I'm eating my way through Vietnam!

I'm taking a little break from blogging over the next couple weeks while I eat my way through Vietnam.

Happy New Year!

Images from the Transformer Auction

Darren Santos took some fabulous pictures from the Transformer auction from the Transformer website. Take a peek when you get the chance.

Your lovely hosts: Allison Cohen Marvin, my auction co-chair, and Victoria Reis, Transformer's Executive Director and the mastermind behind the auction.

Foon Sham in the New York Times

DC-based sculptor Foon Sham is in a group show that got reviewed by the New York Times. Not only that but this image of one of his works accompanies the review. Very cool. Earlier this fall, Foon had a solo show at Heineman Myers Gallery, which is currently showing another great area artist, Amy Lin. Amy's show is getting extremely favorable reviews too. Yay DC artists and yay Heineman Myers!

Top headlines from 2007

Best headlines from 2007 as voted by guests at the annual Craziness of Life party. (Click on each image to enlarge it enough to read.)

WPA art auction - save the date!

Bill Monet wins Camera Arts contest

My good friend Bill Monet won the "Figure/Portrait" category of the Camera Arts Portfolio contest. You'll recall that Bill took a fantastic portrait of me and Gidget in the brake shop a couple months ago. He knows how to make people look their best. The winning images are from his underwater series.

Animal abuse?

I refuse to put Ralphie in a bikini!

Adam Stennett in Harper's

These two mice paintings by Adam Stennett accompanied an article in the December 2007 Harper's Magazine about laboratory mice.

Washington Life covers the arts

My buddy Beth Farnstrom just started writing a column on the visual arts in DC for Washington Life magazine. Her first piece in the series appeared this month and included a little section of my art picks for December and January. Fun! I'm looking forward to reading this regular feature.

Lucy Herrman in juried show

Life Force II by Lucy Herrman
@ Corcoran's Gallery 31
December 12 - January 6
Opening reception is Wednesday, December 19
6 - 8 PM

Julie Comnick art show @ Flashpoint

Julie Comnick: According To Their Kind
January 4 – February 9, 2008
Opening reception: Friday, January 4
6 - 8pm
@ Flashpoint 916 G Street, NW

Truly Herbert art show

Hide and Seek: New Paintings by Truly Herbert
December 17 - January 26

OPENING Party: DECEMBER 20
6:00-8:30 p.m.

Herbert has taken a modern approach to pentimento, layering images and media to create transparencies and depth on paper, wood, and canvas.

Location: James L. Pierce Gallery at Green Spring Station
2360 West Joppa Road, Lutherville, MD 21093
Info: jlpframing.com/410-337-8490

Buy your cat a wig for Christmas!

Ralphie has taken on some modeling gigs.

Pink is the color of fantasy. Our model looks like her mind is elsewhere when she wears this wig -- somewhere in a land of cotton candy and pinwheels where the air smells like sugar kisses.

Pink makes your kitty feel elegant, modern and quintessentially feline.

If you have any creature in the house with a head bigger than a walnut (including boyfriends), you need a Kitty Wig™. --Carolyn Sorter

Wigs come in assorted colors and cost only $50! Buy your cat a wig for Christmas now.

UPDATE!
Many of you thought that I had actually tortured Ralphie with this wig. First of all, there is no way Ralphie would wear this wig long enough to take even one picture of him unless I drugged him, which would explain the insipid expression on this cat's mug, and I would never drug my little furry treasure. Second of all, Ralphie is waaaaay fluffier and cuter than this little wannabe. Third of all, I would not spend $50 on a wig for my cat!

This weekend

FRIDAY:

The New Future
curated by Kristina Bilonick
@ DCAC
2438 18th Street
7 - 9 PM

Neal Hutchko
@ Touchstone Gallery
406 7th Street
6 - 8 PM

SATURDAY:

Don't forget to shop on 14th Street all day on Saturday to support the Corcoran's class on the Creative Economy.

Chasing Tales - Group Show
@ Project 4 Gallery
903 U Street
6:30 to 8:30

Margot Quan Knight
Intervals
@ Randall Scott Gallery
1326 14th Street
6 -8 pm

Saturnalia
@ Irvine Contemporary
1412 14th Street 6 - 8 PM

Kathryn Cornelius gives a Gallery Talk
@ Curator's Office
1515 14th Street
5 pm
Space very limited. RSVP essential.

Artist Talk w/ Lisa Blas, Peter Garfield, and Matt Spahr
@ Civilian Art Projects
406 7th Street
4 to 5:30 pm

wall/paper
@ Transformer
1404 P Street
7 - 9 pm

And don't forget about X at BeBar!
6 to 10 PM

Please support Pediatric AIDS HIV Care

For 20 years, Pediatric AIDS HIV Care (PAHC) has been working with the most vulnerable young people in our community and we plan to be here as long as it is necessary. A recent report cites “…from 2001 to 2006, 56 children, ages 13 or younger, were found to have either HIV or AIDS, and almost all of them were infected at birth.” These are headlines pulled from recent articles written on the report released from the District of Columbia’s HIV/AIDS Administration.

In honor of World AIDS Day, PAHC Executive Director, Khadijah A. Tribble was featured in Metro Weekly and she shares why she remains optimistic even in these difficult times, “I'm hopeful. I couldn't stay in this work if I didn't think that there was a way to make change. The kids teach us that change is always possible”.

During this critical time of capacity building your support is even more vital as we look to meet the needs of these vulnerable children. By joining our Circle of Care you commit to donating just $20 per month. Your kind contribution of $40 or more per month helps us provide the vital mental health therapies that help our little ones express their feelings emotions through a variety of modalities. Increasing your donation to $100 dollars a month allows us to continue providing our young people with a warm, welcoming and safe environment they’ve come to know as their second home.

Please consider joining the Pediatric AIDS HIV Care’s Circle of Care. When you join the Circle of Care, you will help us empower young people to break the stigma barriers and cope with the pervasive silence and shame. We believe these issues are a centripetal force in the increasing infection rates within the District of Columbia. By joining the Circle of Care, you lend your voice to the growing voice of leaders calling for a “Change in Dialogue about HIV/AIDS in the District of Columbia." Your contribution speaks volumes for those who cannot speak for themselves. PAHC cannot provide the safe, warm and welcoming environment to kids living with HIV/AIDS that they have come to expect without your continued support.

X on Saturday

My awesome friend Lisa Marie is curating the next X event. That means it will be excellent and well-worth skipping all those boring holiday parties.

@ Bebar
1318 9th Street

Saturday, Dec. 15th
6 - 10 PM (X)
10 - 3am (PULSE)

Cost:
X - $8
($5 if you incorporate this month's theme - PEACE)
PULSE - $5
Free if you e-mail names and corresponding e-mail addresses to info@eightyeightdc.com by 10pm Friday night.

Verse launch party

At the Verse launch party last night at The Park. I love Quincy's shirt: Art Not War. And his handbag.

Mai calls us the "girls from 'Nam." Ha! I feel amazonian standing next to her.

Friday night @ Art Whino

ART WHINO ANNOUNCES DOUBLE FEATURE:

The Solo Show of Justin Lovato and
Art Whino's Collaboration Featuring 20 New Artists

Friday, December 14th
6 to Midnight

www.ArtWhino.com

Luster in DC Mag

Meet the Artist: Troy Brauntuch at Hirshhorn

Shop on 14th Street this Saturday

My friend Brian Corrigan is teaching a class at the Corcoran on window displays and their impact on the creative economy. In order to raise funds to make the displays, each of the stores listed below will donate a portion of sales on Saturday, December 15 to the class. So stop on by and do some Christmas shopping at these great stores and then come back in April to see what I guess will be some pretty inventive window displays.

Miami Basel 2007 Report (Part 3) - Random stuff

JT Kirkland, who writes the Thinking About Art blog, posted this picture of the Curator's Office "booth" at the Aqua art fair. Guess I happen to be in the space at the time! Anyway, it reminded me to mention Jason Horowitz, a photographer who makes extreme close-up images of body parts in rich, saturated colors. See the photograph on the left wall of the golden eye. The images are creepy and beautiful at the same time. I love his work.


I found this image on the Artworld Salon blog. Kinda sums up the art fair.

The official invitation to the party at Goldrush hosted by Javier Peres (of Peres Project) and Terence Koh.

The invitation to a random party we stumbled on at the Raleigh. The singer sounded like a bizarre Bjork.

Kickballers on Thursday

Kristina Bilonick curates a show at DCAC - opens Friday

The New Future
A show curated by Kristina Bilonick
@ DCAC
2438 18th Street
Friday, December 14
7 to 9 PM

Don't Stop Believin'

I listened to this song about a million and a half times when I was thirteen. Don't know why I thought of it again this morning but here you go...

Peach dog t-shirt by Jiha Moon

It may seem like I am obsessing over Jiha Moon lately, but you've got to take a look at this t-shirt she designed for Imperfect Article. They've got fantastic designs from a bunch of other great artists too. If you haven't completed your Christmas shopping yet, this would be a great way to finish off your list.

Merging a clothing brand and site-less gallery, Imperfect Articles takes an experimental approach to curatorial practice with limited-edition, hand-dyed and hand screen-printed t-shirts. Imperfect Articles challenges the relationship between image, audience and "exhibition" space with a new model of distribution that highlights work by emerging and established artists alike, conflating concepts of fine art, design and fashion.

Miami Basel 2007 Report (Part 2) - Art I Liked

My favorite piece from the big fair... a robotic claw by Arcangelo Sassolino, from Von Senger Gallery in Zurich. A museum in Lousiville called 21C bought it. Coincidentally, I met the curator William Morrow last year through Adam Stennett and we ran into each other again at one of the satellite fairs this year. 21C is dedicated solely to collecting and exhibiting contemporary art from the 21st century.



Pimp Juice created by Dzine, a Chicago-based Puerto Rican painter for Jeffrey Deitch's booth. It's a fully customized 1993 Cadillac Fleetwood low-rider that sports 14 speakers, a custom video mix playing on five screens, and special chrome and 24-carat gold hydraulics. Sweet!



Lots of skulls everywhere.




A video work by one of my favorite artists Julian Opie. The water actually moves. So cool.


Part photography, part performance art by Jennifer Towner, one of the artist who was featured on Art Star, a reality show about emerging artists. Season Two documents the lives of six graduating art students as they transition from art school the real art world.


Ok, I admit it. I walked over to look at this art because I saw cute kitties. But I became enamored when I learned more about this stained glass work by Judith Schaechter. This woman can draw!

There was a lot more art that I liked but too much to report on. Didn't buy a single thing. Very proud of myself. It was not easy.