Colorfield openings

Below is a video of the last openings at Conner Contemporary and Marsha Mateyka Gallery in DC which are part of the whole Colorfield.remix project going on around the capital. The video starts silent, allowing viewers to revel in the works on display, and then has an interview with Ryan Carr Johnson around the end of the first silent minute.

Video courtesy of 205 Lavinia Street, Videos for Artists/Galleries/Events.

Call for Public Art in Takoma Park, MD

Deadline: Friday, May 4th, 2007

The City of Takoma Park, MD is soliciting proposals for public art. The selected work is to located on the Metropolitan Branch Trail in the City.

ELIGIBILITY: Open to all artists or artist teams

PROJECT BUDGET: $15,000 (includes but is not limited to artist fees, materials, fabrication, and installation)

DEADLINE FOR PROPOSALS: Proposals must be submitted to the City of Takoma Park's Department of Housing and Community Development, 7500 Maple Avenue, Takoma Park MD 20912, by 4:30 pm on May 4, 2007.

GENERAL DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS: The selected artwork is to be located on a green area adjacent to an off road section of the Metropolitan Branch Trail and installed at ground level. The area is an irregular shape and roughly 1400 square feet.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: More detailed information and a copy of the Request for Proposal can be found on the City's web site at www.takomaparkmd.gov

For more info: call 301.891.7219 or email DavidS@takomagov.org

Supple exhibition is back on

Yesterday I told you that J.T. Kirkland's "Supple" exhibition had been cancelled at the last minute (it was). But now Kirkland has been offered a new space and "Supple" is back on and will open at the Warehouse Galleries this Thursday, April 26 at 7PM.

All the details here.

This whole process has been not just a valuable learning experience for Kirkland, but also another example, in its resolution, of the terrific sense of artistic community that exists in the Greater DC area, in spite of the apathy of the lamestream media.

Kudos to Molly Ruppert of Warehouse Galleries for being such a good mensch!

Busy Week

April continues to roar as a spectacularly busy art month in the Greater Washington, DC area.

Artomatic continues to attract thousands of visitors to Crystal City, Virginia. Make time to swing by AOM this week.

With an exhibition titled "Inside/Out" at Knew Gallery, Washington artist, Raye Leith, unveils a group of portraits of well-known figures grouped with Washington insiders and power players. Her series, part of a New York project of 100 portraits she recently embarked on, places larger than life figures such as John Lennon and Albert Einstein alongside such Washington players as Septime Webre (Director of the Washington Ballet), Valerie Plame (exposed CIA operative), President of the United States George W. Bush, and Mayor of Washington, D.C., Adrian Fenty. Inside/Out opens on April 25th and runs through May 20th, 2007 at Knew Gallery in Georgetown.

Also in DC, the District's major international art fair, artDC opens on Thursday at the Washington Convention Center. Several DC area galleries are participating, as well as dozens of national and international galleries. There are also loads of art talks and panels scheduled as well as a section on "New Media," part of which I helped to curate. Details here.

Colorfield.remix activities continue throughout the DC area with a variety of events scheduled, including the opening of a new show titled "ColoField remix: Saturated" at Bethesda's Heineman Myers Gallery. Zoe Myers has handpicked 19 contemporary DC area artists whose work owes a debt to the Color School. Opening reception on Friday, April 27 from 6-9PM.

Also on Friday, April 27, at 7pm, at the Cultural Institute of Mexico (2829 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009), and you need to R.S.V.P. to (202) 728-1675 or icm@instituteofmexicodc.org, is "Directions: DC Contemporary Latino Art," curated by DC area artist Irene Clouthier and my good friend Laura Roulet, a DC-area based independent curator. Selected artists include Roxana Bravo, Irene Clouthier, Coronado, Edgar Endress, Muriel Hasbun, Gabriel Martinez, Tomás Rivas, José Ruiz, Catalina Torres and Ricardo Zapata. Feature presentation: “Bola Suriana”, playing music from Michoacán, Mexico. Through June 15, 2007.


In Bethesda, on Friday, April 27th from 6-9pm, Heineman Myers Gallery in Bethesda, MD has an opening reception for “Colorfieldremix: Saturated.” This will also be an artist party and Zoe Myers is encouranging colorful attire and she promises that "colorful cocktails will be served."

Right across the street from artDC (which is being held at the DC Convention Center, the Warehouse Gallery is hosting a show of local artists called “No Representation” from April 26 to May 12, 2007. The show, curated by Molly Ruppert, Sondra N. Arkin, Ellyn Weiss and Phillipa P.B. Hughes, will include all media and has two rules only: all of the art is by local artists and all the work is abstract. Artists in the show are artists include: Sondra N. Arkin, J. Belmar, Mark Cameron Boyd, Renee Butler, Tory Cowles, Laurel Farrin, Michael Gessner, Janis Goodman, Pat Goslee, Tom Green, Eve Hennessa, Kristin Holder, Brece Honeycutt, Becky Jones, Joanne Kent, Adrian Loving + Ayodamola Okunseinde (Dissident Display), Aubrie Mema, Elizabeth Morisette, Emily Piccirillo, Lynn Putney, Marina Reiter, Nooni Reatig, Chris Tousimis, Dan Treado, Andres Tremols, CC Vess, Gail Vollrath, Anita Walsh, Rex Weil and Ellyn Weiss. The opening is Saturday, April 28 starting at 6 pm.

Bummer

If like me, your plans this week included attending the J.T. Kirkland-organized "Supple" exhibition in DC, last night Kirkland informed me that the show, which he has been working so hard to make happen and which was supposed to open this week, has been cancelled.

Details here.

Update: Looks like JT may have found another space not too far from the original space. More later...

Opportunity for artists

Deadline: May 4, 2007

The Capitol Hill Arts Workshop (CHAW), a 35 year-old nonprofit multi-disciplinary arts education organization, is joining the School Libraries Project to solicit and select artists to design and produce murals in eight public school libraries on Capitol Hill. This exciting opportunity will take place in the summer of 2007. The approximate size of each of the murals is 10 ft. x 10 ft. Up to $2500 honoraria provided, pending funding.

For more information, please visit this website or contact Moira Connolly at moira@chaw.org or call her at (202) 547-6839.

Selection Process & Deadlines
Artists must submit original design proposals to the Selection Committee by May 4, 2007. Please submit the following:

1) Design proposal on an 8.5 x 11 inch piece of paper. Artists may submit up to three designs per school library.

2) A slide sheet or digital photo CD of former completed projects (if available).

3) Completed submission form.

New Shows Open at the Katzen this week

Several important shows open AU's Katzen on Tuesday, and several more open the first week in May. The openings receptions to celebrate the AU Museum’s spring season and all these new shows, will be on Saturday, May 5, from 6 to 9 p.m, kicking off at 5 pm with a gallery talk on the American prints by Baltimore curator Jay Fisher. All shows will be open for viewing during the reception, so save May 5th on your art calendar..

On view starting Tuesday:

"Resolutions: New Art from Northern Ireland," is a 49-piece, multi-media show introducing 21 artists who are part of an extraordinary cultural resurgence in a region long plagued by violence, religious strife and social upheaval, opens Tuesday, April 24, at the American University Museum at the Katzen. This centerpiece of the "Rediscover Northern Ireland" program, was curated by Museum Director Jack Rasmussen. Through Sunday, July 29, 2007.

Also opening Tueday is "Black Masters," which is a a mini-survey of fifteen paintings and works on paper by fourteen black artists from the 19th and 20th centuries. This rare look at African-American artists is a good thing not only for the Katzen, but also for the whole DC area museum scene, which sorely lacks a proportionate curatorial look at art by African-American art and artists. Kudos to the Katzen and to Jack Rasmussen! At 5PM there will be a lecture by Sherman Edmiston, owner of the Essie Green Galleries in Harlem, New York City, and Lou Hudnell, American University School of Education. Through Sunday, May 27, 2007.


Also opening on the 24th is "High Fiber," a tapestry show by nationally known artists Squeak Carnwath, Enrique Chagoya, Chuck Close, Bruce Conner, Rupert Garcia, April Gornik, Hung Liu, Alan Magee, Ed Moses, Deborah Oropallo and William Wiley. Through May 13, 2007.

"Made in America," The Washington Print Club 19th Biennial also opens on April 24, and runs through Sunday, June 24, 2007. More than 100 examples of printmaking in America over the past 70 years — including works by George Bellows, Jack Boul, Jasper Johns, Faith Ringgold, Richard Tuttle and many others.

Finally, three out-sized brightly colored steel sculptures by Jules Olitzki — from the Vermont-based artist’s last major works, the Cyclops Series of 2006 — enliven the Katzen Arts Center’s plaza parallel to Massachusetts Avenue. The works, from the collection of Dr. Cyrus and Myrtle Katzen, comprise the AU museum’s contribution to the Colorfield.remix celebration going on around the District.