Kong
Last night I had dinner with that living legend known as Lida Moser, who was telling me stories about Alice Neel moving to Havana, after Neel married her first husband (who apparently was an art student in NYC and from a wealthy Cuban family). Neel related to Moser that she couldn't find women's shoes in Havana to fit her healthy Midwestern feet. I thought that was funny!
Afterwards, as I had received a couple of complimentary tickets to King King in the mail, I went to see the film, which was OK, but way too long and a bit annoying in a couple of areas.
The "lost island" scenes were terrific, and that was almost a movie by itself, but when Kong was fighting the Ty Rexes I glanced at my watch, and saw that it was already two hours gone by and I thought "Mmm... two hours gone and they haven't even got the monkey to Manhattan yet."
The movie also has an annoying effect of seeming like it was directed by three different people (the whole side story with the "Jimmy" character was lost on me), and even more annoying was the fact that the Anne Darrow character spends a ton of time running around a frozen New York in a negligee and she's apparently immune to the cold.
Other than that, the special effects were very good, the entire island scenes were outstanding (although the Kong fight scene with the Rexes took way too long, as did the dinosaur mass crash).
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Curtis in MOMA
ANABA reveals that MOMA has recently acquired a Tony Curtis painting for its permanent collection.
Read it here.
Top Ten Lists
The end of the year is time for everyone to come up with their "Top Ten Lists" for nearly everything.
Email me yours for the top 10 art exhibitions in our area in 2005 and I'll post them here.
One Word Project
J.T. Kirkland, over at Thinking About Art, has been conducting a fascinating art project that he titles the One Word Project.
The project started here a while back, and so far about 40 artists have participated.
Essentially, here's the deal in Kirkland's owns words: "first, if I am not familiar with the artist's work I will want to review it (jpegs, Web site, maybe even a studio visit, etc). Once I get somewhat familiar with the work, I will communicate a single word that comes to mind about the art. I will ask that the artist write 100-500 words about the chosen word and what it means in their art. Because the "question" is so open ended, I think it will allow the artist much freedom to discuss their work and their thought processes. I would then like to publish the writing and a couple of examples of the artist's work on this site."
The One Word Project has been a terrific success, and Kirkland is planning to publish a book! See details on the book's progress here.
He's looking for more participants for a second project: The Artists' Interview Artists Project, and interested artists (and it is now open to all artists - not just area artists) should contact Kirkland at Thinking About Art.
Second Annual Bethesda Painting Awards
Deadline: January 31, 2006
The Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District is currently accepting applications for the second annual Bethesda Painting Awards. This is one of the nation's largest cash award painting prizes funded through the generosity of Carol Trawick.
Eight finalists will be selected to display their work in an exhibition during the month of June 2006 at the Fraser Gallery in downtown Bethesda, and the top four winners will receive $14,000 in prize monies.
Best in Show will be awarded $10,000; Second Place will be honored with $2,000 and Third Place will receive $1,000. Additionally, a "Young Artist" whose birthday is after January 31, 1976 will be awarded $1,000.
Artists must be 18 years of age or older and residents of Maryland, Virginia or Washington, D.C.
All original 2-D painting including oil, acrylic, watercolor, gouache, encaustic and mixed media will be accepted. The maximum dimension should not exceed 60 inches in width or 84 inches in height. No reproductions.
Artwork must have been completed within the last two years and must be available for the duration of the exhibition. Each artist must submit five slides, application and a non-refundable entry fee of $25. For a complete application, please send a self-addressed stamped envelope to:
Bethesda Painting Awards
c/o Bethesda Urban Partnership
7700 Old Georgetown Road
Bethesda, MD 20814
Or visit this website or call 301/215-6660
Monday, December 19, 2005
Sunday, December 18, 2005
Secret Visit
Yesterday I snuck away from the Georgetown gallery and visited the PostSecret exhibition at the former Staples store on M Street.
The place was packed!
I cannot recall a gallery or non-blockbuster museum event in the DC area (ever) where -- after the opening night -- there are actually hundreds of people in the art venue, hypnotized by the work on display, as what I saw yesterday around 4PM at Frank Warren's exhibit.
I was almost as mesmerized by the intensity on the faces of the visitors, as they went from card to card, reading funny secrets, sad secrets, gross secrets, silly secrets, shared secrets. I made several circuits through the exhibition: the first to look through the cards; the second and third to look at the people reading the cards, and how they became part of the exhibit itself.
Warren has really tapped into something here, and it couldn't have happened to a nicer person. And the WPA/C should be congratulated for bringing this spectacular event to the eyes and attention of Washingtonians; Kim Ward and her crew are really doing a spectacular job over at the WPA/C since Ward took over.
Whatever you do through January 8, 2006 - DO NOT MISS this exhibition, and bring people along with you.
And I sincerely hope that our area museum curators set aside their Washington apathy and also come and visit what is perhaps the greatest interactive public art project in the history of the genre.
Warren is making art history in our own backyard, and so I'm shouting to the Hirshhorn, to the SAM, to the NGA, and to the Corcoran: WAKE UP!
Exhibition Information:
Location: 3307 M St. NW Washington DC (The former Georgetown Staples store)
Exhibition Dates: December 15, 2005 – January 8, 2006
Exhibition Hours: Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday 6:00 – 10:00 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays 2:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. or by appointment through WPA\C.
