When the National Gallery of Art screwed up

25 years ago the National Gallery of Art passed on a Picasso to get a Cy Twombly - price tag on either was one million bucks.

My take on it was published in the Potomac News newspaper - it has aged rather well... here it is below:

"Cy Twombly Over Picasso?"

by

F. Lennox Campello

Published in the Potomac News and Dimensions Magazine

Twombly over Picasso? The National Gallery of Art's latest acquisition of an exceedingly boring painting by Virginia painter Cy Twombly succinctly brings to light a perfect example of the sort of poor decisions made in the seclusion of museum walls which exemplify why the general public is often at odds with our arts intelligentsia.

Cy Twombly's "Untitled (Bolsena)" was acquired on Friday the 13th of October by the National Gallery of Art at a cost of about one million dollars. The gallery's Collector's Committee also considered a Picasso, a Giacometti and a Baselitz before choosing the Twombly painting, which was aptly described by Washington Post art critic Paul Richards as "evoking the butt-end days of New York action painting. Or a wall besides a public pay phone."

Although it is clear that the Twombly piece will now join the National Gallery's ever growing "Gee, Mom, I can do that!" collection of art, what isn't clear is the rationale for picking Twombly over Picasso or Giacometti. It has been said that Twombly's main claim to fame is his early associations with Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg; if this is his main springboard into the walls of the National gallery, then it is clear to me that a pathetic mistake has been made by the gallery's Collector's Committee. As a matter of fact one would be hard pressed to pick a Johns or a Rauschenberg over a Picasso!

A new Picasso acquisition would have brought the National Gallery some more public interest, and a price tag of a million dollars seems almost a bargain for perhaps the greatest painter of all time. Whatever his detractors, Picasso is a recognized entity which would attract people who both like and dislike his work. I suspect Twombly's "champions" are not enough to prevent this latest acquisition from being ridiculed by the public and dismissed by the critics. It is also clear that the piece was vastly overpriced, as a similar Twombly sold less than two weeks ago in New York for $167,000. It would be interesting to see in which basement of the National Gallery this scrawling will gather dust in a few years. When it is put into storage, I hope it is well marked as a piece of art, or it may accidentally resurface on a wall next to a pay phone at the Smithsonian Metro Station.

The Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant

 The Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant

The Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation grant is one of the most prestigious grants available to emerging figurative artists, as well as one of the most substantial. It is one of the longest-standing foundations, with an illustrious history of recipients spanning more than half a century. It is also unique in its scope, in that it is available to students and artists around the world.

DEADLINE: Ongoing

WHO: Young artists pursuing their studies or in the early or developmental stage of their career. 

AMOUNT: First grants are in the amount of CAD $15,000 each, and subsequent grants are in the amount of CAD $18,000 each (maximum three grants).

FEE: FRE

FINE PRINT: The Foundation does not provide funding for the pursuit of abstract or non-objective art. Grants are intended to assist applicants in the study or practice of their art, and the costs associated therewith, such as tuition, studio rental, model fees, travel, and living expenses. Eligible courses of study or training include undergraduate, graduate, or post-graduate studies and diploma programs from accredited institutions, recognized residencies, apprenticeships/internships, and studio training. Grants are not intended as work or project grants for more experienced or mature artists.

 Applicants must be at least 18 years of age to be eligible to apply. Learn more here.

Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant

 Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant

Created in 1993 to further FCA's mission to encourage, sponsor, and promote work of a contemporary, experimental nature, Emergency Grants provide urgent funding for visual and performing artists who:

•  Have sudden, unanticipated opportunities to present their work to the public when there is insufficient time to seek other sources of funding
•  Incur unexpected or unbudgeted expenses for projects close to completion with committed exhibition or performance dates

Emergency Grants is the only active, multi-disciplinary program that offers immediate assistance of this kind to artists living and working anywhere in the United States, for projects occurring in the U.S. and abroad. Each month FCA receives an average of 95 Emergency Grant applications and makes approximately 12-15 grants. Grants range in amount from $500 to $3,000, and the average grant is now $1,700.

DEADLINE:  Ongoing Deadline 

WHO: Residing in U.S. or U.S. territories. Visual and performing artists.

AMOUNT: Up to $3,000

FEE: FREE

Yuck! Not even close

Tried this because of the name - do not recommend it to anyone and Trader Joe's needs a lesson on Cuban sandwichdom...

Photos from the AU opening of Home-Land

 

Home-Land - Exploring the American Myth - this is the main wall with my work

With DMV area artists Akemi Maegawa and Joel D'Orazio

American University Museum director Jack Rasmussen and DMV artist and professor Chawky Frenn

Professor Chawky Frenn and DMV ubercollector Birdie Pieczenik

DMV artists Chawky Frenn and Helen Zughaib at AU opening

Wanna go to six openings in one tonight?

Six New Exhibitions on View Open Tonight at the Katzen!

Mokha Laget: Perceptualism Curated by Kristen Hileman Caribbean Transitions Curated by Keith Morrison The Quest for Tranquil Space: Paintings and Photograms Artwork by Josef Achrer In collaboration with the Embassy of the Czech Republic The Bridge that Carried Us Over Presented by the AU Museum Project Space Vertiginous Matter: Jason Horowitz Curated by Jennifer Sakai Presented by the Alper Initiative for Washington Art Home-Land: Exploring the American Myth Curated by Michael Quituisaca and Alexandra Schuman

Ongoing Exhibition: Glorious Glass Works by Annette Lerner See ya there!!!

25 Years Ago: Digital Envelope Gets Pushed!

25 years ago, the below essay about using the computer to create art was published in Dimensions magazine.

The Digital Atelier: The Computer as Fine Art

by

F. Lennox Campello

Originally published in Dimensions magazine - 1997.

When photography first attempted to enter the world of fine art, the museums and arts intelligentsia alike rudely rejected it, but it was accepted by the public. Today, the computer is attempting to enter the sterile white walls of the Washington power galleries and museums, but unlike photography, it seems to be allied with the insiders in the world of art, who seem enamored with the digital world of art.

 "Exhibiting the Digital Atelier: Prints by Unique Editions and Participating Artists", is a powerful groundbreaking exhibition at George Washington University Dimock Gallery, curated by Mary Ann Kearns.

So far, digital (in Washington circles) usually means Iris prints, and owners of these pricey printers, such as Chris Foley and David Adamson, have made quite an impact upon the local art scene by the creation of huge, beautiful Iris prints from standard photographic images. Controversy, caused by lack of data on conservation standards and misinformation, heavily cloud the image (pun intended) of Iris prints, yet photographers like Amy Lamb and Susan Rubin have delivered, huge beautiful works which make us gasp at the beautiful, ethereal, marriage of photography and technology.

This exhibition attempts to push the digital envelope. It focuses on the marriage of software, hardware and creativity: the pencil neck geek meets the angst-ridden, socially conscious artist! The show's primary focus is a collaboration of five artists: Helen Golden, Bonny Lhotka, Judith Moncrieff, Dorothy Simpson Krause and Karin Schminke. They translate their printmaking, photographic and painting skills to the digital world to deliver "fine art in limited editions." In addition to these five artists, several other local artists were chosen from a digital workshop held during the summer at the National Museum of American Art. These artists are Cynthia Alderdice, Danny Conant, Andras Nagy, Linda Mott-Smith, Howard Bagley, Grace Taylor, Patrick Lichty and Lynn Putney.

 And it is two photographers among this last group, Danny Conant and Grace Taylor, who steal the show! Conant's mastery of photography is as well known as are her beautiful infrared nudes or fragile Polaroid transfers - she is able to transfer her immense photographic abilities, as does Taylor, to this new media in an effective, creative way. This, unfortunately, makes many of the other images in the exhibition look like fancy web pages.

 I must be honest, I had mixed feelings about the exhibition, and perhaps my opinion is clouded by my own background (I have degrees in Fine Art and also in Computer Science). Another perhaps is that I am essentially prejudiced in attempting to see creative beauty in the color of a pixel as painted by a bubble jet printer or a laser printer or an Iris printer, as compared to the beauty of a Van Gogh brushstroke, or an Escher etching or the crisp white of a cloud in an Ansel Adams print.

 It is nonetheless a seminal exhibition in its field, and I recommend it! The show hangs December 11, 1997- January 30, 1998 at the Dimock Gallery of GWU, 21st and H Streets, NW in Washington (202) 994-1525.