Best of DC

WCP has a "Best Art Blog" category this year... I need Kriston to email me that software that he used to cheat the Internets into voting him "Best Looking DC Art Critic" or whatever it was a few years ago...

Cough, cough....

Vote here!

Time for the 2014 Trawick Prize!

The application process for the 2014 Trawick Prize: BethesdaContemporary Art Awards is now open. This competition, produced by the Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District, awards one of the largest cash prizes given to a visual artist, with a top prize of $10,000. The competition’s founder, the amazing Carol Trawick (we all wish we had another dozen folks like her around the DMV), is committed to annually honoring visual artists with this award. The deadline to apply is April 7.

The awards are as follows:

Best in Show - $10,000
Second Place - $2,000
Third Place - $1,000
Young Artists* - $1,000
*Young Artist whose birthday is after April 7, 1984 may be awarded this prize.

Artists who are 18 years of age or older and permanent, full-time residents of Maryland, Virginia or Washington, D.C., are eligible to submit an application. For additional eligibility requirements and to access the application please visit their website.

The jury will select up to 10 finalists who will be invited to display their work in a group exhibition at Gallery B in downtown Bethesda in September 2014. 

The three judge panel includes: Tom Ashcraft, visual artist, founding member of Workingman Collective and Associate Professor and the head of Sculpture in the School of Art at George Mason University, Laure Drogoul, interdisciplinary artist, Director of The 14Karat Cabaret and Co-organizer and Curator of the Transmodern Festivaland Jeremy Drummond, media artist and Assistant Professor of Art in the Department of Art and Art History at the University of Richmond.

Sussanna Thornton

Studio B space

The Bethesda Urban Partnership and Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District have opened Studio B located at 7475 Wisconsin Avenue in downtown Bethesda.  Studio B has one studio space remaining.  The studio cost is $405 per month (inclusive of all utilities) and is 250 sq. feet in size.  Artists who reside in Maryland, Washington, D.C. or Virginia are eligible to apply.  Studios can be shared by two artists and studio is move-in ready.

Interested in seeing the artist work space?  Please email artist@bethesda.org to set up an appointment.

Deadline to apply is Feb. 21, 2014.  Click here to apply.

Studio Features

•     24-hour access
•     Wireless internet
•     Additional common wall space and storefront for artistic display
•     Marketing by Bethesda Urban Partnership including web page dedicated to Studio B artists, postcard, social media outreach and more to promote Studio B artists and sales of their artwork.  

 Questions?  Please send an email to artist@bethesda.org.

Scam Artist

Beware of this email address: 4iph55@gmail.com

I tried several ways to report this to Google, but unable to figure out a simple, frigging way to say to them: someone is running a scam out of this email.

See this...

This just went on sale...

Google fun

This is what you get when you search Google Images for "Washington DC artists."

Cough, cough...

Art Miami acquires its own New York art fair

"The ownership group of Art Miami today confirmed that it has acquired the Downtown Fair for an undisclosed price. The previous fair organizer will not have any involvement or interest in the new fair."

That last bit about the previous fair organizer, etc. was a key signal to let art-fair-going galleries know that this fair will start getting serious and heading in the right direction starting right now.

The inaugural Downtown Fair will take place May 8-11th during Frieze Week in New York.  The Fair will be held at the historic 69th Regiment Armory, a 30,000 square foot venue at Lexington Avenue and 25th Street, in the heart of the Flatiron District. Approximately 50 international high caliber contemporary art dealers from around the world will exhibit. The Fair will open with an invitation only VIP Private Preview on May 8th to benefit a charity to be announced in the coming weeks.

Art Miami Partner and Director Nick Korniloff will direct the first edition along with a seasoned Marketing, Exhibitor Services and Operation staff that will manage The Downtown Fair.

"The Art Miami ownership team recognized the overwhelming requests from its collectors and exhibitors for us to produce another quality show in New York during Frieze Week and the Spring Auction previews," said Nick Korniloff, Fair Director and Partner of The Downtown Fair. "We are an extremely experienced and connected organization that knows what it takes to launch and manage an art fair."

Having just done Context Art Miami and now getting ready to do Art Wynwood (both run by Nick and his crew), I can testify that these guys know what they are doing when it comes to pulling all the stops to make an art fair click and move forward.
 
Since acquiring Art Miami in 2009, the Art Miami ownership group has "launched four new fairs, acquired one and always had a vision for New York." This crew also produces Art Miami, CONTEXT, Aqua, Art Wynwood, Art Southampton and Art Silicon Valley / San Francisco Fairs.

"We will deliver a well-vetted show that features a quality roster of artists that are represented by important international galleries. The advisory committee of dealers will insure that galleries are making every effort to show quality works that are fresh to the market," said Korniloff.

STITCH at GRACE

I've been hearing great things about this show...

Bethesda Magazine and Bethesda Art

As I noted a few days ago, I thumbed through the Jan/Feb issue of the annual Best of Bethesda issue from  Bethesda magazine.

As usual, this in an ad-filled, beautiful, glossy, magazine! It featured the editors' and readers' picks in 86 categories... and it really painted and offered a deep insight into the social, culinary, educational, etc. take of Bethesda, Maryland, with an under laying current that as usual seeks to offer a view of the town's cultural tapestry.

There are a couple of huge holes in that tapestry, and since the holes keep coming back year after year, I've written an open letter to Bethesda magazine and I'm also publishing it here and also intend to mail it to them. I wrote a very similar letter almost a decade ago on this exact subject, and since that letter was ignored, I suspect the same fate awaits this one:

Steve Hull
Editor-in-Chief and Publisher
Bethesda Magazine
7768 Woodmont Avenue #204
Bethesda, MD 20814

Dear Mr. Hull,

I've just finished reading the 2014 Best of Bethesda issue, and once again, I am immensely disappointed to see zero coverage or attention for the once thriving Bethesda visual art scene.

Unless one considers "Children's Photographer" or "Food Art Contest at Walter Johnson High School" to be what your editors see as the best of the Bethesda visual art scene, this huge cultural hole in your otherwise gorgeous magazine is unfortunately a trend that I've noticed with the magazine's apathy towards its art galleries, art spaces, art festivals and visual artists.

Not that your readers do much better; in fact, they ignore (or are not aware) of the city's rich visual art scene. But it is a vicious loop: if the magazine ignores the visual art scene, then it is natural for the readers to be mostly unaware of it.

Unfortunately, this is a trend with Bethesda Magazine. In 2013 the closest that your Best of Bethesda issue came to the visual arts was "Best Plating as Art" under the "Food & Restaurants" category.

That's a real stretch on my part, but, hey! food as visual art seems to be a topic of interest to your editors... if only one of them took a peek at "art as art..."

In 2012, not even food made it as visual art.

It was zip for visual art again in 2011.

And also in 2010.

Here's a small slice of what your editors, and because of their apathy towards the visual arts, what your readers are missing:

- The Bethesda Fine Arts Festival is one of the highest ranked outdoor arts festivals in the nation and it is the highest ranked outdoor fine art show in all of Maryland. There are other significant outdoor art festivals in Bethesda Row and in Rockville.

- The Bethesda Contemporary Art Awards (also known as The Trawick Prize in honor of Ms. Carol Trawick, a Bethesda supporter of the arts who sponsors the prize) is a visual art prize produced by the Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District that honors artists from Maryland, Washington, D.C. and Virginia. The annual juried competition awards $14,000 in prize monies to selected artists and features the work of the finalists in a group exhibition. It has been going on for over a decade and it produces an exhibition that is usually one of the highlights of the Greater DC area visual art calendar.


- The Bethesda Painting Awards is downtown Bethesda's annual juried art competition that exclusively honors painters from Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. $14,000 in prize monies are awarded to the top four painters annually. It also produces an exhibition that is again one of the highlights of the Greater DC area visual art calendar.

I wish that I could still also tell you about the thriving Bethesda art gallery scene, but in the last few years most Bethesda art galleries have closed their doors due to lack of sales or local interest. Closed are the physical spaces for Fraser Gallery, once the DC area's largest commercial art gallery. Gone are Orchard Gallery, Neptune Gallery, Discovery Gallery, Orchard Gallery, Heineman-Myers Contemporary and several other galleries. Nonetheless, Waverly Gallery, Strathmore, VisArts and others continue to offer monthly visual art shows that are routinely ignored.

What can Bethesda Magazine do to help to kindle awareness (and thus develop support) for the Bethesda visual art scene and Bethesda artists?

- Two or three visual art stories and/or reviews a year

- Two or three small highlights a year on Bethesda artists (like you do routinely for authors, and doctors, and chefs, etc.).

- In each issue, highlight one piece of art that is being displayed somewhere in Bethesda.

- And for the love of art, include something dealing with the visual arts in your Best of Bethesda issues!

Truly,

F. Lennox Campello

24 + 24

The Waverly Street Gallery members have invited 24 friends to join them in this fifth annual exhibition which is certain to brighten any wintry day for our visitors. As part of the gallery's celebration of its 20th anniversary, there will be an abundance of paintings, sculpture, prints, ceramics, fiber art, blown glass, mixed media, photographs and jewelry by new artists as well as new work by our members.

This is a show we delight in presenting because it always fills the gallery with new energy and new ideas in art. Please come and see what surprises are waiting for you this year. 

The guest artists included are: B.J. Adams, Carol Barsha, Cinda Berry, Cindy Brandt, Greg Braun, Jane Callen, Frances Card, Elissa Farrow-Savos, Judy Goodman, Glen Kessler, Paul Klasset, François Lampietti, Julia Leonard, Carol Marburger, Greta Matus, Ruth Meixner-Bird, Komelia Okim, Jaclin Pliskin, Pam Rogers, Andy Seferlis, Alan Simmons, Sherry Terao and Angela White.

 24 + 24 

Work by 48 Artists, 

24 Members and 24 Guests

February 11 - March 8, 2014 

Gallery Hours:  

Tuesday - Saturday,12 - 6PM 

Reception:  

Friday, February 14, 6-9PM

Waverly Street Gallery | 4600 East-West Highway | Bethesda | MD | 20814

Super Bowl bound

Makes me wonder once again: is there another professional (or any other athletic team for that matter) that actually has a "real" piece of art as a logo, such as the Seattle Seahawks have in the above Pacific Northwest art piece?

Holy rainy city Batman! The Seahawks are going to the Super Bowl!!!!

Heiner closes in DC and re-opens virtually in CT

After three terrific years in Georgetown, Heiner Contemporary has moved to Farmington, CT. While there will not be another bricks and mortar space for some time, the gallery will maintain an active online presence and continue to offer comprehensive art advisory services. 

In Connecticut, Heiner Contemporary will showcase work through pop-up exhibitions, participation in art fairs, and via Artsy.net. 

Benavent to Open at Foundry in March

Ana Elisa Benavent

    March 5 - March 30, 2014 

       Opening reception: Friday,  March 7,  6 - 8 pm 

Benavent's intense acrylics involve the viewer in complex, layered color fields.  In Shifting Gears, her trademark color expressionism explores revival, healing, reinvention and change.  “Should I go home or someplace new," muses Benavent.  And answers: "Step in, I’ll take you.  Turn up the music, roll down the windows, forget the road signs.  Faster… slower… I don’t have a reverse gear. “

Foundry Gallery

1314 18^th Street, NW

Washington, DC  20036

202 463-0203

www.foundrygallery.org

 

An old friend re-appears

See this...

That was part of an art school assignment to do plain air paintings and I did about 300 watercolors of Seattle's mostly gun metal skies of November...

La Pinzon on ABC

Dulce Pinzon's amazing work gets highlighted in ABC News... See it here.

Wanna buy any of those pics? Then go here...

Best of Bethesda

I just thumbed through the Jan/Feb issue of the annual Best of Bethesda issue from  Bethesda magazine.

What a beautiful, glossy, magazine! It featured editors' and readers' picks in 86 categories... and it really painted and offered a deep insight into the cultural tapestry of Bethesda, Maryland.

There are a couple of huge holes in that tapestry, and since they keep coming back year after year, I'm going to write an open letter to Bethesda magazine and publish it here and also mail it to them.

More later...

Uh?

Did I just see a commercial about wipeys for adults? Ahhhh... all adults...

Art image of the day...

Makes me wonder once again: is there another professional (or any other athletic team for that matter) that actually has a "real" piece of art as a logo, such as the Seattle Seahawks have in the above Pacific Northwest art piece?

This is where I am tonight...

The Washington Glass School will host “The Aberrant Collection of the Spurious Calamus”, by Audrey Wilson. 

This new collection of works will be her first solo show and will feature her mixed media sculptures. The opening reception will be held at the Washington Glass School on January 11, 2014 from 6-8pm. The exhibition will be on view through January 31, 2014 and is free and open to the public.

I've become very familiar with both Audrey Wilson and with her work in the last two years, since we've exhibited her work at both Aqua in 2012 and most recently at Context Art Miami in 2013.

Let me summarize this right now: if you are an art collector and do not buy one of her pieces at this show, her first (and thus historic) solo show, then you are a fool... un bobo!

"Why does he say this?", you must be asking... let me explain why.

Over the years I think that I have developed a pretty damned good eye at spotting what makes an artist click (or not)... 

Dudes and Dudettes... I have empirical evidence and not just hearsay or anecdotal data to back that statement.... 

And what I have noticed about Wilson and her work have several components - all critical - that help to make her a "BUY NOW."

• She has enviable work ethic - that, my learned friends, is a key seasoning to the success soup recipe... nothing beats hard work.
• She is a hard worker - does it sound like I am repeating myself? It's on purpose...
• She has a powerful "artistic IT" - that's that undefinable (except by me) element that separates the good from the truly intelligent.
• Her work is intelligent... it just is! When you get into a discussion with the Audreymeister about all the elements and components and titling of her pieces, one is left salivating like a Pavlov dog hearing a bell that signifies greatness...
• Her work looks GREAT! -- I say this with some reticence, as these days, some art symbiots still have issues with beauty, but Wilson's work stand out with some sort of undefinable beauty.
• She appeals to young collectors: OK ---> you're gonna have to trust me on this... but at the fairs I have sold her work to clients who have told me: "This is the first piece of art that we've ever bought!"
• She appeals to important major collectors: At Context Art Miami, on the second day, when I got to the booth there was a MAJOR (caps well deserved) collector waiting for me at the booth. She told me that this was the first time in over two decades of art collecting that she had waited for someone at an empty booth (this while I was wondering how she got into the fair before official opening time)... "I want this artist," she said in her usual brusque manner... and she got her.
• She appeals to curators: At Aqua, her work was invited to a major curatorial project.

You will never see her prices at the level that they will be at this first solo show... spend the money now and then thank me in a few years... 

Here's the press release:

Audrey Wilson sculptures are a blend of created and altered elements that reflect evolving science and machinery and explore the relationship between man and technology. Technology is merely an extension and reflection of mankind. In fact, no objects contain more human essence than do tools.

Audrey’s sculptural projects and multi-media works are metaphors evoking our endless manipulation of environment, our need for control, and our longing for a meaningful union with nature and the other, in a supreme balance of power and delicacy. People are becoming increasingly alienated from the objects which surround and sustain them, as they have lost the emotional link to technology.

“The Aberrant Collection of the Spurious Calamus” captures our complicated relationship with technology, mirroring it back with poetic glances.

________________________________________________________________

Audrey Wilson (b.1987) has a BA in Crafts with a Glass Concentration from Kent State University. Originally from Columbus, Ohio, Audrey has worked at the Chrysler Museum Glass Studio as the studio and teaching assistant, working with the museum's visiting glass artists. Audrey's artwork references nature and organic forms with mixed media.She is represented in the DC area by Alida Anderson Art Projects, LLC.