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Artomatic Part Deux

June 8, 2009

Only at Artomatic

I am daunted this year by the sheer muchness of Artomatic; I am engulfed, overrun, routed and swamped by it. Nine floors? 1000 artists? This is not an exhibition, it’s a municipality, it’s own ecosystem, a good sized corporation. But I am determined not to let my reader down, so made it through another few floors Sunday.

There’s a big dollop of bad photography as usual, but some very good stuff caught my eye: Mark Parascandola’s clever and very well-executed “DC Tags”, pictures of iconic Washington sites (like the Lincoln monument) with superimposed graffiti. I also really liked the photos from R. Teri Memolo’s “Corner Stores and Carry Outs” series, particularly the two little stores still standing but marooned in their deteriorating emptied-out neighborhoods. I haven’t seen her work before but will look for it now.

Jenny Walton

Erwin Timmers' What We Leave Behind

Other stuff definitely worth a look: Jenny Walton’s dense drawings, both inviting and a little scary, Erwin Timmers' new recycled glass pieces called “What We Leave Behind”, made of layers of objects discarded over time; Pat Goslee’s sexy, swirly paintings, Sheila Crider’s cut and woven canvas and her “Blackstraction” manifesto;

Pat Goslee

Sheila Crider

Ben Nicholson’s large overwrought, bravely-colored prints; Larissa Presniakov’s drawings that have a certain life and movement that make them feel original; Allegra Marquardt’s complex childlike narratives in glass.

Ben Nicholson - detail

Larissa Presniakov

Also, among the many wonderful glass artists from Sunderland, UK, Criss Chaney presents glass that has been made to look like it is partly iron. It’s a wonderful baffling effect.Closer to home, Baltimore glass artist Megan Van Wagoner presents what are essentially glass potatoes. Sounds kind of dumb but a fabulous look and an aesthetically appealing little joke. And Steven Jones "half chicken/ half man sculptures are effectively creepy, like little aborted cloning experiments.

Criss Chaney

Megan Van Wagoner

While good painters are pretty rare on the ground here, I was attracted to the layered embellished prints/paintings by Mei Mei Chang. They are not all fully realized, but they are quite interesting and made me want to see more. And Dana Ellyn has an irresistible wall designed to offend the religious, including the Pope wth a big old Pinnochio nose looking downright lascivious. I told her she'd better double her security detail.

Steven Jones

Mei Mei Chang

Finally, there is Veronica Szalus’s lovely fragile and delicate installation, made from chicken wire bricks dipped in what looks like thick white paint, built into a transparent curving wall. It looks like it’s the innards of a building that’s in the process of decaying back into nature, an effect which is heightened by the dry leaves and other bits of detritus scattered around and caught in the wall. Great stuff.

Dana Ellyn

Still another four floors to go. I will return Thursday, God willing and the fence don't come down.

Veronica Szalus

Hubcap guy - an Artomatic stalwart

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