International Art Affair in DC

The International Art Affair will take place in Washington, DC May 15-18!

Details, agenda, party dates, artwork and stuff here.

Expect Multimedia, Traditional Media, Video, Art Clips, Skate Board Art, Skating Demonstration, Parties, More Video, Brazilian Art, Indian Art, Chinese Art, Slovakian Art, Austrian Photography, Australian Sculpture, Washington DC Graffiti, People with People, and more parties.

This weekend: 5th Annual Bethesda Fine Arts Festival

The Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District will present the 5th annual Bethesda Fine Arts Festival, a two-day fine arts event highlighting 140 contemporary artists who will sell their original fine art and fine craft on the streets of Bethesda, Maryland. The festival is scheduled for Saturday, May 10 from 10am-6pm and Sunday, May 11, 2008 from 10am-5pm.

The festival will take place in downtown Bethesda’s Woodmont Triangle along Norfolk and Auburn Avenues, located six blocks from the Bethesda Metro Station. Free parking is available adjacent to the event in the parking garage located on Auburn Avenue.

With over 20,000 attendees over the two day period, the Bethesda Fine Arts Festival has become one of the top art events in the Greater DC region and a must see for those who think that good art is only available in gallery or museum walls.

Directions here and a list of details here.

Go buy some artwork!

Baltimore screen painting

Kitsch or folk art, screen painting is undeniably Baltimore...

A dwindling breed tries to preserve a quintessential Baltimore art form, which will be celebrated this weekend

Details here.

Viva Regina

Seattle's Regina Hackett is my new art critic heroine.

She tackles the WaPo's Blake Gopnik jaw-dropping Takashi Murakami review and his WTF? comparison of Murakami's cartoony artwork to Goya.

Unless the Blakester actually comes from the planet Quintumnia, I think that the seed for this asinine comparison is deeply rooted in Blake's Anglocentric education in Britain, and a harmonic echo as a way of dealing with England's arch enemy through the centuries: the Kingdom of Spain.



My pop psychology thinks that the Gopnikmeister is simply channelling the British desire to diminish all things not English -- note that I said "not English" and not "not British."

What better way to bring the great Goya a notch or two than a silly comparison to a cartoony contemporary artist?

And if Gopnik wants to see "caustic" I second Hackett's call for the WaPo to send Blake to Madrid and have Gopnik take one look at Goya's painting of the Spanish Royal Family and take a close look at the Queen's face and then smell the scent of "caustic" in the air.

From the archives: Blake blows it with El Greco as well.

Bethesda Art Walk tomorrow

Friday is the Bethesda Art Walk with openings and late hours and a free walking tour to over a dozen Bethesda art galleries and art venues in artsy Bethesda, Maryland, part of the Sovier Socialist Republic of Montgomery.

My picks?

Beauty and the Beast, Ceramic Vessels and Sculpture by Liz Lescault and new work by gallery artists at Waverly Street Gallery. The Reception is Friday, May 9, 6-9PM.


And Lisa Montag Brotman at Neptune!

Go buy some artwork.

Wanna go to a DC opening tonight?

Make at trip to the Pepco Edison Gallery at 9th and G in DC for the Illustrators Club of DC: 14th Juried Exhibition.

Opening Reception: Thursday, May 8, 6:00 to 8:30 pm. The Exhibition goes through June 27. The gallery is at 702 8th Street, NW, Washington, DC Phone: 202.872.3396 (between G and H Streets at Gallery Place Metro).

Corcoran cancels party

Dear Art Anonymous Participants,

Thank you so much for helping the Corcoran College of Art + Design with Art Anonymous. Each of your amazing pieces has been installed in Gallery 31 and the space looks absolutely fantastic. If you haven’t had the opportunity to come by and see the Gallery, please make certain you do. We cannot tell you how much we appreciate your donations and your generosity.

As you know, we had planned to hold a party after the Art Anonymous sale on May 10. Unfortunately unforeseen circumstances mean we have had to cancel the party and are now holding the sale only. The event has been switched and will be open to current ticket holders only from 6 to 8 p.m. on Saturday night. Proceeds from the sale will still be dedicated to the College’s BFA Scholarship Fund.

Again, please know how grateful we are for your support of Art Anonymous. As a token of our thanks, we do hope that you will join us for the Exhibition Preview Evening for Richard Avedon: Portraits of Power, to be held on Wednesday, September 10. Please accept our apologies for canceling the party at the last moment. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us at (202) 639-1753.

Thank you again for your support of the Corcoran College of Art + Design.

Best regards,

Corcoran Membership

Update: The Corcoran follows up with this email:

Dear Art Anonymous Participants,

We would like to take this chance to explain the situation further and extend a special invitation to all of you (in addition to the Avedon preview) for all of your dedication and support of the Corcoran during Art Anonymous.

Please understand that since the party after the Art Anonymous sale has now been canceled, we no longer have the space to hold participants other than the already registered ticket holders. We do understand that we offered all participating artists complimentary entry into this event. However, we had an overwhelming response to this offer, and without the extra room, Gallery 31 is too small to hold all potential attendees.

What we would like to offer all artists however, is the chance to join us from 4pm – 5pm sharp in Gallery 31 to mingle with each other, share some wine, and get a preview of the show before the works go on sale (these works are also up now, and can be viewed in our Gallery 31 until 9pm tonight, and from 10am – 5pm tomorrow and Saturday).

We look forward to hosting all of you at 4pm this Saturday in our Gallery 31 (please remember to use the New York Avenue entrance). If you had a guest accompanying you to the 6pm sale, they may still come to the sale, or we can refund their ticket and they may join you from 4pm – 5pm this Saturday. Just have them call (202) 639-1753 to get their refund. Please also note that the registration for the sale from 6pm – 8pm is now closed, and no walk-ins will be allowed.

Thank you again for your support of the Corcoran College of Art + Design, and please accept our invitation for the artist-only sneak preview.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us at (202) 639-1753.

With much appreciation,

Corcoran Membership