Judith Peck at Hillyer Art Space

Deanna Schwartzberg reviews the current show by Judith Peck at the International Art and Artists Hillyer Art Space in DC.

Judith Peck is both an artist and an intellectual. Her paintings are often generated by her abiding concern for social justice. Although she infuses her work with ideological content, it is in the exquisite execution of her subject, that we see not only the process of her mind, but her soul as well.

In her current exhibit, "Original Position", at the International Art and Artists Hillyer Art Space, June 4-26, 2010, it is a thought experiment by John Rawls that inspired the artist.

Rawls states that if we step behind a veil to cloak our knowledge of our individual abilities, social status and income, it might render us able to effectively consider the interests of all people, especially the least advantaged members of society.

Ms. Peck incorporates the concept of the veil in all of the portraits on display, each taking on a different aspect of the human condition, i.e. gender, passion, and conscience. Without prior knowledge of the artist's text, these paintings speak to us on a visceral level. Her portraits are drawn from live models and composites of the human face and appear to be lit from within. They are infused with a mysterious drama that captures the viewer's attention. On closer examination, we become transfixed in the subject's gaze. These subjects are never emotionally distant, their eyes penetrate and connect with the viewer's own, engaging our thoughts and connecting with our emotions.

On a recent trip to Boston, I viewed Rembrandt's "Self Portrait" in the Gardner Museum. I was enthralled with the delicacy of the painted surface, the fullness of his mouth, the rich textures of his hair and clothing, but most importantly, his eyes. Through his eyes I felt a knowing kinship with the sitter. What if Rembrandt were alive today? He would not only give us a window into the world around him, but into his own mind as well. As a modern artist, he might use his art to relate in visual terms the essence of his core beliefs and allow us as viewers to engage in a dialogue with him.

Judith Peck is a classically trained artist of infinite skill. Her work captivated me with a similar intimacy I found in the Rembrandt portrait, with the added benefit of symbolic imagery and metaphor that in the modern world serve to make the art both personal and timely.

About the author: Deanna Schwartzberg is an artist and painting instructor in the Washington area. She has taught painting at various venues including the Corcoran College of Art and Design, Vis Arts, and at the Art League School in the Torpedo Factory for over twenty years. She received a B.S. in Art Education from N.Y.U. and studied painting at the Art Student's League of New York with a student of Hans Hoffman. Deanna's work in painted paper assemblage and paintings on canvas deal with abstracting the human form.

Never too late to be discovered

An artist who rejected the call of the art market in his youth, and was discovered surrounded by a lifetime of unseen work when he was more than 100 years old, is to have his first museum exhibition this month.

Read Colin Gleadell's story on Stanley Lewis in the Telegraph here.

How the ChiComs know that Strasburg is pitching in Cleveland tonight

Congrats!

The Bethesda Painting Awards were announced last Friday (I never get any press releases from those folks anymore).

Nora Sturges of Baltimore, MD was awarded “Best in Show” with $10,000; Katherine Mann of Washington, D.C. was named second place and was given $2,000, and Deborah Ellis of Alexandria, VA was awarded third place and received $1,000.

Nora Sturges holds an MFA in painting from Ohio University and is currently associate professor of art and head of painting at Towson University.

The show is on at the Fraser Gallery through June 26, 2010.

William Butler Yeats

Happy birthday to one of my favorite poets and a pretty good artist as well: William Butler Yeats (1865–1939), born on June 12, 1865 in Dublin, Ireland.

"A Poet to his beloved"
by: William Butler Yeats

Bring you with reverent hands
The books of my numberless dreams,
White woman that passion has worn
As the tide wears the dove-grey sands,
And with heart more old than the horn
That is brimmed from the pale fire of time:
White woman with numberless dreams,
I bring you my passionate rhyme.

Real Art D.C. Finalist Two: Jenny Yang

Jenny Yang's excellent photographs attracted Jessica Dawson's attention is she is the second Real Art D.C. selection. Read all about it here.

Book Report

As I noted a while back, I have been retained by Schiffer Publishing to edit and create a coffee table size art book titled “100 Washington, DC Artists” as part of their series on national artists.

The book will cover 100 key artists working in the Greater Washington, DC area which encompasses the District and surrounding suburban areas of Maryland and Virginia.

Like all Schiffer art books, this will be a high quality book which will be available nationally and online, as well as available locally at museum gift shops and local area bookstores. Each artist will have a two page spread, with 3-4 images of their work, a small head shot, and a 300 word essay about their work.

So far I've spent a lot of free time editing, cutting and pasting the captions to about 1,000 images for the book. On the good side, I am astounded as to the depth and breadth of artistic creativity in our area. Anyone who says that DC area art is traditional and/or conservative needs to take a look at the 21,000 slides in the collection of the WPA (as I did for "Seven") or to about 1,000 recent images of work by the top 100 artists in our region; then come talk to me about "traditional" and "conservative."



On the bad side, I can't believe how many artists can't follow simple directions such as "write this in the third person." I actually had a college professor ask me what the "3rd person" was. Don't even let me get started on how many variants of writing a caption there are out there. Just in case, the basic elements of a caption are: title of the artwork, year created, media, and size.

Back on the good side, I am honored to be working with such a talented and motley crew. The book will be available in the Spring of 2011; I've already entered into discussions with the publisher for a second book with another 100 DMV artists.

Talking about books: Scored another giant deal on multiple signed modern first editions to add to my collection! Sad when used book stores close though...