Wanna go to an opening tomorrow?

“Evidence” by Lori Anne Boocks

EXHIBITION DATES: October 31 - November 24, 2012

First Friday Reception: Nov. 2, 6:30 – 8:30 PM

Opening Reception: Nov. 10, 4 – 6 PM

WHERE: Studio Gallery, 2108 R Street N.W. Washington, DC 20008 

Lori Anne Boocks's solo show at Studio Gallery is a dynamic exploration of the power of stories and memory. In her acrylic paintings, she renders text in expressive charcoal and forces the personal to become universal. Words are rehashed, reworked, and stripped down to the bone then built up again. Layers of color are added and partially removed to become a lens through which she shares her cache of stories and invites viewers to reflect upon their own.

By documenting the past, she is gathering evidence: Evidence to describe what a memory looks like and how it changes over time. Evidence from the little crime scenes of our lives and the things we walk away from—or the things we can't. Through these works, Boocks offers visible proof of the significance of the many moments that make up our lives while questioning her own remembrance of events.

ABOUT THE ARTIST:

Lori Anne Boocks received her BFA from Old Dominion University. Her work is included in private collections in the Metro DC area, California, and beyond. Recent solo and group shows include the University of Maryland University College, Delaplaine Visual Arts Center, Maryland Federation of Art, and Adah Rose Gallery.

For more information about Lori Anne Boocks visit:

http://www.studiogallerydc.com

Paintings: lorianneboocks.com
Art Blog: laboocks.blogspot.com

Opportunity for Artists

Between the Lines: Contemporary Drawing Now Deadline for Entry: November 5th, 2012 Exhibition Dates: January 5th - 27th, 2013 Description: Between the Lines: Contemporary Drawing Now is an exhibition that examines current trends in drawing today. This is an all media exhibit ranging from pencil on paper, to the conceptual, and to the three-dimensional. It is open to all artists nationally and internationally. Juror: Linn Meyers is currently a DC-based artist with a BFA from The Cooper Union in New York City and a MFA from the California College of the Arts in San Francisco. Her work has been exhibited in museums and galleries both nationally and internationally. Meyers’ work is in private and public collections in both the United States and abroad; DC area museum collections include The Phillips Collection, The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, The Smithsonian American Arts Museum and The National Museum of Women in the Arts. Meyers has received numerous grants, residencies and awards, including the Pollock Krasner Award, Artist in Residence at The Hirshhorn Museum, and a Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship. She has produced site-specific wall drawings at museums and galleries, including The Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, Paris Concret in Paris France, Morgan Lehman Gallery in NYC, The Phillips Collection and Katzen Center Museum in Washington, DC, and many others. APPLY ONLINE NOW

Heard on Univision

Today I saw the first Romney ad ever (at least that I've seen) on Univision - Obama ads have been on constantly on Univision for months - also loads of Virginia's Tim Kane ads in Spanish (he seems to be fluent in it).

Someone is still standing guard

In case you were wondering what the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier honor guard does when the federal government shuts down because of a hurricane...

Happy Birthday Bob Ross!

Robert Norman "Bob" Ross (October 29, 1942 – July 4, 1995) probably got more people interested in painting in the US than anyone else on the history of the planet. He was a positive influence on the world and yet I suspect that he will never be included in Janson's.

Ray Burns at Yellow Barn Gallery

Even though the air already smelled a little of the incoming Frankenstorm, Glen Echo was as usual, packed with children playing in the very cool playground there, which is usually deserted until the puppet show ends and then it is invaded by a small army of little ones.

At the Yellow Barn Gallery, Ray Burns was in the final day of his two day show, and the exhibition, which according to the artist "is the result of several years' worth of painting and exploring - exploring various locales, subject matter, painting surfaces, and media..." is a really good example of how a successful painter must continually engage a diverse set of skills and visions in order to continually expand his artistic horizon.

The show is a mixture of plein air and studio painting, and both offer vibrant examples of enviable painting skills combined for a really good eye for light and color.

The plein air paintings are excellent in that unique sense and courage that painting in nature gives artists. We see colors that a studio artist would never imagine or dare try unless he or she is out and about really observing nature and what she does with light and surface and time.

There's a legendary story that Monet was once painting out on a field, and someone approached him and observed the master recreate a natural scene in front of both of them. The observer was quiet for quite a while, but then quizzically approached the master and said: "I don't see all those colors out there..."

Monet turned around and responded, "Don't you wish you did, Madam..."

Burns, who studied at Maryland under David Driskell and Martin Puryear, and then subsequently took a plein air painting class at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville with artist Dean Fisher, notes that it wasn't until he took that class that "his art took off."

The works at Glen Echo's Yellow Barn Gallery are evidence of this and are certainly evidence of a highly talented painter and observer of our world.

See more of his work here.

When Hollywood Screws Up

I'm really a huge fan of the new ABC television show Last Resort... but it really pisses me off that they are too fucking cheap to hire a Navy advisor to help with a TV show about a Navy submarine... And I know that I am a pedantic Virgo --- BUT----- I just finished watching the latest episode of the Last Resort TV show... and after all these years of making military and naval movies and TV series, you'd think that Hollywood would know that the US Navy does not salute uncovered!!!!

Feh!