Boise Art Museum Presents: 'Contemporary Cuban Art: History, Identity, and Materiality'

The Googles just alerted me that I am included in this museum show in Idaho!

The Boise Art Museum is bringing a collection of Cuban art from the collection of the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art and compiled by guest curator Jill Hartz.

This is the story behind my work in this show.

Details here.

Some of the Artists in the Exhibition

• Juan Carlos Alom
• Abel Barroso
• F. Lennox Campello
• Raúl Corrales
• Miguel A. Couret
• Adrián Fernández Milanés
• René Francisco (René Rodríguez Hernández)
• Alejandro Gonzalez
• jorge & larry (Jorge M. Hernández; Larry J. González)
• Liudmila & Nelson (Liudmila Velasco; Nelson Ramirez de Arellano Conde)
• Alfredo Manzo Cedeño
• Eduardo Marín
• Armando Marino
• Ibrahim Miranda
• Reynier Leyva Novo
• René Peña
• Fernando Rodriguez Falcón
• Belkis Ayón Manso
• José Bedia
• Augustin Bejarano
• Marta María Pérez Bravo
• Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons
• Roberto Fabelo
• Aimeé García Marrero
• Alejandro Gonzalez
• Eduardo Hernández Santos
• Elsa Mora
• Sandra Ramos
• Ishmael Rodriguez
• José Manuel For
• Glenda León
• Aurora Molina
• Cirenaica Moreira

Sanctions paper

I understand that all the various sanctions which will be coming soon against Russia for invading Ukraine will be printed on toilet paper so that the Russians can at least do something with them... cough... cough...

Washingtonian magazine and DC visual arts

Over the last two plus decades, I've contacted Washingtonian magazine multiple times to take them to task over their absolute apathy and lack of coverage when it comes to any coverage of the DMV's visual arts scene.

Multiple editors over the years have responded to my complaints with mostly never filled promises and/or excuses.  Many of them have been documented in this blog over the decades, as testimony to their lack of interest in DMV visual arts and art galleries and spaces... and artists.

There's new blood and new leadership over at that legendary magazine and today Damare Baker pops in with a really cool opinion piece on which she highlights her ten fave visual art spaces around the DMV.

Check the article out here.  Then email Damare and tell her how much you enjoyed the article and wouldn't it be nice if 2-3 times a year the magazine would review a DC art gallery, or art space, and/or highlight or profile a DMV artist?

Diane Vreeland

 The things that show up at auction! Random!

Diane Vreeland
1978 ink brush drawing, 4x3 inches

Marcie Wolf-Hubbard at Artists & Makers

Artists & Makers Studios on Parklawn Drive in Rockville will showcase the work of Marcie Wolf-Hubbard in her solo exhibit “The Weight of Our Environment” and her connection made during the pandemic with the figure and nature - along with two additional exhibits and Open Studios. 

The March 5th opening will run from 11am – 3pm. Enjoy additional exhibits - “Dark and Light” with A&M Resident Artists, and Gallery 209 Member Artists exhibiting their latest works. 

In “The Weight of our Environment”, Marcie reveals her connection made during the pandemic with the figure and nature. Her initial charcoal drawings, embedded in encaustic medium, become the subject of her encaustic paintings. Additionally, she has translated her 2D drawings to 3D sculptures in wood cutouts, standing forms, and tiny interiors—- created environments for her figures. Her work includes papier mache, cardboard, and encaustic paint. 

Marcie Wolf-Hubbard is supported in part by funding from the Montgomery County Government and the Arts & Humanities Council of Montgomery County. Exhibit curated by Cathy Hirsh.

“The Weight of Our Environment” with Marcie Wolf-Hubbard

“Dark and Light” with Resident Artists

The Artists of Gallery 209

Opening Reception

11:00 AM – 3:00 PM, Saturday, March 5th, 2022

Artists & Makers Studios

11810 Parklawn Drive, Suite 210

Rockville, MD 20852

Exhibits for Marcie Wolf-Hubbard and the Resident Artists will run from March 2nd through March 23rd. Gallery 209’s exhibit will run from March 2nd through March 28th. Viewing hours are 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM, Monday-Saturday, and Sundays by chance or appointment. Masks firmly covering nose and mouth are required in the building.

Descartes Died in the Snow

Morton Fine Art (52 O Street NW #302) is pleased to present Descartes Died in the Snow, a solo exhibition showcasing work by Washington, D.C.-based artist Rosemary Feit Covey, on view from March 3–March 31, 2022. 

Marking both the debut of new work and the reactivation of older works, the exhibition uncovers new dimensions within the artist’s vast oeuvre. Taken as a whole, this collection of work illuminates the fragility of life on our embattled planet, recognizing the catastrophic ecological losses that mark our current era while turning a hopeful eye towards altogether new horizons.

Covey’s current focus on environmental concerns is informed by 20 years of collaborations with scientists, during which biology, ecology, and mortality have remained steady themes of the artist’s practice. The past three decades have seen the artist rise as an established wood engraver, followed in recent years by an expansion towards mediums including experimental printmaking and mixed media. From the replication of the printmaking process to the carving of the printing block, Covey’s works attend to personal analogies of physical and emotional fortitude; through the manipulation of absence and presence, lightness and darkness, the artist evokes a darker psychological sensibility within complex figural representations.

While maintaining the artist's long standing engagement with psychologically challenging—and oftentimes troubling—subject matter, the diversification of Covey’s mediums highlights the artist’s continued innovation in the arenas of both technique and narrative. In a titular nod to the life and work of 17th century philosopher René Descartes, Descartes Died in the Snow reflects Covey’s own artistic philosophy, that of art-as-exploration. In admiration of Descartes’ unfettered curiosity and his resulting great lengths of inquiry, Covey draws parallels with the experimental potential of artistic practice. “We artists can apply logic and intellectual research, then throw it all to the winds, allowing for alchemy and the unconscious to cross-pollinate with the natural sciences as we create,” Covey says.

Moved by recent climate disaster scenarios in South Africa—the country of her birth—Covey’s most recent work responds to the fleeting nature of news cycles and the failure of journalistic channels to manifest sustained public awareness of such crucial issues. Having witnessed this subject matter quickly fall from the front pages, Covey understands her work to serve as an enduring reminder of environmental crises within a global consciousness. Of this profound responsibility as an artist in the present moment, Covey affirms, “In this manner, I am committed to using my skills to portray this delicate balance as we reach a precipice.”

Through delicate lines that comprise masterful compositions, Covey’s work operates at the intersections of beauty and terror, depicting melancholy aesthetics of mourning. From a mass of opalescent strokes, Covey’s Broken Earth (2020) pictures a heap of carcesses, inspired by Covey’s horror of an imagined parched earth. Elsewhere, blooms of pigment suggest oil spills, and falling petals hint at impending decay. Through a push and pull, characterized by sensorial enticement segueing into gripping existential inquiry, the artist’s foreboding imagery unmasks that which is hidden in plain sight.

While often ominous, Covey’s practice nevertheless evades nihilism; through the elevation of phenomena such as fungal networks, the artist’s work also finds its purpose in illuminating the structures which sustain the planet. Resulting from Covey’s partnerships with mycologists, Amethyst Deceivers (2019) depicts the symbiotic relationships between plant and fungal life, relationships that exude restorative potential amidst times of destruction. Through the artist’s lens, Covey’s audience is issued solemn warnings of a speculative future, yet the possibilities for healing are never voided—viewers need only look closer to find them.

Old Navy cartoon drawing

Every once in a while I come across one of these... I used to do a lot of cartoons while I was in the Navy... some were published in base newspapers,  Navy magazines,  Stars & Stripes, etc. 

I gave most of them away over the years... here's one of the fabled Seaman Schmuckatelli (Navy sailors know who this fabled sailor was/is) - do they even have clubs on base anymore??? This one was "Seaman Schmuckatelli about to make a giant mistake"

Seaman Schmuckatelli about to make a giant mistake
A 1983 Navy cartoon by Lenny Campello