Just when you think there's nothing new in art...

I received an email from British artist Martin Allen. In the email, Mr. Allen points me to an Ebay page, and once you go to that page, the page itself is the art!

In other words, the Ebay page is a work in progress, and by visiting the page, all visitors help to change and create the work of art by changing the Andale counter at the bottom of the page.

Allen writes:

"You are bidding to purchase this page - my latest one-off REALITY ART piece, (which as I have already said, you are actually helping to create just by reading this!) The starting price is 1 penny - with no reserve - and the postage and packing is free, anywhere - worldwide.".

I think this is smart and new, and not only pushes the definition of art - just when we thought it couldn't be pushed any further - but also employs the "anything is art" postmodernist mandate to his own interpretation.

Well done to Martin Allen!

Opportunity for artists...

Deadline May 13
Creative Partners Gallery has openings for exhibitions for 2005. The next jurying of work will be May 13. If interested please request a prospectus by calling 301/718 8520 or 301/493 8830.

For Women Photographers...

Deadline: July 1, 2004

Women In Photography International (WIPI) announces an international call for entries for virtual * visual : people - places - things, an international juried online photographic exhibition of works by female photographers.

Deadline for entries is 1st July 2004 midnight PST. Exhibition will run from August 1- October 1, 2004 at this website.

Prizes will be awarded for Best of Show, People’s Choice, and Best Professional (USA and Foreign) and Amateur (USA and Foreign). Open to all female photographers using any photographic process.

Entries must be submitted as digital files via the online form available here.

For complete entry guidelines visit this site.

Robert Hughes, perhaps the world's most influential art and eloquent art critic, recently wrote that Lucian Freud's new exhibition proves he is Britain's greatest living artist.

Statements like that are (of course) very subjective and attract immediate responses pro and con. I think that, as brilliant as Lucian Freud is, he wouldn't be my choice for the UK's greatest living artist - maybe number two. My top choice would be David Hockney.

But that's not the point of this posting. It got me to thinking... who would be our area's greatest living artist?

It seems a silly thought at first, and falls dangerously close to provincializing artists to a region or city or whatever. But it is an interesting and subjective question - loaded with close calls and ways of answering it.

There are a few of artists whose names float around as soon as this unanswerable question is asked... Manon Cleary, Joe Shannon, Anne Truitt...

But the answer, in my opinion is Sam Gilliam.

And yet, incredibly enough, this artist has never had a museum retrospective in his long, illustrious career, although there's currently one in the works and as soon as I have confirmation and dates, I will pass it along.

Bad things galleries do to artists: Unethical galleries will take in a piece of artwork by an artist, and when the price is discussed, the gallery says: "What's the price?" and the artist says: "$1000" The gallery nods OK and the artist leaves, knowing that if sold, he'll get $500 (most galleries in the DC area charge 50% commission (in NYC some are as high as 70%). The gallery then sells the piece, but for $2,000, sends the artist a check for $500 and pockets the extra $1,000. That is why artists should insist on having a contract with a gallery, and the contract must specifically address that the artist will get 50% of the actual sale price.

Bad things artists to do galleries: A reputable gallery gives an artist a show, and goes through all the various expenses associated with doing so (rent, electricity, staff salaries, publicity, ads, post cards, opening reception catering, etc.) So far the gallery has put forth a considerable investment in presenting the artist's works. An interested novice collector meets the artist at the opening and expresses interest (to the artist) in buying some of his artwork. The artist, wishing to stiff the gallery for their commission says: "See me after the show and I'll sell it to you directly and save myself the gallery commission." This is not only unethical, but it's also guaranteed to ruin the artist's reputation in the city, as these things always come out in the wash, and soon no gallery will exhibit any work by this artist.

People who know me well, know that I am an absolute and devoted fan of Camille Paglia. In my prejudiced opion she's one of my contenders for the title of "Most Brilliant Human Being Alive On the Planet."

Passion aside, she has a brilliant essay that should be a must read for anyone interested in the arts and/or education, and especially for anyone who curates, organizes, teaches, or writes about the arts. The article is an expanded version of a lecture delivered at a conference, "Living Literacies: What Does it Mean to Read and Write Now?," at York University, Toronto, Canada.

It is titled The Magic of Images: Word and Picture in a Media Age and here's an insightful paragraph:

"Post-structuralism and postmodernism do not understand magic or mystique, which are intrinsic to art and imagination. It is no coincidence that since postmodernist terminology seeped into the art world in the 1980s, the fine arts have receded as a major cultural force."

Go read it now.

Our art scene is just bursting with activity!

There's a great profile of artist Mark Clark in this weeks Washington City Paper. Can't read it online, as WCP does not archive - so go get the paper while it's out this week. Mark Clark is in the middle of a really interesting project to document his neighbors. Mark is the brother of Michael Clark, who runs MOCA in Georgetown, and who I am told fell a few days ago and broke his shoulder.

Tonite is the Bethesda Art Walk from 6-9 pm featuring 14 downtown Bethesda galleries and studios.

Studio Gallery will jury for new artists on Thurs, April 15, 2004, at 6:30pm. $35 jury fee. For info, call Lana Lyons, Director, at 202-232-8734.

Austrian Photographs (The Estate of Inge Morath. Curators: Kurt Kaindl and Brigitte Blueml) Reading by Honor Moore: "The Photographer and the Poet: A Friendship" is opening Thursday, April 15, 2004 7:30 pm at the Embassy of Austria. At the opening of the exhibit, American poet, Honor Moore, will read poems about Inge Morath and talk about their mutually inspiring friendship. The exhibition will be on display until June 10, 2004, weekdays from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm at the Embassy of Austria, 3524 International Court N.W., Washington, D.C. 20008 (Van Ness Metro Stop). RSVP for opening reception required: (202) 895-6776.

Mark Jenkins has a nice review of Muriel Hasbun in the Weekend Section of today's Post. Hasbun, who teaches at the Corcoran College of Art, has "Memento: Muriel Hasbun Photographs," an exhibition at the Corcoran Gallery of Art. Hasbun, who is from El Salvador, represented her country at the last Venice Biennale. She is represented locally by Conner Contemporary. One of my pet peeves with the Weekend section is their lack of attention to DC art galleries. Their reviews, by a huge percentage, concentrate on museum shows, often repeating a review that the Style section critics have already covered. I really wish that Weekend section editor Joyce Jones was a bit more receptive (or firm) in letting her "On Exhibit" writer also write about DC area art galleries. Either Michael O'Sullivan (who is now reviewing movies) or Mark Jenkins (who is now freelancing the "On Exhibit" column on Weekend) are well-versed and quite knowledgeable about our area's artists and galleries, so c'mon Joyce!

The 2004 Senior Thesis Exhibitions at the Corcoran are on until May 17, 2004. They consist of a series of ten, week-long, rotating exhibitions featuring photography, fine art and graphic design produced by members of the Corcoran graduating class, grouped by major. They are at the Hemicycle Gallery of the Corcoran. I will soon be swinging by to look at the current exhibit and will discuss it back here.

Here's an early look at at book that I am working on on the subject of Cuban baseball. Have a couple of publishers interested, but still shopping.