Returning to Aqua in December

A couple of days ago I was invited to exhibit at the 2012 Aqua Art Fair in Miami Beach; this will be my second Aqua and last year's was not only a terrific fair, but also a lot of fun!

Ali or Not?

The Muhammad Ali Center is suing a Michigan art donor, seeking to force the gallery to take back a gift of more than 180 pieces or allow the center to display it without any conditions set in the donation agreement.

At issue is the authenticity of Ali autographs on six pieces donated in 2009. The center says the signatures are not Ali's and are not in an online database that authenticates signed artwork.

Details here.

Susan Makara at Target

Stocking The Fridge

The notable Washington, DC art couple Dana Ellyn and Matt Sesow are keeping it local with their latest exhibition Stocking The Fridge. Known internationally for their whimsical, politically charged, and allegorically satirical paintings, Dana and Matt will "stock" the gallery with nearly 100 fresh, locally grown paintings.

Octobomb by Dana Ellyn

Stocking the Fridge will feature a selection of the best works from the couple's past 31 Days in July projects and include a painting from the first week of the 2012 edition. Matt and Dana's annual 31 Days in July began in 2003. The artists create 31 unique paintings inspired by the morning news from July. Each painting is a reflection of current events, mostly political, and showcases each artist's unique approach to painting.

Stocking The Fridge 

The Fridge

July 7 – July 29, 2012
Opening Reception: Saturday, July 7, 7-11pm

Man swipes Dali painting from art gallery

A thief who swiped a Salvador Dali painting off the wall of a New York art gallery may have escaped, but experts say the painting will likely be recovered when it comes back onto the art market.

Police are searching for a slim man with a receding hairline who walked into a Madison Avenue art gallery on Tuesday posing as a customer and walked out with the $150,000 Dali watercolor and ink painting in a large black shopping bag.

Read more here

Gene Davis: Craigslist Art Find of the Week

$1500 via Craigslist! Check it out here - Gene Davis auction prices here.

Michael O'Sullivan's Artomatic Picks

Michael O'Sullivan is the Washington Post's art critic and certainly the one art critic who has been there the longest, thus giving him an experienced and deep eye and knowledge about the DMV art scene. Below are his AOM picks in alphabetical order followed by the floor where the artist is exhibiting:

M. Helene Baribeau (mixed media knit sculpture) 04

Stephanie Booth (photography/needlework) 09

Brash (poetry) everywhere

Peter Byer (illustration) 08

Justin Cameron (installation) 08

Valeria Caflisch (painting and mixed media sculpture) 07

David D’Orio (glass and mixed media sculpture) 08

Cavan Fleming (painting) 04

Eric Gordon/DC Creepers (drawing) 11

Kelly Guerrero (sculpture) 08

James Halloran (painting) 08

Dale Hunt (painting) 09

Rose Jaffe (drawing) 02

Glen Kessler (painting/pastel) 01

Paul Mericle (painting) 07

Greg Minah (painting) 03

Cory Oberndorfer (painting) 11

Thomas Petzwinkler (photography/video) 10

Lynn Putney (painting) 08

Henrik Sundqvist (printmaking) 08

Christian Tribastone (drawings/works on paper) 09

Edmond van der Bijl (sculpture) 02

Steve Wanna (mixed media/installation)09

Stephanie J. Williams (painting) 08

Joanna Knox Yoder (photography) 11

Unleashed at Strathmore

There is a very cool exhibition at the Mansion at Strathmore (which unfortunately ends June 23) focusing on the unlikely theme of dogs in art. It's titled Strathmore Unleashed, and of course it includes work by the ubercanine artist William Wegman, but it is Kathryn Freedman and Anna Dibble who steal the show with their intelligent, entertaining approach to the subject.

Admirer by Kathryn Freedman

Kathryn Freedman's Admirer approaches the subject by presenting us with a sexy, superbly composed painting in which the thematic subject (the dog) shares the focus of the piece with the beauty of the female body. It is also a little funny in that the canine is standing by, ready to be called and approach its human, while the feline on the right, is (of course) ignoring everyone.

Their Wolf Ancestors by Anna Dibble

Anna Dibble's immensely funny and immensely smart paintings blend two of my favorite things in art: visual art and text. The above one tells us that:

“Felix, who’d limped into the bar to try and dull the trauma of alteration surgery, realized he’d made a mistake. Buster, an office acquaintance, pontificated about how their wolf ancestors royally screwed up by allowing themselves to be domesticated. This idea irritated Felix. He was rather attached to regular kibble and the blue couch at the Chapmans’. He decided against a 2^nd glass of Pinot.”

Go see this show before it ends!

Rousseau on Bethesda Painting Awards

Dr. Claudia Rousseau has an excellent review of the Bethesda Painting Awards currently on exhibition at Gallery B, the former Fraser Gallery in Bethesda currently managed by the Bethesda Arts and Entertainment District.

Read it here.

Opportunity for Artists

Mid Atlantic Competition

Deadline for Submissions: August 3, 2012

October 9 – November 2, 2012
Public Reception: Sunday, October 14, from 2-4pm

The 2012 Hoyt Mid Atlantic Juried Art Exhibition showcases artists from the Mid Atlantic Region: Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, West Viginia and Washington, DC.

Juror:  Yours Truly

2012 Mid Atlantic Prospectus page 1
2012 Mid Atlantic Prospectus page 2

Rousseau on Artomatic

Dr. Claudia Rousseau is the highly respected art critic for the Gazette newspapers, which are owned by the Washington Post and it has always been a mystery to me why the WaPo doesn't also publish her gallery reviews as they do with some other Gazette articles. Dr. Rousseau is also a member of the faculty at Montgomery College. In any event, she recently went to Artomatic and keyed her impressions to my review of AOM. Her impressions are in blue.

Every year the overall "quality" of AOM improves and this year is noticeably better looking and more professional-looking than any other year.

Well, I wouldn't say better than any other year, but I will agree that the presentation was better.  Not sure about the art being better.

There's a lot less porn in AOM this year. In fact, there's a lot less nudes of all kinds.

Good. 

The range of the quality of the work, even in a postmodern world where everything is art, still ranges from the mind-boggling bad to the artistically sublime.

So many people you stand there and ask "what were they thinking?"  10 seconds of your attention.

There are several brand new (at least to me) artists in AOM who can show anywhere right now. Agreed.

There is a lot of art about The Beatles and blues musicians. Why Beatles?  But true.

There's more video art than I expected. I never saw Tim Tate's video? 

There are a lot more well-known DMV area "gallery" artists in this AOM than any previous one (except the first one in 1999). I also saw this, and noticed that when I was drawn to something it often turned out to be someone I already knew fairly well.

There's a lot of artists working with discarded computer boards and parts. Eric Celarier is the best.

There are a lot of glass artists and every single one of them is really good. Amazing.  And they keep getting better.

There are a lot of dark room style galleries and a lot of "blue light" art. Really hated most of it.

There is a lot of artwork about Obama.

There is a lot of left-wing nuttery artwork.

There are a lot of really good sculptures. Davide Prete's exhibit was lost in a sea of junk.  His work is actually fascinating, based on mathematically derived shapes. 

There are a lot of artists who make it really hard for someone interested in buying their work to get the basic details (how much is it and how do I buy it?) This was still very true.  Even their identities were often obscure. 

I thought that listing the artists by first name on the program was absurd. 

I liked:

David D'Orio's bicycle sculpture installation.  When I was there, the radio was tuned to some guy on a right wing rant.  Perfect.

Joseph Corcoran.  Wrote his name down as someone to remember. 

Greg Minah.  Interesting that when I first saw his work I didn't like it, but now it does really stand out.

Emily Piccirillo.  

Andrew Wodzianski

Frank Warren's video about Post Secret.  Yes, we all know the story, but I was really caught by the video presentation.

Michael Janis.  His work just keeps moving forward into new and interesting tracks.

Blair Jackson photographs.  Made me stop moving for a while. First time seeing this artist.

Michele Banks.   Would love one of those petri dishes.

Ellen Hill.  Wonderful work that also is evolving.

That's 10, but I also liked:

Linda Lowery (big paintings of crying babies)

Nicolas Zimbro  (he was a former student of mine)

Maryann Pranulis  (abstract paintings)

Lola Lombard  (dresses)

Eileen Williams  (collages)

RSVP: Opportunity for Artists

Deadline: June 30, 2012

Later this year I will be honored to jury RSVP 2012 for The New Wilmington Arts Association. They support the careers of artists by providing opportunities for uncensored experimentation, professional presentation, and critical dialogue and RSVP is their annual juried exhibition open to all artists and media.

You can download the prospectus here - hurry and do not leave it to the last minute!

Elephant

Anderson Campello, Elephant, Mixed Media on paper, 11x14 inches, circa 2012

Hoyt Call for Artists

Mid Atlantic Competition

Deadline for Submissions: August 3, 2012

October 9 – November 2, 2012
Public Reception: Sunday, October 14, from 2-4pm

The 2012 Hoyt Mid Atlantic Juried Art Exhibition showcases artists from the Mid Atlantic Region: Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, West Viginia, Virginia and Washington, DC.

Juror:  Yours Truly

2012 Mid Atlantic Prospectus page 1
2012 Mid Atlantic Prospectus page 2

Opportunity for Artists

Call to Artists

Join us to put on a one day

Addiction and Art Exhibition

at the

IntNSA Conference

Annual Education Conference of the International Nurses Society on Addiction

Artists are invited to submit original artworks on the theme of drug addiction and recovery (drugs include alcohol, tobacco, illegal or prescription drugs). Artists accepted for the show will be asked to attend the exhibition to discuss their work with visitors 5:30 - 8:00 PM on September 5, 2012. Submissions will be juried because there is limited exhibition space. Conference attendees will select the prize winners (1st $300, 2nd $200 and 3rd $100)

The exhibition will be at the
Madison Hotel, 1177 15th St., NW Washington, DC
September 5, 2012
Deadline for Submissions: August 1, 2012

For submission details download the call at addictionandart.org/shows.html#intnsa_call

Mici on Parris

Bora Mici has an interesting article titled Being a Local Artist - An Insider's Perspective in the Gaithersburg Patch...

"Preparing and designing a solo show is a great responsibility since you represent yourself, your art, your view of the world," said Parris, of Gaithersburg, who is now a veteran of the local art scene..

Read it here.

Laura Roulet's AOM Report

My good friend Laura Roulet is one of the most active and hottest DMV area independent curators; she went to Artomatic and here's her report:

As a local independent curator, who has been around for awhile, I am a fan of Artomatic. It is a truly fun and useful Washington tradition. Every time I visit,  I see it as a chance for discovery of a fabulous, new artist. Granted that it’s a bit of a needle in a haystack search, and this year with 1,000+ artists, the haystack has reached perhaps unmanageable proportions. Visual overload has become a serious factor in appreciating what Artomatic has to offer. However, I also have come to appreciate some unique services offered by Artomatic:

AFFORDABLE ART

Artomatic has art for every taste, often at truly affordable prices, and I believe that original art always beats posters, commercial replicas, etc. By purchasing original art, you are helping to support/encourage a human being and acquiring something unique. Much better then mall art.

POST SECRET

At 500,000 and growing, this project by Frank Warren (which got a start at Artomatic) is a great example of the type of participatory, successful artform that can spring from the Washington community.

NICHE ARTISTS

Artomatic alerts the public to the best wedding photographer (Amber Wilkes), pet photographer (Lee Anderson), pet portraitist (Sheppard Bear), and bacon photographers (Rebecca and Eric Gordon). Who knew?

PEEPS

Gotta love them!

LOCAL SCHOOLS/WORKSHOPS

I noticed that local institutions such as the Washington Glass School, Glen Echo Pottery, DC Glass Works, Critical Exposure and PG County artists posted signage identifying and giving further exposure to their artists. Great idea.

CRAZY STUFF

Lego art by 11 year olds, black light art, money mosaics, pet paintings juxtaposed with gay porn (8^th floor). All I can say is, wow.

After combing through all nine floors, I have some advice for artists about what helps it work for viewers:

Presentation counts. I know curation is verboten at Artomatic, but let’s face it, the artists who “curated” their own space, painting the wall, taking care in arrangement,  putting their name on the wall, leaving business cards, perhaps coordinating with another artist to create a distinctive space, look the best. Painting the wall black or scribbling on it doesn’t count.

MY TOP FOURTEEN (some are new discoveries, some were a delightful relief from all the other stuff. And yes, I definitely could have missed some greats given the circumstances):

Julia Bloom

Mei Mei Chang

Pierre Davis

David D’Orio

Mo Fogarty

Lori Goldberg

Pat Goslee

James Halloran

Robert Kincheloe

Rahshia Linendoll-Sawyer

Jessica Murray

Thomas Petzwinkler

Henrik Sundqvist

Edmond van der Bijl

Last day at the beach

Exhausted but happy and heading home tonight... throngs of people at the Art festival...

Award!

Last night I had to miss the award ceremonies, but today I found out that I had won one of the show awards - a "Friends of the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art" award!

A lot less windier today and much better sales!

Friday at the beach

Yesterday was the first day of the Museum of Contemporary Art of Virginia Beach's 57th Annual Boardwalk Art Festival - it was super windy at the beach and the three judges all came by.

The first two were very nice, but not really interested in my work... the last juror really liked my work and selected it for the final round of awards. The judges were Marc Arranaga, an independent art dealer "who formerly worked for Pace Gallery in New York"; Nora Lawrence, associate curator of Storm King Art Center in Mountainville, N.Y.; and the super cool and very nice Suzy Wegmann, the administrative director of Richard Gray Gallery in Chicago. Can you tell which judge picked my work for an award?Yay Suzy!

A total of $21,900 in prize money was awarded by the judges.

Tonight there was a party for the artists and the prizes were awarded. Since I had to drive to Newport News to the train station to pick up Little Junes and Dr. Anderson, I missed the awards ceremony, so tomorrow I'll find out if I won a prize.

Oh yeah... this morning someone stole one of my drawings... later on I will post an image of the stolen work (once I get home); it has been reported to the very nice officer Gibbs of the VABPD.

Update: Below is an image of the stolen drawing...