On TV

Filming a TV review of the group show currently being showcased for the re-opening of the Arlington Arts Center, which finally re-opened after three years of being refurbished (originally it was supposed to take less than a year).

It will air next Thursday.

I will also write a review of the show. A heads up: Best of Show easily goes to Richmond artist Claire Watkins.

Read Michael O'Sullivan's excellent review of that show here

Secrets as Art

One of the Artomatic projects or art ideas that really sunk a hook into me, was this really odd and unusual project that had blank postcards where people could write their secrets.

What a terrific idea!

The creator of this idea is Frank Warren, and he is one of the artists whom Anne C. Fisher Gallery is currently showcasing in her beautiful gallery in Georgetown; and I've just been made aware of the Post Secret BLOG, where anyone can post a secret or read someone else's secret.

Is this a new kind of art? Is this the marriage of reality TV with "reality art"?

I don't know, but there's something definately new going on here. Anyone can contribute... and everyone is invited to anonymously contribute a secret to the PostSecret project. Your secret can be a regret, fear, betrayal, desire, feeling, confession, or childhood humiliation; Reveal anything - as long as it is true and you have never shared it publicly (and anonymously) before.

Steps: Create your own 4"x6" postcard and tell your secret anonymously. Then stamp and mail the postcard to the address at the bottom. Some tips:
(a) Be brief – the fewer words used the better
(b) Be legible – use big, clear and bold lettering
(c)Be creative – let the postcard be your canvas.

Mail your secret to:
PostSecret
13345 Copper Ridge Rd
Germantown MD 20874

Shrinkage <----- click on that! (Username: obfuscator and password: whome)

[By the way: (And thanks to AJ)... for sites that ask you to register: If you encounter a registration screen when you click on a link, try bugmenot.com, which will provide you with password access]

Karey Kessler

I am hearing really good things about the Karey Kessler exhibition at DCAC. I hope to go see this show over the next day or two, as Sunday I am flying to California for a week.

The exhibition, titled The Fleeting Instant of Now: Recent Works by Karey Kessler, runs until February 20, 2005.

Class Project

Tracy Lee had a class project in her (now over) brief George Washington University MFA stint, but she was told to "stop doing nudes" and instead she did this.

And Tracy Lee has now switched MFA programs to GMU.

Bravo Tracy Lee!

Visual Art Reviews at DCist

Starting today, together with DCist colleage Cyndi Spain, I will be doing full reviews and mini reviews for DCist, separate from what goes on here in DC Art News.

DCist reaches well over 3,000 visitors each day, and this new aspect of the site will certainly add a new dimension and voice to our warming art scene.

Read today's mini reviews here.

New Curator at Hirshhorn

As revealed in MAN, New York City curator Anne Ellegood is getting a government job and heading to Washington, DC to become an Associate Curator at the Hirshhorn.

Ellegood is a former art critic for New York Arts magazine and was a former Curatorial Associate at the New Museum of Contemporary Art in Manhattan as well as the former curator for the Peter Norton Collection.

Welcome to DC!