On Identity

Those of you who know me well, and those of you who know me through my writing, know that one of my pet peeves is the usage of "labels" to box people and art, or art and people, into easily distinguishable categories.

One such label is the American invention of the Hispanic (now apparently not a PC term because technically it includes two European nationalities) or Latino label to pass for ethnicity and often and always wrongly for race.

What does that mean in art? And what does it mean to "Latino" artists? Does it mean anything?

If you want to hear my opinion on the subject then start by penciling in October 11, 2012, where starting at 5PM I will be presenting a lecture titled "On Identity in the Arts: What Does It Mean to be Latino?" at Montgomery College in Silver Spring, MD.

More details later...

New comic book watercolor trompe l'oeil

This image shows the new piece, including the watercolor testing and mixing on the same paper, trying to match the comic book colors of the original. In this piece I changed the dialogue box to reflect a contemporary reality that the Dark Knight would probably have to face in Gotham... I also changed the color of the exclamation point to match the letters of BA-ROOM's colors, as in the actual comic it had erroneously been printed in the reddish color of the smoke clouds.

"Ba-Room! Batman and the Suicide Bomber" 2x5 inches. Watercolor on Paper, c.2012

A new series starts with this...

This December I'm curating an exhibition focused on Superheros and Super villains in room 116 at the Aqua Art Fair in Miami Beach.

As such, in addition to my "Naked Superheros" series, which has been well-documented in this blog and which past pieces hang in many US and European and Latin American collections, I've decided to start sort of a mixed media trompe l'oeil set of works that isolate interesting panels from existing comic books and refocuses the dialogue to make them slightly more interesting (at least to me). 

Below are the steps for the pieces... in the first phase, the panel has been done in charcoal; in the second phase, watercolors have been added to bring it closer to a comic book look -- it's important to me that they retain a "artsy" look and are not just a mirror replica of the original comic -- as a "true" trompe l'oeil would.

This is phase one of "The Caped Crusaders Discover International Terrorism," in this phase it is charcoal on paper, 3x2 inches. 

This is the whole piece of paper, showing the watercolor mixing marks on the top of the piece, searching for the right mix to achieve a close call to the comic book's original colors

And here's the finished piece, "The Caped Crusaders Discover International Terrorism," watercolor and charcoal on paper, 3x2 inches.

Future pieces in this series will have altered text in the dialogue bubbles and also embedded electronic mini LCD screens that run continuous dialogue between the characters. 

Cornelius to Wed

Washington Project for the Arts and Corcoran Gallery of Art
Announce Save the Date, by Kathryn Cornelius
Performance part of Take It to the Bridge, a series of installations and performances in the Corcoran’s Performance Bridge from July 18 – September 15

Washington, D.C. (August 6, 2012) – Washington Project for the Arts and the Corcoran Gallery of Art and College of Art + Design are pleased to announce Save the Date, a performance by Kathryn Cornelius, taking place on Saturday, August 11, from 10am to 5pm.

Save the Date explores the life cycle of marriage and divorce and the wedding ceremony’s complex mix of private emotion, public spectacle, social expectation, and state power. Over the course of seven hours, Kathryn Cornelius will exchange vows with seven suitors. Each wedding ceremony will be followed by a champagne toast, cupcakes, a first dance and then, finally, the signing of divorce papers. A legal wedding officiant will perform the ceremonies, while the signing of divorce papers will be overseen by a divorce attorney. Ceremonies will begin on the hour, every hour, and run from 10am through 5pm. 

The seven suitors selected to wed the artist include performance artists Eames Armstrong, Holly Bass, and Andrew Bucket, writer and filmmaker Stephen Mack, art collector and physician Dr. Fred Ognibene, research scientist Dr. John Royer, and software engineer Antowne Walters. Cornelius invited proposals through the project website and personally selected six suitors. The seventh suitor was selected by a public vote, through the project’s Facebook page.

Save the Date approaches the topic of marriage, weddings, and divorce with both humor and gravity. This ceremony, and the attendant legal document, has, throughout history and across cultures, separated state-sanctioned and socially approved relationships from those deemed immoral, unacceptable, or simply unthinkable. In the midst of the debate over marriage equality and ever-present concerns over the frequency of divorce, Save the Date invites the viewer to consider the meaning of marriage as a lifetime commitment, a social ritual, a legal institution, and a public declaration of love. 

For more on Save the Date, visit http://savethedatedc.tumblr.com and follow the project on Twitter @SaveTheDateDC.

Kathryn Cornelius is an interdisciplinary artist working in performance, video, photography, text, sounds, and sculpture. She is represented by Curator’s Office in Washington, DC. Her work has been exhibited nationally in cities such as New York, Miami, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, and Baltimore and internationally in Frankfurt, Germany, Herford, Germany, Barcelona, Spain, and Naples, Italy.

Save the Date is part of Take It to the Bridge, a nine-week series of installations and performances taking place through September 15 in the new Performance Bridge located inside the Corcoran’s glass entryway on 17^th Street. The Performance Bridge was first constructed at the Corcoran Gallery of Art as the stage for Holly Bass’s performance Moneymaker, a seven-hour endurance work that took place on February 11, 2012, during the final weekend of the Corcoran’s landmark fall exhibition 30 Americans. For Take it to the Bridge, eleven artists living and working in the DC-Baltimore region will present nine installations and performances, investigating the Bridge’s physical characteristics and pushing the boundaries of this non-traditional space to explore a variety of social, political, and aesthetic issues. Installations will open on Wednesday and remain on view through the following Sunday for all museum hours. Performances will take place on Saturdays, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. unless otherwise noted. The first seven weeks of the series coincide with the Corcoran's Free Summer Saturdays promotion, which run from May 26 - September 1, 2012. 

In conjunction with the series, WPA and the Corcoran present a public talk with Esa Nickle, Managing Director/ Producer of Performa, on Thursday, August 9 at 7pm. Founded by RoseLee Goldberg in 2004, Performa is the leading organization dedicated to exploring the critical role of live performance in the history of twentieth-century art and to encouraging new directions in performance for the twenty-first century. Nickle joined the Performa team in May 2005 as the Biennial Coordinator of Performa 05 and has since expanded her role as the line producer of Performa commissions, international tours and special events. During her talk, Nickle will discuss

new directions in performance and Performa’s work from 2005 to 2011. For more information and to register, visit https://getinvolved.corcoran.org/performa.

See the full Take it to the Bridge schedule below and more information online at http://www.corcoran.org/summer/bridge  and wpadc.org

July 18 – July 22: Ubuntu, Maya Freelon Asante
Saturday, July 28, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.: Sleep, Chajana denHarder
August 1 – August 5, all museum hours: Canaries in McMansionland, Jennifer Coster
Thursday, August 9, 7 p.m.: Public Talk with Esa Nickle, Managing Director/Producer of Performa
Friday, August 10: WPA Member meetings with Esa Nickle@WPA
Saturday, August 11, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.: Save the Date, Kathryn Cornelius
Saturday, August 18, 12 p.m. – 5 p.m.): Procedures for Ground Safety Loss, Sarah Levitt
August 22 – August 26, all museum hours: The Airborne Leaflet Campaign, COLON:Y (Chukwuma Agubokwu and Wilmer Wilson IV)
Saturday, September 1, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.: Maid in the USA, Carolina Mayorga
Saturday, September 5 – September 9, all museum hours: Bridging the Light, Annie Albagli
Saturday, September 15, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.: This Space Occupied (by Maida), Maida Withers with composer Steve Hilmy

Olympic Report: Is a gold medal worth this?

Most civilized nations gag when we see images like this, but in the People's Republic, apparently this is part of the path to gold...

Olympic Report: Asshole of the Day

See the guy in the USA shirt in the process of standing up to cheer his daughter Alexandra "Aly" Raisman's gold-award winning performance on the floor exercise today in London?

See the Ernst Stavro Blofeld-looking jerk behind him telling Raisman's justifiably excited dad to "sit down!"? - That's our Olympic Asshole of the Day.

Local College Artists now at Hillyer

Local College Artwork, Fresh Perspective

College students studying the visual arts spend time developing work which may pose questions and  offer possibilities for themselves, and for all of us, in this age of information. This is a small survey of work done by students who craft honest, expressive responses to the world they observe and live in. Life trumps art, but art insists, sometimes with bravado and sensuality, sometimes with subversive humility and humor, on being considered for what it is: one of the few great disciplines which merits a lifetime of study. 

Participating artists include Adam Void, Aselin Lands, Autumn Moran (featured), Brittany Moore, Cathleen Sachse, Dan Perkins, Dandan Luo, Larry Cook, Paullette Palacios, Peter Miller, Rebecca Harlan, Samantha Fein, Samual Scharf, Temme Barkin-Leeds, Travis Poffenberger, Veronica Melendez, and Wesley Clark.

• Hillyer Art Space is located at:
  9 Hillyer Ct. NW
  Washington, D.C. 20008
  Gallery Hours:
  Mon 12-5
  Tues-Fri 12-6
  Sat 12-5
  and by appointment
  Contact Us:
  202.338.0680
  
• Gallery Genral Info:
  gallery@artsandartists.org
  

Opportunity for Artists

Hillyer Art Space is nearing the end of their Open Call for Artists for the 2012-2014 exhibition year and they are currently looking for local DC Metro area artists and international artists to submit work for solo shows for the 2013-2014 exhibiition year.

Proposals must include the following materials:

• Minimum of 5 images with a Maximum of 10 submitted on a disc or by email as a high resolution JPEG* (please save each of the images with their corresponding title—minimum resolution accepted is 1920x1080 pixels)
• A complete checklist of works containing the title, year, medium, and dimension of each work
• Resume including address, email, phone number, education, and any previous exhibitions (with clear indications whether it was solo or group)
• Artist statement or exhibition narrative not to exceed one page
• *Minimum accepted resolution on images is 1920x 1080 pixels.

Submissions Due August 31, 2012 by 6:00pm

Requirements:

• DC Metro area artists cannot have had a solo show within the past three years - senior thesis shows, small scale shows in non-traditional spaces, or shows with attendance rates less than 50 people do NOT count as solo shows
• DC Metro area includes any area within a 150 mi. radius
• International artists have no restrictions on exhbition history but must be currently living abroad

Artists who are sponsored by an Artist Advisory Member should clearly note the Members name on their application. Please note that you do not have to be sponsored to apply.

Artists may deliver proposal materials via mail or email. If mailed, please provide a self-addressed stamped envelope if you would like your materials returned.

Mail Submissions to:
Hillyer Art Space
attn: Samantha May
9 Hillyer Court NW
Washington DC 2008

Or Email them to:
gallery@artsandartists.org

Smithsonian Contemporary Artist Award Nominees

Smithsonian American Art Museum Announces Artists Nominated for its Contemporary Artist Award  

My bet is on Ryan Trecartin...

         The Smithsonian American Art Museum announced today the nominees for its contemporary artist award, established in 2001 to recognize an artist younger than 50 who has produced a significant body of work and consistently demonstrates exceptional creativity. The 15 nominees are Matthew Buckingham, Kathy Butterly, Christina Fernandez, Amy Franceschini, Rachel Harrison, Oliver Herring, Glenn Kaino, Sowon Kwon, Ruben Ortiz-Torres, Jaime Permuth, Will Ryman, Ryan Trecartin, Mark Tribe, Mary Simpson and Sara VanDerBeek. Nominated artists work in a diverse range of media, including painting, sculpture, photography, film and video.

          Artists must be nominated by a juror to be considered for the award; there is no application. The $25,000 award is intended to encourage the artist's future development and experimentation. Previous winners were Pierre Huyghe (2010); Mark Dion (2008); Jessica Stockholder (2007); Matthew Coolidge, director of the Center for Land Use Interpretation (2006); Andrea Zittel (2005); Kara Walker (2004); Rirkrit Tiravanija (2003); Liz Larner (2002); and Jorge Pardo (2001). From 2001 to 2008, the award was known as the Lucelia Artist Award. The award is part of the museum's ongoing commitment to contemporary art and artists through annual exhibitions, acquisitions and public programs. 

           

          "The artists nominated this year draw on a wide range of cultural and aesthetic experiences to create work that is both visually stimulating and conceptually rigorous," said Joanna Marsh, The James Dicke Curator of Contemporary Art at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

          Marsh is coordinating the jury panel selection and the nomination and jurying process. Five distinguished jurors, each with a wide knowledge of contemporary American art, were selected from across the United States. The panel nominated the artists and will determine the award winner in a day of discussion and review, remaining anonymous until the winner is announced in October. Past jurors have included John Baldessari, Klaus Biesenbach, Lynne Cooke, Richard Flood, Elizabeth Murray, Jerry Saltz, Rochelle Steiner, Nancy Spector and Robert Storr, among others.

At Adam Lister Gallery

Please join Adam Lister Gallery on Saturday August 11 from 2-4PM for the opening reception of "As Far As The Eye Can See"

featuring artwork by:

T.J. Donovan

Bob Elliott

Lori Ellison

J.T. Kirkland

Matthew Langley

Evan Read

Karen Schifano

AUG.11-SEPT.3 2012

gallery reception: Sat. Aug.11 2:00-4:00PM

This exhibit brings together a selection of pure abstract artwork.  The artists featured here deal primarily with absence, space, color, and surface.  The works reflect the contradictory human desire for things to be obvious as well as hidden.  Drawing strength and influence from the rich history of minimalism, these seven artists speak visually in separate but connected languages.  Each unique approach, harnessing and expanding, containing and releasing, while ultimately striving to make nothing out of something.

ADAM LISTER GALLERY

3950 UNIVERSITY DRIVE

FAIRFAX VA 22030

646.263.7305

2012 Plein Air-Easton names winner

Hiu Lai Chong of Gaithersburg, MD is the grand prize winner of 2012 Plein Air-Easton, the Avalon Foundation announced on July 22. Chong’s nocturnal painting of the Hooper Strait Lighthouse (pictured) also won the Artists’ Choice Award.

Plein Air-Easton is a top plein air festival nationally, and among Easton’s largest annual events. Ninety-six paintings totaling $121,780 were sold at this year’s Collector’s Preview Party at the Academy Art Museum.

A few years ago I had the honor of being the keynote speaker at the Museum's artists gala and I was pleasantly astounded at both the quality of the work and the sales frenzy that takes place!

Wanna buy a cheap Frida Kahlo?

Then this Peruvian art dealer has the line on all the undiscovered Frida Kahlo originals on the planet... and some other masters... I'm just saying... cough, cough...

See this one here

And then this one...

They have some more undiscovered masters (including more Kahlos) here...

Cough... cough...

You gotta see this...

Trust me... this is very cool...

Maryland artist featured at Smithsonian

Sebastian Martorana, a sculptor and illustrator living and working in Baltimore, is featured in 40 under 40: Craft Futures, an exhibition at the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery that investigates evolving notions of craft within traditional media such as ceramics and metalwork, as well as in fields as varied as installation art, fashion design and mathematics.

A 2012 Individual Artist Award recipient and alumnus of the Maryland Institute College of Art’s Rinehart School of Sculpture, Martorana’s current studio is part of the stone shop at Hilgartner Natural Stone Company in Baltimore. 

“Impressions” (pictured)—a marble piece depicting a pillow showing the indentation left by a sleeping head—is made from reclaimed Baltimore marble. The piece was acquired by the Smithsonian and can be viewed on the first floor of the Renwick Gallery as part of the 40 Under 40: Craft Features exhibit through February 3, 2013.

Arkin at Long View

Long View Gallery presents “Pattern Transformation”, by Sondra N. Arkin

 

August 23 – September 23, 2012
Opening Reception: Thursday, August 23, 6:30 – 8:00pm

Washington DC – Long View Gallery is pleased to announce Pattern Transformation, an exhibition by local artist Sondra N. Arkin on Thursday, August 23, 2012, with a public reception from 6:30-8:00pm. The exhibit will remain on view through September 23, 2012.

Sondra N. Arkin has spent years perfecting her encaustic techniques through countless art experiments. Her process-driven work requires bursts of concentration, hours of labor, and an unmatched focus on repetitive tasks. The failures and successes of her experiments provide invaluable data that have influenced the direction her work has taken in Pattern Transformation.

In Pattern Transformation, Arkin builds upon her mastery of wax to include the results of her experiments with both shellac and walnut ink. The transparency of the wax and shellac combined with the opaque walnut ink allows Arkin to build up layers of interest through mark making. Her mark making techniques with the walnut ink are traditional, but she has found inspiration in a less conventional mark making tool – fire. Torching away portions of the shellac, or drawing with fire, help to build depth through every layer.

The central works of Pattern Transformation (Permutations Toward Infinity 1-50) offer a Mandelbrot fractal-like beauty. Each group of nine images presents a virtually infinite potential of visual patterns. Each grid, not just interchangeable but rotatable to all four orientations, can be rearranged into a vast number of aesthetically viable patterns—with the absolute permutations from any single grid being over 95 billion.

Arkin has not strayed from the shapes and patterns of which we have become accustomed, lines and circles still make up the bulk of her markings. The patterns feel familiar yet the work is transformed. Her experiments with shellac and walnut ink, and her ability to recreate their successes, have taken her encaustic paintings to new heights. Arkin’s new mark making techniques, the often-innumerable layers of abstract patterns and the growth of her color palette each contribute to the work’s transformation. Pattern Transformation establishes a new period in the encaustic work of Sondra N. Arkin.

Pattern Transformation is the first solo show for Sondra N. Arkin since Long View Gallery’s re-opening in October of 2009. Her work is included in public and private collections including Bloomingdales, Washington, DC, the Copenhagen Residence through the Art in Embassies Program, Copenhagen, Denmark and the Donatelli Corporation, Bethesda, MD. Arkin received her MA from Florida Atlantic in 1984 and currently lives and works in Washington, DC.

Almost immortal pita bread

New public art for Connecticut Ave

The D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities (DCCAH) and the Golden Triangle Business Improvement District (BID) have selected a permanent light art concept to be installed along Connecticut Avenue between K Street and Dupont Circle.  The display, designed by local artist Alexander Cooper, incorporates programmable, low energy LED lights which will enliven the iconic boulevard with bright colors, patterns and movement throughout the year.

The art will be showcased on a four block raised median, scheduled to be completed this fall, from K Street to Dupont Circle. The art will light the lush landscaping and seasonal plantings of the medians to create a dynamic nighttime element along this highly travelled downtown corridor.

The light art project is part of a major streetscape enhancement project on Connecticut Avenue, which includes a beautifully landscaped median, sidewalk improvements featuring 20 foot tree gardens and other sidewalk amenities. The first section of the median, from K to L Streets, was completed in the fall of 2011 and transformed 3,000 square feet of asphalt into green space with thousands of flowers, plants and trees rotated seasonally. Construction for the remaining portion of the median will begin this fall.

Artist Alexander Cooper is a lighting and scenic designer with more than 10 years of experience in the Washington D.C. area. He has created the lighting design for more than 60 exhibitions and permanent collection installations. He recently installed the lighting for “Farragut Spheres,” an art project funded by DCCAH and the BID, which was donated to WMATA.

“We are proud to partner once again with the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities and look forward to working with Mr. Cooper on this spectacular project,” said Leona Agouridis, Executive Director of the Golden Triangle BID. “The light art display will create an abstract and stunning architectural landscape along Connecticut Avenue and will enhance the Golden Triangle neighborhood for the many workers, residents and visitors.”

“It has been a pleasure working with the Golden Triangle Business Improvement District, and we look forward to the installation of this dynamic artwork,” said Lionell Thomas, Executive Director of the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities. “Mr. Cooper’s light display is an excellent example of how public art and urban planning can come together to create a beautiful environment for our residents.”

“Designing and creating the art display for Connecticut Avenue is a tremendous opportunity to add dynamic lighting element to the heart of the city,” said Alexander Cooper. “I am very excited and honored to be a part of this project.”

BlackRock has a new boss

BlackRock Center for the Arts is pleased to announce that Krista Rimple Bradley joins the not-for-profit arts organization as its new Executive Director on August 6.  She replaces Charlotte Sommers, who leaves the Washington area after a successful four-year stint at BlackRock.  As Executive Director, Bradley is responsible for developing, guiding and implementing the strategies, programming and operations of the arts center, as well as overseeing the day-to-day execution of BlackRock’s fundraising, marketing, arts programming and operations. BlackRock Board President, Jean Casey, says that “Krista brings more than 20 years of experience as a seasoned arts administrator, funder, consultant and leader in the performing arts presenting field, having worked with a variety of local, regional, and national arts organizations and foundations. The Search Committee was impressed with Krista’s intelligence, extensive experience in all aspects of arts administration, and leadership in the performing arts field.  She also brings a wide network of relationships from the performing arts and funding communities, which she will leverage in her work leading BlackRock in its next phase of growth.”

 Bradley states that she is “thrilled to be joining BlackRock at this exciting time in its 10-year history and I look forward to building on its past success.  BlackRock is poised to be a model multidisciplinary arts center, offering local residents affordable and convenient opportunities to participate in, learn about, and explore a wide range of performing, visual and creative arts --be it through classes, workshops, or performances of high quality regional, national and international artists.  I’m excited about broadening and diversifying our programming and increasing opportunities for residents of all ages to explore and engage with the arts more fully.”

Most recently, Bradley has been Program Officer for Performing Arts at Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, where she managed performing arts touring and funding programs for presenters and artists in the Foundation’s nine states and jurisdictions and curated annual rosters of regional, national and international performing artists for touring across the mid-Atlantic region. She has served as a consultant, funder and arts administrator with a variety of performing arts and philanthropic organizations to commission and develop new work, support artists, facilitate presenting, producing, and touring collaborations and engage diverse communities in meaningful ways.

Prior to joining Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, Bradley worked with the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, Washington Performing Arts Society, the Walker Arts Center and Harlem Stage on programming and audience and community engagement initiatives. She has directed national and regional arts programs for OPERA America and the Wallace Reader’s Digest Fund and held management positions with both Houston Grand Opera and Virginia Opera. Bradley is a frequent grants panelist and reviewer for national and regional funders, including the National Endowment for the Arts, Association of Performing Arts Presenters, New England Foundation for the Arts, and the New York State Council on the Arts. She holds a B.A. degree in Literature and Society from Brown University.

Bradley is delighted to take on this leadership position at BlackRock and concludes: “I believe the arts are central to a vibrant community life and help create an enriched sense of place.  I look forward to working with our board, staff and community leaders to realize BlackRock’s potential to be that vital hub and catalyst in Upper Montgomery County.“

Fake Painting

Viktor Vekselberg, one of the world’s richest men, paid £1.7 million for Odalisque, a nude said to be the work of Russian artist Boris Kustodiev.

The price was 10 times the pre-sale estimate and represented the “pure absurdity” of the art market, the court heard.

Soon after the purchase in 2005, experts working for Mr Vekselberg’s arts fund, Aurora, began to cast doubt on the picture’s authenticity. They claimed that Kustodiev’s signature, dated 1919, was done in an aluminium-based pigment not available until after the artist’s death in 1927.

Read the whole story here.

Callanish Stone Circle

Callanish Stone Circle (Clachan Chalanais), Isle of Lewis, Outer Hebrides, Scotland

My favorite stone circle on the planet - even more spectacular than Stonehenge and a lot harder to get to... I took a million photos from all angles and have done about 100 drawings as well, like the one below... sort of.

"Cross Stitch" or "Claire Beauchamp at the stone circle"
 c. 1991, charcoal and conte on paper 

The above 1991 drawing was done after I read a book titled "Cross Stitch" by Diana Gabaldon,  which is about time travel and stone circles.  At the time those were (and still are) two of my fave subjects! The circle is made up of a couple if real stone circles in Scotland,  heavily influenced by Callanish.