VB 2009

The Venice Biennale has named Daniel Birnbaum, the rector of the Staedelschule International Art Academy in Frankfurt, to curate its 2009 show.

"Birnbaum, born in Stockholm in 1963, was responsible for the Moscow biennial as well as exhibitions at the Pompidou Center in Paris and at London's Serpentine Gallery. He is a contributing editor to Artforum magazine in New York and writes critical essays for catalogs." Read the Bloomberg report here.

Common Waters: An Ocean Apart

Common Waters: An Ocean Apart opens tonight with an grand opening reception from 6-9PM at Mayer Fine Art in Norfolk, Virginia. This is a brand new gallery in a beautiful setting in Norfolk's Waterside building.

I curated this show, which features work by four leading Cuban artists: Marta Maria Perez Bravo, Sandra Ramos, Aimee Garcia Marrero and Cirenaica Moreira.

The show was hung last night and it looks beautiful, but it almost didn't happen at the last minute, as tragedy was barely avoided when the gallery owner was rushed to emergency because she badly cut her face with a piece of broken glass. The glass edge was jammed against her face and cut her all the way through to her mouth.

She's a trooper though! After a few hours in emergency, and a ton of stitches later, she came back to the gallery and finished hanging the show.

If you're in Norfolk tonight, come and say hi!

Opportunity for artists

Deadline: May 5, 2008

Wanna sell your landscape? 4Culture is seeking to acquire wall-mounted landscape works that use color(paintings, prints, photographs, drawings, etc.) for the Harborview Medical Center Collection, part of the King County Public Art Collection in Seattle.

The subject matter for this call must be the essence of landscape, whether represented realistically or abstractly. These works will be on display throughout the public spaces of the new Norm Maleng Building, a multi-story facility that houses operating rooms, acute care, rehabilitation, and clinic facilities, along with their associated waiting areas. An overall budget of $80,000 has been designated to purchase artwork. National artists who would like their work considered for purchase must submit images of existing available artwork for the panel's review. The maximum value of individual works should be $3500. A maximum height or width of 36" and a maximum depth of 3" for the artwork is specified. All artworks will be purchased unframed.

For a complete prospectus, visit this website. For more information: email Greg Bell at greg.bell@4culture.org

Save the Date: Gallery Grand Opening in DC

On Friday, May 9th from 5:30-8PM, the Healing Arts Gallery at Smith Farm Center will have its grand opening at 1632 U Street NW in DC. More on the gallery's mission later...

Out of Order Picks

By the time I showed up to the Maryland Art Place to drop my piece for "Out of Order" I was number 299, so by 6:22PM there were already almost three hundred pieces on the walls, and as I mentioned yesterday I jotted down a few exceptional pieces.

So from the first 300 artists in this massive open show, my top pick went to number 136 by Gilden Bransky! A close second, or perhaps sharing top spot is Anthony Terranova's amazing steel jacket (#76).

I also quite liked a cool little nude by #199, Jan Friedlander, and also Palma Allen (#100) multiple nude.

Really good work by number 155, Lauren Simonutti.

A really brilliant work by Hadieh Shafie (#42) which reminded me of the Arabic poems that cover most of the walls of the Alhambra pops in as a good challenger for Best in Show.

Balage's (#92) gorgeous painting of Joan of Arc (I think) is one of the best paintings in MAP, as is Patrick Kluga's painting of tomatoes (sorry but I cannot decipher the number from my notes).

Another really well done oil is Zachary Thornton's oil portrait (#111), although Thornton got a little lazy with the hands.

And Rosetta DeBernardinis (#198) is her usual fresh and powerful work, which is the polar opposite of another favorite, David Wilson's airbrush (I think) at #160.

And how could I not pick Alexa Brooks' evocative piece of the subject of Cuba? It is number 294!

The Silent Auction and Gala is at 8PM, this coming Friday, April 11, 2008. Go buy some artwork!

Beyond the Easel

Beyond the Easel: Preparing to Market and Sell Your Art
Date: Saturday, May 3, 2008
Time: 10am-6pm
Location: Warehouse Arts Complex in Washington, DC

Instructor: Rosetta DeBerardinis, School 33 Resident Studio Artist, Liquitex Artist of the Month: 2007, contributor to Daily Campello Art News, former Art Tour Guide, and abstract painter whose work has been exhibited and sold at commercial galleries and art venues in the Washington metro area, Baltimore and Richmond, VA.

This course is designed for professional artists who approach art as a business.
Defining goals, identifying the market, the studio, developing a body of work, marketing tools, promotion, the Internet, galleries and other venues are some of the topics to be discussed. It will provide the basic organizational and marketing skills required to exhibit and sell artwork.

Limit: 45 Students
Students are required to bring notebook and a writing instrument.
Cost: $50

Questions may be directed to: RosettaGallery@aol.com

Wanna go to an opening in Bethesda?

Joan Danziger opens at Bethesda's Osuna Gallery on Saturday, April 12, 2008, from 5-8 pm with an exhibition of recent sculptures.

Jury Duty

Tomorrow I will be on art jury duty for VSA arts, looking at entries inspired by the performing arts for “Derivative Composition,” an international juried art exhibition that will be on display at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., from May 29 - July 20, 2008.

Two-and three-dimensional art, digital art, installations, video and film, and other media that draw inspiration from music, theater, or dance are to be judged.

More on all of that later...

Deadhead Wading

Earlier tonight, after spending hours on a clogged up I-95 drive from Philly, I arrived in Baltimore, parked for 61 minutes (cost me $13 bucks), then I waded my way through a couple of hundred deadheads hanging around the plaza where the beautiful spaces of the Maryland Art Place is located in Baltimore to drop my piece for "Out of Order," where MAP opens its doors to any artist who wishes to exhibit their work in their gallery. Work must be original and ready to hang. They will accept one piece per artist, with wall dimensions not to exceed 5’x5’. They will be open all night accepting work.

Details here.

I was number 299, so by 6:22PM there were already almost three hundred pieces on the walls, and I jotted down a few exceptional pieces, which I had intended to mention, but which I left in my van, which then some valet in the DC hotel where I am tonight already parked somewhere and thus you will all have to wait until tomorrow to find out who the real good finds in this auction are, and there are some terrific pieces of art being offered.

The Silent Auction and Gala is at 8PM, this coming Friday, April 11, 2008.

Out of Order

MAP’s infamous free-hung benefit exhibition is back! For twenty-four hours, the Maryland Art Place in Baltimore will open its doors to any artist who wishes to exhibit their work in their gallery. Work must be original and ready to hang. They will accept one piece per artist, with wall dimensions not to exceed 5’x5’.

Details here.

It keeps on rolling

The year 2008 Tim Tatetahon just keeps rolling... fresh from the Washington Glass School opening at Charlottesville's Migrations Gallery, Tate now opens a solo show and makes his Santa Fe debut with an exhibition at Jane Sauer Gallery titled "The Vague Haze of the Unconscious" and opening on on April 11 and running through May 6, 2008.

Opening at Migrations Gallery
Next: Philadelphia.

SF Art Institute halts exhibition

Citing threats of violence by animal rights activists, the San Francisco Art Institute said Saturday that it is canceling a controversial exhibition that included video clips of animals being bludgeoned to death, as well as a public forum it had scheduled to address the controversy.

Read the story here.

A Miami mural of Barack Obama generates some buzz

In a weird way - since we all are supposed to want to be governed and taken care of by big government and its inherent burocracy - this makes sense.

Read the Miami Herald story here.

It's all about the galleries

The current issue of Washingtonian magazine publishes something that it should have done ages ago: a superb article on the Greater DC area galleries by the CP's cappo-di-tutti-criticos Cristiano Cappo.

Read the article by Capps here.

Wanna go to an opening in New Jersey?

Greg Minah, who a few years ago made it to quite a few of the Art-O-Matic Top Ten lists that I ran, is having a solo show at Fusion Gallery in Collingswood, NJ about 10 minutes outside Philly.

The show is open now, and the artist reception is being held on April 12th (Second Saturday) from 6 - 10pm and the show runs through May 4, 2008.

Yay!

This just won a Pulitzer Prize and it is a good read - read it here.

Amy Lin at the Art League

Amy Lin's solo show "Interaction" opens this Thursday, April 10 from 6:30-8pm at the Art League Gallery in Alexandria, Virginia.

"Interaction" involves a blending of arts and sciences, but surprisingly, the blend isn't related to Amy's degree in chemical engineering - it relates to her childhood experiences with her Mom, who was a professor at the university doing research in human genetics. Each of the drawings in the show is inspired by a memory from her childhood in the biology labs. Amy is now represented by Heineman Myers Contemporary Art in Bethesda, MD, but some of us recall that she originally got her start at the Art League Gallery.

In the December 2005 Art League Gallery show, Lin was given an award by Anne Collins Goodyear, from the National Portrait Gallery, and it was there that I first saw her work and mentioned it in a review that I wrote for the Crier Media newspapers.

Since then her career and presence have taken out at an astounding pace, with enviable critical coverage in the press and a very hot sales trail.

Lin's drawings at the Art League appear courtesy of Heineman Myers, as "Interaction" was scheduled two years ago before she had signed with Heineman Myers.

"Sacrifice" 45x55 inches, colored pencil c.2008 by Amy Lin
Read DCist's Amy Cavanaugh's interview Lin here.

Buy Amy Lin now.

It's not a good time to be an art critic

It's not a good time to be an art critic. Much of what's written is pale. It is weak and descriptive to no purpose. Or at the other extreme it is pure jargon, laughable if read aloud to the uninitiated. Junk. In fact, if art critics actually believed that anything we said or wrote mattered, we would probably be shooting ourselves in droves.

Read Morgan Meis' really good article here... and if you don't even want to waste a few seconds to click onto the link... read some more:

Even a knowledge of art history antique and contemporary won't help you much. These days art isn't an insiders game so much as a contest in private languages. The artists are often working in their own heads and they don't feel much compulsion to translate.

This puts the critic and the curator in a hilarious position. Stripped of most of our authority, we fall back on tortured syntax and dubious vocabulary in order merely to say, in essence, that it is tough to talk about art these days. Here's a typical sentence from the Biennial catalog: "Charles Long's interest in opposing formal and metaphysical forces informs a complex sculptural lexicon marked by radical stylistic shifts that are difficult to categorize."

The simple translation of this sentence: "Help, I don't really know what Charles Long is doing or why."

Read it here.

Adopt a work of art

The Fine Art Adoption Network (FAAN) is an online network of artists, which uses a gift economy to connect artists and potential collectors.

All of the artworks on view on the site are available for adoption. This means acquiring an artwork without purchasing it, through an arrangement between the artist and collector. Their goal is to help increase and diversify the population of art owners and to offer artists new means for engaging their audience.

Visit them here.

Heartworks Online: Let the Bidding Begin

Nearly 100 contemporary artists from throughout the United States, and London and Paris, are now contributing work and performances for “HeartWorks, a unique, week-long Philadelphia event featuring music, video art, performance art and an exhibition of approximately 100 works of art, including painting, sculpture, glass, photography, jewelry, hats and more.

HeartWorks opens on Friday, April 18, 2008 at Johnny Brenda’s, 1201 Frankford Avenue and continues Saturday, April 19 through Saturday, April 26, 2008 in the Ice Box Project Space at the Crane Building, 1400 N. American Street. Tickets ranging from $10 - $125 are available at 215.546.7824; online at www.inliquid.com/heartworks; or at the Wilma Theatre Box Office, 265 South Broad Street. HeartWorks’ closing event on April 26 is a benefit and art auction for the Mazzoni Center, a Philadelphia health agency serving the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender community, specializing in HIV treatment and care.

Curator Christopher Veit (who is from my new hometown of Media, PA) credits the Mazzoni Center with saving his life and is taking the words of his mentor Pierson – “you only get back what you put out in life” – to heart in creating “HeartWorks.”

Veit, whom I met a few weeks ago and is an amazing Rennaissance man, has decided to give the place and people who helped him get well a benefit of works and performances donated by his friends. All proceeds will support the Center. Lifestyle Magazine is a major sponsor for “HeartWorks.”

Some of the artists contributing to “HeartWorks” include painters Elyce Abrams, Dave Bond, Anthony Campuzano, Jeff Elrod, Daniel Gonzalez, Robert Gutierrez, Ian Hokin, Pearl C Hsiung, Jackadandy, Michael Lazarus, Isaac Lin, Jay Schuette, Jeni Spota, Thaddeus Strode, Hiroshi Sunairi and Henry Taylor; sculptors Paul Lee and Jason Meadows; photographers Karl Hahn and Mary Pinto; mixed-media artists Shari Elf, Mark X Farina, Adam Helms, Thom Merrick, Sandeep Mukherjee, Michele O' Marah, Randy Polumbo and John Williams; fashion designers Paul Bernstock, Michael Costiff, Bettina Hubby and Thelma Speirs; jewelry designers Annie Costello Brown and Mikal Winn; video artists and filmmakers Zaina Alwan, who also creates murals, Tom Borgese, Paul Slocum, Jack Sloss and Kim Stringfellow; performance artists David M. Jones, Ann Magnuson, Kelly Marie Martin and Khembra Pfhaler; musician Chad Brown; and Ellie Greenwood, Gia Grosso, Tim Jackson, Daniel McDonald, Ji Shin and Lisa Sitko and yours truly! See all the artists here.

Mazzoni Center focuses on the healthcare needs of Philadelphia’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities, and specializes in the treatment and care of HIV / AIDS. For more information regarding Mazzoni Center, go to www.mazzonicenter.org.

You can view the art auction and bid on the artwork here and you can bid on my donation, a charcoal drawing titled "Superman Flying Naked" here. It is a charcoal drawing, 9x13 inches matted and framed to 16x20 inches.

Artists' Talks: Cara Ober

Randall Scott Gallery in DC has special Saturday afternoon discussion featuring Kriston Capps, Brandon Fortune and Cara Ober discussing Cara Ober's new work, and whatever else pops into their heads.

Saturday, April 5th, 5pm to 6:30PM.

Philly opening tomorrow

Florence Putterman “Noir et Blanc” and Elizabeth Bisbing “People / Places / Paper” open tomorrow in Philadelphia's Projects Gallery.

This is the second solo exhibition of Florence Putterman at Projects. Known for her textural paintings and bold, earthy colors, Noir et Blanc features works in only black and white, focusing the exhibition on Putterman’s keen image-making. In Projects Room they also will present Elizabeth Bisbing in her first Philadelphia solo exhibition entitled "People / Places / Paper."

Both open First Friday, April 4th with an artist reception from 5-8 p.m. and continues through March 26, 2008.

Virginians at ComicCon

Greater DC area artists Carolyn Belefski and Joe Carabeo will appear in Artist Alley at New York ComicCon on April 18-20, 2008. Artist Alley is a special exhibitor space forprofessional artists to display and sell their work.

NYCC will take place April 18-20 at the Jacob K. Javits Center in New York City and will host more than 400 exhibitors, hundreds of artists and over 150 special events.

Opening in Richmond tomorrow

Claire Watkins (kinetic sculpture, drawings), Joe Deroche (mixed media paintings and Rosana Barragan (performance) open tomorrow at Transmission in Richmond, VA. Performaces by Rosana Barragan will occur on the opening night at 8 and 9pm and the show runs April 4-26, 2008. The opening reception is from 7-10PM. Transmission is at 321 Brook Rd. (between Broad and Marshall St.) in Richmond, VA.

Watkins is one of the most talented artists that I have seen in quite a while. She has written about her work:

'The digestive system turns food into eyelashes. I am in awe of the minutiae and delicate actions that make up everyday life.

The machines I build reflect this awe and wonder. My work is intimate, curious and mesmerizing in its gestures. The translation of energy is both a functional and conceptual part of my work...With movement, I make machines that become creatures. I am fascinated by systems found within the body and the parallel structures located outside of it; the human brain and circuit boards, nerve systems and trees. How is the brain a computer and how is it an electrical storm?

The affects of electricity are curious. Neurons fire in your head with the memories of your life. Your toast gets burned. Electricity has a visual presence in my work, traveling through motors, lights, wires microcontrollers and drawings that are circuit boards. I want to expose the invisibility of electricity, a physical reminder of its presence.'

Closing on Sunday

Eric Finzi's terrific solo "My Double Life: musings on Sarah Bernhardt" at Heineman Myers Gallery in Bethesda closes on Sunday; don't miss this show!

Philadelphia Airport

It continues to perplex me how bad Philadelphia Airport is and how spoiled I was when living in the Dc area to have choices of airports and such a well-oiled machine in BWI or Dulles, or even Reagan National.

Of the dozens of flights that I have taken out of this airport in the last couple of years, one has left on time, and I have heard the most amazing excuses for delays, including one where someone forgot to charge a plane's batteries overnight.

This major airport also lacks a cell phone wait area, and as a result, cars double park on the offramp from I-95 - a rather dangerous and illegal issue.

And there seems to be a lack of electrical outlets, a serious issue in this age of laptops.

This airport sucks.

Denver to Launch Biennial of the Americas

In the historic tradition of Venice and Sao Paolo, the world's newest international contemporary art biennial is coming to Denver, Colorado.

Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper announced the city has received a $2 million grant from the Colorado-based Boettcher Foundation to help launch the Mile High City's inaugural Biennial of the Americas. Scheduled for the summer of 2010, the two-month-long curated event will be a celebration of contemporary art and ideas from throughout the Americas. The Biennial will feature two major cultural exhibitions, one focusing on the contemporary arts of the Americas and a secondary program, an "ideas pavilion," that will explore themes ranging from science to urban planning. Each program will be led by a respected curator.

Read all about it here.

Trouble in Reston

Bailey reports that there's art trouble in Reston, Virginia as Linda Hesh's "Stop The Conflict" posters that are part of the "Conflict" exhibition at the Greater Reston Arts Center and which were placed around Reston Town Center yesterday by GRACE staff have been ripped down and torn up.

Details and images here.

Update: GRACE sent out this note to the "Conflict" artists:

Dear Artists,

We would like you to have the correct information about an incident related to the exhibition.

As many of you know, Linda Hesh’s posters saying STOP THE CONFLICT have been torn down from the construction fence across from GRACE. Our director, John Alciati and I have met the individual and talked with him about why he has done this. (He torn them down twice) He claims to be working for the company that owns the fence and says that he was directed to do this. The fence is owned by the development company, Kettler, who has given us permission to use it to promote our exhibitions. In the fall we used the fence without incident for over 2 months with posters about FLOW: The Landscape of Migration.

We do not know this person’s motivation and we do not know who he really works for but we will try to gather more information. He does not work for the property management company and he does not work for Reston Town Center. Please do not say that he is a town employee. We are not sure who his employer is.

In the interest of dialogue we prefer to not make assumptions about this individual. On one positive note, during the second encounter he did tell John that he knew our intentions were good. Let’s not make assumptions about his intentions until we have further conversations with him.

We look forward to a wonderful opening tomorrow night. The show is fine testimony to your integrity as artists and your courage to speak the truth.

Best wishes,

Joanne Bauer
Exhibitions Director
Greater Reston Arts Center

Airborne again



Heading to Boston to do a studio visit here. More later...

Plein Air Easton

Just four years ago Plein Air Easton got started as artists worldwide have begun to return to painting in the Plein Air style, and once again, as they did in 19th century Europe, are leaving their studios to paint and draw outside... on roadsides, on the beach, on top of mountains, in their gardens and yards, and even in city streets to capture landscapes, still lifes, figures and architecture in their natural elements.

I think that the resurgence of this movement, much like it happened in Europe in the 19th century, may be a reaction to the overwhelming presence of technology in our daily lives.

The festival goes from Monday, July 21 - Sunday, July 27, 7:00am-5pm... but there are tons of associated events in the gorgeous and tiny Maryland seaside village. All the details are here.

Artists' Talks: Bethesda, MD

On Saturday, April 5th, Marie Ringwald's really cool Neptune exhibit (I saw it recently through the gallery windows) ends with an artist’s talk at 5 PM.

There are some nice installation shots here.

Fair Report: Arteaméricas 2008

I hear that Arteaméricas 2008, the sixth edition of this international art fair focusing on Latin American Art broke all kinds of sales records.

Miami's Cernuda Arte, which focuses on vintage and some contemporary Cuban art had total sales that surpassed 800,000 dollars, including a landscape painting by Tomás Sánchez, a Wifredo Lam oil on canvas, and works by René Portocarrero, Mariano Rodríguez, among other Cuban masters and contemporary artists.

Tomah High School District... tsk, tsk

Time for this Wisconsin High School to be embarrassed nationally:

A Tomah High School student has filed a federal lawsuit alleging his art teacher censored his drawing because it featured a cross and a biblical reference.

The lawsuit alleges other students were allowed to draw "demonic" images and asks a judge to declare a class policy prohibiting religion in art unconstitutional.

"We hear so much today about tolerance," said David Cortman, an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian legal advocacy group representing the student. "But where is the tolerance for religious beliefs? The whole purpose of art is to reflect your own personal experience. To tell a student his religious beliefs can legally be censored sends the wrong message."

Read the AP story here and read the complaint here.

Here is the offending drawing:

If there's actually a class policy "prohibiting religion in art" that worries me a lot; does that policy extend to the teaching of art and art history? If so that would leave out most of the ground floors of most of the planet's art history and several floors and the basement of art itself.

What a stupid, narrow-minded, ignorant, barbaric policy! What sort of troglodytes are these policymakers? (My apologies to Cavemen/women everywhere).

It gets worse... apparently the below two drawings got a passing grade.


and


I think that all three of these works - as art - are pretty bad and pretty much what one would expect out of your typical High School student.

I also think that perhaps the art school teacher - or whoever made the decision to censor and fail the first drawing - must have skipped his or her Sunday School classes, or his religion classes in college, for aren't devils and demons also religious art?

They are aren't they?

Satan in his many names and incarnations and depictions (of which the above two are truly bad, especially the one in which he sorta looks like Gene Simmons from KISS) are also part of multiple religions, including playing a major, Oscar-winning role in Judeo-Christian religion.

So why were the depictions of Lucifer OK under the school's idiotic prohibition of religion in art, but not the one incorporating both Christian imagery and text into the artwork?

The case can be made that all three pieces could come from Biblical references - in fact, they almost look like they could have come from the same artist, don't they?

I am sure that they don't, but you get my point.

It leads one to wondering to what would have happened if the student had used his average art skills to depict something from the old Norse pantheon, or from Buddhism, or Native American beliefs, or God forbid (pun intended) from Islam?

Nothing probably, as I suspect that since the average member of the Tomah High School Art Censorship Board seems to have skipped "World Religions 101" in their educational background, a crude drawing of Loki would have received a pass in this class rather than a fail for depicting religion in art.

What else or specifically is prohibited in art classes at this High School? According to the lawsuit: "violence, blood, sexual connotations or religious belief." Also "drugs, gangs or religious symbols." Also according to the lawsuit (see page 13), there is apparently a host of other religious artwork by students floating around this High School's halls and walls.

This makes my head hurt...

Also in C'ville

Rob Tarbell's "No Mirrors: new smoke work" opens in Charlottesville's Les Yeux du Monde Gallery this coming Friday April 4th, 5:30 - 7:30 pm.

Questioning Jasper Johns

Read Robert Zaller's essay on Jasper Johns' place in American art history here.

WGS opens in Charlottesville

Erwin Timmers, Michael Janis and Tim Tate, the driving forces behind the Washington Glass School make their debut in Charlottesville this coming Friday, April 4, 2008 at C'ville's leading gallery, Migrations. The opening reception is from 5:30pm - 8pm.

"Synchrony" Opens at Delaplaine Center‏

"Synchrony," a sculptural installation by Workingman Collective, will be on exhibition from April 5-27 at The Delaplaine Visual Arts Education Center in downtown Frederick, MD.

This motion-driven installation will be created by regionally-known artists, Tom Ashcraft, Janis Goodman, and Peter Winant, who make up the Collective. Goodman and Winant appear on the WETA program "Around Town."

Cuban Art: Four Key Women Artists


This is the poster for the grand opening of a new fine arts gallery in Norfolk, Virginia, Mayer Fine Art, which opens on April 12, 2008 with an exhibition curated by yours truly.

For Mayer Fine Art I selected the work of four of the leading contemporary Cuban artists in the world: Sandra Ramos, Aimee Garcia Marrero, Cirenaica Moreira (all of whom live and work in Havana) and Marta Maria Perez Bravo, who currently resides in Mexico, where she teaches.

"Maleficio" by Marta Maria Perez Bravo
Much like Migrations did for Charlottesville, I think that Mayer Fine Art will go a long way to put the Tidewater area on the fine arts map from an independent commercial fine arts gallery perspective.


"La Libertad es una palabra enorme" [Freedom is a huge word] by Cirenaica Moreira
More on the exhibition and the trails and tribulations and expenses of getting contemporary Cuban artwork -- especially the kind not vetted nor approved by the Cuban dictatorship -- on American soil later...

Daphne

"Daphne," charcoal on paper, c.2008 by F. Lennox Campello, 7x10 inches
Read the myth of Daphne here.

Exhale

If the Armory Show was supposed to be a test of how the art market was faring amid tumultuous finan­cial markets, initial results revealed that the fair more than passed—and exceeded the expectations of many of the more jittery dealers.

Now that many have made sales, dealers readily admit that they arrived on Pier 94 with butterflies in their stomachs. “If I had applied two weeks ago instead of a year ago, I wouldn’t have come,” said Andreas Brändström of Brändström & Stene (118) in Stockholm. “The collapse of Bear Stearns is a huge issue in Europe,” he said. But by the second day, he said: “My sales are even better than last year’s.”

Read the whole article from the Art Newspaper here.

Conflict Opens at GRACE



Six artists using conflict as a catalyst open at the Greater Reston Arts Center in Reston, VA this Friday: James W. Bailey, Aylene Fallah, Judith Forst, Linda Hesh, Carolina Mayorga and Matt Ravenstahl.

Opening Reception: Friday April 4, 6 -8 pmand Artists' Perspective Thursday April, 10 7pm. Exhibition: April 4 - May 3, 2008.

Artists' Interviews: Cara Ober

DCist's Amy Cavanaugh has an excellent interview with Baltimore artist Cara Ober. Read the interview here.

Curiously though, and unusual for DCist, comments are not enabled for this interview?

Update: DCist tells me that "Comments are never enabled on our interviews, out of respect for the person who granted us their time." Makes sense to me!

Henderson & Taylor Open in Alexandria

Sofia Silva opens in Baltimore

Kirkland on Kehinde Wiley

JT on Kehinde Wiley at the SAAM/Portrait Gallery's Hip Hop show. Read it here.

Arts on a Budget

The Washington Post's Dan Zak pops in with a really interesting article on collecting artwork on a budget; read it here.

My best deal ever? I bought about four small original Ben Tolman paintings a few years ago at DCAC's annual "Wall Mountables" show for about $20 a piece.

Money makes the art world go 'round?

"You can whack them with a shovel. You can shoot them, poison, stab or throttle them. You can threaten their families and you can hound them in the press; you can put them down any way you like, but some artists refuse to stay down. What does this tell us? That artists are the undead? Or, worse, that criticism is in crisis?

At almost every international art fair over the past few years, there has been a panel discussion about the crisis in art criticism. I have found myself talking about the topic in London, Madrid, Berlin and Miami. Wherever critics are paid to gather (you wouldn't catch us in the same room otherwise), they go on about the crisis. These debates have become an occupational hazard - but they also pay well. If I had known there was money in it, I would have invented a crisis myself."

Has big money replaced the art critic as the true authority in the art world?

Read this very interesting article by The Guardian's Adrian Searle here... and then read this clever piece by blogger Alex Needham here.

Artomatic Registration Now Open

Registration for AOM visual and performing artists is now open. Click here to register and reserve your space.

Wanna hang around with some sculptors in DC?

The Washington Sculptors Group invites you to join them to meet and chat with fellow sculptors and sculpture lovers on the last Monday of every month at 6:00 PM (March 31, April 28th, May 26th, June 30th etc.).

Meetings take place at Gordon Biersch Restaurant in DC.

Artists Interviews: Doris Colbert Kennedy