Heading to New York! Time for the Affordable Art Fair!

Once again, the van is packed and ready to depart in the wee hours of the morning on Wednesday as once again we head to an art fair in New York City.

This time it is the Affordable Art Fair New York - Spring, which is taking place May 20-24 at the Metropolitan Pavilion in Chelsea.

The gallery is hosting Cory Oberndorfer, Dora Patin, Suzanne Yurdin and yours truly in booth D15.

Fridas

The Incantation of Frida Kahlo - Version One

 

The Incantation of Frida Kahlo - Version Two

The Incantation of Frida Kahlo - Version Three

The Incantation of Frida Kahlo - Version Four

New Art Gallery in Georgetown!

I fondly recall when the Canal Square complex in Georgetown at 1054 31st Street, NW off M street and 31st was home to SEVEN independently owned commercial fine art galleries!

Ready for some GREAT news?

There's new blood trying to re-start the DC gallery art scene there! From GeorgetownDC.com:

Cabada Contemporary (1054 31st St NW, #9) on March 21 from 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm at the opening reception for BLOOM – an exhibition co-hosted by the neighboring gallery ArtRobin (1054 31st St NW, #6). Enjoy drinks, light refreshments and conversation with other art enthusiasts. The exhibition features works by acclaimed abstract expressionist artist Javier Cabada and his daughter, figurative artist and gallery owner Sabrina Cabada. The two have not exhibited together in over two decades. Cabada Contemporary will exhibit works by Javier and Sabrina, along with a curated selection of established and emerging local artists. Cabada Contemporary and ArtRobin have united to the form the Galleries at Canal Square and will co-host monthly exhibitions.

BLOOM Opening at Cabada Contemporary

GALLERY RECEPTION: It is our pleasure to invite you to our first opening reception. Join us for an art-filled evening as we  celebrate the unveiling of Cabada Contemporary and the reawakening of the coming season.  BLOOM: A Revival Celebration of Art showcases the vibrant colors of spring. Featuring works by Javier Cabada, Sabrina Cabada and Edward Alan Gross.

Opening Reception:

CABADA CONTEMPORARY 1054 31st Street, NW # 9 Washington, DC    20007

Thursday, March 21st, 2024  6:30 pm - 8:30 pm

Artomatic - The 8th Floor

Yesterday I reported for duty at ARTOMATIC, which had been given permission by the City Kommissars to re-open at 6PM. Lots of hard-working people behind the scenes deserve a great THANK YOU!

Cute lady named Kira was on duty greeting all the voluntolds for the 3:30 - 8:30PM Friday shift: Maria, Laila, Martinez, Laurel, Danielle and many others. I lucked out and got floor walker/docent duties on the 8th floor with the nice lady Laila, whom I soon bored with my tales of how nice my cousin's wife Fariba is...

The 8th floor at Artomatic is magical becuse it is wide open, so people can flow from artist to artist without room-gallery feeling of some of the other floors.

8th floor view at Artomatic 2024

As a docent/floor walker, I'm really good at walking, and between 3:30PM to 6PM, which is when the building opened up, I was pretty much alone on the 8th floor, and was able to spend some time with the artwork and installations. I was really taken by Sondra Arkin's kinetic sculpture on one of the 8th floor corners... Sondra wants people to gently experience the sounds of the bamboo... "Bamboo Showers"

Sondra Arkins' Bamboo Showers at Artomatic 2024 - Listen to them below

There are a lot of graffiti artists at Artomatic (as usual), and Luis Rosenfeld stood out to me as one of the better ones whom I've seen over the years! The carefully installed and orchestrated space on the 8th floor testifies to that!

Luis Rosenfeld at Artomatic 2024

Luis Rosenfeld at Artomatic 2024

Like Star Wars and Star Trek, Barbie has been an often common theme at ARTOMATIC since 1999... but as we are now in the era of Barbie the Movie, it is a special treat to award the 2024 ARTOMATIC Barbinator Art Award to Sarah Jane Rodman's super cool 8th floor installation titled "Pink Compass, True North"!

 Pink Compass, True North -  by Sarah Jane Rodman at ARTOMATIC 2024

          

I also discovered that some asswipe/assholish mutants had apparently violated Anthony D'Amico's super intelligent and cool installation, forcing the artist to "tape off" his work's approach area.

 

Anthony D'Amico at Artomatic 2024

What does the Lenster think? I think that Marcos Smyth on the 8th floor has won the "Best Ever Driftwood Sculpture Award" in ARTOMATIC history!

Marcos Smyth - Best Ever Driftwood Sculpture Award at ARTOMATIC 2024

And what can I say but WOW! to the mural by Jeff Huntington? The skill alone leaves me in a state of art flux!

Mural by Jeff Huntington at ARTOMATIC 2024

Almost last but by far not least, is this gorgeous and huge piece by Anthony Maderal! Quite possibly the best Star Trek artwork ever (no idea if this talented artist meant it to be?), but darn if this is not the best BORG cube in artistic history! Sculpture by Antony Maderal is titled "I0I0 - In Our Own Image" - I seriously think that the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities needs to acquire it for the city's public art collection! Can you imagine this gorgeous work of art spinning (where it can't be reached or touched, but seen) at a DC building?

I0I0 - In Our Own Image by Anthony Maderal

I also loved the below sculpture by Dorothy Hickson on the 8th floor at ARTOMATIC. Sort of a cool mix of steam punk with a touch of found objects that deliver danger and macabre... she also had some vagina dentata artwork that was really good!

Dorothy Hickson sculpture at ARTOMATIC 2024

I also quite liked Rashia Sawyer's often erotic somantic photography, whih was also superbly and very professionally presented! Very talented and skilled photographer... and while I am discussing photogs, I also give kudos to Cynthia Herrick!

The 8th floor also hosts several countries' "pavilions"... cough... cough... this is quite "new" for AOM, but a really GREAT step forward! Not sure how they achieved this? Maybe working with the local embassies? This is an area ripe for growth in future Artomatics!

The best Pavilion by far was the Mexican Pavilion, which flexed its muscles in that nation's mythical printmaking scene!.

Mexican artists in the area were all printmakers, and they were all really good!  I especially liked the largest print in the show, a wondrous work titled "El Guardian" (The Guardian) by Daniel Hernandez.

"El Guardian" (The Guardian) by Daniel Hernandez at Artomatic 2024

Other than the Communist slogans, I also really liked the skill in Alev Jaguar's proletariat prints on display. My fave was "Hasta la victoria siempre", which every Cuban knows was a harsh Communist slogan written in blood on the back of Che Guevara's gay men in forced labor camps... I give Jaguar a pass for ignorance, as he/she/them also probably is not aware of what the racist Guevara wrote about Mexicans.

But it is a gorgeous print!

"Hasta la victoria siempre" at AOM 2024 in Mexican Pavilion

There's also a Cuban Pavilion, I assume set up by the Cuban Embassy in the US, since Cuban artists are generally not free to just participate in shows such as Artomatic, and their artwork has to be vetted for international exhibition - if you don't believe me, learn about Cuban artists Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and Maykel Castillo Pérez.

There I really liked the technical skill in the drawings of Daniel Madruga, who delivers immensely surreal compositions of fantastical animals.

Drawing by Daniel Madruga

Drawing by Daniel Madruga

Homage to Carmen Herrera

From the art school files: "Homage to Carmen Herrera", c. 1979 and done at Printmaking class at the University of Washington of Art in Seattle. It's a viscosity monoprint... I am pretty sure that at the time I was the only person at the school who knew who Carmen Herrera was, maybe in the entire state of Washington!

HOMAGE TO CARMEN HERRERA
1979 viscosity print by Florencio Lennox Campello

Artomatic on temporary hold!

Michael Janis knows why!

Artomatic, the renowned art show that just opened in the Nation's Capital boasting a kaleidoscope of creativity, abruptly shuttered its doors, leaving attendees puzzled and artists outraged. But what if there was more to this closure than met the eye?

Rumor has it that hidden within the vibrant tapestry of Artomatic lies a secret society known as the Chromatic Illuminati. This clandestine group believes that colors hold immense power over human perception and emotion, capable of influencing society on a grand scale. As artists gathered to showcase their works, the Chromatic Illuminati saw an opportunity to manipulate these forces for their own enigmatic agenda.

According to whispers in the DMV underground art scene, certain pieces featured at Artomatic unknowingly tapped into ancient color codes, revealing truths about the world that the Chromatic Illuminati deemed too dangerous to be exposed. Sensing a threat to their clandestine operations, the society swiftly moved to shut down the event, citing vague "security concerns" to mask their true intentions.

But what were these forbidden truths hidden within the hues of Artomatic? Some speculate that certain artworks contained subliminal messages, unlocking hidden knowledge about government cover-ups or cosmic mysteries. Others believe that certain color combinations emitted frequencies capable of altering consciousness or even bending reality itself.

As conspiracy theorists delve deeper into the mystery, they uncover a web of intrigue connecting influential figures in politics, art, and academia. Could it be that the closure of Artomatic was just the beginning of a larger scheme orchestrated by the Chromatic Illuminati to control the very fabric of reality through the manipulation of color?

Bwah ah ah!!!

Opportunities for Artists: 37th Annual Northern National Art Competition

The deadline is this Friday for the 37th Annual Northern National Art Competition in Nicolet College in Rhinelander, Wisconsin! It has my highest possible recommendation for a juried Art Competition! Details  here.

More than $8,500 in prize money will be awarded, including three $1,000 Awards of Excellence!