This review by Michael O'Sullivan of a couple of exhibitions at The Textile Museum is a perfect example of why I think O'Sullivan is the best art critic writing for the Washington Post.

Call me plebian, but I am always delighted to read an art critic that shows his colors and his prejudices when reviewing a visual exhibition, and then has the honesty and courage to somewhat change his mind.

O'Sullivan writes:

"FULL DISCLOSURE: I don't particularly like flowers or shiny metallic thread.

Which makes my recent visit to the Textile Museum to check out two exhibitions -- the new "Floral Perspectives in Carpet Design" (whose title pretty much says it all) and the about-to-close "By Hand in the Electronic Age: Contemporary Tapestry" (a show with more than its share of fiber bling-bling) -- potentially problematic.

See, I've been conditioned by exposure to contemporary art to mistrust the decorative. Floral art -- unless it's a stand-in for sex or death, as it so often is -- is not my cup of tea. And glints of gold thread woven through textiles remind me, I'm sorry to say, of Liberace.

So I was heartened, not to mention somewhat surprised, by the fact that in addition to flowers and lamé, there's something to chew on in both shows."

I'll admit that althought I liked O'Sullivan's review, I'd rather still rather watch an ice cube melt than go see "Floral Perspectives in Carpet Design," which makes O'Sullivan a more open-minded and fair critic that I can ever hope to be; but that's just me.

But I digress. My point is that it is rare to see these sort of "full disclosures" when discussing an opinion in an art review. More often than not what we find is cynicism, and writing that is what the author thinks the other "cool" critics and "hot" curators would want to read.

That also explains why a lot of contemporary art critics and curators have such dislike of painting. They have been conditioned to think that it's not cool to like painting, and it's fun to see them scramble to line up when an unexpected painter bolts out of the blue, such as Gerhard Richter and the same people who shout that "painting is dead" line up to applaud a painter who Sotheby's calls the "most influential artist in the world." Not painter, but artist.

Thus we can always see critical hypochrisy or all the sheeps lining up to follow the lead. Another perfect example of that theory was the orgy of great reviews by super cool contemporary art critics for The Quilt's of Gee's Bend. The New York Times dubbed this show one of the "ten most important shows in the world," and art critics who one would imagine would rather have their eyes poked out with a blunt butter knife than hang a quilt as "art" in their post-modernist flats all lined up to applaud the show.

I did too. I was enthralled and seduced not just by the quilts, but mostly by the quilters that I met.

And I went back and re-read a lot of the reviews and I was (and still) nagged by the impression that a lot of the words were written not out of honesty, but out of political correctness; it would have been suicidal for any writer, not just an art critic, to dislike the show.

I could be wrong.

But when the world's most influential daily anoints a show as one of the "ten most important shows in the world," it essentially dares every other secondary art critic in the world to disagree with them.

But I could be wrong, and because I have never been particularly fond of quilts as "fine art," I went to see this show prepared to dislike it - my own prejudice and (like Michael says) "conditioning," and a fun opportunity to disagree with the mainstream critic media.

And yet, let me repeat myself: I was enthralled and seduced not just by the quilts, but mostly by the quilters. I ended up loving the quilts because of the quilters.

And to this day I am nagged by the feeling that it was the quilters, more than the quilts, that we all liked so much.

And thus, I applaud honesty like O'Sullivan's in today's review.

Today is the first Friday of the month, and thus the Dupont Circle Galleries technically should have their extended hours. It is also the "unofficial" opening of the Washington visual arts season, which "unofficially" opens in September.

However, since Labor Day is actually next Monday, I suspect that many galleries may still be closed and on vacation, in which case the "unofficial" opening of the visual arts season may shift to next Friday to the Bethesda Art Walk from 6-9 PM on September 10.

The week after that, on Sept. 16, is the Third Thursday Night Out for the 7th Street Area Arts District from 6-8 PM. By the way, if you'd like to volunteer as a 3rd Thursday gallery crawl guide, contact Rachel Leverenz at 202/315-1310.

The next day, on Sept. 17 is the third Friday and the Canal Square Galleries in Georgetown have their new show openings from 6-9 PM, catered by the Sea Catch Restaurant and Raw Bar.

I received a note from Eugene Robinson, Assistant Managing Editor for the Style section of the Washington Post in response to my rant about the lack of a Galleries review today.

Robinson (whose most recent book I am currently reading by the way) wrote:

"Sorry, Mr. Campello, but even Galleries columnists get a vacation now and then.

Eugene Robinson
Assistant Managing Editor -- Style
The Washington Post"

So I have written back:

"Dear Mr. Robinson,

Thank you for your note - I know that you are a busy man and I appreciate your time, and I am sure that their vacations are well deserved. By the way, I quite enjoyed and learned a lot from Coal to Cream and have in fact used it as an inspiration for some of my artwork. I am currently reading Last Dance in Havana. I strongly recommend that you may enjoy Waiting for Snow in Havana: Confessions of a Cuban Boy -- by Carlos Eire.

Back to my original point.

Theater critics also deserve a vacation now and then, and there has never ever been a week in the Washington Post (at least in my memory) without a theatre review. Why? Because the Post does a wonderful job of covering our area theatres and has a good number of writers to cover our area theatres - if one or two of them go on vacation in August, there's always someone else to ensure that a review keeps the theatre scene alive and kicking in our region. A highly deserved well done for that!

There are three times as many art galleries in the Washington area as there are theatres, but in my prejudiced opinion (which has been expressed many times to John Pancake, a man that I respect and admire), the Washington Post does not view our area galleries in the same perspective as theatre, movies and performance.

Until recently you had only one critic (Jessica Dawson) to cover all the area galleries - the addition of Glenn Dixon dumfounded many of us who knew of his past disdain for DC art galleries (his column "Beneath Contempt" while he was editor of the City Paper is still infamously remembered) - but at least a second voice was added to cover our galleries and we applauded and welcomed Dixon to the column.

And thus my utter disbelief when today I open my paper and expect to read a review of a gallery show from the nearly 200 shows currently on exhibit in our region, and instead find a theatre review and a music review - thank you for those - but no "Galleries" column.

Therefore my frustration with your coverage and my note to you.

I thank you for your time and hope that I clarified the issue for you.

Warm regards,

Lennox

Thursday is supposed to be the day that the Washington Post reviews our area galleries. Nothing shows the Post complete apathy towards that subject as when a Thursday comes by (like today) and there's no "Galleries" column.

It is especially galling now that the paper has two freelancers (Jessica Dawson and Glenn Dixon) covering the region's gallery circuit. Why then are there still Thursdays when the only regular gallery column by the world's second most influential newspaper is simply not there?

It is such a huge show of disrespect for the Post's readers, and for the region's artists, art collectors and art galleries, made even more galling by the fact that today's Style section still managed to include a theater review of The King and I and a music review of Jesse Henry, so print space was not the reason.

If this pisses you off as much as it always does me, then drop an email on the subject to the Style Editor (Gene Robinson) at robinsong@washpost.com, and info the Arts Editor (John Pancake) at pancakej@washpost.com and the Ombudsman (Michael Getler) at ombudsman@washpost.com.

I'll be in Baltimore later today selecting the award winners for the All Media Competition that is opening tonight at Gallery International. See you at the reception tonight!

For Photographers

The CDS/Honickman First Book Biennial Prize in Photography.

Deadline: September 10, 2004.

Open to American photographers, no age limit, who have not published a book-length work. All subject matter is acceptable. Submissions should be visually compelling and have an integrity of purpose. A cash award of $3,000, publication of a book of photography, and a traveling exhibition will be awarded to the winning entry. Entry fee: $25. For more information, contact: CDS/Honickman First Book Prize in Photography, Center for Documentary Studies, 1317 W. Pettigrew St., Durham, NC 27705; email: alexad@duke.edu; or visit website

For Jewish Artists

The Ronnie Heyman Prize for an Emerging Jewish Visual Artist: National Foundation for Jewish Culture.

Deadline: November 2004

The Ronnie Heyman Prize was established by the National Foundation for Jewish Culture to recognize and support an emerging visual artist who has created and exhibited a body of work that reflects the Jewish experience or addresses issues in the Jewish community. The Fund will provide a grant/prize for $2,500. Visit this website to download the application or contact Kristen L. Runk, Associate Operations Director; (212) 629-0500 x. 215 or email her at krunk@jewishculture.org

The Trawick Prize: Bethesda Contemporary Art Awards reception is being held next Friday, Sept. 10 from 6-9pm at Creative Partners Gallery located at 4600 East West Highway in Bethesda. The award winners which include the $10,000 Best in Show award (and a total of $14,000 in prizes) will be announced and honored during this event. Fifteen finalists have been selected for this year's competition and their work will be on exhibit at the gallery from Sept. 7 - Oct. 2.

This year's finalists include:

Marci Branagan, Baltimore, MD
Graham Caldwell, Washington, D.C.
Annet Couwenberg, Baltimore, MD
Susan Eder & Craig Dennis, Falls Church, VA
Suzanna Fields, Richmond, VA
Bernhard Hildebrandt, Baltimore, MD
Brandon Morse, Takoma Park, MD
David Page, Baltimore, MD
Randi Reiss-McCormack, Lutherville, MD
Marie Ringwald, Washington, D.C.
Jo Smail, Baltimore, MD
Jeff Spaulding, Bethesda, MD
Daniel Sullivan, Baltimore, MD
J. L. Stewart Watson, Baltimore, MD
John Watson, Washington, D.C.

Opportunity for photographers

Deadline: Sept 29, 2004.

The League of Reston Artists (LRA)/Reston Photographic Society (RPS) announces its 2004 Call for Entry for its Annual Judged Photography Exhibition.

The juror is Joshua Taylor, who is an award-winning photographer with over thirty years experience in newspaper and magazine photography, teaching, and workshops. Currently a faculty member of the Smithsonian Studio Arts program and member of the Northern Virginia Photographic Society (NVPS), he has also taught at the Corcoran School of Art and Design and provided photographic expertise in retail sales at Penn Camera. He recently gave workshops at the U.S. National Arboretum, U.S. Botanic Garden and Green Spring Gardens Park, and lectured at the National Horticultural Society Garden School.

This call for entry is limited to a maximum of two framed photographs. The entry fee for LRA/RPS members is $15. This exhibition is restricted to members of the LRA/RPS. Membership in the LRA/RPS is $20 per year.

The entry form can be downloaded from the LRA’s web site here. Send completed entry form to the LRA, POB 2513, Reston, VA 20195. Entry forms must be postmarked no later than September 29.

Long day yesterday at the DC Commission for the Arts and Humanities with the Advisory Panel for the Individual Artists' grants. The awards will be announced by the DC Commission for the Arts and Humanities later this year, pending availability of funds.

I'll be all day at the DC Commission for the Arts and Humanities taking part in the Advisory Panel looking at the individual artists' grants.

Come back later tonight.

Pilfered from AJ:

A British janitor accidentally threw away a "work of art" at the Tate Britain exhibition in London.

The trashbag bag was filled with discarded paper and cardboard and it was part of a work by Gustav Metzger, said to demonstrate the "finite existence" of art.

Read the story here.

I say, let's hire this guy as a curator and have him clean a few of our museums...

DC Artist Marsha Stein Steps in with Proposal for City Museum

Recently, the Washington Post has been reporting on the woes of the new City Museum of Washington DC. Area artist Marsha Stein responds with the following letter to the Washington Post's Chief Art Critic, Blake Gopnik:

"Hi Blake,

How are you? It appears as if we're finding ourselves on the same page.

After I read the story about The City Museum reported by Jacqueline Trescott, I phoned the special events coordinator at the museum, Elizabeth Dreux. I met Elizabeth at a meeting of artists participating in the Funky Furniture exhibit. I told her about the art project that evolved from your "Getting Cute" article and she loved it. She put me in touch with a project coordinator to get it rolling.

Let me elaborate on the original description. I'm picturing around five teams of artists from different venues. They can be of various disciplines to include music, et al. It seems as if the best way to make the selections would be curators, gallery owners and renowned aesthetes. As I said before, W/PAC, Art-O-Matic, Eastern Market, the co-ops and Numark, Zenith or any galleries who wish to step up will make suggestions. The requirement is that every artist shows and sells in DC. The team members must be capable of working on a team.

I would like each artist to receive $5,000 for the time and work. I will participate as a facilitator rather than team member to keep the "heart" of the challenge. A $2,000 fund for each team will be available to purchase supplies and accessories. A documentarian will film the first meeting when the artists come to the table with their concepts.

Since the exhibit will be at City Museum, the theme will be relating to Washington, D.C. I do not think this is too constraining. This is an exercise for the artists and a real challenge in terms of blending the art or having it make a statement by parts to the whole. The next documentation can take place when the process is under way at the invitation of each team. After the agreed upon time period for completion (three months?), the exhibit is mounted. Some of the film can be shown, but the art is not identified by team. When the public votes, they are encouraged to elaborate. This is great visuals for TV as well as fodder for the newspaper critics. When the fun of counting and discussing the vote is completed, the "winner" is announced. The next activity is an auction and, of course, we will have a lovely film for art education.

Back to the place where we're on the same page....Wouldn't this be a great way to get this city and The DC City Museum on the map in terms of innovation?

Be proactive, Blake. OK, by your standards, it's not "pure" creation from the soul of a trusted artist. Maybe they won't all be geniuses, but think what will happen if there are two or more who really have chemistry.

I'd like to see those sparks! It's enticing, it's fun, it's intelligent and it's not the same old dry DC. Yes, people want something to look at. I want to push forward with the making of art. I believe that artists have the capacity to stimulate one another just as musicians do. It doesn't surprise us that an ensemble is inspired by one another. Why can't visual artists have the same opportunity to play together?

You may wonder why I'm pushing you for this. The Washington Post is our main news source. Most Washingtonians pick it up every day. Does everything have to be politics and "Who's Who?" This is for everyone who is not a political junkie, or gives a damn about a lot of people who have no connection to DC except for the White House.

Both of my parents were born and raised in DC. I recently returned after living in the Virgin Islands, Italy and California. I know how it feels to live where art is alive. It's asleep here. Let's wake it up. It takes an artist to make a dream come to life.

Your friend,

Marsha Stein"

As "fuzzy" as it is initially, I fully support Stein's idea and proposal, as I will any new idea or proposal to advance our area's visual arts. I am not sure exactly what she is asking of Blake Gopnik, other than for Gopnik to be "proactive," which I guess means that she hopes that Gopnik will write and endorse the project? Stein also has the following words aimed directly to area artists:

"Hi artists et al:

We are getting the ball rolling on the art challenge. The Post has indicated that they are considering to publish this letter. If they are kind enough to let me know what day, I will forward that info.

I have been advised by a project coordinator (fund raiser) that the next appropriate step to take is a meeting of interested parties. We need to schedule a meeting for some time in September.

For those of you for which this is "new news," feel free to answer this and ask questions. I am at Eastern Market every Sunday. For me and a few of the others, a meeting on Sunday evening near Eastern Market would work.

I am looking for artists who are interested in participating, but I don't want to put out a call as of yet. The money that I am proposing is significant enough so that most artists will want to do this. The artists who are in this mailing are in the loop on the project. Others of you are from the venues that I mentioned in the letter. I have been including the press in many of my communications because the origin of this competition came from a news article.

I need a meeting of about 10 people. Please respond to this e-mail. Thanks!

Marsha Stein"

Any DCARTNEWS readers who are interested in supporting this effort should contact Marsha Stein directly. I would also recommend that Stein should apply for a DC Commission for the Arts and Humanities City Arts Projects Grant, where the City Museum would be eligible for a $15,000 grant for this project. Having been on the Advisory Panel to DCAH's City Arts Projects for many years, I suspect it would be easily funded, as there are usually few visual arts proposals in the City Arts Projects category.

OPTIONS 2005 Biennial

The WPA\C has announced that Philip Barlow has been named curator for the spring OPTIONS 2005 Biennial. The curator is already busy scouring the region for emerging artists.

Since 1981, the OPTIONS exhibition has featured some of the region's brightest and most talented emerging artists. OPTIONS 2005 will be the eleventh inception of this critically acclaimed biennial exhibit.

This year's curator is a local collector of contemporary art focusing on artists in the Washington, DC area. Philip serves on the Board of Directors of the District of Columbia Arts Center and is the chair of DCAC's Visual Arts Committee. He has served on the Steering Committee for the last two Art-O-Matics. He has also been featured in an article on young collectors in the Washington Post Magazine.

If you would like to send the curator a link to your website or jpeg images of your work for consideration, email him here.

Jeffry Cudlin has an excellent review in the current issue of the WCP about the Georges Rouault exhibition at the Phillips Collection.

Cudlin manages to make Rouault sound semi-interesting. I must admit that Rouault has never been a favorite of mine; in fact he's one of those boring painters whose abuse of the subject matter may have been his only redeeming virtue.

Cudlin elegantly writes:

"Brilliant color and implacable, literal ugliness here make a jarring combination, and the result is a painting that manages to be both overworked and underrealized. Yes, the title indicates that this image is meant to be iconic, but the piece sits uncomfortably between worlds, smacking of urgent sensation while clearly meant to indicate no mere physical encounter."

The Maryland Art Place (MAP) in Baltimore announces its 19th Annual Critics’ Residency Program. The deadline for the application materials (available at www.mdartplace.org) must be delivered to MAP by 5pm August 31, 2004.

Selected artists will participate in studio visits with New York art critic, Franklin Sirmans, and the selected writers during one weekend in October 2004. Also, selected writers will accompany Sirmans during these studio visits and participate in writing workshops. Throughout the program, all participants will engage in dialogues with each other and during the concluding exhibition and Forum in April, will expand that discussion with each other and the community.

Franklin Sirmans is MAP’s 19th Annual Critic in Residence. Sirmans was invited to participate as the critic and curator in this unique opportunity for artists and writers. An independent curator, freelance writer, editor and lecturer based in New York City, Sirmans is the former US editor of Flash Art and Editor-in-Chief of Art Asia Pacific magazines. He has published widely, including The New York Times, Art in America, and Artnews, and has curated exhibitions in Europe, Asia and North America. These exhibitions include: One Planet Under a Groove, (co-curator: Bronx Museum of the Arts, New York; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; Spelman College Art Gallery, Atlanta; Museum Villa Stuck, Munich); A Moment’s Notice (Houston), Americas Remixed (Milan), Mass Appeal (Ottawa, Montreal, Halifax), Rumors of War, New Wave, Paradise 8 (co-curator, Exit Art) among many others.

For more information, contact Lisa Lewenz (email her here) or call her at 410-962-8565.

The Mexican Cultural Institute, located in one of Washington's most beautiful buildings and boasting a really good exhibition space, will exhibit The Dream of Earth: 21st Century Tendencies in Mexican Sculpture, a collection of sculptures by six renowned Mexican contemporary clay sculptors: Gerardo Azcúnaga, Adriana Margáin, Javier Marín, Miriam Medrez, Maribel Portela and Paloma Torres.

The exhibit will be held from September 14th through November 24th. The Institute is located on 2829 16th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20009.

Los Angeles Center For Digital Art Call for Artists...

Deadline for entries: September 5, 2004

LACDA announces an open call for their un-juried show featuring digital art and photography: "Snap to Grid."

All entries will be printed (8.5"x11" on Epson heavyweight matte paper) and shown in their gallery arranged in a grid. Note to artists: This is an open competition, which means exactly that: ALL entries will be accepted and shown.

Entrants submit one JPEG file of original work. All styles of 2D artwork and photography where digital processes of any kind were integral to the creation of the images are acceptable. Digital video stills and screen shots of web/new media are acceptable.

Prior to and after the exhibition the images and artist information will be available to gallery visitors to view in their artist portfolios. Prints can be made available to buyers on an as needed basis. Artwork for future exhibits will be selected from the portfolios, and will also be available for review by area gallerists, curators and arts journalists.

Show Dates: September 9-October 1, 2004 and the registration fee is $30. Submission Rules: Registration and submission are done through their web site only. File uploads are the only accepted submissions and are maximum of 2MB each and not exceed 1024x768 pixels in dimensions.

For official announcement, click here and for submission follow this link.

The Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District invites everyone to The Trawick Prize: Bethesda Contemporary Art Awards exhibition featuring the competition’s finalists.

The finalists' works will be displayed at Creative Partners Gallery, 4600 East-West Highway, Bethesda. Fifteen finalists compete for $14,000 in prize money; The Best in Show winner $10,000; 2nd place $2,000; 3rd place $1,000. A "Young Artist" whose birth date is after June 2, 1974 will also be awarded $1000 that the Fraser Gallery sponsors. Gallery Hours: Tue-Sat, 12-6pm. 301-215-6660.

Congratulations to the fifteen finalists: Marci Branagan, Baltimore, MD; Graham Caldwell, Washington, D.C.; Annet Couwenberg, Baltimore, MD; Susan Eder & Craig Dennis, Falls Church, VA; Suzanna Fields, Richmond, VA; Bernhard Hildebrandt, Baltimore, MD; Brandon Morse, Takoma Park, MD; David Page, Baltimore, MD; Randi Reiss-McCormack, Lutherville, MD; Marie Ringwald, Washington, D.C.; Jo Smail, Baltimore, MD; Jeff Spaulding, Bethesda, MD; Daniel Sullivan, Baltimore, MD; J. L. Stewart Watson, Baltimore, MD and John Watson, Washington, D.C.

Looking for studio space?

Affordable artists' studios at A. Salon, 6925 Willow St. NW, DC. Prices from 190 sq.ft. at $200 month to 970 sq.ft.at $1022 per month, utilities included. Shown Wednesdays 6-8pm. Call 202-882-0740. Website here and then click on A. Salon