DC Mural Looking for a home

DC artist Rita Elsner writes:

I'm sending out this general inquiry to some of you in the DC arts community to see if anyone may have information as to where I might be able to relocate a mural. I hope to find an organization, school, library, marketplace, etc, or possibly a grant opportunity, if one exists.

A mural that I produced for a local WholeFoods (72'w x 3'h, on 18 consecutive masonite panels), was recently removed for renovation purposes and I was fortunate to be able to retrieve it. The subject matter is a landscape depicting the four seasons and includes a small reference to the DC skyline. You can see it on my website (Go to Murals --> WholeFoodsMarket, Georgetown).

I would deliver the mural and advise/take part in its installation. In looking for a spot to relocate this painting, my priority of concerns are:

1) To find a location, in DC or w/in the beltway, that offers a "safe environment" for the piece (an indoor setting with an average amount of temperature/humidity control, away from the elements/direct sunlight) with the need to physically alter the mural for fitting/placement kept to a minimum, preferably zero.

2) To find an existing call for public art or grant that this piece may be applied to.

3) To find a recipient to accept this piece as a donation. If a recipient is found, depending on their profit status, a cash donation may be negotiated to be made to a charity of my choice in return for the mural.

If you have any suggestions/insight as to where a new home for this might be found, please let Rita know at info@ritaelsner.com.

For this Saturday in DC

Go see Robert Mellor’s opening, New Scenarios, this coming Saturday at Irvine Contemporary in DC. I am told that this Chatham, Virginia-based, Claremont MFA’s new body of work is an amazing leap forward in his multi-layered figural abstraction painting approach. He was also an awardee in last year's Trawick Prize.

The opening reception is Saturday, May 26, from 6-8 PM and the show goes through June 27, 2007.

Bethesda Painting Award Finalists

The Bethesda Painting Award finalists have been announced. They are:

Heidi Fowler, Reston, VA
Matthew Klos, Baltimore, MD
David Krueger, Hyattsville, MD
Maggie Michael, Washington, D.C.
Cara Ober, Baltimore, MD
Phyllis Plattner, Bethesda, MD
Fiona Ross, Richmond, VA

The jurors are Dr. Brandon Brame Fortune, Associate Curator of Painting and Sculpture at the National Portrait Gallery; Professor W.C. Richardson, Professor of Painting and Drawing at the University of Maryland; Professor Tanja Softic’, Associate Professor of Art at the University of Richmond.

The finalists will be invited to display their work from June 6 - July 7, 2007 in downtown Bethesda at the Fraser Gallery. There will be an opening exhibition and announcement of the Bethesda Painting Awards winners on Friday, June 8 from 6-9pm at the gallery, held in conjunction with the Bethesda Art Walk.

Congratulations!

As far back as 2004 I have been telling you about this amazing young DC area artist named Jenny Davis, whom I consider to be wunderkind of an artist. When I first wrote about her, she was 15 years old, but already showing the signs of spectacular talent, and back then she was completely self-taught too.

Since then she has exhibited in several DC area art galleries, is now in college, and continues to grow as an artist at the ripe old age of 18.

And Jenny Davis just won first prize in the National Society of Arts and Letters Career Awards Competition May 19th in Tempe, Arizona.

Her watercolor painting titled Portrait of Tess was selected from a field of 19 finalists from across the country. The jurors were M. Stephen Doherty, Editor-in-Chief of American Artist Magazine; artists Robert and Louise McCall; and Dr. Mel Yoakum, Director of the F. Gilot Archives.

Before naming Jenny as the top national award winner, the NSAL presented Robert McCall with the 2007 National Gold Medallion Award for his lifetime achievements. Mr. McCall is well known for his six story tall mural in the National Air and Space Museum, among many other career highlights.

An exhibition featuring the work of the finalists is on display through June 8 in the City Hall Gallery in Tempe, Arizona.

Dawson on the Washington Body School

The WaPo's Jessica Dawson comes through with a really good review, in fact one of the better ones that she's ever delivered, of Meg Mitchell and Jeffry Cudlin's Ian and Jan: The Washington Body School at District of Columbia Arts Center.

Read Jessica's review here.

Wanna go to a DC opening tomorrow?

The Nevin Kelly Gallery, located at 1517 U Street, NW, Washington, DC, will host a solo exhibition of works by Chilean-born, Washington, DC artist Joan Belmar from May 23 until June 17, 2007. The exhibition, titled Color Transparencies presents Belmar's recent work in paint, acetate and Mylar.

The gallery will host an opening reception with the artist on Thursday, May 24, from 6 until 9 o'clock p.m. The public is invited. Show runs May 23 – June 17, 2007. Opening Reception Thursday, May 24 from 6 – 9 pm.

Eve and The Lilith

In this charcoal drawing (which I also sold last week at Reston) I have tried to use all of my technical skills and creative schemes to deliver a drawing full of clues and information.

I have also used many psychological clues to deliver the full meaning of this work, at least as I intend it to be viewed. Click on it if you wish to see a larger version.


We see Eve to the left of the composition, an apple in the middle, and the mythical Lilith to the right.

According to biblical legend, after God created Adam from the dust, in response to Adam’s request for a mate, he then created Lilith from the same dust, which by then had been trod and made dirty by both Adam and the animals of Eden.

Adam and Lilith never found peace together; for when Adam wished to lie with her, she took offence at the recumbent posture that the first man demanded.

"Why must I lie beneath you?" she asked. "I also was made from dust, and am therefore your equal."

Because Adam tried to compel her obedience by force, Lilith, in a rage, uttered the forbidden and magic name of God, rose into the air and left him.

God then creates Eve from Adam’s rib and the biblical mother of the human race is thus born.

In the drawing Eve is to the left, while Lilith is to the right. The left side is closest to the heart and thus the preferred position.

Eve is solid and present, while the mythical Lilith is ephemeral and almost vanishing, as if predicting her dismissal from not only Adam’s side but from Genesis as well.

She is also covered in forbidden tattoos, as Lilith, after leaving Eden, had been living near the Red Sea, a region abounding in lascivious demons, to whom she bore children known as “lilim,” as described by the angels Senoy, Sansenoy and Semangelof.

The drawing is full of light as evidenced by the minimalist composition, and the light sources are blinding to Lilith, almost erasing her from the composition.

The light is also strong but from a different source to Eve, but this light is defining her as if the shadows have come to her life. Yet another source of light illuminates the apple.

The apple lies between Eve and Lilith, a little closer to Eve than to Lilith. We see Eve agonizing over the temptation of biting the forbidden fruit, while Lilith, quiet but resourceful, awaits the first Sin.

Opportunity for Artists

Deadline: June 30, 2007

McLean Project for the Arts has a Call for Entries for their MPA Artfest in McLean, Virginia.

This is a one day juried fine art and craft show and sale featuring the work of 40 local and regional visual artists. This is a brand new community festival focusing on fine art from around the mid-Atlantic region. To be held on Sunday, October 14, 2007 10 am - 5 pm in McLean Central Park, McLean, VA. (In the event of inclement weather, MPA artfest will be held in the McLean Community Center) For entry form and more information, visit this website or call 703-790-1953.

Art for the new DC baseball Stadium

Deadline: Monday, June 18, 2007 at 5 pm.

Suspended Installation. Total Budget: $200,000. The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, in collaboration with the Washington Nationals, the DC Sports and Entertainment Commission, and Hellmuth Obata and Kassabaum, P.C., seeks an artist or artist team to design and create a suspended public art installation along the main concourse of the new Washington Nationals baseball stadium. The goal of this public art project is to provide an exciting arts enhancement to the interior of the ballpark while celebrating the spirit of our national pastime. The work will be visible along the main concourse, across the field from Baseball Plaza, and from street level on the south side of the ballpark.

The total budget for the project is $200,000. Download the New Baseball Stadium: Suspended Installation Call for Artists here. For more information, contact Emily Blumenfeld or Meridith McKinley at art@viapartnership.com or call (314) 664-5902.

Opportunity for Artists

Deadline: July 6, 2007

"Driven" Call for Entries for emerging artists with disabilities. $60,000 in awards!Deadline: July 6, 2007 (midnight, MST). Sponsored by VSA arts and Volkswagen of America, Inc. Open to emerging artists with disabilities, ages 16 -25, living within the United States. No entry fee. "Driven" challenges artists to pinpoint the motivational force behind their artistic expression and to identify the catalyst that sustains their creative energy. Art must be an original work that has been completed in the last three (3) years. Eligible media includes: paintings, drawings, fine art prints, photography, computer-generated prints, and mixed media; must be presented in two dimensions. Artwork should not exceed 60 inches in either direction. Fifteen (15) finalists will be awarded a total of $60,000 in awards during an awards ceremony on Capitol Hill in September 2007, and artwork will be displayed in a nation-wide touring exhibition that debuts at the Smithsonian.

For additional information and to access the application, please visit this website. Phone 800.933.8721 x3885; Email: jenniferw@vsarts.org. Alternative formats of the application are available upon request.

Some comments on outdoor fine arts festivals

Video by the Right Reverend... to my left you can see both "St. Sebastian" and "Superman Flying Naked." They're both now in a private collection in Northern Virginia.

Superman Flying Naked

Below is "Superman Flying Naked," charcoal on paper with a little conte crayon. The same collector who last weekend bought "St. Sebastian," also picked up this drawing of the man of steel in the nude. Click on it for a larger image.

Two "new" collectors

New to me anyway.

This WaPo article by Allan Lengel discusses the fact that "an 11-story, 136,000-square-foot office building under construction at 10th and K streets NW in downtown Washington will include two art galleries.

The galleries, located in hallways on the lobby and the penthouse floor, will be lined with black-and-white pictures by the late Ezra Stoller, a renowned architectural photographer known for his use of light and space."

Good for the buildings and the people who will work there. But the key intelligence item in this article is that we also learn that the building is being developed by the Tower Cos. of North Bethesda and the Lenkin Company Management of Bethesda.

"Both owners are heavy art collectors," said Marnie L. Abramson, a principal at Tower.

Did all you gallerists and art dealers hear that?

Let the Googling of the owners of these two companies begin, let the invitations to openings begin to flow, and let's see if they're really "heavy art collectors."

I hope so... DC needs them.

Tuss on Weiss

Katie Tuss recently spoke with artist Ellyn Weiss at the Touchstone Gallery, where Weiss and fellow Touchstone artist Rima Schulkind are showing recent work in the main gallery space through June 3, 2007. Weiss’s Fortune Cookies series is comprised of 11 large panels and three sets of smaller panels, all brimming with striking colors and layers of additive and subtractive pigment, text, and ephemera.

Katie Tuss: You seem to be having a very busy spring with your current show at Touchstone, your involvement with Artomatic both as an artist and as a board member, and your role as an artist and curator for the current show No Representation at the Warehouse Gallery. As if this isn’t enough, what else do you have coming up?

Ellyn Weiss: It has been a very busy spring! All great, all fun experiences! Any time you can meet other people and see other people’s work, you have to do it. In June, I will also have 12 to 15 monoprints from my Time of War series in the back room at the Nevin Kelly Gallery. They are all one of a kind prints and use a reductive process. After June, my life is over!

KT: What was it like being on the curatorial side of No Representation?

EW: I had co-curated the Artomatic poster show at the Warehouse, but I was amazed by No Representation. We just got together and made lists of who we would love to have, paired it down and emailed everyone. I think everyone, except one person, was ready to participate. The show really demonstrates what’s happening in abstract art in DC, everyone really rose to the occasion. There are so many talented artists, we just need more people to buy.

KT: You have a JD from Boston University and previously practiced law. How did you come to be involved in the arts and specifically in the art scene in the DC area?

EW: I practiced law for 25 years, but I have always been involved in art. I made art on weekends, in the summer, and I took a lot of classes. I practiced law until I had enough money to quit and do this full time.

KT: How did quitting change things?

EW: Quitting and going full time was important. Art is like anything, the more you do it, the better you get. And things changed when I discovered these large 40 by 60 pieces of paper. The size allowed for my gestural movements. Then I discovered the pigment sticks—they have the consistency of butter. I don’t use brushes, haven’t used them in years. I found the pigment sticks on accident on R&F’s website.

KT: Your artist statement says that you admire art that speaks directly to the viewer without mediation or explanation. Do you think that art becomes more valid when the viewer understands the concepts behind the work, or should the visual experience speak for itself?

EW: I can not get myself interested in work that doesn’t capture me viscerally; if it doesn’t work in the first five seconds.

KT: Are you conscious of this when creating your own work?

EW: Yes. I’m conscious of the visceral as I work. Sometimes a work can get to a place that is seductive, yet unfinished, and I just keep going. It’s hard, but I know it can get better.

KT: Why is layering important? What do you learn about the paintings as you add and subtract?

EW: The paintings always start with words, words that have meaning. The letters inform the first shapes. The Fortune Cookie series is the first time I have used readable text.

KT: The Fortune Cookie series is bold and colorful, with wide marks and layers of mixed media, including hundreds of fortunes you have collected over the years printed on pattern paper and collaged into your paintings. In June, the Nevin Kelly Gallery will show some of your Time of War monoprints. These works seem very different. Are the two series or styles of work connected or influenced by the other?

EW: They are very different. The Time of War series comes from feeling frustrated with the war, with innocent people dying, people that we don’t even count. Michael Mazur, one of the founding spirits of the Fine Arts Work Center was teaching a print making workshop that I participated in and he said to do whatever moves you, and I started with wanting to use this reductive process, got into it, and he didn’t say anything to me for the week long duration of the workshop. At the end of the week, Mazur said that he wanted to talk to me. He told me that it was an impressive body of work and that he hadn’t said anything to me because he could tell I was so focused. The goal of the Time of War series was to convey strong emotion as simply as possible. They are dark, there isn’t a lot of happiness in that work. I don’t know if I will do it again.

All done

Done with two days of sunny and windy weather at the 16th Annual Greater Reston Arts Center Fine Arts Festival, where I had a great fair and sold over twenty drawings and an equal amount of prints. More later...

Heading to DC this weekend

I'll be in the DC area this whole weekend, as I will be hawking drawings at the 16th Annual Greater Reston Arts Center Fine Arts Festival on the streets of the Reston Town Center, May 19 and 20, 2007.

Around 60,000 people are expected to come to the fine arts festival, which features around 160 artists' booths from all over the country as well as several Chinese artists.

I'll be in booth 508.

The 0 Project

Rosemary Feit Covey is one of those wizard artists that when you see their work, you are left speechless by both the imagery and also by the technical skill. She is by far, my favorite printmaker in the DC region.

And as if this master printmaker wasn't accomplished or acclaimed enough, she has now undertaking the "The 0 Project."

Check it out here.

Selected from among hundreds of applicants in the mid-Atlantic region, the 0 project will premier as a printed piece wrapping the Arlington Arts Center in the fall of 2007. Printed on Tyvek on an HP 500 printer, upon installation it will be fifteen feet high, wrapping 300 feet around the outside of the art center.

The 0 Project is without a doubt the most ambitious outdoor project that the AAC has taken on. And they're asking for arts supporters to join them on Friday, May 18 from 6 to 8 pm to learn more about the 0 Project and ways in which you might be involved. They're looking for help with promotion, participation, some grass roots fundraising, and various other tasks. RSVP to 703.248.6800

Photography Superstars

The remainder of the tragic Joshua P. Smith collection is being auctioned off here starting on the 19th.

Every big name in photography is included in the auction, now working its way through the auction world food chain. If memory serves me right, a while back either Sotheby's or Christie's or maybe Phillip's disposed of a large number of them, but there are still 347 lots from some of the world's best-known photographers and collected by an amazing collector.

Two DC area masters are in this auction: the legendary Lida Moser and uberphotographer Chan Chao; Smith had a great eye for photographic talent.

I don't know how many of Chan's brilliant photos Smith had in his collection, but I do know that a few years ago he bought 120 of Lida Moser's best vintage photographs. Most of those were recently acquired via auction by a German gallery.

There are some deals to be had in this auction. Don't say that I didn't warn you!

And for you vastly overpriced emerging painters out there, get a hint from this really nice Gene Davis painting in a separate auction estimated to go between $4 - $5K which is less than some Washington Color School look-alikes get these days.

The Collector

The WaPo's Amy Argetsinger and Roxanne Roberts (the Reliable Source columnists) describe the hijinks involved in ransoming off a Tim Tate sculpture and their fleeting meeting of a new DC arts activist of sorts calling himself "The Collector."

A note from this new art entity stated:

"Only through the loss of art does society value its art," it began. "This is not the end but the beginning. Whenever art is undervalued the collector will appear to remind this city that one of its most valuable assets is the creative community that is so deeply ingrained in its fabric."

Read the story in today's WaPo here.

New Drawing

Below is "St. Sebastian," which is one of my recurring subjects. It is 8 x 21 inches, charcoal and conte on 300 weight paper. Click on it for a larger image.

"St Sebastian" by F. Lennox Campello

I am also working on a piece tentatively titled "Superman Flying Naked," but you'll have to wait to see the man of steel in the nude.

This Friday

One of my favorite (and damned few that I like in this genre) performance artists is Mary Coble, and she opens her new show "Aversion" this coming Friday, May 18. 2007 at Conner Contemporary in DC.

The exhibition goes through June 30, 2007 and the opening night reception is Friday, May 18th from 6:30 to 8:30pm with a performance at 7:30PM.


Also on Thursday, May 24th at 7pm, join Mary Coble in conversation with Andy Grundberg, Chair of Photography + Photojournalism at the Corcoran College of Art + Design.

Opportunity for Artists

The Delaplaine Visual Arts Education Center in MD has a call for artists for their annual regional show.

Artists living within a 75 mile radius of Frederick, MD are eligible to bring three pieces of art to the center on Sunday May 20, or Monday, May 21 for jurying by Tom Ashcraft, Associate Chair, Associate Professor, Sculpture Coordinator, Department of Art and Visual Technology, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA. Some 400 pieces of work are expected to be submitted by artists from a 75-mile radius, and the juror will select about 100 for exhibition.

Entry forms and details here.

Cameron on Artists as Curators

Prof. Mark Cameron Boyd is seeking to focus his class on artist-curator shows (such as Supple and Ian and Jan) and their relationship to the discourse of art.

Details here.

Open Studios

Yesterday I mentioned briefly the Gateways Arts District in MD. They're having an open studio tour this coming Saturday. Details here.

The Jackson Art Center in Georgetown (DC) is having its annual Spring Open Studios on Sunday, May 20th, from 12 noon to 5 p.m. Jackson is located in the old Jackson School, just across the road from Montrose Park, on R NW between 30th and 31st Streets. Over 45 artists work in all media: painting (oil, acrylic and watercolor), photography, sculpture, pottery, drawing, paper arts and printmaking.

Also in DC, the Mid City Artists are having their Open Studios on Saturday and Sunday, May 19-20, 2007 from 12 noon - 5 pm.

Fallon and Rosof

A shout out to Philadelphia's uberbloggers Roberta Fallon and Libby Rosof, who will be curating an exhibition of Philly-based artists for the DC region's H&F Fine Arts.

Art-O-Matic Flashback

This video by Tatyana Pokrovskaya brings back the art and artists of the first Art-O-Matic Artomatic, from 1999.

Opportunity for Photographers

Deadline: June 15, 2007

Bethesda Transportation Solutions and Capitol Arts Network presents a photography exhibition at the Washington Gallery of Photography in Bethesda, Maryland, September 14 to October 8, 2007. No entry fee, winner awarded a $500 commission for images to be used by the city in transportation-themed displays.

Images must reflect the theme of traditional transportation to alternative commuting ideas - walking, metrobus, carpooling, subway, work from home, and cars. Jurors: Catriona Fraser of The Fraser Gallery and Missy Loewe of The Washington School of Photography.

Visit this website for more info and entry form.

Opportunity for Artists

Deadline: Monday, June 18, 2007

The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, in collaboration with the Washington Nationals, the DC Sports and Entertainment Commission, and Hellmuth Obata and Kassabaum, P.C., seeks an artist or artist team to design and create a suspended public art installation along the main concourse of the new Washington Nationals baseball stadium. The goal of this public art project is to provide an exciting arts enhancement to the interior of the ballpark while celebrating the spirit of our national pastime. The work will be visible along the main concourse, across the field from Baseball Plaza, and from street level on the south side of the ballpark.

The total budget for the project is $200,000.

Download the Call for Artists at this website or for more information, contact Emily Blumenfeld or Meridith McKinley at art@viapartnership.com or call (314) 664-5902.

Go Nats!

Art Critiques of a Five-Year-Old

Congratulations

To the amazing Molly Springfield, one of the most talented and nicest persons that I know.

Molly is currently having a very successful show in Chicago's Thomas Robertello Gallery, and now has a good review from the Chicago Tribune's chief art critic Alan Artner.

Yay Molly!

P.S. I also have my money on Molly to win the Sondheim Prize.

Mid Atlantic MFA Biennial

As most of you know by now, I am a big supporter of buying student artwork, having started my own career in the arts by selling nearly every single art school assignment that I did as an art student; I sold them all between 1977-1981 at the Pike Place Market in Seattle. Thousands and thousands of them...

And now the Delaware Center for Contemporary Arts will host the MFA Biennial from May 18 through September 9, 2007. This is an exhibition of work created by current regional Masters of Fine Arts students, and includes work by the following MFA candidates:

American University
H. David Waddell

The George Washington University
Sara Hubbs
Diane F. Ramos

Maryland Institute, College of Art
Becky Alprin
Andrew Buckland
Eileen Cubbage
Jacob Fossum
Meaghan Harrison
Rachel Schmidt
Ben Steele
Dominic Terlizzi

Towson University
Dan Keplinger
Gray Lyons

Tyler School of Art, Temple University
Natasha Bowdoin
RJ Gallardo
Laura M. Haight
Chad States
Jacquelyn Strycker

The University of the Arts
Paul DeMarco
Sun Young Kang
Stephanie Stump
Tom Wagner

University of Delaware
Ronald J. Longsdorf
Kyla Zoe Luedtke
Teresa Mikulan

Virginia Commonwealth University
John Henry Blatter and Derek Coté
Anthony Cioe
Brooke Inman
Carmen McLeod
Valerie Molnar
Josh Rodenberg
James Sham
Nanda Soderberg
Erin Colleen Williams
Hyun Kyung Yoon
I'll try to swing by the exhibition and give you my impressions.

Opportunity for Artists

Deadline: June 8, 2007.

The Dumbarton Concert Gallery in DC has a call for artists for art exhibitions for the 2007-2008 season. The Concert Gallery is operated in conjunction with Dumbarton Concerts, a series of chamber and jazz musical performances

The artists's opening occurs in conjunction with a one-night concert performance, with an average of attendance of 350 people. The exhibit stays up for one and a half weeks, during which time the gallery is open by appointment. Artists can submit slides independently or as a group. Decisions are made by a jury. Eight shows will be installed, October 2007 through April 2008. The gallery takes 25% commission on sales. There is a $15 nonrefundable application fee.

Details here.

Supple issues II

As I discussed before, the WCP's Kriston Capps reviewed the "Supple" exhibition at Warehouse Gallery in a recent issue of the CP.

The curator, J.T. Kirkland had some issues with "three inaccuracies in the review, each of which could be damaging to my [Kirkland's] repututation as a curator."

Read Capps' review here.

Read Kirkland's Letter to the WCP Editor here and scroll down to the bottom for Capps' response.

And all of that has now led to an online argument over reporting responsibilities, potential inacuracies, a curator's reputation and a host of other issues and sometimes angry words. Read all of that here.

Don't Miss this Opening in DC

The glass that Washington Glass School co-founder Erwin Timmers uses in the process of creating artwork comes from the least recycled of materials: window glass.

The vast majority of this material comes from the building/demolition sector and is largely disposed of in landfills or used as secondary aggregate. Unlike the glass made specifically for craft and fine arts use, window, or float glass is difficult to remelt, and not much information exists on the properties and annealing temperatures.

As the Washington Glass School becomes more and more of not only a cultural leader, but also a technical innovator in the most technically-challenging of the the fine arts, Timmers has developed new fusing techniques to exploit the characteristics of the recycled tempered glass, and he often works the glass into reconfigured steel housings, including discarded traffic lights.

This work is part of the new movement now emerging that recycles discarded materials into art and some now call it "green" art, and Timmers is one of the leading and earliest practitioners of this "green art movement."

These are not artists who just re-use materials - that has been done for a long time - but artists who are concerned also with environmental and social issues in their themes, apply it through their techniques and it's not just the finished product, but also the process used to create the art. They also work with "green" architects in the process of incorporating artwork into the design of the new green buildings.

Erwin Timmers opens in DC's Studio Gallery with an artist reception on Friday May 25th, 2007 from 6 - 8pm and there's an artist talk on Sunday, June 10th at 3pm. Studio Gallery is the oldest artist owned gallery in Washington, DC.

Nayda Collazo-Llorens at Project 4

Talking about DC's Project 4, last Saturday they opened Navigable Zones by Puerto Rican artist Nayda Collazo-Llorens.

In this site-specific exhibition organized by the super-talented independent curator Laura Roulet, the entire gallery space will be hyper-linked as a multi-media installation.

According to Roulet, "evoking themes of displacement, navigation and language these installations seek to examine Collazo-Llorens's dual cultural existence as a Puerto Rican living and working in the United States. Her paintings, drawings, text and video act as interconnected systems to form a non-linear mindscape. Employing repetition, variation and mapping the work explores the mind's internal systems that perceive, order and remember external environments."

The show goes through June 16, 2007.

Artomatic's last week

As AOM winds down and closes on May 20, I've been thinking about how each AOM seems to serve not only to re-charge the artistic energy of the region, but also manages to pop out an art superstar or two from amongst the masses of artists. I will also finally answer JT Kirkland's question from three years ago.

Artomatic began in 1999 in the historic Manhattan Laundry building in Washington, DC. Around three hundred and fifty artists had cleaned, set up lights, painted and took over the 100,000 square feet space. Over 20,000 visitors attended the first Artomatic over a period of 6 weeks. The uberartist(s) emerging from this first AOM were the Dumbacher Brothers, who went on to showing at Fusebox Gallery and others around the country, as well as exhibiting at the Corcoran.

In 2000, 665 artists exhibited and 200 others performed at the old Hechinger’s building as AOM returned bigger and attracted more visitors. The name that emerged from that second Artomatic was Tim Tate, who went on to show many times at Fraser Gallery, open the Washington Glass School (now the nation's second largest warm glass school), start a whole new movement in glass, and place his work in a multitude of museums.

In 2002 more than 1000 artists and performers took part at the 3rd AOM at the Southwest Waterfront Building. M. Jordan Tierney's gorgeous installation began to propel her towards her current success, including exhibitions at the NMWA and many galleries

Even more artists participated in 2004 at the old Capitol Children’s Museum in Northeast DC. Both Kelly Towles and Kathryn Cornelius jumped out of that AOM, but the true superstar artist from that show was Frank Warren of Postsecret. By then, around 40,000 visitors were checking out AOM.

So who will be the emerging artstar from the current Artomatic?

My money is on Laurel Lukaszewski, already represented in the DC area by Project 4 Gallery.

Only time will tell, but buy her work now.

Make the time

To swing by the Distric of Columbia Arts Center in DC and see Ian and Jan: The Undiscovered Duo, A Secret History of the Washington Body School, featuring Jeffry Cudlin and Meg Mitchell.

In the video, Cudlin and Mitchell stage an art historical intervention, weaving an alternative history for Washington art. Cudlin and Mitchell mount a retrospective for their alter egos, Ian and Jan — a fictitious husband-and-wife performance art duo.

According to the exhibition’s premise, "Ian and Jan led the Washington Body School , a group that, in the late ‘60s and ‘70s, exhibited their body art alongside the work of prominent Washington abstract painters.

Ian and Jan: The Washington Body School provides humorous commentary on Washington ’s cultural legacy, on revisionist art historical agendas, and on gender bias and power politics in the arts. The show includes photographs, drawings, props, and videos of the couple in action."

Through June 3, 2007.

New addition

I swung by the IV Annual Bethesda Fine Arts Festival yesterday for a little bit and picked up two works of art - one is a gift and one will be a new addition to the collection.

There are some suberb artists out there as well as some really high end crafts. The festival goes through 5PM today.

Consultants

Why some art collectors hire consultants... read it here.

A Lesson?

There's a lesson to be learned here.

Wanna go to an opening in DC tomorrow?

Opening this Saturday, May 12, 2007 in a couple of DC art venues: "Big in Japan," a cross-town collaborative exhibition between Transformer and Shigeko Bork Mu Project.

Opening Receptions: Transformer - Saturday, May 12, 7 to 9 pm and Shigeko Bork Mu Project - Saturday, May 12, 5 to 8 pm.

Exploring the duality in Japanese art today, Transformer is partnering with Shigeko Bork Mu Project to present "Big in Japan" a cross-town collaborative exhibition featuring a diverse array of contemporary Japanese artists who interpret and respond to the tradition and popular culture of Japan.

Transformer has Not Only A, But Also B - featuring work by Aki Goto, Misaki Kawai, Chikara Matsumoto, Kazuyuki Takezaki, and Soju Tao, each channeling the tensions affecting a new generation of contemporary artists in Japan. Not only A, But Also B is guest-curated by Atsuko Ninagawa.

Shigeko Bork Mu ProjectMeditation Rooms featuring Yumi Kori and Shinji Turner-Yamamoto, whose works uniquely incorporate ancient Japanese tradition and contemporary culture.

Visits

April was a record-breaking month for Mid Atlantic Art News with nearly 80,000 visits, which by many politico blogs standards is piddly numbers, but for a visual arts blog dedicated generally to a specific region is pretty good (I think), and further makes me think that we're doing something right.

Thank you and keep 'em coming!

Newhall on Sam Gilliam and "Post Painterly Abstraction"

The Inky's Edith Newhall reviews "Post Painterly Abstraction" at Locks Gallery, and also DC's Sam Gilliam at Sande Webster Gallery.

Read her review here.

Wanna go to a Baltimore opening tomorrow?

Touchet Gallery has an opening tomorrow, Friday, May 11, for their new erotic art exhibition which is titled "Uninhibited."

The exhibit features the works of Austin artist Ray Donley, Larry Scott, the Baltimore City Paper’s 2005 Best Visual Artist and Philly sculptor Christopher Smith.

Opening reception: May 11, 6-9pm and then there's an after-party at Koopers Tavern in Fells Point.

Wanna go to a DC area opening tomorrow?

"Trio: three artists, one show" featuring work by Azeb Zekiros, Amy Kincaid, Kendra Denny and running May 11 — May 31, 2007 has an opening reception on Friday, May 11, 6:30 to 9:00 pm at Artful Gallery located at 1349 Maryland Ave, NE, Washington, DC 20002.

Also of note, at Touchstone Gallery in the District, Ellyn Weiss and Rima Schulkind have an opening on Friday, May 11th from 6:00 to 8:30 pm.

Or you can also swing by Bethesda and do the Art Walk (or take the free mini bus ride) and see about a dozen openings and shows in one walk-through. Details here. There's also a free guided tour that starts at 6:30PM - Details here.

Mark your calendar

There's a ton of art events happening this weekend, but certainly one not to miss and taking place on the Bethesda streets is the IV Annual Bethesda Fine Arts Festival. Nearly 130 artists from all over the country, music and food.

This really cool (and free) outdoors fine arts event will take place on Auburn and Norfolk Avenues in the Woodmont Triange of Bethesda, MD. The event is located six blocks from the Bethesda Metro station and is near several public parking garages where visitors can park for free on Saturdays and Sundays. Last year around 40,000 of your fellow Washingtonians and suburbian kinfolk showed up and bought a ton of artwork, so make plans to visit the fair.

Artists, restaurants, directions, details and photos here. Saturday, May 12 - 10am-6pm and Sunday, May 13 - 10am-5pm.

Go and buy some art!

Wanna go to some Philly openings tomorrow?

Friday is the city's ever growing Second Fridays gallery openings and extended hours. Swing by Seeber Fine Arts for recent paintings and drawings by Rachel Bomze. Opening is from 5-9PM.

The Sun on Probst

It tells you something about DC's daily newspapers when an out-of-town newspaper has better coverage of an exceptional DC gallery show than the local daily rags.

Granted, the Sun's art critic Glenn McNatt is also a photographer and thus has a deep interest in photography shows. His review of Barbara Probst at G Fine Arts in DC is good, but it also makes us sigh because it is rare when a DC-based newspaper gives the same kind of attention to a local DC gallery that McNatt gives G Fine Art's superb exhibition.

And granted, I suspect that Baltimore galleries probably get a little ticked off when their hometown paper's chief art critic goes to another city to review a gallery show.

But the point is that a DC gallery show attracts the attention of a critic from another city's major newspaper while it is essentially ignored by DC's own comatose daily newsmedia.

Good thing we have the CP.

No Representation at Warehouse

Closing this Saturday, May 12 Just extended through June 9, 2007 is one of those shows that makes the Warehouse Galleries and Theatre complex such a key member of the DC art scene.

Curated by Molly Ruppert, Sondra Arkin, Ellyn Weiss and Philippa P.B. Hughes, "No Representation" is as close as any show can come to deliver a powerful mini survey of DC area artists working the abstract genre of art.

Spread through three of the Warehouse's warren of art spaces, the exhibition is a treat to the eyes in its successes and a quick glance in its failures. It is also next to the two galleries hosting the "Supple" exhibition, as by now everyone in the DC area knows that the Warehouse came to the rescue of that show when its initial venue backed out at the last minute.

The unexpected juxtapositioning of "Supple" and "No Representation" works for me. In fact, had there not been a sign declaring the name difference between the two shows, I'd challenge anyone not to flow from gallery to gallery and not think that it was not a single show.

But I digress; back to "No Representation."

I've been following the work of Rex Weil for many years, usually through his inclusion in many of the old Gallery K's shows. For the most part I've always remained distant and mostly uninterested in Weil's works.

Until this show.

His piece "Black Stars a/k/a You Are Here" (oil and enamel on wood and a steal at $2,500) finally grabbed my attention. "The dark areas take out all the romance out of this beautiful painting," said the woman who was in the gallery looking at the work, almost hypnotized by it.


They do. Weil's work is a visceral work that enters that realm where the eyes can't stop examining and wandering all over it many surfaces, spills, finger tracks, accidents. And the black areas that so attracted the visitor purposefully work to herd the composition and sidetrack and bend the viewing in a way that they do erase the beauty out of the painting and in an unexpected way make it more sophisticated and bleak and ultimately one of the most successful abstract works that I have seen in a long time.

I also liked Anita Walsh's "Living Drawing 5x5" (rubber, birch and brass on plywood), and Andres Tremols' "Untitled Blue Form" (archival digital print on paper), a gorgeous work where beauty works like it is supposed to, in a blazing display of Tremols' logical progression from working in glass to taking the glass imagery to a two dimensional plane.



Finally, in the Cafe gallery, the stand-out piece by far was Janis Goodman's "Wedge, Low Tide" (graphite on paper). As most of you know, I have a particular soft spot for good drawings, and this piece exemplifies all that is good about drawing, especially when executed in the hands of a talented artist. In fact, more often than not, dig a little into the record of a bad painter, and you'll find an artist with minimal drawing skills.


But Goodman flexes her artistic muscles in this drawing, showing the sensuality of the simplest of art materials - graphite and paper - to deliver a complex and elegant composition that is organic and somehow sexual, perhaps like the after results of a wet, lapping ocean.

Other stand-outs in the show were the deceptively complex text rearrangements of Mark Cameron Boyd, the mixed media pieces of Pat Goslee, and many others.

The last day to see "No Representation" is May 12 June 9, 2007.