Opportunity for Artists

Deadline: Nov. 20th, 2009

If you read this blog then you know that I've been always very impressed with the BlackRock Center for the Arts gallery's 1500 square feet of exquisite gallery space. With its high white walls and beautiful windows strategically placed, this gorgeous gallery allows in just the right amount of natural light. BlackRock Center for the Arts is located at 12901 Town Commons Drive Germantown, MD in upper Montgomery County, about 20 minutes from the Capital Beltway (495).

They currently have a call to artists and the call is open to all artists residing in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC over the age of 18.

Original artwork only. All work must be ready for sale and to be presented in a professional manner to the public at the time of delivery.

This call will cover exhibits in the gallery from September 2010 through August 2011. An exhibit may include one applicant or a combination of applicants, based on the judgment of jurors (i.e., 1 or 2 wall artists may be combined with a pedestal artist). A jury will select the artists and create eight exhibits to be included in the exhibit year. The jury panel is comprised of my good friend and gallerist Elyse Harrison, Jodi Walsh, and yours truly.

Jurying: First Week of December
Notification: Early January
Exhibit Year: Sept. 2010 – Aug. 2011

How to apply: All correspondence will be done by e-mail, so contact Kimberly Onley, the Gallery Coordinator at konley@blackrockcenter.org and ask her to email you a prospectus.

Don't wait to the last minute! Get the prospectus now!

Copyright and Contract basics

Washington Project for the Arts and Washington Area Lawyers for the Arts (WALA) invite you to a No Artist Left Behind workshop on Copyright and Contract basics at the Arlington Art Center.

John D. Mason, an attorney at The Intellectual Property Group, PLLC., will share valuable information about contemporary issues in copyright law that artists need to know, followed by a question and answer session.

John D. Mason is a Washington DC/Maryland-based art and entertainment and intellectual property attorney. His practice focuses on copyright and trademark matters, litigation, contracts, and commercial matters. He works with writers, artists, and creative people and companies to protect and promote their work and is also a literary agent. He sits on the Board of Directors of the Washington Lawyers for the Arts.

No Artist Left Behind is a series of professional development workshops offered by Washington Project for the Arts providing resources to help artists succeed both inside and outside the studio.

This event is free and open to the public. Attendance is limited to 50 people. Please RSVP to agriffiths@wpadc.org

Location:
Arlington Arts Center
3550 Wilson Blvd
Arlington, VA 22201

Wanna go to an opening tomorrow?

In his premiere exhibit at Addison/Ripley Fine Art in Georgetown, photographer James Osher presents an exhibition that examines subject matter which is derived from historic paintings in several museums, including, most recently the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.

As the artist states, "My work explores the transitory aesthetics of contemporary art viewing." By basing the work on the paintings of Masters and Old Masters, the artist is able to examine culturally assumed "value" as it pertains to "priceless" objects. Osher's work "allows viewers to experience these masterpieces in entirely new ways, forming fresh conceptual relationships with historically relevant works of art."

The opening reception for the artist at Addison/Ripley is this Saturday, October 24 from 5-7PM. The exhibition goes through December 5, 2009.

Studio space available

Only two individual artists studios remain in a wonderful new visual arts building! Located on Rhode Island Avenue just across the DC line in the Gateway Arts District, the Gateway Art Center building has a total of 12 visual art studios and multiple galleries.

The last two available studios are right off the loading dock at the 39th street entrance. Studio 207C is 418 sf and rents for $348 per month PLUS utilities and Studio 207D is 432 sf and rents for $360 per month PLUS utilities.

This warehouse was completely rehabilitated and has really turned out beautifully. With all new walls, windows and heating/cooling system you need to see it to believe it. There are eleven (11) artists, one arts nonprofit and one government-sponsored arts program starting to move in. Come be a part of this great community!

To see a space right away call John at 301-864-3860 ext. 3.

Philadelphia artist takes the inaugural $150K Wolgin Prize

You already know how I bitched about the fact that the jurors for this very generous prize really screwed up in their lazy elitism and ignored the fact that this prize was supposed to go to an emerging artist. Instead, as announced tonight in Philly and discussed in Philly.com:

Ryan Trecartin, a young Philadelphia painter and sculptor whose psychedelic, desultory, kitschy video work has found love among critics and collectors, has been given the first $150,000 top award in the Wolgin International Competition in the Fine Arts - one of the richest art prizes in the world.

... Trecartin's works have attracted wide attention, appearing at the 2006 Whitney Biennial, the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, Saatchi Gallery in London and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. He recently was awarded a Pew Fellowship in the Arts, which carries a $60,000 cash award.

... Glahn said the competition would likely undergo refinement for its next round; it might be hard to call any of the three finalists an emerging artist, since all three have exhibited widely.

"What might change is our definition of what emerging is," he said.

Right... fit the mistake to the error so that from now on an "emerging artist" is someone who appears at the Whitney Biennial, the J. Paul Getty Museum, Saatchi Gallery, and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, etc.

That's much easier to do (change the definition of emerging artist so that the next set of jurors picks another artist at the blue chip well-known level of Trecartin) than actually do what Mr. Wolgin wants and have the prize go to a fucking emerging artist.

Tyler University and Temple Gallery and Jack Wolgin: How about making the 2010 jurors work for real and earn their jury money so that from now on a prize supposed to go to emerging artists go to emerging artists. If you need to know how to do this, call me.

And congrats to Trecartin, who has no fault in this mess of a first year for the Wolgin Prize; at least the loot stayed home for Philly.

Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition 2009 Winner

Tonight the National Portrait Gallery announced the winner of the Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition 2009 at the opening reception and the winner is photographer Dave Woody from Ft. Collins, CO. The exhibition will open to the public tomorrow Friday, Oct. 23 and will remain on view through August 22, 2010.

Erik by Dave Woody
Congrats to Dave Woody! You can see his portraits here.

The Killing of Dub

The Killing of Dub(h)
Charcoal and Conte on Paper Panels c.2009
10 feet by 4.5 feet
At ten feet long this is by far my largest drawing ever and (since it was a private commission) heading to a collection in San Diego (but I do have the much, much smaller study available for sale).

The drawing depicts the drowning of the Celtic witch Dub or Dub(h). She was married to the elf Énna and was very jealous. Upon learning that her husband Énna had taken a second wife named Áíde, Dub cast a spell on the second wife and drowned Áíde and all of her family. Seeing this, Áíde's servant threw a rock at Dub, hit her on the head and Dub fell into the same pool and also drowned. Dublin is named after the place where she drowned. Lin or Linn in Gaelic is "Pool" ("Dub" means "Black"). Thus Dub + Lin equals Dublin or Dub's Pool.

Click on the image for a larger version.