Investing In Creativity

Attribution for this image.

Thanks James Alefantis, collector and restaurateur extraordinaire, for sending me this link to a piece entitled: "Why Artists need More Than Creativity to Survive".

This research identifies the critical contribution that artists make to our society and economic the difficulty of being an artist.

Throughout our history, artists in the U.S. have utilized their skills as a vehicle to illuminate the human condition, contribute to the vitality of their communities and to the broader aesthetic landscape, as well as to promote social change and democratic dialogue. Artists have also helped us interpret our past, define the present, and imagine the future. In spite of these significant contributions, there's been an inadequate set of support structures to help artists, especially younger, more marginal or controversial ones, to realize their best work. Many artists have struggled and continue to struggle to make ends meet. They often lack adequate resources for health care coverage, housing, and for space to make their work. Still, public as well as private funding for artists has been an uneven, often limited source of support even in the best of times economically.

The research then suggests ways to improve the situation.

...improving support structures for artists in the U.S. will not be accomplished simply by restoring budget cuts, though we will certainly need to rebuild these kinds of direct financial support going forward. Making a real difference in the creative life of artists will entail developing a new understanding and appreciation for who artists are and what they do, as well as financial resources from a variety of stakeholders. Achieving these changes involves a long-term commitment from artists themselves, as well as arts administrators, funders, governments at various levels, community developers and real estate moguls, not to mention the business and civic sectors (emphasis added).

It's simply not enough to rely on government grants. Supporting a creative community requires participation by many stakeholders, including art collectors! I've said it before and I'll say it again, though buying paintings is an important way collectors can support artists, there are many other ways that collectors can participate in developing a thriving art community. And it doesn't take lots of dough to move beyond a passive role, just a little creative thinking.

[speechless]

Sweet Jesus.




(Bless you TG.)

Becks thrills

Nice abs.

Good art

One thing that seems to prevent some from becoming art collectors is a lack of confidence in their own ability to identify "good" art. Prompted by a dispute over whether the above Warhol painting is really a Warhol if it was created by a former studio assistant without Warhol's oversight, blogger-dealer Ed Winkleman ponders this topic. In the context of whether this painting is worth $3,000,000, we believe Warhol is a good artist who made good art. This painting was made by someone who was trained by Warhol in a manner that is indistinguishable from a real Warhol. Ergo, this painting is good art. I don't know if that is true, but it spurs a good conversation about how we decide what is good art. Be sure to read the comments on Winkleman's post; I particularly liked this quotation that someone posted about Sol LeWitt's work:

“He also liked the inherent impermanence of Conceptual art, maybe because it dovetailed with his lack of pretense: having started to make wall drawings for exhibitions in the 1960s, he embraced the fact that these could be painted over after the shows. (Walls, unlike canvases or pieces of paper, kept the drawings two-dimensional, he also thought.) He wasn’t making precious one-of-a-kind objects for posterity, he said. Objects are perishable. But ideas need not be. ”

For me, good art is not about the object, though I like and collect objects, rather good art is defined by the good idea behind it. I like to collect good ideas.

Graf on 5th Avenue

(Photo: David Gonzalez/The New York Times)

The Lord & Taylor department store has commissioned the South Bronx crew to create a graffiti installation for its store windows on 5th Avenue in NYC. See here for the whole story.

All my friends at Recognize

I love DC Mag's coverage of the Recognize opening at the Portrait Gallery a few months ago because all my friends got to be in the pictures! Good to see different faces showing up on the pages of Scene In DC.

Henry Thaggert interviews Nekisha Durrett

Nekisha is fourth from left, Henry is third from right, Jeffry is dead center.
(c) Tony Powell

In May 2008, Henry Thaggert, a great DC art collector and a co-curator (with Jeffry Cudlin) of the exhibition She's So Articulate at the Arlington Arts Center, spoke to Nekisha Durrett about the meaning behind her work; about how an African American artist came to make Japanese inspired drawings, and about whether she is a Diva. Read this fascinating interview here.

“She’s So Articulate: Black Women Artists Reclaim the Narrative” is a new exhibition at the Arlington Arts Center in Arlington, Virginia, that examines storytelling techniques in art made by black female artists. The show explores the art world’s longstanding, sometimes dismissive, assumptions about African American narrative art, black female artists’ connections to shared culture and history, and the ways in which those connections get articulated in recent contemporary fine art. The exhibition, which runs through July 2008, draws context from the art world’s fascination with Kara Walker, a MacArthur Foundation “Genius” grant winner who recently had a mid-career retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art. Walker, an African-American artist, creates larger-than-life cutout caricatures of antebellum slaves and their white masters. Her narratives reference testimonial slave accounts, historical novels and minstrel shows.

“She’s So Articulate” attempts to expand the discussion beyond Walker’s concerns about the traumatic impact of slavery on its victims and survivors. For example one of the artists, Nekisha Durettt, tells a cryptic fairy tale using a multi-paneled installation that seems to be a hybrid of Japanese manga-styling and Kara Walker’s room-sized antebellum scenes.

Old news is still good news

Took me awhile to get this scanned and posted, but here's an article about Wreckfest@Tiffany's that appeared in the Arlington Connection back in April. The author Greg Wyshynski quotes Arlington Arts Center Exhibits Director Jeffry Cudlin about the show:

No, graffiti in a gallery isn't groundbreaking or edgy and hasn't been for decades. But Philippa's stated goal isn't to shock; it's to make visual art accessible to audiences that it might not traditionally reach.

Exactly. I'd say we succeeded given the numbers of people who showed up at the closing party and given the amount of art we sold that night to both first-time art buyers and experienced collectors who'd never purchased graffiti art before.

Girlish Ways on Saturday

An extra reminder to go see Girlish Ways on Saturday night! Opens at 7 pm @ the Bobby Fisher Memorial Building, 1644 North Capitol Street, NW.

"It is difficult to be a woman and be likeable."

I was just talking to Leila Holtsman about how much we admired Louise Bourgeois and then discovered that a movie about her life opened yesterday in NYC. Might have to make a special trip to see it.

From the New York Times:

The uncommonly elegant and evocative portrait “Louise Bourgeois: The Spider, the Mistress and the Tangerine” reveals much about this haunting and haunted master while leaving intact what Georges Braque once wrote was the only thing that mattered in art: the thing you cannot explain.

You don't have to be a Rockefeller...

You don't have to be a Rockefeller to collect art.
He was a postal clerk. She was a librarian.
With their modest means, the couple managed to build one of the most important contemporary art collections in history.

Meet Herbert and Dorothy Vogel, whose shared passion and commitment defied stereotypes and redefined what it means to be an art collector.

Your assignment: see this movie and find out that just about anyone can become an important art collector.

"In the early 1960s, when very little attention was paid to Minimalist and Conceptual Art, Herb and Dorothy quietly began purchasing the works of unknown artists. Devoting all of Herb's salary to buy art, and living on Dorothy's paycheck alone, they continued collecting artworks guided by two rules: the piece had to be affordable, and small enough to fit in their one-bedroom Manhattan apartment. Within these limitations, they proved themselves curatorial visionaries; most of those they supported and befriended went on to become world-renowned artists. Their circle includes: Sol LeWitt, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Richard Tuttle, Chuck Close, Robert and Sylvia Mangold, Lynda Benglis, Pat Steir, Robert Barry, Lucio Pozzi and Lawrence Weiner.

"Thirty years on, the Vogels had managed to accumulate over 4,000 pieces, filling every corner of their living space from the bathroom to the kitchen. "Not even a toothpick could be squeezed into the apartment," recalls Dorothy. Their apartment was near collapse, holding way over its limit - something had to be done.

"In 1992, the Vogels made headlines that shocked the art world: their entire collection was moved to the National Gallery of Art, the vast majority of it as an outright gift to the institution. Many of the works they acquired at modest prices appreciated so significantly that their collection became worth several million dollars, yet the Vogels never sold a single piece to breakdown the collection.

"Herb and Dorothy still live in the same apartment today- with 19 turtles, lots of fish, one cat -once completely emptied, now refilled again with piles of artworks.

"The Vogels' discerning taste and magnanimity changed the face of contemporary art collecting. In 2007, James Stourton, the chairman of Sotheby's UK, included the Vogels in his acclaimed book, Great Collectors of Our Time: Art Collecting Since 1945. Stourton placed Herb and Dorothy among the top art collectors in the world, alongside Getty, Rockefeller and Mellon.

"While there are countless films that feature artists, there are few about art collectors. Herb and Dorothy provides a unique chronicle of the world of contemporary art from two unlikely collectors, whose shared passion and discipline defies stereotypes and redefines what it means to be a patron of the arts..."

Creative genius happy hour

Creative Genius Networking Happy Hour
Calling all writers, poets, artists, dancers, musicians, and other creative geniuses! Join us for drinks and casual networking.

Thursday, June 26
6:30 - 8 pm
@ Aroma
3417 Connecticut Ave, NW
(near the Cleveland Park metro)

Arty stuff this week . . .

Screams & Screens
Curated by Panache and "Process & Alchemy: New Directions & Alternative Processes in Screen-printing, Work from the Hand Print Workshop International."
June 27 - July 26

Opening reception:
Friday, June 27
7 - 9 pm
@ Civilian Art Projects
406 7th Street, NW



Crafty Bastards in Silver Spring
Saturday, June 28
10 am - 5 pm
@ Pyramid Atlantic Art Center
8230 Georgia Avenue
Silver Spring, MD


Gina Brocker
June 28 - July 26

Opening reception:
Saturday, June 28
6 - 8 PM

Book signing and meet the artist: 3 - 4 PM
Artist’s talk and discussion: 5 - 6 PM

@ Irvine Contemporary
1412 14th Street, NW


E5: Rangefinder
July 2 - August 2

Featuring:
Kristina Bilonick
Michael Matason
Jillian Pichocki
Bryan Whitson

Artist talk:
Saturday, June 28
4 pm

Opening reception:
Saturday, June 28
5 - 7 pm
@ Transformer
1404 P Street, NW



Kenro Izu, “Bhutan: The Sacred Within”, recent photographs of the people and landscape of the last Himalayan kingdom.
June 28 - August 1

Opening reception:
Saturday, June 28
5 - 7 pm
@ Addison/Ripley Fine Art
1670 Wisconsin Avenue, NW

Girlish Ways
Curated by Rachel Fick and Marissa Botelho

Opening Reception:
Saturday, June 28
7 - 10 pm
@ Bobby Fisher Memorial House
1644 North Capitol Street NW

Pics from Hirshhorn After Hours

Dakota Fine has taken some faboo pictures AGAIN for Brightest Young Things. This time, he covers Hirshhorn After Hours.

Art in Berlin

A piece about Berlin in the New York Times Travel Section yesterday as an art destination. I spent several days there last summer and fell in love with this beautiful city. Art of every kind pervades every part of the city. I was especially smitten with a private museum housed in a former wartime bunker. The guy who owned the place and the collection lives in a fab penthouse on top of the building.

Stennett and Cotton

One of my fave artists Adam Stennett in conversation with another awesome artist Will Cotton in the June 2008 issue of Whitehot Magazine. Adam says:

[A]rt-making is simply setting up a problem and finding a solution. Some problems are more compelling and some solutions are more effective.

DC Mag is fun

Nice mentions in DC Magazine this month:

Forget the art--the serious bites of eye candy are the artists themselves, along with the the posh spots where thay hang. It's hard to miss eclectic hotshots like Kathryn Cornelius, Kelly Towles, Jason Wright, Lisa Marie Thalhammer and Tim Conlon, but you have to be in the right place. Head to the super-cool studio space at 52 O Street, the chic Civilian Art Projects, posh pizzeria Comet Ping Pong, the ever-hip Hirshhorn Afterhours, or practically anything hosted by Philippa Hughes's Pink Line Project, Brightest Young Things or the hottest thing on H Street, Dissident Display, to get a glimpse at how this stylish set rolls.

Art Opening For Jason Horowitz
The Party: DC's artsy insiders headed over to the home of Andrea Evers and Brian Aitken to view Jason Horowitz's latest work. The Players: James Alefantis, Maria Hutcheson, Veronica Jaskcon, Philippa Hughes and Andrea Pollan checked out the artist's fine, albeit fleshy, photos. Best In Show: Guests enjoyed a cool talk given by art guru Henry Thaggert. --Tiffany Jow.

Review of Henry's show!

Nice review in the Washington Post today of She's So Articulate at Arlington Arts Center. Guest curator Henry Thaggert writes about this exhibit:

[Kara] Walker "owns the black narrative," and his exhibition marks "an attempt to reclaim the narrative" from her.

Jessica Dawson responds:

Indeed, the sum of "She's So Articulate" complicates -- in a interesting way -- a post-Kara Walker art world. And if a black woman artist wields enough influence to spawn a show, then I'd call that a victory.

Kudos to Jeffry Cudlin at the AAC for co-curating such a great show.

Hirshhorn dinner in the garden

Philippa et Philippe!

The Hirshhorn hosted a wonderful dinner in the garden to celebrate the Isaac Julien lecture last night. The ole Hirsh has really been kicking it up a notch lately and is attracting some super fabulous and interesting people into its circle. Tonight: After Hours!

My best frenemy* Xavier Equihua and his posse: Philippe Lanier, Sarah Heideman, Amy Zimmerman, and Charles Lancaster.

*When I say frenemy in this case, I mean that I think this guy rocks! So cool!

AM Radio

Amanda Hess over at the City Paper wrote a nice piece about my buddies at AM Radio. They've figured out how to make great art that can also act as social commentary with the support of corporate sponsors.

Cool rainbow

Did anyone catch the rainbows yesterday evening? Wow.
This image taken by sssdc.

Public museums showing private collections?

Cheech Marin (yes, THAT Cheech) has been collecting Chicano art for years. In a personal crusade to integrate Chicano artists into the maistream contemporary art world, he assembled an exhibition from his collection and has been displaying it around the country for seven years. After much wrangling, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art has finally agreed to exhibit the works. They refused initicially because they did not want to show individual collections.

In related news, the Art Newspaper reports that the Leipzig's Gallery of Contemporary Art, which receives a great deal of public funding, will host, but not curate, a series of exhibitions featuring individual collections. This decision has come under great fire.

The museum’s director, Barbara Steiner, defends the initiative, describing it as an “open experiment in the way that public and private resources can be used together”.

. . .

There are fears that it blurs the boundaries between public and commercial interests. Ms Steiner disagrees, saying the project is shedding light on an issue which needs discussing in Germany—that private museums are “manoeuvring public institutions out of the limelight”.

Dr Dercon, the director of the Haus der Kunst in Munich, says: “You can raise questions about public and private museums, but what we need to discuss is the usurping of intellectual power by the commercial world.” Dr Dercon criticised some contemporary collectors, saying many viewed art collections as “luxury goods”. He adds: “We all deal, with private collectors and many, especially old master collectors, have been generous with loans, gifts and sharing scholarship, much more so, in fact, than many contemporary art collectors.”

He criticised the Leipzig initiative, saying “it may be intelligent [politically] but it is not intellectual and if we are trying to find a way to work with the private sector, this is not it. It is partly an issue of public responsibility and partly an issue of transparency. One of the biggest problems in the art world is that the same people can be critics, curators, dealers, crypto-collectors, even museum directors. I don’t think this is going to shed much light on what is an opaque situation.”

I fully support individuals showing their collections to the public. Besides curiosity about what other people collect, I think it's a bad idea to squirrel away behind closed doors great art that has the potential to effect change in the world. Plus, I think collectors have an influential role to play in the art world that should be made more public. But that role may need to be better defined.

The mission of a public insitution is going to be different from that of an individual, therefore, individual collectors should find creative ways to show their collections and promote their goals by using private funds, in private settings. Cheech Marin's intentions have great merit and I applaud him for his single-minded focus on promoting Chicano art. But maybe he should direct his efforts at helping LACMA mount a Chicano art show that is curated and scholarly instead of a mere exhibition of his own collection, which I understand is not the best representation of Chicano art anyway and may actually diminish the importance of this these artists in the history of contemporary art.

Better than therapy!

More reasons in USA Today why roller derby is awesome!

"I'm actually very sweet and girly off the track but utterly relentless on the track — a bit of a bruiser, really," Cross says. "Jammers are pretty scared of me. But that's half the fun of derby: You get to be someone else. It's better than therapy."

Social networks' impact on the art scene

More from Cooltown Studios about how social networks influence the art scene:

In the previous entry we looked at Elizabeth Currid's The Economics of a Good Party and the process by which arts and culture added to the economy. Today, we look at Elizabeth's answer to the question, "How does the social community (ie the patrons, the attendees, the participants) influence the emergence of arts and culture that then translates to economic impact?" Her four ways:

1. Access to gatekeepers both formally and informally - Gatekeepers are defined as the purveyors of taste, so if you're friends with them, you're directly influencing the source.
2. Interaction across art/culture sectors - A bit related to branding as well as the experience economy, music for instance, becomes more appealing when it's associated with inspired venues and events.
3. Establishment of "weak ties" - This speaks to the power of community, where just being associated within a certain scene long enough will eventually bring you to the relationships you'll need, via 'weak ties', to the 'strong ties' that invest in your idea.
4. Distinction and emergence of taste, genre and subculture - See Yelp!, where visitors to the site don't check out the critics' reviews, they peruse their peers. This is word of mouth in one of its most efficient and effective forms.

Video from Art-O-Sound

Nifty video of David London's video installation, Imagine, at Art-O-Sound last week.

Arty stuff this week . . .

Hemphill Fine Arts features work by:
David Byrne
Colby Caldwell
William Christenberry
Steven Cushner
Jason Gubbiotti
Max Hirshfeld
Franz Jantzen
Robin Rose
Sharon Sanderson

Reception:
Wednesday, June 18
6 - 8:30 pm
@ Lofts 11 Penthouse

1125 11th Street, NW

Neermala Luckeenaran Mauritus, "The Sorrows of Women"

Project 3: Empowered By Artistry
June 14 - August 30

Opening:
Wednesday, June 18
6:30 - 8:30 pm
@ Sewall-Belmont House & Museum
144 Constitution Ave., NE
(next to the Hart Senate Office Building)

Please RSVP, in the positive only, to rsvp@sewallbelmont.org.

Poetic Voices From the Harlem Renaissance to Today
Readings: E. Ethelbert Miller and Hari Jones
Discussion following led by: Fred Joiner
Thursday, June 19
7:30 pm
@ Phillips Collection
21st at Q Street

Once Again, Again: Rhythm and Repetition
Juried by Annie Gawlak, Director of G Fine Art
June 19 - July 26

Artists:
Jessie Lehson
Kyan Bishop
Mary Early
Suzi Fox
Pat Goslee
Jose Varela
Linn Meyers
Kay Hwang
Ryan Hill
J.T. Kirkland
Jay Lee
Joey Manlapaz
Cory Oberndorfer
Thom Sawyer
Linda Hesh

Reception and Gallery Talk:
Thursday, June 19
7 – 9 pm
@ McLean Project For the Arts
1234 Ingleside Drive
McLean, VA

Personal Perspectives and A Twist on the Ordinary
Reception:
Thursday, June 19
5:30 - 9 pm
@ Howard County Arts Council
8510 High Ridge Road
Ellicott City, MD

The Cinema Effect, Part II: Realities Illusion, Reality, and the Moving Image
Meet the Artist: Isaac Julien
Thursday, June 19
7 pm
@ Hirshhorn Ring Auditorium

Richard Edson
Beyond the Valley of the Micro Bops
Curated by Annie Adchavanich
June 19 - June 29

Opening:
Thursday, June 19
8 - 11 pm
@ Backroom Gallery at Jackie's
8081 Georgia Avenue
Silver Spring, MD

Hirshhorn After Hours
Friday, June 20
8 pm - midnight
$10 for members - $12 for nonmembers
Buy tickets here.

Hillyer Open Mic Event
H.O.M.E.
Friday, June 20
6 - 9 pm
@ Hillyer Art Space
9 Hillyer Court (behind the Phillips)

Ken Matsuzaki
Artist talk:
Friday, June 20
7 - 9 pm
@ The Art League
105 North Union Street
Alexandria, VA

Every Friday
Free before 10 pm
@ Gallery
Silver Spring, MD

Thierry Guillemin
Ebbs and Flows
June 18 - July 12

Artists Reception:
Friday, June 20
6 - 8 pm
@ Studio Gallery
2108 R Street, NW

Amuata Marston-Firmino
Friday, June 20
6 - 8 PM
@ Artspace
614 S Street, NW

Richard Vosseller
Failure Is An Option
June 11 - July 11

Opening:
Saturday, June 21
5:30 - 7:30 pm
@ Black Rock Center For the Arts
12901 Town Commons Drive
Germantown, MD

X and PULSE
Saturday, June 21
6 pm - 3 am
@ Bebar 1318
9th Street, NW

Ripple Effecting Oceans

Erik Abel and DC Surfrider Celebrate International Surfing Day

Saturday, June 21
noon to midnight
@ Art Whino
173 Waterfront Street
National Harbor

"Economics Of a Good Party"

Great piece today from Cooltown Studios about why a good party is important to creative economic development.

How does art and culture translate into economic value? Elizabeth Currid, author of The Warhol Economy presents an invaluable scientific view on an industry regarded as anything but in her article, The Economics of a Good Party: Social Mechanics and the Legitimization of Art/Culture.

Simply speaking, arts and culture establishes economic value the more it's recognized as a scene, when people pay to share in the experience via goods or events. The real question is, how does it become a scene in the first place?

Elizabeth details the process through three role players: cultural gatekeepers, cultural commodity intermediaries, and the social community of consumers:

• The gatekeepers are the equivalent of the Renaissance's Medici, the purveyors of talent and taste that have earned such a reputation through success, whether it's a renowned designer or just someone who knows how to throw great parties. Once a gatekeeper identifies a cultural find, they work with...

• The intermediaries who represent the distribution channels (eg nightclubs, stores, parties) that provide consumer access to the 'chosen' associated cultural products and services. Place-specific reputation, exclusivity and rarity are context-oriented influencers.

Then there's the cultural social network representing the market itself that not only makes or breaks a cultural trend, but is playing an increasingly larger role in influencing the economic viability of artistic and cultural taste, especially in a rising crowdsourcing economy...

Lego relativity

An impressive rendition of Escher's "Ascending and Descending."

Salon revival

"At what age did you become yourself?"
Marie-Laure de Noailles

Mabel Dodge:

Graffiti wii

Plug this thing into your wii and write graffiti!

(Thanks James!)

Legos are still fun

Lego reconstructions of classic images. Ha!

(Thanks Richard!)

Lots of pics from Art-O-Sound

As promised, pictures from Art-O-Sound by Joe Flood. Above, Brandon Fortune and Anne Goodyear stopped in to take in some performance art and relax in the Scion lounge.

Note the cute Billy Colbert original I am wearing called the "Cheap Dress." You too will soon be able to acquire unique garb by one of DC's exceptional artists. Check back here in a couple weeks for more info. Actually check back here every single day.

There Were Ten Tigers posted some cute pics from the event too.
Anyone Can Learn To Paint did too!
Vince Gallegos took some great pics as well!

She's So Articulate - TONIGHT!

I'm posting this again because my good friend Henry Thaggert co-curated it so I know it's going to be fantastic.

SHE’S SO ARTICULATE:

Black Women Artists Reclaim the Narrative

June 10 – July 19

Artists:
Maya Asante, Renee Cox, Stephanie Dinkins, Djakarta, Nekisha Durrett, Torkwase Dyson, Faith Ringgold, Erika Ranee, Nadine Robinson, Renee Stout, and Lauren Woods.

Reception:
Friday, June 13
6 – 9 pm
@ Arlington Arts Center
3550 Wilson Boulevard

Art-O-Sound recap

HUGE thanks to everyone who made Art-O-Sound a HUGE success last night! Especially David London and Anthony Wills who stepped up at the last minute when emergencies prevented two of the scheduled artists from performing. David dazzled us with provocative performance art magic. Anthony danced, sang, and bared his soul. Ding Ren started the night off with an attention grabbing construction paper/drum kit conceptualization and Bonner Sale ended the evening with a soothing guitar solo about peace.

Many more thanks to David London for sharing his interactive video installation, Imagine.

And thanks Invisible Flow for providing great music!

And thanks to all the folks at Artomatic and Bridget Lambert for all your logistical support.

And thanks most of all to Scion for making this all happen through their sponsorship support.

More images soon from faboo photographer Joe Flood!

Whoa.

[sound of jaw dropping]

thanks again c-monster for being such a great source of awesome info!

Does art crticism matter?

The Guardian published an interesting article about the alleged demise of good art criticism and its influence if it ever had any called "Has big money replaced the pundit as the true authority in the art world?" by Adrian Searle.

Never has the art market been stronger. Never has money been so powerful. Never have so many artists got so rich, and never has there been such alarming stuff on sale. Never have critics felt so out of the loop.

People blame all the money sluicing round the art world. They blame the internet and the rise of the blogger. They blame the dumbing-down of newspapers and the replacement of criticism with the sparkling, if vapid, preview featurette, and the artist-as-celebrity photo opportunity profile. Who cares about the art or the concepts? They're just the MacGuffin. Tell us about the parties, the openings, the drugs and the dresses. Artists are creative, and creative is sexy and good. Critics are a comedown. Some have hair sprouting from their ears. They're always complaining; they're untrustworthy; they're full of hate and spite and they make everything all so complicated, when all we're really trying to do is sell a lifestyle. Fuck 'em.

Sure there's some bad art out there, but I wonder how much influence big dollars really have on the quality of art that is being produced. Probably about as much influence as art criticism wields. Just because some people spend a lot of money on art doesn't make it great art. It just means that a lot of people are buying into a lifestyle, and in our culture of celebrity and brand worship, that matters a lot and therefore garners the most media attention. We'll have to wait to see which of these high-priced artists stand the test of time to find out if these high prices were really worth it. In the meantime, there is plenty of great art out there that is plenty affordable and is more relevant to the emerging collector than a $100,000,000 diamond-encrusted skull. (Although I do think the skull is kinda cool.)

Anyway, I always advise emerging art collectors to seek out as much information as possible and one good way to do this is to read art criticism. Problem is that art critics often write using nonsensical language that is impossible to read and therefore it is impossible to learn anything by reading it. But when it's written well, it can be abundantly instructive and a fantastic way to guide emerging collectors through the art world labyrinth.

In a somewhat related piece, Brad Pitt threw around a few hundred thousand dollars at Basel last week on some art that some people didn't appreciate.

Girlish Ways

Girlish Ways:
A selection of eleven artists under the age of 35 investigate how contemporary lifestyles effect and re-define the women of this generation.

Curated by Rachel Fick and Marissa Botelho
Sponsored by ArtCadeForum.com and The Pink Line Project

Artists:
Satomi Shirai
Amy Misurelli Sorenson
Amber Hawk Swanson
Pierette Montone
Lauren Bender
Sara Hubbs
Trish Tillman
Meg Onli
Pamela Norrish
Zoe Blackwell
Lauren Rice

Opening Reception:
Saturday, June 28
7 - 10 pm with live performance art and local music talent
@ Bobby Fisher Memorial House
1644 North Capitol Street, NW

Exhibition:
June 28 - July 13
Open on Saturday and Sundays 12 pm - 5 pm, and by appointment.

Art-O-Sound

Art-O-Sound

Thursday, June 12
7 - 9:30 pm
@ Artomatuc 2008
6th Floor Scion lounge
1st and M Streets, NE

Performance art:
7:30 Ding Ren - "Bible Kiss Bible"
7:45 Lauren Bender - "Translation Day"
8:30 Matt Sargent - "Living In the Pulsing Light"
8:45 Bonner Sale - "Lonely Heavy Gunner"

Video installation:
David London - "Imagine"

Music:
Invisible Flow

Beer!

Horowitz again

I think everyone probably knows by now how much I love Jason Horowitz's photographs. Here's a little something about him on phillips art expert.

Jason Horowitz's provocative and arresting large-scale photographs have stopped people in their tracks. Working at the intersection of landscape and anonymous portraiture, Horowitz finds new ground to explore about the human body, not an easy task in our image-saturated society. Horowitz plays with the tension between attraction and repulsion. By exploding scale, he reveals not only the fascinating visual terrain of the body but also challenges our own hidden or unspoken biases about beauty, ugliness, body image, race, sexuality, aging, and the thresholds of exhibitionism.

Arty stuff this week . . .

Art-O-Sound

Thursday, June 12
7 - 9:30 pm
@ Artomatic 2008
6th Floor Scion Lounge
1st and M Street, NE

Performance art:
7:30 Ding Ren - "Bible Kiss Bible"
7:45 Lauren Bender - "Translation Day"
8:30 Matt Sargent - "Living In the Pulsing Light"
8:45 Bonner Sale - "Lonely Heavy Gunner"

Video installation:
David London - "Imagine"

Music:
Invisible Flow

Beer!



Deborah Addison Coburn
Body Piercing
June 5 - July 7

Opening reception:
Thursday, June 12
6:30 - 8:30 pm
@ The Art League Gallery
105 North Union Street
Alexandria

Kid Mutiny
Curated by my buddy Ellen Tani!

Artists:
Peter Chang
Brandon Hill
Steve Strawn
Andrew Wodzianski
Debra Yarrington
June 13 - July 13

Opening reception:
Friday, June 13
7 - 9 pm
@ DCAC
2438 18th Street, NW

Kyle Miller
June 3 - June 28

Opening Reception:
Friday, June 13
6:30 - 8:30 p.m.
@ Space 7:10
963 Bonifant Street
Silver Spring, MD



SHE’S SO ARTICULATE:
Black Women Artists Reclaim the Narrative
June 10 – July 19

Artists:
Maya Asante, Renee Cox, Stephanie Dinkins, Djakarta, Nekisha Durrett, Torkwase Dyson, Faith Ringgold, Erika Ranee, Nadine Robinson, Renee Stout, and Lauren Woods.

Reception:
Friday, June 13
6 – 9 pm
@ Arlington Arts Center
3550 Wilson Boulevard



Artist talk with Jason Zimmerman and a closing party for his exhibition "Feel better, longer."

Friday, June 13
7 pm
@ Civilian Art Projects
406 7th Street, NW



AQUEOUS
June 13 - August 22

Featuring work by:
Luciana Abait, Olaf Otto Becker, Janet Biggs, Jacob Kainen, Robert Longo,
Theresa Marchetta, Susannah Sayler (The Canary Project), Emma Tapley, Ray Charles White

Opening Reception:
Friday, June 13
6:00 - 8:00
@ Carroll Square Gallery
975 F Street, NW

Tim Davis PORTRAITS
Leonard Dawson COMMON THREAD
June 12 - July 12

Opening Reception:
Saturday, June 14
6:30 - 9:00 pm
@ International Visions Gallery
2629 Connecticut Avenue, NW

Private art museums

Interesting piece in the Art Newspaper about art collectors who open independent museums. Besides the possibility of benefiting from tax breaks, a private museum seems like a great opportunity to share your collection with more people than only those who get invited over for dinner once in a while. Sure there's an element of showing off, but I think there's something particularly powerful about a private art collection. An art collection can reveal a lot about the collector. I admire anyone who makes themselves vulnerable by putting themselves on public display in this way. Not only are you revealing things about yourself, but you open yourself up to possible criticism, something that I admire artists for being able to do.

Last week's City Paper spotlighted local mega art collector Mitch Rales' private and mysterious private museum Glenstone. According to Kerry Brougher, Rales believes in the power of art:

“He’s one of these truly different kinds of collectors that mostly don’t exist today,” says Kerry Brougher, a curator at the Hirshhorn Museum. “He is someone like a Count Giuseppe Panza [an Italian industrialist and art collector] who truly believes in the transformative power of art and wants to build a truly great collection filled with the very best art he can manage to acquire.”

I can't wait to check it out!

If you want an easy way to see a private collection, Transformer's Collectors Views series offers a fun and fundraising opportunity to poke around the home of Peter and Jan Hapstack this Thursday.

And I liked this quotation from the Art Newspaper article mentioned above:

“At the end of the day, you can’t hang money on your wall,” said Mr. Margulies. “The only reason I like money is you can buy art with it.”

DC galleries are great!

Blake Gopnik reviews Transformer's current show.


Time magazine featured Barbara Probst last week. Probst shows at G Fine Art.



Jefferson Pinder, who also shows at G Fine Art, got a nice little mention in the New York Times.



Art Papers reviewed the Charles Cohan exhibition "Airfield" at Curator's Office a couple months ago.

Kevin Kepple at Addison Ripley

Why haven't you seen Kevin Kepple's new show at Addison Ripley yet?

Kevin Kepple utilizes a unique combination of assorted glues, handmixed inks, and varnishes to create his richly textured, luminescent abstract paintings. While these works may at first appear to be comprised of random and haphazard patterns, the fluidity and immediacy reveals itself to be thoughtfully applied and deliberately weaved. Amazingly, the movement, energy, and emotion conveyed by Kepple's work is in direct contrast to his chosen medium. Kepple is a Washington, DC, based artist who grew up in rural southwestern Pennsylvania.

Street art stickers for your car

I'm planning to apply these groovy street art inspired vinyl stickers to my jalopy as soon as they're available on infectious.com! I hope the grumpy neighbors at 14th and T don't report me to the police! (I live just a couple blocks from them.)

More info here.

Everyone's jumping!

From the Art Newspaper.

Apply for a solo show at the Arlington Arts Center

Another item that is not exactly within the realm of my usual art collecting rally cry, but I think the Arlington Arts Center is faboo and I get to be on the selection committee this year. So send in your applications so I can take a look!

Solo Shows 2009
Call for entries
Arlington Arts Center

DOWNLOAD APPLICATION (pdf)


Application deadline July 1, 2008
Notification date September 30, 2008

Selection process: Submissions will be reviewed by jurors Anne Ellegood, Curator for the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, and Philip Barlow, notable Washington, D.C. art collector--along with the curators, artists, and other art professionals who serve on AAC's Exhibitions Committee.

Eligibility: AAC's Solos highlight the best contemporary fine art being produced in all media across the mid-Atlantic region. All artists living or working in Virginia, Washington DC, Maryland, West Virginia, Delaware, and Pennsylvania may submit exhibition proposals. To be considered, existing works must have been completed within the last 3 years.

Solo exhibitions: Ten to fifteen artists will be selected for solo exhibitions to take place in 2009 in one of AAC's seven galleries and on the grounds, which can accommodate outdoor sculpture. Proposals that specifically consider AAC's space, layout, and surrounding environs are encouraged.

Ellipse show reviewed in Bust magazine

"The Thread Is the Line" at the Ellipse Art Center in Arlington is getting lots of attention. Why? Because it's a good show.

Sewing and embroidery have long been applied to garments that hang in a closet, but increasingly, these age-old techniques can be found in artwork that hangs on the wall. The elevation of needlework to fine art has taken on new and exciting life via a movement of artists who often refer to their work as paintings - not craft- regardless of the materials they use. Stitch by stitch, they embrace many elements of traditional handwork while questioning or discarding previously held assumptions and stereotypes about what that work means.

Please stop covering art

Fabian Geyrhalter, Stop Covering Art, Lightjet Print, Matte, 26" x 17", edition of 15

Thanks D.Billy for sharing this image with me. Recently I was asked to cover the graffiti on the former Church of the Rapture building at 14th and T. After snort laughing at the request for several seconds, I then had this nutty idea that I would gather people together to buff the building and this undertaking would be the basis for a video statement about the grumpy neighbors who are demanding that this art installation be covered up. I got talked out of it for many reasons, mainly because I was reminded that the making of this art installation entailed assembling many rival graffiti writers in a collaborative and collegial space. No way am I going to be a part of destroying that kind of goodwill, or destroying art for that matter.

Twombly declared great graffiti artist

Modern Art Notes recommends we read this piece about Cy Twombly's upcoming exhibition at the Tate Modern. Besides expressing great admiration for Twombly's work ("the only graffiti artist I care about"), the author seems to relish the opportunity to rail against Banksy. He clearly does not care for Banksy's brand of graffiti, but this condemnation seems a tad out of place. I think he's really just annoyed about the populist, and therefore I suspect he believes inferior, appeal of Banksy's art. I agree that it's a shame an important artist like Twombly goes unnoticed, while people crowd around to see Banksy's latest piece. But why distract further from Twombly's work by bashing Banksy, whose clever social commentary can make a huge impact on the way people think and relate to one another and doesn't require a semester-long course in art history and theory to comprehend? The dialogue about art can include both artists, just maybe not necessarily in the same conversation.

CityDance @ Strathmore

The Songwriters
A co-presentation by Strathmore and CityDance

An evening of dance centered around America’s great songwriters, including Sophie Maslow’s Folksay* inspired by the music of Woody Guthrie; Jane Dudley’s Harmonica Breakdown set to the music of Sonny Terry; and Paul Gordon Emerson’s Born to Run performed to the iconic songs of Bruce Springsteen.

Friday, June 13, 2008 • 8pm
Concert Hall • Music Center at Strathmore
5301 Tuckerman Lane • North Bethesda, MD

Tickets and more info here.

It's not the visual art fare that I usually peddle, but I love modern dance. Mostly because I have been doing this athletic training thingy called Velocity Sports Performance for the last couple years and as a result, have gained a complete understanding of and respect for the physicality and difficulty of this kind of body movement, strength, and control.

Art doublespeak

Photo by Extraface via C-Monster.

Reading art reviews can be enlightening, but it is often exhausting. C-Monster tests your powers to read such gibberish here.

Do you problematize? Are you the kinda person who likes to invert the paradigm? Do you use the word “protean” while ordering lunch? Then you are familiar with the foreign language known as artspeak. But how familiar are you? Test the depth of your knowledge of this incomprehensible tribal tongue with the handy quiz that follows the jump. All you have to do to prove you’re a pro is to correctly match the art to the artspeak.

Dalek on video

Dissident Display made a nifty video about the Dalek opening at Irvine a couple weeks ago here.

Does anyone remember valley girls? If not, watching my piece in this video may remind you of it.

Arty stuff this week . . .

Daniel Stuelpnagel
Future Cities

Reception:
Tuesday, June 3
6 - 8 pm
@ Taurus Development Group
1341 H Street, NE

* * *



Max Hirshfeld
Looking At Looking
and
Jacob Kainen
Paintings and Works on Paper 1939 -1949
June 5 - July 26

Opening reception:
Thursday, June 5
6:30 - 8:30 pm
@ Hemphill Fine Art
1515 14th Street, NW

* * *





Robert Kent Wilson
Some New Color: Public Art Installation
@ 400 Massachusetts Avenue, NW

Opening reception:
Thursday, June 5
6 - 9 pm
@ 475 H Street, NW

* * *


Dave Moreland
Old Bones and Artifacts
June 6 - July 2

Opening reception:
Friday, June 6
6 - 8 pm
@ Hillyer Art Space
9 Hillyer Court (behind the Phillips Gallery)

* * *

small sculpture by the artists of gallery 10

opening reception:
Friday, June 6
6 - 8 pm
@ G a l l e r y 10
1519 Connecticut Avenue, NW

* * *


Time Machine
Curated by Amelia Winger-Bearskin for Perpetual Art Machine

Opening:
Friday, June 6
7 - 9 pm
@ Meat Market
1636 17th Street, NW


After party:
10 pm to 1 AM

@ Meat Market
1636 17th Street, NW

* * *


Artomatic 2008

Wednesday - Thursday: 5 pm - 10 pm
Friday - Saturday: noon - 2 am
Sunday: noon - 10 pm
closed Monday - Tuesday
@ 1200 1st Street, NE (1st and M Streets, NE)

* * *


Salon Africanist
a monthly forum on Africanist art

Friday, June 6
@ Primimoda
2010 R Street, NW

* * *


Erica Rukin - Paintings
Brad Howe - Sculpture
June 6 - July 3

Opening:
Friday, June 6
6:30 - 8:30 pm
@ Aaron Gallery
1717 Connecticut Avenue, NW

* * *




New Orleans: "Spirit a Risen"
June 6 - 27

Opening:
Friday, June 6
6 - 9 pm
@ Artful Gallery
1349 Maryland Avenue, NE

* * *


Patsy Fleming
June 4 - 29
Reception:
Friday, June 6
6 - 8 pm

Artist Talk:
Saturday, June 21
3 pm

@ Foundry Gallery
1314 18th Street, NW

* * *


Early Look: Undergraduate art students from mid-Atlantic
Curated by Lenny Campello
June 7 - July 5

Opening reception:
Saturday, June 7
5 - 8 pm
@ Longview Gallery
1302 9th Street, NW

* * *

@ American University Museum

Gallery Talk with Saul Sosnowski on Multiplicitocracy
Wednesday, June 4, at 6 p.m.

Gallery Talk with Joe Shannon
Saturday, June 7, at 4 p.m.

Gallery Talk with Dr. Marek Bartelik on
A Telluric Path: The Art of Nefeli Massia
Saturday, June 14, at 4 p.m.

Gallery Talk with Ledelle Moe
Saturday, June 21, at 4 p.m.

Gallery Talk with Vivienne M. Lassman,
curator of Noche Crist: A Romanian Revelation
Saturday, June 28, at 4 p.m.

Pink Panel review - Passion and Inspiration

Minna explains the size of the smallest sculpture in her collection.

The Pink Line Project hosted the final collectors panel last Saturday at Artomatic entitled, "Collecting 101: Passion and Inspiration." I felt pretty smart for having assembled such an impressive and passionate group of inspirational collectors. They were:

• Minna Nathanson, a sculptor and a collector for 47 years who with her husband has assembled a collection in diverse media such as resin, wire, and cardboard.
• Veronica Jackson, an architect by training who recently joined the board of the Washington Project for the Arts.
• Juanita & Mel Hardy, longtime collectors who met each other at an art opening and later founded the Millennium Art Salon.
• Andrea Evers and Brian Aitken, whose art collecting addiction began through a friendship with artist Lane Twitchell.

Frankly, I'm a wee concerned about these art collectors. There appears to be a serious addiction problem among them. I've heard reports of sweats and palpitations when they weren't able to purchase art they lusted for. Tread carefully into this territory or you too will fall victim to this incurable disease.

Giddy from talking about art!

Some interesting thoughts from the panel discussion:

Brian quoted a David Hickey book of essays on art and life: "Bad taste is real taste. Good taste is the residue of someone else's privilege." That ought to give you emerging collectors some confidence in your aptitude for picking art! Brian also noted that Hickey makes a distinction between observers and participants in life. Collecting and experiencing art can be an effective means to participating in life; observers are merely hangers on.

Hickey also notes the role of the market in deciding what we value as a culture. When you buy something, you're casting your vote, even when you spend a little. You become part of a greater conversation between artists, collectors, dealers, academics, writers and many more throughout history and cultures. The DC art world is accessible enough so that you don't have to be an investment banker to be a participant.

Mel said (1) art builds community, (2) collecting art has a transcendent purpose, (3) collecting art can be a political act, (4) art can incite action, (5) art can nurture, (6) art feeds our planet and we need it to live.

You better listen to this woman.

Veronica said (1) art gives form to life, (2) art is a visual language that is another form of communication, (3) art keeps humans sane, (4) collect art to ensure artists are always able to produce it, (5) collecting DC artists helps ensure DC becomes a place that is known for its visual arts.

Art collecting often begins intuitively and then evolves into developing your own aesthetic. You will make mistakes along the way often because beginner collectors buy art voraciously. At some point, it's helpful to step back and take your time. However, keep in mind that I rarely hear a collector say she regrets buying a piece of art. Usually collectors regret what they didn't buy something.

How do art couples resolve differences when making decisions about buying art? Mel typically views art intellectually and empirically. Juanita is more emotional. But they often arrive at the same decision regardless of their different styles. When they cannot agree, Juanita says they just buy it anyway! They respect and appreciate the differences in each other's viewpoints.

Some tips:

• Budget should not be the limiting factor starting an art collection. You can start an art collection for very little money. Juanita said her first art purchase cost $20.
  
• Ask for a collector's discount.
• Ask to pay on time if that will help you make an art purchase.
• Look at a lot of art. The internet is good for this.
  
• Carry a notebook for taking notes.
• Make lists of artists you want to collect and stick close to it, but be open to other potential artists.
• Don't buy art as an investment.
• Useful to study large collections to understand emerging themes in the art world.
  

After the panel discussion, people lingered on for a while to continue talking about art collecting!

Art-O-Sound

Scion and The Pink Line Project
present
Art-O-Sound

Thursday, June 12
7 - 9:30 pm
@ 6th Floor of Artomatic 2008
1st and M Street, NE

Artists:
Lauren Bender
Bonner Sale
Ding Ren
Matt Sargent

Video Installation:
David London - Imagine

Music:
Invisible Flow

Alberto Gaitan in Sculpture magazine

Remember Alberto Gaitan's mixed media installation Remembrancer, which was shown at Curator's Office last year? Sarah Tanguy wrote a superb piece about it for the April 2008 issue of Sculpture magazine.