Mary Coble's blood

When I was in art school at the University of Washington in Seattle, one of the practices that was in vogue at the cool art places outside campus were "blood etchings," where one would use a scalpel to "draw" on someone's skin (usually the back), very lightly, so that it would just barely open the skin and cause a thin line of blood to appear. Then paper would be applied to the finished "drawing," and a blood etching would be produced. With luck, a second "ghost" image was also then produced.

This Labor Day weekend, at Conner Contemporary, Mary Coble brings that practice to spectacular new heights and will stage a live performance in which hundreds of names of murdered GLBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual, and trans-gendered) hate-crime victims will be continuously inscribed all over her body, using a tattooing needle without ink. The action will continue for a period of over ten hours, beginning at 6pm on Friday, September 2nd. The gallery will be open until 8pm that evening. The entire event will be webcast live here.

Throughout the performance contact blood impressions will be made on paper after the tattooing of each name. An exhibition of the prints and performance documentation will then be on view from September 9 - October 22, 2005.

Great Art at Great Prices

Bid online for terrific art at great prices in a benefit auction for Whitman-Walker Clinic.

Bid here.

Interviews

DC's Pretty City has a terrific profile of the Vancouver's street srt scene with interviews of artists weakhand, the dark, Office Supplies Inc. and nokin.

Read it here.

And Dana Ellyn Kaufman answers questions at Black Cat Bone.

And earlier Bailey had Matt Sesow here.

Brutal

I have a brutal work week this whole week, and next week the Campello sisters are coming to visit.

Tons of new shows opening as the art season begins this Friday. Check later for more details.

Silverthorne at 2AM

Alexandra has a great idea!

And she's not even in the shower!

Read her idea here.

Tape Guy in the news

Mark Jenkins' current exhibition in our Georgetown gallery will be next week's "Best Bet" in WETA TV's Around Town program and also the "Hot Pick" of the week by the Washington Times.

MSAC Hosts Visual Artists' Registry

One of the largest registries of its kind, this free resource for regional artists seeking to promote their work and hosted by the Maryland State Arts Council, has been successfully connecting artists with curators, collectors, and buyers for more than 20 years.

With a steadily growing artist membership, MSAC and MAP are able to provide ready access to the images, resumes, and other relevant documentation of nearly 1,800 active artists in the region. The in-house Resource Center is open to the public and free of charge, Tues - Sat, 11am - 5pm. During regular hours appointments are recommended, but not necessary. For info, email them at registry@mdartplace.org or call 410-962-8565.