The racist, sadist Che Guevara

My father was part of the 1959 Cuban Revolution, and fought under the command of the Argentine adventurer and mass murderer doctor Ernesto (Ché) Guevara de la Serna Lynch. Heart-broken and disillusioned when the Cuban Revolution betrayed its roots and turned Communist, and after a painful internment at a Cuban concentration camp, he brought our family to the United States as a political refugee in the 1960s.

Guevara is one of those obsessions who returns time and time again to my artwork.

In my solo exhibition which opens today (opening 6-8 PM) at the Stone Tower Gallery in beautiful Glen Echo, Guevara makes an appearance as the most often reproduced portrait in history, as the T-shirt god’s quotes are incorporated into his famous visage, but not in the iconic Korda image (considered the most reproduced photograph in history), but in a laughing image of the true Ché, surrounded by some of his most infamous quotes.

Known as “El Chacal de La Cabaña” (The Jackal of La Cabaña – La Cabaña being the Spanish fortress at the mouth of Havana bay where executions took place) to Cubans, Guevara was the mastermind of the mass executions which took place after the Castro triumph. “I don’t need proof to execute a man,” said Che during an interview published in a Cuban newspaper in 1959, “I only need proof that it is necessary to execute him.”

Hatred is the central element of our struggle! Hatred that is intransigent...hatred so violent that it propels a human being beyond his natural limitations, making him violent and cold- blooded killing machine...We reject any peaceful approach. Violence is inevitable. To establish Socialism rivers of blood must flow! The imperialist enemy must feel like a hunted animal wherever he moves. Thus we’ll destroy him! These hyenas are fit only for extermination. We must keep our hatred alive and fan it to paroxysm! The victory of Socialism is well worth millions of atomic victims!

In “This is Che”, in addition to Guevara’s quotes, an electronic screen, embedded into the mass murderer’s forehead, rotates dozens of images of Guevara’s image in T-shirts from all over the world.

Stone Tower Gallery

7300 MacArthur Blvd.

Glen Echo, MD 20812

Exhibition:  F. Lennox Campello: More Obsessions

Exhibition dates: July 5 to 28, 2019

Gallery Hours: Saturday & Sunday, 11am to 6pm and by appointment

Art Walk Reception: Friday, July 5, 6 to 8pm

My solo show at the Stone Tower Gallery

My solo show opens tomorrow!

More Obsessions: Thoughts and Things That Keep Living in My Head

Lenny Campello

Stone Tower Gallery | July 5 to 28, 2019

Opening Reception

Friday, July 5, 6pm to 8pm

The Stone Tower Gallery in gorgeous Glen Echo Park in Maryland! 

7300 MacArthur Blvd.  |  Glen Echo, MD 20812

Here are some the works that will be on display - For this show I've created some new works - mostly drawings on unfired broken Bisque as well as some new drawings and watercolors - See ya there Friday!

North Atlantic Mermaid (Syreni Caledonii)
Watercolor on Paper, circa 2019 12x36 inches

"Your portrait in a gallery of portraits"
Charcoal and Conte, Electronic Components, appropriated digital portrait images, miniature spy camera, c. 2017. 40 x 60 inches

Supergirl Flying Naked
Charcoal and color pencils on broken unfired Bisque, circa 2019

Daphne
Charcoal and conte on Paper, circa 2019

T- Shirt God (This is Che)
Charcoal and conte with embedded electronics on paper, circa 2014

Suddenly, There was no fear
Charcoal and conte on unfired Bisque, 14 inches diameter, circa 2019

The Morrigan
Charcoal and conte on unfired Bisque, circa 2019

Gym Rat
Charcoal and conte on unfired Bisque, circa 2019

Eve, Running Away from Eden
Charcoal and conte on unfired Bisque, circa 2019

Woman Falling from the Sky
Charcoal and conte on unfired Bisque, circa 2019

Eve, Running Away from Eden
Charcoal and conte on unfired Bisque, circa 2019

An unmarried man begging his cat for forgiveness
Charcoal and conte on unfired Bisque, circa 2019
In a private property in Virginia

Suddenly the answer came to her
Charcoal and conte on unfired Bisque, circa 2019

President Obama
Charcoal and conte on borken Bisque, 5x4 inches, c. 2019.

How Do I Love Thee? Sonnets to the Portuguese
Homage to E.B.B. Charcoal on broken Bisque 4x3 inches, c.2019

An unmarried woman
Charcoal and conte on broken unfired Bisque, circa 2019

Frida Kahlo in a Cross of Clouds (Version I)
Charcoal, conte, mixed media on Unfired Bisque
7x7x3, circa 1980-2017

Four versus One
Charcoal and conte on broken unfired Bisque, circa 2019

La Frida
Charcoal, mixed media on Unfired Bisque
3.5 round x 4 inches, circa 1997-2017

Che Guevara (Castrum Canis)
Charcoal, conte, mixed media on Unfired Bisque
4.5x3.25 inches, circa 2017

Obama Laughing
Charcoal, conte, mixed media on Unfired Bisque
5x3 inches, circa 2017

Two American Sailors
Charcoal and conte on paper, circa 2019

A Contemporary Woman in a Gallery of Past Icons
Charcoal and conte on paper, circa 2018

And here are some installation shots:

Art Miami has a new owner

The Art Miami fair group, which includes Art New York, CONTEXT, Aqua Art Miami, Art Wynwood, and others, has been sold to Informa Markets... this is a seismic move in the art fair world!

“It’s a bold and very positive step for us,” Nick Korniloff, Art Miami’s director, who owns the company with two partners, tells artnet News of the sale. During his years with the business, he has grown the fair empire to include CONTEXT, Aqua Art Miami, Art Wynwood, Palm Beach Modern + Contemporary, and Art New York. Over the past year, those fairs have drawn in some 400 dealers and overall attendance of more than 300,000 people. 

Read the whole article here. 

Is this the voice of Frida Kahlo?

Lecture: Art with a Twist

Sunday, October 13, 2pm.

Lecture: Art with a Twist

Montpelier Art Center

9652 Muirkirk Rd

Laurel, MD 20708

Join me as I take a fun walk through art history that culminates in contemporary art where I will discuss the work of some DC area artists and our regional art scene, and answer questions.

Lecture is free and open to the public.

Picasso at auction

This gorgeous 1994 drawing of the great Spanish master - done way back then as a commission - in now up for auction at a fraction of its original cost... See it and more photos and bid for it here.

"Picasso, El Terrible" 1994 by F. Lennox Campello

Residency opportunity for immigrant artists

RESIDENCIA CENTRONIA:  AN OPPORTUNITY FOR IMMIGRANT ARTISTS AND TO CREATE ART ABOUT IMMIGRATION

With support from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities CentroNia offers an opportunity for artists to make work in residence at the Columbia Heights campus. Through the residency, selected artists will be provided free and dedicated studio space during the months of July and/or August and honoraria of $500 or $1000 dollars.

There is no cost to to apply. To apply artists should submit at least an image and artist bio or statement about how you’d like to use the residency. The Residency will provide access to a non-exclusive studio space in the early childhood education campus of CentroNia in Columbia Heights. Because children use the building during the day artists can only use non-toxic and non-odorous materials. Artists are expected to store their in-process art work and art supplies and clean up their work space after each session. CentroNia will provide a locked storage space.

To learn more and to apply online visit www.ResidenciaCentronia.com

Chenven Foundation Awards

Deadline: July 15, 2019

The Ruth and Harold Chenven Foundation gives annual awards of $1500 to individual artists living and working in the United States, and who are engaged in or planning a new craft or visual art project.

Apply here.

Gallery B in July

Gallery B has announced its July exhibition, “MFA @ Gallery B,” a juried exhibition of work by Maryland Federation of Art members. The exhibit will be on display from July 3 – 27, 2019 at Gallery B, located at 7700 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite E, Bethesda, MD. Gallery hours for the show will be Wednesday – Saturday, 12-6pm.

Gallery B will be open for a public reception on Friday, July 12 from 6-8pm. Opening receptions will also be held that evening at Studio B, 7475 Wisconsin Avenue; Triangle Art Studios, 7711 Old Georgetown Road and Waverly Street Gallery, 4600 East West Highway in downtown Bethesda.

“MFA @ Gallery B” was juried by Robert Yi, an Academic Advisor in the College of Visual & Performing Arts, School of Art in Fairfax, VA. 

Selected works by the following artists will be featured:

• Fran Abrams, Rockville, MD
• Beth Altman, Washington, D.C.
• Diane Blackwell, Oakton, VA
• Stephen Borko, Bethesda, MD
• George Patrick Clagett, Upper Marlboro, MD
• Ron Colbroth, McLean, VA
• David Diaz, Annapolis, MD
• Marianne DiBrino, Silver Spring, MD
• Kay Fuller, Annapolis, MD
• Nico Gozal, Suitland, MD
• James Francis Hollan, Arnold, MD
• Jinny Dee Isserow, Fairfax, VA
• Judy Ann Jordan, Annapolis, MD
• Deborah Kommalan, Pasadena, MD
• Guy Terry Kuhn, Hagerstown, MD
• Malka Kutnick, Kensington, MD
• Susan La Mont, McLean, VA
• Jonathan S. Mann, Woodbine, MD
• Emily Carter Mitchell, Pasadena, MD
• Allen E. Neyman, Rockville, MD
• Mary Opasik, Catonsville, MD
• Ed Palaszynski, Clarksburg, MD
• William Peirce, Silver Spring, MD
• Dean Peterson, Salisbury, MD
• Susan F. Picard, Arnold, MD
• Will Scott, Annapolis, MD
• Meryl Silver, Bethesda, MD
• Timothy A. Stephens, Frederick, MD
• Gil Ugiansky, Annapolis, MD
• Marilyn Block Ugiansky, Annapolis, MD
• Dominique Vargo, Bowie, MD

The Brentwood Arts Exchange is Hiring an Assistant Director

The Brentwood Arts Exchange is Hiring an Assistant Director

The Assistant Director at the Brentwood Arts Exchange, under general supervision of the Director, performs a wide variety of duties to assist in managing a multi-faceted arts center that includes contemporary art galleries, small concerts, youth and adult art classes, and fine craft retail. Performs numerous tasks in support of the following job functions: supervises art center operations; participates in planning, organizing and implementing community based arts programs; create marketing and public relations materials. Volunteer coordination; assists in exhibition coordination and installation; participates in budget planning; supervises designated staff; maintains administrative records and cash reports; coordinates externally ad internally to perform other related duties as assigned. The arts center operates six days per week. Works various hours, which may include evenings and weekends.
The Brentwood Arts Exchange is part of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission.

More information and the online application can be found here.

Wanna go to an art film tomorrow?

Halcyon - "By the People"

PLAY - PROTECTION - PERIL 

A Curatorial Project by Zenith Community Arts Foundation

 

HALCYON "BY THE PEOPLE"

Festival Dates June 15-23, 2019

 

On June 22, 2:00-7:00 pm, visit H-Space to see performances & interactive projects!

Rachael Bohlander, "U Street Scene"

Elizabeth Ashe, "Aim/Draw from 3 feet."

Katherine Smith-Morse "And Yet, We're Still Waiting" V. 2.

Heliosa Escudero, "Say it Nicely."

Jason Coile, Pierre Davis, & Sarah Klotz, "Ocean Walk."  

Afer 5pm, Music produced by AJ.

Activities will stagger between 2-7pm.

  

H-SPACE, 1932 9 and 1/2 Street NW, Washington DC 20001   MAP 

(An alley off U Street, NW)

New Summer Hours: Wednesday-Friday, 4-7pm. Saturday, 12-6pm. Sunday, 1-5pm

Artists' Boot Camp

The Artists’ Boot Camp

Saturday, November 2nd, 10am-4pm , in the John Addison Concert Hall of Harmony Hall

Harmony Hall Arts Center presents Mr. Lenny Campello’s seminar, “The Artists’ Boot Camp”, open to all Prince George’s County artists, 16 and up.  Mr. Campello is the Greater Washington D.C. area’s pre-eminent art dealer, critic, consultant and blogger as well as artist. He designed his seminar to deliver information, data and proven tactics to artists, and to allow them to develop and sustain a career in the fine arts. Some of the topics that he will cover are, creating a resume, creating a body of work, selling your art, juried shows and news releases, just to name a few. 

The seminar is free and lunch is included. Seating is limited so please call 301.446.3251 or email stuart.diekmeyer@pgparks.com to register and provide lunch preference.

Deadline is by 5pm, October 25th, but this seminar usually books very quickly, so I'd recommend that you RSVP as soon as possible!

Harmony Hall
10701 Livingston Road 
Fort Washington, MD 20744

Artist Talk this Sunday

WAVERLY STREET GALLERY

Artist Talk: Sunday, June 23rd, 2-4pm

Change/Transformation
June 9 - July 6, 2019

Women’s Caucus for Art of Greater Washington

Change/Transformation is presented by the members of the Women’s Caucus for Art of Greater Washington. The works carry the theme of personal, political, social, economic, cultural or any other kind of transformative change that occur throughout our lives. These works reflect change witnessed and experienced by the artists themselves, and also the transformation of the role of women in the society today.

Waverly Street Gallery 4600 East West Highway, Bethesda, MD 20814
 301-951-9441
Open Wednesday-Sunday, 12-6 pm
Ample parking in the county lot next door: park free on the weekends. The Bethesda Metro takes you almost to their door.

Prove or deny the landing on the Moon

Deadline: July 12, 2019

6X7 AWARD “HAS THE EAGLE LANDED?"

Try to answer question above, using photographs (up to five) or a short film (up to 15 seconds). Everyone is invited, and everything is allowed – you can use any technique, send real or fictitious stories, create real or manipulated pictures, prove or deny landing on the Moon. Everything depends on you. Original idea and creativity will count most! 

No Entry Fee. 

Details: http://bitly.com/2N0GXYg

Lecture: On Identity in the Arts: What Does It Mean to be Latinx?

Lecture: On Identity in the Arts: What Does It Mean to be Latinx?

Montpelier Art Center

9652 Muirkirk Rd

Laurel, MD 20708

Saturday, September 14, 2pm.

I will be delving deep into the history and evolution of the Latino ethnic label and then discussing important questions on the issue while wrapping it around the context of the fine arts in a sometimes funny, but always informative presentation. 

Lecture is free and open to the public.

Biodiversity Drawing Competition

Organized by the Municipality of Vila Real and Zona Livre, the Biodiversity Drawing Competition has as main objective to promote the subject of biological natural heritage, like the natural regions, the ecosystems, the habitats and the species of wild fauna and flora, through the selection and classification of works, drawings and illustrations related to this subject. 

No Entry Fee. 

Details: http://bitly.com/2pmLOEO

More Obsessions: Thoughts and things that keep living in my head

F. Lennox Campello

More Obsessions: Thoughts and things that keep living in my head

Stone Tower Gallery

7300 MacArthur Blvd.

Glen Echo, MD 20812

Exhibition:  F. Lennox Campello: More Obsessions

Exhibition dates: July 5 to 28, 2019

Gallery Hours: Saturday & Sunday, 11am to 6pm and by appointment

Art Walk Reception: Friday, July 5, 6 to 8pm

Is technology part of contemporary art? Of course it is! 

Is technology a drug that causes obsessions? Of course it is! 

A compulsive drive to work the same image or idea repeatedly is not that rare an issue in the pages of art history. Nearly every major museum in Europe has a similar version of El Greco’s vision of Christ throwingthe merchants from the Temple, and Mondrian redefined the same abstractcomposition of color blocks over and over, and over, as did Italian artist Giorgio Morandi, who obsessively returned to the same basic still life over, and over, and over. 

What drives those “obsessions” is a matter for debate, as well as for much furrowing of eyebrows at art schools across the planet, where it is generally noted as a negative trait for an artist. 

F. Lennox Campello, who the Washington City Paper included a few years back in their annuallisting of Washington’s most interesting people, not only relishes in returning to the same subject many times over, but in some cases the “many times” have over the four decades of obsessions delivered interpretations now numbering in the hundreds for a single subject. 

A new obsession to Campello has been the incorporation of technology to help his other obsession (telling a story via his artwork) succeed.  Video and sound become powerful narrative additions to almost classical drawings.

“Your Portrait in a Gallery of Portraits” is such an obsessive narrative technical and technological composition. In the charcoal and conte drawing, we see a solitary figure from the back, as she visits an art gallery. To both sides of the figure embedded digital screen search online and put a new portrait of a famous person every five seconds on each screen. The center screen seems empty at first, until a viewer approaches it, and realizes that their image is now part of the work (captured by a hidden miniature camera). 

The work (exhibited in the DC area for the first time), has kindled an unexpected response from the viewers during its initial exhibition at the Art Basel week of art fairs in Miami last year. “I noticed – and recorded – hundreds and then thousands of people taking a selfie of themselves ‘inside’ my artwork,” notes Campello, “… a selfie of a selfie, if you will…,” he adds. 

Other obsessions also make an appearance: the Picts of ancient pre-Celtic Scotland (where Campello lived for several years), Argentine revolutionary mass murderer Ché Guevara, the Biblical Eve, and the Kabbalah’s Lilith, Saint Sebastian, Saint John the Baptist, a naked Supergirl, enjoying a nudie flight, Campello’s own secret messages in a secret written code. 

The artist, who was a US Navy cryptologic officer for over two decades, has invented a secret visual written language which is a marriage of ancient Celtic Ogham (the secret writing code of the ancient Druids) with the more modern US Navy Falcon Codes, a series of phrases with double meanings. They also appear, hidden in the shadows of bodies and objects throughout some of the drawings.

ARTSFAIRFAX Artist Residency Program

Application Deadline: June 22, 2019

ARTSFAIRFAX invites professional artists of all disciplines interested in conducting a teaching artist residency to apply for the FY20 Artist Residency Program.  

The program is a collaboration between the ARTSFAIRFAX and the Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) for artist residencies that engage students in cross-curricular learning through the arts.  Arts disciplines include, but are not limited to, visual arts, music, theater, literature, dance, choreography, storytelling, design arts, architecture, sculpture, media/film, animation, and digital art.  Professional artist includes individuals who have exhibited, performed, presented and/or published artistic work in a public context that demonstrates an ongoing commitment to their artistic discipline at a professional level.  

Application Deadline: June 22, 2018.  

For more information, visit https://artsfairfax.submittable.com/submit/79eba4c9-d563-4efb-95c6-ecf4293fedbb/artist-residency-program-teaching-artist-application-for-2019-2020-school-year 

Bethesda Painting Awards prize winners announced!

Best in Show Winner Mary Anne Arntzen Awarded $10,000

The Bethesda Arts and Entertainment District announced the top three Bethesda Painting Awards prize winners on Wednesday evening during the exhibition’s opening at Gallery B. Mary Anne Arntzen of Baltimore, MD was awarded “Best in Show” with $10,000; W.C. Richardson of University Park, MD was named second place and was given $2,000 and Nicole Santiago of Williamsburg, VA received third place and was awarded $1,000. Additionally, McKinley Wallace III of Baltimore, MD was recognized with the Young Artist Award and received $1,000.

Pictured from L to R: Catriona Fraser, Painting Awards Chair; Nicole Santiago, Third Place Winner; Carol Trawick, Founder; Kyle Hackett, 2019 Painting Awards Judge

Mary Anne Arntzen earned a Masters of Fine Arts from the Maryland Institute College of Art and her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Boston University. Her work has been shown nationally, including recent exhibits at the Walters Art Museum, the Painting Center and St. Charles Projects in Baltimore, MD. She has completed residencies at the Wassaic Project, Vermont Studio Center and Woodstock Byrdcliffe Guild. She was a 2018 nominee for the Joan Mitchell Painting and Sculpture Grant and a finalist for the Sondheim Prize in 2017. Arntzen has taught at the Maryland Institute College of Art, George Washington University, and the Community College of Baltimore County. She is also a member of ICA Baltimore.

Mary Anne Arntzen

The eight artists selected as finalists are:

Mary Anne Arntzen, Baltimore, MD

Taha Heydari, Baltimore, MD

Lillian Bayley Hoover, Baltimore, MD

Gina Gwen Palacios, Baltimore, MD

Erin Raedeke, Montgomery Village, MD

W.C. Richardson, University Park, MD

Nicole Santiago, Williamsburg, VA

McKinley Wallace III, Baltimore, MD

Personally, my favorite was Nicole Santiago, and she would have been my top prize winner (she was awarded 3rd place). However, art is very subjective, never objective and we all know where I stand on that issue when it comes to art!

By Nicole Santiago

A public opening will be held on Friday, June 14, from 6-8pm. Gallery B is located at 7700 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite E in downtown Bethesda. The work of the eight finalists will be on display from June 5-29, 2019. Gallery hours are Wednesday through Saturday from 12-6pm.

The competition jurors were Kyle Hackett, Professor of Art, American University and the 2014 Bethesda Painting Awards; Sue Johnson, Professor of Art, St. Mary’s College of Maryland, and Susan Zurbrigg, Painting and Drawing Area Head, Professor of Art, James Madison University.