Henry Miller, charcoal on paper. 2 inches by 2 inches. c. 2008
by F. Lennox Campello
Since 2003... the 11th highest ranked art blog on the planet! And with over SIX million visitors, F. Lennox Campello's art news, information, gallery openings, commentary, criticism, happenings, opportunities, and everything associated with the global visual arts scene with a special focus on the Greater Washington, DC area.
MFA Shows at Tyler
Temple University’s Tyler School of Art has a series of solo and two-person Masters of Fine Arts thesis exhibitions, occurring weekly from March 19 to May 24, 2008.
The series includes students from all Tyler departments and an array of media: painting, sculpture, glass, printmaking, metals, graphic design, fibers, photography, ceramics, and more. A listing of exhibitions is located here.
Texas MADE: Spotlight on 10 Texas Based Emerging Artists
ArtWhino, Alexandria's massive art gallery will launch Texas MADE: Spotlight on 10 Texas Based Emerging Artists, on March 21st, 2008 from 6 to 12p.m. The show runs until - April 4th, 2008. Music by DJ SMK.
Texas Made is "a sampling of the prominent, graffiti-based contemporary Texan art culture. For the most part, the artists featured in Texas Made all have graffiti and street art backgrounds and have now broadened their scope to include works on canvas. Keeping in the vein of graffiti, these artists employ much of the same media and techniques one might expect to find outdoors, such as spray paint with stencils."
Found Prints
A while back a good friend of a friend found a portfolio containing eight prints at the Red line Metro in DC. She brought them home instead of taking them to the Metro counter thinking that they were going to be safer in her hands. Below are three of the images from the set. If anyone knows who the artist may be, they can get in touch directly with Paula and her email is paulamjo@hotmail.com.
Meet the Artist - DC
Argentinean artist Felisa Federman will be at Gallery 10 - Dupont Circle in DC this Saturday and Sunday, to discuss her work currently on exhibit there. Call 202/232-3326.
Meet the Artists - Philly
Join Sarah Steinwachs and Joshua Marsh at Cerulean Arts to discuss their current exhibition “Drawing Near” featuring work by them and fellow Yale graduates Tamar Miller and Kathranne Knight. For more information about the exhibition, please visit this website or call 267-514-8647.
Sunday, March 16, 1-4pm and Gallery Talk at 2pm.
Five Senses
Yesterday I was down at the Torpedo Factory in Old Town Alexandria; first I spent about half an hour checking out a couple of very good Art League shows juried by Jack Boul and Sarah Tanguy; review coming later.
Then I went to Target Gallery to see "Five Senses," which I had juried from digital files, and was really pleased with the show; you gotta go see this really cool exhibition - it's not what you'd expect and let me give you a hint: it makes the entire building smell of mouthwash!
I awarded Best in Show to an amazing piece by Illinois artist Pamela Paulsud. Titled "Touchstones," the work is comprised of 50 altered books and some real stones, and it is an imaginative and smart work that fools the visual senses, and then demands tactile interaction.
Judy and the Boys
The above photograph by Lida Moser is known as "Mimicry" or more commonly "Judy and the Boys." It his perhaps her best-known image, and for a while it was the most popularly requested photograph from the Library of Congress archives.
I've seen this photo described as "dancing in the streets."
Here's the real story.
Circa 1961, the model (named Judy) hired Lida Moser to shoot a publicity portfolio, and Moser convinced Judy that the streets of the Bowery in NYC would be an ideal location.
So they began posing and shooting, and soon a small band of New York City urchins approached them.
"Hey Lady," says Lida the oldest one said to her, "take my pichurr."
"Get lost," answered Moser, "We're working here."
"C'mon lady," the kids now insisted, "take our pichurr."
Soon, to the irritation of Judy, the eldest boy started to mimic her poses. "See lady," he said, "I can pose too."
Moser is not a photographic genius for nuthin' and she recognized the photographic opportunity and started backing up slowly to include the boys in the frame. Judy was now really pissed, and look at her dainty gloved hand, as she gives the street ruffians the finger.
Eventually Moser included the boys in other photographs (all part of a series loosely called "Judy and the Boys") and the images became part of the portfolio. The first photo (imaged above) captures the beginning of a brilliant photo that has little to do with dancing in the streets but loads to do with the eye of a savvy street photographer.
Lida Moser opens tonight at 6PM at Fraser Gallery in Bethesda.
Bethesda Art Walk Tonight
Tonight is the Bethesda Art Walk with openings and late hours and a free walking tour to over a dozen Bethesda art galleries and art venues.
My pick: Lida Moser at Fraser Gallery. Also, I learned from DCist that Moser will discuss her work on Saturday at 1 p.m., followed by a screening of two documentaries about her work.
I like this
WaPo Chief Art Critic Blake Gopnik interviews Charles Cohan, a 47-year-old printmaker and art professor based in Hawaii, and currently exhibiting in DC's micro-gallery with a huge presence, Curator's Office.
Wanna go to a gallery opening tonight?
Come to the opening of "Five Senses," the exhibition that I curated for Alexandria's Target Gallery.
The exhibition is up now and through April 6, 2008, and the opening reception (free and open to the public) is tonight, Thursday, March 13, 6-8pm and I will give a gallery talk tonight at 7PM and present the awards. You can start by attending the reception, having some munchies and wine, and then, after the reception, head out for the nightlife of Old Town Alexandria.
Artists' Websites
Opportunity for DC, VA and MD artists
Deadline: Friday, April 11, 2008
The Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District is now accepting submissions for The Trawick Prize: Bethesda Contemporary Art Awards. The 6th annual juried art competition awards $14,000 in prize monies to four selected artists. Deadline for slide submission is Friday, April 11, 2008 and up to fifteen artists will be invited to display their work from September 3 – September 28, 2008 in downtown Bethesda at Heineman Myers Contemporary Art.
The Trawick Prize is without a doubt, the key fine arts competition available to DC, MD and VA artists and has already produced some spectacular results for its winners.
This year's competition will be juried by Molly Donovan, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the National Gallery of Art; Irene Hofmann, Executive Director of the Contemporary Museum in Baltimore, MD and Leah Stoddard, Director of Second Street Gallery in Charlottesville, VA.
The first place winner will be awarded $10,000; second place will be honored with $2,000 and third place will be awarded $1,000. A “young” artist whose birth date is after April 10, 1978 may also be awarded $1,000.
Artists must be 18 years of age or older and residents of Maryland, Virginia or Washington, D.C. Original painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, fiber art, digital, mixed media and video are accepted. The maximum dimension should not exceed 96 inches in any direction. No reproductions. Artwork must have been completed within the last two years. Selected artists must deliver artwork to exhibit site in Bethesda, MD. All works on paper must be framed to full conservation standards.
The Trawick Prize was established by local Bethesda business owner Carol Trawick. Ms. Trawick has served as a community activist for more than 25 years in downtown Bethesda. She is the Chair of the Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District and past Chair of the Bethesda Urban Partnership. Additionally, the Jim and Carol Trawick Foundation was established in 2007 after the Trawicks sold their successful information technology company.
For a complete submission form, please visit www.bethesda.org or send a self-addressed stamped envelope to the Bethesda Urban Partnership, Inc., c/o The Trawick Prize: Bethesda Contemporary Art Awards, 7700 Old Georgetown Road, Bethesda, MD 20814.
Opportunity for Senior Artists
Deadline: Friday, March 20, 2008
Call for senior, non-professional artists to participate in the eleventh annual, non-juried exhibition entitled “A Lifetime of Perspective: Art by Older Adults.” Deadline March 20, 2008. The exhibition will be held at the JCC of Greater Washington’s Goldman Gallery May 18-30, 2008. This show offers Washington area adults 65+ the opportunity to show one piece in an exhibition by 120 artists. It is free to all participants. If an artists wishes to sell his or her work the JCC takes no commission. Come be a part of eleven years of celebrating senior’s creativity and talents. This art exhibit was created by Deena and Jerome Kaplan in memory of parents, Eve and David Berliant and is underwritten by the Kaplan Family, the JCC’s Deena and Jerome Kaplan Fund for Senior Adult Programming. For information or to make an appointment contact: Kandy Hutman 301-348-3864 email: khutman@jccgw.org.
Heartworks
In April 2008, Philadelphia will be the destination for a lot of cool contemporary art when the works of photographer/sculptor Jack Pierson, painter/sculptor Andrea Zittel, photographers Ryan McGinley and Zoe Strauss, mixed-media artist Alex Da Corte, installation design artist Virgil Marti, painter/musician Devendra Banhart, self-contained video artist Tim Tate and loads more other visual and performing artists from the United States and London are featured in “HeartWorks,” a week-long event benefiting the Mazzoni Center, a Philadelphia health agency serving the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender community, specializing in HIV treatment and care.
Curator Christopher Veit (who is from my new hometown of Media, PA) credits the Mazzoni Center with saving his life and is taking the words of his mentor Pierson – “you only get back what you put out in life” – to heart in creating “HeartWorks.” He has decided to give the place and people who helped him get well a benefit of works and performances donated by his friends. All proceeds will support the Center. Lifestyle Magazine is a major sponsor for “HeartWorks.”
“HeartWorks” kicks off on Friday, April 18 with two-evenings of experimental multi-media and music, featuring innovative video art by Alex Bag, photography by Patterson Beckwith in collaboration with filmmaker Joshua Callaghan, musician Douglas Armour and rapper Tara De Long.
Then an exhibition of approximately 100 works of art will be on view beginning Tuesday, April 22, culminating in fundraiser/silent auction, featuring a performance by the saxophone ensemble, PRISM Quartet, on Saturday, April 26. “HeartWorks” will be held at the ICE BOX Project Space, 1400 N. American Street. Tickets for April 18 and 19 are $20; those for the April 26 fundraiser/silent auction range from $35 - $125. Patron packages, including limited prints by either Alex Da Corte or Jack Pierson, tickets to all “HeartWorks” events, and a patron event with the two artists on February 21, are $500 and $1,000. For information, visit www.inliquid.com/heartworks or call 215-563-0663.
Other artists contributing to “HeartWorks” include painters Elyce Abrams, Dave Bond, Anthony Campuzano, Jeff Elrod, Daniel Gonzalez, Robert Gutierrez, Ian Hokin, Pearl C Hsiung, Jackadandy, Michael Lazarus, Isaac Lin, Jay Schuette, Jeni Spota, Thaddeus Strode, Hiroshi Sunairi and Henry Taylor; sculptors Paul LEE and Jason Meadows; photographers Karl Hahn and Mary Pinto; mixed-media artists Shari Elf, Mark X Farina, Adam Helms, Thom Merrick, Sandeep Mukherjee, Michele O' Marah, Randy Polumbo and John Williams; fashion designers Paul Bernstock, Michael Costiff, Bettina Hubby and Thelma Speirs; jewelry designers Annie Costello Brown and Mikal Winn; video artists and filmmakers Zaina Alwan, who also creates murals, Tom Borgese, Paul Slocum, Jack Sloss and Kim Stringfellow; performance artists David M. Jones, Ann Magnuson, Kelly Marie Martin and Khembra Pfhaler; musician Chad Brown; and Ellie Greenwood, Gia Grosso, Tim Jackson, Daniel McDonald, Ji Shin and Lisa Sitko. Artist biographies are available in an accompanying document.
Mazzoni Center focuses on the healthcare needs of Philadelphia’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities, and specializes in the treatment and care of HIV / AIDS. For more information regarding Mazzoni Center, go to www.mazzonicenter.org.
VSA arts’ Call for Entries
Deadline: March 21, 2008
VSA arts is seeking visual artists with disabilities whose work is inspired by the performing arts for “Derivative Composition,” an international juried art exhibition that will be on display at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., from May 29-July 20, 2008. Two-and three-dimensional art, digital art, installations, video and film, and other media that draw inspiration from music, theater or dance are eligible. Submissions must have been completed in the last five years and after the onset of disability. Applications will be accepted through March 21, 2008. For more information, please visit this website or call (202) 628-2800.
MPA Artfest
Deadline: May 1, 2008
The McLean Project for the Arts in McLean, VA is accepting entries from local and regional artists and fine craftsmen for MPA artfest, a one day juried fine arts and crafts festival. The second annual MPA artfest will be held in McLean Central Park on Sunday, October 5. Last year's one day festival drew 3,500 music and arts lovers.
Entry forms are available at McLean Project for the Arts and online at www.mpaart.org. McLean Project for the Arts is located at 1234 Ingleside Avenue in McLean. Hours are Tuesday - Friday 10 am - 4 pm; Saturday 1-5 pm. For more information call 703-790-1953 or email artfest@mpaart.org
The Funnel
Just came across this really, really good Funnel Pages; all about the arts in Philadelphia. A one place online stop for openings, shows, reviews, etc. in Philly.
Visit them often here.
Artists' Websites
Hadieh Shafie is a student at School 33 in Baltimore and Hadieh is having an open studio on Saturday, April 12, 2008, Noon to 6PM.
Visit Hadieh's website here.
Lida Moser opens this Friday
Opening on March 14, 2007 and through April 5, 2007, the Fraser Gallery in Bethesda will be hosting their second solo exhibition of legendary American photographer Lida Moser, who now lives in retirement in nearby Rockville, Maryland.
This almost 90-year-old photographer is not only one of the most respected American photographers of the 20th century, but also a pioneer in the field of photojournalism. Her photography has been in the middle of a revival and rediscovery of vintage photojournalism, and has sold as high as $4,000 at Christie's auctions and continues to be collected by both museums and private collectors worldwide. In a career spanning over 60 years, Moser has produced a body of works consisting of thousands of photographs and photographic assemblages that defy categorization and genre or label assignment.
Additionally, Canadian television recently finished filming a documentary about her life; the second in the last few years, and Moser’s work is now in the collection of many museums worldwide.
She was once called the "grandmother of American street photography" by an art critic, which prompted a quick rebuttal by Moser, who called the writer's editor and told him that she wasn't the "fucking grandmother of anything or anyone, and would he [the writer] ever describe Ansel Adams or any other male photographer as the 'grandfather' of any style."
Tough New Yorker.
I once sold one of her rare figure studies to a big famous photography collector from the West Coast (who collects mostly nude photography). There were four or five prints of the image, taken and printed around 1961, but one had all the markings and touch-up evidence of the actual photo that had been used by the magazine, and thus I sent him that one.
He called me to complain that although he loved Moser's work, that he wasn't too happy with the retouching, and could I ask Lida for one of the untouched photos.
Now, you gotta understand that these images were taken and touched-up by hand for publication in a newspaper or magazine (since they were nudies, the latter probably). They were not touched up for a gallery or an art show - they were "battlefield" prints of a working photographer.
I called Lida and explained the situation over the phone. "Sweetie," she said to me in her strong New York accent, "you call that guy right back and tell him that you talked to Lida Moser and that Lida Moser told you to tell him: Fuck You!"
I didn't do that, but just sent him an untouched vintage print.
Tough New Yorker.
Lida was a well-known figure in the New York art scene of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, and a portrait of Lida Moser by American painter Alice Neel hangs in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum in New York City. Neel painted a total of four Moser portraits over her lifetime, and one of them was included in the National Museum of Women in the Arts' "Alice Neel's Women" exhibition.
WPA Auction Online Bidding
The WPA Art Auction is online for the rest of this week, and four online bidders have so far ended up winning their lots before the Gala, so it’s definitely worth a shot for collectors who might be unsure about their chances of winning, especially with the auction gala now having passed.
Check it out here.
Student Art
I am a huge fan of art created by students, perhaps because as an art student I used to sell nearly all of my art school assignments in Seattle's Pike Place Market.
And later this summer I will be curating an exhibition for the Longview Gallery in Washington, DC titled "Early Look," which will showcase work by undergraduate art students along the Mid Atlantic.
In Philly, the Samuel S. Fleisher Art Memorial will host its 110th Annual Adult Student Members Exhibition (March 21 through April 26, 2008). The Annual Adult Student Members Exhibition is the culmination of the 110th year of fine art instruction at South Philadelphia’s Fleisher Art Memorial. This year’s exhibition will consist of two parts – designed and developed by students and their instructors – exemplifying the teaching and learning philosophy of the Fleisher Art Memorial. Nearly 400 students will have their work on view in Fleisher’s galleries. Many of these works will be for sale.
Part I: March 21 – April 5, will feature drawings, paintings, prints, sculpture, and photographs by adults enrolled in Fleisher’s program of free-tuition classes. A closing reception and awards ceremony for this portion of the exhibition will be held on Saturday, April 5, from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m.
Part II: April 11 – April 26, will feature work from the summer, fall, and spring workshop programs. A closing reception and awards ceremony will be held on Saturday, April 26, from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m.
Details here.
Job in the Arts
Deadline: March 17, 2008
The Maryland Federation of Art (MFA) is a membership organization of artists and art patrons whose mission is to provide exhibition and professional development opportunities for artists and to provide arts education and outreach opportunities for all Maryland citizens. Reporting to the Maryland Federation of Art (MFA) Board of Directors, the Executive Director serves as the chief staff officer and is responsible for the overall leadership and management of the MFA's programs and operations. This position is a part-time position (approximately 30 hours per week) and there is some flexibility allowed for when the hours are worked.
MFA operates the Circle Gallery, which annually hosts three juried national exhibitions, four juried member exhibitions and numerous solo and group shows. In addition, the MFA also conducts education and outreach activities for children and community groups and professional development opportunities for artists. MFA currently employs a full-time Gallery Manager and one part-time Gallery Assistant. Please visit MFA's website for more organizational information at www.mdfedart.org.
To apply, please send a cover letter, resume, and salary requirements by close of business, Monday, March 17, 2008. All candidate submissions will be confidential. Please send an email to the MFA search consultant at stews@mindspring.com for the full position description.
Applications may either be e-mailed to MFA consultant Sharon Stewart at stews@mindspring.com or mailed to Maryland Federation of Art, 18 State Circle, Annapolis, MD 21401, Attention: Sharon Stewart/Executive Director Search. You will receive confirmation of receipt of your application. It is expected that candidate interviews will begin the week of March 24th.
Here we go again
1. A Berlin gallery has an exhibition that was organized by the Danish group Surrend, which said that it wanted to oppose religious extremism.
2. Same said Berlin gallery closes the exhibition after threats "believed to be from Muslims."
Read the BBC story here.
Great art job in Vegas
The Las Vegas Art Museum seeks a Curatorial Assistant to assist with the development and installation of exhibitions in preparation of LVAM’s move into a new, centrally located 100,000 square foot facility in 2009.
The successful candidate must possess good writing skills and have considerable knowledge of contemporary art. B.A. required, M.A. or equivalent gallery or museum experience preferred. LVAM offers full health and dental benefits. Please send your cover letter, resume, and writing sample (publications not required) to Alex Codlin at acodlin@lasvegasartmuseum.org or by mail to Las Vegas Art Museum, 9600 West Sahara Avenue, Las Vegas, Nevada 89117.
Who's Who in Art?
From Damien Hirst to Mark Wallinger, many major artists now rely on legions of helpers. How do they feel about their often uncredited roles?Read this fascinating article by Patrick Barkham in The Guardian here.
Yet another artist who likes to paint that painting
My good friend Jeffry Cudlin has a must-read post on the curious aggregation of painting styles.
How many artists can you identify? Read the post here.
Wanna be in a museum show?
Is this an asskicking blog or what?
I'm about to give all of you resume-builders an opportunity to be included in a museum show.
Not just any museum, but the museum that bewitched me -- when I was a kid in Brooklyn -- into loving art.
This March, the Brooklyn Museum, is inviting photographers to electronically submit [sorry about the split infinitive] digital images for a unique upcoming photography exhibition called Click! A Crowd-Curated Exhibition.
The first part of Click! is the submission process that ends this March 31st. Details can be found at this website.
Aren't you glad that you read this blog?
Click! takes its inspiration from the critically acclaimed book The Wisdom of Crowds, in which New Yorker business and financial columnist James Surowiecki asserts that a diverse crowd is often wiser at making decisions than expert individuals. The exhibition will explore that idea in the context of visual art, inviting visitors to an online forum to evaluate the artists’ submissions.
Those submissions chosen by the online audience will be in the Museum exhibition, opening June 27, 2008.
The public will choose an art exhibition? There must be something illegal here...
Something refreshing.
Jerks of the Web
Ah! An explantion why people who are quiet weasels in real life turn into boisterous jerks online.
This article really describes a couple of art bloggers that I know... well, I really know one of them.
CityCenter's Public Art
CityCenter, is a joint venture of MGM MIRAGE and Dubai World, and it will be a vertical city that opens in the heart of the Las Vegas Strip between Bellagio and Monte Carlo resorts in late 2009. The more than $8 billion development combines approximately 2,650 private residences; two 400-room non-gaming boutique hotels; a dramatic 61-story, 4,000-room resort casino; and a 500,000-square-foot retail and entertainment district into a single urban core.
And today, MGM MIRAGE unveiled a $40 million Public Art Program for CityCenter.
Opening in late 2009, CityCenter will feature works by acclaimed artists including Maya Lin, Jenny Holzer, Nancy Rubins, Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen, Frank Stella, Henry Moore and Richard Long, among others. Validating CityCenter’s status as a cultural destination of worldwide significance, the CityCenter Fine Art Program will feature numerous sculptures and fine art installations in both interior and exterior locations to create a dynamic and enriching fine art collection. The program is designed to become a benchmark for enlightened corporate involvement with the arts on a global level and will be one of the world’s largest and most ambitious corporate art programs. Additional pieces will be announced at a later date.Read the NYT story here.
“CityCenter will be an international architectural achievement that integrates the talents of world-renowned artists, architects and designers in one development; it will be a landmark of global taste and style,” said Terry Lanni, Chairman and CEO of MGM MIRAGE. “The CityCenter Fine Art Program will be the first initiative of its kind to merge public and corporate interests on this grand scale, and we’re proud to deliver this prominent force in contemporary art and culture to Las Vegas.”
The Shaping of Color Field
by Rosetta DeBerardinis
I departed the island of Baltimore last week to attend the preview of “Color as Field: American Painting 1950-1975,” the new exhibit at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
After some lovely pastries and Dean and DeLuca coffee poured from boxes we ventured upstairs to its third floor gallery. Once you emerge from the elevator you become captivated by the large scale chroma-stained canvases which are so imposing that you feel child-like staring up at them. Signage on the walls with names we have all heard or seem before like: Frankenthaler, Louis, Olitski, Motherwell, Gottelib, Davis and Gilliam. But, this is not a block-buster exhibit for the masses intended to draw record numbers of crowds; it is a significant documentation of 39 works by the early pioneers of American art.
Due to limited government funding for museums and art institutions, there is now greater reliance upon garnering private donors to underwrite exhibits. This exhibit is organized by the American Federation of the Arts, the Henry Luce Foundation, Gene Davis Memorial Fund, Golden Artists Colors and several individual donors, and few of the works are from the Smithsonian’s own collection.
But, if this exhibit is an example of what can be done without the government, I say ‘thank-you’ now we can really have first-class art shows which are thought-provoking, scholarly and challenging. No, there is no audio-guide with snippets of history or narrative story-telling. This show is intended for those well-versed in the subject-matter, so if you are not, I suggest that you dust off an art history book or Google ‘ColorField’ to ensure that you won’t miss the importance of this historical exhibit.
And, if you negate the importance of the abstract expressionist and chant along with the masses “even my child could do this” then you need to purchase the easy reading color-illustrated exhibition catalogue, written by its guest curator Karen Willkin, a specialist in 20th century modernism.
The post-war Color Field painters abandoned the gestural strokes, the all-over painting and pouring inaugurated by Jackson Pollock and the abstract expressionists, and instead concentrated on color, spatial ambiguity and process. Their aim was to unify a colorful abstract image or shape on a large surface. This 1950s movement was more about color than form; however, both movements sought to reveal the unknown -not to report just on the visible.
Artist Helen Frankenthaler led the way by applying thinned oil pigment to stain the unprimed canvas. After visiting her studio in New York City in 1953, artists Kenneth Noland and Morris Louis (both then teaching in the District of Columbia) returned there to experiment with their newly found technique.
My favorite painting in the show is Frankenthaler’s large scale, ‘Off the White Square’ done in 1973 because it exemplifies the new power and presence of acrylic pigment -- which had just become available when she began using ten years earlier.
And, as they say "the rest is history," because America now had its second artistic movement, the Color Field school, which included Helen Frankenthaler, Kenneth Noland, Morris Louis, Walter Darby Bannard, Jack Bush, Gene Davis, Friedel Dzubus, Sam Francis, Jules Olitski and later Larry Poons, Frank Stella, Ronald Davis and Sam Gilliam. These are artists who elected to concentrate on pure contrasting hues of color rather than light versus dark. In the words of Frank Stella “what you see is what you see.” However the significance of this exhibit extends beyond what the viewer sees on these colorful canvases. It is a historical event documenting the difference, similarity and distinction between abstract expressionism and color field painting along with the progression of American art.
The exhibition is in three-parts: an introduction to the origins of Color Field painting, its pioneers, and its later practitioners who pushed its further. It begins with Rothko, and the Abstract Expressionists, then to Frankenthaler’s departure from Pollock and the color field artists who followed with a new abstract form based on expanses of radiant unmodulated hues by staining, painting and spraying. And it concludes with the later generation often linked to the influential art critic Clement Greenberg, who curated the 1964 exhibit “Post Painterly Abstraction” and is credited along with art historian Michael Fried for defining and establishing the framework for interpreting the art form known as field of color, later coined "Color Field."
This exhibition is the first major examination of color field painting, and the District of Columbia is the only East Coast city to host this landmark exhibition. After its debut there it will make its final stop at the First Center of Visual Arts in Nashville, Tenn. in June.
On exhibit thru May 26th, 2008 at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Eighth and F Streets, N.W., Washington, D.C. Hours: 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily (202) 633-1000\ (202) 633-7970 (recorded museum information).
Art Collector Feels "Victimized" After Selling Arbus Photos
From Artinfo: An art collector says he feels "victimized" after selling a collection of previously unknown Diane Arbus photographs for $3,500, far below their value, the Associated Press reports.
I suspect that if Langmuir is a professional (art dealer or art trader of some sort), then Ogunsanya may be covered under what's sometimes known as the "Widow's Law" in some states.
Bayo Ogunsanya, who primarily collects African American art, bought a trunk full of unclaimed photographs at a Bronx storage facility in 2002 and sold some of them to Robert Langmuir, who returned a week later asking to purchase more and offering to give Ogunsanya more money if the photographs turned out to be "worth more than you and I think they are."
It was only later that Ogunsanya learned from a New York Times article that the photos were by Arbus and would go on display in a Los Angeles Gallery in February and be auctioned next month at Phillips de Pury & Company. Ogunsanya, who claims Langmuir knew the whole time that the photos were Arbus's, took his case to federal court in Brooklyn on Wednesday, asking the court to block or change the terms of the sale and award him unspecified damages. The lawsuit says the photographs are likely worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
This law, as I understand it, tries to protect people from being cheated by professionals when selling collectibles, art, etc.
So if someone comes to me to sell me some artwork, and I recognize a bunch of Morris Louis' paintings in the stacks, I can't legally cheat the seller by offering them a few hundred bucks for the lot.
I'm not sure if the law applies when neither party has any idea of the value of the objects. In other words, if Langmuir "knew the whole time" that they were Arbus' photos and what their value really was, then he may be on the wrong side of the law if he's some sort of dealer - I'm not sure if the law applies if he's just a savvy collector. But if Langmuir had no idea what the photos were valued at, and then subsequently found out their real value - then I suspect that he is in the clear -- but if once he found out the value, then he came back to rip off Ogunsanya of the remaining Arbus photos, then he is probably in the wrong side of the law.
Wanna go to a DC opening tonight?
We're being assured that the artist opening tonight at the Randall Scott Gallery in DC is the real Cara Ober.
"Painting as a mode of thinking" is the way Holland Cotter described the landscapes of Poussin in a recent New York Times review. He likened Poussin's artistic practice to a certain kind of poetry in which "antique references, modern speculation and sensual delirium" check and fuel the import of each component. A viewer might do well to keep this conflicted discursiveness in mind when looking at the paintings of Cara Ober. Her art can look deceptively inviting, almost reassuring in its Hallmark Hall greeting card sort of way, as if the meaning of her jumbled references to old-time dictionary illustrations, sentimental silhouettes, wallpaper patterns and middle class sense and sensibility were simply meant to give us pleasure, the concatenation of images and words an apotheosis of middlebrow taste somewhat like the effusions of Jeff Koons, another notable graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art. But you would be mistaken to think so.The opening is tonight, 7-9PM.
Perhaps like Ober you too are a product of suburban America, perhaps like her you too feel conflicted about the comfortable sources of your pleasures, how often they are rooted in a familiar environment, the taste of chocolate cake, a submissive pet, a doting mother, a non-threatening mate. Perhaps her older work made it easy for you to feel some such generational kinship but the new paintings are darker in color, more subtly threatening in their selection of quotes and definitions, more aggressive in their critique. They will remind you that you are not like Cara Ober.
-- excerpt from "New Paintings and a Wall by Cara Ober" -an essay by Dr. Michael Salcman
The Five Senses
Over the many years that I have been curating, creating, discussing and writing about art, I never cease to be surprised at the constantly changing and always surprising quality that is human creativity.
When the Target Gallery asked me to curate "The Five Senses," I must admit that I was a little concerned about the sort of work that I would eventually review for selection. The harsh brainwashing of the post-modernist mafia is a hard thing to avoid, even if you sometimes try to rebel against it.
But leave it to the creativity and intelligence of the artists submitting entries to not only surprise me, but also to delight me and open my eyes to a whole new genre of creativity, new media, fresh ideas and enviable talent from all over the nation.
Opportunity for photographers
The Baltimore Museum of Art has invited 19 photographers to respond to the exhibition "Looking through the Lens" with their own work.
The 19 were chosen by by artist Peter Bruun, Urbanite magazine creative director Alex Castro, and photographer/BMA Trustee Connie Imboden, the participating artists are: Beth Barbush, Jennifer Bishop, Laura Burns, Marshall Clarke, Cory Donovan, Peggy Fox, J.M. Giordano, Camille Gustus-Quijano, Regina DeLuise, Ellis Marsalis, Dan Meyers, Christopher Myers, Ken Royster, Jacqueline Schlossman, Sofia Silva, Lynn Silverman, Michelle Woodward, Erik Whipple, and Jack Wilgus.
Their images will be on view in the Looking Now Digital Gallery at the BMA from March 16–June 8, and also as part of a special feature in the April issue of Baltimore’s Urbanite magazine.
But on April 23 - June 8, the Digital Gallery expands with images by teens in the Youthlight after-school program. Founded in 2001 by photographer Marshall Clarke, Youthlight is committed to engaging young people in using photography as a means of self-expression.
And then other photographers can join Looking Now by visiting Looking through the Lens, creating your own digital images inspired by the exhibition, and uploading them to BMA beginning in mid-March. The best of the images submitted online will be on view at the BMA in the Looking Now Digital Gallery. April 23–June 8, 2008.
Submission inquiries may be directed to looking@artbma.org.
B&W
One of the posts that I lost in the last two weeks was an announcement for the opening of "black and white and... all over," the group show of 19 Greater DC area black and white photographers curated by fellow artsblogger J.T Kirkland for H&F Fine Arts.
I'm hearing good things about this exhibition, and from the images on JT's site, I really like the way that the show was hung - it looks really good.
Airborne
And heading home from beautiful Arizona. As most of you know, my desktop died a couple of weeks ago, and a few days later my laptop was stolen, and then I came out West for a week.
Between all of that, I have lost a ton of pre-prepared postings and I am at least 500 emails behind, and I'm still struggling a little with the cool, new tiny laptop.
Jerome Art Galleries
Jerome, Arizona sits straddling the side of a mountain about a mile high from sea level and less than 30 miles from its more famous cousin Sedona.
"America's most vertical city" -- I am told -- is home to about 400 people, but once boasted 16,000 inhabitants and a brothel madam who was Arizona's richest woman.
Although the whores are long gone, today the town still manages to attract a few million tourists a year, not only for the spectacular views that it affords from nearly every vantage point in this tiny and beautiful town, but also because of a budding gallery scene that although seemimgly having fairly established roots, it only seems to be blossoming out recently with a significant number of art galleries and venues and a rather successful monthly art walk on the first Saturday of the month. With 30 galleries and artists' studios participating in the art walk, it reflects the huge impact of the fine arts in a town of 400.
Most of Jerome's art galleries seem to fit the Southwest style of galleries that I discussed earlier in reference to Sedona. However, and very surprising to me, Jerome's art spaces seem more individual and original -- in most cases -- than Sedona's cookie cutter model of galleries.
There are several cooperatives that I observed, most noticeably the Jerome Artists Cooperative, where the hilarious (and smart) watercolors of Dave Wilder were on exhibit on that day that I visited. Full of irony and delivered with superb technical expertise, Wilder flexes well-developed observational skills that challenge the genre of "cowboy art" in a new refreshing manner.
DCist Exposed
Even from far away Arizona I just wanted make sure that you all know that the DCist Exposed Photography Show opens tonight in DC!
The show is at Civilian Art Projects at 406 7th Street NW in Penn Quarter in DC -- a few blocks from the Chinatown metro, and the reception is from 7 to 9 p.m. and free. DCist Exposed received picks in all three Washington Post event guides, as well as the Washingtonian and other publications, and I bet that this year's show will be even better than last year's terrific exhibition.
Do not miss this opening and someone please email me some images of the opening crowds.
Sedona Art Scene Part III
Yesterday I used the example of Sedona's huge Exposure Gallery to discuss what I call the Southwest gallery model -- a gallery packed to the gills with art in a riot of color and fear of empty space -- as opposed to the more standard gallery model of a minimalist white cube for a gallery.
There are a lot of art venues in the Sedona area, nearly all of them, with one notable exception, follow this Southwest model. Most of the better spaces are listed in the Sedona Art Gallery Association website.
Of these, Kinion Fine Arts seems to offer a blend of the two gallery models. They recently moved from the Hozho Center (located at 431 Hwy 179 and home to several galleries) to uptown Sedona, relocating the gallery to a former bank building, safe room and all. The Kinions have divided the gallery into two rooms; at the entrance the Southwest model is in place, but the bank's vault is used for solo shows apparently hung in the cleaner, less cluttered style of the white cube. They're also one of the few art spaces in town where not everything is Southwest art centric.
A new gallery just up a few steps from Kinion Fine Arts, located at Hyatt Pinion Point, is the very beautiful space of the Vickers Collection (there are three of these galleries in total and the one in Sedona is called VC Fine Arts), opened just a year ago and by far the only gallery in the area that fits the cleaner white cube model.
Vickers uses the white cube model, and also offers the most diverse set of artists, not just a heavy-handed focus on Southwest art (as most Sedona galleries do, driven by the tourist art market).
It will be interesting to see if Vickers can survive as the sole Sedona gallery (at least that I've seen) that offers a diverse set of artwork; the type of art that could easily be seen in New York, or Philly or DC.
At VC I quite liked the bronze sculptures of Bill Starke, a refreshing change of pace from all the bronzes of horses, bears, javalinas, Indians, deer and cowboys that inundate most of this beautiful town's galleries.
I also liked Chris Nelson's smart and intelligent reverse paintings on plexi, which upon further examination are more than just paintings, since the artist also routes the verso of the plexi so that the textured reverse plexi interacts with the acrylic paint to actually create grooves and channels that on the front of the work create smart landscapes. As interesting as this work is, this artist has to be careful that he doesn't fall into a repetitive pattern in his work.
Since I have been in the advice-giving mood, an artist that would be a perfect fir and would actually sell like gangbusters all throughout the Southwest are the amazing storm paintings of the Washington DC area's Amy Marx, who recently had her first solo in New York and whose breath-taking, hyper realism captures massive storms and weather patterns like no artist that I have ever seen.
Another East Coast artist who would be an instant hit in the Southwest is Alexandria's Susan Makara, whose beautiful stacked stones series sell as soon as she is finished with them from her studio in Alexandria's Torpedo factory.
Still in uptown, the Sedona Art Center rounds up a very good artists' run membership gallery of local artists.
There are also quite a few galleries located in a faux Mexican village called Tlaquepaque; after two trips to Sedona, I still can't pronounce it. From there you can cross Oak Creek by foot and visit a whole bunch more galleries on Hwy 179, although the ongoing construction on 179 seems to be really hurting the gallery business on that road.
Later: A big surprise! why nearby Jerome has more interesting and diverse galleries than Sedona does.
Sedona Art Scene Part 2
When you drive up Highway 179 into Sedona, one of the first galleries that you come across is the huge Exposures Gallery, which is located on the right side of 179 as one approaches the city.
AZ also has the familiar pattern
The pattern is familiar: Artists move into blighted urban areas to rent affordable spaces where they can live, create and show their work. The art attracts visitors, who in turn attract cafes and other small businesses. Property values rise, developers take notice and soon the artists are priced out of a community they helped create.Read the Arizona Republic story here.
It's a perennial paradox, but it's one that gallery owners and public officials are working to reconcile as they make plans for a diverse downtown where art has a permanent place.
"We have the best relationship now than we've had in the past 20 years with the city of Phoenix," says artist and activist Beatrice Moore, who owns a studio on Grand Avenue and rents several spaces to other artists.
Sedona Art Scene - Part 1
While there's no doubt on the planet that Sedona, Arizona is one of the most beautiful places on the planet, as I discovered while there last year and again this week, it is also one of the most spiritual magnets to a variety of religions and beliefs, including the significant number of people attracted to Sedona as a result of it's "energy Vortexes."
Let there be no doubt that this is an area of profound beauty and full of a palpable sense of energy and power. I loved it and will be back many times, as there are dozens and dozens of trails and vistas to explore.
But on this second trip, I wanted to also focus some time and comments on the Sedona art scene, a "scene" with some national footprint, regardless of where you stand on the planetary scale of the art world. in fact, within a few minutes of anyone discussing that they're going to Sedona, someone will immediately pop in and describe the city's great art scene.
And so, let me approach these views with the prejudiced eyes of the artsy Easterner, accustomed to white cube galleries, minimally presented with austere framing, white matting, and where even title and price labels are often eschewed in preference of a discrete price list on the gallerist's white or light wood postmodern design table.
Let start with Sedona art galleries.
But first, extrapolating from to the city's website, the city probably has around 12,000 people, about 90% of them non-Hispanic whites, with a median household income roughly $100,000 less than Potomac, Maryland and paradoxically with a median house price about $100,000 more than Potomac's pricey homes.
It's the first of many paradoxes about this gorgeous place.
Depending on who you believe, Sodona also gets between four and five million visitors a year.
The Sedona Visitors Guide tells these millions of visitors that Sedona "not too long ago had 300 residents, now has 300 artists and more than 40 galleries." We also learn from the guide that Sedona averages one gallery per 300 residents, and for every dollar spent on art, the art buyers spend $12 on other Sedona stuff. The guide also claims that statistics show that approximately 33% of the city's visitors are attracted there by the art, and that these art aficionados thus spend between $200,000 to one million dollars in various Sedona businesses each day. We thus can extrapolate that around $16,666 to $83,333 dollars are spent each day on art in this small town.
One issue appears to be clear: it's the tourists who buy art, not so much the locals (does that sound familiar?). This makes sense, after all, how much art can 12,000 residents buy from 40 galleries?
"Locals don't buy any art," told me a former Sedona gallerist, who prior to opening a gallery in Sedona had been a dealer in Chicago. "There are a lot of retired people here [the median age is around 55] and although there are some very large multi-million dollar homes, there are also a lot of modular homes [a fancy way to described a souped-up trailer]."
To the prejudiced and minimalist Easterner eye, the riot of color, subjects and presentation that characterizes most Southwestern art is an assault to long-held visual sensibilities created by the black and white world of the East Coast and Left Coast artworlds and its European and Latin American brethren.
I am shocked to discover that perhaps there's something of an elitist in all of us, as the preconditioning of being an artist, an art critic and an art dealer raised in all those aspects, and mostly along the Eastern states, prejudices my eyes to what I've referred previously as "coyote art."
My better half, who many years ago interned in Santa Fe with the legendary Gerald Peters Gallery (and Peters is credited by many as energizing the interest in Southwestern art and placing Santa Fe and the Southwest in general on the art scene), tries to educate me somewhat as to the different sensibilities between what she labels "an Easterner, with an East Coast vision of what a gallery should look like, looking at a Southwestern space."
It will take time, but then again, at one point in his life Duncan Phillips hated Impressionism and then eventually was seduced by it and became the American champion for it.
On the other hand, Wisconsin farm girl Georgia O'Keefe, even in her Southwest years always kept her austere black and white world where colors were generally reserved for her paintings.
So I proceed with as open as a mind I can have, maybe somewhere between Phillips' eventual enthusiasm and O'Keefe's steadfast minimalism in personal tastes.
There are a lot of spaces in and around Sedona that sell artwork. I'm not really sure if there are 40 galleries, unless one includes a lot of spaces that sell a lot of Native American and Mexican crafts.
Sedona itself is sort of divided into two areas, and as one comes to it from Highway 179, Uptown Sedona is to the right and the other Sedona to the left. Most art spaces are either located on 179 itself or Uptown Sedona.
The first set of galleries one comes across on 179 are located on a shopping area to the right as one enters the city, with a spectacular view (from the shops) of the Sedona rocks and the city itself.
We'll go there first...
Romano on the "New Art Fair" model
Eric Romano is the producer of the highly successful PULSE art fairs, and he read my ideas on a new art fair model and adds some thoughts on the subject:
Hi Lenny,
I just had a look at the blog and would kindly give you my thoughts… although, unfortunately, I don’t think they are very insightful.
There are a huge number of factors involved in creating a successful art fair, mostly tangible and some intangible. The key to the success of Basel, Frieze, Basel Miami, ARCO (a bit different) and the Armory lies in the draw of an international group of collectors that travel to each show.
These are the “major collectors” that the galleries love so much, which also includes curators. The majority of work sold at the big fairs, and fairs like ours, is from this population, which is why all the other fairs have sprung up around them.
The model that you are proposing, with large institutional support, would resemble ARCO, which is partially funded by the Madrid regional government and attracts over 200,000 visitors.
ARCO is a regional fair, if you look at Spain as a whole, but mostly attracts a local audience.
They do, however, pay for and fly in a group of over 200 collectors from around the world which helps push sales. FIAC is another example of a strong regional fair that mainly attracts Parisians.
I would look at this as a regional fair, for the reasons you sited, Miami is in December and New York is, well New York.
As a regional fair, it would have to pull on the local collectors and moneyed set... as you pointed out.
A huge fair, with institutional backing and government backing, does offer a wide range of opportunities to create buzz and multiple programming... i.e. performance art, lectures, an architecturally designed space, installations, curated video sections etc...
This can, if done well, create a community happening or event that transcends a traditional art fair and become the must see event for the entire community that creates a true dialog between art and the public in an atmosphere that is more open and dynamic than a museum. This is what happens at ARCO.
As with anything else, it would all depend on the people organizing the fair, their vision and their ability to work with the community, the government, and the museum.
All the best,
Eric