Miami International Art Fair (Set up day)

The 5 AM cab ride from Potomac to Reagan National was pretty hairy considering that the streets of the Soviet Socialist Republic of Montgomery County were pretty icy and snowy, and there were more than one ice tail spins along Bells Mill Drive on the way to Seven Locks and Democracy Blvd and the Beltway.

The Beltway was pretty clear of snow and ice, but I am always shocked to discover how many cars are out there at 5 in the morning. Who are all these drivers and where the fuck are they all going at 5 AM?

My cab driver (I always call the same guy, his names is Bones, and he will get you from A to B every time on time. Once you have a dependable cab driver, one must return to the force every time). Bones is reliable, big and strong, a brilliant storyteller and really resembles that huge guy from the Green Mile.

So we get to DCA on time, in spite of a few spin-offs at the George Washington Parkway, and I'm loving Jet Blue because they don't charge a fee for luggage while most of the other airlines scam you out of $50 per round trip if you check in a bag; and because flight 1795 is leaving on time in spite of the ice and snow. But once we're in the plane, by the time we're de-iced it is is almost 90 minutes past departure time, but I'm cool because I am heading to Miami for the second Miami International Art Fair (MIA) at the Miami Beach Convention Center and it is in the 70s in Florida and according to the weather people, Florida is the only state in the union (including Hawaii) which doesn't have snow somewhere on the ground today. WTF happened to global warming?

When we land (it was a Navy landing by the way, because it was clearly the short runway), the tall, skinny flight attendant dude tells us that we've made up 30 minutes from our late departure, which as usual leads me to think: do they fly "faster" if they leave late?

Then I get a rental car, and as always marvel at all the bullshit car rental taxes in Florida that cost almost as much as the actual rental car cost, but I get a free upgrade to a minivan because they're out of "real" cars...

Then I drive to quickly see my parents before stopping over at Casablanca Bakery in Hialeah for the best pastelitos, papa rellena, croquetas, bacalao, yuca rellena, and Cuban bread in the area (and a full breakfast anytime for $3). They put it all in a nice box and I take it to my parents.

From there I drive to Little Havana, where I had left a bunch of my artwork in store at my cousin's house. I get there, load up the minivan and head to Miami Beach to meet Sheila, the hardworking artist and owner/director of Mayer Fine Art to help her set up in booth 105 of the fair.

At the MB Convention Center there's an army of people assembling booths and putting art shows together. This is the same floor, the same place where the "real" Art Basel Miami Beach takes place, and there's a feeling to being here that is quite unique.

Mayer Fine Art actually has two booths at this fair: one for gallery artists and one focus booth for their big selling European superuberartist Alexey Terenin.

Terenin deserves the focus booth (curated by Aldo Castillo).

Terenin... this Russian-born painter is an exceptional master of the marriage of the palette knife with the brush and with intensely psychological scenarios... and he sells like crazy!

For MIA, Sheila has chosen a huge Terenin painting, almost seven feet tall. She has spent over a thousand dollars getting it stretched, framed, crated and shipped to Miami Beach for the spotlight of a focus booth in this show.

When it arrives, it has been damaged in transit by the shipper, who has clearly ignored the DO NOT LAY FLAT markings on the crate. There are two huge gouge holes on the crate, which in turn have worked their way through the protective wood, board and plastic protection around the linen painting to just barely kiss the back of the painting with a sharp steel tooth of a yellow gear transport and bite the linen to leave a mark, almost invisible, on the canvas, and the tiniest of wounds to the paint itself.

Two of them, as if a gigantic snake had brushed the rear of the painting with needle-like teeth. Two tiny pin-like pricks... almost invisible to the eye, but not to the ethics of a decent art dealer.

Within minutes Aldo Castillo has a conservation restorer on the line. He will come tomorrow morning to assess the damage and repair it on site. Sheila's investment in this yet unsold painting continues.

And so does this report from MIA... tomorrow.

WaPo Job Posting for Art Critic

From: Jennifer Crandell
Sent: 01/12/2011 05:53 PM EST
To: NEWS - All Newsroom
Subject: Job Posting: Art Critic

The Washington Post is looking for an outstanding visual art critic. This position requires a deep and ranging knowledge of art, a passion for it and an ability to convey that expertise to readers in an exciting and accessible way. The critic will be charged with reviewing the important Washington shows, and staying abreast of innovations and shifts in the arts scene nationally and in a city that treasures the arts, and has more museums than almost any other major metropolitan area. This is a high-profile, nationally recognized platform for powerful arts journalism.

Boldness, imagination and a willingness to confront controversy are requisites. This job also requires an ability to report and write news about art on deadline, as well as develop a formidable Web presence. We want a person with vision and depth of thought to carry on the Post's long tradition of brilliant art criticism. Interested candidates should please contact Rich Leiby (x 7325) or Peter Perl (x6188) by Jan. 18.

Interesting that three different friends at the WaPo managed to send me this within minutes of it being sent...

A while back I told you that there were three scenarions for the replacement of Blake Gopnik and in order of probability the three scenarios are:

1. WaPo gets a replacement for Gopnik from "in-house" by filling the position with someone already in the employment of the WaPo.

2. WaPo contracts a local DMV writer to contribute museum reviews and he/she shares the load with Dawson, already a contracted freelancer.

3. WaPo hires an outsider art critic from another newspaper below the "newspaper food chain" from the WaPo (same as they did with Gopnik).

I also told you that scenario one is the most probable because it is the least costly to the WaPo. By replacing Gopnik with a critic already in the employ of the WaPo, salary negotiations are easier, and the WaPo saves on moving expenses as well as travel expenses in interviewing applicants from outside the area. It also makes the paperwork a lot easier and in the end the payroll is one less as no one has had to be hired in order to replace Gopnik. If this scenario is the principal one, then this would be good news for the DMV art scene, as the logical replacement for Gopnik would be O'Sullivan. And he is already well-versed in the DMV art scene, knows everyone and everyone knows him, and would just have to move his desk from Weekend to Style. Cost to the WaPo?: A well-deserved pay raise bump to O'Sullivan. Cost to O'Sullivan?: He may end up writing reviews for both Style and Weekend and doubling his work load (and thus his paycheck?). Or Weekend would hire a freelancer to do some random visual art reviews every couple of months or so. An interesting twist to this scenario would be if Style got Dr. Claudia Rousseau, who (a) writes for the Gazette, which is owned by the Post and thus already within the Post financial borg, and (b) comes with a respectable and award winning provenance for critical art writing derived from many years of writing about art (in Spanish) for Latin American newspapers and locally for the Gazette, (c) she is a respected college professor on the subject of art and art history, and (d) would add some highly needed diversity to the ranks of Style critics. This internal email seems to add some meat to my guessing that the Gopnikmeister's replacement might/will come from "inside" the WaPo Borg.

Scenario two is the next most probable because it ends with a couple of freelancers (not Post employees) sharing the Gopnik load for Style. That means they save on insurance, 401(k), etc. If scenario two is the one, then one of these guys/gals is the pool of DMV art critics and artsy writers (in no particular order): Jeffry Cudlin, Claudia Rousseau, Maura Judkis, John Anderson, Kriston Capps, Kevin Mellema, John Blee, JW Mahoney, Lou Jacobson (he'd only do photography reviews), etc. and maybe some of those random names that show up once in a while in the back of the magazine reviews in the national artzines. The top two choices?: Cudlin or Rousseau. They are both award winning critics, well-known and respected in the DMV and I'm somewhat sure that they'd be interested in the job. Because of Cudlin's superb performance as a curator at the AAC, Cudlin is a double threat for moving up the food chain in the better paid curatorial food chain, and maybe he's more interested in following that line, but he'd still make an excellent Gopnik-replacement local choice (but not sure if he could do both jobs at once). Rousseau's strong points are discussed in the previous scenario, and also make her a formidable choice (if she's interested in the job). Because of Cudlin's success as a curator, I think Jeffry is probably more in tune with moving up the curatorial food chain (are you listening Hirshhorn?) and thus advantage Rousseau.

Scenario three is the least likely because it is the most expensive and time intensive for the Post. The new hire would have to be lured away from another newspaper, and be hired as a Post employee with all rights and benefits. This seems a long shot in this financially austere environment where the WaPo is early-retiring and letting go people of left and right. Four wild assed guesses: Fabiola Santiago from the Miami Herald, Alan Artner from the Chicago Tribune, Robert Pincus (formerly of the San Diego Union-Tribune) and Regina Hackett (formerly of the Seattle P.I.). My heart would be with Regina.

Comments welcomed; I am sure that I skipped some potential names in scenario two.

New Drawings

Here are some of the new works that I'm be taking to the Miami International Art Fair (MIA), which opens Thursday night at the Miami Beach Convention Center.

Supergirl Flying Naked. Charcoal on Paper. 4.75 x 40 inches.

The Lilith, Running Away from Eden. Charcoal on paper. 39 x 10 inches.

Eve, Running Away from Eden. 22 x 18 inches. Charcoal on Paper.

Eve, Agonizing Over The Sin. Charcoal on Paper. 13 x 49 inches.

Adam's First Night Outside of Eden (Adam Alone While The Great Owl Watches).
8.5 x 22 inches. Charcoal on Paper.

Airborne

Heading down to Miami Beach to participate in the second annual Miami International Art Fair at the MB Convention Center and also to hang around with my parents. If you want to score some free passes to the fair, send me an email and I will email them to you.

Linn Meyers drawing at the Katzen

Linn Meyers: A Very Particular Moment "responds to the architecture of the museum by covering the walls with hand-drawn, repetitive, geometric lines—creating a hypnotic, meditative space. Meyers will spend two weeks in the museum creating her largest temporary drawing to-date on a 23 ft x 32 ft. wall in the museum’s third floor gallery."

The American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. Admission is free. For more information, call 202-885-1300 or look on the Web here.

MIA

Later this week I'll be heading down to Miami Beach to participate in the second annual Miami International Art Fair at the MB Convention Center and also to hang around with my parents. If you want to score some free passes to the fair, send me an email and I will email them to you.

If I have time, later I will post some of the new 2011 drawings that I've created for this fair.

Draw from the model

I'm always being asked by artists where they can go and draw from the live model. There are many places in the DMV where one can just show up, or sign up and draw from the live model.

One cool place is the Del Ray Artisans Gallery. These sessions operate on a drop-in basis so there is no need to register in advance. Bring your supplies and join them at the gallery to draw or paint their live models. They don't supply easels - only plenty of chairs - but you are welcome to bring your own if you want to use one. All skill levels are welcome.

Gesture Sessions (two hours)

Come to the gesture sessions to loosen up and participate in a fun, fast-paced drawing experience. These two-hour sessions are composed primarily of series of dynamic 1-5 minute poses. One or two favorite poses may be revisited for 10-15 minutes at the end of each session.

Short Pose Sessions (two or three hours)

Short pose sessions are made up entirely of poses lasting 5-15 minutes. These sessions are a wonderful way to get in lots of drawing practice with a wide variety of poses.

Short/Long Pose Sessions (three hours)

The three-hour short/long pose sessions start with some short 1-5 minute warm-up poses and progressively move into longer poses lasting 10-45 minutes. These sessions provide a great opportunity to hone your drawing and observation skills.

Long Pose Sessions (two or three hours)

For people wanting to spend an extended amount of time on a pose, go to their long pose sessions. These sessions will be composed of two long poses with perhaps a few warm-ups at the start. Please no acrylics or oils; pastels, watercolor and ink are welcome.

The fee for each three-hour session is $8 for DRA members and $10 for non-members. Two-hour sessions are $6 for members and $8 for non-members. Please check the Del Ray Artisans calendar www.thedelrayartisans.org for upcoming dates and times. If you have any questions, please contact Katherine Rand at 703.836.1468 or DRA.LifeDrawing@gmail.com.