Tonight: Select's Curators Talk



Tonight is one of the The Washington Project for the Arts' (WPA) big events of the year, as their Annual Art Auction Exhibition and Gala, SELECT kicks into high gear tonight with the Curators' View event from 6:30 pm to 9:00 pm. The event is 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.

Then 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.

The events will be held at 700 Sixth Street, an Akridge-managed property, in northwest Washington on top of Chinatown; it is expected to draw over 500 art enthusiasts. You can see the selected works online here.

Meet Joel D’Orazio tomorrow

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 opened 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.

Blake Gopnik busts the NYT!

Ahhh... did the grey old lady get caught ripping off an artist? .... and who may have caught the NYT?

Applause for the Gopnikmeister!

Read about it here.

But as Blake points out towards the end of the piece... there is no real copyright issue here... if you copy Dali's La persistència de la memòria then you have broken the law.

But if you paint your own melting watch, then you've just stood on the shoulders of a giant.

Still.... bravo Gopnik!

Sunday Funnies (ahem) Stamps


I know I'm gonna get killed for this, but here I discussed when I detected possible pornography in the American stamp issue of Sunday Funnies, and here I broke out one of the first two possibly sexualized panels (yay!) in our sexy nation's stamps history.

But as Tery Gilliam predicted in his groundbreaking film Brazil, all of you are too chicken to come forward (other than the dozen plus emails I've received... offline) to "see" the Onanist issue here.

Wait till tomorrow for me to tell you what Odie The Onanist is doing.

Antonia Ramis Miguel at Watergate

Spanish-born artist Antonia Ramis Miguel has a show coming (March 5th - April 2nd, 2011) at The Watergate Gallery in DC.

The Reception is this Saturday, March 5th 6-8pm and there's an Artist talk on Tuesday, March 15th at 6pm.

Antonia Ramis Miguel was born in Spain in 1963 and has been painting since childhood. She studied with Edgardo and Alceu Ribeiro, students of the renowned constructivist Joaquin Torres-Garcia. In this exhibition Antonia Ramis Miguel continues with her approach to Constructivist art. Her oil paintings combine the strength of structured line, color and abstraction creating a dramatic visual effect that arranges the parts of a subject into a whole. She spent several years studying the techniques of, among others, Rubens, Sargent, Velazquez and Vermeer. Miguel spent four years painting and teaching in Washington D.C. before moving to London where her palette was influenced by the greys of the sky and bricks of the buildings. The influence of her native Spain, particularly the use of saturated color, is however still visible in her work. She has shown her work in individual and collective exhibitions in her native Spain, the United Kingdom, Austria and the United States.

500 children, 500 cameras, 500 moments

Photojournalist Ramzi Haidar launched the project Glimpse (Lahza in Arabic) to bring together photographers, journalists and artists with children ages 5-12 in Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon. The children worked with these volunteers for one year to learn the basics of photography. The images they produced with their cameras are entirely their own, giving them a power to reveal a reality rarely seen. Large scale photos and books about the project are on display at the Jerusalem Fund Gallery.

At the The Jerusalem Fund Gallery (2425 Virginia Ave. NW, Washington DC 20037). From March 11– April 8, 2011 with an Opening reception on Friday March 11, 6-8 PM.

A Bissel Smaller

I was raised in Brooklyn, and all my early jobs were working in the stores and delis around Pitkin and Belmont Avenues in Brooklyn. I've also spent several months living and exploring Israel.

Why am I talking about this? Because I think those life experiences give me a solid background in opining about Jewish delis, and in my opinion, the DMV's Parkway Deli is amongst the best on this planet.

Not only do they make excellent Jewish fare, but I also like that no matter when you get there on a weekend there's always a huge line (I'm not sure why I like this, but it is reassuring), and that the crowd is so diverse, covering all four races and countless ethnicities; clearly the quality of the food draws all hungry facets of mankind.

Yesterday I ordered my usual: matzoh ball soup and the deli twins (a mound of corned beef and a mound of pastrami on two onion rolls with a side). My wife ordered a large salad and a side of spinach (that's why she's a fideo).

When the delicious soup arrived, I noticed that they had a new set of serving dishes; more modern and square; I even complimented the waiter on how cool they looked.

As I began to eat my soup and my wife her salad, we both noticed something: the new dishes were quite a bit smaller than the old dinnerware! I'm not talking 10% smaller, but maybe 25 - 35% smaller.

Feh! And I will admit that the old soup sizes were quite generous, and the deli twins were the same size, but it kinda bummed me out a little that my favorite dish in the whole joint is now a lot less soup for the same amount of sheckels.

PS - If you are a carrot cake buff (like I am), The Parkway Deli has one of the best carrot cakes in this Universe.

Cudlin in the WaPo

Just read Jeffry's most excellent (although I disagree with his closing paragraph) review of the Picasso show at VMFA.

For some reason, there's no link online yet, but it is a huge review about the 20th century's most important artist.

One Picasso relationship that is seldom explored when the illuminati discuss Picasso's African influences is the very direct influence that one of Picasso's young friends' artwork had upon the Malaga-born master (and viceversa)

I'm referring to Wifredo Lam, the Afro-Chinese Cuban-born painter who became one of Picasso's best friends when Lam arrived in Paris in the late 30s and whose focus on African imagery (according to Lam anyway) received a lot of admiration and attention from Pablo The P.

Cudlin goes yard with this review; and kudos to VMFA for bringing this spectacular show to the Mid Atlantic.

See Alex Nyerges, Director of the VMFA, talk about this show:

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.

Tonight in Norfolk

Several DMV area artists, such as Tim Tate, Andrew Wodzianski and yours truly are in MFA's Winter show. The reception is February 26, from 7-9PM.

MFA is easily and by far (in my clearly subjective opinion, but easily checked out), Norfolk's top fine arts gallery, with a gorgeous location on the city's waterfront.

Mayer Fine Art
333 Waterside Drive
Norfolk, VA 23510
(757) 803-4749

Porno Stamps? Odie, what are you doing?


Perhaps I'm a big fan of hidden clues and messages in artwork. I do this all the time in my own work - hide clues, figures, words, etc. in the shadowing or lines, etc. - and I'm always looking at visual imagery from a "hidden image" perspective. I'd love to say that it comes from a cool artsy background, but in reality it stems from the whole scandal of the subliminal nudes claimed to be hidden in the ice cubes of some commercials when I was a teen.

Today I bought some stamps, including two sheets of the new Sunday Funnies stamps recently issued by the US Post Office. When I looked at them for the first time, a couple of things in two of the panels jumped at me and I did a double take.

I don't want to plant any further ideas in your head, so just look at the Garfield panel above and then take a closer look at Odie with the perspective of looking for something sexual hidden in plain sight through the magic of lines and shapes.

More on Odie and what I see him doing tomorrow... but now I'll decipher Archie for you.

Archie and Betty Looking for a Ménage à trois?



And nu? Look at the way that Archie and Betty are both looking at Veronica; not at each other. And then there are two hearts popping out of Betty's head as she stares dreamily at bad, rich girl Veronica.

Veronica smiles coyly, eyes closed, but her hand shows the hand signal for "swing."

Now look at the little blue "bar codes" underneath the three characters' arms; if you break that to binary code (notice that there are "fat" and "thin" lines or "zeroes" and "ones") then it breaks to 11010011, which is this character: Ó

Accent on the "O" - Text for the Big "O"?

It gets better; If you translate 11010011 to base64, then you get this penis emoticon character: 0w==

Fun with American stamps and The Lenster...

Opportunities for Artists

Deadline: April 30, 2011.

Call for Entries: The Graceful Envelope Contest - Artists everywhere are invited to participate in the 2011 Graceful Envelope Contest, conducted by the Washington (DC) Calligraphers Guild under the sponsorship of the National Association of Letter Carriers.

There is no entry fee.

This year's theme is "Time Flies," so design an envelope that explores good times, quality time, the times of our lives, time travel, or any other idea you have time to develop.

Address the envelope artistically to:

The Graceful Envelope Contest
Washington Calligraphers Guild
P.O. Box 3688
Merrifield, VA 22116

This is the contest's 17th year. The Smithsonian Institution's National Postal Museum created and administered it until delegating responsibility to the Washington Calligraphers Guild in 2001. The National Association of Letter Carriers exhibits the winners, which are also exhibited online at www.calligraphersguild.org. The complete Call for Entries (including categories for children) is posted on the Washington Calligraphers Guild website or you may contact contest coordinator Lorraine Swerdloff at swerdloff@gmail.com.

Sunday Funnies: Porno Stamps?

Don't shoot the messenger, but am I the only one who sees a little too much in the new Sunday Funnies stamp set from the US Post Office?


Has some stamp-designing-artist at the USPS pulled a fast one on the ole Post Office?

Study the stamps and later on tonight or tomorrow I will reveal what I see, to see if you see what I see...

Torpedo Factory Art Center Visiting Artist Program

Deadline: February 28, 2011.

The Torpedo Factory Art Center (TFAC) invites emerging and experienced artists to apply for one, two, or three-month residencies (June, July and/or August, 2011). The TFAC (www.torpedofactory.org) in Alexandria VA 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, and sculpture. The TFAC 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.

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. Send questions to: vap@torpedofactory.org.

Rousseau on Winslow

Winslow, whose career spans decades in the Washington, D.C., metro area, has been widely recognized as among the best around, and he just keeps getting better. His art continues to show tendencies toward exploring unusual perspectives, themes of memory and references to art history. However, in this recent work, autobiographical themes play a dominant role in ways that result in images that are both dreamlike and intense.

Read the full review here. John Winslow's work is on view in the King Street Gallery of the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Arts Center in downtown Silver Spring.

Torpedo Factory Art Center’s Annual Call

Deadline: February 28, 2011.

Open call for Washington, D.C. area (the ole DMV) metro area artists for Torpedo Factory Art Center’s 2011 annual jury for artist members. Drop off date: February 28, 2011. The Torpedo Factory's annual jury will be held February 28 - March 3, 2011.

The Torpedo Factory houses more than 165 artists in combination studio/gallery space. The application form and submission requirements are available on their website www.torpedofactory.org/jury. Accepting submissions by emerging and established artists in all media.

Direct inquiries to Michele Hoben at mphoben@aol.com.

Postconceptualism: The Malleable Object at UMD


The Opening Reception of Postconceptualism: The Malleable Object is on Thursday, Mar. 10, 2011 from 6:00 to 8:00 pm. They also welcome your presence at the Panel Discussion with Artists & Curator on Thursday, Mar. 17 beginning at 6:00 pm.

The Stamp Gallery is located on the first floor of the Adele H. Stamp Student Union-Center for Campus Life, at the University of Maryland, College Park. The gallery is free and open to the public Mondays-Thursdays 10:00am – 8:00pm; Fridays 10:00am – 6:00am, and Saturdays 11:00am – 5:00pm. For more information visit the gallery’s website or call (301) 314-8493.

TBD: D for Downsize

Six months after its debut, the TBD news website is losing most of its work force and will retool as an arts and entertainment niche site.

Arlington-based Allbritton Communications Co. — which also owns television station WJLA, the ABC affiliate in Washington — launched TBD in August with plans to aggressively cover local news in the region.

Initial plans called for a staff of about 50 journalists. But TBD editor Erik Wemple said that Wednesday's restructuring will reduce TBD staff from about two dozen to about eight staffers.

Read it all here and read editor Erik Wemple's thoughts here.

Facebook scares

I don't know why, but my Facebook profile always had this scary picture as part of the ads to the right of the profile. I write "had", because as soon as I clicked on the ad in order to get the below image for this post, it no longer shows up trying to sell me stuff to grow huge muscles.

These are supposed to be "smart ads" that learn about the person (me) and then try to show them ads that they think the person will like. They are the main, and only reason that Facebook is apparently worth $25 billion dollars.

I have news for whoever designs the logic that learns to make these "smart" ads: you're really fucking up when it comes to me.

I can clearly and honestly tell you that I don't want to look like Mal'akh (a.k.a. Zachary Solomon, the estranged son of Peter Solomon in Dan Brown's impossible to put down thriller The Lost Symbol, easily the best ever fictional (I think) literary work set in Washington, DC).

If you haven't read the book and love weird, slightly historical thrillers which teach you a lot about DC's buildings and architectural historical provenance, buy one here.

Carlos Hathcock

Today is the anniversary of the death of USMC legend Carlos Hathcock. To get called a "legend" in the USMC takes a lot of legend-making, and few Marines are more legendary than Hathcock, perhaps the American most deserving of the Medal of Honor who was never awarded that medal (he declined being recommended for it).

We salute you Gunny!