Last Friday we had our best opening night ever, in the fourth solo show at Fraser Bethesda by New York painter David FeBland.

FeBland's last solo immediately preceeding this show, at Galerie Barbara von Stechow in Germany, sold out; another bit of evidence of how hot painting is in Europe.

You can view the show online here.

Want to ask Charles Saatchi a question?

To coincide with the 20th anniversary of the Saatchi gallery, the advertising genius turned art collector, Charles Saatchi has agreed to answer The Art Newspaper’s questions as well as your own in their January 2005 issue. Email a question to Saatchi here.

Deadline for questions is December 6, 2004.

Jacqueline Trescott in the Washington Post: The DC City Museum will close its exhibit galleries to the general public next spring.

Tomorrow, Sunday October 10, from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. is the Bethesda Artists' Market, with 25-35 area artists (some are coming from as far north as New York now) selling their artwork.

The market is on Bethesda Plaza, right outside and around the Fraser Gallery Bethesda, one and a half blocks north of the Bethesda Metro stop on the Red Line.

See you there!

"Funky Furniture" Controversy making worldwide news

The "Funky Furniture" controversy, first discussed here a few days ago, and subsequently in the Washington Post has made worldwide news and even the BBC has picked up the story!

One of the show's curators (Chad Alan) told me yesterday that a protest outside the City Museum was being organized for next week - I will let you know as soon as details are available.

This is a PERFECT opportunity for an area exhibition venue to step up and offer up space to host this exhibition. It is sort of a replay of the "Mapplethorpe at the Corcoran" controversy of the past. Except that this time, of course, it is the perfect opportunity for the Corcoran to step up to the plate and offer up its empty ground floor space (the empty space to the right when you first enter the museum) to host "Funky Furniture."

The exhibit is designed to look like a "living room," and so it would be a perfect fit into that Corcoran ground floor empty space.

And you can't buy publicity like this controversy has generated. So the ball is in the Corcoran's court, I think.

The Post's "Geek" art critic Michael O'Sullivan reviews Dan Flavin at the NGA.

The Washington Posts's Jacqueline Trescott today has a story on the "Funky Furniture Controversy" at the DC City Museum that was first posted here and by Jesse Cohen at ArtDC and discussed on the air yesterday at the Kojo Nmandi show.

I am told that the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities is actively looking for a place to hold the exhibit and may have an alternative space lined up!