Elise Campello reviewed again

She gets a nice shout out in this review in The Olympian.

On a more serious note, Elise Campello as Olive Ostrovsky sings beautifully and powerfully on “The I Love You Song” with backup by Moon and Anastasia, and in duet with Fry on “Second.”

"In Unison: 20 Washington, DC Artists", presently on view at the Kreeger Museum through February 26th has been getting a lot of attention in the scant art press around the DMV.

In Unison: 20 Washington, DC Artists, is an exhibition derived from a monoprint project initiated by DC artist Sam Gilliam.

Gilliam "invited 19 established and respected painters, sculptors, printmakers, digital media and installation artists working in different styles, to join him in creating several print portfolios. Each made a set of five monoprints, one of which was chosen for the show by Sam Gilliam, Judy A. Greenberg, Director of The Kreeger Museum, Marsha Mateyka of the Marsha Mateyka Gallery and Claudia Rousseau, art critic and art historian."

As stated by Rousseau, “Creating a group portfolio and exhibiting together express the ideas of unity and identity that are underlying motives of the project, and which are vital to sustaining a thriving artistic community.”

Millennium Arts Salon is the exclusive sponsor of this major exhibition at the Kreeger

As far as coverage, most recently, TV Station WETA - DC in their "Around Town" segment, highlighted a film clip about the show. The clip features commentary by Corcoran School of Art Professor Janis Goodman, and artist Bill Dunlap (both of whom are in my 100 Washington, DC Artists book).

The show was also reviewed earlier in the WaPo by Kriston Capps. Read that review here

Mel Hardy, Chairman of Millennium Arts Salon has written a response commentary on the article by Kriston Capps, so read Capps' review first before you read the below response:

Kriston: Yours is a remarkable recitation of context for what you observed as the production of this sampling of a body of works of art created at GMU. What you could not have observed was the origination of vision of a major artist in Sam Gilliam, and its interplay under the sponsorship of a local arts-advocacy and arts-community building organization in Millennium Arts Salon, the fiscal convener of the exhibition.

Your attribution of the "patronage" of Kandinsky and Klee is a wonderful gift from you as an established art critic to each of the "In Unison" artists hanging at the Kreeger. It is lost on no one that Judy Greenberg's willingness to accept this exhibition represents a major advance in the careers of many of the artists.

In this, perhaps you may have missed the point with your focus on "looking back" to the restrictions imposed on innovation and creativity by our local Washington artists, by a less-than-assertive Washington cultural infrastructure. Your highlighting the preponderance of African American artists in the exhibition dismisses completely the sponsor's and project team's structured framework for persons across the spectrum of cultural, ethnic, aesthetic, experience, gender, and age identities to experiment with artistic and aesthetic dialogue whilst in the process of creation of works.

You could not have known Sondra Arkin's frustration with running her typical encaustics through a press only to work with the master printmakers to innovate in finding process to present her beautiful details. You could not have known the truly vanguard applications of tools by Akili Ron Anderson in the creation of his works, and for which each of the five "small paintings" he created are tour de force works of art.

To what many observers of this important exhibition, perhaps like yourself, might immediately attach to recent historical reference, "looking back" in your
parlance, you may miss the prospective references to our national need for modeling how Americans, regardless of station, cultural, or ethnic identity, can find ways to interact in the spirit of innovation, in the finding of new ways to re-calibrate our national dialogue for building a sense a national identity, an American culture.

The project team was lead by: Sam Gilliam in identifying the artists who would inspire a new Washington signature in collaborative creativity; Juanita Hardy of Millennium Arts Salon who initiated and funded the enterprise; Helen Frederick and Susan Goldman who "mastered" the printmaking and counseled many of the artists in innovation; Claudia Rousseau, who provided art historical and critical context; and Judy Greenberg, who housed this new vision of the American experiment with American inter-culturalism.

Of course, none of this is possible without the creatives themselves, and we are all grateful that the artists would lend themselves to this highly managed strategy. It is refreshing to read your review of the exhibition, Kriston, as your "backward looking" perspective provides that essential balance that fuels those of us in the creative classes to look forward to our leadership in the better America that is to come.

Joel D’Orazio

Art chairs, sculpture and abstract painting by architect turned painter/sculptor Joel D’Orazio. New as a Zenith Gallery artist, D’Orazio will be featured in a solo show, Listen to Me, at the Gallery at 1111 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, curated by Zenith Gallery.

The show opens on February 7 and will remain on display through May 13, with a “Meet the Artist” Reception on Wednesday, March 2, 5:30pm to 8:00pm.

Tonight? Open Source

It takes a lot to get DMVers to hit the road on a cold Friday night, but tonight you got to get off your snowmaggedon-fearing blues and go see "Open Source" at Carrol Square Gallery, co-curated by Tom Ashcraft and Peter Winant, both professors at GMU.

The show features work by Kelly Criscuolo-DeButts, Floating Lab Collective, Oliver Giron, Lindsay Hawks, Peter Lee, Brooke Marcy, Ryan McCoy and Alex Straub.

My predictions before I even see the show? Look for Ryan McCoy to steal the show.

OPEN SOURCE
January 28 - March 25, 2011
Opening Reception: Friday, February 4, 6:00 - 8:00 pm
Carroll Square Gallery
975 F Street, NW
Washington, DC 20004

Wanna go to three openings tomorrow?

There are three openings 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 Mical 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).

Tools Every once in a while I see an art critic write something so preposterously wrong about the technical aspect(s) of a genre of the visual arts, that I'm always wondering if they are aware at the multitude of readers who must be laughing at them, or at the very least wondering how this person got a track in writing about the visual arts when they can't tell a watercolor apart from an oil painting (this has happened), or praise an artist's technical ability when those with an eye for such things detect an over abundance of mud or titanium white. 

Technical ability by itself does not great art make, and this Yoddaism permeates down the critic's voice to often mean that the idea, rather than the delivery, is what counts. I'm not in that camp, but coexist peacefully with it. However, when a writer decides to praise an artist's technical ability as part of the review, then I think it's fair game to criticize the critic if he/she is blundering into areas where he/she has no training, the "eye", or perhaps experience to make such statements. For example, for years I've read many critics praising John Currin, or Lisa Yuskavage, and a few other blue chip artists for many things, including technical ability. The idea is that their lowbrow subject matter is presented as ironic, and with superb technical skill. 

And yet the first time that I saw both these artists' works many, years ago (and more recently), I was dumbfounded to discover that their technical ability is at best, average. This puts a question mark in my mind, as to why so many critics write about their painting skills, as if to excuse the lack of depth of the visual subjects favored by both these artists (Disclaimer: Lest I be policed, and although I am somewhat slamming his work, I own a very, very early John Currin which was a gift ages ago).

There are exceptions, of course. For example, with the paintings of Gregory Gillispie one can argue that they exist in a somewhat same visual genre as Currin and Yuskavage, etc. 

And critics have praised Gillispie's technical skill as a key and integral part of his success and perhaps even his sad end. 

 But in his case, his work merited the kudos for technical ability. He was a painter who knew the ins and out of the magical world of what happens when a brush and a set of oil paints meet in a true master's hand.

Donelly & Finsen at City Gallery

Nancy Donelly and Jill Finsen will have new works at City Gallery (804 - H St NE, DC).

The opening is this Saturday, Feb 5, 6-9 pm and the show continues until Feb 26, when they'll have a nice closing party, 3-5pm.

Opportunity for Grants

Creative Capital is now accepting Letters of Inquiry for grants in Film/Video and Visual Arts. The Inquiry Form will be available online until March 1. Please visit creative-capital.org/apply to read the grant guidelines and access the Inquiry Form.

Creative Capital provides integrated financial and advisory support to artists pursuing innovative and adventurous projects. We support artists whose work is provocative, timely and relevant; who are deeply engaged with their forms, yet also boldly original; who create work that carries the potential to reshape the cultural landscape.

To be eligible to apply, an artist must be:

* A U.S. citizen or permanent legal resident
* At least 25 years old
* A working artist with at least five years of professional experience
* Not a full-time student

Learn More at an Info Session:
Creative Capital staff members will lead in-person information sessions across the country this month (all times are local, RSVP required to grants@creative-capital.org):

* February 3, New York City, New Museum, 7:00pm
* February 3, Santa Barbara, CA, Contemporary Arts Forum, 4:00pm
* February 4, San Diego, CA, UCSD Visual Arts Facility Performance Space, 4:00pm
* February 5, Los Angeles, REDCAT Lounge, 2:00pm
* February 5, Cambridge, MA, MIT (Building 10, Room 105), 12:30pm
* February 9, Kansas City, MO, Charlotte Street, 5:00pm and 7:00pm
* February 11, Chicago, IL, at Nightingale Theatre at 6:00pm
* February 13, Cincinnati, OH, Contemporary Arts Center, 2:00pm
* February 15, Louisville, KY, Museum Plaza, 6:00pm

Online information sessions will also be offered:

* February 3, 12:00pm EST
* February 11, 2:00pm EST
* February 17, 6:00pm EST

Visit creative-capital.org/infosessions for details and to RSVP.

Go see an art show this weekend!

All the Wrong Art

February is documentary month at MoMA and it is the month that they have the most
resources to put behind promoting these features. This series also occurs over two Modern Mondays. It all starts with Robert Williams and ends with David Choe.

It compliments the artists of the Hurley Featured Artist tee program (many of these artists appear in these films). This is the last program that former DC area curator Annie Adjchavanich initiated as the curator at Hurley out in the Left Coast.

Annie tells me that she's interested in bringing the series to DC and beyond, and I for one think that it would be a great idea for a DMV museum to pick up on.

Ron Magliozzi, the MoMA NY curator who organized the Tim Burton exhibit in NY (will be at LACMA May 29, 2011–October 31, 2011) worked with Annie to make possible the event that is presented by Hurley. The series is co-curated by Greg Escalante,
co-founder of Juxtapoz Magazine.

All the Wrong Art: Juxtapoz Magazine on Film at the Museum of Modern Art, NY, Feb 7-14, 2011. After most films, there are discussions with the filmmakers and the artists.

I am told that the scheduled theater currently holds 225 people and that MoMA is trying to move the films to a larger theater due to the overwhelming popularity
of this series.

There will be three free Hurley tee shirt giveaways while supplies last;
Monday, 2/7 -Robert Williams: Mr Bitchin
Thursday, 2/10 - The Treasures of Long Gone John
Saturday, 2/12 - Bloodbath - A film about Elizabeth McGrath

Complete film series listing is here and also here.

Also check the MoMA website for more details.

American Contemporary Art magazine

The current issue is online now and has several DC area reviews. Read it online here.

Artalking


That's the very donna calda Sheila Giolitti to the left, the hard-working owner and director of Mayer Fine Art, my Norfolk, Virginia based art dealer and by far the Tidewater area's best art gallery and certainly the one with the most art fair visibility (she's considering starting to do the South American art fair circuit), and my calientisima wife Dr. Alida Anderson, talking about art at a recent art party at the Campello household.

And yes... Little Junes sleeps right through all the yakking and music of these gatherings; is that a cool kid or what?

Wanna go to an opening tomorrow?

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

No shortage of shovels

For years I've been bitching about the decline of visual arts coverage in the Washington Post, but with the recent departures of both Jessica Dawson and Blake Gopnik, the Post's visual arts coverage has hit rock bottom, and yet they continue to dig.

Campello reviewed

Not me, but my actress daughter Elise (again)... read the review online here.

Things I wish someone had told me...

From January 25 through February 8, anyone can list on Ebay Auction-style for free at any starting price, including high-ticket items. List up to 100 items, and pay only if your item sells.

So what have you got to lose (other than time)? Go ahead and list some artwork and see what happens...

Peret

What happens when you mix Cuban rumba with Spanish Sevillanas music and dancing and then you set up a street party on the streets of Santiago in eastern Cuba? Check out Spanish legend Peret in the video below:

Heard on Univision

Interesting discussion on the salary of the 13 highest paid American presidents from all over the Americas... the highest paid is Pres. Obama ($400,728 a year), next is Mexican president Felipe Calderon at $198,288 and then Brazilian Prime Minister Dilma Rousseff at $187,428.

Bolivian President Evo Morales, who also happens to be the first indigenous native American president of any nation in the New World, is at the bottom of this scale and makes $24,096 a year and yet still gets paid more that a dozen other Presidents in the Americas.

Interesante, no?

Vincent Gallegos

I've been meaning to mention this for a long time, but I am a huge fan of Vincent Gallegos' blog and photography, and essentially a while back I realized that Gallegos is easily the best "event photographer" in the DMV.

In fact, he's work is so cool that I'm beginning to think that Vincent has now transcended the "photographer presence" and he's one of those key parts of our area's cultural tapestry that makes his presence itself a lynch pin success for that event.

If Gallegos is there for your opening, taking pics and mixing in, then you know you've got a kewl opening going on.

Check him out here and be prepared to see what one day will be a historical record of the DMV visual art scene and then more.

Next Friday: Open Source

It takes a lot to get DMVers to hit the road on a cold Friday night, but next Friday night you got to get off your snowmaggedon-fearing blues and go see "Open Source" at Carrol Square Gallery, co-curated by Tom Ashcraft and Peter Winant, both professors at GMU.

The show features work by Kelly Criscuolo-DeButts, Floating Lab Collective, Oliver Giron, Lindsay Hawks, Peter Lee, Brooke Marcy, Ryan McCoy and Alex Straub. It actually opened today, but the reception is next Friday.

My predictions before I even see the show? Look for Ryan McCoy to steal the show.

OPEN SOURCE
January 28 - March 25, 2011
Opening Reception: Friday, February 4, 6:00 - 8:00 pm
Carroll Square Gallery
975 F Street, NW
Washington, DC 20004