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.

This District Moment -- Closing Party

See flyer below for details on the closing party at Pyramid Atlantic Art Center this saturday in Silver Spring, MD. Two of my DC Tags photos are in the show (including the image on the poster). Live music and beer provided.

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.

This District Moment

"This District Moment: Report from the Streets," currently on display at The Pyramid Atlantic Arts Center in Silver Spring, highlights a group of local artists employing influences from graffiti, skateboarding, punk, and hip-hop. The exhibition, curated by Graham Boyle and Michael Pollack, aims to show that DIY and urban street art are alive and kicking in the DC area.

Artists include: Johnnie Bess, Graham Boyle, Imani K. Brown, Billy Colbert, DECOY, Diabetik, Mark Parascandola, Francisco Rosario, RVLTN, Tim Slayton, STER, Lisa Marie Thalhammer, Kelly Towles, and Aniekan Udofia. Two prints from my DC Tags series, showing Washington monuments with superimposed graffiti, are included in the show.

Beautiful Losers

The Pyramid Atlantic Art Center in Silver Spring is holding a fundraising event June 11 at 7pm, involving a DC-premiere screening of the DIY art film Beautiful Losers followed by a reception and silent art auction. The screening and reception will be held at the American Film Institute Silver Theater in Silver Spring. For more information about the event click here.

Over three dozen artists, many from the DC area, are contributing work to the auction and a related exhibit at the Pyramid Atlantic building. Three photographs from my Carabanchel and DC Tags series will be included as well.