Friday, April 05, 2013

Seen in NYC

Clark V. Fox and F. Lennox Campello in New York City 2013
Look who I ran into at the Affordable Art Fair in New York?

The amazing artist known as Clark V. Fox, founder of MOCA DC and one of the DMV's former residents (living now in LA, Texas and Havana).

By the way, he"s squatting down a little - he's still taller than me and looking good.

Today we sold five or six of Greg Knott's photographs (as well as getting him a commission), plus one large drawing of mine, one Jeannette Herrera painting and working a major acquisition deal for Carla Goldberg with a local university!

Thursday, April 04, 2013

AAFNYC Thursday

Today three shiny Carla Goldberg sculptures found new homes in the NYC area as well as four of my drawings as the Affordable Art Fair heads to the weekend...

Wednesday, April 03, 2013

Catwoman finds a home in NYC

Opening night at the Affordable Art Fair in NYC was so packed that it was hard to actually see the art... weird uh? In any event... Catwoman Naked found a home at an address in Central Park West.....

Catwoman Naked by F. Lennox Campello. Charcoal with embedded video. 2012
Catwoman Naked by F. Lennox Campello. 7 x 21 inches. Charcoal with embedded video. 2012
In a private collection in NYC

Tuesday, April 02, 2013

Ratner canceling shows?

I'm hearing from artists who have received a call from the Ratner Museum telling them that all shows after September have been cancelled?

Anyone know what's going on?

Artist Opportunities Spring 2013

Visual Arts: One Million Bones
Deadline: Ongoing
One Million Bones is a large-scale social arts practice, which means we use education and hands-on artmaking to raise awareness of genocides and atrocities going on around the world, this very day. We are collecting artwork bones for a collaborative installation of 1,000,000 bones on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. from June 8th-10th, 2013. This installation will serve as a collaborative site of conscience to remember victims and survivors, and as a visible petition to raise awareness of the issue and call upon our government to take much needed and long overdue action. We need more bones! We are looking for individuals, groups, and organizations to host bone making events! For more information, contact Kathleen McEuen at Kathleen@onemillionbones.org
 
Deadline: April 5, 2013
Chesterwood, a National Trust Historic Site, calls for entries for Contemporary Sculpture at Chesterwood 2013, a juried exhibition of outdoor sculpture in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Glenn Harper, editor of Sculpture magazine, is the guest juror of this group exhibition, which will be on view from Saturday, June 22 to Thursday, October 31, 2013. Chesterwood is the country home, studio and gardens of America’s foremost sculptor of public monuments, Daniel Chester French (1850-1931). This year marks the 35th anniversary of Contemporary Sculpture at Chesterwood. Sculpture proposals may be in any medium but must be suitable for long-term outdoor exposure and of an appropriate outdoor scale. Please read the complete call for entries for instructions on how to apply online.
 
Deadline: April 28, 2013
Proposals will be accepted from individual artists, arts groups, organizations, and curators who live, work, study or maintain a studio in Arlington County. Jurors are Jackie and Philippe Loustaunau, collectors, and Sarah Tanguy, curator and independent curator and arts writer.
Deadline: May 15, 2013
We are pleased to announce that the 2013-2014 Annual Grants Program Application and Guidelines are now available online. All applications are due to the Cultural Affairs Division office by 5:00 pm on Wednesday, May 15. The Annual Grants Program provides opportunities for local arts and culture organizations and individual artists to reach the Pasadena community through interesting, relevant and high quality programs. For more information about the Annual Grants Program Application, Guidelines and free Technical Assistance Workshops, please visit the Cultural Affairs Division online or call (626) 744-7062.
 
Deadline: May 15, 2013
The VCCA is a year-round community that provides a supportive environment for superior national and international visual artists, writers and composers of all economic and cultural backgrounds to pursue their creative work without distraction in a pastoral residential setting.
 
Deadline: May 18, 2013The third edition of the (e)merge art fair will take place October 3 – 6, 2013, in Washington, DC, at the Rubell Family’s Capitol Skyline Hotel. Last year, 80 exhibitors presented rising talent from the Americas and Europe at (e)merge. More than 5,500 art supporters engaged with painting, sculpture, digital media, performance and installation works by 152 artists from 24 countries in both our gallery and our artist platforms.  (e)merge is the only art fair that gives free exhibition space to artists without gallery representation. If you are an artist who is currently unrepresented by a gallery and has not yet had a solo exhibition in a major museum or Kunsthalle, (e)merge is your forum for discovery. Artists whose proposals are accepted by the selection committee will be provided with exhibition space at the Fair free of charge.
 
Deadline: June 9, 2013
A national juried exhibition of emerging artists, ages 16-25, with disabilities. Sponsored by Volkswagen Group of America, In/finite Earth aims to showcase artwork that illuminates innovative viewpoints at the intersection of environmentalism, creativity, and disability. This call for art asks artists to engage in the physical, emotional, and creative ties we share across our planet, and present their artistic perspectives regarding the natural world, sustainability, and our collective future. Fifteen artists will be selected for an exhibition in Fall 2013 and will share $60,000 in cash awards.
Deadline: August 30, 2013
The National Watch and Clock Museum of Columbia, PA invites artists to respond to the concept of timekeeping and how it is represented today. Special consideration will be given to those works that
are functional timekeepers as well. So how do you as an artist respond to the concept of timekeeping? This exhibit will be located in the special exhibit gallery in the museum and take place in fall 2013. There is no entry fee.

Visual Arts: 100 Survivors
Deadline: September 2, 2013
Call for submissions for 100 Survivors, a collaborative, web-based photo and video project for women currently in treatment for breast cancer or diagnosed in the past three years. By featuring up to 100 women and their work, 100 Survivors hopes to inform and inspire by looking beyond "awareness" and "supporting the cause" and focusing on the experiences of actual women with breast cancer. Unique perspectives on breast cancer and identity are welcome and encouraged.
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
202-416-8898

Monday, April 01, 2013

Capital Art Fair

The 2013 Capital Art Fair will take place in Arlington, VA, at the Holiday Inn-Rosslyn Westpark Hotel during the first weekend of April. 
A successor to the Washington International Print Fair and the Washington Print Fair, the Capital Art Fair is now in its fourth year of bringing collectible and desirable art to the Washington, DC, area. This year, the fair boasts over 20 distinguished art dealers from across the United States and Canada.

Visitors to the fair will find thousands of works on paper from great master prints to cutting edge, contemporary pieces. The original prints, paintings, drawings, and photographs span over 500 years of creative expression, offering an impressive and expansive selection to DC art collectors.

The Capital Art Fair presents an invaluable opportunity, both in access and convenience, to the seasoned art collector, as well as those looking to break into the market. It is the only art fair in the Washington, DC, area where an extraordinary range of fine art will be available for collectors, museums, and the curious to purchase. It also gives a chance for the vibrant DC art community to interact and talk with exhibitors and dealers who are highly respected in the field, many of whom are well known to the curators of DC museums and established members of the International Fine Print Dealers Association.
Tickets to the 2013 Capital Art Fair can be bought at the fair for $10. The fair hours are as listed below:
Saturday, April 6, 2013: 10 am – 6 pm
Sunday, April 7, 2013: 11 am – 5 pm

The Holiday Inn-Rosslyn Westpark Hotel is located at 1900 North Fort Meyer Drive, Alexandria, VA 22209. It is just over the Key Bridge from Georgetown and only one block away from the Rosslyn Metro stop on the Orange and Blue lines.

More information, including directions and a list of participating dealers, can be found at the Capital Art Fair website: http://www.capitalartprintfair.com/.

Artist at the Altar of Modern Art

Here is my latest work in my evolving marriage of traditional art with electronics. This could possibly be my favorite work of art in my seminal exploration of the marriage of art and technology. It has everything that I strive for: technical skill, narrative, a sense of place and something that really pulls someone into the work.

This piece is watercolors, acrylic, charcoal and an embedded digital player that every five seconds dissolves a new image from the art stock of 20th century masters and near masters... Pollock, Rothko, Mondrian, Washington Color School dudes, Basquiat... and hacks like Still.

It will make its debut next Wednesday at the Affordable Art Fair in New York City. Anyone in need of some passes, send me an email.

I'm confident that this work will find a home in NYC once someone with some sharp eyes for what the future of painting/drawing looks like notices it!

Artist Worshiping at the Altar of Modern Art by F. Lennox Campello
Artist Worshiping at the Altar of Modern Art (Version II)
17 x 35 inches. Watercolor, acrylic, charcoal and gesso on paper.
2013 by F. Lennox Campello

Artist Worshiping at the Altar of Modern Art by Campello

Artist Worshiping at the Altar of Modern Art by Campello

Artist Worshiping at the Altar of Modern Art by Campello

Artist Worshiping at the Altar of Modern Art by Campello

Sunday, March 31, 2013

Mmm...

Photographers across the country can breathe a sigh of relief. The U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York dismissed collector Jonathan Sobel’s lawsuit against photographer William Eggleston. The case, art law experts say, has broader implications for all artists who incorporate old photographic negatives into new work — and the collectors who support them.

Filed last April, the complaint alleged that Eggleston diluted the value of Sobel’s collection by printing larger, digital versions of some of his best-known works and then selling them for record prices at Christie’s.
 Read about it here.

Saturday, March 30, 2013

It took 32 years to sell this painting...

When I was an art student at the University of Washington School of Art in the world's greenest city, the beautiful Seattle in the other Washington, one of the classes that we had was to create works in the style of "masters."

Back then I was in the ecstasy of having just discovered the works of Frida Kahlo, and being the talented antagonist that I am, I delighted in working the now iconic visage into as many art school assignments as I could.

This drove a lot of my art school professors batty, as control is always part of being a professor of anything, even though in art (at least back then) it was all about about freedom of doing whatever you wanted.

One week, the assignment was to paint a canvas in the style of Jackson Pollock, which as most art hacks now, can essentially be done with you eyes closed in zip time.

I delivered a four foot by four foot square canvas which delighted the Prof. -- him and I having had a few discussions about "following directions..." -- There was no Kahlo visage in sight! No eyebrows anywhere in the dripping of colors.

I got an A for the class.

Here's the painting below... it's actually a mediocre Pollock, but a brilliant drip painting in the style of the guy who was teaching the class and who was a drip painter... cough, cough; but there's more to the story.

Frida Kahlo in a Jackson Pollock universe by F. Lennox Campello
Frida Kahlo in a Jackson Pollock Universe
F. Lennox Campello, oil on canvas, 4 ft x 4 ft, circa 1981

Dude should have been suspicious of the title... heh, heh... but usually people want to see what they want to see...

And below is an image of the painting once the hidden flap in the center is removed...

And here's what's in the middle, under a most clever flap...

When I (of course) showed the hack (after grades had been recorded) the "real" work... he was furious at first... and then he laughed and congratulated me on my assholishness...

That painting has had a long and very cool provenance... it was exhibited back then at the University of Washington, and decades later at the Fraser Gallery show Passion for Frida: 27 Years of Frida Kahlo exhibition that got loads of coverage (for the DMV anyway), with a nice review in the Washington Times and a profile on the Washington City Paper.

After that it was everywhere! Santa Fe, New York, Miami...

And then, out of the blue (well... not really) ... it's now heading to a major art collector in Bryn Mawr, PA.

It took Frida and Jackson's marriage 32 years to find a home... but a home they have found!

Saltz on the Death of the Gallery Show

"Art doesn’t have to be shown in New York to be validated. That requirement is long gone..."
 Read the whole article here.

Jobs in the Arts

Various job opportunities at the Guggenheim Museum: NYC, USA.Deadline: asap.
http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/about/jobs/full-time
Current available positions at The Museum of Modern Art, MOMA NYC: NYC, USA.Deadline: asap.
http://www.moma.org/about/jobs

Current available positions at The Whitney Museum of American Art, NYC. USA.
Deadline: asap.
http://whitney.org/About/JobPostings

LATINO/US Cotidiano

Civilian Art Projects' director Jayme McLellan has been working with the Embassy of The Kingdom of Spain to help promote the LATINO/US Cotidiano exhibition. They've worked hard to produce the show, and props to Bridget Sue Lambert who printed all of the photographs. Opening details at the bottom.

'LATINO/US Cotidiano'

A national traveling exhibition and photobook visualizing the U.S. Latino experience today through 12 of the most talented photographic voices working internationally.

SPAIN arts & culture is pleased to present a national traveling exhibition and book, LATINO/US Cotidiano. Literally meaning "everyday life," Cotidiano is a dynamic look at the rapidly changing nature of the Latino experience in America.

The Hispanic population in the U.S. has reached the 50 million mark, making the Latino community the largest minority in the country for the first time. One out of every six Americans is now of Hispanic origin, an impressive social transformation with enormous political, economic, and cultural consequences. Outdated stereotypes, racial profiles, and past cultural archetypes no longer accurately reflect a nation enriched by a growing and diverse population. But what does it look like today?

To better understand this culturally shifting phenomenon, SPAIN arts & culture commissioned Claudi Carreras, one of the foremost experts on IberoAmerican Latino photography, to research and gather the strongest photographic voices working today on issues of Latino identity. For LATINO/US Cotidiano, Carreras selected established and emerging photographers of Latino descent who embrace the theme and also excel at their craft: Carlos Alvárez Montero, Sol Aramendi, Katrina Marcelle d'Autremont, Calé, Ricardo Cases, Livia Corona, Héctor Mata, Karen Miranda, Dulce Pinzón, Susana Raab, Stefan Ruiz, and Gihan Tubbeh.

Join us also for a book presentation, Q&A and signing on April 3, 2013 at 6 pm at the National Portrait Gallery with Associate Curator of Photographs Frank Goodyear, LATINO/US Cotidiano curator Claudi Carreras, and photographers Ricardo Cases and Susana Raab, moderated by Carlos Tapia, Professor at American University. 

WHEN
Opening Preview
April 4, 2013
@ 6:30-8:30 pm 

Exhibition on view
April 4-May 12, 2013
Wed-Fri: 5-8 pm
Sat: 11 am - 8 pm
Sun: 11 am - 6 pm
 
WHERE
Former Residence of the Ambassadors of Spain
2801 16th St NW
Washington, D.C. 20009
Map it
 
+ INFO
This event on spainculture.us
 
RSVP
RSVP required for the
Opening Preview:
contact@spainculture.us

Free and open to the public.

Friday, March 29, 2013

More bucks for DC public art

The D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities (DCCAH) has just announced a proposed $2.3 million increase to the city's public art budget in the most recent Capital Improvements Plan by Mayor Vincent C. Gray. The proposed budget increase, which will take effect in FY 2014, will allot a $5 million annual capital allocation for public art over the next six years.

The DCCAH administers public art in the District through its DC Creates! Public Art program. This program, which is funded by the city's Capital Budget purchases, commissions, and installs artworks for public sites throughout the District of Columbia, including parks, libraries, community centers, government offices, bridges and other public venues. The collection includes more than 100 permanently sited and integrated works and over 2,600 portable works in District Government offices.

"The mayor's $2.3 budget increase is a significant investment in making the District of Columbia a world-class arts and culture destination," said Lionell Thomas, Executive Director of the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities. "Investing in the aesthetic qualities of this city provides for a improved quality of life, creates cultural attractions as well as develops a sense of place in our neighborhoods."

Sleepout at the Capitol Skyline Hotel

Pencil it in: April 20

DC's own WPA is hosting an art-filled, art-music-and-film-fueled sleep-out at the Morris Lapidus-designed Capitol Skyline Hotel!  

There will be installation art by Megan Blafas, embarrassing opportunities in karaoke with Jeremy Flick, and performances by the very cool Calder Brannock, Maida Withers' Dance Construction Company, chukwuma agubokwu, and the very fair and talented Kathryn Cornelius!
Get your tickets here !

Thursday, March 28, 2013

When sailors drink...


Here's a puzzle that has confounded Sailors for decades... even the brightest among us.
You are on a Horse, galloping at a constant speed.

On your starboard side is a sharp drop off.

And on your port side is an Elephant traveling at the same speed as you.

Directly in front of you is a galloping Kangaroo and your horse is unable
to overtake it.

Behind you is a Lion running at the same speed as you and the Kangaroo.


What must you do to safely get out of this highly dangerous situation?



After years of research, the DoD has come up with the answer to this rather odd, but unusually common situation... been there and done that.... scroll down for the answer...






























Hey Squid!!! Get your drunk ass off the merry-go-round!

Trawick Prize Deadline is Monday!!!

The deadline for TheTrawick Prize: BethesdaContemporary Art Awards is next Monday!  

This annual juried art exhibition awards $14,000 in prize money annually to the top four artists. A group exhibition of the finalists’ work will take place in September 2013 at Gallery B in downtown Bethesda. With a top prize of $10,000, The Trawick Prize is one of the largest and most prestigious contemporary art awards in the nation.

The 2013 competition will be juried by Cynthia Connelly, Visual Arts Curator at Artisphere in Arlington, VA; Alexander Heilner, Associate Dean of Design and Media Studies at Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore; and Vesela Sretenović, Senior Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at The Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C.

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. Selected artists must deliver artwork to the exhibit site in Bethesda, MD. All works on paper must be framed to full conservation standards. Each artist must submit five images (10 for 3-D work), application and a non-refundable entry fee of $25.

Artists may apply online or download an application at http://www.bethesda.org/bethesda/trawick-application.

Abstraction at Foundry

 FG_Logo_Final in box
OUTLOUD!  ABSTRACT ARTISTS

Non-representational, intuitive paintings range from bold, explosive multimedia collages to subtle, many layered mysterious paintings.

Judith Baldinger, Amy Barker-Wilson, Shaune Bazner, Tory Cowles, Jacqui Crocetta, Donna Grossman, Carol A. Jason , Donna K. McGee, Michiyo Mizuuchi, Bobbie Salthouse, Roger Strassman  

Wed., Apr. 3 - Sun., Apr. 28, 2013 
Opening Reception -- Friday, April 5, 6 - 8 pm
 
1314-18th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036
202-463-0203

Corcoran College of Art and Design 2013 Graduates

Fast Forward:  
Corcoran College of Art and Design
2013 Graduates


Dates: 
April 22 - April 27, 2013   
    
Closing Reception: 
Saturday, April 27, 2013; 5-8pm
in the Brentwood Arts Exchange
with performances in the 39th Street Gallery
    

Location:  
Brentwood Arts Exchange
in the Gateway Arts Center
3901 Rhode Island Ave.
Brentwood, MD 20722

Contact:
Phil Davis; Acting Director;
phil.davis@pgparks.com; 301-277-2863

The Brentwood Arts Exchange presents Fast Forward: Corcoran College of Art and Design 2013 Graduates from April 22 - April 27, 2013.  This exhibition, hosted in partnership with the Corcoran College of Art and Design and the Gateway CDC, invites graduates from Corcoran's 2013 class to take over the gallery for an exciting week-long exhibition. Featured artists include Mazin Abdelhameid, Julia Bancroft, Kyrae Cowan, Annie Hanson, Jeremiah Holland, Rachel Hrbek, Deshaundon Jeanes, Katelyn Kang, Daesik Kim, Jessica Levin, Armando Lopez-Bircann, Dandan Luo, Katie Macyshyn, Rene Medrano, Gabriel Mellan, Micah Myerov, Judas Recendez, Morgan Roberts, Bryana Robinson, Rostin Rostai, Jordan Sanders, Hope Sorensen, Cynthia Tidler, Indigo Wakatama, Robert Yi and Jisun Yoon.

Don't miss this!

WILMER WILSON IV: THE FOREVER AFTERMATH

Curated by Laura Roulet
WED APR 3 – SUN JUN 30
FREE
Opening Reception: Thu April 18 / Free / 5-7pm
Curated by Laura Roulet

Seizing on a dynamic moment in D.C. performance art, the exhibition titled Wilmer Wilson IV: the FOREVER Aftermath culminates Wilmer Wilson IV’s performance art series Henry “Box” Brown: FOREVER, and provides through innovative programming a forum for other DC-area artists to explore the evolution of performance as an art form. The exhibit and forums focus on the aftermath of performance art. On display is a rotating selection of documentation and detritus from the Henry “Box” Brown: FOREVER performances, which were commissioned by the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities as part of the spring 2012 5x5 temporary public art project.

Inspired by the historic figure Henry “Box” Brown, a 19th century slave from Richmond, Virginia, who mailed himself to freedom, Wilmer Wilson IV used his own body to examine what freedom means. Artisphere’s Artist in Residence Studio becomes a platform for a discursive, flexible exhibition, collapsing the working space of an artist’s studio and an exhibition gallery, and rethinking spectatorship.

Wilmer Wilson IV: the FOREVER Aftermath helps kick-off of the Rosslyn-wide SUPERNOVA, a performance art festival, June 6-9, curated by the Pink Line Project and commissioned by the Rosslyn Business Improvement District. Wilmer Wilson IV: the FOREVER Aftermath is made possible by the Rosslyn BID and supported in part by the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities' DC Creates! Public Art program.

PERFORMANCE: AFTERMATH
Thu April 18, Thu May 16 and Sat June 8 / Free / Dome Theatre
Performance: Aftermath coincides with Wilson's residency and addresses the ongoing life of performance art. Local performance artists are invited to collaborate and present their practices in whatever inventive format they choose. During the weeks leading up to each forum, videos of the presenting artists’ work will be rotated on Artisphere’s Video Wall.

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

MPAartfest Call for Entries

MPAartfest 2013
Call for Entries now online!
click here for PDF


Mark your calendar for this year's show!
Sunday, October 6, 2013
10 am - 5 pm
in McLean Central Park
(rain or shine)



For more information contact:
Amy Swaak
MPAartfest Director
aswaak@mpaart.org

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Another reason why Communists suck...

Warhol’s Mao Works Censored in China!

Mao Zedong’s [otherwise known as history's biggest mass murderer: Mao Tse-Tung] face has long graced trinkets and kitsch sold at tourist markets across China. But in the country’s top art museums, his most famous portrayal by a Westerner isn’t welcome.

Sorry, Andy Warhol.
Although the scion of Pop Art passed away in 1987, Warhol is still generating controversy. A vast traveling retrospective of his work, “Andy Warhol: 15 Minutes Eternal,” has already made stops in Singapore and Hong Kong as part of a two-year Asia tour, but when it moves to mainland China next month, the artist’s Mao paintings won’t be coming along.
Read about it here... this is what happens when the government decides everything for the good of everyone... cough, cough...

Monday, March 25, 2013

Artist Studio Space Available

Pyramid Atlantic is currently offering a private studio work space for an artist (or artists) to share.  The 200 square foot studio space has great lighting, access to water and free WiFi access.  Rent is $350 per month.  
 
Artists working in all mediums are encouraged to apply.  
 
Artist interested in applying for the private space should contact jdominguez@pyramid-atlantic.org.

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Simon Monk

Alida Anderson Art Projects represents the work of British painter Simon Monk... he will be showcased next month at the Affordable Art Fair in New York. Scroll to the bottom to see a video of the artist discussing his work.

Simon Monk - Robin

Trapped Batman. 2013. Oil and Alkyds on Wood. 60 x 50 cm (23.6 x 19.7 inches).

Simon Monk - Spiderman

Peter Parker. 2011. Oil and Alkyds on Wood. 60 x 50 cm (23.6 x 19.7 inches).

Simon Monk - Superman

Clark Kent. 2011. Oil and Alkyds on Wood. 60 x 50 cm (23.6 x 19.7 inches).
In a private collection in Miami Beach, Florida.

Simon Monk - Batman

Bruce Wayne. 2012. Oil and Alkyds on Wood. 60 x 50 cm (23.6 x 19.7 inches).
In a private collection in Long Beach, California.

Simon Monk - Robin

Tim Drake. 2012. Oil and Alkyds on Wood. 60 x 50 cm (23.6 x 19.7 inches).

Simon Monk - Captain America

Steve Rogers. 2011. Oil and Alkyds on Wood. 60 x 50 cm (23.6 x 19.7 inches).

Simon Monk - Ironman

Tony Stark. 2012. Oil and Alkyds on Wood. 60 x 50 cm (23.6 x 19.7 inches).
In a private collection in Seattle, Washington.

Simon Monk - Thor

Dr. Donald Blake. 2011. Oil and Alkyds on Wood. 60 x 50 cm (23.6 x 19.7 inches).
In a private collection in Seattle, Washington.

Simon Monk - The Hulk

Dr. Bruce Banner. 2011. Oil and Alkyds on Wood. 60 x 50 cm (23.6 x 19.7 inches).

Simon Monk - The Amazing Spiderman

The Carrier Bag Week - Tuesday. 2011. Oil and Alkyds on Wood. 60 x 50 cm (23.6 x 19.7 inches).
In a private collection in the United Kingdom.

Simon Monk - Bag of Superheroes

Superhero Bag. 2007. Oil and Alkyds on Wood. 24 x 18 cm (9.5 x 7 inches).
In a private collection in the United Kingdom.

Simon Monk - Comic Book Trompe L'Oeil

The Witching Hour. 2006. Oil and Alkyds on Wood. 50 x 35 cm (19.7 x 13.8 inches).
In a private collection in the United Kingdom.

Simon Monk - Comic Book Trompe L'Oeil

The Phantom Stranger. 2006. Oil and Alkyds on Wood. 50 x 35 cm (19.7 x 13.8 inches).
In a private collection in the United Kingdom.


Trawick Deadline Coming!

Deadline: Monday, April 1  

The Trawick Prize: Bethesda Contemporary Art Awards is a visual art prize produced by the Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District that honors artists from Maryland, Washington, D.C. and Virginia. The annual juried competition awards $14,000 in prize monies to selected artists and features the work of the finalists in a group exhibition.

Click here to get more information and apply.

Let the Games Begin...


Saturday, March 23, 2013

Opportunities for Artists

Deadline: April 5, 2013

The Delaplaine Visual Arts Education Center located in historic downtown Frederick, Mayland announces the 2013 Annual Juried Exhibit. Dates: May 4 - June 23. Open to any artist living or working in the United States, all media is eligible, no size restrictions. $1150 in prize money awarded, $500 first prize. Juror: Gerald Ross, Director of Exhibitions at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in Baltimore, Maryland. For details on how to enter: http://www.delaplaine.org/exhibits/exhibit-opportunities/

Mark Jenkins in the WaPo

The WaPo's Mark Jenkins with two excellent reviews in the WaPo - check them out here.

Maryland honors artists...

The Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC), an agency of the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development, has recognized 87 Maryland artists for creating work of exceptional quality within a range of disciplines. This class of outstanding writers, artists and performers was selected from nearly 600 applicants (including yours truly) and awarded grants ranging from $1,000 to $6,000 to advance their artistic careers. This year’s Individual Artist Awards went to artists working within the disciplines of Fiction; Painting; Media/Digital/Electronic Arts; Solo Theatrical Performance; and Works on Paper. Although I was rejected for the billionth time, I congratulate all the artists who received an award - yay!

Portrait of Fair Young Fia as Licensed Royalty by Katherine Miller
Selected submissions by award recipients are available to view at www.msac.org/iaa2013, where information on the artists' home county, artistic discipline and grant amount is also provided.

“Artists and art making in Maryland help fuel our creative economy and expand opportunities for cultural engagement across the state,” said Theresa Colvin, Executive Director of MSAC. “The diverse works of exceptional individual artists is essential to the arts industry, which generates a billion dollars a year in Maryland.”

The MSAC’s competitive Individual Artists Award (IAA) is a program administered by Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation that recognizes the value of artists and their work to the cultural vitality of Maryland. In determining the awards, an out-of-state jury reviews unidentified IAA submissions and recommends grant awards solely on the basis of artistic ability.

Many artists report applying IAA grant funds toward the cost of materials needed to complete their projects. Sculptor David Knopp, a 2012 Individual Artist Award recipient wrote, “Since receiving the award, I have completed two more functional sculptures, and the monetary award supplied the materials to complete them. I will be experimenting with incorporating other hardwoods into my sculptures and hardwoods come at a hefty price. The award will aid in purchasing the lumber.” Knopp, a lifelong Baltimore resident who works a night shift, and spends the days producing art, was later named one of only three 2012 Baker Artists—a prestigious distinction accompanied by a $25,000 grant.

The IAA Program reviews a total of 18 artistic disciplines, which are separated into three competition groups that are awarded once every three years. The 2014 Individual Artist Award will open to applications around June 1, with a deadline of July 26, 2013.  Eligible categories include: Choreography; Classical Music Composition; Classical Music Solo Performance; Poetry; Sculpture; Solo Dance Performance; World Music Composition; and World Music Solo Performance.

A celebration in honor of Maryland’s 2013 Individual Artist Awardees will be held in May.

Friday, March 22, 2013

Frank Hyder at Projects Philly

Projects Gallery Philadelphia (which represents my work in Miami and in Philly) has a great exhibition coming that deserves a mention in DC's best art blog (since I lived in the Philly suburbs from 2006-1009... cough, cough).
They will showcase The Frontier, a solo exhibition by Frank Hyder. Works being featured include mixed media paintings on Mylar and illuminated sculptures. This show is held in conjunction with Hyder’s installation “Sea Dream“ on display in Terminal C of the Philadelphia Airport.


Hyder has reached into his past and leans into the future with this dynamic series of works. For more than thirty years, innovative use of woodcuts such as “Sea Watcher” in the Philadelphia Museum of Art and shaman prints, again part of the PMA and the Library of Congress collections, have been signature works for this native Philadelphian and now Miami resident. In recent years, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Caracas and the Museum of Catholic Art and History in New York City have provided venues for his large-scale installations, combining sculpture, prints and painting to create narratives about the forest and traditions of the Americas.


The Frontier series began as a site-specific installation painting for the Miami Beach host site of the Select Art Fair during Art Basel Miami 2012. The main element of this installation was a 7 x 20 ft. mixed media work on Mylar that filled the stairway glass walls connecting two floors of the fair. Moving up or down these stairs immersed the viewer into the painting and environment of the forest. The work is peppered with digital prints on tracing paper, supplying sporadic bursts of color throughout. The forest is dominated by black and white contrast, a contrast that continues throughout the works of the show. 

Developing on the concept, Hyder has made paintings that focus on these prints and how they are fitted into the invented landscapes that surround them. He continues using this black-and-white-versus-color concept in a series of 3-dimensional LED illuminated prints on shaped Plexiglas, which create a small, lighted installation in one room of the gallery. The artist also steps off the wall here with freestanding sculptures from his “Chrysalis Series.”  These sinuous standing forms are abstractly animated by collaged black and white woodcuts and eerie luminous colored light.


This truly international artist has had over 100 solo exhibitions, including nine in New York City and throughout all of the Americas, Europe and Asia.  In the past year he has shown in Atlanta, Hong Kong, London, Miami, Singapore and Toronto.  He is one of the few North Americans to have had solo exhibitions in major museums in Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela.  Other solo museum exhibitions include the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art’s Museum of American Art, the La Salle Museum of Art, the Susquehanna Museum of Art and the Carnegie Museum in California.  For the past several years, he has participated in “Giants in the City,” whose heroic inflatables exhibit during Art Basel Miami. 


His works are in the collections of art museums in Philadelphia, Grand Rapids, Ontario, Caracas and Maracaibo, Venezuela, as well as the Pennsylvania Convention Center, Library of Congress and in numerable corporate and private collections.  Major awards include a Senior Fulbright Research Grant to Venezuela, U.S. Embassy Cultural Grants, MidAtlantic NEA, two Pennsylvania State Council Grants and an International Art Programming Network Partners Grant.  Public commissions include the City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program “Hanging Garden of I-95”, “Honey’s” and “Bell’s Pond” wall murals; Terminal Freezer, Oxnard, CA, ceramic wall mural; and the Museo Jacobo Borges “Bridge of Life” ceramic walkway in Caracas, Venezuela.  


The Frontier will run April 5 – June 15, 2013 with an artist reception on First Friday, May 3rd from 6-9. The reception is free and open to the public.  Projects Gallery is located at 629 N. 2nd St. in Philadelphia’s Northern Liberties section. A preview of works may be viewed on the gallery’s website at www.projectsgallery.com. For more information and images, please contact Projects Gallery at 267-303-9652 or info@projectsgallery.com

Hotmail blues...

Hotmail has been down all day... since I get about 300+ emails a day there, if you've sent me something, then I'm not ignoring you - and you should all be using lenny at lennycampello dot com anyway...

Talk: Cracking the critics' code

Tomorrow, Saturday, from noon-2PM I will be giving a talk at the Art Gallery of Potomac about getting attention from art critics and writers in general and getting some press out of your art exhibits.

Free and open to the public
 

www.theartgalleryofpotomac.com - 9945 Falls Road, Potomac, MD
(Potomac Village Shopping Center, next to the bike store)

Hope to see ya there!

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Wanna go to a party tomorrow night?

On Friday March 22, 2013 from 5:30 on for Swag Funk sponsored by Twins Jazz at the Pepco Edison Place Gallery in DC.

Originally formed in the winter of 2008, SWAGFUNK has since hit numerous milestones. In addition to performing shows all over the DC; MD; VA; and the Baltimore area; SWAGFUNK has also performed regularly in the northeast over the years. SWAGFUNK has developed a very loyal following globally. They have been adopted by the locals and have paved the way to a great music scene.

The Closing Party will continue from 6:30 to 8:00 PM. Come join them for wine and beer with the Closing of the International Glass and Clay Exhibition at the Pepco Edison Place Gallery, 702 8th street NW. 

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Sen. Dick Durbin: The Taxman

 "If you take a walk...
I'll tax your feet...
   - Lennon & McCartney
For many years, large national corporate retailers, big business and many hungry state tax collectors have hoped for new Internet sales tax collection policy. They want Congress to pass a federal law that would allow tax agents from one state to enforce their sales tax laws on retailers based in other states, even when a business is based thousands of miles away. Nearly everyone that I know opposes this misguided idea that goes against everything that the Internet stands for, and I (like millions of others worldwide) believe that small businesses selling via the Internet should only be subject to the tax laws of the states in which they operate.

The news from Capitol Hill is clear and just like the economy... it's grim.


Internet sales tax supporters are convinced that 2013 is their year, and they are determined to pass a new Internet sales tax bill when our out of control "tax everything" Congress (that refuses to face real financial austerity) tackles "corporate tax reform" in spite of the fact that "corporate" and the millions of small American businesses that operate on the Internet seldom share the same anything.

In December, Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), the misguided idiot who smells more and more sources to suck money out of the economy and is the sponsor of Internet sales tax legislation, publicly announced that he had a commitment from the Senate Finance Committee to "take it up early next year and move it to the floor."  Why Durbin wants to lead an effort to bleed more and more taxes is something between himself and his big money donors...

Your opinion matters. If you oppose giving state tax collectors new powers to impose and enforce out-of-state sales tax burdens on small businesses that sell via the Internet, now is the time to make your voice heard.

This is not a Republican or Democrat issue - but an issue that deals with the freedom of the worldwide web and the never-ending appetite for some Democrats in Congress to try to tax any and everything that moves.

Take the time to email, call or write to your two Senators and your Congress person... feel free to use, edit and adapt the letter below, but DO SOMETHING!

 
Dear Member of Congress,
As your constituent and one of the millions of Americans concerned with this issue, I'm asking you not to impose any new sales tax laws on small businesses operating on the Internet.
In the 1992 Quill Decision, the Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional to allow state tax enforcement authorities to impose their sales tax laws on small businesses located in other states.  However, an effort backed by giant retailers and a group of state legislators is trying to push Congress to overturn the Quill Decision and establish an unfair tax regime that would force small online businesses to be subject to sales tax laws all across the country, regardless of where the small business is actually located.
Millions of American small business retailers, would be directly impacted by any new Internet sales tax system. It would increase the cost of doing business and shopping on-line, which would hurt sellers and buyers alike. I believe that small businesses selling via the Internet should only be subject to the tax laws of the states in which they operate. Instead of imposing new tax burdens on small businesses, I would encourage Congress to do EXACTLY the opposite and look at new policies that encourage small business growth and development on the Internet, which in turn will spur job growth and increase consumer choice.
As your constituent, I would ask that you please oppose any efforts to impose new tax burdens on small businesses operating on the Internet.
Thank you for your support.
Sincerely,
YOUR NAME


Tuesday, March 19, 2013

This is what a real hero looks like

Cuban Dissident Blogger Yoani Sanchez Visits Washington D.C.

Everytime that this hero blogs, she puts her life on the line in the Castro Brothers' Workers Paradise... she's a real hero in a place where heroes usually end up dead. 

And she's in DC today meeting with members of Congress!

Opportunity for Artists

Deadline: April 12, 2013

Southern Regional Technical/Recreation Complex, Public Art Project #3 - Inter-active Technology Artwork
Project budget: $50,000

Eligibility: Individual artists or artist teams from Maryland, Washington, DC or Virginia are eligible to apply. All must be 18 years or older. An onsite pre-application briefing will be held March 25, 2013 from 10am to 11am at Southern Regional Tech/Rec Complex 7007 Bock Road, Fort Washington, MD 20744

Contact Person:
Alec Simpson, Arts and Cultural Heritage Division
Alec.Simpson@pgparks.com; 301/446-3232 (VOICE)

Affordable Dental Care for Artists!

Maryland Art Place is partnering with students of the dental hygiene program at The Community College of Baltimore County – Dundalk Campus. Patients pay $20 for a professional checkup and cleaning (no insurance required). X-rays available at an additional cost. Please ask about discounts for current students and senior citizens.

Take advantage of this special opportunity if you are an artist in need of:
  •      dental checkup
  •      teeth cleaning
  •      x-rays
For more information visit mdartplace.org or contact Julie Smith, 443.717.1617,
jsmith791@hotmail.com