Joel D’Orazio

Art chairs, sculpture and abstract painting by architect turned painter/sculptor Joel D’Orazio. New as a Zenith Gallery artist, D’Orazio will be featured in a solo show, Listen to Me, at the Gallery at 1111 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, curated by Zenith Gallery.

The show opens on February 7 and will remain on display through May 13, with a “Meet the Artist” Reception on Wednesday, March 2, 5:30pm to 8:00pm.

Tonight? Open Source

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

The show features work by Kelly Criscuolo-DeButts, Floating Lab Collective, Oliver Giron, Lindsay Hawks, Peter Lee, Brooke Marcy, Ryan McCoy and Alex Straub.

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

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

Wanna go to three openings tomorrow?

There are three openings at the Arts Club of Washington (2017 I Street, N.W.), but the one that I'm really looking forward to is the one of new paintings by the superbly talented Mical Hunter.

The reception is Friday, February 4th, 6:30 to 9 PM, in the Monroe Gallery. (There are three shows opening same night in different galleries).

Tools Every once in a while I see an art critic write something so preposterously wrong about the technical aspect(s) of a genre of the visual arts, that I'm always wondering if they are aware at the multitude of readers who must be laughing at them, or at the very least wondering how this person got a track in writing about the visual arts when they can't tell a watercolor apart from an oil painting (this has happened), or praise an artist's technical ability when those with an eye for such things detect an over abundance of mud or titanium white. 

Technical ability by itself does not great art make, and this Yoddaism permeates down the critic's voice to often mean that the idea, rather than the delivery, is what counts. I'm not in that camp, but coexist peacefully with it. However, when a writer decides to praise an artist's technical ability as part of the review, then I think it's fair game to criticize the critic if he/she is blundering into areas where he/she has no training, the "eye", or perhaps experience to make such statements. For example, for years I've read many critics praising John Currin, or Lisa Yuskavage, and a few other blue chip artists for many things, including technical ability. The idea is that their lowbrow subject matter is presented as ironic, and with superb technical skill. 

And yet the first time that I saw both these artists' works many, years ago (and more recently), I was dumbfounded to discover that their technical ability is at best, average. This puts a question mark in my mind, as to why so many critics write about their painting skills, as if to excuse the lack of depth of the visual subjects favored by both these artists (Disclaimer: Lest I be policed, and although I am somewhat slamming his work, I own a very, very early John Currin which was a gift ages ago).

There are exceptions, of course. For example, with the paintings of Gregory Gillispie one can argue that they exist in a somewhat same visual genre as Currin and Yuskavage, etc. 

And critics have praised Gillispie's technical skill as a key and integral part of his success and perhaps even his sad end. 

 But in his case, his work merited the kudos for technical ability. He was a painter who knew the ins and out of the magical world of what happens when a brush and a set of oil paints meet in a true master's hand.

Donelly & Finsen at City Gallery

Nancy Donelly and Jill Finsen will have new works at City Gallery (804 - H St NE, DC).

The opening is this Saturday, Feb 5, 6-9 pm and the show continues until Feb 26, when they'll have a nice closing party, 3-5pm.

Opportunity for Grants

Creative Capital is now accepting Letters of Inquiry for grants in Film/Video and Visual Arts. The Inquiry Form will be available online until March 1. Please visit creative-capital.org/apply to read the grant guidelines and access the Inquiry Form.

Creative Capital provides integrated financial and advisory support to artists pursuing innovative and adventurous projects. We support artists whose work is provocative, timely and relevant; who are deeply engaged with their forms, yet also boldly original; who create work that carries the potential to reshape the cultural landscape.

To be eligible to apply, an artist must be:

* A U.S. citizen or permanent legal resident
* At least 25 years old
* A working artist with at least five years of professional experience
* Not a full-time student

Learn More at an Info Session:
Creative Capital staff members will lead in-person information sessions across the country this month (all times are local, RSVP required to grants@creative-capital.org):

* February 3, New York City, New Museum, 7:00pm
* February 3, Santa Barbara, CA, Contemporary Arts Forum, 4:00pm
* February 4, San Diego, CA, UCSD Visual Arts Facility Performance Space, 4:00pm
* February 5, Los Angeles, REDCAT Lounge, 2:00pm
* February 5, Cambridge, MA, MIT (Building 10, Room 105), 12:30pm
* February 9, Kansas City, MO, Charlotte Street, 5:00pm and 7:00pm
* February 11, Chicago, IL, at Nightingale Theatre at 6:00pm
* February 13, Cincinnati, OH, Contemporary Arts Center, 2:00pm
* February 15, Louisville, KY, Museum Plaza, 6:00pm

Online information sessions will also be offered:

* February 3, 12:00pm EST
* February 11, 2:00pm EST
* February 17, 6:00pm EST

Visit creative-capital.org/infosessions for details and to RSVP.

Go see an art show this weekend!