Wanna go to an Alexandria opening this week?

Renowned American painter, Thomas S. Buechner will be sharing work spanning 60 years of his career in his upcoming solo exhibition: ‘A Retrospective: 60 Years of Painting, 1948-2008’ at Alexandria's Principle Gallery. Featured paintings will include figurative, still life, and landscape pieces. The 83-year-old painter has had three Retrospective Shows in prominent American museums, but this will be the first time paintings that he has held in his private collection will be available for acquisition through a independently owned commercial fine arts gallery.

Mr. Buechner’s paintings can be found in collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American Art, the Brooklyn Museum, and the Arnot Art Museum. The artist’s remarkable career also includes being the first Director of the Corning Museum of Glass (1950-1960), Director of the Brooklyn Museum (1960-1971), President of Steuben Glass (1972), and later Vice President of Corning Glass Works. He helped establish the Rockwell Museum in 1972. He is also an accomplished author who wrote the glass section for the Encyclopedia Britannica, founded the Journal of Glass Studies and the New Glass Review, and wrote books, Norman Rockwell, Artist and Illustrator, How I Paint, and Seeing A Life.

This exhibit will begin with a reception open to the public on Friday, 25 September 2009 from 6:30-9pm. The artist will be in attendance to meet with collectors, discuss the inspiration for his paintings, and sign books.

Anderson Pooper

I call this short video "Time for Formula!" - starring Anderson Pooper. He is hungry and not fooled by the pacifier.

Animal rights and visual imagery

"Nitsch, an Austrian artist, uses animal entrails, blood and carcasses in his performances to embrace Dionysiac orgy and catharsis. A show including Abdessemed’s Don’t Trust Me at the San Francisco Art Institute was cancelled in March 2008 after animal rights activists threatened museum staff with bodily harm. An exhibition of the video was also closed in Turin, northern Italy, in February, after protests and questions of legality, although the show subsequently reopened.

Meanwhile, animal rights groups and 26 states have filed or joined briefs in support of the 1999 law, which makes it a crime to create, sell or possess depictions of animal cruelty with the intent to sell them in interstate commerce."

Details here.

Fun with the Internet(s)

I was screwing around the Internets a while back, as I was trying to see if there was anyone out there (besides Batman) named Adam West, who was also married to a woman named Mae.

Instead I discovered that Philly-born Teller of Penn & Teller fame is half Cuban!

People say that Castro is the only Cuban in the world who doesn't dance. I think that Teller is the only Cuban in the world who doesn't talk.

Bow Down to Washington

After losing 15 in a row, the Washington Huskies are back and yesterday they beat number three USC.

TV Heaven

First The Office finally came back funnier than ever, and now Curb Your Enthusiasm, by my standards the funniest show on TV, comes back tonight.

Now if they still had Blackadder shows on, I'd be in TV heaven.

Ofrenda

Ofrenda - Art for the Dead is an art exhibition of local artists' shrines, altars, paintings, music, dancing, and spoken word based on the Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) tradition.

Ofrenda remembers the dead and celebrates life (the two emphases of the holiday) with artist-made Dia de los Muertos altars and ofrendas (offerings) that venerate the beloved dead, and draw them to visit their loved ones, feast on their favorite food and drink, and listen to their favorite music.

This year marks the third annual Ofrenda Show and Art Outlet will partner with the Torpedo Factory Art Center for the show.

The event will begin Saturday, October 31 and run though November 3. On Saturday Oct 31, there is a parade starting at 7pm and a mask ball with multiple performances at 8pm during the reception.

This presents an opportunity for artists: Create and show your personal altars, icons, shrines, and offerings (ofrendas). They are seeking 2- and 3-D artwork (any media), which fits the Dia de los Muertos tradition. Art Outlet will curate 1152 square feet of wall exhibition space (18 panels, courtesy of Artomatic) and space for sculpture/media on the first floor of the Torpedo Factory Art Center. They estimate this space will hold 36 two-D and 20 three-D artworks.

Art may include candles or incense, but these will not be burned during the show. There will be a public altar outside the Torpedo Factory that will include candles and incense. They especially welcome 3-D works and installation. The art and activities of traditional El Día de los Muertos celebrations look warmly and humorously on life, death, and the departed. When considering your submission, please be respectful. Art displayed at Ofrendas—Art of the Dead will take place in this same tradition.

Details here.