Options 2005 Opening Tonight

Anybody who is anybody in our area's visual arts universe, and maybe even those who only frequent the same 2-3 galleries, but comment in general terms about all of our galleries and area artists, will be at the Options 2005 opening tonight.

I have my usual Thursday night martial arts class (and I missed last week's because of California travel), so I will miss the opening. The reception is from 6:30-8:30PM at the former Staples store in Georgetown (located at 3307 M Street, NW).

Someone please email me some comments and/or some photos of the opening.

New Blog

Andrew Wodzianski, who will be having his second solo exhibition with us opening next October 21st at our Georgetown gallery, will really be pushing the technology button in this coming exhibition through the use of innovative audio technology advances.

And in the next few weeks, our local media and you all will be hearing a lot in the DC area about Yellow Arrows.

More on that and Andrew's exhibition later; meanwhile, The Zodiac Group has a new variation on the art blog with Wodcast: A Blog dedicated to the use of technology for artist and audience interaction.

Visit Wodcast here.

Holy Cow!

I once warned people not to piss off that amazing human word-processing Carbon unit known as Bailey.

Read the evidence here.

Additions to the collection

Last night I went to the Art-O-Matic happy hour at Warehouse, and while there, I ran into Alexandra Silverthorne, who was busily hanging her show upstairs. Alexandra has one of the three second floor galleries; the other two being filled by the intelligent work of Joe Barbaccia and Pat Dunning.

So I went upstairs to look the work, and came away with two of Alexandra's photographs, which by the way: are a steal; and which by the way: are one of a kind Holga silverprints; and which by the way: she's donating half of the proceeds to Empower DC, Project Northstar, Charlie's Place, and other local organizations that provide services to DC's low-income and homeless residents.



The three person show is up for viewing now at Warehouse, and the opening reception is Thursday, October 13th, 6-8PM. Preview Alexandra's work here.

Looking for some couples

Chris Combs is a photojournalism intern at the Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive and a photojournalism student at the Corcoran College of Art and Design, and he's working on a project documenting both inter-racial (Caucasian, Black, Asian and Native American) and inter-ethnic (Hispanic, Arabic, Persian, Laplander, etc.) couples and "the struggles they face in a surprisingly skeptical society."

Interested couples can contact Chris via email or call him at 703/304.8241

Wanna go to an opening?

Tonight is the Art for Life preview and opening (6:30 to 8:30 pm) at the Toro Mata Gallery (2410 18th Street NW, Washington, DC). This is one of my favorite art auctions and a major fundraiser for the Whitman-Walker Clinic. See the work online here.

Tomorrow night is the opening for the long awaited WPA/C Options 2005 exhibition. The show and reception is at the former Staples store located at 3307 M Street, NW in Georgetown. The opening reception is Thursday, October 6, 2005, from 6:30-8:30 pm. I will have have to miss the opening to this important and long awaited show, as I have martial arts classes on Thursday nights, but I certainly plan to visit and review this show later on. Of the artists chosen by the curator (Dr. Libby Lumpkin), I am only familiar with the work of the fair Amanda Sauer, so it should be a refreshing exhibition (for me); the exhibiting artists are:

Julian Bayo Abiodun
Judy Baumann
Jorge Benitez
Anne Benolken
Sheila Blake
Chadd Caldwell
Kimberly Caputo-Heath
Tim DeVoe
Suzanna Fields
Lynn Galuzzo
Emily Hall
Lori Larusso
Ryan Mulligan
Mark Robarge
Lindsay Rogers
Amanda Sauer
Gary Thompson
George "Gia" Tkbladze
Randy Toy
Susan Noyes Vaughan

Friday is the first Friday of the month and thus the openings and extended hours for the galleries of Dupont Circle. On view through October 22 at Conner Contemporary is Julee Holcombe: "Homo Bulla (Man is a Bubble)" and Mary Coble: "Note to Self." A few steps down, Washington Printmakers Gallery has Earthprints, recent monotypes, monoprints, and linocuts by Jean Barnes Downs. At Gallery 10, I am looking forward to seeing "Fortune," an exhibition of new work by Carol Lukitsch. She is donating 30% of the proceeds from sales from the show to the Katrina Artists' Fund. Over at JET Artworks, it is the last chance to catch "Go Figure," which includes the work of the amazing Alessandra Torres. Read a review of Torres by Kriston Capps here. If I were ever to buy art solely as an investment, Alessandra Torres, is one of the artists whom I'd be stocking up on now. I predict an amazing future for this exceptionally talented and driven young artist (now living in New York).

In Bethesda, Justin Pyles will be exhibiting at the Orchard Gallery through October 14, 2005. A reception will be held on Friday, October 7, from 6-9pm. The gallery is located at 7917 Woodmont Avenue in Bethesda. Call 202/497-1912 for more information.

On Saturday, it is the Capitol Hill Art League's season opening show: "Poetry in Motion." This is a juried show, open to the League's membership and it is juried by Max-Karl Winkler, a printmaker and teacher at the Smithsonian and the Waldorf School. The opening reception is Saturday, October 8 from 5-7 pm. The gallery is located at 545 7th Street, SE, at the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop.

Also on Saturday, the Gallery at Pierce School Lofts hosts the opening reception of its exhibition of photographs by Secondsight member Antonia Macedo and paintings by Bev Ryan from at 4-7PM. The exhibition runs through November 6 and the gallery is located at 1375 Maryland Ave, NE, Washington, D.C. 20002 and phone is (202) 543-3379.

If you rather hang around Alexandria, then on Saturday, Pa Dian Accents has a reception for Autumn in Color, a collection of more than 20 works by Nigerian artist Lola Akimade and Lebanese artist Jinan Jaber. The opening reception is on Saturday, October 8 from 4:00 to 7:00 pm. The event will be sponsored by D Street Desserts and runs through the 14th.

If I've missed any openings, email me.

Money + Art - An Inside Look at the Art Market

The Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum offers a wide range of public programs and workshops, and on Thursday, October 20, at 7PM they will present what sounds like an interesting event: an illustrated lecture with collector Barbara Guggenheim titled: Money + Art - An Inside Look at the Art Market.

According to the news release, "Barbara Guggenheim, president of Guggenheim Asher Associates, gives us an insider's look into the complex and ever-changing art market. For more than twenty years, she has advised both private collectors and corporations on how to successfully build an art collection, and she regularly contributes articles with titles such as "How to Start an Art Collection" and "Adventures on eBay" to popular magazines. She will share her insights into what to do and what not to do for beginning collectors."

For additional information, email saamprograms@si.edu or call (202) 233-0667.