El Rey

Con dinero y sin dinero.
Yo hago siempre lo que quiero.
Y mi palabra es la ley.
No tengo trono ni reina.
Ni nadie que me comprenda.
Pero sigo siendo el rey.

Hoyt's Mid Atlantic

Once again it was my honor and pleasure and hard work to jury my fellow artists; this time for the 2012 Hoyt Institute of Fine Arts Mid Atlantic Art Competition in Pennsylvania.

And like I've noted before, even though I’ve juried, organized, curated or otherwise passed judgment on my fellow artists around 300 times in the last few decades, the process of jurying an art show never ceases to amaze me by both how individually difficult each one is and how inspiring each one becomes.

As a juror, and when done properly, the task of selecting artwork is immensely hard; made harder by the fact that a juror must also reject artwork and artists. More often than not, some rejected artwork floats back and forth between acceptance and rejection – there are variables that dictate how many pieces are included and how the downsizing of a show (it is almost always downsizing) tugs at the visual arts heart.

The Hoyt Mid Atlantic jurying process was an especially difficult show to put together. Why? Because there were so many powerful entries competing for limited wall space and because the vast majority of submissions reflected an amazing variety of genres, media, approaches, ideas and processes.

There was mastery in painting; plenty of that and from plenty of diverse approaches! Bruce Erickson subtle and intelligent approach to composition, light and homage to the classics is vastly different from James O’Malley’s brutally hyper-realistic take on our surrounds. 

They are both the result of artists flexing very powerful technical skills married to even stronger artistic visions.

Carol Wallace’s breathtaking watercolor takes a mundane subject (Pears) and elevates it to a sublime position as only a refreshing and difficult watercolor can do. 

And Ohad Cadji’s lusty photograph is a triumph of the human body’s never-ending ability to engage and warm our mind and body.

For those of you invited to exhibit, I send a well done! It was a tough competition and you should feel pleased and honored. For those artists whose work was rejected, as an artist myself, I your juror shares that experience with you and I know that it is never easy to accept. However, I also pass that as a juror and artist, it is clear to me that one juror’s vision and approach is just that: one juror! Keep on creating!

I have been honored to put my name to this show, and I thank all of you for it.

Go to this tomorrow...

Pencil this in and if you want to know the history, oddity and meaning of the terms "Hispanic" and "Latino", then come to the lecture as well...

Fall for the Arts at AU

On September 15, 2012, the curious and creative will be conducting an orchestra, making a collage with a living artist as a Muse, learning iconic jazz dance moves, and creating music out of thin air.

Fall for the Arts, a unique celebration of the Arts at AU, will feature an afternoon of dynamic classes and hands-on workshops capped off with an elegant reception and live auction of works by prominent artists. The afternoon classes span a wide-range of activities including creating sound effects, acting Shakespeare, Hindustani tabla drumming, and stage combat, to name just a few. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Arts at AU.
 

There is also a very cool art auction with some excellent artworks up for auction at some very good starting prices, including an amazing Manon Cleary graphite drawing at a starting price of just $2K. Check out the artwork up for auction here or plaease browse below or use the links below to review available works—and see Artist Bios (PDF):

Lisa Montag Brotman Manon Cleary Joan Danziger Willem de Looper Alan Feltus Robert Gates (two artworks) Sam Gilliam Carol Goldberg

Tom Green Micheline Klagsbrun Edith Kuhnle Lou Stovall Robin Rose Ben L. Summerford Sharon Wolpoff

Come celebrate the Arts at American University. The event is open to the public. Admission is $50 for the entire event.

Register Now for 2012

Worshiping at the Altar of Modern Art

Herewith the latest work in my marriage of drawing/painting with embedded electronic components. In this piece, titled Nude Artist Worshiping at the Altar of Modern Art, the embedded electronic screen plays a Powerpoint show of what most lay people think of when the term "modern art" is employed in a conversation.

This is a charcoal and watercolors piece, which now begins to see me add a little color to my drawings. It is done on 12x16 inches, 300 weight acid free, pH-balanced Rising paper.

See if you can figure out which artists are being homaged in the following screenshots of the work:

And below a couple of shots depicting me in the creation of the "Jackson Pollock" piece to the left of the work...

Courage Unmasked Tomorrow!

VIP Gala on Wednesday, September 12, 2012, 6:30 pm to 9:30 pm
The Katzen Arts Center at American University
4400 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20016

Tickets required

Lest We Forget

"Studio View, 9/11"
Oil on Canvas c. 9/11/2001 by David FeBland