Rousseau on Artomatic

Dr. Claudia Rousseau is the highly respected art critic for the Gazette newspapers, which are owned by the Washington Post and it has always been a mystery to me why the WaPo doesn't also publish her gallery reviews as they do with some other Gazette articles. Dr. Rousseau is also a member of the faculty at Montgomery College. In any event, she recently went to Artomatic and keyed her impressions to my review of AOM. Her impressions are in blue.

Every year the overall "quality" of AOM improves and this year is noticeably better looking and more professional-looking than any other year.

Well, I wouldn't say better than any other year, but I will agree that the presentation was better.  Not sure about the art being better.

There's a lot less porn in AOM this year. In fact, there's a lot less nudes of all kinds.

Good. 

The range of the quality of the work, even in a postmodern world where everything is art, still ranges from the mind-boggling bad to the artistically sublime.

So many people you stand there and ask "what were they thinking?"  10 seconds of your attention.

There are several brand new (at least to me) artists in AOM who can show anywhere right now. Agreed.

There is a lot of art about The Beatles and blues musicians. Why Beatles?  But true.

There's more video art than I expected. I never saw Tim Tate's video? 

There are a lot more well-known DMV area "gallery" artists in this AOM than any previous one (except the first one in 1999). I also saw this, and noticed that when I was drawn to something it often turned out to be someone I already knew fairly well.

There's a lot of artists working with discarded computer boards and parts. Eric Celarier is the best.

There are a lot of glass artists and every single one of them is really good. Amazing.  And they keep getting better.

There are a lot of dark room style galleries and a lot of "blue light" art. Really hated most of it.

There is a lot of artwork about Obama.

There is a lot of left-wing nuttery artwork.

There are a lot of really good sculptures. Davide Prete's exhibit was lost in a sea of junk.  His work is actually fascinating, based on mathematically derived shapes. 

There are a lot of artists who make it really hard for someone interested in buying their work to get the basic details (how much is it and how do I buy it?) This was still very true.  Even their identities were often obscure. 

I thought that listing the artists by first name on the program was absurd. 

I liked:

David D'Orio's bicycle sculpture installation.  When I was there, the radio was tuned to some guy on a right wing rant.  Perfect.

Joseph Corcoran.  Wrote his name down as someone to remember. 

Greg Minah.  Interesting that when I first saw his work I didn't like it, but now it does really stand out.

Emily Piccirillo.  

Andrew Wodzianski

Frank Warren's video about Post Secret.  Yes, we all know the story, but I was really caught by the video presentation.

Michael Janis.  His work just keeps moving forward into new and interesting tracks.

Blair Jackson photographs.  Made me stop moving for a while. First time seeing this artist.

Michele Banks.   Would love one of those petri dishes.

Ellen Hill.  Wonderful work that also is evolving.

That's 10, but I also liked:

Linda Lowery (big paintings of crying babies)

Nicolas Zimbro  (he was a former student of mine)

Maryann Pranulis  (abstract paintings)

Lola Lombard  (dresses)

Eileen Williams  (collages)

RSVP: Opportunity for Artists

Deadline: June 30, 2012

Later this year I will be honored to jury RSVP 2012 for The New Wilmington Arts Association. They support the careers of artists by providing opportunities for uncensored experimentation, professional presentation, and critical dialogue and RSVP is their annual juried exhibition open to all artists and media.

You can download the prospectus here - hurry and do not leave it to the last minute!

Elephant

Anderson Campello, Elephant, Mixed Media on paper, 11x14 inches, circa 2012

Hoyt Call for Artists

Mid Atlantic Competition

Deadline for Submissions: August 3, 2012

October 9 – November 2, 2012
Public Reception: Sunday, October 14, from 2-4pm

The 2012 Hoyt Mid Atlantic Juried Art Exhibition showcases artists from the Mid Atlantic Region: Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, West Viginia, Virginia and Washington, DC.

Juror:  Yours Truly

2012 Mid Atlantic Prospectus page 1
2012 Mid Atlantic Prospectus page 2

Opportunity for Artists

Call to Artists

Join us to put on a one day

Addiction and Art Exhibition

at the

IntNSA Conference

Annual Education Conference of the International Nurses Society on Addiction

Artists are invited to submit original artworks on the theme of drug addiction and recovery (drugs include alcohol, tobacco, illegal or prescription drugs). Artists accepted for the show will be asked to attend the exhibition to discuss their work with visitors 5:30 - 8:00 PM on September 5, 2012. Submissions will be juried because there is limited exhibition space. Conference attendees will select the prize winners (1st $300, 2nd $200 and 3rd $100)

The exhibition will be at the
Madison Hotel, 1177 15th St., NW Washington, DC
September 5, 2012
Deadline for Submissions: August 1, 2012

For submission details download the call at addictionandart.org/shows.html#intnsa_call

Mici on Parris

Bora Mici has an interesting article titled Being a Local Artist - An Insider's Perspective in the Gaithersburg Patch...

"Preparing and designing a solo show is a great responsibility since you represent yourself, your art, your view of the world," said Parris, of Gaithersburg, who is now a veteran of the local art scene..

Read it here.

Laura Roulet's AOM Report

My good friend Laura Roulet is one of the most active and hottest DMV area independent curators; she went to Artomatic and here's her report:

As a local independent curator, who has been around for awhile, I am a fan of Artomatic. It is a truly fun and useful Washington tradition. Every time I visit,  I see it as a chance for discovery of a fabulous, new artist. Granted that it’s a bit of a needle in a haystack search, and this year with 1,000+ artists, the haystack has reached perhaps unmanageable proportions. Visual overload has become a serious factor in appreciating what Artomatic has to offer. However, I also have come to appreciate some unique services offered by Artomatic:

AFFORDABLE ART

Artomatic has art for every taste, often at truly affordable prices, and I believe that original art always beats posters, commercial replicas, etc. By purchasing original art, you are helping to support/encourage a human being and acquiring something unique. Much better then mall art.

POST SECRET

At 500,000 and growing, this project by Frank Warren (which got a start at Artomatic) is a great example of the type of participatory, successful artform that can spring from the Washington community.

NICHE ARTISTS

Artomatic alerts the public to the best wedding photographer (Amber Wilkes), pet photographer (Lee Anderson), pet portraitist (Sheppard Bear), and bacon photographers (Rebecca and Eric Gordon). Who knew?

PEEPS

Gotta love them!

LOCAL SCHOOLS/WORKSHOPS

I noticed that local institutions such as the Washington Glass School, Glen Echo Pottery, DC Glass Works, Critical Exposure and PG County artists posted signage identifying and giving further exposure to their artists. Great idea.

CRAZY STUFF

Lego art by 11 year olds, black light art, money mosaics, pet paintings juxtaposed with gay porn (8^th floor). All I can say is, wow.

After combing through all nine floors, I have some advice for artists about what helps it work for viewers:

Presentation counts. I know curation is verboten at Artomatic, but let’s face it, the artists who “curated” their own space, painting the wall, taking care in arrangement,  putting their name on the wall, leaving business cards, perhaps coordinating with another artist to create a distinctive space, look the best. Painting the wall black or scribbling on it doesn’t count.

MY TOP FOURTEEN (some are new discoveries, some were a delightful relief from all the other stuff. And yes, I definitely could have missed some greats given the circumstances):

Julia Bloom

Mei Mei Chang

Pierre Davis

David D’Orio

Mo Fogarty

Lori Goldberg

Pat Goslee

James Halloran

Robert Kincheloe

Rahshia Linendoll-Sawyer

Jessica Murray

Thomas Petzwinkler

Henrik Sundqvist

Edmond van der Bijl