Saturday, December 31, 2005

A great 2006 to all!

And thank you for more than a five fold increase in the number of daily visitors to DC Art News in 2005!

Now out to party!

Opportunity for Artists

Evolving Perceptions has been given 30 linear feet of space at Sprint/Nextel's headquarters in Reston, VA for 2007. The space is designed for art and they have been successful with our past three exhibitions.

If you are a local artist and would like to display your work there, then please just email Maryam Ovissi a few low res/small format images of your recent work. It's a great opportunity and great exposure - over 5000 people work in the buildings and walk through the gallery to get to the main lobby and restaurant.

Friday, December 30, 2005

Cudlin's Top Ten

The CP's art critic Jeffry Cudlin examines himself and then comes up with his top ten (actually eight) list for DC area art shows here.

His “Ten Shows I Didn’t Completely Savage”? or “Ten Shows That Very Nearly Rose to My Impossibly High Standards” or “Ten Shows a Nicer, Stupider Critic Might Have Liked?” are listed below:

1. “Blasts” at G Fine Art.
2. Ian Whitmore at Fusebox.
3. Kehinde Wiley at Conner Contemporary Art.
4. Jiha Moon’s “Symbioland” at Curator’s Office.
5. Ed Ruscha's retrospective at the National Gallery of Art.
6. Sam Gilliam's retrospective at The Corcoran Gallery of Art.
7. Found Sound (various).
8. Visual Music at The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.

Opportunity for Artists

You still have a few days to get your entries in for this Artomatic opportunity for emerging artists. The Heliport Gallery in the vibrant Silver Spring area announces Aeromatic: Artomatic at the Heliport.

Who’s Eligible? Any Artomatic participant who has never shown in a commercial gallery.

Jurors: David Fogel, Director of the Silver Spring Gateway Project and manager of the Heliport and Nevin Kelly, owner of the Nevin Kelly Gallery on U Street in DC.

When: Entries due January 2, 2006; show will take place in February, 2006.

How: Send up to 3 jpeg images to David Fogel. Make sure to note title, size and medium and include your phone number. JPEGS are strongly preferred by the judges but if you absolutely can't manage an electronic entry, you may send up to three slides to:

David Fogel
Heliport Gallery
8001 Kennett Street, Suite 3
Silver Spring, MD 20910.

Slides must arrive by January 2, 2006.

Jacobson's Top Ten

The CP's photography critic comes up with his top ten photography shows of the year (actually nine). An abbreviated list is below, or read the full CP article here.

1. "André Kertész" at the National Gallery of Art.
2. "Burnversions" at the Reston Community Center.
3. "Gina Brocker: Photographs From the Series ‘The Donovans and Other Settled Travellers’ " at Irvine Contemporary.
4. “Shomei Tomatsu: Skin of the Nation” at the Corcoran Gallery of Art.
5. “Noelle Tan: Latent” at the District of Columbia Arts Center.
6. “Lida Moser: 50 Years of Photographs” at Fraser Gallery Georgetown.
7. “Reflections of France” at the Kathleen Ewing Gallery.
8. “Lewis and Clark Revisited: A Trail in Modern Day,” at the Department of the Interior Museum.
9. “Barbara Probst: Exposures” at G Fine Art.

Southern bound!
Airborne today and heading to La Florida to spend New Year's someplace sandy and warm... more later when I settle in...

And while I was gone, Alexandra Silverthorne had a few things to say about my current exhibition at Fraser Gallery Georgetown.

Read them here.

Thursday, December 29, 2005

Barlow's Top Ten

Philip Barlow is easily one of DC's best known and more involved art collectors and an avid gallery goer who gets around to more galleries than many people who write about DC art and artists. Barlow advises that:

Below is my list of the top ten gallery shows from DC in 2005. This year seemed even more difficult than last year, I had an original list of about ten others shows. The list is in order.

Nepotista caveats: I am on the board of DCAC and I purchased work from some of these shows.

1. Barbara Probst “Exposures” – G Fine Art – (4/2/5 – 4/30/5)
2. Chip Richardson “Set” – Fusebox (11/5/5 – 12/17/5)
3. Linn Meyers “Current” – G Fine Art – (10/29/5 – 12/10/5)
4. Jiha Moon “symbioland” – Curator’s Office – (9/10/5 – 11/15/5)
5. Noelle Tan “Latent” – District of Columbia Arts Center – (4/8/5 – 5/15/5)
6. Andrea Way “New Works” – Marsha Mateyka Gallery – (2/19/5 – 3/26/5)
7. Teo Gonzales “Recent Work” – Irvine Contemporary – (4/22/5 – 5/28/5)
8. The Empire of Sighs – Numark Gallery – (9/16/5 – 10/29/5)
9. Mary Early “Sculpture” – Hemphill Fine Arts – (11/5/5 – 12/23/5)
10. Nooni Reatig “All Real, All Steel” – NNE Gallery – (4/28/5 – 6/15/5)

I also wanted to note a couple of photography exhibits that were great for letting us see some of the Washington art world's movers and shakers in their earlier years:

Mary Swift’s Washington: The Arts Scene, 1975 – 2000 – Flashpoint Gallery – (7/21/5 – 8/27/5)

Wrinkle Free – Viridian Restaurant – October 2005
Keep emailing me your Top Ten lists and I will publish them as time allows.

They're coming...

The Turtle as Public Art
From yesterday's WaPo (and my posting a while back)

Fifty terrapin statues will soon appear on the streets of Washington and its suburbs in honor of the 150th anniversary of the founding of the University of Maryland.

The 100-pound turtles -- like the panda, elephant and donkey statues displayed on city streets in recent summers -- will be decorated by local artists and auctioned next fall. The money will go to student scholarships.
Let the ranting and raving begin!

Poconos

Lack of posting due to a quick get-a-way to the Poconos, and heading to Florida tomorrow for the New Year's!

More later before I leave and sporadic posting from Florida.

Monday, December 26, 2005

What Your End-of-the-Year Top 10 List(s) Says About You

If you include more than three shows by artists who are also bloggers... then you must be a blogger too!

If more than six of the shows on your list are museum shows, then you have been seduced by our great DC area museums and need to get around more often.

If three or more of the shows on your list are from the same gallery or museum, then you're not getting around as much as you should before making lists.

If three or more of the shows on your list are from the same commercial gallery, then you are a hidden nepotista or a nepotista wannabe.

If all ten of your shows are from the same three or four spaces, then you don't have a clue.

If your list includes more than one show from a library or restaurant, then you're definately getting around more than I do, or you have no idea where the galleries are.

If your list only includes shows that were within walking distance of a Metro stop, then you don't have a car.

If list list includes more than one show in Bethesda, Reston, Rockville, Alexandria or Arlington, then you live in one of those areas.

If your list includes more than three embassy gallery shows, then you're going there mostly for the good food.

If your list only includes photography shows, then you are Louis Jacobson (photography critic for the City Paper).

If your list is based on which shows has the best food, then you are a grub.

If your list has more than three video shows, then you must be a Hirshhorn Museum or Whitney Biennial curator.

If all the shows on your list are by non Hispanic white male artists... well, you know what you are.

If your list does not include a single DC area show, then we know who you are.

Sunday, December 25, 2005

Merry Christmas & Feliz Navidad!

Saturday, December 24, 2005

Christmas Art Wish List

1. For the WaPo to do as promised (I have the emails from the editors) and hire a second freelancer and return the Galleries column to its previous weekly format.

2. For most of our area's museum curators to realize that the Greater Washington, DC area is actually part of the United States of America, and for them to take a cab to a DC area art show or artist studio once in a while.

3. For the Corcoran to give Manon Cleary a retrospective.

4. For the Hirshhorn to give Joe Shannon a show.

5. For the Phillips Collection to give Lida Moser a retrospective.

6. For the WPA/C to find a permanent exhibition space somewhere in the city.

7. For Washingtonian magazine to add a regular gallery review column to its monthly format.

8. For one or two of our local TV stations to add one minute a week to their local news hour programs on the subject of area visual arts exhibitions.

9. For some of our area's huge corporations (AOL, Lockheed Martin, Giant Foods) to follow Carol Trawick's example.

10. For a lot of people to get their head out of their ass about the Christmas vs "Holiday Season" issue.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, and everything else that says I wish all of you and yours a terrific good wish for everything on your life and your art. Keep creating!

Friday, December 23, 2005

O'Sullivan on PostSecret

The WaPo's Michael O'Sullivan checks in with an intelligent review of Frank Warren's PostSecret exhibition.

Read it here.

Public Art Calls

The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities announces four Calls for Artists:

Deadline: February 17, 2006

14th Street Bridge Tenders' House Public Art Call for Artists: The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, in cooperation with the District Department of Transportation, is seeking an artist, or artist team, to create a permanent public artwork for the 14th Street Bridge Tenders' House. The 14th Street Bridge is the north space bridge crossing the Potomac River that brings vehicular traffic into the District of Columbia. The former drawbridge is the location of a vacant Bridge Tenders' House. Deadline: February 17, 2006. For more information and an application, please visit The Commission's website to download the Call for Artists and application, or call 202-724-5613.



Deadline: February 17, 2006

Recreation Center Public Art Call for Artists: The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities and the Department of Parks and Recreation are seeking artists to create a permanent public artwork for several newly or recently renovated recreation facilities in the District of Columbia. Deadline: February 17, 2006. For more information and an application, please visit their website to download their Call for Artists and application, or call 202-724-5613.


Deadline: February 24, 2006

Art Bank Program Call for Artists: The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities is purchasing artwork to be part of the District of Columbia's 2006 Art Bank Program. Works in the collection are owned by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities and loaned to other District Government agencies for display in public areas. Deadline: February 24, 2006. For more information and an application, please visit their website to download the Call for Artists and application, or call 202-724-5613.


Deadline: February 24, 2006
Wilson Building Public Art Program Call for Artists: The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities is currently accepting applications for the John A.Wilson Building Public Art Program. The historic District Building at 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW now serves as the headquarters for the District of Columbia's Mayor and City Council. The works purchased through this call for artists are specifically designated for permanent installation in the Wilson Building. For more information and an application, please visit their website to download the Call for Artists and application,
or call 202-724-5613.

Thursday, December 22, 2005

Nepotistas Rule

As we'll soon begin to read the top ten lists in everything, including the visual arts, from both the newsprint media and the online voices, the ever present spirit of nepotism and the "good-ole-boy/girl-network" shall once again raise its phoenixal (is that an adjective? I love the English language!) head, and some of us in the inside/outside will shake our heads knowing that A is a good friend and/or drinking buddy of B, or C's wife works at the blankety-blank newspaper, etc.

Not always, and not all... but there anyway.

But it seems to have bitten the NYT in the butt this year, at least when it comes to their 100 Notable Books of the Year list.

So listmakers: we're watching!

P.S. And you readers: Watch me too!

Bankrupt

WOW! This NYC gallery is in the hole $50 million samolians!

Read the article here (thanks AJ).

New art blog

New (new to me anyway) DC-based art blog: Matthew Langley.

Visit him often.

And Matthew has his end of year top ten list here.

Snail Art

The WaPo on Palimpsest at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

Cornelius on the future of art criticism

...art blogs are the most fascinating aspect affecting the edifice of contemporary art discourse, especially in the area of future market impact...
So wrote to me the fair Kathryn Cornelius in commenting about the whole "Critic on Criticism" post.

Cornelius' thesis at Georgetown touched on this area, and it's actually quite an interesting read. The thesis is titled "Creative Entrepreneuship: The Business Art and Art Business of Contemporary Artist Collectives."

Read it here.

Mama Love

Camille Mosley-Pasley, one of Washington's most active and innovative photographers, is looking for more moms of color and babies for her Mama Love book.

If you or someone you know has a baby, please contact Camille by e-mail ASAP. She's scheduling appointments for December 23 & 30. There will be two more sessions in January. Go here for details.

PostSecret on TV

Just saw an interview and a long segment (over five minutes) on MSNBC on Frank Warren's PostSecret exhibit!

And the fair Amy Robach even hinted that she'd mail in a secret.

See the TV clip here. Scroll down to bottom of page; the link is under "The Situation" banner and it's titled Post card confessions.

Wednesday, December 21, 2005

JET to close in DC

JET Gallery on R Street has closed. Their news release reads in part:

This exhibition marks the final show at JET Artworks’ gallery in Washington, DC before moving to Chicago’s West Loop gallery district in the spring 2006. Owners Jamil Farshchi, Erin Houchen, and Thomas Robertello wish to thank the art audience of Washington for their enthusiastic support of JET artists. JET plans to reopen in its new location with Thomas Robertello as sole owner/director.
DC Art News wishes Thomas and the new gallery the best of luck in Chicago.

One closing - One opening

One young DC gallery has closed its doors unexpectedly (more on this later).

A brand new gallery, which I am told will be the largest gallery in the Greater Washington, DC region, will open soon (more on this later).

Opportunity for Artists

The Ellipse Arts Center and The Washington Project for the Arts\Corcoran (WPA/C) present: Conversions. According to the press release, it is "An exhibition exploring spatial interpretations juried from three distinct points of view."

The Call: As their first collaboration, The Ellipse Arts Center and The Washington Projectfor the Arts\Corcoran are proud to present Conversions.

This exhibition will bejuried from digital images, slides, and site installation proposals by Sam Gilliam (established Washington, DC Artist), Dennis O'Neil (Director of Handprint Workshop International and teacher at the Corcoran College of Art & Design), and Heather & Tony Podesta (Internationally-known contemporary art collectors).

With this exhibition, The Ellipse Arts Center and the WPA\C hope to meld the distinct viewpoints of the jurors as well as offer submitting artists the opportunity to create site-specific installations. A $250 stipend will be awarded to all finalists who are selected to participate in Conversions.

Prospectus available here.

Tuesday, December 20, 2005

Critic on Criticism

Amy over at ARTery tipped me to a really interesting article by Jerry Salz on art criticism. Read that article here.

And Amy also notes that NYC gallerist and fellow blogger Edward Winkleman has responded and his response has created a whole series of interesting comments, with the usual anon attacks that seem to follow any art discussion, and the usual easily bruised writer who dishes it out with brutal gusto but can't take it when it bounces back, etc.

There are, however, otherwise some really good points in the comments.

The key issue to me?

Winkleman smartly notes that

With art, in New York City, there's no such guarantee you'll ever know [whether a critic liked a show], even when you know they saw it, even for the largest artists or most powerful galleries. If The New York Times, for example, on average, publishes 7 major reviews and two articles in each Friday edition, that totals about 470 reviews each year. The problem is there are more about 470 exhibitions per month*, meaning that more than 11/12ths of all exhibitions will not be reviewed in the Times. For the Village Voice, the number of reviews is fewer than half that. So if you are the lucky artist who gets a review, you've already beaten incredible odds. At that point, for the review to be unfavorable seems almost cruel.
Translate that into Washingtonese, and remember that the WaPo has only two gallery reviews a month, plus one in Weekend section every once in a while (and thank God for those!).

And, uh... the WaPo's Chief Art Critic is too good to write about DC area art galleries or DC artists on a regular basis (except to note when they are barely emerging).

So let's say... four gallery reviews a month (and yeah, I know once a month is the multiple mini-review day) at the WaPo.

And on any given month in the Greater Washington area there are (by the time you add the independent fine art galleries, the non profits, the embassy galleries and the cultural centers) around 100 different visual art shows to choose from.

And at least NYC has a whole bunch of newspapers, plus all the NYC-centric art mags, all the freebies, etc. to augment the NYT's coverage.

Other than the WaPo, we should be grateful that the City Paper covers as many shows as they do. But even adding the CP's coverage, the chance of an artist or show to be reviewed in print in our area is pretty slim.

As Larry David would say: "Pretty, pretty slim!"

So if we take Winkleman's point that "at that point, for the review to be unfavorable seems almost cruel" -- then we have some pretty f&^%$# cruel writers in the nation's capital area, don't we?

Art criticism should (in fact it must) have teeth; but it must also be even. When was it the last time that you read a published review around our area where the critic was really passionate about a show that she/he really liked?

Pretty, pretty cruel.

Kong

Last night I had dinner with that living legend known as Lida Moser, who was telling me stories about Alice Neel moving to Havana, after Neel married her first husband (who apparently was an art student in NYC and from a wealthy Cuban family). Neel related to Moser that she couldn't find women's shoes in Havana to fit her healthy Midwestern feet. I thought that was funny!

Afterwards, as I had received a couple of complimentary tickets to King King in the mail, I went to see the film, which was OK, but way too long and a bit annoying in a couple of areas.

The "lost island" scenes were terrific, and that was almost a movie by itself, but when Kong was fighting the Ty Rexes I glanced at my watch, and saw that it was already two hours gone by and I thought "Mmm... two hours gone and they haven't even got the monkey to Manhattan yet."

The movie also has an annoying effect of seeming like it was directed by three different people (the whole side story with the "Jimmy" character was lost on me), and even more annoying was the fact that the Anne Darrow character spends a ton of time running around a frozen New York in a negligee and she's apparently immune to the cold.

Other than that, the special effects were very good, the entire island scenes were outstanding (although the Kong fight scene with the Rexes took way too long, as did the dinosaur mass crash).

Curtis in MOMA

ANABA reveals that MOMA has recently acquired a Tony Curtis painting for its permanent collection.

Read it here.

Top Ten Lists

The end of the year is time for everyone to come up with their "Top Ten Lists" for nearly everything.

Email me yours for the top 10 art exhibitions in our area in 2005 and I'll post them here.

One Word Project

J.T. Kirkland, over at Thinking About Art, has been conducting a fascinating art project that he titles the One Word Project.

The project started here a while back, and so far about 40 artists have participated.

Essentially, here's the deal in Kirkland's owns words: "first, if I am not familiar with the artist's work I will want to review it (jpegs, Web site, maybe even a studio visit, etc). Once I get somewhat familiar with the work, I will communicate a single word that comes to mind about the art. I will ask that the artist write 100-500 words about the chosen word and what it means in their art. Because the "question" is so open ended, I think it will allow the artist much freedom to discuss their work and their thought processes. I would then like to publish the writing and a couple of examples of the artist's work on this site."

The One Word Project has been a terrific success, and Kirkland is planning to publish a book! See details on the book's progress here.

He's looking for more participants for a second project: The Artists' Interview Artists Project, and interested artists (and it is now open to all artists - not just area artists) should contact Kirkland at Thinking About Art.

Second Annual Bethesda Painting Awards

Deadline: January 31, 2006

The Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District is currently accepting applications for the second annual Bethesda Painting Awards. This is one of the nation's largest cash award painting prizes funded through the generosity of Carol Trawick.
Bethesda Painting Awards
Eight finalists will be selected to display their work in an exhibition during the month of June 2006 at the Fraser Gallery in downtown Bethesda, and the top four winners will receive $14,000 in prize monies.

Best in Show will be awarded $10,000; Second Place will be honored with $2,000 and Third Place will receive $1,000. Additionally, a "Young Artist" whose birthday is after January 31, 1976 will be awarded $1,000.

Artists must be 18 years of age or older and residents of Maryland, Virginia or Washington, D.C.

All original 2-D painting including oil, acrylic, watercolor, gouache, encaustic and mixed media will be accepted. The maximum dimension should not exceed 60 inches in width or 84 inches in height. No reproductions.

Artwork must have been completed within the last two years and must be available for the duration of the exhibition. Each artist must submit five slides, application and a non-refundable entry fee of $25. For a complete application, please send a self-addressed stamped envelope to:

Bethesda Painting Awards
c/o Bethesda Urban Partnership
7700 Old Georgetown Road
Bethesda, MD 20814

Or visit this website or call 301/215-6660

Monday, December 19, 2005

Wanna go to a DeXmas Party?

Note: Party actually starts at 10PM not 8! Details here.

Dexmas Party

Sunday, December 18, 2005

Secret Visit

Yesterday I snuck away from the Georgetown gallery and visited the PostSecret exhibition at the former Staples store on M Street.

The place was packed!
secret card by Frank Warren's Post Secret Project
I cannot recall a gallery or non-blockbuster museum event in the DC area (ever) where -- after the opening night -- there are actually hundreds of people in the art venue, hypnotized by the work on display, as what I saw yesterday around 4PM at Frank Warren's exhibit.

I was almost as mesmerized by the intensity on the faces of the visitors, as they went from card to card, reading funny secrets, sad secrets, gross secrets, silly secrets, shared secrets. I made several circuits through the exhibition: the first to look through the cards; the second and third to look at the people reading the cards, and how they became part of the exhibit itself.

Warren has really tapped into something here, and it couldn't have happened to a nicer person. And the WPA/C should be congratulated for bringing this spectacular event to the eyes and attention of Washingtonians; Kim Ward and her crew are really doing a spectacular job over at the WPA/C since Ward took over.

Whatever you do through January 8, 2006 - DO NOT MISS this exhibition, and bring people along with you.

And I sincerely hope that our area museum curators set aside their Washington apathy and also come and visit what is perhaps the greatest interactive public art project in the history of the genre.

Warren is making art history in our own backyard, and so I'm shouting to the Hirshhorn, to the SAM, to the NGA, and to the Corcoran: WAKE UP!



Exhibition Information:
Location: 3307 M St. NW Washington DC (The former Georgetown Staples store)
Exhibition Dates: December 15, 2005 – January 8, 2006
Exhibition Hours: Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday 6:00 – 10:00 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays 2:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. or by appointment through WPA\C.

Text in Art

As most of you know, I've become very interested over the last year or so in art that works with, or incorporates text. In Seven, I dedicated an entire gallery room to a group of artists working with text in their work. Next year I am taking those artists to an exhibition at the new Greater Reston Arts Center, and I am working now to also do it in a Virginia museum after that.

And speaking of text in art, I've been hearing good things about the exhibition by Rose Folsom at The Mansion at Strathmore Hall.

Folsom's show was a Hot Pick of the Week by the Washington Times.
Meditation Fruit by Rose Folsom
Rose Folsom is an amazing calligrapher who has migrated the art of writing towards the fine arts, period. She writes:

At age five I wanted so much to write that I pestered an older playmate into teaching me. When I was seven, I took apart a little paper umbrella to find a tiny roll of Japanese newspaper inside. As I unrolled it, the magical characters were clearly trying to tell me something, but what? I ran to my parents and was told that only a Japanese person could read what it said. I daydreamed about a little girl my age on the other side of the world who could read and understand the tantalizing text. How I longed to know what it said! Meanwhile, the angular characters, lined up like little soldiers, spoke to me of an exotic world that sparked my imagination. This began a life-long fascination with the written word.
And I am told that the show at Strathmore (which I plan to see next week) offers a show that provides evidence that her fascination has delivered a superb show. C.D. Tansey writes about it:
One thing that impresses itself on the viewer is that the writing is not immediately decipherable... It demands a closer look. There is an attempt to communicate something, but the "written paintings" ask the viewer to actively set out to decipher what is there. We are not the merely passive receivers of the words, but we are asked to participate in a conversation.

Already we are in a different realm than the everyday world of words, which, more and more, are crafted so as to be quickly read and understood. Words have in many cases been reduced in our age to a means to and end. Words are how we understand how to get something done - buying, selling, informing, or getting from one place to another. The more transparent words are, the more useful, seems to be the conventional wisdom.

Words here in this show become not a means to an end, but actually a nexus of mystery and relationship. Relationship is the key word here, because often there is a dialogue going on the painting - a dialogue between two voices. Sometimes the dialogue is humorous, as in "He Said, She Said"; but more often the dialogue points at something more poignant.

In the paintings entitled "Letter to," one can't help but think of Emily Dickinson's "Letters to the World," and implicit is the idea of a soul in an almost heroic attempt at bridging a divide - sending a letter to reach the shores of another soul, almost like a message in a bottle cast into the sea.

This is interesting because in the era of e-mails and instant messaging, it has become true that a hand-written letter has suddenly become a rarity. The hand-written letter in this day and age signals a special care and attention, and a reaching out of a special kind.

Another thought: Just as Emily Dickinson took the metric of the traditional Protestant hymn, and used it as a foundation for a completely original and personal artistic expression - these paintings use the traditional form of calligraphy, and, while staying true to that tradition, charge the writing, the words, with an utterly personal and original meaning.

Another thought: the Protestant "motto," "Sola Scriptura," is here being given a second look. Yes, these are words, but they are also images! From the Cattholic point of view, this makes complete sense, because after all the "Word became FLESH, and dwelt among us." In their being willed into a picture, into a substantiality (of sorts), these word-pictures are a symbol of God's own creative activity. The word is not an abstract thing, but is tied to personal meanings, and personal history, tied to the world, and, even more importantly, tied to God's own ongoing conversation with the world!

And that, finally is what is most powerful about the paintings. Without being too heavy-handed about it, they allude constantly to God's own wish to converse with us - a conversation in which we are not just passive recipients, but in which we must RESPOND. In that conversation, we are caught up in a love, which while essential to our fulfillment, is at the same time an ever-present mystery.
The exhibition goes through December 30, 2005.

Saturday, December 17, 2005

Secondsight Meeting

The next Secondsight meeting will be held on Friday, January 27th at 6.30pm.

Secondsight is an organization dedicated to the advancement of women photographers through support, communication and sharing of ideas and opportunities.

The guest speaker for the January 27th Secondsight meeting is Paul Roth, Associate Curator of Photography and Media Arts, Corcoran Gallery of Art.

Paul Roth is responsible for the museum’s extensive collection of photographs and manages its active exhibition schedule. His areas of expertise are postwar American photography and the history of film.

Mr. Roth will be discussing a variety of issues, including "What makes a photograph 'fine art'"?

Please visit www.secondsightdc.com for more information.

Secondsight
PO Box 34405
Bethesda, MD 20827
www.secondsightdc.com
301/718-9651

Secrets

I missed the opening for PostSecret because of the bad weather and the fact that I was working till the last minute for my exhibit, but Alexandra Silverthorne didn't and she has great photos from the PostSecret opening here.

I'll be at the Georgetown gallery from noon until six PM today; come and say hi.

Friday, December 16, 2005

Articulation at Pyramid Atlantic

Recently I walked the frozen tundra of Georgia Avenue in order to visit some of the venues in Silver Spring’s December Art Walk. And the highlight of the walk was an amazing installation at Pyramid Atlantic.

Created by Francie Hester and a multitude of other persons, this collaborative installation (titled "Articulation") is a touching in memoriam for Diane Granat Yalowitz.

Diane Granat Yalowitz was a journalist and writer for Washingtonian Magazine, where she was a senior editor and writer covering immigration, medicine and counseling. She died last year at the age of 49.

I am not a big fan of installations; most of them are a waste of time and space. However, the installation at Pyramid Atlantic is simply amazing.

Under Hester’s direction, people and friends who knew Granat worked on a project to wrap about 20,000 paper clips with bits of paper from her publications. The paper clips were then linked and joined together to make strings that dangle from the ceiling of the vault inside Pyramid Atlantic.

The instant allegory, especially when touched, is that of rain or a tropical scene, especially since the installation also includes the accompanying music of percussionist Luis Garay, sung without words by Joan Phalen (I am told as dictated by the mystical Chassidic tradition of "nigun").

There’s also a hypnotizing element by Lisa Hill: a digital screen that dynamically shows the process of wrapping the paper clips. It reminded me of a code breaking computer attempting to decipher an encoded message. Hill noted that "words surfaced, then disappeared, then resurfaced," and on the computer screen, the words float in an out of the mystical digital surface of the screen.

This installation was one of the most moving examples of the genre that I have ever seen, and it made me reflect on the power of words and art, when married together by skilled artists delivering something new and memorable to the dialogue of that often maligned genre.

The exhibit at Pyramid Atlantic goes through December 23rd.

Tonight's the night

Working till the last minute for my yearly opening in Georgetown tonight from 6-9PM.

Just finished "American Justice," charcoal on Paper, 7 x 29 inches, and the original drawing is matted and framed under glass to 10x32 inches.

American Justice by Campello
See the other drawings here.

Cajun Christmas

Cajun Christmas is private home as a public art project by Laura Elkins running through January 28, 2006.

Cajun Christmas is a seasonal work painted by Elkins as

"if the devastation of the floodwaters in New Orleans has extended to my house on Capitol Hill. This work uses the house as painting support and is the latest piece in HOME wRAP, a group of monumental paintings that addresses the politicization of private life and the demise of domesticity."

Thursday, December 15, 2005

Orgasm Art

Rub here.

Annual Small Works at Multiple Exposures

One of my favorite photography galleries in the DMV area is Multiple Exposures (which used to be called Factory Photoworks). Located on the third floor of the Torpedo Factory, the gallery is home to some of the best photographers in our area, and certainly a treasure trove for photography collectors, as they usually have affordable (and excellent) work.

Kathleen Ewing, without a doubt one of the best fine arts photography experts in the world once wrote about this talented group: "Absorb the unique vision of these fourteen photographers. Through their eyes you will experience a moment in time, which you might not otherwise have seen. Enjoy their vision."

Their Annual Small Works show was juried by Kay Springwater (their monthly exhibitions are generally curated by invited jurors). Springwater selected 25 pieces for the exhibition, and from these my favorites were Link Nicoll’s amazing "Flying Baby," a spectacular image of a child cleverly photographed against a black background as if airborne. I also liked Colleen Henderson’s "Pamet Sound Blues," as well as a beautiful photo by Danny Conant, that amazing photographer who keeps re-inventing herself, titled "Yellow Roses," a pigmented print that exploits color as only a well versed photographer can do.

The exhibition runs through January 2, 2006.

Gray

The WaPo's Philip Kennicott has an interesting, if somewhat odd and out-of-place (for the WaPo that is) essay in today's paper.

Read The Bright Side of Gray here. (Kennicott would be in pure heaven if he lived in Seattle).

Panel on Homer

Renowned landscape artist Barbara Ernst Prey will be at the National Gallery of Art Sunday at 2:30 pm to speak on "The Watercolors of Winslow Homer."

Prey, who has a studio in Maine and lives on Long Island, joins Franklin Kelly, Curator of American and British Paintings at the National Gallery of Art and Judy Walsh, former National Gallery of Art Conservateur, in a Homer panel discussion.

Tapedude on On Tap





Read the article here.

Wednesday, December 14, 2005

Bloggers do art

DCist is kind enough to use one of my images to pick up on the fact that three DC area visual art Bloggers are having art shows this week.

Read DCist's Arts Agenda here.

Borf canned

WaPo reports on the Borf guilty plea.

"Under terms of the agreement with prosecutors, Tsombikos will have to pay $12,000 in restitution. He'll have to surrender just about anything he used to make graffiti, including stencils, spray paint and his computer.

And he'll have to do something that might be harder for him than jail time: remove graffiti. For 80 of the 200 hours of community service that he owes, Tsombikos must help rid the District of the sort of eyesores left by graffiti artists like him."
But this is the one that gets me:
"Tsombikos is scheduled to start classes next month at the Corcoran College of Art and Design, attorney Michael Madden told the judge.

So when the prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Alessio Evangelista, asked the judge to order Tsombikos to stay out of the District until the sentencing, Madden was concerned.

"This is an open city," Madden said, noting the District's status as the nation's capital. And on a practical level, Tsombikos lives in its suburbs and has friends in the District, Madden said.

But Leibovitz was unimpressed, pointing out that the teenager had just pleaded guilty to a felony.

Between now and his sentencing, she said, Tsombikos is allowed to come to the District for classes and court but for nothing else.

And she kept in place an order banning him from carrying art supplies of any sort -- an order that Madden said would be an undue hardship given Tsombikos's studies.

Once again, the judge didn't give any ground.

'Go to school,' she told Tsombikos, 'but you can't carry supplies to and from.' "
I'm sorry... WHAT?

An art student in the United States of America has been forbidden from carrying art supplies to and from art school?

All this has Bailey fired up!

Mapping It

Rebecca Hinton has a most interesting map derived from US Census data showing the number art, entertainment, and recreation establishments (i.e. music venues, art galleries, cultural sites, for each U.S. state, according to the 2002 census (generalized)).

I would suspect that the census data would not include venues (such as libraries and restaurants, etc.) that also regularly display art as part of their daily business, since that's not their census code. And I bet that in DC's case, it also does not include the dozens and dozens of art galleries that are located inside the foreign embassies in our city, since those are not (technically) located inside the U.S. nor are they U.S. businesses.

Click on the map or go here, to see a larger map.

Hinton Map of Census Art Data

Well done Rebecca! You get an A+ from DC Art News!

Crawl

Last night I first had dinner (some excellent Dominican food) at Los Arrieros in Silver Spring and then saw the ArtDC fundraiser exhibit (where I bought a tiny watercolor by Patricia Hartnett), then I walked the frozen tundra of Georgia Avenue and dropped by Pyramid Atlantic to see the amazing Francie Hester collaborative installation "Articulation," in memoriam for Diane Granat Yalowitz.

Earlier on the day I also saw the two art shows up at the Art League in Alexandria and also visited the current photography show at Multiple Exposures and the current show at Target Gallery.

More on all those later, as I have a superbusy day today!

Opening this weekend

The Mitch Snyder Arts & Education Center, dedicated to providing homeless people access to education, computers and the arts, is holding an art opening this weekend, showcasing work done by homeless Washingtonians as well as local artists involved with the program.

They are seeking to raise awareness about homelessness, showcase the work of our artists, and raise funds for the Center.

The openings are Friday Dec. 16th, 5:30 – 7:30 pm and Saturday Dec. 17th, 12:00 – 2:00 pm. The openings feature recent artwork by Clive Turner, Qin Xi Lin & Lucy Umberger; a new exhibit: The Steps of Homelessness, which is a stairway display of poetry and artwork by residents of CCNV homeless shelter; new & used art sale to benefit the Arts Center, and music and refreshments.

Mitch Snyder Arts & Education Center
117 D St. NW, 2nd floor
Washington, DC 20001
202-393-1909 ext.300

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

DC Arts Commission Grants

Deadlines: January 18 and 20, 2006.

The New Media and Audio Program offers individual grants of up to $10,000 to artists and arts organizations for support of innovative New Media and Audio projects. Deadline: Jan 18, 2006.

There's also a "Folk Arts Mini Grants" of $1000.00 each. That deadline is January 18, 2006. The Folk & Traditional Arts Mini-Grant (FTA) offers quick response small-scaled grants up to $1,000 to artists and arts organizations practicing or supporting folk traditions.

For more info, go to this website and click on "Opportunities for Artists."

There's a "How to Apply" workshop at the Arts Commission on December 15th from 6 - 7 pm. (it is free). Call them for more info at 202-724-5613.

Wanna go to an opening tonight?

There is an opening at Los Arrieros Restaurant (7926 Georgia Ave., Silver Spring, MD) starting at 7PM. This exhibition is the artdc.org fund raiser. All artwork is for sale ranging from $50-$300.

If you believe in artdc.org and have a few bucks to spare, stop by and buy some art. 70% goes to the artist directly. The rest will be used to help them with marketing or printing costs, snail mail, and other promo avenues.

ArtDC.org has been growing in leaps and bounds and now has 685 registered users. Some of the artists in this show include: Vèrta Reyes, Matt Achhammer, Angela Kleis, Heather Levy, Kim Reyes, Robin Walker, Jessie Marie Maraschiello, Joshua Yospyn, Eric Reiffenstein, Rose Kane, Lola Akinmade, Matt Billings, Erin Antognoli, Andy Cleavenger, Lee Vaughan, John Spaulding, Mara Odette, Virginia Nostrand, Sheffied Burroughs, Christopher Goodwin, Richard Chu, Antoinette Wysocki, Darren Smith, J. Halloran, Behnam Farahpour, Patricia Hartnett and Stephanie Booth.