Other art fairs calling it quits

Just a day after Art Cologne announced that it was doing away with its new sister fair on the Spanish island of Majorca, DC Duesseldorf Contemporary, which premiered last April, announced that it too was closing its doors, reports Blooberg.

The fairs' organizers cited low sales... read the article here.

In case you missed it...

You can hear the Kojo Nnamdi radio show that aired earlier today here.

Good discussion about the arts.

For the artist named Helen who called the show and took me to task for not putting more attention on individual artists' websites... email me yours and you'll be the first in my promise to increase my coverage of individual artists.

On the air today

I'll be on the Kojo Nnamdi Show this afternoon discussing the Greater Washington area visual arts issues and artists and art stories as I usually do several times a year.

Tune in to WAMU 88.5 FM around noon.

If you have any questions or art issues, you can call Kojo during the show at (800) 433-8850 or you can email him questions to kojo@wamu.org.

Gray area

Seattle's Jen Graves has a fascinating story on what happens when artists' works and ideas begin to look just a little too mcuh like other artists' earlier works and ideas.

Read the story about "Gray Area - Why Does Some Work by Lead Pencil Studio Look So Much Like Work by Other Artists?"

Then read this and then read this and tell me if "remarkable confluence" is not the category for all of these look-a-like works.

Artist "A" circa 1999-2000


Artist "B" circa 2005-2006

Frida Kahlo in Philly

Below is a short video walk through the massive Frida Kahlo exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. I took it during the press preview last week - the show opens on Feb. 20th.

I will review it here later this week... but it is definitely worth the drive to Philly to see upclose some of the most famous Kahlo paintings in the world (many seen for the first time in the US) as well as loads of intimate photographs about her.

The video is set to the amazing music of Lila Downs.

McNatt on African American Portraits

The Baltimore Sun's chief art critic Glenn McNatt reviews Let Your Motto Be Resistance: African American Portraits, the National Portrait Gallery's monumental survey of nearly 100 photographic portraits of black leaders past and present.

McNatt was also present at the Deborah Willis Salon Talk at Millennium Arts Salon in DC on February 2nd. which features ongoing exhibit of photos by Denee Barr, Barbara Blanco, Adrienne Mills, Michael Platt, Michael Parker, Henry Ferrand, and Jonathan French through February 28th.

Good to see the Sun's art critic popping into DC once in a while.

Art Collectors Talk

Pencil this in - On Saturday, March 8th, 4:30 – 5:30 pm over at the Arlington Arts Center in Arlington, VA, there's a gallery talk featuring the curators of their current exhibition, "Collectors Select" — consisting of six separate themed galleries, each designed by a notable local collector. The show continues to be on view through Saturday, March 29th.

Join them on Saturday, March 8th, from 4:30 to 5:30 pm, for a lively discussion about collecting contemporary art and have a glass of wine and tour the exhibition space with Henry L. Thaggert, Heather and Tony Podesta, Daniel Levinas, Philippa Hughes, and Philip Barlow. Hear firsthand about their favorite artworks, their thoughts on the local arts scene, and the process of assembling their own shows at the AAC.

You can see many images of the exhibition here.


Then stick around for another event immediately following the talk — from 6:00 to 8:00 pm in the Jenkins Community Gallery. The collaborative international arts organization, Take Me to the River, will have a free reception at which their limited edition print portfolio will be on view and available for sale. The portfolio features dynamic 11” X 14” prints by 18 different artists — some regional, some international. Featured local artists include David Carlson, Y. David Chung, Billy Colbert, Richard Dana, Judy Jashinsky, Maggie Michael, and Randall Packer.