Tuesday, August 07, 2012

Opportunity for Artists

Hillyer Art Space is nearing the end of their Open Call for Artists for the 2012-2014 exhibition year and they are currently looking for local DC Metro area artists and international artists to submit work for solo shows for the 2013-2014 exhibiition year.

Proposals must include the following materials:

  • Minimum of 5 images with a Maximum of 10 submitted on a disc or by email as a high resolution JPEG* (please save each of the images with their corresponding title—minimum resolution accepted is 1920x1080 pixels)
  • A complete checklist of works containing the title, year, medium, and dimension of each work
  • Resume including address, email, phone number, education, and any previous exhibitions (with clear indications whether it was solo or group)
  • Artist statement or exhibition narrative not to exceed one page
  • *Minimum accepted resolution on images is 1920x 1080 pixels.
Submissions Due August 31, 2012 by 6:00pm
Requirements:
  • DC Metro area artists cannot have had a solo show within the past three years - senior thesis shows, small scale shows in non-traditional spaces, or shows with attendance rates less than 50 people do NOT count as solo shows
  • DC Metro area includes any area within a 150 mi. radius
  • International artists have no restrictions on exhbition history but must be currently living abroad
Artists who are sponsored by an Artist Advisory Member should clearly note the Members name on their application. Please note that you do not have to be sponsored to apply.
Artists may deliver proposal materials via mail or email. If mailed, please provide a self-addressed stamped envelope if you would like your materials returned.

Mail Submissions to:
Hillyer Art Space
attn: Samantha May
9 Hillyer Court NW
Washington DC 2008
Or Email them to:
gallery@artsandartists.org

Monday, August 06, 2012

Smithsonian Contemporary Artist Award Nominees

Smithsonian American Art Museum Announces Artists Nominated for its Contemporary Artist Award  

My bet is on Ryan Trecartin...
         The Smithsonian American Art Museum announced today the nominees for its contemporary artist award, established in 2001 to recognize an artist younger than 50 who has produced a significant body of work and consistently demonstrates exceptional creativity. The 15 nominees are Matthew Buckingham, Kathy Butterly, Christina Fernandez, Amy Franceschini, Rachel Harrison, Oliver Herring, Glenn Kaino, Sowon Kwon, Ruben Ortiz-Torres, Jaime Permuth, Will Ryman, Ryan Trecartin, Mark Tribe, Mary Simpson and Sara VanDerBeek. Nominated artists work in a diverse range of media, including painting, sculpture, photography, film and video.

          Artists must be nominated by a juror to be considered for the award; there is no application. The $25,000 award is intended to encourage the artist's future development and experimentation. Previous winners were Pierre Huyghe (2010); Mark Dion (2008); Jessica Stockholder (2007); Matthew Coolidge, director of the Center for Land Use Interpretation (2006); Andrea Zittel (2005); Kara Walker (2004); Rirkrit Tiravanija (2003); Liz Larner (2002); and Jorge Pardo (2001). From 2001 to 2008, the award was known as the Lucelia Artist Award. The award is part of the museum's ongoing commitment to contemporary art and artists through annual exhibitions, acquisitions and public programs. 
           
          "The artists nominated this year draw on a wide range of cultural and aesthetic experiences to create work that is both visually stimulating and conceptually rigorous," said Joanna Marsh, The James Dicke Curator of Contemporary Art at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

          Marsh is coordinating the jury panel selection and the nomination and jurying process. Five distinguished jurors, each with a wide knowledge of contemporary American art, were selected from across the United States. The panel nominated the artists and will determine the award winner in a day of discussion and review, remaining anonymous until the winner is announced in October. Past jurors have included John Baldessari, Klaus Biesenbach, Lynne Cooke, Richard Flood, Elizabeth Murray, Jerry Saltz, Rochelle Steiner, Nancy Spector and Robert Storr, among others.

At Adam Lister Gallery


featuring artwork by:
T.J. Donovan
Bob Elliott
Lori Ellison
J.T. Kirkland
Matthew Langley
Evan Read
Karen Schifano

AUG.11-SEPT.3 2012

gallery reception: Sat. Aug.11 2:00-4:00PM
This exhibit brings together a selection of pure abstract artwork.  The artists featured here deal primarily with absence, space, color, and surface.  The works reflect the contradictory human desire for things to be obvious as well as hidden.  Drawing strength and influence from the rich history of minimalism, these seven artists speak visually in separate but connected languages.  Each unique approach, harnessing and expanding, containing and releasing, while ultimately striving to make nothing out of something.

Sunday, August 05, 2012

2012 Plein Air-Easton names winner


A Plein Air Painting of the Hooper Strait Lighthouse.

Hiu Lai Chong of Gaithersburg, MD is the grand prize winner of 2012 Plein Air-Easton, the Avalon Foundation announced on July 22. Chong’s nocturnal painting of the Hooper Strait Lighthouse (pictured) also won the Artists’ Choice Award.

Plein Air-Easton is a top plein air festival nationally, and among Easton’s largest annual events. Ninety-six paintings totaling $121,780 were sold at this year’s Collector’s Preview Party at the Academy Art Museum.

A few years ago I had the honor of being the keynote speaker at the Museum's artists gala and I was pleasantly astounded at both the quality of the work and the sales frenzy that takes place!

Wanna buy a cheap Frida Kahlo?

Then this Peruvian art dealer has the line on all the undiscovered Frida Kahlo originals on the planet... and some other masters... I'm just saying... cough, cough...

See this one here

And then this one...

They have some more undiscovered masters (including more Kahlos) here...

Cough... cough...

Saturday, August 04, 2012

You gotta see this...

Maryland artist featured at Smithsonian


Picture of a pillow with impressions made from reclaimed Baltimore marble.


Sebastian Martorana, a sculptor and illustrator living and working in Baltimore, is featured in 40 under 40: Craft Futures, an exhibition at the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery that investigates evolving notions of craft within traditional media such as ceramics and metalwork, as well as in fields as varied as installation art, fashion design and mathematics.

A 2012 Individual Artist Award recipient and alumnus of the Maryland Institute College of Art’s Rinehart School of Sculpture, Martorana’s current studio is part of the stone shop at Hilgartner Natural Stone Company in Baltimore. 

“Impressions” (pictured)—a marble piece depicting a pillow showing the indentation left by a sleeping head—is made from reclaimed Baltimore marble. The piece was acquired by the Smithsonian and can be viewed on the first floor of the Renwick Gallery as part of the 40 Under 40: Craft Features exhibit through February 3, 2013.