Transmodern Festival - Live.Art.Action

6th Annual Transmodern Festival - Live.Art.Action

April 2nd - 5th, 2009, H&H Building, Baltimore

The 6th Annual Transmodern Festival!

Four Days of Avant Performance, Installation,
Sound, Film, Mayhem, Ecstasy, and Radical Culture!

April 2nd thru April 5th, 2009
H&H Building
405 W. Franklin Street
Baltimore MD

The 6th Annual Transmodern Festival (Live.Art.Action) will be held at the H&H Building and the surrounding Lexington Market & Seton Hill neighborhood from Thursday, April 2nd to Sunday, April 5th. Following last year’s record attendance and crowds, the festival expands again in 2009 to fill four floors of artists’ lofts and galleries at the H&H Building in downtown Baltimore.

The H&H building is home to several acclaimed local venues including Gallery Four, Floristree (noted by Rolling Stone magazine as a core reason for Baltimore’s selection as “Best Local Scene” in 2007), Whole Gallery, and new venue The 5th Dimension.

On Sunday, April 5th, the festival spreads out into the streets, alleys, and by-ways around Lexington Market & Seton Hill with Pedestrian Service Exquisite. Transmodern Festival closing events will take place Sunday night at Load of Fun Galleries. The festival’s visionary approach to presenting new multi-disciplinary work continues to attract regional art lovers, local cultural mavens, occasional passers-by, critical acclaim, and on-going academic interest. We invite the curious, the inspired, the ecstatic, those who seek immersive creativity and cultural action!

THURSDAY April 2nd, 8:00pm The festival kicks off at the Whole Gallery with an opening ceremony performance by artist Jenny Graf.

The night will continue with 2 nationally acclaimed video/performance works by Shana Moulton (NYC) and Animal Charm (Los Angeles.) Whole Gallery residents (Emily CD & Edward Knapp) will present installations and actions throughout the night. Those who venture a gaze out the warehouse windows will look down upon an intricate external rooftop installation & performance by local favorite Melissa Webb.

FRIDAY EVENING April 3rd, Gallery Four, The 5th Dimension, and the Whole Gallery will open for three floors of sensory delight, interactive art, roaming performances, and major installations.

Extremely diverse artists will present over 20 roaming performances from Lauren Bender (Baltimore) to Sarah Jablecki (Baltimore.) See Friday schedule for full list of roaming performers.

Gallery Four will present major installations by Julia Oldham (Brooklyn), Jackie Milad & Sarada Conaway, David More (Chicago), and Services United (Baltimore), (Baltimore.)

The 5th Dimension will present major installations by Ami Dang (Baltimore), Hermonie Only (Baltimore), as well as experimental theater by Liz Downing & Michael Willis and Smelling Salt Amusements (Baltimore.) (Baltimore.)

The Whole Gallery will contain an AVWC an A/V “lounge” curated by local sound magicians Snacks with selected sound & video for those needing a little respite.

SATURDAY EVENING April 4th - the opening of all four floors of the H&H. Major installations from previous nights will be available for viewing and a stage-oriented show will take place at Floristree on the 6th Floor at 8:30pm.

Artists presenting work on Saturday evening at Floristree include: Mark Brown (Wham City, Baltimore), Reina Williams (Baltimore), Erin Markey (NYC), Anne McGuire (SF) and Wobbly (SF). The night contains a mix of cutting edge digital film art, theatrical performance art, and an oddball cabaret lounge from internationally renowned filmmaker Anne McGuire. The final acts of the evening will include the presentation of Bromst the new album by euphoric /pop/electronic/national cult figure Dan Deacon with his new Ensemble & associated friends. This performance will also serve as the record release for Bromst. Over 15 roaming artists will also be present on all four floors and can be viewed via the Saturday schedule.

Michael Benevento (Current Gallery Co-director), Megan Chin, Jamie Freedman, Sean Honey, Andrew Liang, Miranda Pfeiffer, Stephen Santillan, Jeff Timlin, Krysten Watson, Joana Kopczyk, Mitchell Goodrich, and more will be presenting a human-size foosball game on the 5th Dimension from 8:00pm to 12:00am.

SUNDAY AFTERNOON & EVENING, April 5th brings Pedestrian Service Exquisite a site-specific free afternoon program featuring over 30 artists presenting work in and around Lexington Market & Seton Hill.

Our evening closing program Altered States will be held at Load of Fun Galleries and is curated by Jamillah James, who recently presented the acclaimed Agenda show at Current Gallery in Fall 2008. The Altered States program includes work by Delia & Gavin, EMR (Dylan Mira & Math Bass), Forcefield, Zeljko McMullen & Severiano Martinez, Sarah Milinski & Caitlin Williams, New Jedi Order, Jimmy Joe Roche, Erin Womack, and feature performances by Lexie Mountain Boys, Soft Circle (Black Dice, Lightning Bolt), Blues Control, and Ra Khuit Noor.

The Transmodern Festival continues to be a one-of-a-kind Baltimore phenomenon presenting experimental, expectation-defying work from local and national artists. We continue to hold fast and proud to our mission of highly representing women, minority, and GLBTQ artists.

For more information, go to http://www.transmodernfestival.org/2009/.

Wise Guise Grand Opening at Nudashank Gallery in Baltimore, MD

Patterns of Obsession at Gallery Imperato: Matthew Kern, Dana Reifler Amato, and Chris Bathgate

MICA MFA Thesis 1: March 27 - April 5, 2009

James Williams, Mt. Royal

The Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) this spring features three exciting and provocative exhibitions of thesis work by master of fine arts candidates from MICA's Graphic Design, Hoffberger School of Painting, Mount Royal School of Art, Photographic and Electronic Media, and Rinehart School of Sculpture programs. All shows take place in MICA's Decker, Meyerhoff, and Fox 3 galleries, located in Fox Building, 1303 W. Mount Royal Ave.

A public reception with the artists for MFA Thesis Exhibition I (Friday, March 27-Sunday, April 5) takes place Friday, March 27, 5-7 p.m., and gallery talks are Wednesday, April 1, 1-4:30 p.m. MFA Thesis Exhibition II (Friday, April 10-Sunday, April 19) features a reception on Friday, April 10, 5-7 p.m., and gallery talks Wednesday, April 1, 1-4:30 p.m. A reception for MFA Thesis Exhibition III (Friday, April 24-Sunday, May 3) takes place Friday, April 24, 5-7 p.m., and gallery talks are Wednesday, April 29, 1-4:30 p.m.

Thesis Exhibition I

Featuring: Helen Armstrong (Graphic Design), Kristian Bjornard (Graphic Design), Kim Budd (Photographic & Electronic Media), Danielle Davis (Graphic Design), Stephen Doolittle (Mount Royal School of Art), Joo Ha (Graphic Design), Joshua Haycraft (Mount Royal), Matthew Janson (Mount Royal), Jin Young Kang (Mount Royal), Joshua Lampman (Photographic & Electronic Media), Lindsey Muir (Graphic Design), Ryan Smith (Photographic & Electronic Media), David Ubias (Mount Royal), and James Williams II (Mount Royal).

Interview with Philip Koch, with images from The Unbroken Thread Exhibition at MICA

Cara: Where are you from?

Phil: Grew up in Rochester, NY. My parents built a house on the then very rural shore of Lake Ontario in a wildly hilly beech tree and white birch forest. In a lot of ways my paintings now are about re-imagining that same childhood forest.

Cara: How long have you been teaching at MICA? What do you teach?

Phil: Started teaching at MICA in 1973 after teaching on the west coast. I just teach a 2/3 course load to save time for my own painting. Currently I teach Drawing I & II and Life Drawing.

Cara: Who are your favorite painters? Who has influenced your work the most?
Phil: Early influences were color oriented artists such as Milton Avery and Mark Rothko. Through their work they served as wonderful teachers when I was just starting out with painting.

But the biggest single influence was the painter Edward Hopper- it was seeing his work when I was an undergraduate art student that persuaded me I had to switch from working abstractly to following the realist path. I love the 19th century American landscape painters with their whole-hearted embrace of the natural world. These were people who let themselves really get carried away. Winslow Homer's paintings and Rockwell Kent's wood engravings are always favorites.

Cara: Why do you paint landscapes? What do your paintings add to the dialogue of contemporary art?

Phil: A romantic immersion of oneself in nature is one of the great themes that runs uninterrupted through art history. It is as relevant a question as any in contemporary art- after all we evolved out of the natural world's seas and later forests. The landscape is always a self portrait for the artist and for our species.

On another level, it is a hoot to have such a great excuse to go outside to do one's work when everyone else is stuck indoors.

Lastly, I think landscape painting of the great realist painting traditions (figure, still life, landscape) is the most fun in that it affords the artist a certain playfulness. Nobody really knows what trees or clouds look like, so the landscape painter can get away with murder in moving things around and changing their colors to the most implausible choices. When done right, even though one has profoundly changed the outer appearance of the landscape, the resulting feeling of the place can ring even more true to the viewer.

Cara: Do you paint on location? If so, where and how does this work? When and where do you paint?
Phil: For many years I painted exclusively with a portable easel in oils in the plein air fashion. It was great. About 10 years ago though I started doing a great deal more drawing in charcoal outdoors in lieu of oil paints. I wanted to loosen the grip the actual local colors of the landscape had over me. It is possible to be too beholden to what is actually before you. These days I do a great deal of work back in the studio based both on the black and white on location drawings. And more than ever I rely on memory and invention.

Where I paint on location is actually a critical question. I think it best if the artist is persuaded they have before them just about the best possible source in the world. It absolutely has to grab you. So I travel a lot and I drag my easel with me.

I get the biggest charge out of going to the places that inspired the artists from the past that have inspired me. Of particular fascination are the coast of Maine and Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Maine drew all the important Hudson River School landscape painters I love. Winslow Homer and Rockwell Kent too. And Cape Cod was ground zero for Edward Hopper who worked there half of each year for three decades. I'm very fortunate to have had 12 residencies staying and working in Hopper's old painting studio in S. Truro on the Cape. Hopper's studio is something of a ghost house, but I mean that in the best sense of the term.

Cara: You just exhibited work in two simultaneous solo shows: The Unbroken Thread at MICA's Bunting Gallery and at The George Billis Gallery in Chelsea, NY. How did this project come about? Where is it going? How do you feel about exhibiting your work - and especially exhibiting in Baltimore vs. NY?

Phil: The University of Maryland University College organized the current traveling show of my work titled the Unbroken Thread and they have published a wonderful exhibition catalogue to accompany the exhibition that is now scheduled to travel to 7 art museums through 2011. The idea of the show was broached by Eva J. Allen, Ph.D, an art historian at UMUC who curated the show. Her idea was to look at how a modernist influenced painter like myself can re-visit themes and locations that have fascinated earlier generations of artists.

As for showing one's work, I think many artists make a mistake of waiting for the "perfect" opportunity for an exhibit. But it is important to remember having a show is an opportunity for the artist to see her/his work in a different light when it is in someone else's space. One's learns so much about one's work when you have a show. I think it is a critical part of being a professional artist just from an aesthetic point of view. Then too it is great when strangers respond with enthusiasm to what you've done. It you play your cards right, they will.

New York v.s. Baltimore galleries perhaps isn't as big an issue as the particular personality of each dealer and her/his gallery. Every art dealer does some things very well- some have beautiful exhibit spaces and lighting, others have built a powerful network of collectors, and some have just plain old talents of salesmanship. It is a question of matching your work's needs to the gallery's strengths.

Cara: I heard that Dick Cheney offered to purchase one of your paintings, but you turned him down. Is this true or some kind of wild rumor that MICA kids are spreading?

Phil: Cheney's office approached me to submit work for him and his wife to consider purchasing and reproducing as their annual Christmas card. I told them no.

Cara: What are the best and worst aspects of being a painter?

Phil: Best thing about being a painter is the chance to do something genuinely remarkable. Paintings are tools to recharge the society's imagination and to help people see themselves more clearly. This is honest and important work. I am so grateful for some of the other painters who went down the road before me who left us their shimmering and exciting painting. How much more colorless we would all be without their achievements.

Worst thing about being a painter may be the isolation it requires from the artist. You absolutely have to spend a major part of your time alone to let your vision develop free from distractions. It can be lonely.

Cara: How much and how often do you paint vs. how much and how often do you promote your work?
Phil: I spend the bulk of my time painting- it takes a whale of a lot of time to get one's paintings just right. "Do it over" has to be the serious artists motto.

Once one has a body of work one is genuinely proud of, it just seems natural to want to build an audience for that work. One sort of owes it to the work. So I do try to have shows on a regular basis to let people see what I'm doing.

Cara: If you could be reincarnated as any animal besides a person, what would it be and why?

Phil: Can I pick two? A well-fed and well-loved house cat. And also any kind of bird that can fly really high to get those views. I am aware these two totem animals wouldn't really like each other.

Paul Daniel: Kinetic Sculpture at the Katzen Center in DC

Paul Daniel: Kinetic Sculpture - Current Reflection
Saturday, January 24-EXTENDED to August 9, 2009
Katzen Arts Center, American University Museum. 4400 Massachusetts Ave, NW (at Nebraska), Washington, DC 20016-8031; 202-885-2787
www.american.edu/museum

Baltimore artist Paul Daniel creates large outdoor kinetic sculptures extending up and over the wall of the Sylvia Berlin Katzen Sculpture Garden overlooking Ward Circle. The pieces rotate, reflect sunlight and are fun to watch. By adding mirrors to works that move in a fluid way, these sculptures not only reveal the unseen force of the wind but also broadcast the movement of the sun. Daniel’s sculpture is included in numerous municipalities in the Washington-Baltimore region as well as in many private collections.


Paul Daniel
Sculptor / Mount Maker
2010 Clipper Park Road
Baltimore, MD 21211
410-366-5072 studio tel & fax
443-691-9764 cell
http://pauldanielsculpture.blogspot.com/

Dan Corrigan and Kevin Smith at Gallery 1448 April 3

Gallery 1448 presents a dual exhibit: Biotic Connections, photographs by Kevin Smith and I’ll Drown My Book, mixed media work by Dan Corrigan.

April 3 – April 26, 2009
OPENING RECEPTION: Friday, April 3, 6-8 pm
Regular Hours: Sat / Sun 1:00 pm -5:00 pm, or by appointment

Gallery 1448 is pleased to present the work of these two Loyola College students who explore ways of depicting the physical world and how science, nature and culture combine to inform our perceptions of beauty.

Kevin Smith, in his exhibit entitled Biotic Connections, creates a collection of photographs that illustrate the intricate forms and patterns existing in the earthly bodies of six different species: the honeybee, terrapin, pigeon, blue crab, orchid and human. At multiple levels including cellular, epidermal and structural, he examines and compares the specialization that each species has developed in order to survive. As a Biology/Photography Interdisciplinary major, Smith has been able to fuse his passion for art and science so that we can appreciate the marvels and aesthetic beauty of biology and physiology depicted in his remarkable photographs.

Dan Corrigan is an English and Studio Arts major. In his contribution entitled I’ll Drown My Book, he uses a variety of media and techniques: printmaking, calligraphy, collage and treatment of actual books and found texts to explore ways in which text can be used as a formal element as well as a carrier of meaning. Recently, he has executed a series of anatomical drawings from medical museums in Philadelphia and Washington DC. He used these drawings to create a series of prints to which he has added text in order to investigate a particular metaphor: the conflation of the human body with “the text” as an entity. A text, like the body is a construction of systems and elements, Corrigan contends; we even use anatomical terms like “spine” and “foot” when describing books. His nuanced mixed-media works exemplify the relationship between word and body.

Please join us at the opening reception to meet these two exceptional young artists.

Gallery 1448
Artists Housing Inc.
1448 East Baltimore Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21231
410-327-1554 www.1448.org

Baltimore '68 Riots: Loss and Legacy at MICA April 7

After the news of Martin Luther King’s death (April, 1968) became public, riots broke out in cities all over the country, including Baltimore. Last year, in collaboration with the University of Baltimore’s year-long series of events, entitled “Baltimore '68: Riots and Rebirth,” the local literary journal, Passager, published a collection of oral histories by public officials, television reporters, clergy, storeowners, national guardsmen, and ordinary people of all ages. One of the surprising aspects of collecting the stories was learning that little had been written about the riots and very few people who lived through them had even talked about them with their families.

In commemorating Dr. King, MICA joins with Passager and the University of Baltimore to present a dramatic reading, followed by a conversation with the audience, of the some of the stories collected in the “Baltimore ’68: Riots and Rebirth” project.

“It was like the world was ending.” Lillie Hyman, High School Senior

“…we didn’t want to call it a riot because we didn’t know what a riot was.” Thomas Donellan, Roman Catholic Priest

“..things began to spread into West Baltimore. That’s when I called Governor Agnew and asked for federal troops.” Thomas D’Alesandro III Mayor

“…And the teachers would say, “People just don’t know what to do.” Juanita Crider, Child in East Baltimore

Event April 7, Brown Center, Falvey Hall at 7:30 p.m.

An Open Letter from Current Space abut Bill 08-163

Interested Supporters of Small Venues,

Hello! I hope everyone had a good weekend. As you may or may not already know, there's a bill being proposed in the City Council that will eliminate venue zoning classifications, charge live arts venues a fee, and place heavy regulations on them. I'll be emailing everyone periodically with updates on this process and the status of the bill. This past week everyone at The Annex has been talking about the impact it would have on our work, and more importantly, the work of all of our friends who create and perform. The venue licensure ordinance could allow for venues to form in new places by eliminating the zoning requirements, however it would also drastically affect the small venues we know and love. We are asking all our friends, supporters, and patrons to OPPOSE this bill on the grounds that it will effectively restrict artistic expression and would cripple or kill the best part of Baltimore’s live arts.

WHAT: Opposition to City Council Bill 08-163 A.K.A. The Venue Zoning Bill, due for "Draft Vote" by the council on April 29th.

WHY: An Excessive Licensure Fee ( $1500) and non-compliance fines ($500-$1000) would bankrupt small venues that ALREADY DON’T MAKE ANY MONEY.

A “Moral Character” clause that would call into question an unspecified scope of the venue’s/individual’s past actions, opening the door for censorship. The overly-broad scope of the bills definition of performance, including anywhere presenting “the opportunity to dance”, poetry readings, and comedy. Fundamental concerns regard freedom of expression. With the specific and extensive regulation of performance spaces the experimental, fringe, underground, and DIY artists will be marginalized and pushed from the city.

WHERE AND WHEN: Meetings This Week-

TOMORROW MONDAY the 30th 4 P.M. at the Metro Gallery: Baltimore Live Arts Business Association (mostly for venue owners and operators, though i'd reccomend trying to go if you can't make...

8 P.M. at The Hexagon: Baltimore Live Arts Supporters For Everyone!

TUESDAY the 31st from 6:30-8:30 P.M. City Council Venue Zoning Bill Community Workshop Meeting. City Council Members and other City Officials will be present to field questions about the bill and take comments. Please be respectful, but firm! The city council understands that the arts scene in Baltimore is a big draw, but let's remind them. We don't need to talk up underground venues to make the point that small, aboveground venues will suffer because of it. Morgan State, Communications Center, Room 101, 5601 Perring Parkway email back if you need a ride/can give a ride. Let's carpool! Thank you!

SATURDAY the 4th from 5-7 P.M. Annex Action Plan Potluck @ The Annex (2nd Floor) We'll talk about what happened at the Tuesday community workshop meeting and how we can raise publicity for the cause by turning anywhere and everywhere into a Live Arts Venue :) We'll make some food, bring some of your own!

HOW:Attend those meetings, as many as you can! Join these google groups for other updates and information http://groups.google.com/group/baltimore-live-arts-supporters http://groups.google.com/group/BLABA

-Email City Council President Stephanie Rawlings-Blake CouncilPresident@baltimorecity.gov , and your your council representative. It goes without saying that polite, sincere letters will do something to convince them that this bill puts a good chunk of Baltimore's cultural uniqueness at risk. As angry as we are, offensive emails will only alienate our views inside the city council.

-Talk Talk Talk Talk Talk! It's cheap and it'll help raise awareness!

-Email me for more information on the state memos, city departmental concerns, city council member info

WHO: All of us, for the love of art, however you define it.

Peace Love and Hugs
Rick and The Annex

Current Gallery
30 South Calvert Street
Baltimore Md 21202

The Reverse Ark and Solidad Salame at The Contemporary Museum