April 11, 2008

Two years ago, the DC government appropriated a generous sum for the purpose of filling the renovated District City Hall, the John A. Wilson Building, with a collection of the work of local artists. Ably administered by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, curated by my dear friend Sondra Arkin, and juried by a panel that included some of the most prominent museum curators in our area, the collection that was assembled is truly remarkable. It contains work from a broad cross-section of artists, from the nationally prominent (e.g. William Christenberry, Sam Gilliam), to the rest of us, and the living to the not so. I have the distinctly distinct distinction that my piece, "Twelve Linear Feet" is the biggest in the collection.

Twelve Linear Feet

The sad part is that most people don't know about this unique resource. You can see the work during any working day at the Wilson Building,1350 Pennsylvania Ave, MW. Make sure to pick up a copy of the map that shows where each piece is hung from the reception desk. Even better is to go on one of the guided tours that are given every month or so. To find out when they are, get in touch with Beth Baldwin at the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. Their website is http://dcarts.dc.gov.

John A Wilson Building

April 10, 2008

new encaustics

April 9, 2008

Eastern Avenue April 9

April 8, 2008

For some time now, I have been thinking about, and making work about, our ever-shrinking zone of personal privacy. Every day brings new revelations of the degree to which we are all under surveillance. The techniques and uses range from  the relatively benign (e.g. satellite imagery such as Google Earth) to the anything but, such as warrantless wiretaps.

Just last week, the Washington Post, hardly a redoubt of the paranoid schizophrenic, ran a long article on the use of tin foil on wallets to shield the information encoded on credit cards from reading by unauthorized persons. egad. I remember a woman who used to hang out on the Boston Common who lined her hats with tin foil to keep out the radio waves. Every once in a while, she would disappear for an involuntary stay in the mental hospital. I think we owe her an apology.

But I digress. Nevin Kelly of the eponymous gallery at 1517 U St. NW, the saint who represents my work here, has asked me to curate a show in September called "Under Surveillance." My great friend Sondra Arkin has agreed to co-curate and show with me and we have recruited a roster of artists that I am truly proud of and excited about. We are: Sondra Arkin, Richard Dana, Elizabeth Morisette, Eliot Negin, Ann Stoddard, Tim Tate, Ruth Trevarrow, Ellyn Weiss.

More to come. Much more... 

April 7, 2008

Envoi by Kathy Keler

I have this painting of Kathy's, obtained in a trade for work of mine, proudly installed on my mantel.

Hyattstown Mill , a historic building located in the  Little Bennett Regional Park, is the center for a community of artists and writers and well worth a visit, particularly in this most gorgeous of seasons.

April 6, 2008

Pepa Leon at Reyes + Davis

    Pepa Leon's vibrant work was a wise choice for the first show. These large scale pieces are based on underlying screen prints, which the artist then obscures with paint and collaged elements. The screenprint teems with ovoid, almost egglike shapes and the colors are unashamedly high key. The large scale enhances the effect of being enveloped in growing life.

To follow later this year at R+D, watch for Barbara Liotta, Janis Goodman and Judy Jashinsky.

April 4, 2008

Mark Planisek, another former co-resident of mine at the Millenium Art Center, opened his show tonight at ther Arts Club of Washington. Sadly, an illness forced Mark to miss the opening bash (the kidney stone has since left the scene, hallelujah) but the event was well-documented by videographer Jim Dadey. 

Jim Dadey, meta-photographer

'Tis a sad tale oft repeated, although this time with a twist. About 30 of our region's serious artists were delighted to have studios and a thriving community in the huge if falling-down 1920's-era  Randall Junior High School, rechristened the Millenium Art Center by Bill Wooby. In 2006, the building was sold by the District of Columbia to the Corcoran, which at the time had grandiose plans to build a Frank Gehry-designed structure in downtown DC and relocate an expanded school to the Randall School. (Of course, you will not be surprised to learn that the package also involved having a private developer build 500 condos adjacent to the school.) The Corcoran, great friend of art, evicted the artists in November 2006, boarded up the building and surrounded it with chain-link fencing. Since then, the Gehry project has gone kaput, the building remains boarded and fenced, and we have been dispersed around the city and environs searching for affordable studio space.

Mark's documentation of the building as it emptied is beautiful and, to those like me, heartbreaking. He made me a box of my old studio that I installed as inspiration in my new one. I treasure it, as I do his friendship. 

April 4, 2008

Lucy Hogg, a former co-resident of mine at the late, lamented Millenium Art Center (for more about that, see Mark Planisek, above) opened her Flashpoint show tonight, Titled "Floating Faces," these paintings use faces captured from old master works, each floating on a monochromatic oval and each displaying what Lucy calls a "proto-photographic moment" - a fleeting expression. 

Lucy's work has for some years been concerned with moving the imagery of art history into contemporary terms. I often find that conceptual work leaves me cold, but this installation has a powerful aesthetic appeal based, I think, on the drama of the monochromatic effect (think theater masks), the compelling technique of the portraiture and the facial expressions. I find the just slightly smaller than life-sized faces quite eerily compelling. Some examples below:

Sondra Arkin

Jayme McLellan