Thursday, April 20, 2023

The Trawick Prize: Bethesda Contemporary Art Awards

Application Closing April 26th

The annual Trawick Prize: Bethesda Contemporary Art Awards is seeking artists creating work in all media! 

The Trawick Prize: Bethesda Contemporary Art Awards founded by Carol Trawick awards  $14,000 in annual prize monies. The Trawick Prize: Bethesda Contemporary Art Awards will feature the artwork of eight finalists at Gallery B from September 7 – October 1, 2023. $14,000 in prize monies are provided to the winning artists. All artists from Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia are eligible, and the deadline to apply is April 26, 2023.

The Trawick Prize deadline is April 26, 2023.

Details here.

Wednesday, April 19, 2023

36th Annual Northern National Art Competition jurying - done!

I just finished jurying the 36th Annual Northern National Art Competition - 613 entries! Such a hard job to say "no" because there were sooooooo many really good entries! But this show will rock... and once I see the artwork in person, I may find a couple of surprise new artists to bring back to the DMV!

The "YES" entries will astound the national!

Buah... ah.. ah...

Tuesday, April 18, 2023

Women Artists of the DMV

According to the research done by the Washington City Paper in 2017, the term “DMV” to refer to the District, Maryland and Virginia first appeared in a post that I wrote in 2003 – And yes! I do claim that I invented it! 

The Greater Washington, D.C., capital region (the DMV) is not only home to some of the best art museums in the world, dozens of art galleries, non-profit art spaces, alternative art venues, and art organizations, but it also supports fertilizes of the best and most creative visual art scenes in the nation. 

This scene is kindled and ignited to a large extent by female artists of all ages, races and ethnicities – an artistic female universe significantly more diverse than just about any of other major city on the planet. 

Celebrating this art scene, I have and am compiling works by a number of leading and talented emerging contemporary female visual artists who represent the tens of thousands of women artists working in this culturally and ethnically diverse region.

Equally diverse are the artistic styles and media you will see in this curated exhibition, the first of its kind for the capital area. 

With more than 100 works of art potentially available for curatorial selection, this exhibition offers a primer for both the experienced art eye and the beginning collector, highlighting a selection of talented artists who usually deserve more attention on a local, regional and national scale.

Next: The potential venue(s) and dates for this show.


Monday, April 17, 2023

The Rampant Lilith

This is a new mixed media painting which will make its debut at the Volta Art Fair in New York City next May. It is "The Rampant Lilith" and it is part of my repetitive, obsessive works - it marries two of my artistic obsessions: The Lilith and the Pictish people of ancient Scotland. She is covered in woad-colored Pictish tattoos. 40x32 inches, mixed media painting on 600 weight paper.

The Rampant Lilith - 2023 painting by Florencio Lennox Campello
The Rampant Lilith
2023 mixed media painting by Florencio Lennox Campello, 40x32 inches


Sunday, April 16, 2023

Holly Buehler at Yellow Barn Studio

Yesterday we went to beautiful Glen Echo to check out some of the new shows at the various galleries hosted by that national treasure - while there we ran into the DMV's most prolific art collector (Steve Krensky), so I knew immediately that if Krensky was there, something good was being showcased.

The Yellow Barn Studio is part of that complex.  Founded by acclaimed artist Walter Bartman, The Yellow Barn Studio is "a haven for budding artists and experienced painters alike. We offer classes in watercolor, oil, acrylic, drawing, and printmaking, with a special emphasis on plein air painting."

The opening for the 2-day show was by artist Holly Buehler. Titled "Color Obsession" it provided ample evidence that Buehler is not only obsessed with color, but also that she has developed a remarkable mastery over that most challenging of visual art goals: to be able to deliver a representational scene solely based on the brushy application of pure color.

Holly Buehler at Yellow Barn Studio


Holly Buehler at Yellow Barn Studio


And now that the Covidian Age has officially ended, it was so nice to see an opening fairly crowded, red dots all over the place (Buehler's works are incredibly affordable) and people having a great time!

Coming next to the Yellow Barn Studio in 2023:

April 22-23 Shirin Shahram
May 6-7 Alvin M Cohen Retrospective 1923-2003
May 20-21 Roger Perez & Carolyn Boccella Bagin
May 27-28 Friends of the YB Small Works Show
June 3-4 Folk Festival at Glen Echo Park
June 10-11 Marian Willinger & Wendy Smith
June 17-18 Bill Johnson
June 24-25 Eric Westbrook
July 1-2 Arleen Cannata Seed & Maro Nalabandian
July 15-16 Emil Markulis
Aug 12-13 Paintings from Workshops Abroad with Walt Bartman
Sept 2-3 Friends of the YB Drawing Show
Sept 9-10 Jen Sterling & Michele Hoben
Sept 16-17 Cheryl Bearss
Sept 23-24 Jean Schlesinger & Eve Troncone
Sept 30-Oct 1 Leni Paquet-Morante & Steve Moen
Oct 7-8 Paul Zapatka
Oct 14-15 David Bottini
Oct 22-23 Ann Schlesinger – Jacob Memorial Show
Oct 28-29 Alexandra Cheshire
Nov 4-5 Helene Patterson & Margie Alagia-Ingram
Nov 11-12 Walter Bartman
Nov 18-19 Anatol Woolf
Nov 25-26 Jenny Wilson
Dec 2-17 Friends of the YB Members Show

Saturday, April 15, 2023

J. Jordan Bruns

The missus and I went to beautiful Glen Echo today to check out a couple of new shows, including J. Jordan Bruns solo, which according to the news release:

The Popcorn Gallery is proud to present Playing with Reality: 15 Years at Glen Echo Park a solo exhibition by Glen Echo Park Resident Artist J. Jordan Bruns. Bruns has been creating a wide range of paintings in the Stone Tower Studio since joining the Park 15 years ago. He is known for his large-scale abstractions depicting themes of order vs. chaos. This retrospective show celebrates his range as an artist, featuring a stunning collection of paintings with varying degrees of realism. From portraits and landscapes that evoke mood and personality to still life paintings that border on "trompe l'oeil" realism, utilizing expert oil painting techniques, demonstrating the breadth of his artistic output.

J. Jordan Bruns at Glen Echo

J. Jordan Bruns at Glen Echo
This series of acrylic wash painting was executed when Bruns lived in Japan for a few years and explored that nation's artistic ancestry - both in media and subject
.
Detail of Bruns spectacular brush mastery from one of the above Japanese washes. I think that Bruns' Japanese period works speak for their own - they tell the tale of a brush master absorbing the Japanese scenery with the facility of a seasoned brush painter; they are nonetheless fresh and contemporary - this is a rare marriage indeed.


But it is Bruns immensely fresh series of studio portraits which (in my opion) dominate the show, not only for the facility with which Bruns delivers the brushy color application to define the subject with immense freshness and skill, but also by the unintended juxtapositioning that they deliver to the show when paired with the Japanese paintings - it is as if two master artists decided to hold a two person show: One a master color-wash painter, the other a master of the color scale.  And it works!

This is a terrific example of an artist's artists show - it allows Bruns to flex his formidable painting skills in two opposite directions and showcase his mastery over both!

The show runs through April 30th and there will be a Virtual Artist Talk: Thursday, April 27, 7 pm (Zoom) --  Join Zoom Meeting at the link here.

Friday, April 14, 2023

Irina Lawton and Clara Young Kim at MEG

MULTIPLE EXPOSURES GALLERY

presents 

"INTERNAL LANDSCAPE"

a New Member Exhibition featuring artists Irina Lawton and Clara Young Kim
 
Exhibition Dates April 25 - May 21, 2023Opening Reception & Artist TalkApril 29, 2023  2 - 4 pm

The ExhibitionINTERNAL LANDSCAPE, a new fine art photography exhibition at Multiple Exposures Gallery (MEG), introduces Irina Lawton and Clara Young Kim, MEG's two newest members. Accomplished fine art photographers, each has a keen eye and an affinity for conveying connections between the natural world and our inner selves. Though very different in style, the duo's 23 images in INTERNAL LANDSCAPE explore these connections and bear witness to the beauty to be found in the space between inner experiences and the landscapes of the natural world. INTERNAL LANDSCAPE is on display at Multiple Exposures Gallery from April 25 - May 21, 2023. An opening reception and artist talk will be held on Saturday, April 29, from 2pm-4pm (artist talk at 3pm). Multiple Exposures Galley is located in the Torpedo Factory Art Center, #312, in Alexandria, Virginia. 
The Artists

Irina LawtonIrina Lawton is a visual artist living and working in the DC Metro area. Born in Latvia and educated in Moscow, Irina’s work reflects a wide range of influences and artistic styles. Her interests include the psychological intensity of portraiture, the sensibility and pictorial aesthetics of the turn of the 20th century, and the complex political and social consequences of change in post-communist Russia. Irina’s photography across these diverse areas of interest is linked in style and method by use of multiple layers of meaning to convey a complex narrative in a single frame.Clara Young KimThrough her photography, Clara Young Kim enjoys creating and sharing moments that strike a chord in viewer's souls. Born in Seoul, Korea, Clara began her study of music at age 4 and majored in voice at Yongsei University. Today, this musical background plays a strong role in Clara's way of capturing images and moments. She believes the elements of an image, including the colors, lines, shapes, brightness, and contrast, each contain their own notes and beats. When they work together in harmony, a beautiful image and work of art results.