No shortage of shovels

For years I've been bitching about the decline of visual arts coverage in the Washington Post, but with the recent departures of both Jessica Dawson and Blake Gopnik, the Post's visual arts coverage has hit rock bottom, and yet they continue to dig.

Campello reviewed

Not me, but my actress daughter Elise (again)... read the review online here.

Things I wish someone had told me...

From January 25 through February 8, anyone can list on Ebay Auction-style for free at any starting price, including high-ticket items. List up to 100 items, and pay only if your item sells.

So what have you got to lose (other than time)? Go ahead and list some artwork and see what happens...

Peret

What happens when you mix Cuban rumba with Spanish Sevillanas music and dancing and then you set up a street party on the streets of Santiago in eastern Cuba? Check out Spanish legend Peret in the video below:

Heard on Univision

Interesting discussion on the salary of the 13 highest paid American presidents from all over the Americas... the highest paid is Pres. Obama ($400,728 a year), next is Mexican president Felipe Calderon at $198,288 and then Brazilian Prime Minister Dilma Rousseff at $187,428.

Bolivian President Evo Morales, who also happens to be the first indigenous native American president of any nation in the New World, is at the bottom of this scale and makes $24,096 a year and yet still gets paid more that a dozen other Presidents in the Americas.

Interesante, no?

Vincent Gallegos

I've been meaning to mention this for a long time, but I am a huge fan of Vincent Gallegos' blog and photography, and essentially a while back I realized that Gallegos is easily the best "event photographer" in the DMV.

In fact, he's work is so cool that I'm beginning to think that Vincent has now transcended the "photographer presence" and he's one of those key parts of our area's cultural tapestry that makes his presence itself a lynch pin success for that event.

If Gallegos is there for your opening, taking pics and mixing in, then you know you've got a kewl opening going on.

Check him out here and be prepared to see what one day will be a historical record of the DMV visual art scene and then more.

Next Friday: Open Source

It takes a lot to get DMVers to hit the road on a cold Friday night, but next Friday night you got to get off your snowmaggedon-fearing blues and go see "Open Source" at Carrol Square Gallery, co-curated by Tom Ashcraft and Peter Winant, both professors at GMU.

The show features work by Kelly Criscuolo-DeButts, Floating Lab Collective, Oliver Giron, Lindsay Hawks, Peter Lee, Brooke Marcy, Ryan McCoy and Alex Straub. It actually opened today, but the reception is next Friday.

My predictions before I even see the show? Look for Ryan McCoy to steal the show.

OPEN SOURCE
January 28 - March 25, 2011
Opening Reception: Friday, February 4, 6:00 - 8:00 pm
Carroll Square Gallery
975 F Street, NW
Washington, DC 20004