Project Runway for art?

It had to happen. From ArtInfo:

NEW YORK—Sarah Jessica Parker's Pretty Matches production company and the reality show producer Magical Elves are planning to create a Project Runway for the art world, Variety reports. The television show would feature artists competing to produce projects in various mediums, from painting, photography, and sculpture to industrial design. Like on Project Runway, the pieces would be evaluated by a panel of judges. Both Pretty Matches and Magical Elves, which produces Project Runway, had been working on art-based reality shows and decided to combine their efforts. Magical Elves' Dan Cutforth admitted that creating a show about the art world is "risky creatively," but so was Project Runway, which is now a hit, he argued. "Art is a much more inclusive world than people think," he told Variety. "We really feel there's a way to show people how much they care about art in the same way Runway showed people how much they care about clothes. That accessibility is why we think the show can work." Parker most likely will stay off-camera as an executive producer, but she could make an on-screen appearance if the occasion calls, Cutforth said.

The purported purpose of this show matches the way I think about art: making art accessible and inclusive, so I'd like to give it a chance (even though I haven't watched television since the last episode of Seinfeld). But I think about accessibility to art as connecting art lovers to each other and to artists and to galleries and everyone else in the art scene. Not pitting artists against each other in a vicious, cutthroat competition to sate passive voyeurism. Not sure how a television show is going to make art feel inclusive. Feeling inclusive comes from engagement and television inherently cannot engage.

Thanks Bethesda Art Blog for highlighting this tidbit on your site.

Little Trees (R) Update!

You may recall that the Little Tree Corporation sent me a legalese-y letter last fall demanding to know the name of the artist who created the cute Little Trees Car Freshener (R) sculpture that stands in my bedroom. I feared they would take legal action against the artist, and maybe even against me, so I didn't respond to the two letters they sent! (Plus, I don't actually know the name of the artist who made this sculpture. Really, I don't.) A Little Trees (R) representative called me the very same day as that entry was made on this blog and earnestly explained that they were actually very supportive of the arts and of the use of the Little Tree (R) icon in art. They promised to send photographs of ways in which other artists had incorporated the Little Tree (R) into their art and they also promised to send me a t-shirt. After many weeks of anxious waiting, I finally received the t-shirt! Yay! I shall wear it with pride.

Kudos to Caramel for showing DC artists

I stopped by Caramel last week to see a photography exhibit by Stirling Elmendorf and Mark Parascandola. Showing art in a non-traditional space - like this clothing boutique - seems like an effective way to expose more people to more art. Can't argue with that. I think Svetlana at Bright Young Things gets it right.

Last Friday, while on our art party jaunt, we stopped by Caramel (on 16th and U) which has made (a commendable) practice of highlighting local artists and photographers within its racks of party dresses.
More people should do that.

See more photos from the event. And, of course, stop by the store and check out the photographs and find some funky and unique, yet affordable, clothes.

Echo Park Contemporary Ballet fundraiser

Echo Park Contemporary Ballet
Fundraiser

Tuesday, February 5
5:30 - 7:30 PM
@ Marvin
2007 14th Street
Suggested donation: $20

Arty round up for the week

Free Tour by artist Ellyn Weiss
City Hall Art Collection
Wednesday, January 30
Noon
@ Wilson Building
14th and Pennsylvania

Wangechi Mutu Talk
Thursday, January 31
7 PM
@ Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

GreenheART
Friday, February 1
7 - 10 PM
@ Lofts 11
1125 11th Street, NW



Collectors Select
Friday, February 1
6 to 9 PM
@ Arlington Arts Center
3550 Wilson Boulevard



Sweden After Dark
Friday, February 1
8 - 11 PM
@ House of Sweden
Georgetown Waterfront
$10 donation



New Members Show
January 30th to March 2
Opening Reception: Friday, February 1
6:00 - 8:00 pm
@ Foundry Gallery
1314 18th Street

Project 4 presents:

2
(Second Anniversary Show)

Margaret Boozer
Beau Chamberlain
Christine Gray
Amy Kaplan
Ani Kasten
Tricia Keightley
Lisa Lindgren
Laurel Lukaszewski
J.J. McCracken
Rich MacDonald
Amy Ross
Rene Trevino
Paul Villinski

February 2 - March 1
Opening Reception:
Saturday, February 2
6:00pm - 8:30pm

ABSENCE / PRESENCE
Featuring new paintings by
Richard Chartier and Paul Vinet
February 2 - March 8

Opening Reception:
Saturday, February 2
7 - 9 pm

Artist Talk:
Saturday, February 16
2pm

Crafts and Kisses
Sunday, February 3
Noon - 5 pm
@ Josephine Butler Parks Center
15th and Euclid (2437 Fifteenth Street, NW)

Tim Conlon in Smithsonian Magazine

Take a look at the February 2008 issue of Smithsonian Magazine to read an article about graffiti art that features Tim Conlon, a DC graff artist who created a piece for the portrait Gallery's upcoming hip hop show opening February 8. Tim and his crew also happen to be the artists who created the installation in my Collectors Select show opening this Friday at the Arlington Arts Center.

Images from Performance Week

The fabulous photographer Frank Day took some great pictures from the Performance Week closing party on Saturday night.

Wangechi Mutu @ Hirshhorn

This will be so cool!

Collectors Select @ Arlington Arts Center

As one of the collectors who is curating a space at the Arlington Arts Center for the upcoming Collectors Select exhibition, I specifically chose the Tiffany Gallery to showcase my ideas about the definition of art and about how art is used to express ideas and even identity. Below is the statement I wrote about my concept for this exhibition.

Please come to the opening reception!

Friday, February 1
6 to 9 PM
@ Arlington Arts Center
3550 Wilson Boulevard

“I found I could say things with colors and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way…things I had no words for.”
Georgia O’Keefe


The Tiffany Gallery’s breathtaking stained glass windows provide a unique and befitting opportunity to illustrate the expressive power of contemporary art. Surprising as it might seem, these early 20th century windows by Louis C. Tiffany, recovered from the Abbey Mausoleum in Arlington National Cemetery, make an ideal backdrop for the bold colors, intricate line details, and witty characters in graffiti created by DC-based artist Tim Conlon and his crew.

By covering the walls of the Tiffany Gallery with New York style graffiti, I hope to provoke questions about how we define and value art. Whether graffiti is mere vandalism or can be considered respectable, enfranchised fine art becomes a poignant question in the context of a public space typically used to exhibit more conventional works—and, occasionally, to provide a setting for wedding receptions and birthday parties.

I raise the question to prompt a conversation and not to impose a viewpoint. However, I am intrigued by the emotional responses that graffiti art can provoke. These responses help define the ways many people view the traditional boundaries of art—limits that must be tested or exceeded to arrive at an expanded idea of what art is.

By taking graffiti out of its standard urban context and placing it in a conventional art venue, I hope to create an unsettling experience for the viewer that underscores the need to acknowledge and value artistic messages in new ways. I invite the viewer to experience a strong emotional interaction with this work—and, through this interaction, to actively clarify her definition of art.

By activating the space in an unexpected way, this installation invites viewers to focus less on the usual objects that we consider art—oil paintings, photographs, and sculptures—and to focus on the underlying ideas and concepts on which artists base their works. The art world is filled with exceeding technical talent, but the artists who capture my attention are the ones who express interesting ideas regardless of the media in which they work.

Art acts as a vital tool for communication, connecting us to our fellow humans now and through time. However, only a small audience can be reached through the traditional spaces of a gallery or a museum. Therefore, graffiti acts as an essential format for transmitting ideas about identity and the artist’s personal philosophy in a more public sphere, to a wider and more diverse audience.

Graffiti that fits this model has been found on ancient Egyptian monuments and was even preserved on walls in Pompeii. Resistance fighters during World War Two spoke out against the Nazi regime by painting their protests on public property. Graffiti is an especially important communication vehicle for those who may feel invisible to announce their presence in the world.

DCist gets it right

Heather Goss wrote a really really nice piece about the Pink Line Project in DCist yesterday.

* And don't forget to stop by Performance Week tonight and tomorrow!

Performance Week - Day 2

In case you're having trouble finding the spot where Performance Week is being held, just look for the building at 14th and T that's covered with new graffiti by nearly every graf artist in town. Inside and out. Come by tonight from 6 to 8 PM for more performances!

Performance Week - THIS week!

The Pink Line Project collaborates with the Meat Market Gallery to bring you performance art events taking place Wednesday through Saturday night this week at the corner of 14th and T (across 14th Street from St. Ex) starting at 6 PM. See the sidebar for more information.

Other arty stuff this week

The Art of Buying Art by Paige West
Reception and book signing
Thursday, January 24
7:00 PM
@ Corcoran Gallery
500 17th Street, NW
Members: $15.00 Public: $20.00

Second chance to meet the artists of:
Elements
@ Prada Gallery
1030 Wisconsin Avenue

Thursday, January, 24
6:30 - 8:30 pm

Gallery Talk with Professor of Art at Trinity College,
Gene Markowski
Saturday, January, 26
2:00 - 4:00 pm

Elements features:
Mark Cameron Boyd
Craig Cahoon
Willem de Looper
Pamela Frederick
Flora Kanter
Pepa Leon
Gene Markowski
Alex Mayer

Marina Reiter
Showing works through February 2008
Opening reception:
Thursday, January 24
6:30 PM until close
@ Aroma
3417 Connecticut Avenue, NW

Art After Dark
Friday, January 25
6:30 pm
@ The Phillips Collection
1600 21st Street, NW
$35 per person
Free for Phillips Collection Members
Click here to register.

40x26.667
A Photographic Collaboration by:
Mark Parascandola &
Stirling Elmendorf

Opening Reception:
Friday, January 25
6 - 9 PM

@ Caramel Boutique
1603 U Street, NW

A fundraiser for a non-profit art space called Honfleur, which promotes programming and access to the arts in Anacostia.

Lawrence Gipe
arrivals and departures
January 26 - March 1
artists reception:
Saturday, January 26
6 - 8 pm
@ Randall Scott Gallery
1326 14th Street

Paul D. Miller (DJ Spooky)
New York is Now (projection screening)
Saturday, January 26
4 - 6 PM
@ Irvine Contemporary
1412 14th Street

The first Washington, DC screening of Paul D. Miller's acclaimed video, selected for the 2007 Venice Biennale.

Video and audio provided by Dissident Display.

Who's the panda?

A mysterious and silent panda walked around the 14th Street art openings last week presumably as part of the 15 For Philip show at Curator's Office. There was much heated debate over who wore the panda suit that night, but the panda has kept pretty mum on his/her identity. However, lucky sleuth that I am, I happened to be enjoying the company of a certain excellent DC artist the other night and plied him/her with sparkling wine until he/she revealed that he/she was indeed the creative mind behind this inventive homage to Philip Barlow. I agree with Jeffry Cudlin's assessment of the show:

Me, I thoroughly enjoyed the show, even if it occasionally had the vibe of a college humor mag—alternating between cool and dorky, funny and dumb, and relentlessly inside-y overall.

The panda gave all us dorky local art folks something light to talk about for the week. What piques me though was that the panda said many people simply stared blankly at him/her without cracking a smile. And very few people greeted or approached the panda despite his/her obvious huggability factor. How can anyone look at a panda and not smile? Do these people really take art so seriously that they must question the relevance of a panda's presence at an art opening? It's simple fun, but more importantly, it pokes fun. Ha!

Don't worry panda, your secret is safe with me!


I need to start carrying my camera around so I am not forced to take dark, grainy pictures with my cell phone.

Roller girls in the Katzen Center!

If you hurry, you can still see Cory Oberndorfer's installation in the Katzen Center atrium before the administration foolishly paints over it.

Roller girls fascinate me. Doesn't matter what you look like or what you "do" or where you come from, you can be a roller girl. Besides the fun kitsch value, roller derby appears to be a welcoming bastion of acceptance - all are welcome. To paraphrase a certain culinary genius, "Anyone can skate!"

Blood. The New Pink.

Slideluck Potshow is back!

Slideluck Potshow is back and is looking for submissions for its February 16 show, which will be held at Touchstone. How does it work:

We are currently seeking submissions. Fine art and fashion photographers, photojournalists, videographers, painters, sculptors: if we can view it digitally, you can submit it! Participants are encouraged to take creative risks, in terms of content and presentation. All work must be viewable in slideshow format. Submissions will be collected online in advance of the slideshow. Cutting-edge multimedia presentations are welcomed and all shows must be accompanied by music, commentary, or other audio surprises. Presentations are limited to five minutes or less.

In addition, everyone who attends brings a potluck food item to share. Go to the website to find out more and to submit your photos.

Roller Derby literary contest

The esteemed Barrelhouse magazine is looking for your best roller derby fiction. Yes, you heard that right. Roller derby. It's a contest with prizes and everything too. Check it out!

The one we like best (aka, "The Winner") will recieve original artwork from Cory Oberndorfer, who creates (among other things) roller derby related art. Cory's piece will take it's inspiration from your work. This essentially means that you will become immortalized in two formats: your roller derby writing will appear in the pages of Barrelhouse, and will also be celebrated in or serve as inspiration for Cory's work. Which will also be the cover of the next issue of Barrelhouse. So essentially we're offering to make you a stone cold Mona Lisa style roller derby literary god or goddess whose roller derby writing will live on for all eternity. Other stuff that we like will appear in the Very Special Roller Derby Section, thus making it's authors a form of lower deities.

Go to Barrelhouse for more info about how to enter. Deadline for entries is March 17.

P.S. Not only will your work appear in this highly regarded literary magazine, but you will also be feted as the guest of honor at an all roller derby event (hosted by The Pink Line Project) in June that will feature the best of everything roller derby has to offer.

Collectors Select at the Arlington Arts Center

The next show at the Arlington Arts Center is called Collectors Select. The AAC gave several local collectors, including yours truly, free reign to curate their own room at the center. (It's a big place!) I'm in great company! The other collector-curators are Philip Barlow, Julian Fore, Daniel Levinas, Heather and Tony Podesta, and Henry Thaggert. It's going to be so interesting to see the diversity of ideas for this show. Please come to the opening reception in a couple weeks!

Collectors Select
January 29 - March 29

Opening reception:
Friday, February 1
6 - 9 PM
@ Arlington Arts Center
3550 Wilson Boulevard

New work from Chris Tousimis

These are woodcuts. Cool.

Best blog I've seen in a while!

Jumping In Art Museums!

Chock full o' art this week

"Color Invitations"
January 10 to February 4

Opening Reception:
Wednesday, January 16
6 - 8PM
@ R Street Gallery
2108 R Street (second floor)

Novelty, the latest line of cultural eye candy from
The Derby Project
by Cory Oberndorfer
On view until January 18

Closing reception:
Thursday, January 17th,
6 - 8 PM
@ Katzen Art Center
4400 Massachusetts Avenue, NW

New Sculptures by Mary Early
January 9 - February 21

Opening Reception:
Thursday, January 17
5:30 to 7 PM
@ Georgetown Gallery 101
1221 36th Street, NW

Linn MEYERS: Friday Gallery Talk

Friday, January 18
12:30 pm
@ Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

Matthew Langley
Paintings + Paperworks
Curated by: J.W. Mahoney
January 18 - February 17

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

A Dream Remembered, An Endless Pause:
The Solo Show of J. Coleman
and Art Whino's Collaboration Featuring New Artists

Opening Reception:
Friday, January 18
6 PM to midnight
@ Art Whino
717 N. St. Asaph Street
Alexandria, VA

PAINTINGS BY SCOOTER FLAHERTY
January 16 - February 17

Opening Reception:
Saturday, January 19
6 - 8 PM
@ Gallery plan b
1530 14th Street

X
Curated by Anne Surak this time!

Saturday, January 19
6 - 10 PM
@ BeBar
1318 9th Street, NW

AFRICA REVISITED
January 9 - February 23
Adam Abdalla, Sudan
Edorh Sokey, Togo
Stanley Agbontaen,Nigeria
Fred Mutebi, Uganda

OPENING RECEPTION:
Saturday, January 19
6:30 - 9pm
@ International Visions Gallery
2629 Connecticut Avenue, NW

John Morrell: Scene From the Street
Washington, DC and Paris
January 19 - February 23

Opening reception:
Saturday, January 19
5 - 7 PM
@ Addison Ripley
1670 Wisconsin Avenue, NW

You must RSVP to this event!