The big dance starts! VIP Preview at Context

And tonight was the VIP night at Context - the usual (by now) of impossibly skinny women in dagger-sharp high heels and handsome young men in tight jeans, as well as elderly gents with refined ladies by their sides, followed by someone wearing Mickey Mouse antenna hats...

I got to meet the great Joe Namath, and even take a picture with him! I remember watching Broadway Joe do his magic for the Jets in 1967 when I was a kid. He was the nicest guy too! Super friendly to all the people who kept bothering him for a pic!

That's me, Broadway Joe, and Edwin Baker III, a terrific young Florida artist whom we're sponsoring and mentoring during the fair.

Edwin Baker III, Lenny Campello and Joe Namath

Here are some pics of the main booth...

Outside wall with Erwin Timmers and Dulce Pinzon

Erwin Timmers

Audrey Wilson and Laura Beth Konopinski

Davin Ebanks

Tim Vermeulen and Amy Marx

Elissa Farrow-Savos and F. Lennox Campello

F. Lennox Campello

Matthew Langley and Amy Lin

Outside Wall - F. Lennox Campello

@contextartmiami #contextartmiami

ABMB Week - Monday

The Context Art Miami fair opens tomorrow.

Yesterday we hung most of the booth, and thus today we slept in and arrived around noon just to finish hanging and to put the labels.

When we get there, artist Amy Marx has already arrived, pleasantly surprised to see that Audrey Wilson had already hung her work the day before.

Matthew Langley is also already hard at work - this is the second year for Langley at Context (Photo by J. Jordan Bruns)

Soon I discover that I didn't bring all the labels - no idea where they are, so I now have the task of printing labels back at the hotel - also ran out of extension cords - also left behind at home.

Tomorrow the fair opens to VIPs and the biggest art dance in the world begins.

ABMB Week: Delivery day - Sunday

Delivery of the artwork to the Context Art Miami fair came somewhat easier that I had imagined... after all this is a new spot, and over the last few years we had the old Wynwood location all figured out.

I arrived around 8 AM and was allowed to park right on site, while Audrey Wilson and Erwin Timmers (both of whom are showing their work with us in booth C225) drove the rented giant cargo van hauling my work, Ric Garcia's, Elissa Farrow-Savos, J. Jordan Bruns, Amy Lin, Amy Marx and Dulce Pinzon.

Needless to say, even that giant beast from planet Enterprise was full to the gills... all photos either by Jordan or Audrey.

The big vans and delivery trucks first have to go to the Marshaling Yard, about 4 blocks away from the actual fair site. After the security check-in the trucks file into the actual fair site, and the unloading dance starts - by the way, Audrey scores a primo Doris Day parking spot, right by the entrance!

We begin to unload, and then to hang. To start, Laura Beth Konopinski is unpacking and hanging Amy Lin's work, Audrey is hanging Davin Ebanks work, and I am hanging my own.

About 12 hours later, most of the booth is hung, around two PM, J. Jordan Bruns had arrived from the airport, quickly put up his work and then began to help everyone else... teamwork.

At the public spaces wall, our sponsored artist, Edwin Baker III is also working hard hanging his work. I swing by together with fair director Julian Navarro and we give Ed some good constructive criticism - he's hung the work waaaaay too high.

EBIII is a good learner (and an excellent artist, and clearly a hard worker) and he begins to un-hang the work, lower it, and re-hang it.

Back at the booth, LBK begins to set up and hang the shelves upon which her amazing work will be displayed. Once they're up for the first time, they have to come down too... the "two high" bug bites again - all part of the learning process. BTW, those gorgeous figurative pieces are Audrey Wilson's new work.

Audrey then hangs all the work by Amy Lin - super easy job for a hanging pro like AW.

After the first day, I head out to Miami beach to check in on my aunt - on the way I pass through a Sunpass check-point, which are like cash collection points for non-Floridians...

Small bill coming from Sunpass, giant bill coming from Enterprise, who tacks on a huge bill to the Sunpass charge... not sure how they can get away with that.

Diego y Frida

Check out what I am bringing to Context Art Miami - come see it in booth C225


#contextartmiami @artmiamifairs #CONTEXTartmiami #contemporaryart #museum #art #artfair #artshow #modernart #color #lifestyle #beautiful #gallery #artcollector #artcollection #collection #architecture#travel #saturday

"we are The Same measured This Way"

This year the gallery will also be bringing the work of one of the DMV's newest arrivals and already making a name for herself. 

The image is "we are The Same measured This Way" by Laura Beth Konopinski, and yes the caps are on purpose, a new DC area artist who's about to make big waves in Miami at the Context Art Miami fair - booth C225.

"we are The Same measured This Way" 

#contextartmiami #miamiartfairs #artbaselweek #modernglassartists #artists#DCartists #artglass #sculpture

Day One - ABMB Week: Epic fail for Thrift Car Rental

The travel day heading to Florida yesterday was a nightmare, made especially worse by the inexplicable disaster of Thrifty Car Rental at Ft. Lauderdale airport. 

It starts with the fact that their counter was closed at 11 PM even though their website says that all their airport locations are open 24/7. 

And then, their remote support video kiosks all had a problem reading credit cards. Therefore, thrifty referred all their customers to the neighboring Dollar Car Rental counter, which of course, had a huge line. After over an hour in line, a car was finally assigned. "Follow the counter to your right," said the pleasant young man at the Dollar counter, "and someone will be there to give you your car." 

When I got to the parking garage, I noticed two things: It looked pretty empty of cars, but it was full of people, waiting for cars. 

By the time I took the picture below, I had already been in line for over an hour, waiting for a car. What made things more egregious, was the fact that the Thrifty employees on duty, seemed to be completely overwhelmed and unprepared to respond. 

One of them was a nice guy named Wesley, the other one lady, was a nightmare, always arguing with customers, yelling at them, and completely presenting the ugly side of customer service. What shocked me the most, is that in 1 million years of renting cars, whenever the company runs out of your size car, they just upgrade you to the next size. That appeared to be not the case to thrifty, at least last night, and it wasn't until the customers almost had a riot (which is when I took the photo below, and those are the just people behind me, as the line was just this long in front of me) that eventually someone made the decision to start doing this, and the line finally began to move, as cars were being brought in from other levels, or dripping wet after being washed. 

About an hour after I took this photo, I finally got a minivan, and upgrade from my midsize.

This was a giant epic fail for Thrifty. Later on I will expand this post with yet another example of the illogical logic of airlines' rules and logic, as the Spirit Airlines flight from BWI to Ft. Lauderdale had its own epic fail!

@thriftycars #thriftycars #fortlauderdaleairport #carrental #autorental

Call to Artists

WHAT: The 27th Annual Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival

 

WHERE: Reston Town Center, Reston VA

     

WHEN: May 18-20, 2018

The 2018 Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival will become a three-day event, opening on Friday, from 10am - 5pm, and thereby provide access to an entirely NEW buying audience: the approximately 10,000-person workforce in the Town Center!

 

It is an audience we have not truly reached in the past (we used to open on Friday night, but by then the workforce had already left). Making the very significant logistical investment in a Friday opening provides A NEW, BUILT-IN, AFFLUENT BUYING AUDIENCE looking for world-class art for their offices, homes, for gifts, and more. It reflects our relentless focus on investing to grow our audience (and we typically draw tens of thousands of visitors already) and driving sales, explaining why ArtFairCalendar.com has described this as a festival where "the 'art stars' of the outdoor art fairs vie for spaces."

 

Added bonus: we will now move our Festival Party, sponsored by the M Group and catered by The Counter, to Saturday night (7 - 9:30 pm) and use it to announce our Artist Awards sponsored by Boston Properties ($500 cash prize for our ten awardees, a blue ribbon to display at their booths, and automatic acceptance into next year's Festival). By making the Artist Awards the focus of the evening (something we could not do when opening on Saturday; not enough time for judging of booths), we will shine an even brighter spotlight on our participating artists and your work. As always, our artists and their plus-ones are our party guests, FREE, another of our nationally renowned artist amenities. 

We recognize that our artists invest time, effort and money to participate in the Festival and we strive to make sure that everyone's Festival experience is excellent. 2018 exhibiting artists will enjoy outstanding support from our exceptional volunteers and a diverse knowledgeable clientele. Artist hospitality at the event includes:

*Drive-up, set-up/tear down adjacent to booth

*Reserved artist-only parking for oversize vehicles

*Convenient and profitable selling hours

*Ample volunteer support

*Booth sitters

*$5,000 in awards

*Printed program that features full-color thumbnails and websites for every artist with accompanying booth numbers

*Continental breakfasts

*Reduced hotel rates for onsite accomodations

*Free bottled water and snack delivery

*Indoor restrooms

*Police presence in additional to the 24/7 Reston Town Center Security

  

Each year the Festival features approximately two hundred artists who are selected based on quality, originality, and craftsmanship by a panel of independent jurors and members of the GRACE curatorial staff. All are superb professionals with extensive experience in various disciplines of fine art.

The Festival is produced by the Greater Reston Arts Center-a 501(c)3 non-profit dedicated to enriching community life through excellence in contemporary art-as its primary annual fundraiser. GRACE offers exhibitions and art enrichment programs for audiences of all ages year-round. The gallery is always free and open to the public. All proceeds from the Festival directly support our educational and outreach programs.

Don't miss your opportunity to be here!

NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS through JURIED ART SERVICES

Application Deadline:  December 10, 2017

Application Fee: $50 (non-refundable)

       

Additional information is available at www.restonarts.org

Contact Erica Harrison, Festival Director at 703-471-9242 ext. 113 or

ericaharrison@restonarts.org 

Art Scam Alert!

Beware of this mutant trying to rip off artists:

Subject: Suggestions for gift

Kenth James  kenthjames41@gmail.com

My name is Kenth James from Washington DC. I was looking for some artwork online and i found your contact while searching. I will like to purchase some of your work for my wife as a surprise gift for our 20th anniversary. Please kindly send pics and prices of some of your art which are ready for immediate sale within price range $500- $5000, i could be flexible with price. So i will hope to hear a lot more about any available piece in your inventory ready for immediate sale.

Thanks and best regards,

Ken.

And before you email me asking how I know, click here, and note the pattern.

"The Eternal Feminine" Gallery Talk This Thursday at the Katzen

RADIX is a collaboration of three Washington artists: Cianne Fragione, Pat Goslee and Anne Marchand. All three have been working, in paintings and assemblages, with the concept of the Eternal Feminine. Seen as an original dynamic and cosmic force, the Eternal Feminine may also be understood as a spiritual being or essence that gives hope and light in dark times. Each artist has found a means to express this Feminine energy in contemporary and abstract terms, and from her own perspective. Their work is neither political nor conventional, but deeply expressive and inspired by a timeless and infinite theme.

GALLERY TALK WITH THE ARTISTS

THIS THURSDAY - American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center
November 30
6 - 7 pm


Join Anne Marchand, Pat Goslee, Cianne Fragione and curator Claudia Rousseau for a discussion on the Eternal Feminine in connection to their work. Free and open to all. 

Sandra Perez-Ramos at A&M Studios

Using rare plants, moonstruck characters, fabric, clear plastic and wood niches, artist Sandra Pérez-Ramos - one of my recent Artomatic favorite artists - combines contemporary fiber arts with whimsical illustrations in this exhibition about lost and found dreams. 

"PlantAndante #3" Water based inks, gouache pen. 11" x 14" by Sandra Pérez-Ramos.

"Textiles and Lunatics: Constructing Dreams" Art Show at the Merge Gallery in Artists & Makers Studios 2. November 28- December 21, 2017. 

Opening reception December 1, 2017 from 6-9pm.

Contact: Sandraperezramos@hotmail.com 
www.sandraperezramos.com

Opportunity for Artists

ARTISTS: Call for Submissions

New this year, WPA is opening the artwork selection process up to any artist living between New York and Richmond, Virginia. Submissions will be reviewed by the Art Committee and selected artists may be invited to exhibit multiple works. DC-area artists are strongly encouraged to apply.  The deadline for submissions is December 15, 2017 at 5pm.

Submit your work here.

How to get press

What can galleries do to get press? 

That was the question at the heart of a recent roundtable for Artsy gallery partners. Hosted at our London office, the panel of experts included journalists, marketers, and PR specialists. We also followed up with panelists Josh Rivers, Marketing Manager at Gay Times Magazine, and Sophie da Gama Campos, Pelham Communications, to learn more about their press advice for gallerists and their experience with the art world online.

Read the Artsy article here. 

Art Scam Alert!!!!

Beware of this mutant trying to rip off artists

From: thomas jeff

thomasjeff10001000@gmail.com 

9294217226

Sent from IP address 45.56.154.79

How are you doing?

My name is Thomas Jeff from SC. I actually observed my wife has

been viewing your website on my laptop and i guess she likes 

your piece of work, I'm also impressed to have seen your 

different piece of works too, : ) You are doing an amazing job. 

I would like to receive more information about your piece of 

artwork and what inspires you. I am very much interested in the 

purchase of the piece of art (in subject field above) to 

surprise my wife. Kindly reply for the availability for 

immediate sales.

Thanks and blessing,

Thomas

Bethesda Fine Arts Festival - Apply today!

 

Deadline to Apply: Dec. 15, 2017

 

Chosen artists have the opportunity to be featured at the Bethesda Fine Arts Festival, Saturday, May 12 & Sunday, May 13, 2018 

The 15th annual Bethesda Fine Arts Festival will be on Saturday, May 12 & Sunday, May 13, 2018, in downtown Bethesda, Maryland, a lively urban area renowned for restaurants, shopping, galleries and theaters. The festival features 130 booth spaces. 

Submit 6 images (a booth shot is required) for your chance to purchase a booth and join some of our best local artists sell their work at this two day festival. 

To apply, please visit http://www.bethesda.org/arts/artsfestival.htm

FY18 Curatorial Grant Program

DEADLINE REMINDER: FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2017, 4:00 PM ET 

 

Applications for the FY18 Curatorial Grant Program are still being accepting. This grant provides support to qualified individual curators in the visual arts for exhibition proposals intended for presentation in CAH's 200 I Street Galleries, Lobby Gallery, which is a District-owned exhibition space located at 200 I (Eye) Street, SE Washington, DC, 20003. Visit their website to learn more and submit an application. Early submissions are highly encouraged.

Curatorial Grant Program (individuals) 

The Curatorial Grant Program aims to provide a greater opportunity for the development and public presentation of visual art exhibitions by District resident curators.  Through grant support and access to a contemporary exhibition space, CAH intends to serve the District's residents by presenting compelling exhibition concepts of resident curators. 

 

For complete guidelines on available grant programs and to submit an application, visit Current Funding Opportunities online at www.dcarts.dc.gov.

Amateur Photog of the Year

Deadline: November 30, 2017

The contest is organized by the Amateur Photographer, a British photography magazine. It is divided into eight monthly rounds, each one focusing on a specific theme. The competition is open to all amateur photographers. There is no age limit for entering, and international entries will be accepted. The first entry to each round is free.

Details: http://bitly.com/2qpPtDH

Frankenart!

Deadline: November 30, 2017

CALL FOR ENTRIES | WORK INSPIRED BY FRANKENSTEIN NOVEL

A juried selection of images inspired by the classic novel will be published in a newly designed layout for its 200th anniversary. Open to artists working in any media. Selected works compensated. Entry Fee.

Details: http://bitly.com/2uJRIof

Young Frida

Rare photo of a very young Frida Kahlo - photographer unknown, but probably her father...

Pyramid Atlantic Opens Outdoor Pop Up Gallery in Takoma Park

Pyramid Atlantic Art Center – with funding from City of Takoma Park Community Grants Program —will create a pop-up art gallery in a 177sq. ft. open air site, likely a former garage, which cuts into the slope of Hilltop Road. The site is close by the defunct Sligo Creek Water Works, which pumped water to residents as far away as Kensington from 1900 to 1930. The first of two planned exhibitions on this site, Water Works, opens December 2.

Pump House Pop-Up opens its first exhibition, Water Works, on December 2 with a reception from 2 – 4 pm (Rain date: Sunday, December 3). Water Works runs through March 3. The outdoor gallery is open to the public daily and located at Hilltop Road between Maple and Geneva Avenues in Takoma Park, MD. More at pyramidatlanticartscenter.org or 301-608-9101.

 

Pump House Pop-Up is the brainchild of Pyramid Atlantic Artist Marty Ittner, a Takoma Park resident of 17 years. “This space was waiting to be a gallery,” remarks Ittner, who has walked past the structure almost daily for over a decade. “I’m an artist and I saw an opportunity. It was just sitting there doing nothing! I wanted to transform it to be something else.”

 

It took Ittner two years to get around to slipping a little note into the mailbox of her neighbor on whose property this should-be gallery sits. “He emailed me right back!” After getting permission from the site owner, and convincing Pyramid Atlantic and the City of Takoma Park of the undertaking, Ittner’s work truly began. She convinced the Department of Public Works to clear the site of large rocks, spent 8 hours clearing the ground by hand of about 4 inches of packed debris (mostly glass), and secured free mulch to level the “gallery” floor. Further, on December 2^nd she and fellow Pyramid Artist Gretchen Schermerhorn open the site’s first exhibition: Water Works.

 

Water Works focuses on the gallery’s proximity to the defunct pumping station and the importance of clean, clear water to Takoma Park’s founder B.F. Gilbert. Ittner and Schermerhorn are creating a cyanotype /screenprint installation that utilizes imagery of the era sourced from Historic Takoma. For their cyanotypes (photographic prints exposed in the sun) they drew inspiration from Sligo Creek Park, using found rocks and sand. The work will be mounted to the walls of the gallery in an installation that will weather and change in the open-air.

 

In tandem with the exhibition, a self-guided walking tour encourages visitors to be present in historically significant spots. Sepia-toned prints are waiting to be discovered in the very spots where the original photos were taken in the 1900s. Highlights include spotting the circular foundation of the filtration building, and envisioning Washington Adventist’s sanitarium—an architectural gem razed in 1982—at the top of the hill near the creek.

 

Pump House Pop-Up gallery is made possible by the City of Takoma Park Community Grants Program, Giuseppe Cimmino, and Historic Takoma. A second exhibition is scheduled for May 5 – July 4, 2018. A call for entries from local talent will be issued in early December.

 

Norman Rockwell discovery leads auction

Recently returned to a family after it was stolen more than 40 years ago, Norman Rockwell’s endearing Lazybones (Boy Asleep With Hoe), also known as Taking a Break, sold for $912,500 as Heritage Auctions totaled more than $4.3 million at its  Nov. 3 auction of American art.

 

Illustration Art swept the sale’s top lots as Rockwell’s Fishes Like Neckties, an interior illustration study for American Magazine, 1934, reached $200,000 and The Rescue of Theophilus Newbegin, painted by Joseph Christian Leyendecker in 1907 as a cover for The Saturday Evening Post, sold for $187,500.

 

“Bidders responded to the incredible diversity we brought to the block this fall, as evidenced by the by the 90% sell-through rate that we achieved” said Aviva Lehmann, Director of American Art at Heritage Auctions. “We offered superb material across the board, while setting artist records in the process.”

 

The sale set multiple auction records in the arena of Golden-Age illustration, most notably for Albert W. Hampson’s Bump Mobile, a Saturday Evening Post cover published June 22, 1940, which sold for $137,500, and Monte Crews’ Amateur Nite - Cowboy Bill's Ramblers, a 1936 Saturday Evening Post cover illustration that achieved $40,000.

Classic Hudson River School and Impressionism fetched high prices on November 3 as well: A stunning oil painting by George Henry Durrie titled Winter in the Country, A Cold Morning, 1863 ,a masterwork identified as “one of his best contributions to native winter landscape painting in the nineteenth century," realized $324,500.  Harriet Whitney Frishmuth’s iconic bronze Joy of the Waters, 1917 far exceeded its pre-sale estimate when it sold for $150,000. Offered for the first time in nearly 30 years, William Merritt Chase's Untitled (Nude Resting in a Chair), circa 1888, brought $125,000.

 

Leading a selection of California and Western Art, Howard Terpning’s Absaroke Trail, 1993, sold for $162,500, more than double its pre-sale estimate. Wild Heliotrope near San Juan Capistrano, by John Marshall Gamble sold for $68,750 and Dave McGary’s bronze Long Soldier (Life-size), 1989, fetched $52,500.

 

Additional highlights include, but are not limited to:

 

Francis Criss, Third Avenue El, circa 1933 realized $62,500.

 

Wolf Kahn, Redwing's Pond, 1982 realized $47,500.

 

Leyendecker’s, Fitted for a Suit, The Saturday Evening Post cover study realized $47,500.