Tonight: Walking Off the Artistic Cliff

Wednesday, June 1, 7:00 - 9:00pm

Panel Discussion - Walking Off the Artistic Cliff
Making good art requires taking risks. Join Jack Rasmussen, Director of the American University Museum at the Katzen Center, Claudia Rousseau, Ph.D., Professohttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifr of Art History at Montgomery College and art critic for the Gazette Newspapers and Welmoed Laanstra, Curator of Public Art for Arlington County, and moderator Ellyn Weiss, as they discuss what it means to commit to the new and unknown.

Free. Open to the Public.

Brentwood Arts Exchange @ Gateway Arts Center
3901 Rhode Island Avenue
Brentwood, MD 20722
301-277-2863/ tty. 301-446-6802

Airborne
Airborne today and heading to Amsterdam and then to England... more from the Old World later.

Minute Wings

I said, I don’t like Yeats.
I only like Marti, Neruda, Borge and Paz.
You read this poem to me:

I did the dragon's will until you came
Because I had fancied love a casual
Improvisation, or a settled game
That followed if I let the kerchief fall:
Those deeds were best that gave the minute wings
And heavenly music if they gave it wit;
And then you stood among the dragon-rings.
I mocked, being crazy, but you mastered it
And broke the chain and set my ankles free,
Saint George or else a pagan Perseus;
And now we stare astonished at the sea,
And a miraculous strange bird shrieks at us.

I was scared by the dragon-rings,
and the will which I was doing,
and even by minute wings.
But you opened me,
and gave me my freedom,
and Yeats.

Memorial Day

Have a grand Memorial Day!

The DC Art card deck

Art in Hand™ is an arts publisher who was looking to bring their City Project Decks of cards to the city of Washington, DC.

They selected 54 artists who are currently living and working in the Washington, DC area to participate in their DC City Project Deck, which has just been published.

The Washington, DC Project is a deck of fully functional playing cards where each individual card in the deck (plus 2 jokers) is rendered in the typical style of the contributing artist. The project creates widespread exposure for participating artists while producing a unique, entertaining, functional and green product for the city of Washington, DC.

Check out the project and all the cards and associated artwork here.

The cards are available at many stores locally and also at most local museum stores, or you can order them online here.

My favorite card?

Judith Peck gets a winning hand with her gorgeous Queen of Spades.

You can buy Judith's painting here.

Just keeps on getting worse and worse...

On Thursday, Cuban pro-democracy activist Caridad Caballero was arrested by the Castro regime's Workers Paradise's police.

She has not been heard from since then and her whereabouts remain unknown.

Caballero, a member of the Ladies in White support group ("Damas de Apoyo"), was arrested for participating in a peaceful protest against the Castro regime.

Her family has been frantically searching for her in all known police and state security operation centers, but they refuse to reveal any information about her well-being or whereabouts.

As you can see from the video clip below of a previous arrest (in March 2011) of Caballero, the Castro regime is not shy about using repressive force against her and her family.

Campello at auction

A British antique art dealer has one of my drawings from eleven years ago up for auction. It starts at 195 pounds, so it's a great deal!


Check it out and bid on it here. Hurry! Only 14 hours left!

Planning Process

Just got the news that I've been selected by 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) to exhibit at the Arlington Art Center's "Planning Process" exhibition.

More later on what I'll be doing, but from the prospectus:

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 artists could show plans alongside photos documenting a finished project—or a recreation of that project onsite.

O'Sullivan on the Washington Glass School

No secret here that I am a HUGE fanboy of what the WGS and what many other DMV area glass artist have done to make the DMV one of the leading contemporary art glass centers on this planet (when are our "local" art museums going to "discover" this?)

And in reviewing "The Washington Glass School: The First 10 Years" , now on display at Long View Gallery in the District, the senior Washington Post visual arts critic, Michael O'Sullivan, eloquently interprets just what makes this substrate (glass) so special and yet so different.

On the one hand, glass is pretty. It's hard not to like the way it looks: the luminous color, the way it plays with light. On the other hand, maybe glass is only pretty. How do we know that the beauty is also capable of brains?

The rest of the show is proof that it is.

Read the O'Sullivan review here.

Diana Nyad, my Goddess of the day!

Diana Nyad, at age 61, prepares for second attempt to swim from Cuba to Key West

If the brutal and bloody and racist Cuban dictatorship would allow it, Nyad would be swimming in the wake of a few thousand Cubans attempting the same feat!

But seriously folks: WOW!

Read the WaPo article here.

Opportunity for Artists

Deadline: June 1, 2011

Call for Art - Superheroes: Icons of Good, Evil & Everything In Between

Superheroes is "a multi-media, group exhibition about heroes, villains and other less-definable examples of human possibility. Informed by pop culture notions of “Super” – both hero and villain – it examines the ways in which the Superhero and Supervillain archetypes are integrated into our culture, informing ideas of morality, civil responsibility and human achievement."

Curated by 516 ARTS and guest curator Neilie Johnson. Artists selected by invitation and this call. Deadline June 1. Show run: open 9/24 or 10/1 thru Dec. 17, 2011.

Email rhiannon@516arts.org to request complete submission details (recommended). Submissions: Send up to 8 jpg’s of available work (at least 4”x6”, 300dpi); include title, year, media, dimensions for each piece; a short artist biography in paragraph format; a short artist’s statement. Prefer EMAIL to: rhiannon@516arts.org or mail CD/DVD to:

516 ARTS
Attn: Rhiannon Mercer
516 Central Ave., SW
Albuquerque, NM 87102

American Contemporary

The latest issue of American Contemporary Art magazine is out and it has a nice column on DMV area shows (p. 14-15) and has DMV area artist Hadieh Shafie on the cover.

Read it online here.

The Power of the Web: The BBC listens

Eight years ago I started shouting that the whole idea of a museum focused on Latino art was a bad idea (so 20th century!).

Over the years since this well-intentioned but silly, segregationist idea first came out, I've posted my thoughts on the subject in many places.

No one in the US seems to care that one lonely voice in the Washington, DC area is not drinking the Kool-Aid on this subject - but the the BBC does!

If you can read Spanish, then read my thoughts on the subject in BBC Mundo here.

"Deberíamos enfocar los esfuerzos en colocar las contribuciones latinas en los museos generales, que tienen que ser unificadores. Crear categorías y rotularlos para ponerlos en compartimentos separados, sobre todo en arte, es una estrategia muy del siglo XX que debe ser superada"

And the winners are:

The ten award winners from the 200 artists at the 20th Annual Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival are:

Jorge Caligiuri, Philadelphia, PA
Ronald Dekok, Belleville, WI
Elissa Farrow-Savos, Sterling, VA
Tom Hlas, Philadelphia, PA
Ning Lee, Livingston, NJ
Steven Olszewski, Pinckney, MI
John Petrey, Chattanooga, TN
Joyce Stratton, New Bern, NC
Gary Stretar, Spencer, OH
Andrew Zimmermann, Arlington, VA

WGS Students at Gallery 555DC

“The Washington Glass School is known for its excellent student program and the quality of creative work its students produce. I wanted to celebrate their 10th anniversary by giving students an opportunity to exhibit their work in Gallery 555dc. Running and managing a school takes hard work, long hours and dedication – then more hard work. To celebrate a 10th Anniversary in the art world is a rare thing and a tribute to the founders and teachers of the Washington Glass School. ”

Jodi Walsh
Owner
Gallery 555dc

The gallery is at 555 12th Street NW Lobby, Washington DC 20004, 202-393-1409 or 240-447-6071 Gallery555dc.com. The reception is Saturday, June 4th, noon to 5pm; Artists present 3 – 5pm.

Argentina

The Embassy of Argentina now has their first exhibition of the year, All Come in Color, celebrating the month of their May Independence Revolution.

The exhibit features abstract and figurative paintings created by local DMV Argentine artists. The show is on now through June 30th - check out all the other good stuff going on here.

Embassy of Argentina
1600 New Hampshire Ave, NW
Washington DC 20008

Fighting words

this post is from 2004 and yet artists, art dealers and other folks are still posting and arguing over it.

It's on the subject of "Vanity Galleries" and you can read it all here.

Top 10

Jamon Serrano: Quite possibly one of the top ten foods on planet Earth and one of the top 25 in this galaxy and one of the top 100 in the Universe.

MOCA DC Plea

After receiving the below press release from Georgetown's MOCA DC gallery, I asked its director, Dave Quammen, for permission to post it in this blog. Although it is raw and to the bone, and courageously reveals intimate personal issues, it also goes to show the amazing extent that some gallery owners go to in an effort to keep their art spaces open and running:

June Exhibit - Why Not?
The gallery has been in the same financial straits for a long time, but I could pick up the slack before. I can't do that anymore without major changes to the way that MOCA DC operates.

So, beginning with the June exhibit, I will accept one piece of art free from anyone, member or not. Art must be 36 x 40 max and meet the theme of the exhibit. Additional pieces may be entered for a nominal fee.

As of the June exhibit, I have kept the gallery open for 6 1/2 years, at a personal cost during that time well in excess of $25,000 - out of my pocket, not to mention the at least 70 hours per week, at no income from the gallery.

Well, folks - beginning right now, I ain't gonna do it anymore. Income this month and last has fallen a lot, mostly rental of the gallery, etc. If no one comes up with the $2,625 for rent by June 1, I ain't gonna pay it at all and let the chips fall where they may.

Same goes for the Figure Models Guild - which will be 10 years old this July. At the beginning, I made copies of the Model Registry, bought envelopes and paid the postage out of my own pocket. I also made copies of the guide I put together for models, held events and etc - all for nothing. No cost to models, no cost to all those who got a free ride - all the colleges, universities, schools, teachers, et al --- all for nothing.

I don't know how many know that in 2008 I was diagnosed with prostate and colon cancer - beat em both. In 2009, I had to have heart surgery on 2 different occasions. This year, or late last year, I was diagnosed with lung problems - emphysema and COPD, or pulmonary fibrosis. They put me on an inhaler for a while, but last month they changed it to a stronger one and added a 2nd. Problem is, this is one thing I can't beat, and it's a crap shoot as to how much time I have left - will be 72 in October, so I can't complain about longevity - I've done more in my life than most people do, so I don't have any regrets.

But I do have some other things I want to do, but I can't with this albatross around my neck. So if you want this to continue, figure out what these things are worth and come up with the cash, or I'm in the wind.

Well, Joe - this one's for you. Thanks for the push!

MOCA DC is one of the Canal Square Galleries at 1054 31st Street & M Street, NW in Georgetown.

Update: Kriston Capps reports on this issue here.

New Art Gallery in Georgetown

Today, the DMV welcomes its newest contemporary art gallery, Heiner Contemporary. The gallery is now open to the public, launching with a solo exhibition of work by Brooklyn-based artist Elizabeth Huey. The exhibition will run through July 2, 2011.

Located in the Book Hill neighborhood of Georgetown, "Heiner Contemporary features emerging and mid-career artists working in a range of media. The gallery is the culmination of owner and director Margaret Heiner’s long-term interest in promoting an understanding and appreciation of contemporary art. Her desire to make art accessible, which was at the heart of her business Aesthetica Art Consulting, remains an important facet of Heiner Contemporary."

“I want visitors to the gallery to feel the push-and-pull of the art displayed and to engage with the works on both a visual and emotional level,” says Heiner. “We want to forge connections and foster dialogue between individuals and artists, but we also want our clients to feel comfortable regardless of their collecting or art experience.”

In addition to exhibitions, Heiner Contemporary maintains an inventory of secondary market works available for sale. These pieces range from prints by well-established artists such as William Kentridge and Kara Walker, to paintings by up-and-comers including Allison Reimus.

Heiner Contemporary is located at 1675 Wisconsin Ave, NW. For more information about the gallery and upcoming exhibitions, email info@heinercontemporary.com or visit the website at www.heinercontemporary.com.