday, January 20, 2011, at 7 pm at the Meadow Mill Building, Studio 213, 3600 Clipper Mill Road.
Marriage-Song, 32, is a realist artist represented by the Eleanor Ettinger Gallery in New York City, located in Midtown and Chelsea. She studied at the prestigious Water Street Atelier and Grand Central Academy in New York under Jacob Collins and recently moved to Baltimore with her husband who is on the faculty of Physics and Astronomy at Johns Hopkins University in Homewood. Marriage-Song primarily works in oil, creating portraits, nudes, still lifes and landscapes from life, eschewing photographic references. On Thursday, she will be speaking about her work and techniques as well as demonstrating her alla prima technique with the help of a live model chosen from the audience.
Marriage-Song has shown in numerous group shows in New York City, Atlanta and Houston. She is an Elizabeth Greenshields Recipient and an Art Renewal Center Competition Finalist and award recipient in the Figure Painting Category. Her studio is in School 33 Art Center, in Federal Hill, which is a program of the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts.
The Charcoal Club was established in 1883 and is the country’s second oldest art club. The club provides a nude model for a small fee and encourages art appreciation through group shows and speakers.
Next at Brentwood
Resonant Forms An exhibition featuring artwork by Martha Jackson-Jarvis (who is one of the 100 artists in my book), Alonzo Davis, and Frank Smith.
The show is co-presented by the Brentwood Arts Exchange and the Prince George's African American Museum and Cultural Center.
Dates: February 1 - April 9, 2011.
Opening Reception: Friday, February 11. 5-8pm
Brentwood Arts Exchange @ Gateway Arts Center
3901 Rhode Island Avenue
Brentwood, MD 20722
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
At Civilian
"Civilian Art Projects presents climate, control, a three-person exhibition curated by Kristina Bilonick and Karyn Miller featuring J.J. McCracken, Jan Razauskas, and Millicent Young. The name climate, control refers to the artists' response to their immediate surroundings, as well as the exacting nature of their practice. The artists in this exhibition work in drastically different materials - from clay and horsehair to drawing and paint - but in each of their works, there is an intense focus on the precision of artistic production, and a sense of significance in the medium they chose to work in. The artists cull the fodder for their work and in some cases their materials from their immediate surroundings. Miller points out though, that, "at the same time there is an openness to chance which gives it a kind of negative tension." The exhibition opens to the public on January 21, 2011 and will be on view through February 19, 2011 at Civilian Art Projects in downtown Washington, DC."Exhibition on view: January 21 - February 19, 2011
Opening Reception for the artists: Friday, January 21, 7-9 p.m.
Artist Talk: Saturday, February 19, 4p.m.
Judkis reporting Maura Judkis has a really cool report on the temper-flaring effects of my Che Guevara video drawing at the MIA art fair last week. Read that here.
Bit of a quandary
One of the positive "wake" effects of exhibiting at good art fairs is that one's artwork is not only exposed to a lot of collectors, but also to a lot of other gallerists and curators.
For example, at the just finished Miami International Art Fair, and as I related in this blog in the last few days, my Che Guevara video drawing obtained a lot of attention and a good share of uninformed threats.
An Argentine gallery approached me yesterday, interested in bringing the piece to Buenos Aires for an exhibition on Guevara. This sounds like a terrific opportunity, doesn't it?
However, it also puts me in the difficult position of having to make a decision. And that decision is driven by the point that I'd like to have at least three video drawings ready for the next art fair later this year in New York.
As they are quite expensive to produce (mostly due to the electronics), and because the Che piece has proven to be so wildly successful, I am leaning to declining the invitation so that I can keep it with me and exhibit it later this year in New York alongside two other new video drawings.
The subject of the next video drawing will also be an icon-like figure, and either her open heart (or perhaps her forehead) will be the window into her soul where the video will be playing.
The third subject will also be an icon-like drawing of yet another iconic figure, although this one may not be a "real" person.
But I need at least three for NYC and I don't want to ship away the most controversial one!
What to do?
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Airborne - Things I didn't know
I'm flying back home today and I was a little shocked when I checked into my flight back to DC from Ft Lauderdale; shocked because I discovered that American Airlines has a direct flight to Guantanamo, Cuba.
Not Gitmo the Naval Base, but Guantanamo, the Cuban city made famous by the song Guajira Guantanamera.
Who knew?
Monday, January 17, 2011
Miami International Art Fair (last day)
MIA ended with an unexpected bang today for Mayer Fine Art, as some rare "I'll be backs" actually came back and acquired some more work from Norfolk's hardest working independently owned commercial fine arts gallery.
As soon as the doors opened at noon, a well-known Cuban-American doctor arrived and purchased an older Tim Tate 2005 piece which was being sold on behalf of the original owner, who is now retired and living the good life in Pensacola Beach. This clearly shows that Tate's older work still holds its own a few years into its life.
Soon after that a Boston couple on their way to visit Cuba fell in love with Sandra Ramos' work and acquired one of her 1993 series classic aquatint etchings. It was shaping to be a day for older work back on the market.
The Argentine couple who earlier in the week had acquired the Sheila Giolitti painting returned today and purchased an Alexey Terenin oil which had been haunting them since their original visit
A couple of hours later, the culmination of three days of negotiations ended with the major sale of two very large Alexey Terenins - one well over seven feet tall and six feet across and the other just slightly smaller. They are both heading to Pompano Beach and possibly represents the largest one day business day for MFA... ever.
When closing time came, to my horror I discovered that it was pouring down rain outside. Now the horrific task of trying to load a van full of artwork in the rain while ensuring that the work is protected began.
It is difficult enough to handle and load work properly in the best of times; it is a nightmare in bad weather, and I can testify to the marvel of seeing gallerists wheeling $100,000 paintings out in the rain to their vans and trucks.
We didn't do that. And to avoid it, we had to wrap the work in plastic, then cover it in plastic again, take it to the van, load it and then remove the wet outside plastic. This means that by midnight, although we were finished and all the art was loaded and safe, we were soaked to the bone and our feet were wet and spongy... ahhh the hidden glamorous life of the art dealer.
Tomorrow morning I head back home, and Sheila Giolitti heads to Palm Beach, where she will be taking part in Art Palm Beach later this week.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Miami International Art Fair (Sunday Report)
Good crowds again today, but selling remains tentative, although one of the Colombian galleries next to us finally broke the ice in style today with the sale of a $20,000 painting.
Over at MFA, we recuperated from yesterday's no sales day with a few more sales, although the big ticket items remain unsold. Sold today was another Alexey Terenin painting in the early afternoon, and I then sold four of my drawings throughout the day, finally breaking the ice. I was also invited by a local gallery (which also has a presence in Europe and South America) to participate in a group show later this summer.
Tomorrow is the last day of the fair, as it runs into a rare Monday work day. Then comes the always brutal task of repacking all the unsold work and driving it all back home.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Miami International Art Fair (Saturday Report)
Good crowds again today. The organizers have done a really good job of advertising (there are street banners everywhere) and there is significant volume all day.
Frustrating day for MFA though; one of those fair days of close calls, "I'll be backs" and the unexplainable inability to close clear sales.
Francis Acea, the tall, good-looking publisher of Miami Art Guide comes by and we have a very long chat about my Che Guevara video drawing and he plants an interesting dilemma in my mind (more on that later).
As the fair closes at 7PM, then I take my cousin and his family to dinner in Coral Gables at a Japanese restaurant. Afterwards we drop by a roof party in a gorgeous artists studio building in Wynwood. The 360 degree view is spectacular and there's also a heated pool on the roof. The bartender is a genius and his mojito making is good, but his gin and tonic with a drop of elderflower liqueur and key limes is magical.
I hear that there's a flat soon opening and perhaps going on the auction block... more on that later too.
The Dynamics of the DC Art Scene
The Art Dealers Association of Greater Washington, in partnership with The Kreeger Museum, are putting together a panel discussion on how Art Dealers, Collectors, Curators and Museum Directors interact to support the visual arts in the DC area.
The Kreeger Museum,
2401 Foxhall Road NW
Washington, DC 20007
Thursday, February 24, 2011
6:30pm - 9 pm
Tickets: $20 / The Kreeger Museum Members: $15
Includes a cheese and wine reception.
Preceding the panel discussion, guests will have an opportunity to view In Unison: 20 Washington, DC Artists, the culmination of a project initiated by artist Sam Gilliam, consisting of monoprints by 20 artists from the DC community, who typically work in different styles and mediums.
For reservations, call 202-338-3552.
Panelists include:
- Juliette Bethea, Collector
- Dr. Johnnetta Cole, Director, National Museum of African Art
- Judy A. Greenberg, Director, The Kreeger Museum
- Gisela Huberman, Collector (and proud owner of my work)
- Jack Rasmussen, Director and Curator, American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center
- and moderator Bill Dunlap, Artist and Art Critic and TV talking head, and one of the 100 in my book about DC artists.
Considering the focus of the panel, am I the only one who finds it odd that missing from the panel are any art dealers?
Seventh Annual Bethesda Painting Awards
Deadline: Friday, February 25, 2011
The Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District is currently accepting applications for the seventh annual Bethesda Painting Awards, a juried competition honoring four selected painters with $14,000 in prize monies. Deadline for submission is February 25, 2011. Up to nine finalists will be invited to display their work at a Bethesda gallery.
The competition will be juried this year by Philip Geiger, an art instructor at the University of Virginia; Evelyn Hankins, associate curator at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C. and Jinchul Kim, a painting professor at Salisbury University.
The first place winner will be awarded $10,000; second place will be honored with $2,000 and third place will be awarded $1,000. A “young” artist whose birth date is after February 25, 1981 may also be awarded $1,000.
Artists must be 18 years of age or older and residents of Maryland, Virginia or Washington, D.C. All original 2-D painting including oil, acrylic, watercolor, gouache, encaustic and mixed media will be accepted. No reproductions.
Each artist must submit five digital files or slides, application and a non-refundable entry fee of $25.
Applications are available online at www.bethesda.org.
The Bethesda Painting Awards were established by my good friend and Bethesda philanthropist, art collector and community activist Carol Trawick in 2005.
