Monday, September 10, 2007

WaPo's Fall Visual Arts Preview

In the past, I have been a harsh critic of the lack of depth in the Washington Post's seasonal visual arts previews, but in what is perhaps the paper's best-ever visual arts preview, the WaPo has a great handle on what's coming to the gallery and museum walls of the greater DC region here.

Bravo Zulu to the WaPo on a very informative falls preview! Here are my early picks from their preview:

"Lola Alvarez Bravo," vintage prints from Mexico's best-known female photographer, at the Smithsonian's Dillon Ripley Center. Through Nov. 11.

"The Freedom Place Collection," rarely seen paintings by Romare Bearden, Alma Thomas and others exploring the African American experience, at Zenith Gallery. Through Sept. 30.

Sept 13 -- "In the Flesh," a juried exhibition of contemporary figurative art, at Target Gallery. Through Oct. 13.

Sept 13 -- "Options 2007," the latest edition of this survey of emerging local talent organized by the Washington Project for the Arts, at Edison Place Gallery. Through Oct. 26.

Sept 14 -- "Michael Fitts," oil paintings on reclaimed metal by the Charlottesville artist, at Fraser Gallery. Through Oct. 6.

Sept 15 -- "Susan Jamison: Trust in Me," egg-tempera paintings addressing feminine identity and nature, at Irvine Contemporary. Through Oct. 20

Spet 15 -- "Jiha Moon: Line Tripping," drawings from the Korean-born artist, at Curator's Office. Through Oct. 27.

Sept 16 -- "Edward Hopper," a comprehensive survey of the American master's career, at the National Gallery of Art. Through Jan. 21.

Sept 20 -- "Morris Louis Now: An American Master Revisited," a retrospective of the founder of the Washington Color School, at the Smithsonian's Hirshhorn Museum. Through Jan. 6.

Sept 26 -- "John Dugdale," photographs by a New York artist who has lost 80 percent of his vision, in the gallery at the Maryland Institute College of Art. Through Oct. 28.

Sept 27 -- "Legacy: Spain and the United States in the Age of Independence, 1763-1848," examining Spanish influence on the formation of the United States, at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery. Through Feb. 10.

Oct 1 -- "J. M. W. Turner," a comprehensive retrospective of the great British landscape painter, at the National Gallery of Art. Through Jan. 6.

Oct 2 -- "Fall Solos 2007," featuring Timothy Michael Martin, Chawky Frenn, Claire Sherwood, Gillian Brown, Alessandra Torres, Laurel Lukaszewski and Heidi Fowler, at Arlington Arts Center. Through Nov. 17.

Oct 12 -- "Herb's Choice: Manon Cleary," new drawings by the D.C. artist, at District of Columbia Arts Center. Through Nov. 4.

Oct 18-- "Currents: Recent Acquisitions," including works purchased for the museum by its Contemporary Acquisitions Council, at the Hirshhorn Museum. Through March 16.

Oct 27 -- "Margot Quan Knight," photographs, at Randall Scott Gallery. Through Dec. 8.

Nov 1 -- "Lucy Hogg: The Last Pony," a large canvas, digital photographs and a video all address "the end of painting," at Meat Market Gallery. Through Nov. 25.

Nov 3 -- "Kathryn Cornelius," video and photo-based performance art, at Curator's Office. Through Dec. 22.

Nov 3 -- "James Huckenpahler: Mindless Pleasures," images created by intentionally misusing software, at Hemphill Fine Arts. Through Dec. 22.

Nov 6 -- "Fernando Botero: Abu Ghraib," works reflecting on atrocities committed by members of the U.S. military in Iraq, at the American University Museum. Through Dec. 30.

Nov 9 -- "The Narrative Figure," showcasing storytelling works in clay and on paper, at the Ellipse Arts Center. Through Jan. 19.

Packed to the gills

I've been told that there were nearly one thousand people at the Katzen openings in DC last weekend.

That's what you call a massive response! They must be doing something right over there at American University...

Michael Janis

In the years that I have been following the growth and development of the various DC area artists associated with the Washington Glass School, seldom have I seen an artist develop, change, grow and continue to re-open my eyes as I have noticed over the years with the work of Michael Janis.

Janis opens his new solo show “That Quadrant of Sky,” on Sept. 12 in Bethesda's Neptune Gallery. The opening reception for this talented DC artist is Saturday, September 15th, 7-9 PM.

Michael Janis
Janis' work is now in the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, and it is also featured in the new international book about the best in glass art and design, "50 Distinguished Contemporary Artists in Glass."

He is also in my "Buy Now" list.



Sunday, September 09, 2007

Dodson on Jeffrey Stockberger at Gallery 222

By Brie Dodson

Work by Jeffrey Stockberger is currently on exhibition at Gallery 222 in Leesburg, Virginia. The works on exhibition include two main subject groupings: vegetables - a bunch of radishes, a head of bok choy, a Hubbard squash - and landscapes.

The landscapes at first appear to be about cows and field workers, but are really all about luscious color and a sense of composition that sneaks up on the viewer in a satisfying way.

Stockberger's handling of the vegetable paintings is masterful. Each subject appears against an "empty" background and foreground, but those "empty" spaces are filled with beautiful color and distance. The brushwork is chunky and delicious.

The paintings are much more compelling than the thumbnails on the gallery's website convey. For example, the radish painting is 28" x 26" (and the colors are extraordinary). The landscapes are on the order of around 4x5 feet. Most of the vegetables are painted slightly larger than life size, but not objectionably so.

There are also a couple of other gems out for viewing in the gallery's upstairs spaces. In there there are two very large horse paintings by Martha Cammack, perhaps 4x6 feet each. They are not about horses, at least to this viewer; they are about magnificent color, light and form. They are very fine paintings, and they do what truly good landscapes do - give that tug in the back of the throat.

Stockberger's show hangs through Sept. 29. The gallery is at 222 South King Street in Leesburg, open Monday through Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and by appointment. Informational contacts are 703-777-5498 or laaf@loudounacademy.org.

Sauna Lee Lange on the One Word Project

By Shauna Lee Lange

Kudos to J.T. Kirkland and the fine curating job he performed in his One Word Project which opened Friday night at the Arts Club of Washington. To explain the show simply, Kirkland assigned artists with a single word as a thematic launching point. The idea was to create a triangular dialogue for visual and language communication between artist, viewer, and work. Three works in the show that caught my attention were:

(a) Gregory Ferrand's "Experience." - the work was titled Judge Me Not (For I Judge Only You), acrylic on canvas, 22x28, 2006, (b) Marsha Stein's "Pride," is a drawing of St. Jerome, a haunting and technically gorgeous execution of charcoal cast drawing, 24x36, 1999, and (c) Gregg Chadwick's theme on "Responsibility," which drew the most evident enthusiasm.

Greg Chadwick Chadwick traveled from Santa Monica, CA to explain the meaning behind his Marine in a coffin surrounded by monks. Chadwick served in the Armed Forces and was deeply impressed that relatives of the deceased service member attended Friday night's opening. Chadwick said that his own father was a Marine, and as a son, he felt he had the responsibility to paint his own military experience. As a self-professed Buddhist, Chadwick eloquently spoke about how responsibility is a common thread among all people and what it meant to him to participate in the show. He is pictured here in front of his work.

Honorable mention for layered meaning in story telling has to go to the Right Reverend James W. Bailey of Reston, Virginia for his burnt photo montage/collage of a church. Bailey's original explanation of meaning and his updated revisionist explanation are fascinating reading. One really does come away understanding that in New Orleans, A.K. (after Katrina), all is not okay.

The show runs to September 29th. More than 30 artists are featured, including Andrew Krieger's sculpture on Imagination, Baltimore's Rosetta DeBerardinis' 2007 work on Fluid , Alexandra Silverthorne's print on Forgotten, Angela Kleis' Hatteras Lighthouse silver gelatin print, and James Coleman's mixed media on canvas, seno utero matriz.

The Arts Club of Washington reminds us that their third floor studio is open Tuesday through Saturday, with free arts classes open to the public every Saturday.

Saturday, September 08, 2007

Katzen Openings Tonight

There are multiple openings at American University's Katzen Arts Center tonight from 6-9PM.

The new exhibits include: "Carol Goldberg: Listening to Ivy," "Keiko Hara: Topophilia Imbuing," "Song Without Words: The Photographs of Countess Sophia Tolstoy," and "All in the Family: A Juried Show of American University Alumni."

An hour before the reception, internationally known artist and master printmaker Keiko Hara will give an informal talk on the creation of her 42-foot long homage to and very personal translation of Monet's Water Lillies.

All free and open to the public.

Wanna go to a Baltimore Opening today?

With a reception full of people, good wines and their trademark sushi Light Street Gallery in Baltimore opens "Trompe L'oeil Artwork of Bernard Scholl."

The reception for this French artist is from 1-5PM. See his work online here.

Friday, September 07, 2007

Tiny Alien

Below is another tiny little drawing with a big title. It's about 1.5 inches high by one inch across or so. Charcoal on paper.
Campello drawing


"Illegal Alien running across the border street in Brownsville, Texas, hoping that he won't be too late for his job at the Fort Brown Golf Course"
Charcoal on Paper, 1.5 inches by 1 inch.
c. 2007 by F. Lennox Campello

And another new DC gallery

New to me anyway, is the R Street Gallery at 2108 R St. NW, in DC's Dupont Circle area. They will be having an opening reception on Sunday September 16th from 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm for the exhibition of Tom Wolff’s portraits and images of the famous and powerful, and Tracey Friedlander’s portraits and documentation of the people of Cuba.

Step One

I'm looking to open a new gallery space in the Philly area... maybe... maybe... and so far I am only working on a draft website.

Here's what and who I am thinking about.

First step: sell my own work to raise funds to pay the exorbitant cost to do some fancy art fairs.

Second step: hopefully make some bucks from the art fairs to open a "bricks and mortar" space.

Third step: Lose money for a while until I establish a Philly presence.

Fourth step: Become a respected Phildalphia gallery.

Fifth step: Open a gallery in Sedona, Arizona.

Sixth step: back to second step.

Oh God!

Move the damned Barnes

After reading this, I join the camp that says move the damned Barnes to Philly and stop whining.

New DC gallery

The Carroll Square Gallery has its grand opening tonight from 6-9PM with an exhibition titled "Botanica," which includes work by 2007 Trawick Prize finalist Mary Early, Susan Jamison, Dean Kessmann, Amy Lamb, Lisa Scheer, Zach Storm and others.

Details here.

The Rich are different... or are they?

Recently I've learned a couple of interesting and very surprising facts about America's rich people.

The stereotype American rich dude is always painted as a Republican, and the Republican Party has always been called "the Party of the Rich." But apparently America's wealthiest zip codes are overwhelmingly Democratic donors. That surprised me quite a bit, which shouldn't have, since my old neighborhood of Potomac, Maryland was and is definately a very pro-Democrat area and one of the wealthiest zip codes in the USA.

Yet another reason why I try really hard to ignore both the "vast right wing conspiracy" and the slightly less vast "left wing nutspiracy."

And now, to add to my confusion, the New York Times tells me that "the rich are giving more to charity than ever."

Roughly three-quarters of charitable gifts of $50 million and more from 2002 through March 31 went to universities, private foundations, hospitals and art museums, according to the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University.
Read the NYT story here.

Perhaps the sky is not falling after all...

First Fridays in Philly and DC

There are at least 21 gallery openings tonight in Philadelphia, a city known for "legendary stinginess toward the arts" according to the Daily News' Tom DiNardo.

Details on the gallery openings here.

In DC, Heather Goss details some key gallery openings around the nation's capital, which I think could also be accused of saving a sheckel here and there at the expense of the arts. Check out DCist here.

Another One Bites the Dust

The WaPo's Jackie Trescott covers yet another resignation by yet another director of the National Museum of Women in the Arts.

Judy L. Larson, the outgoing director is the 10th director since the museum was founded in 1987 - that's one every two years.

Clearly something is really wrong with the NMWA, and its inability to keep its directors is just the most visible part of what's brewing under the surface there.

And although Mary Mochary, the president of the museum's board "declined to discuss any circumstances of Larson's departure. 'I can't say what was going on,' Mochary said," rumors have persisted for years about frustrated NMWA directors handcuffed perhaps too tightly to a museum founder (and now chairman of the board) still trying to deliver her vision through them.

I'd love to hear the thoughts of some former NMWA directors on this subject!


Space

Last fall the Philadelphia Museum of Art announced that it had selected Frank Gehry to design an underground expansion beneath the museum’s east terrace on Fairmount Hill. The Gehry expansion will cost around $500 million and add 80,000 square feet of galleries and renovated spaces. No date has been set for the start of construction.

Yesterday the newly refurbished Ruth and Raymond G. Perelman Building was unveiled and will open to the public on Sept. 15, and the 114,000 foot building was expanded by 59,000 feet at a cost of $90 million dollars.

And, as noted yesterday, thanks to a $500,000 gift from Wachovia, the Museum will offer free admission to its new Ruth and Raymond G. Perelman Building through the end of calendar year 2007.

Last weekend I walked the perimeter of both buildings, and in spite of the construction eye sores, and the masses of people who get pissed off when they get to to the top of the Rocky museum steps only to find out that the Rocky statue is no longer there (it has been relocated to the right side of the steps as one faces the museum), one still gets a really strong impression of a museum with presence and vision, and the new addition is a smart step forward.

Now let's see how the Gehry addition develops. I am sure that the unfortunate Corcoran experience with its own Gehry non-addition will be studied by Anne d’Harnoncourt and the savvy PMA director will learn from it.

Thursday, September 06, 2007

Oh oh...

Can a critic be sued when the critic is wrong or makes a mistake that causes a loss of income or reputation?

Apparently so. The Philadelphia Inquirer's food critic Craig LaBan is being sued by a Philly area restaurant for allegedly making a mistake in the review, which then reflected unfavorably upon the restaurant.

Let' be clear, LaBan is not being sued because of his opinion, that's a right guaranteed by the Constitution. He's being sued for libel because he allegedly opined on a steak that he claims he ate at lunchtime when that steak is only served for dinner.

It would be like a gallery suing an art critic because that critic opined on a piece of work that the critic called a watercolor when in fact it was an intaglio etching... I think. By the way, something like that did happen in a major newspaper not too long ago. No one sued but we all sighed behind the critic's back.

Sounds confusing? the current issue of Philadelphia magazine just outed LaBan, who apparently likes to wear disguises when he visits restaurants. The issue has a great article by Steve Volks on the subject that will clarify this confusing issue... I think.

Read that article here.

Ben Tolman

I also first came across the work of Ben Tolman when I curated a huge, obsessive pen and ink by Tolman into "Seven" a couple of years ago.

In 2005, right after "Seven," the WCP profiled this most interesting DC artist (read that profile here) and today Kriston has a highly interesting article in the WCP again detailing a most unusual story about this highly unusual character. Read that here.

Nepotista Declaration: I now own a few of Ben Tolman's pieces.

Sara Pomerance

I first came across the work of Sara Pomerance when I curated her into "Seven" a couple of years ago.

Pomerance is one of the hardest working artists in the region, and some of her work will be at the 2007 Corcoran Alumni exhibition curated by Molly Donovan, curator of modern and contemporary art at the National Gallery of Art, and opening tomorrow, Thursday, September 6, from 6:30–8:30 p.m. at the Corcoran's North Atrium.

Also in Washington DC, three of her photographs are also on display at the Parker Gallery. These images were written about as "The real stand out in this crowd," by Kevin Mallema (read the review here).

And in Albuquerque, her newest video "Yellow Cake with Sprinkles," was on display this summer at the John Sommers Gallery, which is part of the UNM art museum.

And oh yeah... Sara is soon moving to NYC... sigh.

Trawick Winners Announced

The usual surprises!

Jo Smail from Baltimore, MD was awarded “Best in Show” with $10,000; Nicholas Wisniewski of Baltimore, MD was named second place and was given $2,000; Bruce Wilhelm of Richmond, VA was bestowed third place and received $1,000 and the “Young Artist” award of $1,000 was given to Kathleen Shafer of Washington, D.C.

The artists who had been selected as Trawick Prize finalists are:

Mary Coble, Washington, D.C.

Mary Early, Washington, D.C.

Suzanna Fields, Richmond, VA

Inga Frick, Washington, D.C.

Jeanine Harkleroad, Chesapeake, VA

Linda Hesh, Alexandria, VA

Baby Martinez, Washington, D.C.

Kathleen Shafer, Washington, D.C.

Jo Smail, Baltimore, MD

Bruce Wilhelm, Richmond, VA

Nicholas F. Wisniewski, Baltimore, MD

The jurors for this year's Trawick are Anne Ellegood, Associate Curator at the Hirschhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden; Amy G. Moorefield, Assistant Director and Curator of Collections for Virginia Commonwealth University’s Anderson Gallery and Rex Stevens, Chair of the General Fine Arts Department at Maryland Institute College of Art. Catriona Fraser, owner of the Fraser Gallery in downtown Bethesda, is the non-voting Chair of The Trawick Prize.

The Trawick Prize is clearly the DC area region's premier fine arts prize and once again kudos to Ms. Trawick! A public opening will be held at Creative Partners Gallery on Friday, September 14, 2007 from 6-9pm in conjunction with the Bethesda Art Walk. Creative Partners Gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday from 12-6pm.