The East Wing

I never get tired of the light-filled atruim of the National Gallery's East Building.

Last week I took a “field trip” to DC to look at art. It had been too long. The last time was back in 2010 to see the the National Geographic Museum’s Terra Cotta Warriors.

We started out at the National Gallery of Art’s East Building with Nam June Paik’s video projects. Then we discovered 17th-century Dutch painter Gabriel Metsu, and ended up in the Modern Lab’s Found Alphabet. This contained Claus Oldenberg’s Beach House and several cool photos. Most remarkable was Kim Rugg’s reassembled front page of the Financial Times. She cut apart each letter of a line of type and then rearranged it all in alphabetical order. At the risk of sounding like a designasaur, I know my way around  Xacto knives and newspapers. But there’s no way I could have pulled this off, not that I’d ever want to go back to pre-Adobe days.

We spent a little while in the West Building, mainly seeing Samuel Morse’s painting of the Louvre. So it wasn’t enough to invent the telegraph, he had to be an accomplished painter, too. Thanks, Sam, for making the rest of us look like slackers.

Note how the Mona Lisa is tucked away inconspicuously.

The dinner's dessert was the final, and most delicious work of art we saw all day.

There was still a little time before we needed to head out for a dinner party. We took a quick tour through the Hirshorn’s Colorforms exhibit. Olaf Eliasson’s Round Rainbow was hypnotically engaging, and I always enjoy the after-images produced by Larry Poons’ paintings.

Artomatic Frederick

I’d been thinking of participating in DC’s Artomatic since its beginning in 1999, but never got it together. Now there’s no excuse.  This uncurated behemoth is coming to Frederick’s former Board of Education building, a short walk from my house.

Artomatic Frederick will transform the 27,000-foot space into a venue showcasing hundreds of visual artists.  And if that’s not enough, music, poetry, and theater will be featured during the 5-week event. During that time there will be two First Saturdays, In the Street, the 72 Film Fest, and Halloween. So there should be plenty of visitors . . . and with luck, art buyers.

Artists’ registration  will begin on August 1st; and the exhibition runs from September 28 to November 6.

One of the coveted spaces with plenty of natural light. Some rooms in this historic building have built-in shelves that would be perfect for ceramics and small sculptures.

Pursuit of Happiness

American Style Magazine recognized Frederick, Maryland as one of the Top 25 Small Art Cities in the United States. Frederick came in eighth in the competition, preceded only by Asheville, North Carolina; Santa Fe, New Mexico; Gloucester, Massachusetts; Saugatuck, Michigan; Sarasota, Florida; Sedona, Arizona; and Key West, Florida.

The artistic spirit was evident during Frederick’s July 4th celebrations. Individuals, groups, families, companies, and non-profits decorated boats for The Great Frederick Float. And then there were those who turned themselves into living art projects. It was great fun, even before a single firework was launched.