Go to this opening

One of my favorite DC area painters is and has been for many years the hugely talented A.B. Miner.

A.B. Miner's solo exhibition, titled Chimera opens on Thursday, July 5 at H&F Fine Arts in Mount Rainier, MD just outside of DC. The opening reception will be on Friday, July 6 from 6-9pm.

Seduction

Below is "Seduction," charcoal on paper, circa 2001, about 20 x 40 inches, sold at my 2002 solo show in DC.

As I'm rather fond of doing, there are several "hidden" drawings within the body shadows, but they're nearly impossible to detect in this digital image.

America's Most Wanted Painting

At least according to the decade old Dia project undertaken by the zany art team of Russian artists Komar and Melamid (who hung around DC for a while in the 90s, although I can't recall where they exhibited).

In the project (which also covers "Least Wanted Painting" and it is specific to various countries), a professional survey team questioned people with questions such as "what is your favorite color?" (blue was the overwhelming US favorite by 44% with green coming in at a 12% second; both the Chinese and the Russians also went blue, green but not in such huge numbers, and even the usually difficult French went blue at 39%).

The survey was conducted in 14 countries, and some remarkable similarities in taste are clearly evident once you see the various favorites and least favorites. It appears that with the exception of the Italians and the Dutch, nearly everyone else aligned behind a somewhat pastoral scene a-la-Hudson River School.

Least wanted paintings in all nations, with the same two exceptions of Holland and Italy, were generally geometric abstractions in nature.

This is the least wanted kind of painting in the USA. And below is the most wanted painting in the US... yep that's George Washington in the middle.

Before you roll your eyes, here's the Chinese equivalent, and yep that a portrait of Mao on the right of the painting. And the Russians seem to have put some sort of a Christ figure in their favorite painting.

However, this "painting by survey," like anything done by committee, rarely actually yields a final product that anyone actually likes, and I suspect that few people (in any nation) would actually hang the finished banal painting(s) in their homes.

Bethesda Painting Awards

Next week is the last week to see the Bethesda Painting Awards finalists and prizewinners at the Fraser Gallery in Bethesda. The show closes July 7.

This year's exhibition stirred quite a bit of controversy, which is always good for any art competition.

The Washington Post's Michael O'Sullivan was surprised at the award choices and raised a controversy about three sumi-ink drawings on Japanese paper by Richmond artist Fiona Ross. Read his review here.

The Gazette's Claudia Rousseau really liked the Best in Show prizewinner, but disliked the work of the other two award-winners. Read her review here.

DCist's Lynne Venart at first didn't like the Best in Show prizewinner, but when she looked a little closer, she discovered interesting nuances in Matthew Klos' works. Read her review here.

G.P. and Thinking About Art both jumped on the O'Sullivan controversy bandwagon and opined on the issue. Read Kriston here and J.T. here.

Go see the show before it closes.

Art in Heat



Art in Heat opens Saturday, June 30, 2007 from 7pm–11pm at the Warehouse Gallery and Theatre complex in DC. Lobsterboy will be on hand at 8pm and 11pm with his “Tiki Party from Hell.” DJ Adam will be keeping the party going in the upstairs gallery.

The exhibiting artists represent the best of DC’s Outsider, Lowbrow, and Pop Surrealist artists. They’re notable for creating work that’s fun, twisted, sexy, and just plain wrong. Featuring: Ed Bisese, Chris Bishop, Scott G. Brooks, Lisa Brotman, Anna U. Davis, Jared Davis, Alan Defibaugh, Margaret Dowell, Dana Ellyn, Gregory Ferrand, Linas Garsys, Laurel Hausler, Candace Keegan, John Lancaster, Emily Greene Liddle, Albert Schweitzer, Matt Sesow, and Ben Tolman.

Buy Ben Tolman now, as he's soon to leave DC and head out onto the graduate program at the Art Institute of Chicago.

In Summer The Song Sings Itself

In Summer The Song Sings Itself is the title of a summer group show presented by Pentimenti Gallery in Philly. The show introduces a group of new artists who bring variety, energy and important contemporary voices to the summer. The exhibition includes paintings, photographs and sculptures.

The exhibition includes work by Gabe Brown, Sarah Daub, Thomas Doyle, Cara Enteles, Matthew Fisher, Deborah Hamon, Kirk McCarthy and Scot Wittman. The opening reception is next Friday, July 6 from 6 - 8:30 PM.

The River Movers by Matthew Fisher

Academy 2007 at Conner Contemporary

Next Friday, July 6, Conner Contemporary Art in DC opens Academy 2007, the seventh year of their annual invitational survey dedicated to outstanding work by recent fine art graduates of the Washington - Baltimore area college art programs. The exhibition opens Friday, July 6th with a reception for the artists from 6:00 - 8:00 pm.

The following artists were invited to exhibit by curators Jamie Smith and former gallery director, Karyn Miller:

PAUL CHAPMAN (George Washington University)
GRAHAM CHILDS (American University)
RUSSELL KELBAUGH (Corcoran College of Art + Design)
MAGNOLIA LAURIE (Maryland Institute College of Art)
JODI LIEBURN (Maryland Institute College of Art)
ISAAC MAISELMAN (Corcoran College of Art + Design)
TIFFANY MIELCAREK (Maryland Institute College of Art)
CHRISTINA MOST (Maryland Institute College of Art)
NATALIA PANFILE (Maryland Institute College of Art)
SANDRA PARRA (Maryland Institute College of Art)
DEBORAH ROCK (Catholic University)
NATHANIEL ROGERS (Maryland Institute College of Art)
BRIAN SYKES (University of Maryland)
JESSICA VAN BRAKLE (Corcoran College of Art + Design)
OLIVIA WOLFE (Georgetown University)