Friday, July 12, 2019

You learn something every day!

The Meaning behind One of the Most Oddly Erotic Paintings in Western Art by Hannah Williams

Portrait présumé de Gabrielle d'Estrées et de sa sur la duchesse de Villars (Gabrielle d'Estrées and One of Her Sisters), 16th century, Musée du Louvre
Despite what it might look like to the contemporary viewer, a purely queer reading of the work would be misguided. Rather than a depiction of lesbian foreplay, most art historians interpret the painting as an announcement that Gabrielle is pregnant with the King’s illegitimate son. It’s her sister who is signaling this to the audience, not her lover. The fingers wrapped around Gabrielle’s nipple symbolizes the latter’s fertility, an allusion emphasized by the presence of the figure sewing baby’s clothes in the back of the painting.
Read the whole fascinating article here. 

Tuesday, July 09, 2019

Virginia Commission for the Arts Announces Return of Artist Fellowships

The Virginia Commission for the Arts is pleased to announce the return of the Artist Fellowship program in FY20, in the discipline of crafts. Four artists will be considered for fellowships of $3,500 each, recognizing the creativity of Virginia artists and their pursuit of artistic excellence. 
Application Deadline
Applications will be accepted via the online grant portal. The deadline for application submission is Tuesday, October 1, 2019, at 5:00 PM.
Eligibility
  • artists who are legal residents of Virginia;
  • artists who plan to remain in Virginia during the grant period;
  • a legal resident who possesses a valid Virginia driver’s license and/or pays income taxes in Virginia and/or is a registered Virginia voter;
  • artists who are 18 years of age;
  • artists may receive only one fellowship award from the Commission within a four-year period. 
Amount of Assistance
Four artist will be considered for fellowships of $3,500 each. Artists are not required to provide matching funds. 
Criteria
A complete application must contain:
  • consistent quality of the artist’s work;
  • applicant’s record of professional arts activity and achievement as reflected in the resume/CV;
  • fellowship potential to result in significant advancement for the artist’s career. 
In speaking to the return of the Artist Fellowship program, Executive Director Janet Starke said, “We are thrilled to be able to reinstate the Artist Fellowship program, thanks to increased funding from the General Assembly for the year ahead. Too, we are pleased to reinstate the program with a focus on crafts, a genre that is really a cornerstone of so many cultures represented in the Commonwealth.”
As with all grants by the Virginia Commission for the Arts, applications for Artist Fellowships will only be accepted through their online grants portal. Visit here for more Fellowship information.  

Sunday, July 07, 2019

The Louvre will move the Mona Lisa

Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa (ca. 1503–19), the most popular attraction at the Louvre—which itself is consistently the world’s most visited museum—will be relocating for the summer. Though the painting will remain in its air-conditioned and bulletproof encasement, it will be moved on the evening of July 16th from the huge concrete wall on which it has hung for the last 14 years. It will be relocated into its summer home in the Louvre’s Medici Gallery, some “100 paces” away, as the museum’s director Jean-Luc Martinez told the AFP.
Read the whole story here.

Friday, July 05, 2019

The racist, sadist Che Guevara

My father was part of the 1959 Cuban Revolution, and fought under the command of the Argentine adventurer and mass murderer doctor Ernesto (Ché) Guevara de la Serna Lynch. Heart-broken and disillusioned when the Cuban Revolution betrayed its roots and turned Communist, and after a painful internment at a Cuban concentration camp, he brought our family to the United States as a political refugee in the 1960s.

Guevara is one of those obsessions who returns time and time again to my artwork.

In my solo exhibition which opens today (opening 6-8 PM) at the Stone Tower Gallery in beautiful Glen Echo, Guevara makes an appearance as the most often reproduced portrait in history, as the T-shirt god’s quotes are incorporated into his famous visage, but not in the iconic Korda image (considered the most reproduced photograph in history), but in a laughing image of the true Ché, surrounded by some of his most infamous quotes.



Known as “El Chacal de La Cabaña” (The Jackal of La Cabaña – La Cabaña being the Spanish fortress at the mouth of Havana bay where executions took place) to Cubans, Guevara was the mastermind of the mass executions which took place after the Castro triumph. “I don’t need proof to execute a man,” said Che during an interview published in a Cuban newspaper in 1959, “I only need proof that it is necessary to execute him.”

Hatred is the central element of our struggle! Hatred that is intransigent...hatred so violent that it propels a human being beyond his natural limitations, making him violent and cold- blooded killing machine...We reject any peaceful approach. Violence is inevitable. To establish Socialism rivers of blood must flow! The imperialist enemy must feel like a hunted animal wherever he moves. Thus we’ll destroy him! These hyenas are fit only for extermination. We must keep our hatred alive and fan it to paroxysm! The victory of Socialism is well worth millions of atomic victims!

In “This is Che”, in addition to Guevara’s quotes, an electronic screen, embedded into the mass murderer’s forehead, rotates dozens of images of Guevara’s image in T-shirts from all over the world.

Stone Tower Gallery
7300 MacArthur Blvd.
Glen Echo, MD 20812
Exhibition:  F. Lennox Campello: More Obsessions
Exhibition dates: July 5 to 28, 2019
Gallery Hours: Saturday & Sunday, 11am to 6pm and by appointment
Art Walk Reception: Friday, July 5, 6 to 8pm

Thursday, July 04, 2019

My solo show at the Stone Tower Gallery

My solo show opens tomorrow!


More Obsessions: Thoughts and Things That Keep Living in My Head
Lenny Campello

Stone Tower Gallery | July 5 to 28, 2019

Opening Reception


Friday, July 5, 6pm to 8pm




7300 MacArthur Blvd.  |  Glen Echo, MD 20812

Here are some the works that will be on display - For this show I've created some new works - mostly drawings on unfired broken Bisque as well as some new drawings and watercolors - See ya there Friday!


North Atlantic Mermaid (Syreni Caledonii) Watercolor on Paper, circa 2019 12x36 inches
North Atlantic Mermaid (Syreni Caledonii)
Watercolor on Paper, circa 2019 12x36 inches


"Your portrait in a gallery of portraits"
Charcoal and Conte, Electronic Components, appropriated digital portrait images, miniature spy camera, c. 2017. 40 x 60 inches
Supergirl Flying Naked
Charcoal and color pencils on broken unfired Bisque, circa 2019
Daphne
Charcoal and conte on Paper, circa 2019
T- Shirt God (This is Che)
Charcoal and conte with embedded electronics on paper, circa 2014


Suddenly, There was no fear
Charcoal and conte on unfired Bisque, 14 inches diameter, circa 2019
The Morrigan
Charcoal and conte on unfired Bisque, circa 2019

Gym Rat
Charcoal and conte on unfired Bisque, circa 2019

Eve, Running Away from Eden
Charcoal and conte on unfired Bisque, circa 2019

Woman Falling from the Sky
Charcoal and conte on unfired Bisque, circa 2019

Eve, Running Away from Eden
Charcoal and conte on unfired Bisque, circa 2019


An unmarried man begging his cat for forgiveness
Charcoal and conte on unfired Bisque, circa 2019
In a private property in Virginia

Suddenly the answer came to her
Charcoal and conte on unfired Bisque, circa 2019
President Obama
Charcoal and conte on borken Bisque, 5x4 inches, c. 2019.

How Do I Love Thee? Sonnets to the Portuguese
Homage to E.B.B. Charcoal on broken Bisque 4x3 inches, c.2019
An unmarried woman
Charcoal and conte on broken unfired Bisque, circa 2019

Frida Kahlo in a Cross of Clouds (Version I) by Campello
Frida Kahlo in a Cross of Clouds (Version I)
Charcoal, conte, mixed media on Unfired Bisque
7x7x3, circa 1980-2017
Four versus One
Charcoal and conte on broken unfired Bisque, circa 2019

La Frida
Charcoal, mixed media on Unfired Bisque
3.5 round x 4 inches, circa 1997-2017
Che Guevara (Castrum Canis)
Charcoal, conte, mixed media on Unfired Bisque
4.5x3.25 inches, circa 2017

Obama Laughing
Charcoal, conte, mixed media on Unfired Bisque
5x3 inches, circa 2017
Two American Sailors
Charcoal and conte on paper, circa 2019
A Contemporary Woman in a Gallery of Past Icons
Charcoal and conte on paper, circa 2018



And here are some installation shots:


Wednesday, July 03, 2019

Art Miami has a new owner

The Art Miami fair group, which includes Art New York, CONTEXT, Aqua Art Miami, Art Wynwood, and others, has been sold to Informa Markets... this is a seismic move in the art fair world!

“It’s a bold and very positive step for us,” Nick Korniloff, Art Miami’s director, who owns the company with two partners, tells artnet News of the sale. During his years with the business, he has grown the fair empire to include CONTEXT, Aqua Art Miami, Art Wynwood, Palm Beach Modern + Contemporary, and Art New York. Over the past year, those fairs have drawn in some 400 dealers and overall attendance of more than 300,000 people. 


Read the whole article here. 

Monday, July 01, 2019