Saturday at AAFNYC

The constant crowds continue as the good weather stays in NYC and based on what I saw today, it looked like many galleries were moving artwork.

Jeannette Herrera continues to have a brilliant NYC debut as today she sold another four paintings! Also closed the deal and sold Judith Peck's largest piece in the show... and also sold two of my pieces, including the very cool second version of "Eve Sees Her Face for the First Time" - a digital-embedded piece.

Friday Report

Today the Affordable Art Fair was once again well-attended. I sold six of my drawings, including the first sale of the "new" series of digital-embedded components (I sold "A Woman Refusing to See Men").

After the show closed at 9PM, I walked to the parking garage on 32nd Street, drove back to 35th and started trolling for a parking spot near the loading dock. This is so that on Sunday I could have an easier time taking all the artwork down from the 11th floor to the street without having to compete for the two loading dock spots with a hundred vans and trucks. After a while I got a Doris Day parking spot right next to the dock and headed back to the hotel, exhausted but mission accomplished!

Thursday at the AAFNYC

Noon started with some sort of HGTV function, which was catered by Monterone and thus we all got to eat some pretty good food to start the day.

Excellent crowds again and by the end of the night we sold four more Jeannette Herrera's paintings and three more of my drawings.

AAFNYC Preview Night

Let's just say that I thought all the bad juju had gone...

I finished hanging, labeling and prepping the booth today, then wandered around 7th Avenue until I ended up with a very cool Ermenegildo Zegna (cough, cough) blazer.

Back to the booth at 5PM and the fair opened at 6PM and was packed right away, and I was told there were huge lines for the free booze. Meanwhile back at the farm, a few seconds after the show opened I sold one of Jeannette L. Herrera's paintings (by the time the night was over the buyers had returned and bought a couple more paintings).

Then someone puts their glass of champagne on my desk... seconds later a person bumps it with their purse and sends bubbly flying all over my computer, paperwork and two copies of my 100 Artists of Washington, DC book.

Later on I got an offer on Judith Peck's largest piece in the show ("this offer is good until Friday," said gravely the gent making the offer) .... let's see.

Suddenly a feeding frenzy starts and six of my drawings sell within five minutes; that's what I'm talking about!

The show opens to the public tomorrow.

Ready for Stacy

As you know from yesterday's post, I left all my dress clothes back home, and thus today - after finishing setting up the booth - I walked down Seventh Ave and got a heck of a good deal on an Zegna summer blazer.

Let's see if Stacy London notices...

This is how I roll

Heck of a day: Drove to NYC for the Affordable Art Fair, then I was issued my usual $115 ticket while unloading for the art fair; then realized that somehow I left three major new video drawing pieces back at home (more on that later); and then sliced my finger open while opening a box, dripping torrents of blood onto the artwork in the process (try cleaning that up while bleeding profusely at the same time).

Later on, when I got to the hotel, I also realized that I had left all my dress clothes in the living room back at home.

Did that I mention that at about the same time that I was realizing this, my wife called and my poor Alida had earlier tripped on a tree stump while running and fractured her knee cap.

Tonight I decided that I better stay all night in my hotel room, lest some poor New Yorker gets his ass kicked. It was while pondering this avoided trouble, that I discovered (well Russ McIntosh did) that two of the "missing pieces" are still hanging on the wall at Montgomery College.

Here's the odd part: in my brain, I can picture driving to MCC and picking up those pieces at the end of the show a few days ago; wrapping them up, and boxing them for the fair. Helluva brain fart, ain't it?

Is there anyone reading this blog who is driving or coming to NYC in the next day or two and can pick up those pieces and bring them over? There's a free Campello original in the deal for you.

The AAFNYC opens tomorrow night with a VIP and press preview; more later.

Kennicott nominated as a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize in criticism

Internal WaPo email:

To the Staff:

Please join us in congratulating Philip Kennicott for being a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize in criticism.

As our culture critic, Phil ranges widely in his subject matter but never strays from the lucid, cerebral approach he brings to every piece. Last year, he found ways to illuminate and explain nearly every major news event, from the revolutions on the Arab Street and in American city parks, to the nuclear disaster in Japan, and the death of Osama bin Laden. In a highly semiotic world, he described the meaning of those events, just as he did, week in and week out, in more traditional cultural realms. His ease in writing about architecture and arts is matched by a clarity of reasoning that makes his work compelling. Phil’s work is extraordinary, and we’re pleased the Pulitzer jury recognized it in making him a finalist.

Congrats to the Kennicottmeister...

E. Brady Robinson

Wanna see a really cool art project? Check it out here.

Campello original

Anderson Campello painting "Ship Wakes as Seen from Space", shaving cream on plastic tablecloth. 30 x 72 inches. Circa 2012.

Bettie Page

C'mon... I know that all of youse knew that sooner or later someone like me, who addresses the theme of icons in his artwork, would get to the first true supermodel in planetary history. Below is a trial drawing for a much larger (eventually) video drawing of the breathtaking Bettie Page.

"Notorium Bettie Paginas Ex", charcoal and conte on paper, 6x5 inches, 2012.

Opportunity for Artists

Deadline: July 1, 2012

Canvas - The Artist Showcase states that

The essence behind CANVAS is to promote the work of rising artists, and have it seen by a large number of galleries, curators, publishers, ad agencies, art directors, and artist representatives.

CANVAS is conducted in a non-profit co-operative way. This showcase is designed to promote artist's, not make money off of them.

The book itself will be a large format perfect bound paperback in full color. The page count will be dependant on how many entries we recieve and how many are accepted for inclusion by our judges. The grand prize winner of the entries will be featured on the cover.

A Call for Entries is sent out quarterly to various art communities. We encourage everyone who wants to be seen, and have their work noticed, to submit.

Details here.

Opportunity for DC area artists

Deadline: April 19, 2012

The Capitol Hill ART League presents its Third Annual Metro DC open juried exhibition: It’s a Wonderful World?

All artists, 18 years of age or older residing in the Washington, DC metropolitan area are eligible to enter.

Deadline for submissions is Thursday April 19, 2012.

The Capitol Hill ART League (CHAL) is a program of the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop. Located in the historic Capitol Hill neighborhood in Washington, DC, CHAL is composed of approximately 100 artists. Each season CHAL mounts a series of seven juried exhibitions and conducts gallery talks at the openings; CHAL hosts lectures on a variety of art related topics, offers workshops, and strives to develop a supportive artistic community. The greater Washington community is encouraged to participate in all of these events.

JUROR: I am honored to return as this year's juror.

ENTRY: Selections for the show will be made by the judge from JPEG images submitted by the artists. All work must be original and signed by the artist. Any work previously shown at a Capitol Hill ART League juried show is ineligible. All work must have been created within the last three years.

ENTRY FEES: Up to 3 entries may be submitted for a non-refundable fee of $15 for current Capitol Hill Art League members or $30 for the community at large (non members). Up to two additional entries may be submitted at $5 each. Artists submitting 3-dimensional work may provide two images of each piece.

AWARDS: Awards will be decided by the judge and will include cash awards for ‘Best in Show’, and ‘Merit’ awards. Two Honorable mentions will be awarded. All awards will be presented at the opening reception with the judge’s talk on Saturday, May 12, 2011 from 5:00-7:00 PM.

SALES: A 30% commission will be deducted from CHAL members’ exhibition sales and 35% commission on all non-member exhibition sales. All work must be for sale and the price submitted on the registration form will be the price presented at the time of the show for accepted work.

Exhibition Calendar:
April 19, 2012 - deadline for entries
April 30, 2012 - Notification sent to accepted Artists
May 4-9, 2012 - Art delivery dates
May 12, 2012 - Artists’ Reception and Awards, Presentation (5:00 - 7:00 pm)
June 1, 2012 - Exhibition closes
June 2-6, 2012 - Pick up artwork

Contact info: caphillartleague@yahoo.com Prospectus at: www.caphillartleague.org

Artomatic Artist Registration Now Open

Registration is now open for artists and performers to display work at Artomatic 2012, the DC area's biggest free arts event, being held from May 18 to June 23 in Crystal City at Vornado/Charles E. Smith's1851 South Bell Street. Artists, performers, filmmakers, and creatives of all types may now register to participate in Artomatic at www.artomatic.org.

Anyone can participate in Artomatic - there are no criteria to register, and space is allocated on a first-come, first serve basis. At its last event in 2009, Artomatic attracted more than 76,000 visitors to see work by more than 1,200 artists, and more than 600 performances. This year, Artomatic expects to attract even more artists, performers, and visitors than ever before.

Bethesda Row Arts Festival

The 15th annual Bethesda Row Arts Festival will take place Saturday, October 20 and Sunday, October 21, 2012. The 2012 application is now available, and artists are invited to apply online at ZAPPLICATION. The deadline to apply is May 20, 2012.

Questions? Call 301.637.5715.

Woman Refusing to See Men

Below are three images of my latest marriage of embedded electronics with drawing. It is titled "Woman Refusing to See Men" and the embedded digital player rotates about 50 portraits of me from age 4 to present. It's about 14 x 23 inches once matted and framed.

Tate on TV

Last Sunday, DC public television WETA TV (channel 26) broadcasted Vincent Gaines' documentary on the work and motivations of my good bud Tim Tate - who just returned from his successful Fulbright assignment in the UK.

The film is "Hearts of Glass" and it is scheduled to re-air again on Wednesday, April 11, 2012 at 5:30 pm. Get those TiVos set!

Open Studios this weekend

Allen Quotes

If you're not failing every now and again, it's a sign you're not doing anything very innovative.
--- Woody Allen

Opportunity for Artists

Deadline: April 17, 2012

You've got nine days to make it! The Contemporary Arts Center of Las Vegas is accepting submissions for solo shows or group installations from artists and curators for consideration for their 2012-2013 exhibition season. All mediums and disciplines will be considered. Any work presented at the Contemporary Arts Center must be a body of new or recent work executed within the past 2 years. Emerging or mid-career artists, members or non-members, may submit proposals.

All the details are here.

Questions? Contact Exhibition Committee at the Contemporary Arts Center, Las Vegas, info@lasvegascac.org or 702-382-3886.

A new idea

Today being Holy Saturday (Easter Vigil) as well as the first day of Passover, an idea for a new video drawing piece popped into my head (no pun intended as you will see soon)...

The idea is to create a large drawing of Judith with the head of Holophernes. His head would have an embedded digital component which would rotate images of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and all of the real rulers of Iran, the "I wanna end the world" scary Ayatollahs.

Clearly the idea is driven by the state of the world today, where Israel appears to be in the same precarious situation as when faced with Nebuchadnezzar's general.

Bethulia was saved by Judith; let's hope 21st century reasoning saves us from 5th century mindsets.