Friday!

Nu... so it's Friday and it's not broiling out there, and there are some truly good gallery shows that we can enjoy between 6-8PM tonight. For a good recommendation, DCist's Heather Goss has a good sampling here.

This Friday will be remembered as the one gallery Friday to explore new talent, and this is as good as it gets for beginning collectors to gather their sheckels and if they see something that they like either at Conner, Irvine and Project 4, to snap it, as they all have shows focusing on either recent art school grads, current students or MFA grads.

I've been driving up and down I-95 like a million times this last few weeks looking for a house around Swarthmore, PA, and I think that I may have finally found one or two that I sorta like, while managing to avoid the fact that most houses in that town are usually 95 years (or more) old, and I'm not a very good DIY type.

Meanwhile my Maryland house is for sale, and I've just reduced it today by $50K so that it's a great deal and will hopefully sell quickly! The realtor made me take down a lot of the artwork from the walls, as it "makes the house look bigger." She wanted it all down, but I refused, as I think that it makes the home look more appealing! Buy the house here

Go see some galleries tonight!

See ya there!

Penis artist

While I was over at Reuters checking out the Mark Jenkins story, I came across this "artist" who paints with his penis.

I suspect that dickilism (or as it is called in the UK: willyism) may be simply the latest ridiculous effort created in order to stand out in an art world often dominated by gimmick. It worked for Chris Offili, Damien Hirst and many others... so why not for Pricasso (whose real name is Tim Patch).

And in case you were wondering... yes, there's already a guy who paints with his asshole.

Update: And in case you were wondering part two... yes the a guy who paints with his asshole once exhibited in Washington, DC (many years ago) - It was painting (geez) titled "Rectal Realism" and the piece was in fact a portrait of Andy Warhol.

Ahhh... the good ole days...

Tapedude in Reuters

The news agency Reuters has a really cool video story about DC's own tapedude artist Mark Jenkins.

See it here.

Mark Jenkins continues to gather spectacular international coverage and attention to his work, granted from a street art perspective (and an unique one at that), and yet our local museum curators seem to be asleep at the wheel and driving right past him at the same time that he's the subject of major magazine coverage in Europe and now this story.

Wake up!

Art Dealers of the World: Unite!

Well... at least the ones that are DC art dealers around the 14th Street area.

The CP's Nell Boeschenstein has an excellent story on a movement by six art dealers around the 14th Street area to gather some momentum and start some sort of organization.

There is currently an Art Dealers Association of Greater Washington, but as Nell Boeschenstein points out, it might as well not exist.

I know that Bethesda art dealers (well, the ones that are real art dealers anyway) are also thinking of gathering together under their own art dealers' organization, due to the same concerns expressed by the dealers quoted in Nell Boeschenstein's story.

And the Dupont Circle area dealers are probably thinking the same thing, as the Art Dealers Association of Greater Washington has been pretty moribund for the last few years.

Opportunity for Maryland Artists

The Baltimore Museum of Art in collaboration with the Maryland State Arts Council just announced siteMaryland, a month-long juried exhibition of art by leading contemporary artists living and working in Maryland. Details here.

Designed to change venues yearly, this year’s project (opening October 1) will take as its site the grounds of the museum, where artists are invited to rethink and reinvent the exterior spaces of the facility.

Adjacent to the Johns Hopkins University campus, the BMA boasts a blend of contemporary and neoclassical architecture, a renowned sculpture garden, and a dramatic stepped entrance along Art Museum Drive.

Applicants are encouraged to visit the museum and develop ideas for the site.

Submissions must include a written description of the concept and images of recent work. Awards ranging from $1,000 to $2,500 will be granted as needed for materials.

Applications must be received no later than August 18, 2006.

Please mail your submissions and a SASE to:

siteMaryland
Baltimore Museum of Art
10 Art Museum Drive
Baltimore, MD 21218

Or e-mail siteMaryland@artbma.org for more details.

Another MFA Show tomorrow!

So in addition to the great opportunities tomorrow at Conner and at Irvine to see some fresh work by recent graduates and current art students, Project 4 also has 15 Minutes opening tomorrow, and the five artists featured are recent MFA recipients from schools throughout the Mid Atlantic region working in paint, charcoal and printmaking.

Opening Reception is August 4, 2006 - 6:00 - 8:30 pm and the artists are Phillip Adams, Marc Alain, Luisa Greenfield, Ivanny Pagan and Jonathan Trundle.

Congratulations

To DC area artist Victor Ekpuk (now living in Holland), who will be having his first solo show in Holland at Gallery 23 in Amsterdam.