ethnic cleansing on the internet means being able to say "i hate you because of your shit-ass myspace color scheme."

Is this imaginary gallery flyer the begining of a James Huckenpahler online gallery on Second Life?

Let's all hope for an all out art-world baptism of dork realms Camelot, Everquest, and W.O.W.. Crusades + pokemon = Gotta convert em' all...

U street is just going down

Project 4 opened on Saturday to strengthen U street. Lori Grinker's show Afterwar opens the space with impacting photos of veterns and their families. The photos are laden with context heavy wall info that gives a good documentary background. The new gallery was packed with people who knew everyone. Of course, I din't know any of them. The two Heather's were there though and it was good to learn that

1. Irvine will be hosting a Faile show in a longtime. Can't wait to see if they can top their own website.

2. U street is going to hell. No really. Fire & Brimstone style.

Ok, so when i left Project 4 Malena and I saw a tiny fire at 8th and U, near the flea market alley. It was really windy and this small fire was creeping up the telephone pole and blowing (really fake-like) across the alley in chunks. So, me not living there and being kindof devil may care curious, I got really excited about my first call to 911. We walked to our car and by the time we got there we heard sirens. We hit the blinkers and watched the show. One guy slowly ambles out of the firetruck and walks over, without anything, you know, just checking it out. Then three more come out, one finally carrying a wet hose.

Sizzle and fizz. Done.

Tell me it wasn't some homeless guys attempt to stay warm though.

More evidence U street is screwed: according to precogniscient Heather and the Arlington man that got shot there yesterday. Just as long as Ben's survives right?

Chawky interview soon

I went to Chawky Frenn's studio last night and got to see an apartment covered in work, bikes and wine.

Project 4 opening too

E-mail

wall snatcher

Image courtesy of solarize this

Wall snatchers was off many a rocker this evening. The video pieces, composed with C++ and motion capture, and, ohyeah, graff stuff.

i. chawky frenn drank beer
ii. Heather from Irvine snagged an original Faile for one hundred bucks. she let on about an upcoming ju-yeon kim show
iii. teo gonzalez is working on a massive 9 X 9 foot work for fusebox new 14th street irvine
iv. name to a face moment with bloggers & photographers alexandra silverthorne and heather goss
v. breck brunson was, sadly, not in a red full-body tracksuit.
vi. wod deals in real estate. where'd that grant money go?
vii. mark jenkins, tape guy, will have his recent lollipop parking meters in a UK ford commercial. "approached, not doing anything yet" - mark jenkins
viii. met a homeless coworker.
ix. tyler and blake were no where to be found. no one cared, as the dc arts scene continued on without them, while kids exchanged sketch books and philly blunts on the sidewalk.

* scene

Thursday, Wallsnatchers and Zombie

Dueling openings tomorrow with Georgetown Staples Kelly Towles curated graff artist show
Feb 23-Mar 26, 2006/ Wall Snatchers --Former Georgetown Staples Store, 3307 M Street, NW, Washington, DC 20007 Open Feb 23rd, 6-8:30pm.

Exhibition Hours: Fri & Sat 6-10pm, & Sun 4-8pm

the list
Bask
Eon
Faile
Mister Never
Nick Z
Tes One

sponsered by everloving WPA/C

AND a senior thesis show by Dave Gustine, Zombie opening at the Corcoran's Gallery 16, 6-8pm. I have a postcard that is incredible, yet there's nothing online about the show. Trust me.

Sloss Graffiti ontest

This came to the phillips collection yesterday:

In the heart of the City, at the base of a 125 year old iron furnace, on the sides of authentic steel rail containers.

WRITERS BLOCK

is a call to entry for graffiti artists for 20 artists across the US to tag the rail yards of Sloss Furnaces, an amazing abandoned rail yard, coal plant, and iron furnace. It's in Birmingham, Alabama. Though the contest is heavily sponsored by energy drink people, the chance to create art there is worthwhile.

I was at Sloss a couple years ago with habitat. The structures there are huge and it's incredible Alabama's letting this happen.

The Relationship Show

My full review of transformer's The Relationship Show is up on DCist.

"I'm three thousand dollars in debt."

Transformer show was a blast and though I missed the talk I got to meet Breck and Solomon. Essential stuff, too bad they're moving on out. Check The Relationship Show, Wednesday through Saturday, 1 - 7 pm, through March 4th.

"I used to be the new guy at the Corcoran, then I was emptying the trash there and all the freshman were like, 'what happened?'"

Solomon Sanchez sums it up.

more legitimate posts below, most likely

HE may have a nice job lined for him in LA

And a healthy relocation fund.


ALSO expect a bailey / edna thunderdome showdown soon

Living in Japan

Saw Hiroshi Sugimoto talk at the Hirshhorn last night. Having last shown his sea scapes at the Hirshhorn he returns with a full blown 30 year retrospective. He plays the faux egomaniacal photographer beautifully:

"Vermeer lied. Don't trust painters, only trust photographers."

get the hirshhorn podcast of his talk here

And get ready to wait in line for the upcoming Hiraki Sawa talk (Ring Auditorium, Thursday, March 2nd, 7pm). His fun black and white videos of magic toy planes and trotting coffee cups are in the Hirshhorn black box through March. Beauty and the Beast walking saucers served high art style.


And Hirshhorn: if you're going to cut off the public to see these excellent talks, try giving up the reserved seats when the gentry doesn't show up, huh?


EDIT: download this horrible incredible song by Fun Fun. yep, Fun Fun
Living in Japan - Fun Fun

Chawky Frenn @ Fraser

I am queasy.

And let me say it's not cause I'm grossed out. No, not really. Frenn's images are rough but their violence, meat, and blood are welcome in this too straight city. Fraser Gallery had enough problems with nudes leering out their window. Cause we don't deal with sex that well in DC, it causes intrigue, impeachment, and--done roughly--shortens the life of a really good botox job.

But violence? Load up the buckshot and let loose the millionaire geriatric attorneys. We love the violence so much that it began moving out to the suburbs! And Chawky followed suit; Bethesda loves this shit! So I don't think Fraser will see the backlash they experienced last year.

But the queasiness is still there. Malena couldn't stay away from the Frenn book in the center of the Fraser Bethesda Gallery. At first I thought it was the cute Portuguese kid who kept pulling at her hair. But there were other kids painted on the walls for goodness sakes I mean what do you wan-----OH

Wanted that ever elusive thing: the quality:


But then half of the show showed the goods, the mastering of figurative space and the non-over the top mythic references. And half of the show did not. There were amazing works and there were blithe sketches in oil. The book's pedestal was a center point because it held a lot of good stuff that wasn't there.

It's too bad that Georgetown Fraser is gone. If this show was cut, cream off the top, and placed in the smaller old gallery that unceremoniously closed on Wednesday, this would be an incredible show.

Fine, you put it on your iPod, you can call it a podcast

Sunday, I went to the last Who Do You Love panel at DCAC (scrollldown), hosted by Ian Jehle. Installation and site-specific artists Mary Coble, Jamye McLellan, and Ira Tattelman discuss their influences and:

"Who's your great grand daddy?" - artistic lineage: personal and public
"Within these hallowed halls" - public museums as the apex of the art venue pyramid
"Raphael is my copilot" - technique, refinement and presentation vis-a-vis the Old Masters "The boys and girls of spring" - the influence of major collectors
"What's not to love" - gaps in the DC artistic paean
"And now ..." - where does individual practice and our local art scene intersect the contemporary art world?

If you couldn't make it through the snow to see the talk, I recorded it and posted it here. It's worth it at least to hear a non-phallic critique of the Washington Monument. It's true, Jayme, obelisks are just strange architecture in this city!

Posting will be light this week as I get my bearings with my new job at the Phillips Collection. (This means I'm half done with my blog, right?) The Lender's Circle opening dinner for Degas, Sickert, and Toulouse Lautrec was haught to the max, with lavish burnt orange trim, tulips, and roses for bank and exhibition patron ING. Jacquelyn D. Serwer left in a quick huff after dinner and a high level DC official lamented her child setting off alarms and Secret Service at her neighbor's house with . . . a snowball.

Did i mention I love this city, and love not paying its taxes?

BORF in jail

EDIT: see wa.po coverage here

According WJLA 7 ABC, Borf , John Tsombikos, was "caught red handed" tagging in New York on November 15th. Breaking his probation, he faced trial yesterday and is now in jail for 30 days.

Something tells me this is just gonna fuel him and his work. (In to the new 14th St. Irvine? How about it Matt?)

Fusebucks

Mawney.

It's what makes this crazy town go round, from Abramoff to baseball-bunting council members to Marion-the-pipe-Barry. So when you got it, you gotta spend it.

When Fusebox announced it would close its doors last month, you could see gallery owners' eyes, from Alexandria to Logan Circle, glaze over with heat and lust and cartoonish $$$ signs. With Sarah Finlay and Patrick Murcia moving to San Francisco as the gallery apperates this Saturday, there was what looked to be an all out grab for the space, with Transformer, Conner Contemporary, and Irvine all in the running. The winner will come out with the challenge of meeting the bottom line while not becoming--what one gallery board chair called--"a fundraising machine."

How will the space change? The 2001 Core designed 1600 square foot space still surpasses all other fronts with the closest competition being Numark.

Yesterday morning the Washington Post reported that Irvine Contemporary Art will take the space, moving out of its current Dupont Circle location. From what I've heard it's a fine sum, at $6,000 a month. Hope that's with utilities and I wish Irvine good luck.

SUNDAY (repeated thrice with increasing emphasis & amplitude)

The Neptune Gallery will host the opening of Cupidity this Sunday the 12th from 4-8 pm. Come by to see Warren Craghead, Alexandra Silverthorne, Frank Warren and others before you head out to

The last Who Do You Love panel at DCAC (scrollldown), hosted by Ian Jehle. Installation and site-specific artists Mary Coble, Jamye McLellan, and Ira Tattelman discuss their influences and:

"Who's your great grand daddy?" - artistic lineage: personal and public
"Within these hallowed halls" - public museums as the apex of the art venue pyramid
"Raphael is my copilot" - technique, refinement and presentation vis-a-vis the Old Masters "The boys and girls of spring" - the influence of major collectors
"What's not to love" - gaps in the DC artistic paean
"And now ..." - where does individual practice and our local art scene intersect the contemporary art world?

SUPER SECRET_ wewillbreakyourskinnylegsman_EDIT:

Craghead cupidity installation preview

SUPER SECRET_ceaseanddecistedition_EDIT: thanks for the food Carol, James, and James!

when you gotta pee, you dada pee

When the dada exhibit opens up next week at the NGA, be sure to give James Bailey's Piss challenge a try! Bonus for women!

From Black Cat Bone:

"It should be news to everyone who sees it: It turns out there's much more there than toilet humor." - Blake Gopnik.

Now just hold on a minute there, Blake! Let's don't be so quick to dismiss the potty jokes when it comes to Duchamp!

Black Cat Bone Global Media Empire

is proud to sponsor

The 1st Annual Black Cat Bone Duchamp Pee Pot Contest

(an Evil Digital Photography public art project)

Here's how it works:

Be the first gallery visitor to piss in Duchamp's Fountain which will be on exhibit as part of the National Gallery's survey of dada crap opening on February 19.

Simply submit a time/date-stamped digital photograph (jpg format only, please) of yourself whizzing in the pot! The first certified photograph that is received by management at Black Cat Bone will receive a $25 Starbucks gift certificate card and a $25 gift certificate from the National Gallery gift store.

Plus, the first five submitted urine sample images will be published on Black Cat Bone, thus solidifying your esteemed place in contemporary postmodern art history!

BONUS FOR WOMEN!

Management at Black Cat Bone recognizes the fact that the challenge to piss in a standing pot is greater for women than for men. Therefore, if a woman submits the first digital image of herself climbing on board the fountain, Black Cat Bone is prepared to offer a $50 Starbucks gift certificate, a $50 National Gallery gift store certificate and a free one month's supply of any feminine hygiene product of your choice.

"When you gotta pee, you dada pee!"

no way was i snoring

EDIT: blogger. its down all the time. anyone got a better idea?

Went to the Corcoran for the WPA/C Auction preview last night. DC Art News breaks down the structure and who's who well here, so I wont bother.

After a nice little disrespectful nap in the Armand Hammer Auditorium, I woke to listen to the curators of the auction. I didn't think anyone noticed, someone did. Kendall Buster from VCU was hilarious and insightfull, though I did not get this bizarre selection. I headed upstairs to see the art. (This was a novelty, because most were talking not looking). Ran in to Lenny Campello who told a cool parable of an intern turned assistant director after a quick eight months at the Hirshhorn. Campello who introduced me to JT from thinking about art. Jt and I trash talked and shared favorites:


Colby Caldwell - the sea picture (2) : ah yes, of course. JT places emphasis on this. Had a great quote from curator Phillip Brookman who liked to imagine that the center figure was the lockness monster. This was reiterated by a young collector who came by, glanced, and told his dad "he wanted it."



Noelle Tan - Untitled #11 : This photograph is unreproducible here. Yeah, there it is above, but it's tonal range is masterful and has to be seen. I think of it this way; step in to a room with indescernable light. Slowly, your eyes adjust to reveal detail. This happens in Tan's photograph--at first look, 10 percent of the frame is black. It all comes in to view in thirty seconds, as if the photograph is developing itself before you.


Teo Gonzalez, Untitled (10,000 black in red direct 100 gauge) - Saw some of these at Irvine and can't wait to see more this in September at his solo show. Woot!

artists: roll out of the studio and grab some of this free money

Fresh out of the Corcoran:

The Target Gallery is pleased to have David C. Levy serve as our juror. David C. Levy is the former director of the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. and the Parsons School of Design in New York City. Not to Scale is an exhibition that is open to all artists in the US and abroad working in any medium. Artists maysubmit work that investigates all aspects of size and scale including literal or conceptual interpretation.
Deadline: March 3, 2006. Show: April 19 - May 28.
Entry fee: $30.00 for up to 3 images (slide or CD). $500.00 in award money. 703.838.4565 x 4, targetgallery@torpedofactory.org
www.torpedofactory.org

We really need some distinctive conk that galleries can blow in and sound out new calls for entry (but until then):

2006 Richmond Outdoor Sculpture exhibition is indeed year two of the 2005 Sculpture Invitational. Last year was an invitational only, and this year we did not want to limit ourselves to only sculptors we were aware of. We wanted the call for proposals to reach more sculptors outside of Richmond. The name change was owing to our wants of broadening the idea and scope of the project in the future. We are extremely excited about this year's exhibition."
Deadline: March 1, 2006; Entry fee: free; entry form

The Fraser Gallery announces the 2006 Bethesda International Photography Competition, a worldwide call for photographers to exhibit in one of the capital region's most respected art galleries. Deadline: January 27, 2006, Show runs March 10 – April 11, 2006.The competition offers $1,000 in cash awards as well as further exhibition opportunities for all selected photographers. Details on the exhibition, as well as the entry forms and prospectus can be found online

The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities and the Department of Parks and Recreation are seeking artists to create a permanent public artwork for several newly or recently renovated recreation facilities in the District of Columbia.
Deadline: February 17. Please visit, or call 202.724.5613.


The above is from a show called ecstasy going on at MOCA LA. And it's about, you know, ecstasy. Suprising show stoppers both feature mushrooms so go figure.