Frida Kahlo: Making Her Self Up

This exhibition will present an extraordinary collection of personal artefacts and clothing belonging to the iconic Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. Locked away for 50 years after her death, this collection has never before been exhibited outside Mexico.

Details here.

Frida Kahlo.. cough, cough...

Another "original" Frida Kahlo shows up for auction... cough, cough... see the lot here.

DC Arts Studios Spring Open Studios

DC Arts Studios (DCAS) invites you to their annual Spring Open Studios on Sunday, April 29, 10am - 5pm!

Take a self-guided tour through the participating artists' studios and have a "behind the scenes" peek into their creative process -- a great way to introduce kids to the arts and learn about different techniques and mediums!

Purchase original artwork and other handmade gifts directly from the artists themselves! Featured artwork and gifts will include photography, paintings, mixed media, fiber art, sculpture, stained glass, weaving, art made from re-purposed bicycle and computer parts, and much more.

Swing by the Willow Street Gallery Group Show and Sale, "The Color Blue" on our first floor.

There will be food and refreshments throughout the studios.

The event is free, accessible, family friendly, and open to the public.

And please help them spread the word! Share the DCAS Spring Open Studios Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1767997493507433/

*This arts event is presented as part of Takoma Park's Art Hop, a neighborhood-wide weekend arts festival. Learn more at Art Hop Takoma.

DC Arts Studios is located at 6925 Willow St NW, Washington, DC 20012, next to Downtown Takoma Park, MD.
Driving: There is street parking.
Metro: Take the Red Line to the Takoma DC Metro Station. Walk a few blocks on Carroll Ave towards Downtown Takoma Park, MD. Turn right onto Willow Street. We are halfway down the block on the left-hand side of the street.

Questions? Contact Valerie Fenton, Administrative Director, at office@dcartsstudios.org.

Hard to believe...

That I used to do watercolors like this...

"Northern Lights, Back Road, near Little Keithock Farmhouse, Angus, Scotland."
30x40 inches. Watercolor on Paper. In a private collection in Banff, Scotland.

Art Scam Alert!

They just keep on coming!!! Do not respond to this asswipe trying to rip off artists!

If you wanna know how the scam works, do a search in this blog (box to the upper left) and search for "Art Scam" in quotes... or click here... and scroll around until you (a) see all other scammers and (b) see explanations on how the scam works...

From: thomasfred500500@mechengr.com

Good Day Im Thomas Fred From NC. I observed my wife has been viewing your website on my laptop and i guess she likes your piece of art 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 buying a piece of art ,to surprise my wife. Kindly reply for the immediate art work for purchase ?? (Thomasfred5050@gmail.com) Best Regards Thomas

Hurry up you slackers! The deadline is April 16, 2018!

Art Scam Alert!

Beware of this asswipe trying to rip off artists! If you wanna know how the scam works, do a search in this blog (box to the upper left) and search for "Art Scam" in quotes... or click here... and scroll around until you (a) see all other scammers and (b) see explanations on how the scam works...

From: Jackson Banks jacksonbanks247@gmail.com
Date: April 9, 2018
Subject: Mermaids Lace Triptych - (left panel)

Hello There,
          My name is Jackson Banks from New Jersey. 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 and amazed to have seen your various works too,  You are doing a great job. I would like to purchase one of the Sea Foam Series "Mermaids Lace Triptych - (left panel)", as a surprise to my wife on our anniversary. Also, let me know if you accept Check as mode of Payment.

Thanks and best regards
Jackson.

The Art Lover's Quotation Book

Just finished going through this little gem of an inspirational book - I highly recommend it as a keeper to hang around your studio... Get it here.

DC Council to Honor Margery Goldberg

A CEREMONIAL RESOLUTION

BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Council Member, Brandon Todd, with the Council of the District of Columbia honors 

Margery Goldberg with congratulations on the 40th anniversary of Zenith Gallery, 

and recognizes its success as a champion for the arts in the District.

Tuesday, April 10, 11:00 AM -1:00 PM 

Wilson Building | Council of the District of Columbia

1350 Pennsylvania Ave, NW

Washington, D.C. 20004

Also this is the last week to see:

FEATURED ARTISTS:

F. Lennox Campello, Suzanne Codi, Chas Colburn, 

Lea Craigie-Marshall, Eric Ehlenberger, Connie Fleres, 

Margery E. Goldberg, Philip Hazard, Nancy Nesvet, 

Alison Sigethy, Tim Tate, Erwin Timmers, Mary Voytek, 

and Michael Young.

Where: 1429 Iris St. NW Washington DC 20012
Last week to see: February 14-April 14, 2018Information: Margery Goldberg, 202-783-2963,  art@zenithgallery.com 
Gallery Hours: Wednesday-Saturday, 12 - 6 PM

Just finished

Just finished entering this process... not holding my breath... my work is in the collection of some of the planet's top art collectors, and several museums, but so far zip fuck for any public art collections. And I understand this - no city or county or state in the USA would dare to buy a figurative work that is nude - that eliminates most of my work.

Trying to adapt to the "system" and bowing down to the "man" and thus submitting some non nude work...

MoCo artists - do not skip this opportunity!

DEADLINE: FRIDAY APRIL 20, 2018

I'm not gonna take all the credit --- OK, OK... I will!  But, if you recall from multiple postings last year, I corresponded with all MoCo politicos last year and tried to shame one of the planet's wealthiest county's lack of support for its artists...

And now:

AHCMC and the Montgomery County Public Art Trust are proud to announce the 2018 Call for Art: The Contemporary Works on Paper Collection! 

This call seeks paper-based works including paintings in various media, drawings in various media, photographs, mixed media, and limited edition prints from artists in Montgomery county and the Greater Washington region.  

These artworks should help create inspiring spaces that foster innovation, creative excellence and personal reflection.Artwork in this collection is owned by Montgomery County under the County’s Public Art Trust program and loaned to County agencies for display in public buildings. 

The Public Art Trust is especially interested in artworks that reflect the unique and diverse character of Montgomery County. 

The full call-for-art is available here:Montgomery County Contemporary Works on Paper Call for Art

Using Instagram to Source Art Commissions

Lancelin has been working as an architect for nearly two decades, managing large rendering teams for some of the world’s most respected architecture firms. After the rapid growth of his Instagram page, where he uploads conceptual residences and installation pieces, he decided to take a leap of faith and break out on his own. His creative studio, Town and Concrete, is a one-man operation that gives Lancelin the freedom to meld art and architecture. He creates renderings of dreamy concept residences and sculptural installations imagined in large architectural scale. His loyal and growing following brings him commissions — 99% for art installations — from places as far-flung as China and Dubai.

Read the whole article here. 

Opportunity for artists

City of Seattle: City Hall Galleries July 2018 - June 2019
VIEW MORE INFO
APPLY TO THIS CALL

Call Type: Exhibitions
Eligibility: Local
City: Seattle
State: Washington
Fee: $0.00
Entry Deadline: 5/7/18

The city of Seattle seeks exhibition proposals for display in City Hall galleries from July 28, 2018 – June 2019.

Please click the "VIEW MORE INFO" link above to view the full call before beginning your application.

I'm busted

Little Junes made his karaoke debut while we were vacationing in Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic - here he belts out "I'm busted."

National Portrait Gallery: Call for Entries for Fifth Triennial Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition

The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery announces an open call from May 28 through Sept. 3, 2018 for submissions to its fifth triennial Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition. 

Established in 2006, the Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition invites artists (18 and over) living and working in the United States to submit one portrait for consideration. Selected artworks are featured in a museum exhibition and some artists are awarded prizes. This year, the competition will focus on broadening the definition of portraiture while highlighting the genre’s relevance in contemporary art and culture. The first-prize winner will receive $25,000 and a commission to portray a remarkable living American for the National Portrait Gallery’s collection. Additional cash prizes will be awarded. Submissions from each finalist will form “The Outwin 2019: American Portraiture Today” exhibition, which will be displayed at the Portrait Gallery from Nov. 2, 2019, through Sept. 7, 2020, before traveling to other cities in the United States. Previous competitions have received more than 3,000 entries.

Most recently, Baltimore-based artist Amy Sherald, who won first prize in the 2016 Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition, created the official portrait of Mrs. Michelle Obama for the Portrait Gallery’s permanent collection. Sherald’s “Miss Everything, Unsuppressed Deliverance” (2013), alongside work by all 2016 finalists, continues on tour as “The Outwin: American Portraiture Today” exhibition travels to the Ackland Art Museum, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from June 1 through Aug. 26.

Guest jurors for the 2019 competition are:

·         Harry Gamboa Jr., essayist, photographer, performance artist and founding member of the Chicano collective Asco (lives in Los Angeles)

·         Lauren Haynes, curator of contemporary art at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas

·         Byron Kim, artist, senior critic at Yale University School of Art, New Haven, Connecticut (lives in Brooklyn, New York)

·         Jefferson Pinder, artist and professor of sculpture and contemporary practices at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago

·         Taína Caragol, curator of painting and sculpture and Latino art and history, National Portrait Gallery

·         Brandon Brame Fortune, chief curator, National Portrait Gallery

·         Dorothy Moss, curator of painting and sculpture and director of the Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition, National Portrait Gallery

Portraitcompetition.si.edu

C'mon MoCo artists!

DEADLINE: FRIDAY APRIL 20, 2018

I'm not gonna take all the credit --- OK, OK... I will!  But, if you recall from multiple postings last year, I corresponded with all MoCo politicos last year and tried to shame one of the planet's wealthiest county's lack of support for its artists... And now: AHCMC and the Montgomery County Public Art Trust are proud to announce the 2018 Call for Art: The Contemporary Works on Paper Collection! This call seeks paper-based works including paintings in various media, drawings in various media, photographs, mixed media, and limited edition prints from artists in Montgomery county and the Greater Washington region.  These artworks should help create inspiring spaces that foster innovation, creative excellence and personal reflection. Artwork in this collection is owned by Montgomery County under the County’s Public Art Trust program and loaned to County agencies for display in public buildings. The Public Art Trust is especially interested in artworks that reflect the unique and diverse character of Montgomery County. The full call-for-art is available here: Montgomery County Contemporary Works on Paper Call for Art

Double Welcome, Most Everyone's Mad Here

One of my fave former DC resident artists will open soon at the Katzen!

American University Museum - Katzen Arts Center
April 3 - May 27, 2018

Artist Talk: Friday, April 13, 12 - 1 pm
Opening Reception: Saturday, April 14, 6 - 9 pm

Jiha Moon's works address the intersection of imagery native to Korea, Japan, and China and elements of the West in order to explore cross-cultural perceptions. Originally from Korea and presently based out of Atlanta, Georgia, Moon's work addresses the nature of our current global identity as influenced by popular culture, technology, racial perceptions, and folklore. By melding the artistic traditions and iconic imagery of both East and West, Moon's work explores ideas of both the foreign and the familiar. An internationally exhibited and acclaimed artist, this traveling museum exhibition is presented as part of the Visiting Artist Program organized by AU Studio Art.

Jiha Moon: Double Welcome, Most Everyone's Mad Here is organized by the Taubman Museum of Art, Roanoke, Virginia in collaboration with the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art, College of Charleston School of the Arts in Charleston, South Carolina. The exhibition is curated by Amy G. Moorefield, former Deputy Director of Exhibitions and Collections at the Taubman Museum of Art and Mark Sloan, Director and Chief Curator of the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art.

Monograph available. Hardcover, fully illustrated, 96 pages.

Essays by Amy Moorefield, Director, Phillips Museum of Art at Franklin & Marshall College and Lilly Wei, a New York-based independent curator and critic. Interview with the artist by Rachel Reese, Associate Curator of Modern & Contemporary Art at Telfair Museums in Savannah, Georgia. Edited by Mark Sloan, Director & Chief Curator, Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art at the College of Charleston.

American University Museum - Katzen Arts Center
4400 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington, DC, 20016
Museum Hours: Tuesday - Sunday, 11am - 4pm

Art Scam Alert!!!!

Beware of this rip off artist trying to scam artists!

From:   "Elaine Spencer" jbeautyatop@gmail.com 

Good Day,

How is work and family? I picked interest in your artwork and decided

to write you. I will like to know if your artwork can be purchased and

shipped internationally?. I can email the artwork of interest and

payment will be completed in full once you confirm my purchase order

with a quotation. Kindly let me know when you are in office and ready

to take my artwork order also let me know if you accept either Visa

Card / Master Card or PayPal for payment

Best Regards

Elaine Spencer

Danny Conant!

Places in My Art: Paris and Beyond

Images created from 1990 through 2017. Silver Gelatin and
Archival Digital prints, including montages and encaustic

Exhibition: March 27 – May 5, 2018
Reception: Sunday April 8, 2-4pm

Multiple Exposures Gallery, Studio #312

Open daily 10-5pm, Thursdays 2-8pm
The Torpedo Factory Art Center
105 N. Union St.
Alexandria, Virgnia 22314 
703.683.2205

MultipleExposuresGallery.com

Danny Conant Photography

www.dannyconant.com

If you see one photography show this year - this better be it!

What Happens When a Museum Closes?

Richard P. Townsend was in Italy when he got the call. The director of New York’s Museum of Biblical Art, he was in the midst of preparing for an exhibition of Donatello’s sculpture that would go on to be the museum’s most well-attended and critically acclaimed.

It would also be its last. The caller, a member of the museum’s board, broke the news that the American Bible Society would soon be selling its Upper West Side building. The Museum of Biblical Art (MOBIA for short) had just 12 months to find another affordable home—a timeline that, in the end, proved too short. In June 2015, the institution closed its doors for good.

Read the whole story here. 

Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival is coming soon!

Presented in Reston Town Center, a suburb of Washington, DC, the festival attracts art lovers, affluent homeowners, corporate executives, and design professionals in addition to the broader community. This highly-anticipated cultural event draws up to 30,000 visitors and there is FREE garage parking all Festival weekend courtesy of Boston Properties. The Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival is the Greater Reston Art Center’s (GRACE’s) largest annual fundraiser.

The Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival as a long standing reputation for presenting high-quality work and now will become a three-day event, opening on Friday, from 10am-5pm! Making the very significant logistical investment in a Friday opening 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.”

I've done this show for several decades now... skipping a year here and there, but I will be back this year in booth 230 - so come by and say hi!

Check out the 2018 exhibiting artists here and also a festival map!

Montgomery County is buying art!

DEADLINE: FRIDAY APRIL 20, 2018

I'm not gonna take all the credit --- but, if you recall from multiple postings last year, I corresponded with all MoCo politicos last year and tried to shame one of the planet's wealthiest county's lack of support for its artists... And now: AHCMC and the Montgomery County Public Art Trust are proud to announce the 2018 Call for Art: The Contemporary Works on Paper Collection! This call seeks paper-based works including paintings in various media, drawings in various media, photographs, mixed media, and limited edition prints from artists in Montgomery county and the Greater Washington region.  These artworks should help create inspiring spaces that foster innovation, creative excellence and personal reflection. Artwork in this collection is owned by Montgomery County under the County’s Public Art Trust program and loaned to County agencies for display in public buildings. The Public Art Trust is especially interested in artworks that reflect the unique and diverse character of Montgomery County. The full call-for-art is available here: Montgomery County Contemporary Works on Paper Call for Art

Call for Solo Exhibition Proposals

Deadline: March 30, 2018.

VisArts invites artists working in all media to apply for 2019 Solo Exhibitions in the Gibbs Street Gallery and Common Ground Gallery. The Gibbs Street Gallery offers exhibitions that explore the breadth of contemporary art featuring emerging to mid-career artists. Exhibits reflect a wide range of media and experimental approaches that offer the viewer unexpected interactions with art. The gallery is approximately 1,100 square feet with 16 ft. ceilings.

It is on the street level with floor to ceiling windows along one wall. International, national and local artists are welcome to apply.  The Common Ground Gallery features exhibitions that reflect the creative pursuits of artists from our community.

The gallery is located on the second floor and is approximately 300 square feet.

Artists must live in the Mid-Atlantic region to apply for a solo exhibition in this gallery. Applicants who have participated in a solo exhibition at VisArts within the past two years are not eligible to apply.

All application materials must be submitted online through their website no later than 11:59 pm EST on 03/30/2018.

Visit this link to apply.

Affordable Art Fair NYC opens tonight!

Call for Entries: The World of Frida at Bedford Gallery

The exhibition will feature art with Frida Kahlo as the subject as well as artworks inspired by her life and art. 

The deadline to apply is April 21, 2018.

Details here.

Free Art Lessons

In 2017, Lieu launched Art Prof, a website that offers a wide range of art classes, captured in videos. Taught by professional artists and university art teachers, courses range from the basics, like drawing, to more complex or niche mediums, like types of sculpture, printmaking, and animation. 

Read the Artsy article here. 

Womanizing Denisovan?

My National Geographic DNA test a few years ago discovered that I was 2% Neanderthal and 1% Denisovan, and as this article notes, one of my ancestors clearly was one of those hominids who was pretty much tapping everything in sight regardless of species... cough, cough...

Read the article here.

Guerrilla framing techniques

This post from well over a decade ago is still a good lesson:

A strategy for saving money on framing costs...

According to some stats I read a few years ago in a framing trade magazine, the average cost of framing in the Greater DC region was $67 an hour. It’s probably more than that now.

Other than time, framing two-dimensional work is often the most expensive step in organizing an exhibition (to the artist), and it’s astounding how little most art schools prepare students (and faculty) for avoiding the trap of spending a lot of money on framing.

There are some steps that artists can take to significantly reduce the cost of framing. Here I will try to list the most common mistakes, how to avoid them, and more importantly, how to get your artwork framed for a lot less than taking it to a framing shop to get it framed.

First and foremost: Prepare! Do not leave your framing to the very last minute. Having said that, I know that most of you will leave the framing to the last minute and then panic – go to your neighborhood framing shop, and drop way too much money to get custom frames made for your artwork. If you can afford it, and the price history of you artwork can sustain it – then skip this posting. But if you want to save a lot of money on framing, then prepare!

Do not, under any circumstances let the gallery or a second party take care of your framing unless you have the full costs ahead of time and in writing. Otherwise you will get stuck at the end of your exhibition with a framing bill rather than a commission check.

First of all: If (and only if) you can, work in standard sizes. Most photographers and painters already do. But unless your compositional demands call for it (like mine do), avoid working in one of a kind sizes. American and European standard sizes are different, but US sizes cover a huge range of sizes, such as 5x7, 8x10, 11x14, 12x16, 20x24, etc. If you can work within one of those sizes – i.e. do your watercolor on a sheet in one of those sizes, or print your photo on paper that size, etc. then half the battle is won, as then you should be able to buy ready-made frames that will automatically accommodate your matted work. This is important, as a good frame from any craft store, or from any art catalog, is usually a lot less than having one built from scratch! For example, a 16x20 metal molding frame, back metal brace/clips, wire, glass, pH-balanced acid free mat, hanging wire and acid free foam core backing is anywhere from $20 - $30 in any art catalog or locally from Apex in Alexandria. Having the exact same frame hand-made in a frame shop is around $100.

If your work, because of composition or whatever, doesn’t fit into a standard size mat or frame, then another tactic is to go and shop for a ready-made frame that is larger than your artwork – at least three inches all around the diameter of the artwork. Then take that frame and your artwork to a frame shop and have them cut the mat for you. Now you are only paying for the labor and materials to cut a mat – not to build everything from scratch.

If you can’t find a frame in a shop that fits your unique sizes, then shop through art supply catalogs and have them make you one. The savings over storefront framers is still significant. I personally buy a lot of frames from this place. Once you sign up, you get their catalogs as well, and then I hit them when they have a sale going on! From any supplier you can order moldings in one inch increments, so if your work is 18x30 inches, then you'd order a set of 18 inch molding, a set of 30 inch molding and it will be delivered with the hardware needed to assemble it - all you'll need is a screwdriver. Then visit your local glass shop for a piece of glass.

Because most solo shows involve a larger number of works, you should start thinking way ahead of time as to the number of frames that you will need. If you can decide that you will need twenty frames for your show, and you know what size they will all be, then go shopping for ready-made frames in any of our local area arts and crafts stores, or other stores that stock frames, such as IKEA or Bed, Bath and Beyond. Once you find a frame that you like, turn it over and see who makes them. Write the manufacturer’s information down, and when you get home, call the manufacturer of the frame and place an order for the number of frames that you will need. You are now buying the frames wholesale and saving yourself the entire store mark-up!

Don’t let the process of establishing an account with the frame manufacturer scare you. They may require an Employee Identification Number (EIN) – you can give them your social security number-- and they will have a minimum purchase (usually $250) – but by the time that you purchase 20-25 frames, that will be easy to meet. All you are doing is ordering the frame directly from the manufacturer rather than buying them through a store – it’s perfectly legal and saves you a considerable amount of money.

If you work on canvas, you may not even need to frame them. Ask the gallery owner – a lot of galleries will be happy to hang canvasses that are “gallery dressed.” That means that the edge of the canvas wraps to the back and that’s where it is stapled – rather than the side. We actually prefer to show canvas paintings that way.

Do not cheapen your artwork by choosing cheap materials. At all costs avoid using acidic mats (use only pH-balanced, acid free mats) and do not use cardboard to back the work – use acid free foam core. Using cheap materials not only damages the work eventually (as the acid migrates to the artwork) but also tells a potential collector that you are not serious as an artist to properly display your work. I am shocked at the number of badly hand-cut mats in acidic mats that I see in galleries all over the country – a lot of time is just plain ignorance of the business side of the fine arts – and the importance of presentation of artwork in a professional environment – such as a reputable fine arts gallery should be.

If you are an artist that moves a lot of work a year, then you should seriously consider learning how to cut your own mats. A sheet of museum quality archival 32x40 inches mat board is around $6-8 and you can get four 16x20 inches mats from it. To have one 16x20 archival mat cut in a frame shop will be around $20. You can buy a decent mat cutter for around $150, and it comes with a video to teach you how to cut mats.

The bottom line is that minimizing framing costs not only reduces the amount of money that an artist has to invest in offering a show, but also reduces the price point of the artwork – a very important issue, especially for young, emerging artists without a sales history track.

Campello artwork

Not me, Little Junes' art!

"Alien spaceship dropping off a giant magnet on planet Earth"
Graphite on paper by Anderson Campello. 4x4 inches. Circa 2018