Wanna go to a Maryland opening tomorrow?

The Crossing of the Creatures is the title of Marta Pérez García's new color woodcuts and paintings opening at H & F Fine Arts in Mount Rainier, MD tomorrow. Curated by Marvette Pérez & Tonya Jordan the exhibition goes through November 1, 2008 with an opening reception on Saturday, October 4, 2008.

Master woodcut artist and painter Marta Pėrez García will exhibit her latest prints, paintings and drawings exploring space, performance, movement and the translocations and transformations of creatures.

This is a blue chip artist as Marta Pérez García is winner of the 2001 Grand Prix Latin American & Caribbean Biennale of Engraving and has exhibited at the Grand Palais, in Paris, France.

Unfuckingbelievable

For years now I have been bitching about the visual arts coverage decline in the Washington Post, which started many years ago and which was essentially destroyed while Eugene Robinson was the editor of the Style section.

But this piece on KISS's Paul Stanley will be remembered as the proverbial camel backbreaker:

Perhaps it was inevitable. Paul Stanley -- known for wearing red lipstick, white foundation and a black star over his right eye -- has transferred his makeup skills to canvas. The Kiss frontman has a booming art career, to the tune of $2 million in sales last year, and will visit the D.C. area next week when his paintings go on display at Wentworth Gallery in Tysons Galleria.

I am embarrassed the the nation's capital has a newspaper that allows the distribution of drivel like this:

An original Paul Stanley can sell for about $70,000; a small print goes for $1,000, though Stanley insists on calling it a " 'limited-edition giclée,' because 'print' sounds like something you tore out of a magazine." His customers range from Kiss diehards who don't go to art galleries often (or ever) to collectors who wouldn't dream of attending a metal concert. He has had about 18 gallery shows over the past 18 months.

This is not an anti Paul Stanley rant, whom I suspect is an adequate painter clearly employing his celebrity status to hawk artwork, nor is it a dig at the article's author, whom I am sure responds to the paper's pressure to write articles (in an art column) that focus on celebrities whenever possible. This is certainly not a dig at the hardworking and highly successful Wentworth businesses, all 31 of them across the nation. If you want wall decor by Peter Max, Alexandra Nechita, Paul Stanley, Charles Fazzino, David Schluss and Grace Slick, they're your place!

This rant is a vomiting on the leadership of a newspaper that does not understand, nor wishes to understand, the reasons that many people like me, feel that they have failed miserably to execute their role and mission when it comes to the arts. Read the article here.

And if you think I am being tough on the WaPo, you should see what madman Bailey is saying. Read it here.

Paul Stanley on his art...

Wanna go to a Maryland opening tomorrow?

Drawn to Washington, a juried exhibition celebrating the work of Mid-Atlantic printmakers, has an opening reception on October 4, 2008 in the Main Gallery at Pyramid Atlantic.

The exhibit showcases the work of thirty-one printmakers from the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. The opening reception is from 6-8 pm, Saturday October 4th and will feature a talk by the juror, Shelley Langdale, Associate Curator of Prints and Drawings at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

One artist from the exhibit will have their print selected by Katherine Blood, Curator of Fine Prints for the Library of Congress and will enter the permanent collection of the Library of Congress. The Washington Print Club is a co-sponsor of the exhibit and makes the purchase for the Library of Congress.

The exhibit runs through November 20th. Pyramid Atlantic is located at 8230 Georgia Ave. Silver Spring, MD.

Tim Tate opens in LA

Tim Tate: A Look Into a Video Mind opens at Billy Shire Fine Arts with an opening reception on Saturday, October 11th, from 7-10 pm.

This will be Tate's solo debut in Los Angeles. You can see some of the videos online here.

And the week after that Tate opens in London in his solo debut in London.

Tate is also currently showing in a three person show at Maurine Littleton in DC and a solo at Pentimenti Gallery in Philadelphia and at a major group show at VisArts in Rockville, MD.

You know what I've been telling you about Tate for years...

More tiny drawings

And I continue to create small drawings. These are about and inch or two in either direction.

"Christabel and Geraldine"


"Ophelia Alive"


"Ophelia Drowns"


"Eve and The Lilith"


"Support System"


"Elf"


"Elfin"


"First Time"

First Fridays Everywhere!

Philly's great First Friday openings happen tomorrow night... and so far I can testify that Philadelphia's First Friday openings pack the streets around Old City, and the average age of the gallery aficionado is about 20 years younger than in DC. Details on all the Philly area gallery openings here.

DC also has their First Friday gallery openings going on for the galleries around Dupont Circle. Also generally from 6-8PM. Details on DC openings here.

I think tonight is First Fridays in Fell's Point in Baltimore too, but their website was not updated when I checked (shame on Baltimore).

Update: Also Richmond, VA! Details here.

Wanna go to an opening in Easton, MD?

I love Easton - it is such a gorgeous little artsy Maryland town... anyway, the South Street Gallery is having an opening reception for two classical realism masters this Friday.

Ed Ahlstrom lives in Frederick County, Maryland, is a professor in the Art Department of Montgomery College where he teaches classes in landscape painting, portraiture, and watercolor. Texas-born, Louis Escobedo now lives in Baltimore County, Maryland. Louis received his BFA from Sam Houston University. His paintings have received numerous awards, including the Best of Show from the National Oil Painters of America.

Opening Reception Friday, October 3, 2008 5-9-pm.