Anderson on Jensen at AOM

John Anderson from the CP focuses on Deb Jansen's installation at Artomatic; read it here.

Artomatic 2012: The Review!

Update: On my 4th AOM visit on Saturday, I discovered some new artists and spaces that I had missed the first three times and thus, the AOM review and awards have been updated below. The updates have been mixed into the review so that you have to read the whole thing again...--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A few days ago I discussed my overall first impressions about Artomatic, and now, having returned to the gigantic exhibition twice, I remain with some of the same overall conclusions:

• Every year the overall "quality" of AOM improves and this year is noticeably better looking and more professional-looking than any other year.
• There are a lot of blackboards with blackboard art all over the place.
• There's a lot less porn in AOM this year. In fact, there's a lot less nudes of all kinds.
• The range of the quality of the work, even in a postmodern world where everything is art, still ranges from the mind-boggling bad to the artistically sublime.
• There are several brand new (at least to me) artists in AOM who can show anywhere right now.
• There is a lot of art about The Beatles and blues musicians.
• There's more video art than I expected.
• There are a lot more well-known DMV area "gallery" artists in this AOM than any previous one (except the first one in 1999).
• There's a lot of artists working with discarded computer boards and parts.
• There are a lot of glass artists and every single one of them is really good.
• There are a lot of dark room style galleries and a lot of "blue light" art.
• There is a lot of artwork about Obama.
• There is a lot of left-wing nuttery artwork.
• There are a lot of really good sculptures.
• There are a lot of artists who make it really hard for someone interested in buying their work to get the basic details (how much is it and how do I buy it?) 

On my return visit I did notice that many artists took my advise and did put prices up and easy to find contact information. I have never been a fan of anything that is for sale and which yet makes you ask what the price is. In this context, just like in a commercial gallery context, art is a commodity and if you want to sell your artwork, you better make it very clear how much the artwork is.

Enough of that.

As I've developed my AOM "eye" since 1999, each year I try to find the key new artists (new to me) in each show, and as difficult (well, really impossible) as it is, I also settle on my Top 10 Artists of the show, fastidiously avoiding any artist which has previously been awarded a DC Art News Top 10 Artomatic Award.

For many years now, I've also developed my own set of individual genre awards, and this year was a particularly good one for that.

Starting on the 11th floor, I liked Joe Granski's large and expressive portrait work; I've noticed Granski's work in previous AOM reviews as well. Also standing out on this floor is the glass work by well-known DMV artist Kirk Waldroff. Other artists not to miss are painters Marina Reiter and Todd Gardner, as well as Andrew Wodzianski and Jamie Caplinger, and the very cool installation by Gloria Chapa (which was vandalized on 23 May and subsequently restored by the artist, only to have it vandalized again on the 25th) and photos by Mark Parascandola. On the 10th floor go see Peter Duvall and Tracy Lee's kids drawings of Leggos. On the 8th floor I liked the work of Melissa Badenhop and the elegant abstract works on birch by Ellen Hill and the nudes by Marcie Wolff-Hubbard and the cool etchings by Henrik Sundqvist (his Murcielago Santo is gorgeous). On the 9th floor do not miss Rania Hassan and Sean Hennessey (they're next to each other), also Nancy Donnelly (who's exploring some cool new concepts with her work and another artist that PG County needs to acquire), Rita Elsner, Roger Cutler and Zofie Lang. I also liked Erin Antognoli's sharp new presentations.On the 5th floor I liked the nice charcoal nudes by the artist known as "Ray" and the really superb landscape oils by Parisa Tirnaz. On the 4th floor I liked Jamie Gerhold and Jessica Murray. and Frank Mancino. On the 3rd floor, even though he's in the corner of a giant room, Greg Minah's swirling works really stand out as do Susan LaMont's works; also go see Jessica Beels. On the 2nd floor, see Gregory Ferrand and Michael Janis and I really enjoyed the very nice paintings of Mary Catherine Starr (which are also a great price deal) and another great discovery was the work of Sue Ahn (who needs a website!). On the first floor, check out the always amazing dress metal sculptures by Donna McCullough. And while you're at AOM, don't miss Tim Tate's new video piece.

Best Conan Females - The artist known as Wolverine on the 11th floor. As a Frazetta fan, I bow to you sir.

Best Aerial Landscape - The electronic circuit boards and parts used in Eric Celarier on the 11th floor to make computer-age quilts. He really makes them work and stands out in a show over-populated with artists doing this sort of work. Eric needs to get a hold of the Microsoft Collection curator, as they collect art based on technology.

Best Clouds - Emily Piccirillo on the 11th floor. The cool presentation also makes the work stand out.

Clouds by Emily Piccirillo, 11th floor, AOM 2012

Best Use of Light - Sarah Louise Chittenden on the 11th floor. This was a tough category, as there are a lot of darkened rooms using light as part of their process.

Best Use of Black Light - Michael Auger on the 11th floor wins this subcategory.

Best Organic Sculpture - Liz Lescault wins a tough sub-category; there are a lot of good sculptures at AOM.

Best Glass Art - Joseph Corcoran squeaks by in the toughest category in AOM; there are a LOT of really good glass artists in this show. This is no surprise, as the DMV is one of the glass world's epicenters. He really should share this award with David D'Orio, but since D'Orio received a separate award, Corcoran gets to keep his award solo.

Scariest Picture of Obama - Easily won by hardworking DMV artists Matt Sesow.

Most Adoring Picture of Obama - Dike Harris on the 7th floor.

Best Odd Project - "15 Miles of Vanity," which are photos of vanity plates; it is sort of cool to read what people want the rest of the world to know.

Best Robot - "Robama 2012" by Benson Z. Anspach wins the always hotly contested robot art category.

Most Innovative Modernization of the Washington Color School -  Nancy Donnelly's new work takes the color stripes from the canvas of the 1960s giants of DMV painting and re-invents it ina  fresh new approach to a 21st century dialogue in glass and concrete. PG County needs to buy some of these.

Best Tool Artwork - Richard Appelt, Jr.

"I didn't know he was a racist award" - Won by Ishmail Basha Reaves, who has a display of really well done portraits of African American icons, civil rights leaders, etc. and somehow includes a painting of Che Guevara, who once wrote: "The Negro is indolent and lazy, and spends his money on frivolities, whereas the European is forward-looking, organized and intelligent." This is one of many such racist statements by the guy on the T-Shirt.

Scariest Artwork - Kasia Swierczek on the 11th floor dominates the art of the scary. Don't get me wrong, this is really good work, but even her name is a little scary to me.

Best Deal for $100 - Corey Oberndorfer paintings of donuts on color swatches are not only gorgeously painted, but a steal at $100 from a DMV blue chip artist.

Corey Oberndorfer paintings of donuts at Artomatic 2012

 Best Deal under $50 - Any of the "Obama Versus" series on the 10th floor; Fun ideas superbly presented, but I'm not sure who the photographer is, but this is his/her website.

"Obama Versus" photographs on the 10th floor of Artomatic 2012

Best Innovative Use of Star Wars Imagery - Isaac Lange's "dARTH vay-dEER" is a gorgeous marriage of Star Wars with Frida Kahlo; how could he not win? And this is a tough category as well, there are a LOT of Star Wars in AOM.

dARTH vay-dEER by Isaac Lange, AOM 2012

Second Best Innovative Use of Star Wars Imagery - Princess Leia naked by Paul Oberle merits a mention and an award in this tough category! I always suspected that Leia had nice tits!

Best Innovative Use of Star Trek Imagery - Rob Sprouse has Mr. Worf as Marilyn Monroe; what else can I say but Brilliant!

Best Gay Use of Star Trek Imagery - Well, actually the only gay use of Star Trek imagery... do not miss Sarah Palaszynski's evolving Space Opera.

Amok by Sarah Palaszynski

Best Adaptation of Another Artist's Work - Ric Garcia has some really good pieces in AOM, and he has evolved Andy Warhol's Campbell Soup cans motifs into a 21st century dialogue with his use of Goya Black Bean soup cans. I think PG County needs to buy this guy's work under their county art collection focus on AOM.

Celia Cruz, Desi Arnaz and Goya Black Bean Soup, Ric Garcia, AOM 2012

Best Channeling of Another Artist - Marti Deppa Kirkpatrick's elegant paintings from her "Channeling Rothko" series.

Made Me Hungry Award - Rebecca Gordon has unexpectedly beautiful photographs of bacon on the 10th floor.

Best WalMartist - Elizabeth Brown (who is not in the AOM artists' listing for some reason and website-hard-to-find or non existent) has some spectacular sculptures on the 10th floor that really stand out - especially the one using the light bulbs (how did she get those little notes inside the bulb?) and her Terminator prints on dollar bills.

Detail of Elizabeth Brown's sculpture on the 10th floor of AOM 2012

Cool Use of the Nude Award - "Eye of Ra" photography on the 10th floor.

Best Nude on the Rocks - I don't know how Bert Pasquale got those nudes to climb those rocks, but the resulting photographs are eye catching and superbly well done; this is one fine photographer at work.

Most Unusual Use of the Nude - The artist known as "Ralph" on the 2nd floor has a wall full of nudes doing all sort of interesting things that people usually don't do in the nude, but probably should (play football, do synchronized peeing into the river, etc.).

Painting of people peeing by Ralph, 2nd floor of Artomatic 2012

Best Installation - Lilianne Blom has a really cool installation in yet another dark room - it has sound, lights and it all marries together with her digital paintings.

Worst Artomatic Presentation Ever - Whoever the artist is in the room located to the left of the bar on the 7th floor. See the picture below for an explanation.

The worst looking gallery room at Artomatic 2012

Best Painter of Blues/Jazz Artists - There are a lot of people painting blues musicians and thus J. L. Hussey on the 2nd floor had a lot of competition, but wins jazz hands down.

Best Printmaker - Kathryn Trillas' sensitive monotypes are not only eye-catching in their softness and intimacy, but because of the latter draw you in like a magnet in order to verify the process and method.

Best Landscape Artist - This is one tough category in a building full of excellent landscapists, but I think that Sarah Wardell's intimate and superbly priced work on the 8th floor merits this highly contested award, which she shares with Jeff Wilson's beautiful oils (mostly of tornado events) on copper plates on the 4th floor.

Best Charcoal Landscape Artist - James Halloran on the 8th floor.

Best Political Art - Roy Utley's Manisfesto takes this hotly contested award away from a large continent of extremists' art; it is smart, well presented and very interesting.

Best Sexual Art - Jaden O'Doyle made it look easy with a series of very attractive and intelligent images on a wide range of taboo subjects. Someone left a comment that summarizes it all; the visitor wrote in the guest book: "You made me horny!"

Best Urban Landscapes - Pattee Hipschen has some very painterly works with a focus on urban imagery, but are really a riot of color.

Ignore the Subject Matter and Look at the Painting Skills Award - Cynthia Sheppard on the 8th floor displays superb painting skills. I actually like the subject matter, but I know that most of you pansies won't. In any event, this is a master painter working as an illustrator (I think), but still a really good painter.

Coolest Artist Name - Marie Dominique Bondet de la Bernardie, 3rd floor, gallery 210.

Best Sculpture - The bicycle sculpture by David D'Orio on the 8th floor manages to marry together such a discordant and different set of ideas and topics (coupled with a pristine presentation) and materials (the bike, gorgeous glass, an old radio, etc.) that it really stands out - as a local critic put it: "The radio atop is tuned to WMAL, a station that broadcasts the conservative points of view through conservative opinion broadcasters like Chris Plante and (the syndicated shows of) Rush Limbaugh and Mark Levin." I noticed during my second and third visits that someone had changed the radio station to a music station.

Detail of David D'Orio's sculpture at Artomatic 2012

Best Image of Dicks - I was surprised how the always popular subject of penises was not as prevalent in this AOM as in the past. The artist known as Fr. Defenestrato was the top pinga in this category.

Largest Dick Award - Andrei Trach on the 3rd floor.

Best Looking Tits at AOM - Roy Utley's superb photo of model Angelina Leigh on the first floor. This model may in fact have the nicest looking tits in North America and possibly the whole New World.

Scariest Pussy Award - And Andrei Trach wins again with a sleep-robbing image of the scariest-looking vagina that I have ever seen; the thing actually projects out of the canvas, as if it wants to snap out of the linen and start crawling on the floor, making wet sounds and leaving a mucky trail behind it as it attacks viewers on the 3rd floor.

Painting by Andrei Trach on 3rd floor of Artomatic 2012

Best Giant Artwork - M. Helene Baribeau has several really well-crafted knitted pieces (and some prints made from her knitted work). The scale of the gloves is really attractive and they truly make an impact.

M. Helene Baribeau's Giant Gloves

Best Pet Portrait Artist - Whoever "sheppardbear" is on the 3rd floor shares this coveted prize with Glen Kessler (I also liked his "Icon Series").

"I Don't Get It" Award -  Artist Judith Claire's rambling installation - I'm not sure if it is anti or for racism, but it left me all confused.

Best DC Focus Art - Robert Kincheloe on the 3rd floor finally hits his stride with an awesome wall installation of individual glass pieces commemorating the capital's famed cherry blossoms. Kincheloe takes this potentially saccharine subject and hits an artistic grand slam. This is another PG County artist whose work needs to be acquired by the county.

Glass sculpture by Robert Kincheloe, 3rd floor Artomatic 2012

Best Pastels - Ellen Cornett takes on this most difficult of genres with pastel oils that are vibrant and colorful - she really muscles a lot of power out of her various subjects. Yet another PG artist for the county collection.

Best Abstract Art - Shanti Chandrasekar offers a pristine and elegant array of abstraction influenced by a variety of South Asian nuances. Her "Chakra" is a perfect example of what a talented artist can produced with a limited palette of cool colors. This is also the most improved artist in AOM.

Best All Over the Place Art - Nicolas Zimbro on the first floor is armed with an impressive set of painting and drawing skills. I love this guy! He reminds me of me, except that he can paint much better than I can. I loved how his subject matter meanders all over the place. Zimbro even meanders within a painting - there's hyper-realism, abstraction, maybe even manga mixed all in there. 

Painting by Nicolas Zimbro, 1st floor Artomatic 2012

Best Flower Photography - Camille Mosley-Pasley on the 11th floor. This is new stuff from Camille and the work is not only fresh in a really popular subject, but also superbly priced.


Best Flower Art - Elizabeth Lloyd hyper-realistic flower paintings manage to capture this popular subject vividly with intelligent use of color and texture.


Best Drawing - Christian Tribastone showcases not only some fantastic drawings, but also some mixed media drawing/painting that stands out now that I've managed to discover it on my 4th visit.


Best Mixed Media - Stephanie Booth's "She Always Wanted to be a Blonde" series of photographs employ the artist showcasing her grandmothers' wigs - coupled with that is embroidered words that use Booth's hair and continues this talented artist's fascination with that product of the body.

Stephanie Booth (Detail from She Always Wanted to be a Blonde series)

Best Fabric Art - The amazing creations by Aeren Waters are all tucked into a small space, but nonetheless stand out for their ingenuity and detail.

As I discussed here, PG County announced their intention to make significant purchases of artwork by Prince George's County artists at this year's Artomatic. These are my recommendations for them to acquire:

Matt MacIntire
Nancy Donnelly
Ric Garcia
Robert Kincheloe
Ellen Cornett
Michael Janis
Jessica Murray

And after much haggling with myself, here are my recommendation as the Top 10 Artists of this year's AOM. This year I decided to focus the top ten on artists whom are either new to me or who have never been on my previous AOM Top 10 List.  As I've noted earlier, I also noticed that there are a lot of well-known and very talented DMV area "gallery artists" in this year's AOM. In the past, I know for a fact that gallerists discouraged and even prohibited their represented artists from participating in AOM. It is a significant chunk of evidence to where AOM has come to in 2012 to see some of those well-known names show up in the world's largest free-for-all art group show.

Here are my Top 10 new finds in this year's AOM in alphabetical order:
Sue Ahn
Melissa Badenhop
Elizabeth Brown
Shanti Chandrasekar
Joseph Corcoran
Ellen Cornett
Bert Pasquale
Kathryn Trillas
Jeff Wilson
Nicolas Zimbro

AOM Visit Three

And on my last visit I actually discovered a whole bunch of spaces on the first floor that I had missed during my previous two visits.

AOM is quite a different place at night by the way... tonite there should be all kinds of good fun, as there are all kinds of stuff going on; check out the calendar here.

And a teaser: My Artomatic review and my top 10 AOM artists will be announced later today - sort of like what politicians do when they have something controversial to announce: do it on a late Friday afternoon!

Not only my top 10 will be announced, but also a whole variety of DC Art News special awards; stay tuned!

Opportunity for Baseball Artists

Deadline: July 27,  2012. 

The Cleveland County Arts Council is accepting two and three dimensional art for an upcoming competitive exhibition based on the theme of baseball. The exhibit coincides with the 2012 American Legion World Series in Shelby, August 17 – 21, 2012. Artwork must pertain to or depict baseball. 

The American Legion Baseball Commission will sponsor a $500 Purchase Award. The winning piece of artwork will be placed in the Keeter Stadium. The Cleveland County Arts Council invites artists 18 and older to submit work to the “Baseball as Art” Exhibit & Competition. Work must be original, created by the artist within the last two years and not previously entered in a competition at the Arts Center. 

All two dimensional entries must be ready to hang with picture wire on the back. No saw tooth hangers. The Arts Council reserves the right to reject any entry that requires special installation. Entries may be two and three dimensional but limited to paintings, drawings, sculpture, print-making, photography, and fine craft. There is a $25.00 non-refundable entry fee for up to three (3) entries. Additional entries $5 each (max. 5 entries). Make checks payable to the Cleveland County Arts Council. Shipping to and from the Arts Council is the responsibility of the artist. Deadline to receive accepted work at the Arts Center is July 27th, 2012 and must include a prepaid shipping label or a call tag, check or postage for return shipping. Please include any special packing and/or installation instructions. Any work arriving in packaging not sturdy enough to return/reuse will be returned COD. Cleveland County Arts Council, 111 S. Washington St., Shelby, NC 28150. For more information, visit: http://www.ccartscouncil.org

Opportunity for Artists

Deadline: July 8, 2012

Sustaining / Creating: A national juried exhibition of emerging artists, ages 16-25, with disabilities.

Sustaining / Creating asks emerging artists to showcase work that illuminates innovative viewpoints on sustainability and contemporary creativity. Beyond its scientific definition, sustainability references notions of responsibility and stewardship of our natural world in all facets of human interaction–from the environmental to the cultural. Sustainability indicates the capacity to endure.

All media accepted. 15 artists will be selected and their artwork featured in a Smithsonian exhibition this fall. $60,000 in cash awards.

To apply and more info: http://tinyurl.com/2012-Sustaining-Creating

This exhibition is presented by the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts’ VSA / Accessibility Office and Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.

Dubya's Portrait

Dubya's portrait was unveiled today at the White House.

The portrait was painted by John Howard Sanden (born 1935 in Austin, Texas), who is a well-know is an American portrait artist.

Sanden had previously painted the portrait of Mrs. Bush.

He is the founder of the Portrait Institute and was an instructor at The Art Students League of New York.

Wanna go to an opening tonight?

Elizabeth Parkman's Artomatic Top 10

Elizabeth Parkman is the Associate Director of Heiner Contemporary and she just recently visited Artomatic and files her Top 10 Artists:

Rachel Farbiarz, The Genizah Project

1.     Rachael Farbiarz, The Genizah Project.  My favorite piece at Artomatic!

Steve Wanna

2.     Steve Wanna

3.     Jeff Skeer

4.     Larissa Raddell

Christian Tribastone

5.     Christian Tribastone

6.     Paul Sharratt

7.     Jenny Walton

8.     Michelle Chin

9.     Melissa Badenhop

10. Veronica Szalus

Free Art!

They're celebrating the anniversary of the Bethesda location of L'Eclat de Verre which is managed by artdc.org founder Jesse Cohen. They will be giving away 25 small framed works completed in the French style. 

Find the event details here: https://www.facebook.com/events/114565732015599/

Average Female Artist

Interesting email from artist Linda Stein: 

Do you know that the average female artist earns 10%-30% of what a male artist of comparable standing earns for selling comparable art? The Economist Magazine says it all in its recent article The price of being female. In an artnet list of the top ten most expensive post-war artists at auction we find the sculpture Spider by Louise Bourgeois selling for over $10 million. Sounds great, right? Sure, until we compare it to the Orange, Red, Yellow painting by Mark Rothko which sells for over $86 million! And so it goes.

And get this: it's widely known that when artists submit work for jurying in a "blind entry" without revealing their identity, the results are usually 50% or more female. But just add a name or sex to that entry and then we are back down to below 30%. See Eleanor Bader's recent article in Truth-Out Magazine.

Need more convincing? Take a look at the web site listing artists currently being shown at Gagosian Gallery. You'll find 25 artists, 22 male, 3 female. How about sister gallery owners like Mary Boone Gallery? Out of Boone's stable of 30 artists, 25 are male, 5 female.

Any comments?

Heard on Univision

Behold the first Hispanic to be a Republican candidate for President!

Here's what the "official" designation of a "Hispanic/Latino is... I think... (my bold/font size increase):

The U.S. Office of Management and Budget currently defines "Hispanic or Latino" as "a person of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race".^[35]

"The terms "Hispanic" or "Latino" refer to persons who trace their origin or descent to Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Spanish speaking Central and South America countries, and other Spanish cultures. Origin can be considered as the heritage, nationality group, lineage, or country of the person or the person's parents or ancestors before their arrival in the United States. People who identify their origin as Hispanic or Latino may be of any race." 

The Constant Artist at AU

Paul Feinberg’s photographs and interviews, or “word portraits,” have enlivened magazine articles, books, and exhibitions both locally and nationally for decades. He has been particularly obsessed with interviewing and photographing artists in our own community. This AU Katzen Arts Center exhibition features early and late works of art by nine Washington artists, together with Feinberg's photographs of the artists early and late in their careers.

Artists in the exhibition include Lisa Montag Brotman, Manon Cleary, Rebecca Davenport, Clark V. Fox, Sam Gilliam, Tom Green, Fred Folsom, Margarida Kendall, and Joe White. Five of those artists are in the 100 Artists of Washington, DC book.

Opening reception:  6:00 pm – 9:00 pm, Saturday, June 9 - Show is June 9–August 12, 2012.

Gallery talk:  4:00 PM– 5:00 PM, Saturday, July 7

Artomatic: Visit Two

On my return visit I did notice that many artists took my advise and did put signs with their prices up, and/or added easy to find contact information.

I have never been a fan of anything that is for sale and which yet makes you ask what the price is. In this context, just like in a commercial gallery context, art is a commodity and if you want to sell your artwork, you better make it very clear how much the artwork is.

Still working on my review... 

Per the comments here, seems like some asshole has an issue with artist Gloria Chapa's installation and vandalized it on the 23rd. Chapa repaired the vandalism, only to have the installation vandalized again (apparently according to her, by the same asshole) on Friday evening.

Chapa fixed it again, and when I saw it on Saturday it looked terrific, but one has to wonder what's going on through the head of the mutant doing this.

When ripoffs get caught...

Below is Dulce Pinzon's photo and below that a rip off... steps are being taken to correct the wrong and lawyers are about to get involved...

"NOE REYES from the State of Puebla works as a delivery boy in Brooklyn, New York. He sends 500 dollars a week." By Dulce Pinzon

Some show in some French gallery by someone named Thibault Franc

Happy Memorial Day

American Flag by Jonathan S. Woods, located on the 2nd floor of Artomatic 2012

Alexa Meade at the NPG

Alexa Meade at the National Portrait Gallery Museum

Portraits After 5: Camera-Ready Color
National Portrait Gallery
Wednesday, June 6, 2012, 5:00 - 7:00 PM

Alexa Meade creates her portraits in three-dimensional space by painting directly on top of live models, which appear to be two-dimensional paintings when photographed. For “Portraits After 5: Camera-Ready Color”, Meade will create an interactive installation in the Kogod Courtyard of the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery that will allow viewers of the art to become participants by entering into the space, experiencing it in depth, and reinterpreting the work through their own photography. The installation will reference the innovation in Harry Warnecke's photographic portraits seen in the National Portrait Gallery's exhibition “In Vibrant Color".

Alexa Meade and National Portrait Gallery Curator Of Photographs Ann M. Shumard will be available to discuss boundary-breaking work in portraiture.

For more information about Alexa Meade and her art, visit alexameade.com.

First Artomatic Impressions

I spent about six hours at Artomatic yesterday. I started on the 11th floor, which means that the top 3-4 floors got good attention, but the other floors were rushed. Therefore, as usual, I will return a couple of times more for more extended visits before I write my final impressions and recommendations for this year's version of the planet's greatest all-open arts extravaganza.

Yesterday the huge building was packed with families and kids and peoples of all sorts. When I left around 6PM, large crowds of people were filing out of the nearby Metro stop less than a block away and heading to AOM. The Metro is by far the best way to get to AOM.

 The real reason that most art critics hate Artomatic is that they get visual overload very quickly. After all, how does a writer cover a visual art show of the size of Artomatic once the eyes and mind become numb after the 200th artist, or the 400th or the 600th? Or in this year, the 1300th?

I have visited and written about every single AOM since the original one, including the recent one in Frederick, MD, and thus I feel that I am uniquely qualified to make some judgemental calls on this year's version as an evolving comparison to past years' AOMs, and after my first six hours there I can pass some hi level impressions:

• Every year the overall "quality" of AOM improves and this year is noticeably better looking and more professional-looking than any other year.
• There's a lot less porn in AOM this year. In fact, there's a lot less nudes of all kinds.
• The range of the quality of the work, even in a postmodern world where everything is art, still ranges from the mind-boggling bad to the artistically sublime.
• There are several brand new (at least to me) artists in AOM who can show anywhere right now.
• There is a lot of art about The Beatles and blues musicians.
• There's more video art than I expected.
• There are a lot more well-known DMV area "gallery" artists in this AOM than any previous one (except the first one in 1999).
• There's a lot of artists working with discarded computer boards and parts.
• There are a lot of glass artists and every single one of them is really good.
• There are a lot of dark room style galleries and a lot of "blue light" art.
• There is a lot of artwork about Obama.
• There is a lot of left-wing nuttery artwork.
• There are a lot of really good sculptures.
• There are a lot of artists who make it really hard for someone interested in buying their work to get the basic details (how much is it and how do I buy it?)

I will be returning soon, and hopefully by next week I will have my review in as well as my recommendations for my choices for the best of AOM this year, as well as the Campello awards in the various categories that I invent as I go along. Meanwhile below are links to the last three AOM reviews:

Here's my 2009 review of AOM.

Here's my 2008 review of AOM.

Here's my 2007 review of AOM

HeART of the Community Live Auction

Sunday, June 3, 5-8 p.m.
Clear Space Theatre,
20 Baltimore Avenue
Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971
Phone: 302-227-5620

Small Plates and Open Bar - Featuring the 2012 HeART of the Community Live Auction with art by 25 invited artists selected by four curators. Auctioneer: Lorne Crawford.

Dress: Black and White Casual
Tickets: $75. Tickets are limited. Advance Ticket Price $65, available through April 30 only on the CAMP Rehoboth website. After April 30 all tickets will be $75 and may be purchased online or by calling 302-227-5620.
Purchase Tickets

HeART of the Community Art Auction

Curators and Artists:

Murray Archibald
Rodney Cook
Ward Ellinger
Gary Fisher
Laura Hickman
Victor Letonoff
Andres Tremols  

Sondra N. Arkin
Joan Belmar
Scott G. Brooks
Anna U. Davis
Pat Goslee
Barbara Gruber
Renee Stout
Novie Trump

Jay Pastore
Rick Bach
Susan Finsen
Lee Wayne Mills
Brian Petro
Duane Rieder
Ellen Sinel

Andres Tremols
Lenny Campello
Max Hirshfeld
Laurel Lukaszewski
Christopher Speron
Betsy Stewart
Ellyn Weiss

Sneak Peek Art Preview
Wine and Cheese Reception
CAMP Rehoboth Community Center
Sunday, May 27, 4-7 p.m. (free)

Thanks to the efforts of our curators and their invited artists, CAMP Rehoboth is pleased to present an exceptional collection of art selected especially for the 2012 Black and White Beach Ball. All art will be previewed at the CAMP Rehoboth Community Center on Memorial Day weekend. Proxy bidding will be available for buyers who are interested in purchasing but unable to attend the June 3 event.

Cuba de Ayer Restaurant

Last week I took three friends with me to Cuba de Ayer Restaurant in Burtonsville, MD. One of them is addicted to Cuban food, but the other two - one a Canadian and the other a Brit - had never had Cuban food in their entire life.

This was my also first visit to Cuba de Ayer, although (since as some of you know, I'm of Cuban ancestry) every time someone who knows me goes there, they tell me what a great place it is, so I was overdue for a visit.

The restaurant is very cozy and when we came in at lunch time it was packed, which is always a good sign.

The pretty waitress took our orders and my alarm bells went up a little when she asked if we wanted our black beans and rice "together" or "separate." I say that my alarm bells went off because "Moros y Cristianos" -- the Cuban name for black beans and rice -- is NEVER served together; never, ever, ever! It is a cultural error and a true and easy test of the Cubanosity of any restaurant.

I ordered my favorite Cuban dish in the world... OK, OK, one of my favorites, "lechon asado", which came with black beans, white rice and tostones (actually a choice of tostones or sweet fried plantains).

I breathed a sigh of relief when my friends' dishes came... what the waitress meant as "together" was actually "congri" which is a separate dish where the black beans (or red) are indeed cooked together... a Cuban version of dirty rice, but much tastier.

Both the Brit and the Canadian ordered "ropa vieja" with "congri" and they both loved it... my English friend actually said: "I can't believe that a simple rice dish can taste so good!"

So Cuba de Ayer gets my highest endorsement!

One last thing: When the food came, I was explaining some of the cultural references that I mentioned above. I must have been loud enough to be heard by other people, because as we filed out of the restaurant, the very attractive daughter of the owners came out, introduced herself and asked me if I was Cuban, as she had overheard me describe the cultural aspects of the food.

So we met, chatted a little, and we all passed to her our enthusiastic thumbs up of the food... I will be back

Cuba de Ayer is located at 15446 Old Columbia Pike, Burtonsville, MD 20866, (301) 476-9622.

Heading to Artomatic tomorrow...

Just returned to the DMV from a week in Bethany Beach... and Jonesying for AOM, so I will make my first visit to the 10 floors of artists tomorrow...

I plan to return a second time with a couple of gallerists looking for new talent... more on that later.