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 at www.smithfarm.com/gallery/FINALProspectus.pdf
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
The Pittman WPA Scam
Some asshole is using the WPA Online Artfile to try to scam artists. If you get an email from ssgpittman115@yahoo.com, claiming to be from a soldier in Iraq, delete it and send the originator a mental curse in the name of some ancient god.
Artists' Websites: Catherine Tafur
Catherine Tafur, The Three Graces
Catherine Tafur was born in Lima, Peru in 1976 to a Peruvian father and a Japanese mother. She studied at the Cooper Union School of Art where she earned her BFA. The artist has since shown her work at venues throughout Brooklyn and Manhattan. Tafur's work "uses the image of the body as a way to explore ideas of gender deconstruction, confrontational sexuality, disillusionment and loss of innocence. She transforms personal experiences into allegorical works of poetic representational symbolism, often through painful disfigurements, idealized androgyny, and mutilation."
Tafur now lives and works in New York City and is an artist-in-residence at the Brooklyn Artists Gym. Visit her website here.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
New Baltimore Gallery
TAG Gallery is a new space that opened last year in Baltimore. They're located at 732 S. Broadway, Baltimore, MD 21231.
Visit them online here.
Review of Aqui Estamos
Aqui Estamos, the group show of Cuban art that I curated for Projects Gallery in Philadelphia and which is currently on display at that Northern Liberties' gallery gets a cool review in Fallon & Rosof's Artblog.
Juego de Roles (Role Game). Oil on canvas by Aimee Garcia Marrero
Read the review here.
TAKI 183
Graffiti artists all around the world know the name that started it all: TAKI 183.
As a High School student who lived in Brooklyn but went to High School in Queens, I had about a 90 minute subway ride each morning and each evening going and coming from my High School in Long Island City. It all started in the LL line and finished in the number 7 Flushing Line. All along those trains I was very familiar with TAKI 183's tag, which seemed to be all over and everywhere at once. In fact, I even developed my own little tag back then. I would draw (with a magic marker) a little tombstone and write UNDERTAKER ASH underneath it. I have no idea how I came up with it and what it meant, or even if I had seen it somewhere, but back then any train or subway station that I used to ride had both TAKI 183 and UNDERTAKER ASH all over them.
TAKI 183 was then a kid from 183rd Street in upper Manhattan, TAKI 183’s simple signature (he said it was a diminutive of his Greek name Demetrius) captured the attention of a reporter and, on July 21, 1971, the article “TAKI 183 Spawns Pen Pals” appeared in The New York Times.
Just like that, TAKI 183 became a graffiti legend, but TAKI 183 remained silent. Now, almost four decades later, TAKI 183 has emerged to tell his story.
This new website includes photos of TAKI 183’s work, images of his friends and contemporaries, his true story and, for the first time, official TAKI 183 limited-edition screenprints.
Check the first graffitti superstar here.
