Call to Artists: In the Spirit of Frida Kahlo

Deadline: June 6, 2009

Frida Kahlo remains one of the most influential artists of the 20th century, but her spectacular life experiences, her writing and her views on life and art have also influenced many artists throughout the years.

From July 1 - August 29, 2009 The Joan Hisaoka Healing Arts Gallery at Smith Farm Center in Washington, DC will be hosting Finding Beauty In A Broken World: In the Spirit of Frida Kahlo.

This exhibition hopes to showcase the work in all mediums of artists influenced not only by Kahlo’s art, but also by her biography, her thoughts, and her writing or any other aspect in the life and presence of this remarkable artist who can be interpreted through artwork.

This will be the third Kahlo show that I have juried in the last decade and we are seeking works of art that evoke the prolific range of expression, style and media like that which Frida Kahlo used as an outlet for her life’s experiences.

Get a copy of the prospectus by calling (202) 483-8600 or email gallery@smithfarm.com or download it here.

Opportunity for Artists

As many of you know, my good friend Jesse Cohen and artdc.org has started a new gallery in Hyattsville, MD. The space is about 500 square feet, and has movable walls.

They are going to do their first 12x12 show in May to coincide with the Hyattsville Arts Festival.

Artists can buy a spot for $12, and they hang your art. The way that it works is that a limited number of artists can now pre-register first come first serve; register now or at the day of the hanging, but first come, first served.

Either way, you can register now, or they'll see you at the door for the remaining spaces. It's their goal to hang at least 120 works of art.

The limitations: each work has to be 12"x12" and weight under 10 pounds, and they have a wire on the back suitable to be hung on a hook. Make your work professionally presentable.

To pre-register, check it out here.

All details are listed at the link above. Dates, location, and more. For now, they are going to limit pre-registration to 50 slots and I am told that registrations are coming in already.

Race in America at Widener University

Modern science tells us that the DNA of any two humans is 99.97 percent identical. And starting today the Division of Student Affairs at Widener University in Chester, Pennsylvania explores race in American society through a very interesting interactive exhibit.

The exhibit features informational tools to learn more about biological race and human variation, online activities, documentaries that confront race perceptions and racism, and the very cool Human Race Machine.

The Human Race Machine is an interactive tool that permits users to explore their own racial identity through images of themselves as other races. As one user expressed, "It's weird to see myself as Asian or Black. How would I think of myself differently and how would others see me?"

I'd like to think of the machine as a sort of machinated Linda Hesh.

The exhibit will be open for exploration and inquiry during the hours of 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Monday-Friday, March 23-27 and housed in the Lower Level Lounge of University Center.

Art Auction

There are some great works of art at some very low starting bids at the Habatat for Healing Auction to raise funds for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

It all starts April 1st at 12:00 p.m. and runs through April 7th at 5:00 p.m. but you can view the artwork and start bidding now. Details here.

You can bid on my donation (see below) here.

Woman Jumping into the Void. Charcoal on Paper. 11x14 inches framed.
F. Lennox Campello, c. 2009.

Congrats!

To my good friend Mark Jenkins, DC's own Tapedude, whose solo show opens in New York's Stricola Contemporary today with a solo show titled The Golden Ass.

From the press release:

Documentary photographs of characters, such as The Golden Ass, are extracted from their usual street environment, then montaged with found and altered landscapes. Jenkins sources his background environments from Google, which are then layered to create landscape ‘mashups’. In re-contextualizing his characters and their environments, Jenkins creates 2 dimensional versions of the absurdist visions dramatized in his street work. By sampling and remixing his own work in this way, Jenkins moves from street illusionist to story teller. At the same time, he extends the themes first seen in his 2006 Embed Series, merging his packing tape world and other hybridized figures into a physical-mythological composite.

The Golden Ass, a figure from Lucius Apuleius’ ancient Roman novel of the same name, is one of Jenkins’ reoccurring characters. The book relates the adventures of Lucius, a virile young man whose obsession with magic gets him transformed into an ass. Originally Jenkins’ Golden Ass statue appeared on a street in Barcelona, populated by tourists and living Statues, or people who pretend to be statues in hopes of earning a few euros. The irony of having a real statue competing for tips with false statues becomes completely absurd as pedestrians gather to ogle the Ass (The Golden Ass, Embed Series video, 2009).

This character now appears in Jenkins’ collages, silently watching as giant women perform felatio on a rainbow (Under the Rainblow, 2009). In the ancient novel and in Jenkins’ work, the Ass, like the Artist, stands as witness and commentator to humanities strange machinations.

Jenkins has shown on the streets and in the galleries of Tokyo, London, Sao Paulo, Los Angeles and his native city, Washington DC. His works have been featured in the book Hidden Track: How Visual Culture Is Going Places, Juxtapoz Magazine, and many other publications.

Congrats!

To the Maryland Art Place (MAP), which was recently recognized by the Baltimore City Paper as “Baltimore’s Best Art Gallery” of 2008.

Art of Glass II

Ten years ago, the major arts institutions of the Greater Hampton Roads area in Virginia joined together to put together of the most successful examples of region-wide art partnership events: The Art of Glass.

Across Norfolk and the Greater Tidewater area, through the Art of Glass, they proved that art has the power to be a transcendent force.

In April 2009, the Chrysler Museum of Art, the Contemporary Art Center of Virginia and the Virginia Arts Festival, as well as many of the Norfolk-area art galleries, will once again collaborate to create a landmark event for Hampton Roads: Art of Glass 2.

Anchored by The Art of Glass II, the Chrysler Museum of Art will have Lino Tagliapietra in Retrospect: A Modern Renaissance in Italian Glass. Held at the Chrysler Museum of Art. This is the first exhibition to thoroughly examine the career and art of Lino Tagliapietra. The exhibition presents 155 works from Tagliapietra’s 40-year career, including pivotal works from the artist’s own collection and collections around the world as well as designs made for industry and objects that have never before been exhibited.

The Chrysler Museum will also have Contemporary Glass Among the Classics, which features glass installations from four contemporary artists: Katherine Gray, Stephen Knapp, Karen LaMonte, and Beth Lipman. Focusing on each artist’s approach to the versatile material of glass, this exhibition will present new works inspired by the Chrysler’s collection. Gray, LaMonte, and Lipman’s works will be featured throughout various galleries alongside objects from the Museum’s collection.

The Contenporary Art Center of Virginia has a wide host of events and exhibitions lined up with Hank Murta Adams, Dante Marioni, and others; see them all here.

Several key DC area artists will be involved in the festivities as Mayer Fine Arts hosts Dialogues in Glass with the usual powerhouse names from the DC area. Click on below image for more details.