Meanwhile at Obama, Japan...

Here's the gist of the story: Two artists, Joe Beddall and Gregory Coates, left DC in the mid 80’s. Long story since – they both stayed in touch having bonded over color theory (Greg was at Corcoran/Joe via Kutztown) – and eventually both end up in Pennsylvania.

And now, both get selected for Artist in Residence in – seriously – Obama, Japan, which is just north of Kyoto. They’re there now creating public sculpture, which will open this Friday – Sept. 23rd.

But, I am told that there's more DC connections: these two artists are extensions of the DC color theory school. They met in the early 80’s, appreciated art here but also moved on.

Fast forward: Obama, Japan! Is that cool or what? Check out some of the new sculptures here.

Flight woes

So I boarded my plane in San Diego on Friday around 3PM, and had a plane change in Dallas for my return to Reagan National.

Around the time that we were supposed to arrive in Dallas, I noticed that the plane was doing the racetrack flying thing that they do when they are circling the airport but not landing.

20 minutes later the pilot announces that Dallas airport is closed because of rain and lightning. It seems it has been around 100 years since it rained on Dallas, and ahh... anyway - he says that he expects that we'll get the green light to land in 20 minutes or so.

Half an hour later he announces that we will need to land in Killeen Airport because the plane is running out of fuel.

We land in Killeen, where we notice that there are a lot of other airplanes on the tarmac... waiting. The pilot comes back and says that all those planes are waiting to refuel, and it seems like there's only one refueling truck at the airport. He points out that the huge plane to our left is the same model as ours, and that we're next after them.

He continues to advise that the fuel truck can only load 5,000 pounds of fuel a trip, and thus we will need three trips (and so will the guy who's before us). A little while later the fuel truck shows up and begins to fuel the big plane who is before us in line. We start a game to time how long it takes to fuel - soon we notice that it has been 20 minutes and the truck is still fueling our neighbor.

The pilot comes on and tells us that (in case we haven't noticed) that the plane to our left is being fueled and that as soon he's done we're next. He says he expects that to be 20 minutes or so. The whole planeload of people groan, and someone shouts "bullshit!" As my fellow passenger to my left notes, it has taken over 20 minutes for the first fuel load, and since the pilot said each plane needs three loads... well... you do the math.

A few minutes later, the fuel truck departs and goes away, presumably to reload and come back for part two. To our surprise, another fuel truck shows up and begins to fuel us.

"I thought he said there was only one truck in the airport," someone notes. But the fact that apparently our pilot was wrong, is good news, as we're sucking up the first 5,000 pounds of fuel now.

Soon we notice that our neighboring plane is lighting off and moving away. "Looks like that guy decided that 5,000 pounds was good enough for him to get to Dallas," someone notes.

"Someone tell our pilot," suggest another passenger.

20 minutes later, our fueling truck departs and our pilot announces that as soon as everyone sits down, we can take off for Dallas. None of us mention that he had said (several times) something about us needing three trips to fuel up... after all this is good news, and his math hasn't been very good so far.

A fellow passenger has been listening to my tale of woe about missing my connection to DC, and she has checked the web and notes that my flight has been re-scheduled to depart at 10:56PM (original departure was around 9PM).

As we prepare to take off, it is around 10PM and we're told that the flight will take 25 minutes and we'll be at the gate at 10:39PM. Looks like I'm going to make my connection.

As we approach Dallas again, once again I notice that we're doing circles around the airport, and we actually do not land until 11PM or so - more than an hour for a 25 minute trip.

And, after we land, as I had already figured out, we're told that all the gates are occupied and we'll have to wait on the tarmac until gates open up.

An hour later, almost at midnight, we get a gate and disembark.

I stand on line to get some info on what to do next... I figure that I'm sleeping at the airport tonight. Soon the lady at the counter notices the long line and informs us all that she's closing, but that we can go to any other line for help.

I switch lines, and begin to scan the horizon for shorter lines. 20 minutes later, the same person who had been at the counter is still there and there are 4-5 people in front of me.

I notice that several counters away, a new service agent has opened a desk and there is no line. The Japanese guy behind me has noticed the same thing, but by the time he's reached for his huge carry on, I'm already ten steps ahead of him and bolting (more like hopping on one foot - more on that later...) for the open counter.

It is now almost midnight, and I ask the nice American Airlines lady when the next flight is, expecting her to say 6 or 7 am. "We have a flight leaving," she looks at her watch, "in a few minutes..." She notes the look of despair on my face. "But there are still boarding." She begins to punch numbers in to get me a ticket.

I thank her profusely, and get my ticket and groan when I see that I have to take the rail to another terminal, and then I'm bolting/hopping to Terminal A. Have I mentioned that my right foot had been killing me - for some mysterious reason - since Thursday? A really scary intense pain on the top of my foot that had me limping like an old man...

I arrive at terminal A, and limp run to my gate, which is of course the farthest one away from the rail terminal. When I get there, I note the large crowd awaiting to be board and breathe a sigh of relief, as I haven't missed the plane.

It is then that I notice that this flight is going to Dulles, rather than National. Did I mention that I had driven my van to the airport and left it at the parking lot at National Airport? So I'm heading to the wrong airport.

Oh well, I figure, at least I'll be in the DMV, and maybe I can share a cab to National from Dulles to pick up my van... I'll worry about my checked in luggage later.

An hour later, after the crew shows up, we finally take off. While we're taxing to the runway, I smell vomit and an alarmed flight attendant begins to bring bags to the guy sitting behind me. The poor bastard is clearly either suffering from food poisoning or from a massive hangover, as he throws up multiple times during the flight, especially five minutes after the attendants bring him Ginger Ale and crackers. It could have been worse: I could have been sitting next to him.

We land at Dulles around 3AM, and of course, nearly everyone's bags are missing, so a huge line forms to report the missing bags to the one bleary-eyed attendant on duty. The huge line is moving very slowly when a guy tries to cut in front, and soon a near fist fight is taking place in front of me, with a female Army general almost kicking this jerk's ass in front of us. I decide that I can report the missing bag on the phone and decide to grab a cab for National.

Soon I get to the huge line waiting for taxis, and of course, there are hardly any taxis around 4AM, so it's moving slowly. The same Army general asks if anyone is heading to National and wants to share the cab with her. Soon me and another guy join her and we're heading to National and I'm praying that the $25 bucks that I have left in cash in my wallet are enough to cover my share. The fare turns out to be $64 for all of us, so I'm safe.

I hobble over to the parking garage and begin to look for my van. To my horror, my system of remembering where my van is parked has failed me, and 45 minutes later, I'm still looking for my van and my foot is really killing me.

I give up and head to the exit gates to talk to a parking attendant and see what I need to do. As I limp to the exits, I continue to click my remote.

And then I hear my van and see it, about 50 feet in front of me, right by the exits, and nowhere where I recalled I had left it (on the lower level, by the other exit). But I don't question this complicated issue dealing with chaos theory and quantum physics and head to my van, fully expecting a tire to be flat or the battery dead.

But it all fires up OK, and soon I'm on the George Washington Parkway and heading home with a gorgeous view of Washington and once again I note what a beautiful city our capital is.

I get home around 7AM, completely exhausted, crash on my bed without waking up Alida, and smile as I hear Anderson begin to awake and he shouts: "Mamma! Mamma! Find Dadda!"

Obama Agonistes

Obama Agonistes. Charcoal on 300 weight paper with embedded video player and continuous loop video. Matted and framed under glass to 16 x 32 inches. Circa 2011 by F. Lennox Campello
The above piece is my latest exploration of marrying embedded video with drawing. You will be able to see this new piece at the coming (e)merge art fair this coming week.

The work is being presented by Mayer Fine Art, who will be in room 313 of the fair. MFA will also showcase works by DC's own Ben Tolman and self contained video installations by Tidewater area artist (currently living and working in Japan) John Miles Runner.

The new video/drawing shows the President, hugging his knees and agonizing over a variety of issues and problems during his presidency - much like the same way in which every President before him and those who will come after him are often brutalized by the weight of the White House. The extraordinary responsibility of being POTUS and the even more extraordinary demands and expectations that we leverage on all who occupy that job, is reflected on the immense internal combat depicted on this piece.

The continuous loop video plays a series of 20 appropriated news clips, cartoons and other material that deliver a conceptual tie-in to the struggling President, almost overwhelmed by his failures as much as by his successes, but nonetheless ready to continue to fight.

Matted in a white pH-balanced, acid free white mat and then framed under glass in a custom-made black wood frame to 16 x 32 inches.


Detail of Obama Agonistes, showing the embedded video being played.


Detail of Obama Agonistes, showing the drawing part of the mixed media piece

Flight from hell

I started my flight back from California yesterday and just arrived home around 7AM after unexpected landing in Killeen/Ft Hood Airport in Texas... yea.

More later on trip from hell.

Visual Voices at Zenith

Zenith Gallery hosts "Visual Voices" - an exhibition of DC area artists profiled in the new book "100 Artists of the Mid-Atlantic" by E. Ashley Rooney. The show at Zenith Gallery will open with a Book-signing Party with the author and artists, on Wednesday, September 21, 6:00 – 8:30pm, and remain on display through October 29, 2011.

Visual Voices - featuring works by: Alan Binstock, Joan Danziger, Julie Girardini, Margery Goldberg, Robert Jackson, Michael Janis, Joan Konkel, Ann Marchand, Donna McCollough, Davis Morton, Carol Newmyer, Marc Rubin, Barton Rubenstein, Sica, Ellen Sinel, Betsy Stewart, Cassie Taggert, Tim Tate, Erwin Timmers, Paul Martin Wolf, Joyce Zipperer and yours truly.

Book Party, Meet the Author and Artists

Wednesday September 21, 6 - 9 PM
Exhibition: September 21 - October 29, 2011

Zenith Gallery at Chevy Chase Pavilion, second level next to Embassy Suites Chevy Chase Pavilion, 5335 Wisconsin Ave NW, Washington DC 20015

American hero

Later today President Obama will present the Medal of Honor to Sergeant Dakota L. Meyer, a Marine sergeant who braved a hail of enemy fire in Afghanistan to rescue trapped fellow Jarheads and recover the bodies of fallen ones.

We salute this courageous Leatherneck, whom I am told, shared a brewski with POTUS yesterday.

C-Note Art Sale in Reston

The Greater Reston Arts Center's ever popular annual art sale is here with a new twist!

Preview the artwork from 11am to 5pm now through the 15th. The sale itself starts on Thursday, September 15th and runs each evening through Sunday the 18th from 5-8pm. Buy your favorite pieces directly off the walls, so get there early. All art will be for sale at $100, $200, or $300.

Your participation in this fundraiser directly supports GRACE's exhibitions, educational programs and the participating artists. Get more info from GRACE, including a list of the participating artists here.

The artists are:

John Adams
Don Allen
Amos Amit
David Amoroso
Lynda Andrews-Barry
Ann Barbieri
Nancy Bass
Ann Batton
Cheryl Bearss
Kyan Bishop
Carol Bladergroen
Sam Bleier
Leonor Brazao
Jim Budish
Ruth Buhrman
F. Lennox Campello
Thomas Clarkson
Gina Cochran
Candiss Cole
Kathy Cooper
Pam Coulter
Andrea Sherfy Cybyk
Anita Dameron
Catherine Day
Danielle Desplan
Gregg Diamond
Jennifer Duncan
Jacqueline Elwell
Joy Every
Laurie Fields
Jo Fleming
Robert Flowers
Amy Flynn
Collette Fortin
Lillian Forziat
Ricky Frank
Paul Freundt
Pong Gaddi
Rosemary Gallick
H.A. Gallucio
Magaly Garza
John Geci
Annie Gedicks
Stephanie George
Geoffrey Giles
Brendan Ginsburg
Silvia Gonzalez Roman
Helen Gotlib
Joseph Grieco
Marie Gruber
Mike Guyot
Hilary Hachey
Laura Jean Hamilton
Michael Hamlin-Smith
Jeanne Hammett X
Marian Howard
Laura Howell
Jackie Hoysted
Walter/Suzy Iwanciw/Gemborowicz
Nicolette Jelen
Kristofer Johnson
Robert Jones
Michael/Steve Kane/Sells
Kathy Kautter
Joan Kelly
Greg Knott
George Kochev
Deborah Kracht
Krista
Kristin Krongard
Michele Ledoux
Steve Levine
Allison Long Hardy
Val Mahan
Marielle Mariano
Ellen Marshall
Nathaniel Mather
Carolina Mayorga
Joyce McAdams
Tom McQuaid
Mary Ellen Mogee
Laya Monarez
Marius Moore
Gene Morris
Vad Moskowitz
Ray Mosteller
Jim Mueller
Charles Munday
Anne Nagay
Michele Norris
Cathryn & Tom Nowicki
Lori O'Neill
Tim Olson
Barbara Palmer
Terri Parent
James Parker
Matthew Parker
Cheryl Parsons
Pat Peck
James Perry
David Petlowany
Jeanne/Dennis Petrosky/Guzinski
Chelsea Pomeroy
Rayhart
Carolyn Reynolds
Greg Roche
Livingston Rodgers
Huguette Roe
Dale Rogers
Lisa Rosenstein
Ellen Rosenthal
Beverly Ryan
Ellen Sanders
Tomas Savrda
John Scanlan
Dana Ann Scheurer
Stephen Sebastian
Karen & Eric Shi
Alan Simensky
Donna Sinclair
Connie Slack
Michael Stewart
Robert Taylor
Douglas Thayer
Roberta Thole
Anne Timpano
Susan Vaughan
Caroline Viene
Elena Volkhanskaia
Paula Wachsstock
Ashley Wells
Ann Marie Williams
Richard Wilson
Marius Winograd
Ping Wu
Lynn Yarrington
Zhou Yu
Zu Sheng Yu
Erica Zap
Jie Zhou

Options 2011 Opens Tomorrow


Opening Reception: Thursday, September 15, 6-8pm
Curator & Artists' Talk: Saturday, October 1, 3pm

629 New York Avenue NW, 2nd Floor
Washington, DC 20001

OPTIONS 2011 is WPA's 30th anniversary biennial exhibition of works by emerging and unrepresented artists from the DC, Maryland, and Virginia region.

Artists include: John James Anderson, Bittersweet Zine , Heather Boaz, Amy Chan, Mahwish Chishty, Lisa Dillin, Adam Dwight, Twig Harper, Artemis Herber, Katherine Mann, Jimmy Miracle, Amber Robles-Gordon, Oscar Santillan, and Stewart Watson.

Curated by Stefanie Fedor, newly appointed Executive Director, Arlington Arts Center

On view: September 15 - October 29, 2011

Wednesdays through Saturdays, noon - 6pm

Admission is free.

Planets aligning


Gorgeous imagery being reflected on the back of the airplane seat as we landed at O'Hare Airport in Chicago on September 11, 2011.

Old Fraser space to host new show(s)

The first exhibit will feature architect and sculptor Mark Kramer, who will present, “A Retrospective of Figurative Bronzes” from Oct. 12 to Nov. 5. Read it in the WCP here and in the Bethesda Patch here.

Anne Marchand at King Street Gallery

Lest We Forget

"Studio View, 9/11"
Oil on Canvas c. 9/11/2001 by David FeBland
I'm sitting on a strangely quiet Reagan National Airport waiting to catch American Flight 467 to Chicago and then 779 to San Diego.

This is a tough week to be away from the DMV, as it is the last week before the (e)merge art fair and I still have loads of things to do before the fair.

Below is the little guy scarfing up the finger sandwiches and veggie sticks at the Marymount University show opening; curator Judy Bass did a great job of assembling this show and I am honored to be included in the company of photography by Jo Ann Tooley, woodcuts by Kristin Reiber Harris, and mixed-media work by Ann Marie Williams

Heading out tomorrow

I'm not too psyched by the fact that I need to be airborne tomorrow, the 10th anniversary of 9/11 and I'm flying to the Left Coast via Chicago.

Join me tonight

In Black and White is a four person show opening at Marymount University tonight, Friday.

The exhibition features photography by Jo Ann Tooley, woodcuts by Kristin Reiber Harris, mixed-media work by Ann Marie Williams, and drawings by yours truly.

Pleased join me at the opening reception tonight Friday, September 9, from 5 to 7:30 p.m.

The show will run from September 9 through October 13 at Marymount University’s Barry Art Gallery.

Directions here.

Book review

My local newspaper (The Potomac Almanac) pops in with a nice article by Maya Horowitz on the 100 Artists of Washington, DC book.

Read the review here.

Come to this opening Friday

In Black and White is a four person show opening at Marymount University this coming Friday.

The exhibition features photography by Jo Ann Tooley, woodcuts by Kristin Reiber Harris, mixed-media work by Ann Marie Williams, and drawings by yours truly.

Pleased join me at the opening reception on Friday, September 9, from 5 to 7:30 p.m.

The show will run from September 9 through October 13 at Marymount University’s Barry Art Gallery.

Directions here.

New gallery to open in Bethesda

The Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District and Bethesda Urban Partnership are opening Gallery B in downtown Bethesda!

This gallery, located at 7700 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite E in downtown Bethesda (the beautiful and bright, former airy space of the now closed Fraser Gallery) is available to interested artists and arts organizations for one-month rentals. All media including, but not limited to, painting, photography and sculpture is eligible to use the space. Gallery B does not take a commission on any artwork sold during the exhibition.

They are seeking applications from local artists and arts organizations for month-long exhibitions from November 2011 - May 2012. There is approximately 1,500 sq. feet of available exhibition space.

To be considered for a solo or group exhibition, and to review the gallery requirements, please complete this application.

Questions? Please send them an email to artist@bethesda.org.

Natural Selection Opens Tomorrow

Natural Selection - Paintings by Amy Lin and Sculpture by Paul Wolff. Amy
Lin appears courtesy of Addison/Ripley Fine Art.

Opening Reception and Artist Talk: Wednesday, September 7, 2011
5:30 – 7:00pm
Artist Talk: 6:00pm

September 7- December 7, 2011

The Heurich Gallery
505 Ninth Street, NW
Building located at 9th and E Streets, NW
Gallery Hours: Mon – Fri 8am – 7pm; Sat 9am – 4pm

New gallery in the DMV

The Mysteries of Place and Space is the inaugural show of the Adah Rose Gallery, which is a new art gallery located in Kensington's Antique Row. The gallery showcases contemporary art in a variety of mediums.

The inaugural show at Adah Rose Gallery features the work of artists Lori Anne Boocks and Elizabeth Grusin-Howe.

Ms Boocks, a painter, is the keeper of stories. The act of remembering and sharing stories is a powerful influence on her work. Just as the passage of time creates layers of experiencing -- the remembering of an event, the misremembering of it, the distancing, the forgetting -- are all important pieces in her process and thinking. In her paintings, text serves as both subject matter and the basis for mark-making. Texture for each piece comes from her hands, brushwork, and a subtractive process where layers of poured washes are added to the surface, then partially removed with cloth. Ms Grusin-Howe, a printmaker, also uses layering in her one of a kind prints that revel in the splendor, decay and serenity of Venice. In layers of paint, metallic pigments and waxes, she builds layer upon layer reflecting the experiences of the city itself and the intrigue and stories implicit in such a mysterious place.

Opening Reception with the Artists: Saturday, September 10, 6-9pm. Music by Walker Road and catering by "Cookies".

See ya there!

Amnesty International Demands Release of Cuban Dissidents

Eleven members of a dissident organization and three of their relatives have been detained, without being told of any charges against them, since their arrest on 28 August in Cuba. They have not been allowed access to their families.

Eleven members of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (Unión Patriótica de Cuba, UNPACU), an umbrella group of dissident organizations from the east of Cuba have been detained without charge since 28 August. Three other men, who are relatives of the detainees, are also in detention. According to relatives they are being held at a State Security facility on the outskirts of the city of Santiago de Cuba.

Twenty-seven members of UNPACU met at the house of Marino Antomarchit in the town of Palma Soriano, in the south-eastern province of Santiago de Cuba, to discuss the current crackdown against dissidents in the province.

Witnesses state that around 140 members of the security forces, including the National Revolutionary Police (Policía Nacional Revolucionaria), State Security and members of the prison service surrounded the house at 1pm.

Shortly afterwards, tear gas canisters were launched into the house, where Marino Antomarchit's two-year old daughter and 76-year-old mother were also present, causing nausea and coughing of those who were there. At 5:40pm, between 30 to 40 members of the security forces entered the house and reportedly beat the men and caused damage to the house. The 27 UNPACU members were arrested as were three relatives who had come to the house after the arrival of security forces. Sixteen of the men were released on 31 August, all without charge. Eleven of them remain incarcerated in overcrowded conditions and have not been allowed family visits.

Please Take Action here.

Also, more Ladies in White were arrested today in Cuba.

At least 10 Ladies in White, including one of their leaders, Laura Pollan, were arrested today in the central province of Matanzas.

Also re-arrested was Sara Marta Fonseca, who led a courageous protest on the steps of the Capitol building in Havana early last week. Fonseca is part of the Movimiento Feminista por los Derechos Civiles Rosa Parks (The Rosa Parks Civil Rights Feminist Movement).

Some of the others were Yaneris Perez Rey, Caridad Brunate, Mercedes Evelin, Teresa Castellanos, Rosario Morales, Mayra Morejon and Ivonne Mayesa.

Their crimes? Peaceful marching together, dressed all in white, as a form of civil protest, on their way to Mass.

Sooner or later the criminal Castro Brothers will be held accountable for their crimes against humanity.