Washington Post Art Critic Honored
On Monday, March 22, the WaPo's Weekend art critic Michael O’Sullivan will receive a special Mayor’s Award for Outstanding Service to the Arts. This will take place at a press conference with Mayor Fenty at the old City Museum.
Space there will be at a premium and extremely limited, and thus very hard to attend for those who wish to congratulate Michael.
Thus, for all those artists, collectors, writers and other folks whose life and artistic careers have been influenced and or benefited from the writing of Michael O’Sullivan, there will be a special gathering right after the press conference.
This will be a very rare opportunity for the Greater DC arts community to give back a little to one of the most understanding, observant, savvy and supportive persons of the complex tapestry that is the Washington area's cultural scene.
What: Tribute Gathering For Michael O’Sullivan
Where: Rear of the Warehouse across 7th Street from the Convention Center.
Enter through The Passenger Bar
1021 7th St NW
(between N Mount Vernon Pl & N New York Ave)
Washington, DC 20001
When: Monday, March 22 , 7:30 to 8:30 pm FREE
If you want a cocktail, grab one at the Passenger on the way in.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Amy Lin at Addison Ripley
I used to have a friend who, if she found a perfect parking spot right away and right in front of wherever she was going, she'd describe it as "Doris Day parking."
"Have you noticed," she explained, "How in all the Doris Day movies she always manages to find a parking spot right in front of wherever it is that she is going?"
I knew that things had started on the right foot when last Saturday, as we drove to Addison Ripley (for the Amy Lin opening) in parking-poor Georgetown, we found a huge parking space right in front of the gallery's door.
After double checking all the parking signs to make sure that it wasn't some kind of new DC trick to give out more parking tickets (such as the trick they pulled a few years ago in G'town, when they extended the parking meters' coverage time from 6PM to 10PM without any warning, and for weeks they were in a ticket-giving orgy because people were used to the 6PM meter time and didn't realize they'd been extended to 10PM.
But I digress.
Readers of this blog know that I avoid being a detached, passionless writer and critic as much as I can. And for years now I have been very enthusiastic about the work and progress of this artist. And this opinion has been echoed by most other art critics in the region, as past Lin solo shows have both (a) received extensive and mostly positive critical attention and (b) have sold extremely well.
The one artistic danger that I once mused about in Lin's case was what I describe as the "Mondrian effect."
Picasso once said "God is really only another artist. He invented the giraffe, the elephant, and the ant. He has no real style. He just goes on trying other things."
As an art student and years afterwards I was always very attracted to the geometrical minimalism of Piet Mondrian. Then, a handful of years ago, I recall the massive Mondrian exhibition at the National Gallery, and what happened when I walked into gallery after gallery full of works so similar that they were almost indistinguishable from each other.
Mondrian had found a formula and stuck to it. He never went on "trying other things."
And in this current Amy Lin solo at Addison Ripley, I am happy to report that Amy Lin is not only trying "other things" from her signature minimalist works of individual groupings of small dots and small circles, but also that the new explorations are perhaps her best work to date.
Amy Lin. Cellular. 25 inch x 39 inch. Colored pencil 2010.
They explore new Lin interests that sometimes owe a lot to her training as a Chemical Engineer. They seem to trick the vision into reading formulas and charts and maps of color forms. The larger ellipses in some of the works almost assume figurative forms hidden inside deceptively complex drawings.
Amy Lin. Hydrolysis - 24 inch x 24 inch. Colored pencil.
The gallery was packed, and I am happy to report that Lin's past excellent sales record continues, as there were many red dots on the walls and several key DC area art collectors present and adding Lins to their collections.
The exhibition goes through April 24, 2010. Below are some images from the show.
Isabel Manalao, Amy Lin, Annie Adjchavanich and Dr. Fred Ognibene
Pat Goslee and Pink Line Project's Philippa P.B. Hughes
Little Junes' Mom and artist Amy Lin
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Redding takes issue with Gopnik review
Robert "Rob" Redding Jr. is an artist, author, radio host and journalist and he:
...has won an Associated Press award for Internet news and has won numerous awards for his radio show. He has won an ADDY award for his nationally syndicated show. He has has also been called "one of the most respected names in the media" (Upscale magazine), "one of the most intellectual and intriguing radio talk show hosts since Tavis Smiley" (Radio Facts) and a "rising star" and one of the "100 Most Important Radio Talk Show Hosts in America" (Talkers magazine).He also has an issue with last Sunday's review by Washington Post Chief Art critic Blake Gopnik titled National Gallery exhibit challenges traditional view of Rothko's black paintings.
Redding writes that "As an artist and journalist, I was horrified when I read the recent review by Washington Post art critic Blake Gopnik. Gopnik wrote a review of Mark Rothko's rehung black-dominated artworks at the National Gallery of Art."
Later he explains that "... As a black journalist, I find it disturbing that Gopnik decides to needlessly inject race into his art review. Gopnik points out the race of the 'notably dark' guards after he says that race should be considered when viewing Rothko's works."
Read Redding's case here.
Is the review racist or insensitive? Comments welcome.
Update: Philippa P.B. Hughes has an interesting viewpoint here.
If you wear a Che Guevara T-Shirt
Unless it is like the one on the left, you are wearing the image of a man whose own racist writing and actions are full of negative, racist remarks about Mexicans and Blacks, and Native Americans.
A killing psychopath whose image has been re-invented over the decades so that now he's viewed by a large, ignorant segment of the population as some sort of positive icon.
By the way, "Comemierda" is an almost unique Cuban insult...
The Negro is indolent and lazy, and spends his money on frivolities, whereas the European is forward-looking, organized, and intelligent.Inform yourself!
-- Che Guevara
Mexicans are a band of illiterate Indians.
-- Che Guevara
You want the image of a real Cuban hero for your T-Shirt? How about Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet?
Monday, March 15, 2010
Shocker
I'm putting all my tax stuff in order for my accountant and I was a little shocked to find out that 2009 was my best year ever as far as sales of my own work.
The art fairs really did the trick, as my work seems to really do two key things to succeed at an art fair: (a) doesn't take a lot of expensive wall space, and (b) sells really well, and (c) I'm usually one of two or three artists doing drawings at any fair.
And 2010 started really nicely already; in fact, I'm having the best year in every aspect of my life so far!
Life's good...
Fierce Sonia at The Art League Gallery
During her tenure as a figure model for The Art League School, Fierce Sonia quietly acquired a top-notch visual arts education. Motivated by the artwork she saw, she became eager to create her own work. She cabled her camera to her TV and released the shutter with an infrared remote. Sonia used herself as her own model, learning more about composition and technique based on what she saw on the screen.“Paper Dolls” will be at The Art League Gallery in Old Town Alexandria from April 8 – May 3, 2010. The Opening Reception and Meet the Artist function is Thursday, April 8, 6:30-8:00 pm. Joe Chiocca, Old Town’s favorite band, will play during the Opening Reception and reunite with special guest singer Kim Kenny. Free and open to the public.
Her figurative photography has evolved to a new and exciting place. The focus is on process. In Sonia’s latest series “Paper Dolls,” the same images reoccur with confident changes to the surface. Her work is no longer straight photography. With the integration of painting and collage into her images, Sonia’s work has reached a new level.
The black and white images of herself are often printed on paper that has been painted white, which creates a rich texture. Each piece is created in a unique way. Previous prints may be collaged to create depth. Multiple runs of the same print may be made on the same piece. More painting, layering might be necessary to create the desired effect. These alterations to the surface blur the identity of the original image, and make the series of work about the medium and the process, and not about the subject matter.
Sonia’s work has been exhibited and won accolades nationally. She is a professional art model and muse for artists and photographers and has worked with nationally and internationally known artists.
Wanna go to an opening this week?
"Coming Home: A Collection of Works by Rosetta DeBerardinis" opens at The Corner Store, 900 South Carolina Avenue, S.E. @ 9th Street near the Eastern Market.
Reception: Friday, March 19th from 6 to 8 pm.
"Coming Home: A Collection of Works by Rosetta DeBerardinis" marks the artist's return to the D.C. market upon the completion of a three-year artistic residency at School 33 Art Center in Baltimore, Maryland. The work demonstrates her expansion from color field painting to abstract expressionism to urbanscapes, monoprints, sculpture and to drawings while retaining her signature energy and strong use of color.
DeBerardinis has exhibited at commercial galleries and art venues throughout the Washington metro area, Richmond, Dallas, New York City, Houston, New Jersey, Delaware, Michigan and internationally in Croatia, Madrid, Beijing, India and France. She has shown at the Dallas Women's Museum, The Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Woman's National Democratic Club, The African-American Museum in Dallas, the City Museum of Varazdin in Croatia and the Yaroslavl Art Museum in Russia. Her work and words have been published in Washington Spaces magazine, the Virginia-Pilot Ledger Star, SoBo Voice, Radar Redux magazine and u-tube, Thinking About Art:The One Word Project, the Hill Rag, Voice of the Hill and in catalogues with comments by art aficionados like Doreen Bolger, Director of the Baltimore Museum of Art. A recent work is part of the Art on Call public art project in the Trinidad neighborhood in the District of Columbia.
During the residency, DeBardinis began to meld her ceramics with objects found on the streets of Baltimore and drove the finished sculptures back to DC for exhibition at Zenith Gallery last year. Her responses to Charm City's rawness and grit are reflected in much of her studio work. While there, she temporarily abandoned painting 9 ft. canvases to create work suitable for tiny Baltimore row houses. After downsizing in response to the architectual limits of the city, she began to exhibit surfaces as small as 2 1/2 inches, or the size of trading cards. She found compressing her energy into tiny space took practice and amazing focus and welcomed the challenge.
The former Washington, D.C. and Bethesda art tour guide, Liquitex Artist of the Month and frequent contributor to DC Art News is busy reinventing herself. An artist with academic credits and/or degrees from the following institutions: Vassar College, The University of Baltimore School of Law, Rice University, London School for Social Research and the Fashion Institute of Technology. It is appropriate that Rosetta DeBerardinis begin her artistic revival on Capitol Hill where she resided for more than a decade and maintains close ties with former neighbors and friends.
Don't miss this show!
Sunday, March 14, 2010
“Birds in the Park” coming to DC
“Birds in the Park” is a touring public project, which involves the one-day installation of thirty to sixty porcelain birdlike forms on the ground.
Central Park, New York
At first, people usually take them for oddly still pigeons. They are, in a sense, carrier pigeons, as the forms carry images, text, and other documents, which have been printed with cobalt blue and fired into the surface. The message they bear is an exploration of the beautiful and the horrible side by side. The creator, artist Christy Heng explains:
Originating with the shock and dismay I felt as the US government began the war with Iraq, and expanding to consider the phenomenon of war in general, the questions posed by the birds are about the humanness of us all. How we are connected, and also the unthinkable ways in which that bond is disregarded.Now the birds are coming to DC! the schedule is:More specifically, I’m layering, and in some cases placing side by side, silk-screened images of children playing, love letters, poetry, recipes and prose… with silk-screened newspaper articles and photographs of the lead-up to and beginning of the current Iraq war, as well as other war-related documents, that tend to bring up the question, How can people do that to each other?! Among other things, I'm looking at how the initiation of a war is “sold” to regular people. Also, how discussions about the cold facts of war, weapons capabilities etc. can become detached from the human reality on the other end, creeping into everyday life as something normal, like birds in the park.
This work draws on years of experimentation with silk-screen printing onto clay. I create the silk screens from photographs and documents, and use them to apply the image and text onto wet porcelain. While the clay is still flexible, I form the birds -- each one is different -- and eventually fire them at a very high temperature.
The forms themselves are about a foot and a half each in length. Low to the ground, some are involved in their own search, while many appear to be in conversation with each other.
Although they are made from porcelain, the pieces are actually quite sturdy. They are positioned in such a way that people can wander among them, taking time to look and read.
I set them up in the morning and take them down at night. It’s out of the blue and somewhat fleeting, the better to catch the unsuspecting passerby’s curiosity. An important part of the project is the actual interaction with people, and I as the artist am always present during an installation, to answer questions, listen and converse.
The project began in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where in the spring of 2009 the birds landed in about thirty locations; places like the farmer's market, City Hall, various parks, cafes and libraries. Later, the birds began to fly farther afield, landing along the coast of California, in Central Park, NY, in a sculpture garden in New Orleans, at a University Plaza in Germany, in front of Chartres Cathedral in France, and even migrating so far as the Galapagos islands.
New birds continue to be born, often in response to the places that the birds have been or will be visiting. In addition to personal photography and images and text borrowed from public media, I am collaborating with writer and Vietnam War veteran Tim Origer, English poet Henry Shukman, Venezuelan photographer Maria de Las Casas, and my father Werner Hengst for some of the material that appears on the birds. One landing scheduled for July, 2010 is in Peenemünde, Germany, the site of the V-1 and V-2 rocket development during WWII; my grandfather was working there as a scientist then, and photographs of the lab town before and after its bombing, as well as quotes from Germans during that time, are making their way into some of the silkscreened images on the birds now.
The flight pattern continues to develop, and the project is expected to continue through fall 2010.
Thursday, March 18th, on the center of the Mall at 9th street.
Friday, March 19th, Dupont Circle.
Sunday, March 21st, Upper Senate Park, by the Capitol.
For pictures and location information, visit her website here. Past updates about the birds' travels can be found at www.birdsinthepark.blogspot.com.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Wanna go to a Georgetown opening tonite?
"Kinetics" is the latest solo show by the DC area's superbly talented artist Amy Lin. Seldom has an artist received the critical accolades and collector support that Lin has in the past.
The opening reception is tonite, Saturday, March 13, 5-7pm at Addison/Ripley Fine Art, 1670 Wisconsin Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20007. The exhibition dates: March 13-April 24, 2010.
See ya there!
Wanna go to an opening tonite in Bethesda?
Head out to Gallery Neptune, where works by Freya Grand are hanging and the gallery has a reception for the artist tonite, Saturday, March 13th, starting at 7 PM.
Kennicott on New Brow art exhibit 'G40: The Summit'
WaPo staff writer Philip Kennicott, who is not a visual arts critic, reviews 'G40: The Summit' in Crystal City.
He writes:
Critics generally organize their lives to avoid mediocrity, in part because there is so much of it, but mainly because it forces them to write with a negativity that alienates readers.What am I missing here then?
It is clear that Kennicott, who doesn't generally write about the visual arts, finds the work in G40 mediocre, and perhaps even the concept or idea of "underground art" itself is mediocre?
And yet, it seems like he went out of his way to organize his life to take a specific negative aim at this show, in direct contradiction to the above quote.
And I don't really have a problem with that. My issue here is that Style editor after Style editor in the revolving Style editor door that has been the WaPo in the last few years, has told me that the reason that there isn't more visual arts coverage in the WaPo is due mostly to lack of newsprint space.
And I have this friend at the WaPo who is an administrative assistant type person (a secretary), who recently told me about how the Style section and the Weekend section were being directed to coordinate coverage to avoid duplication of coverage of the same stories, shows, movies, exhibitions, etc.
And just yesterday Michael O'Sullivan reviewed the G40 show in the Weekend section.
Thus my issue.
Seem like Kennicott went out of his way, in direct contradiction to his own words, and in direct conflict with the WaPo's policy to avoid duplication of coverage, to write a negative review about a show and an art movement that he considers mediocre.
Why? What am I missing here?
And where's the Style editor telling him: "Sorry Phil, but the Weekend section already wrote about this show."
Unless Kennicott replied: "Sorry Scott Vogel (or whoever is his editor), but I really hate this kind of art and really want to explain why."
But then, I've also got this nagging feeling about how Kennicott is so out of touch with what this genre of art is all about, what it encompasses, how it has reached the megastars of his high brow art world (think Takashi Murakami), that he is looking at this show and this genre of art through opera glasses from the expensive seats, and with his nose somewhere in the upper stratosphere.
Sort of like the old guys from the old Salons looked at the refuses, and we know how that turned out.
On the other hand, a bad review is better than no review at all, and two reviews in a art-review-poor newspaper such as the WaPo is, is quite a score for G40. So, in a Warholian sense, Kennicott is helping out the cause that he is attempting to diminish.
Asi es la vida!
Friday, March 12, 2010
O'Sullivan on G40
The WaPo's art critic Michael O'Sullivan reviews "G40: The Summit"
Some 2,000 art works by more than 500 artists are on view in a partially empty office building in Crystal City.Read it here.
And no, it isn't Artomatic. Next question.
How is it different from that regular, open-to-all art show? For one thing, "G40: The Summit" is curated. That means that, with the exception of a handful of installation artists, one man -- Shane Pomajambo of the Art Whino Gallery -- has handpicked each artist for the 75,000-square-foot exhibition. It takes up four floors and part of the lobby level. (The rest of the first floor is used for a stage and bar.)
I love this quote: "These days, almost nobody draws like Ben Tolman, whose intricate pen drawings -- at once classical and subversive -- are a stand-out here. Nobody, that is, except half the artists in the West Wing of the National Gallery of Art."
Ben Tolman is amazing... see his stuff here.
Dawson reviews
The WaPo's Jessica Dawson with two very cool reviews on Jason Horowitz at Curator's Office and Titouan Lamazou at Adamson.
Wanna go to a Georgetown Opening tomorrow?
"Kinetics" is the latest solo show by the DC area's superbly talented artist Amy Lin. Seldom has an artist received the critical accolades and collector support that Lin has in the past.
The opening reception is tomorrow, Saturday, March 13, 5-7pm at Addison/Ripley Fine Art, 1670 Wisconsin Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20007. The exhibition dates: March 13-April 24, 2010.
Buy Amy Lin now.
Opportunity for Artists
Out of Order is the Maryland Art Place's Annual free-hung Benefit Exhibition, Silent Auction and Party!
Hanging Dates and Times: Beginning 9am, Tuesday, April 6th, ending 9am, Wednesday, April 7th That’s right—24 hours nonstop!
Silent Auction and Gala: 8pm, Friday, April 9, 2010. Join them for a fantastic evening of great art, music, food, and an open beer & wine bar.
Participation: There is a $10 participation fee to hang artwork in Out of Order. As a participating artist, you will be given one complimentary ticket to the gala on April 9th. ($40 value!). Proceeds will be split 50/50 between the artist and MAP.
Tickets: Tickets are free for event volunteers and current MAP members. If you wish to attend the event, simply join or renew your MAP membership and receive two complimentary tickets ($80 value), in addition to a host of incredible incentives throughout the year! Or, to buy tickets online, visit: brownpapertickets.org.
For More Details: access their website: www.mdartplace.org or call 410-962-8565.
Details for artists here.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Alexa Meade’s Living Still Lifes
I stumbled upon Alexa Meade’s installations a few weeks ago and it’s still sticking with me. This 23 year-old DC area native is doing something in art that I have never seen before in delivering a skilled marriage of painting, video and interactive installations and all I can say is, WOW!
When you look at this picture, what do you see? (Hint: You are not looking at an ordinary painting.)
Alexa created this piece by body painting a live model as if he were an oil painting.
Further blurring the lines between reality and illusion, she projected a live video feed of her painted model into a picture frame on the wall. Gallery patrons interacted with both the painted man sitting in the chair and the living painting next to him on the wall.
You have to see more of her living still lifes/portraits to believe it; visit her website here.
On April 2nd, Alexa is taking the project all the way to Postmasters Gallery in New York City. Congrats!
Keep an eye on this young new talent!
Sparkplug Artist Collective Seeks New Members
Sparkplug, a collective of emerging artists and curators sponsored by DC Arts Center, is currently seeking new members interested in participating as curators or artists.
Currently composed of nine DC area artists and curators, the Sparkplug collective meets regularly to discuss their work, explore common concerns, grow their community and dream up creative engagements both in DC and around the world.
Through its support of Sparkplug, DC Arts Center provides meeting space, legal and technical resources and exhibition opportunities to emerging artists and curators without current gallery representation or institutional employ. Via a continuing dialogue encompassing the theoretical and the practical, the group’s members share experiences, perspectives, preoccupations, challenges, and topics informing their ongoing artistic practice.
New members chosen during the Spring of 2010 should be prepared to participate in an exhibition this June and remain active members of the group for the next two years.
Members are expected to attend monthly meetings and participate in studio visits. Applicants should be 21 years of age, live in the DC metropolitan area and not currently have gallery representation or institutional employ as curators or art writers. The deadline for applications is April 5, 2010. Invitations for formal interviews will be extended on or before April 19. 2010. F
Go to the DCAC website for more information about Sparkplug and to view the full call and application requirements.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Photographs at Fraser
"Flying the Potomac" by George Borden, Potomac, Maryland
The 9th Annual International Photography Competition, hosted by the Fraser Gallery in Bethesda is having its opening reception and awards ceremony this Friday March 12, 6pm – 9pm.
This is always one of the best photography shows of the year.
Wanna go to a DC opening this week?
Project 4 has THE FANTASTICAL. Work by Justin Gibbens, Julie Hughes, Mel Kadel, Jordan Kasey and Sophie Ruspoli. Opening reception: Saturday, March 13, 2010 - 6:30 - 8:30PM.
"Project 4 presents a group exhibition of works that express scenes, realities and spaces peculiarly situated away from our familiar, everyday visual experience. Artists participating in The Fantastical exhibition present works where, either by revealing idiosyncrasies of the artist’s mind or by altering commonplace appearances to create new perspectives, fantastical realms arise in conjunction with existing curiosities and tension.
While each of these artists takes inspiration from natural, experiential reality, their imagination and emotional self bends the linearity of this reality. Northwest-based draftsman Justin Gibbens takes inspiration from thickets, undergrowth and odd fauna to create brilliantly imaginative Audubon reminiscent watercolors and collages. His treatment of the paper causes these pieces to appear as if they themselves come from a distant and strange domain. Also working on paper, Los Angeles based artist Mel Kadel’s enigmatic characters traverse transcendent and cerebral spaces while encountering curious challenges of the mind and body.
Expanding on the genre of landscape, Baltimore artist Jordan Kasey and Washington DC based photographer Sophie Ruspoli both create stages where mystifying phenomena can occur. Kasey’s immersive painting, “Sunrise” depicts a serene and extraordinary land, where existence seems eerily suspended. Ruspoli, using the factual medium of the camera lens, manipulates the architectural functions of a 4 x 5 camera to capture surreal views of nature, different from what the human eye is capable of naturally perceiving. A second floor sculptural installation by Los Angeles based artist Julie Hughes physically represents an other-worldly environment inspired by such terrestrial and complex structures such as human bone and mold, adding further dimension to this exhibit’s exploration of the fantastical space that exists just beyond rational thought."
