The more things change...

"At the height of the Washington Color School's popularity, Washington and New York art elites inhabited the same circles. Reed recalls meeting the abstract painter Robert Motherwell at an opening. Motherwell was married to Frankenthaler but was accompanied by Lisa Fonssagrives, the world's first supermodel, who was married to iconic photographer Irving Penn. "He moved in great feminine circles," Reed says.

But financial success eluded the artists. The Jefferson Place Gallery that supported so much of the Color School's work closed in 1975. The '80s were a bitter period for Washington art dealers, but the pressures on Reed did not change much for the worse. "It was always difficult. I have to sell. It's curious. I'm just about poverty level. Here I am this famous artist," Reed says.

He doesn't say whether the spotlight would have shined on Washington longer had a collector base emerged to support its painters."

The more they stay the same... Kriston Capps has an excellent piece on Paul Reed, the last of the Washington Color School painters; read it here.

Critical mass

A critical mass is about to occur between many art organizations.

Target Gallery, in partnership with Habitat for Humanity, is sponsoring an outdoor exhibition of artist-made nests created by local arts groups. The event will take place just outside of Washington, DC at the Torpedo Factory Art Center along the waterfront of the Potomac River in Old Town Alexandria from Sunday, April 10 through Sunday, May 15, 2011.

The goal is to inspire people to look more closely at their own habitat. Coinciding with Earth Day and Mother’s Day, they hope to increase environmental awareness and encourage care for the planet that we all call home. They will also highlight Habitat’s work for building decent and affordable homes.

All nests will be composed primarily of natural renewable resources like leaves, twigs and driftwood, as well as recycled or re-purposed materials. The intent is to do no harm to the natural environment or wildlife, and everything will be removed at the end of the exhibition. Nest sites will include docks, decks, tree stumps, outcroppings of rock, and selected trees.

Free maps will guide visitors on a nest spotting walking tour, along the waterfront, through a park, into the Torpedo Factory and ending at Target Gallery, where the exhibition Nest can be seen.

What Does Home Mean to You? The public will be invited to participate in the building of a large community nest installed on the main floor of the Torpedo Factory, right outside the Target Gallery. They will provide long strips of paper for the public to answer the question “What does home mean to you?”

They will then be invited to weave their paper into the nest structure. The strips of paper will be for sale for $1 with all proceeds going to benefit the Habitat for Humanity of Northern Virginia.

To learn more, or donate to fund this project and make it a reality, visit this link.

American Contemporary Art magazine

The current issue of the magazine is out and I have a two page spread on pages 28-29 which cover a few key DMV area shows. Read it online here.

Little Havana Drinks

They don't call it Little Havana for nothing.... the last time that I was in Miami for the MIA Art Fair in January, I dropped by a local bodega for some pastelitos and a medianoche sandwich, and when I opened the cooler to get a cold drink I was amazed by the selection being presented:


Check out the "Cuba Herbal Energy Drink" can... heee heee... only in Miami...

More on Fraser Gallery closing

Jordan Edwards in the Gazette has some more insights into the recent and shocking announcement that one of the DMV's major art galleries, Fraser Gallery will close.

Read it all here. Just as I predicted, in a smart move, the owner will continue to do art fairs as a private online dealer.

I wish her the best.

Lenny-o Video

From the recent awards ceremony at Gallery West...

Mirror art at ARTiculate Gallery

There's a cool upcoming exhibition opening at VSA's ARTiculate Gallery. The show, "Reflections" was inspired by local artist Bob Benson and his work at the American Visionary Art Museum.

Benson worked with the artists in the ARTiculate Program (which provides artistic and vocational training to youth and adults with special needs) to create "mirror art" using glass-cutting techniques in a variety of styles, and the artists have created a unique body of work.

The opening will take place on Thursday, March 10th between 5:30 and 7:30pm at the ARTiculate Gallery, located at 1100 16th St NW. The reception will be free, open to the public, and light refreshments will be served.

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.

Lest we forget

"Their struggle is your struggle," he told the ballroom crowd of former Marines and local business people. "If anyone thinks you can somehow thank them for their service, and not support the cause for which they fight - our country - these people are lying to themselves. . . . More important, they are slighting our warriors and mocking their commitment to this nation."

Kelly is the most senior U.S. military officer to lose a son or daughter in Iraq or Afghanistan. He was giving voice to a growing concern among soldiers and Marines: The American public is largely unaware of the price its military pays to fight the United States' distant conflicts. Less than 1 percent of the population serves in uniform at a time when the country is engaged in one of the longest periods of sustained combat in its history.

Read this moving piece by Greg Jaffe in the WaPo.

DC Art Map

I just checked the DC Art Map over at artdc.org and it keeps growing by leaps and bounds.

Check it out here and add your info to it.

Wave of arrests

With an eye on what's going on in the Islamic nations, and the oncoming demise of the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya's (Lybia's full name) nasty dictator, the nasty dictators in our own continent are not taking any chances.

According to the Cuban Commission for Human Rights, more than 390 pro-democracy activists were arrested by the bloody Castro regime in February 2011.

In other words, 390 arrests were identified and documented in one-month alone. There may have been many more unknown arrests.

It's clear the Castro brothers are not taking any chances that this spark of rebellion against heavy-handed governments may spread to their 52-year-old reign in Cuba.

DeBerardinis Shoes

Visual artist and sometimes contributor Rosetta DeBerardinis will launch her first line of hand-painted shoes and accessories on April 15th at Lucinda Gallery in Federal Hill in Baltimore.

We wish Rosetta much success with her new line.

Lucinda Gallery is located at:

929 South Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 21230-4037
(410) 727-2782

Erotica 2011

Wanna do something different tonight? Here is the schedule of activities for MOCADC's Erotica 2011 show.

Fri Mar 4 Opening Reception (6 pm to to whenever)
- Live Tattoos by Artist Redz
- Tattoo & Piercing Contest
- Body Painting - Audience Participation

Fri Mar 18 Galleries 1054 Open House 6 to 10 pm

Fri Mar 25 DMV Nude (Sponsored by DMVIFF)
- Call to reserve space 202.342.6230

Fri Apr 1 Closing Party - 6 pm to whenever
- Body Painting Demo - 2 models - 6:30
- Models Perform Geture Poses on stage under Blacklight - 7:30
- Body Painting - Audience Participation

Tonight in Philly: Little Treasures – Big Rewards

The role of small works of art has, in modern culture, been delegated to the “minor works” category. They become overlooked, poorly appreciated and frequently labeled as good choices for a holiday show to generate a few sales. They have also been the subject of shows where size is all that matters, i.e. all works will be postcard size, measure 12”x12”, etc. Historically, the role of small works has been very different. The Mona Lisa is perfectly sized for a good holiday show, as is Edvard Munch’s “The Scream.” Many of Rembrandt’s great portraits would also qualify, and the finest works ever done by Rubens would neatly fit into a child’s knapsack. The creation of small works for many artists has been a device where the improbable becomes possible, an idea is tried or a risk is easily taken.

“Little Treasures – Big Rewards”assembles a group of artists all deliberately working in the small format. For Elizabeth Bisbing, the diminutive scale is her forte, where her collages take on the grandeur of Renaissance masters. For others, such as Vivian Wolovitz, whose large works easily command the viewer in any gallery space, in recent time she has found a rich and varied voice in the pocket size, creating a deep space for the gravity of her painted atmosphere. Alex Queral continues to push the envelope incorporating recycled phone books. Ross Bonfanti utilizes concrete to warm the heart and surprise the senses. Susan B. Howard combines the political with the fanciful, sending a powerful message in a seemingly sweet package. Craig Cully reminds us of the Dutch master Franz Hals with his dazzling Hershey candies, while Caleb Weintraub demonstrates that the sweet world of contemporary children is a troubled place due to the modern obsession with war game technology. Frank Hyder demonstrates the experimental arena of the small works with examples from his perdido and rhythm series. F. Lennox Campello brings us his relentless salsa seasoned social commentaries, invigorating pencil and paper into a sword and shield bent on righting injustice wherever it is found.

In “Little Treasures – Big Rewards,”Projects introduces Canadian realist, Matthew Schofield, working in a diminutive scale using images from his childhood experiences. Zoe Spiliotis makes a debut with a formal spin on geometric linear explosive abstractions. Debra Van Tuinen from Portland, Oregon, serves up sensuous sky-like images made in encaustic that appear to be mixed with air. Projects also introduces Marcelo Suaznabar, a Bolivian artist currently living in Toronto, whose surrealistic vision presents a world where nothing is as it should be but often is more appealing than how things are. Amy Orr arrives for the first time at Projects with her imaginative up-cycled transformations, while E. Sherman Hayman returns with selections from her coffin series, loaded with meaning and too good to bury. This group exhibition puts the emphasis on the rewards, not the ruler, and packs a real punch.

“Little Treasures – Big Rewards”will be on display at Projects Gallery in Philadelphia from March 4 - 26, 2011. There will also be an artist’s reception First Friday March 4th from 5 - 9 p.m. The reception is free and open to the public.

Geez

Just found out that there is a "Real Housewives of Miami" show now... and that the three Cuban ladies in the cast are already making my peeps look bad.

That's Alexia Echevarria, one of the Cubans in the TV show and (I'm told) known in Miami as the Cuban Barbie.

Ay Dios Mio!

Ruth Trevarrow this Sunday

Painter Ruth Trevarrow "dares us to see the lush beauty in bare bones, with a collection of powerful shapes and lines distilled from skeletal remains."

Please join her at the beautiful Athenaeum in Old Town Alexandria for the opening reception on Sunday, March 6 from 4 to 6 pm.


On Sunday, March 20 at 4 pm, Trevarrow will be joined by scientists from the Smithsonian Institution to discuss the relationship between her art and the bone collections that inspired the works in the exhibit.

I think that this artist is one of great "undiscovered" jewels in the DMV. Don't miss this show.

Major DMV Gallery to close

Have heard from a couple of artists that a major DMV area gallery, which has been around for almost two decades has announced to them that it will close its physical location.

As this gallery is one of the few DMV galleries that does the major art fairs, I suspect that they will now just become an online dealer and simply continue to do the art fairs.

Update: I think that I broke this story, but Lou Jacobson confirms it in the Washington City Paper... Fraser Gallery will close.

Update 2: Heather over at DCist gets the credit for breaking the story... see it here.

Update 3: artdc has an interesting string of artists' comments about Fraser closing; read them here.

Opportunity for Artists

APPLICATION DEADLINE: May 2, 2011
NOTIFICATION DATE: May 23, 2011
EXHIBITION DATES: June 22, 2011 - August 21, 2011
OPENING RECEPTION: June 24, 2011, 6 to 9 PM

PLANNING PROCESS: Drawings and Finished Works at Arlington Arts Center.

Juror: Helen Allen, former creator and Executive Director of PULSE Art Fairs, former Executive Director of Ramsay Art Fairs, and current partner for the upcoming (e)merge art fair in Washington DC.

PLANNING PROCESS is a juried drawing show with a difference: All of the drawings selected for inclusion must be studies created in preparation for finished artworks.

Winning studies will be shown alongside finished pieces in a variety of media: A sculptor or a painter could show sketches alongside finished objects . . . a video artist could show storyboards alongside video . . . an installation artist could show plans alongside photos documenting a finished project--or a recreation of that project onsite.

Artists can submit images of up to three projects, and four preparatory drawings per finished project. The juror will pick as many projects from a given artist as she likes, and as few or as many studies connected to each project that she would like to feature.

BOTTOM LINE:

- This show is open to cutting edge contemporary artists working in any/all media, and who live or work in Virginia, Washington DC, Maryland, West Virginia, Delaware, or Pennsylvania.
- You may submit images of up to THREE PROJECTS: Up to four images of preparatory drawings may be submitted for each project; submit one JPEG of each finished 2-D work; up to TWO JPEGs of 3-D works; and MPEGs no longer than five minutes for video works.

Application here.

Armory Week in NYC

The Armory fair starts tomorrow in NYC, and this year an ever growing number of satellite fairs tag along, including a first for Brooklyn!

It's a little puzzling to some why it seems like (in the US) art fairs only tend to be successful in Miami and New York - and the best evidence of that is the growing number of satellite fairs which tag along Art Basel Miami Beach in Florida and Armory in NYC.

Moving Image, a fair dedicated to video, makes its debut this year, and it is offering free admission! The fair is co-founded by Edward Winkelman of Winkleman Gallery and Penny Pilkington and Wendy Olsoff of PPOW Gallery, continuing the trend of gallerists starting their own art fairs.

DMV galleries are mostly staying home this year, but Conner Contemporary is at the Armory show itself, and Civilian is at Scope, while Richmond's ADA and Norfolk's Mayer Fine Arts are in other satellite fairs.

Deborah Kahn at the WSS

The Washington Studio School will present a drawing exhibition of work by Deborah Kahn. The show will be on view March 21 to April 23.

Join them Friday, March 25 for Events with the Artist:

Workshop*: 2pm-4pm

Slide Lecture: 5pm-6pm

Reception: 6pm-8pm

Registration is required for workshop ($55). Register here. Space is limited, sign-up early! Slide lecture and reception are FREE.

RSVP kindly appreciated to 202-234-3030 or admin@washingtonstudioschool.org. Deborah Kahn's paintings will be also on view this spring at the Bowery Gallery in NYC from April 26 through May 21.