Artomatic Takes Flight at DCA

Just passed through here again today -- the show comes down June 25.
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Artomatic Takes Flight: Special Exhibit at National Airport

I'll have a photograph in this Artomatic exhibit at National Airport ...

What: A special exhibit featuring pieces by 83 Artomatic artists

Where: Reagan National Airport, in the hallway connecting to Terminal A

When: March 3 to June 25, 2011

The exhibit features 83 artworks, both two-dimensional and three-dimensional. It taps into the more than 1,500 artists in the Washington-area creative community who participate in Artomatic events. In the spirit of Artomatic, artwork was accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Stroll through the exhibit any time or attend the opening reception Thursday, March 10 from 6 to 8 pm, mingle with the artists and hear live music.

The Guest Book

This year at Artomatic I left a guest book for visitors to sign. I never anticipated the range of comments the DC Tags images would inspire. Of course, it was great to hear from friends, neighbors, coworkers, family connections, and fellow artists and art fans. Many left encouraging words. Some left their own artful tags in the book. Others commented on what the images made them think of -- the freedoms we enjoy in this country and the challenges some citizens face in having their voices heard. And a few visitors were disturbed by what they saw, objecting to the sight of national monuments covered in graffiti, even when it is imaginary.

"Sorry man, but if I saw that in actuality ... I would f***in' kill the guy that did it," signed "Craig, Art Lover, Democrat, Respector of History."

"In my opinion ... this is only encouraging those to deface what is already art, created by human hands with love, strength and power. There is a place for grafffiti and tags, but not on the face of America."

We're fortunate that our monuments are well-preserved and protected. But one of the purposes of art, of course, is to challenge us to think, often through representing something familiar in a different way. I hope these images achieved that.

Scene of the Crime

Still no word on the missing photograph. No mysterious ransom note asking for $10,000 in monopoly money. But I did take the opportunity to revisit the scene of the crime and make some adjustments to my Artomatic display.

Stolen!

I was alerted today that the photograph above was missing from my Artomatic display. The religious posters in the image were shot in Mumbai and then superimposed on the columns of the Supreme Court building.  The stolen print is number 1 in an edition of 10. The piece is in a 17" x 22" wood frame, too big to stuff into a backpack or under a shirt.

I could be flattered that my work was selected out of the 1000+ Artomatic artists to be targeted or to be in the company of other artists whose work has been stolen over the years, from da Vinci to Picasso. But it mostly just sucks. Unfortunately, there was none of the intrigue that surrounded The Collector incident and Tim Tate's stolen work two years ago.

Artomatic runs on the goodwill and hard work of many people who volunteer countless hours to make it happen, along with the tens of thousands of visitors who come out to support the artists. So it is unfortunate when one person's actions run so counter to that collaborative spirit.

Thanks to fellow photographer Frank Turner who was on volunteer duty for passing on the bad news.

Artomatic Picks

 
During my volunteer hours and other visits to Artomatic over the past few weeks I've tried to see as much of the show as possible. With 9 floors filled with art, it's impossible to absorb it all in one visit. Here are a few of my favorite photographers (and other artists) i'd recommend checking out before the exhibit closes this Sunday June 15:

Erin Antognoli
Using a Holga camera, Antognoli captures intriguing multiple exposure black and white images. Ghostly human figures juxtaposed with city scenes and architectural details. The prints are small, the size of the actual negative, but this serves well to invite the viewer to study the images closely.

Brian Lusher, 'Adoration of the Jesi '
Lusher's installation involves dozens of plastic Jesus busts colorfully painted to look like they are in drag. This display is accompanied by a couple of large soft-focus photographic prints of these faces. They are beautifully printed and look surprisingly lifelike.

Graeme King, '24 on 14th'
I happened to be walking up 14th Street during Graeme's 24 hour stakeout. It's one thing to have the concept of spending 24 hours in one spot taking photographs of willing passersby, but to actually carry it out (even after the pizza shop closes at 4am) and end up with a visually engaging product at the end is admirable. King's wall of portraits is fun to browse, and you might even recognize someone. My mug is there somewhere in the middle.

Erica Riccardelli
If there's an award for photographic location scouting, this photographer should get it. The staged murder scenes are interesting, but it's the great settings, gothic ruins somewhere, that really caught my attention.

Stirling Elmendorf
Just around the corner from my space on the 12th floor, Stirling is a friend and collaborator. Look out for his dramatic 4-foot-high image of pink spheres, each one reflecting the photographer in miniature. It's hard to miss.

Joanna Knox
Outstanding images of the interiors of decaying abandoned farmhouses. The photographs, taken with a 4x5 camera, are meticulously compsed, which makes the disorder of their contents appear even more stark. I saw her exhibit at the previous Artomatic and immediately recognized her work here.

Scott Davis
Another Mid City Artist photographer, uses a traditional platinum-palladium printing process. His Artomatic display includes recent photos from Washington DC. I especially like his wide-frame image of the P Street Whole Foods at night. The sweeping curved roof of a car along the bottom of the frame reflects the lights above, making what would be a mundane scene into an intriguing composition.

Tracy Lee, 'Return to Sender'
A collection of old family snapshots and color slides that, according to the accompanying text, record memories of a childhood with two alcoholic parents. It is a compelling piece and uses photography to make this sad story very real and immediate to the viewer.

Jackie Hoysted, 'Ashes to Ashes'
This isn't photography, but I thought it was an intriguing concept to make art of of peoples' last cigarettes as a way  to memorialize their quitting date. I was surprised with the range of artistic constructions that could be made from a cigarette and its effects.  

Strangers in a Strange Land

In my space at Artomatic I decided to show a series of images from two very different subjects, the monumental titanium constructions of Frank Gehry and abandoned houses along the coast in Almeria, in southern Spain. In a recent trip to Spain I stopped in Bilbao to photograph the Guggenheim museum before heading south to Almeria. I found both settings to be fascinating but also austere. Gehry's organic forms take on a more sinister air at night, as the artificial lights impose gold and brown hues on the metal plates and Louise Bourgeois' spider sculpture appears less playful. The abandoned buildings that I stumbled upon in the desert landscapes of Almeria appear somewhat artificial. They could be leftovers from an old movie set. But they also serve as a reminder of the impermanence of  human constructions and the unsetted existence of those who have passed through, leaving behind a few possessions or writings on the wall.