Thinking About Art

Solo Shows at Arlington Arts Center

A couple of weekends ago we visited the AAC to see the current crop of solo shows. A mixed bag, perhaps, but some interesting work. I captured some images of things that caught my eye:

Erin Williams, a Philadelphia artist, creates faux museum displays for the fictitious creations of her great-grandmother, Minnie Eureka Young, who, according to Williams, invented large, fantastic Victorian-era medical devices made of brass, copper, and wood.

Williams' work interested me quite a bit. These sculptures were far more intriguing than the associated photographs and prints (I think there were prints), but I do like that she has contributed supplemental materials to the sculptures. It creates a more interesting "story."

The room in which the work was installed did little to help the sculptures (see the electrical outlets in the second image for an example) but there's not much to be done about that.

Jeremy Drummond, a Richmond-based, Canadian-born artist, illustrates the unlikely intersection of the dreams of developers and those of the people who eventually occupy their pre-planned communities through video portraits, lists of accepted and rejected street name proposals, and aluminum panels painted in colors from the Martha Stewart living collection.

This artist certainly made the most of being given the prime gallery at AAC. So much of this work seemed redundant, but I doubt it's a stretch to think that was at least partially the goal given the subject matter. For more on Drummond's body of work, read this essay. It appears that essentially the same group of work was exhibited at Drake University in 2006.

Jennifer Mattingly, a Kensington, Maryland artist, meticulously constructs tiny playful dioramas out of matchboxes often recalling early modernist work by Joseph Cornell, or collage novels by Max Ernst. Both the matchboxes themselves and large photographic prints of them will be on display.

These matchbook sculpture-meets-collage pieces were incredibly cute and playful, and I enjoyed them very much. Like Williams' installation, Mattingly included enlarged photos of the matchbooks in the show to supplement the real thing. Several works had sold for mid-three figures... quite good on a square (or cubic?) inch basis.

Laure Drogoul, a Sondheim Prize winner, orchestrates all sorts of curious happenings and installations - from performances with amplified knitting orchestras, to devices with which to sing to - and possibly charm vitrines full of earthworms, to a traveling museum of smells called The Olfactory Factory. For this show, the Baltimore artist conducts a video seance, calling out to the civil war dead in nearby Arlington Cemetery.

Drogoul has built a reputation of making art that freaks you the hell out. Knowing this, I was most interested in seeing the AAC installation. Sure enough, Drogoul delivers the freaky goods. Stacey had to leave the room due to the energy present and I just stood there with my jaw dropped. I'm not sure what Drogoul is getting at with this work, but the experience itself is memorable. I won't soon forget it. This is the solo show that makes a trip to the AAC worthwhile.

There are two other solo shows at AAC but I neglected to snap any pictures of them. Here are the summaries for them:

Jacklyn Brickman makes installations that resemble science museum displays and illustrate relationships between people, food, corporations, and chemistry. Here the Newark, Delaware-based artist focuses her attention on corn, a crop that's been redesigned by scientists into a super-starchy alien foodstuff.

Jennifer Fleming's Poems: Public Places series examines roadside developments along interstate highways. The Baltimore artist takes 4 X 6 photos of chain restaurants, convenience stores, and other signs of workaday ugliness along Route 1, then cuts these pictures and assembles them by hand into long, panoramic collages. These "poems" are also offered for sale as refrigerator magnets, postcards, and other ironic souvenirs commemorating sprawl.

New Site for Hirshhorn

Tyler points out that the Hirshhorn has a new Web site. I think it's pretty slick. However, Tyler says the collection search tool is impressive. My first attempt did not yield impressive results:

I'll keep playing with it but I would assume if you enter "Jackson Pollock" the first results should not be de Kooning or Morris Louis (!). Regardless, the site looks promising.

Next up the National Gallery of Art, perhaps? I know they were recently freshened up... a jump from 1997 to 2004, but another update to 2008 would be nice.

Update: My result was achieved by typing in "Jackson Pollock" in the collection search box on the homepage. If you click on Pollock's name in the list of artists provided in the Advanced Search, you only get Pollock. A minor glitch...

Lucy Hogg @ Flashpoint Gallery

It was recently requested that I go see the Lucy Hogg solo show at Flashpoint Gallery. And so this past Saturday, Stacey and I saw the show. We took the following pictures and I've provided text from the show's press release for a comprehensive view of the work.

"As in earlier work by Hogg, these paintings are excerpts sourced from Old Master paintings. This time, the criterion for selection was a search for what she calls 'the proto-photographic moment.'"

"Hogg illuminates fugitive expressions in the portraits that deny the duration of a portrait-painting session and invoke the fiction of the fleeting glance. Rather than the stilted pose which can be the product of a long sitting, Hogg’s found expressions capture fleeting moments of emotion or attitude, and as a result highly particularize the sitter."

"Read through the filter of our understanding of the later photographic moment, the portraits seem 'alive.'
Treated as saturated monochromes on portrait ovals, the heads float."

"By removing historical signifiers such as ruffs, hats, cravats or elaborate hair, the faces become timeless and can exist as contemporary countenances. This project, begun in 2004, is the last in a series of projects Hogg has undertaken since 1990, in which she has tried to put the history of painting into the present tense."

There you have it. I, too, suggest you see these paintings in person. I don't think you can truly appreciate them otherwise.

New Web Site

As you've likely noticed, things have been fairly quiet around here lately. This is in large part due to the fact that I've been working on a new Web site for my own work. I enjoyed my old Web site immensely but the time had come to make maintaining the site less of a chore. Additionally, I thought the user experience of the old site was lacking. When I happened upon the Web site, OtherPeoplesPixels, I knew I had found a fantastic solution.

OPP makes building a sophisticated Web site a breeze. In a matter of hours I constructed this site from scratch and uploaded 182 images of my work. The site will be simple to maintain and I think it is easy to navigate. As icing on the cake, the site only costs $16/month to operate and that includes hosting (it does not include domain name, but you can transfer yours to point to your OPP site). If you pay for a full year upfront, it's $160.

I've seen several other Web site services for artists and no other company provides the vast array of templates and modifications that OPP has. And it's cheaper than most competitors too.

I normally wouldn't gush this much about a product/company, but OPP has truly blown me away. I recommend you take a look at my new site. If you think this service is for you, you can sign up for a free two week trial. Please let them know you heard about it from me.

Here's my new site. All of my newest work is represented. I would love to hear any feedback you have.

Thanks!

Thoughts?

Since Modern Art Notes and Daily Campello Art News don't allow comments, and since Grammar.police is written by the person in question, I thought I'd allow people to comment here on the potential conflict of interest that has arisen out of Kriston's curating of a show at Project 4 in D.C.

Read Lenny's thoughts here.

Kriston replies here.

One of the interesting sentences from Kriston's reply is this sentence: "I have no financial stake in Christine Gray's paintings." I'm not sure that's entirely true, even if he was not paid a stipend for his curatorial duties. Certainly curating a show is a positive thing for one's exposure, reputation and experience, all of which may translate into more earning power down the road. It certainly doesn't hurt.

I saw the show on Saturday and found some of the paintings to be quite nice. The installation was straightforward and I'm not sure what role Kriston played in making installation decisions as curator. He stated previously that "I curated the show, though that's a word I'll use lightly, since the artist knew what she wanted to do when I approached her and did exactly that."

I looked for the curatorial essay that Kriston wrote but did not see it readily available. I neglected to ask the gallery attendant for a copy.

Because of the recent "controversy" about an art critic for the Village Voice having a hand in running two art fairs, and the potential conflict of interest there, I thought a discussion should be started to talk about our own local version. I personally don't care that Kriston curated a show for Project 4. I assume the essay will make everyone perfectly aware that Kriston is a critic for the Washington City Paper and what role he played in this exhibition. And if Kriston has a bio in the WCP, it may be updated to mention Kriston's curatorial efforts.

Again, I'm making no judgments here. My only hope is that we are all consistent in our demand that art world participants remain conflict free. I trust that Kriston will remain conflict free the same that I trusted Lenny to be conflict free when contributing to DCist.

So, what do you think? Is this the same thing as the CVF firing at the Village Voice? Is this something to be concerned about specifically or generally?

It's easy to lose hope...

UPDATE #2: Apparently it was a hoax. Bravo. Back to anonymity now, please.

UPDATE: Is it a scam? Even so, what does it say that we accept the premise that this could be Art. Well, I don't mean to say if it could be art, but if it's remotely worthwhile art.

for Art. I mean, seriously... this is what passes for Art today. People actually think to do this and call it Art.

A snippet:

Beginning next Tuesday, Shvarts will be displaying her senior art project, a documentation of a nine-month process during which she artificially inseminated herself “as often as possible” while periodically taking abortifacient drugs to induce miscarriages. Her exhibition will feature video recordings of these forced miscarriages as well as preserved collections of the blood from the process.

And another:

“I hope it inspires some sort of discourse,” Shvarts said. “Sure, some people will be upset with the message and will not agree with it, but it’s not the intention of the piece to scandalize anyone.”

And..."

“I believe strongly that art should be a medium for politics and ideologies, not just a commodity,” Shvarts said. “I think that I’m creating a project that lives up to the standard of what art is supposed to be.”

How long until she shows in Chelsea? Or gets included in the Whitney Biennial?

I came to a conclusion recently about conceptual art. It's too easy. A reasonably intelligent person can think of an idea and implement it. That's not challenging. Quality, visual quality, is challenging. Maybe that's why no one cares about it anymore.

Conceptual art seems to be more about who did it first, not who did it best. I wonder if anyone will try to top Shvarts?

Picture; Philly Coming

This past weekend Stacey and I went to Philadelphia for a surprise birthday party. While there, we got to see several gallery shows and visit the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Once I work through the image taken I'll post something about the shows we saw.

In the meantime, I wanted to share another new photograph.

Content to come soon.

Cool Street Art

Joshua Allen Harris sees Mark Jenkins' tape sculptures and raises the bet.

Be patient with the video. It's worth it. This one is a bit corny, but I love it when the air stops flowing:

Excellent work Joshua!

Conflict @ GRACE

On my lunch break I walked over to the Greater Reston Arts Center to have a look at their latest exhibition, Conflict. The final touches were being put on the show but I must say, it looked good. I didn't have my camera with me so I will have to return later.

There is an opening reception tonight from 6-8pm so if you can work it into your evening plans, I highly recommend it. Keep an eye out for a collaborative video by Jefferson Pinder and Matt Ravenstahl. It certainly made me uncomfortable.

Wow

Heather brings to our attention this brilliant line from the Lucy Hogg show at Flashpoint:

Floating Faces "illuminates fugitive expressions in the portraits that deny the duration of a portrait-painting session and invoke the fiction of the fleeting glance."

I've got a college education and a few years experience reading artspeak non-sense and I can't even begin to understand what this sentence is saying. Perhaps it requires the context of the sentences around it. If so, isn't that a great metaphor for the contemporary artworld. In other words, context required. Must. Have. Supporting. Documentation.

Let's pull the entire paragraph from the press release:

The Gallery at Flashpoint is pleased to present Lucy Hogg's Floating Faces. As in earlier work by Hogg, these paintings are excerpts sourced from Old Master paintings. This time, the criterion for selection was a search for what she calls “the proto-photographic moment.” Hogg illuminates fugitive expressions in the portraits that deny the duration of a portrait-painting session and invoke the fiction of the fleeting glance. Rather than the stilted pose which can be the product of a long sitting, Hogg’s found expressions capture fleeting moments of emotion or attitude, and as a result highly particularize the sitter. Read through the filter of our understanding of the later photographic moment, the portraits seem “alive.”

Nope, no help. Definitely not as clear as the brief text on the Web site introduction for the show:

Lucy Hogg’s Floating Faces captures specific human facial expressions through the art of portraiture.

Yeah, that's what I thought portraiture did. But I'm glad to have it confirmed.

I don't mean to pick on the artist or the gallery and I certainly don't fault whoever wrote these things. It's the product of the times. When I have my next solo I will likely employ a writer to produce similar gibberish. I have to remain relevant, after all.

A new lens

I tried to post larger versions of the color and B/W images from the other day, but Typepad won't let me. Instead, I thought I'd share the news that I picked up a new lens and it arrived on Monday. It's the Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 D. I knew before I purchased it that auto-focus would not work on my Nikon D40x but for the price (a bit over $100) I thought it would be nice to have. Well, suffice it to say that you don't really know how much work auto-focus does for you until you no longer have it. My first hundred or so images were all blurry even though they looked sharp in the viewfinder.

Last night I went outside when it was sunny and played some more. I actually started to get the hang of it. I captured the following images and was pleased with the sharpness. I don't want to say they are tack sharp (you couldn't see it in such small, resized images anyway), but compared to the kit lens it is much, much sharper. Normally I have to do some sharpening to my images but I don't think it will be too necessary with this.

These aren't good photos... consider them illustrative. These are straight out of the camera, only resized for the internet.

FAAN Emergency

Yesterday I received an email from the Fine Art Adoption Network. I thought it was worthy of a post. Maybe a reader of TAA can help save this painting. The jpeg looks promising to me (follow the link).

FAAN emergency

FAAN has had a remarkably trouble free two years, during which 240 artists have posted work, 1138 art enthusiasts have registered as adopters and 330 adoptions have been completed. We now have an unfortunate situation that I would like to call your attention to. One of the first artworks to be adopted was also one of the largest, Aron Namenwirth’s, Loading Dock. This monumental work was adopted by an individual and temporarily housed at her place of employment in Nanuet, New York, where she was the director. When her job was terminated the painting was abandoned. Aron is devastated at the possibility of his painting being destroyed or discarded and is looking for a new adopter. Take a look at this wonderful painting and consider whether you or someone you know or some institution, school or public space you know would like to become its new owner. This needs to be resolved in the next week. Transportation costs are negotiable. You can contact Aron directly through the site or feel free to contact me with questions at info@fineartadoption.net

Color or B/W?

This tree sits up the hill from Old Stone House, a part of the Manassas National Battlefield Park. Which do you prefer, color or b/w?

Note that "neither" is not an option!

Play Time!

Five kids under the age of five. Two hours. Exhaustion.

So true!

Lenny pulls out a great quote from the New York Magazine article about Larry Salander.  However, I think this quote by dealer Richard Feigen hits the nail on the head:

“To attract the hedge-fund buyers is very speculative. They hear about Damien Hirst and Jeff Koons since they use their ears and not their eyes."

Ears... not the eyes.  I wonder sometimes if being blindfolded would make any difference.