Just back from a visit to Penn State. While there I visited the Palmer Museum and saw a small but very interesting exhibition: Through the Looking Glass: Women and Self-Representation in Contemporary Art. Also saw the faculty exhibition at the Zoller Gallery.
Thursday, October 30, 2003
Tuesday, October 28, 2003
Isla Torturada
When I was a student at the University of Washington in lovely Seattle, I was going for a double degree. One was in Mathematics (Numerical Analysis) and the other in Art. Both degrees were part of the College of Arts and Sciences - so together they shared a lot of common courses.
Because of the heavy load, I often did art projects which could be used in two separate classes (drawing with sculptural elements, etc.) In 1980 I did 100 lithographs - mostly fairly small... around 5x7 inches - they all had the island of Cuba as the central focus, and each was an individually hand-colored and done differently - so each one was unique.
I sold most of them at the Pike Place Market in Seattle, and a to one fellow student (the only other Cuban American whom I knew at the UW). She must have bought 20 of them!
Here's one:
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| Cuba: Isla Torturada 1980 mixed media monoprint by F. Lennox Campello |
Monday, October 27, 2003
It's circa 1961 and was acquired by the present owner in 1976... of course we all wonder how much he/she paid for it.
There's also this nice Kenneth Noland on the left... 45 by 45 inches - circa 1962 and acquired by the present owner in 1963!
This was an art collector with an early Greenbergian eye for the Washington Color School... the Noland is expected to go for $100-$150,000 which is surprisingly low - one would think.
And even more surprising: This Rothko is expected to beat Van Gogh.
OK, OK it's a huge Rothko oil versus a small Van Gogh watercolor....
There are also 128 Whistlers on the auction block (mostly prints).
The Franz and Virginia Bader Fund invites visual artists (excluding filmmakers, video artists, and performance artists) to apply for grants to enable recipients to develop their talent and concentrate on their art. Artists must be 40 years or older, and must live within 150 miles of Washington, D.C.
Two grants will be awarded in December 2003, one for $25,000, the other for $20,000. Applications must be postmarked no later than November 28, 2003. To obtain a current application form, visit the Fund's website, www.baderfund.org, or write to the Fund at 5505 Connecticut Avenue, NW #268, Washington, D.C. 20015. Send email inquiries to grants@baderfund.org. Telephone: 202-288-4608 and Fax: 202-364-3453
For those a little younger, the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities's Young Artists Grant Program has a deadline of December 1, 2003. For District residents between the ages of 18 and 30. They can apply for up to $3,500 for community service projects or $2,500 for independent art projects. For more information or to obtain an application form visit the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities or call 202-724-5613.
Less than a year ago Dega Gallery, a new gallery and framing space opened in McLean and they have been putting together some pretty good shows. Dega is Korean for "master." They have a group show opening next November 7 which includes several well-known area artists and may be a good excuse to visit this new area gallery. Among the artists in the show are McLean-based printmaker Betty MacDonald and DC artist Kathleen Shafer. Hint for new gallery: Get a website!
Congratulations to DC area photographer Wayne Guenther, who received an Honorable Mention in the 2003 Camera Club of NY National Photography Competition, juried by the great Joyce Tenneson - a "local" who moved to NYC in the 1980s and became a photography superstar. Last year, Tenneson's book Wise Women became the best-selling photography book in the world for 2002. It was her 8th book I believe.
Cheryl Numark Gallery has Jim Sanborn's "Penetrating Radiation" until December 20. The show is focused on work that Sanborn has been preparing since 1998 and it has been scheduled to run alongside (for a while) with Sanborn's associated show at the Corcoran titled "Atomic Time: Pure Science and Seduction."
The show has been curated by Dr. Jonathan Binstock, the Corcoran's Curator for Contemporary Art. While the exhibition is on view at the Corcoran, Jim Sanborn will be a visiting artist at the Corcoran’s College of Art and Design. Several educational programs will be organized to coincide with the exhibition, including a slide talk and gallery tour with Sanborn, a panel discussion addressing issues related to the exhibition and visits by the artist to students’ studios. The Corcoran is planning a two year tour of this exhibition - no other venues so far identified.
Sunday, October 26, 2003
Blake Gopnik has a very readable description and biographical article on El Greco as he writes about the El Greco's show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Gopnik has some excellent points on how El Greco's works were designed to be viewed a particular way, barely lit, often high above and viewed from below, and thus why they seem so unusual to us today in well-lit museum viewings.
As I recall, even during his time he was brought in front of the Inquisition to explain the peculiar elongations of some of his Christ paintings. He must have convinced them, as they didn't fry him for breaking some Inquisition rule about how Christ should be depicted (as the largest figure in any canvas, as I recall).
El Greco is one of my favorite artists of all times, and I also like his commercial acumen. His depiction of Christ Cleasing the Temple was so popular that he copied himself several times and practically every museum in Europe has a version of it - some of which are of dubious pedigree. Here's the NGA's version and the London's National gallery has this one, and the Institute of Arts in Minneapolis has this version and, the Frick has this one and I don't know who owns this one.
In art school, we had a class where we had to copy a master's work, and I painted a huge lifesized copy of The Annunciation, which strangely enough, I sold years later to someone in Spain when I lived there in the mid 80s.
This is one master who would have loved the digital revolution and the ability to make loads of reproductions from your originals!
Photoworks is another great artist's resource. I've been using them since they used to be Seattle Filmworks and I was in art school back in Seattle from 1977-1981.
As far as I know, Photoworks is the only place around that you can send any roll of film (any type or kind or brand) and get (if so selected) prints, slides, negatives, a CD ROM of the images and a private webpage where all your images reside and you can email them around.
This is a great archiving method for artist's works - you have the CD ROM to stash away, the slides to send around for competitions, reviews, etc., the prints for the album, negs for reprints and a web site to keep records of your images in case you lose all the other stuff.
And it's all done at a really reasonable price - in fact a lot less than if you take them to your local place to get just prints and negs.
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