Interview with artist Melissa Webb

In a Material World... An exhibition of costumes by Melissa Webb
Gallery Imperato
Opening Reception: August 14, 7-10 pm
August 14 - September 12, 2009

Local Artist Melissa Webb is preparing for a Solo Exhibition on August 14, 2009 at Gallery Imperato in Baltimore, MD. I caught up with her to ask her questions about her studio practice, her development as an artist, and her new work.

CO: Where did you study art? When did you graduate? What did you study? How did this experience shape your view of the role of the artist?

MW: I attended Maryland Institute, College of Art and received a BFA in Fibers under Annet Couwenberg and Piper Shepherd. While I was there I became interested in public art that could be experienced and appreciated by all types of people, not just other artists and art patrons. I saw many students there who were very focused upon moving right to NYC and getting gallery shows and I decided then that that was not the thing for me. I wanted to try something different than the average gallery exhibit format, to expose my work to people who don’t normally go out of their way to view art. I wanted to make public work that steps inside people’s daily lives, to throw a little monkey wrench into their perception of reality for a moment.

Back then a lot of students at MICA seemed to like using the word “craft” to insult one-another. I poked fun of this tendency for a little while when I was there by using things like puff paint and glitter in my work. As a fiber artist I grew to feel that craft, in the most serious sense of the word, was a very important thing to me. I began to think of myself as a crafts-person as well as a visual artist, and have worked hard since then to make things that anyone could potentially appreciate from that standpoint. I wanted for someone that had maybe turned away from an abstract painting feeling like it had gone over his or her head to be able to look at my work and say “Wow, that is really beautiful”. This artist put a lot of care and hard work into this.” Then perhaps they would feel at ease about taking a moment to look deeper and see the other layers of meaning in the piece.

CO: Also, how has your work evolved in the decade since you left art school?

Bigger stronger better… I am actually happy to say that I still have the same goals and ideals for my work that I did even in college, but I can execute them with much more efficiency and skill. Working in costume professionally really honed my skills as a designer and a fabricator. My years collaborating with local performance and filmmaking troupe aminibigcircus took me away from the self-centeredness taught in art school, and gave me the joy that I have for working with other artists. (Image: aminibigcircus’ production of “Sorry for the Coldfusion”, photo by Scott Pennington) Just recently I’ve made effort to focus on solo work as well. Right now I am trying to get myself back into the process of exploration and experimentation with materials that I did so much of in college.

CO: Where are you originally from and how has this impacted the art you make today?

MW: Westminster, Maryland, just like you Cara! When I was a kid, Westminster was so different than it is now. Our house was surrounded by farms and woods, and now it is a total strip mall sprawl-ville. I ran around in the woods all the time collecting samples of bugs, worms, salamanders, and crayfish, and bringing them home to examine. I have always admired nature and all things green and leafy… I am still completely obsessed with the color green. I just can’t seem to get enough of it. I feel so lucky to have grown up around a lot of natural beauty, and I just can’t imagine that my work would be the same had I grown up in the city with only a concrete park to play in, like so many kids in Baltimore.

(Image: “Grassman”, photo by aminibigcircus)

CO: What kind of jobs and occupations have you had to support your art career?

MW: When I got out of college I worked for three years at A.T. Jones and Sons Costumers, where we made lots of opera and masquerade costumes. I consciously took the job to become better at sewing so I could make my own stuff. This turned into a career-oriented focus upon becoming a costume designer for theatre. I spent 10 years trying to gain as much knowledge about all of the angles of theatre costume- wardrobe, manufacturing, and design. I worked at many different theatres in the Baltimore- DC area, and did a lot of costume commissions on my own as well. Through all of this I was making my own costume and installation work and performing with aminibigcircus. After a while, professional theatre turned stale for me. It just wasn’t paying me enough for all of the hard work the jobs demanded. The knowledge that professional costume gave me did feed and influence my own work, but the emergency room style panic of the commercial theatre world eventually started draining the life out of me as well as my art.

I was costumer / asst. designer at Everyman Theatre for about three years. It was at this point when I met actor Stan Weiman, who owns a custom interior design workroom. In 2003 I took a management position there that pays a lot more than theatre ever did, and with better hours. It has been a great job with great people, and it is only 30 hours a week so that has allowed me to spend lots of time on my work and maintain a studio away from home. Also, for the past six years I have taught stage production classes to middle school students at Baltimore School for the Arts. Looking at theatre from and educational perspective has been so much more rewarding to me than professional theatre ever was.

CO: What are you working on currently? What are you most interested in exploring in your upcoming projects?

MW: Currently I am getting ready to mount a show of my costumes and related collaborative photography at Gallery Imperato. Yes indeed, a gallery show… my first in a very long time. It will feature costumes from 1998 to present. I am busy re-vamping everything right now, because all of the pieces have been used in past performances, and some are quite worn. I am really enjoying revisiting some of my old work, because it is all still quite valid and exciting for me.

As for new projects, I recently completed a large, interactive, four-story outdoor installation piece involving costumed performance called “The Temporary Nature Ideas”, which was part of the 2009 Transmodern Festival at the H&H building. With this one I was working mostly solo for the first time in a long while. It was a wonderful chance to start an intuitive language with myself, and to let the materials speak for themselves and even lead the way at times. I am really looking forward to continuing this new dialogue.

(Images: “The Temporary Nature of Ideas”, photos by Eddie Winter)

I feel very happy with the new piece, and with the other large-scale work I have done or been a part of, though these endeavors tend to take a lot out of me. All of my big projects, collaborative or otherwise, tend to take a lot of energy, time, and money. I am looking forward to finding ways to keep making large works without putting the rest of my life on the backburner. I would like to work in series for a while, and make componential pieces that stand well on their own and can eventually be combined to create an environment.

CO: Who are your artistic influences and why?

MW: Julie Taymor, Bread and Puppet Theatre, and Pat Oleszko. These three were early and consistent influences of mine because each of these artists are big-thinking, multi-disciplined convention-smashers. They all think outside the limitations of established formats to clear their own, brand new path with their work, and are able to inspire masses of people through their use of touring shows and public art.

Julie Taymor does not compartmentalize her talents. We are a society of specializers, from when you pick your major in college all the way through our careers. Taymor proved to me that people can be and are more complex than this. She is a world-class sculptor and crafts-person, a puppet-maker, as well as a costume and set designer, director, and writer for experimental and visually oriented theatre and film. Her impressive range does not dilute the effects of her work. In her theatrical adaptation of “The Lion King”, Taymor’s credits include direction, mask, and puppet design, and collaborative costume and scenic design. The result of her multi-focused approach has revolutionized theatrical visual media, blowing all tradition out of the water. This is a woman who thinks big without compromising the details.

In 1998 I visited Bread and Puppet Theatre in Glover, VT, that fateful year that Peter Schumann and friends decided to end their yearly Domestic Resurrection Circus and Pageant weekend. I loved how they used the entire landscape to create a massive live performance, with visual elements appearing on the horizon and approaching from all directions. They recruited legions of audience volunteers to operate beautiful, ethereal giant puppets. Mystical puppet habitats could be found hidden in the dense forests surrounding the outdoor theatre. Costumed stilt-walkers created extra height and movement throughout the performances. All were welcome to the experience for free. Seeing Bread and Puppet create such visual and theatrical wonder without the use of the traditional stage format affirmed for me that this was not only possible, but could also be even more welcoming and awe-inspiring.

At MICA several students, including myself, we were asked to participate in a weeklong intensive performance workshop with NYC performance artist Pat Oleszko. None of us were ever the same! Pat taught us how to build a public performance using whatever materials we had available around us, and to do it fast and well. This was immediately following the fire that destroyed Clipper Mill, which at the time was filled with artists and craftspeople. Our production took place on the burned site, and memorialized the history of the complex. We tried to create a show that would bring closure and comfort to everyone who lost their life’s work. It was an emotional process, but an amazing one. After the workshop, all of us felt completely validated and motivated to create the work we wanted to. MICA was not big into performance at the time, but that changed after Pat’s visit. Groups and alliances formed, and suddenly we were out there in the community making visually exciting public spectacles and testing traditional artistic boundaries.

CO: What is your favorite medium to work with and why?

MW: Ha! I get to claim everything here because I am a fiber person. Fiber encompasses all pliable lines and pliable planes, standing on their own or used with non-pliable materials! If I had to pick one specific material though, I would have to choose thread. It does everything. I couldn’t possibly make any of my work without it. A sort of trademark of mine for years has been these tendrils I make by cutting strips of fabric and fusing the edges with my industrial serger (aka over-lock) machine. The machine is normally used to keep the seamed edges on the insides of garments from fraying, so I suppose I am using this tool in an unconventional way. This process uses quite a bit of thread.

I also want to mention photography here- it is very important for me to document the situations or performances I am involved in, since they are so labor intensive to set up and difficult to repeat or travel with. Photography is my chosen medium for this because it can capture the exact moments one wishes to present to the world. This moment on film becomes a work of art all its own. I love taking pictures myself, and I especially enjoy collaborating with photographers. I much prefer photography to video, which I feel distorts things, and there is too much junk to wade through to get to the meat of the work.

(Image: “Death Dance Bird”, photo by Uli Loskot)

CO: Your work tends to combine performative acts, often in large coordinated groups of people? How do you organize these events? How do you evaluate their success?

MW: I consider organizing a natural part of my work. Sometimes I even think I am better at organizing than I am at making the art itself. I think it’s actually easier to make something big come together organizationally than it is figuring out what that thing should be in the first place! The process of organizing is very fluid. It has to be. You have to roll with it and not demand too much of the folks you are working with, yet take full advantage of the resources and people available to you at the same time. It is important to make it fun and enriching for folks, so they can get as much out of a project as they wish to put in.

Facilitation and collaboration in lieu of direction and dictation is the key. So is keeping your cool no matter what, which is sometimes hard when you work with large groups of folks on projects that mean a lot to you. I always tell people, if there is somebody you don’t like working with, I think it is better to just get through the project and finish peacefully than to make a big stink about it and ruin everyone’s good time. You can always decide later whether you wish to work with them again in the future.

I would say success in working with other people for me is the measure of how much fun everyone has doing it, of course how much observers and / or participants enjoy it. It is also about what everyone takes away from the experience, and how much was learned and built upon in the process of making and performing the piece.

(The image shown is of “@$#%!!” aka “Gnome Booth” by Melissa Webb, M. Jane Taylor, and Company, Artscape 2007. This interactive installation featured 46 performers over 3 days. Photo by Melissa Webb)

CO: Feminist art of the sixties recognized and elevated traditional female crafts, such as sewing, knitting, and other fiber-based practices, which were seen as 'mere craft' and not 'high art' before that. Do you consider yourself a feminist artist? What do you think the art world has gained from the feminist art movement?

Topiary Woman

MW: I wouldn’t specifically refer to myself as a feminist artist, but there are definitely elements that relate to feminism in my work. As a female who works in costume, most of my work has sort of naturally focused on the female body, and some of my pieces have dealt with issues of femininity, sexuality, and social perceptions of our bodies. One piece, entitled “Topiary Woman” (pictured, photo by Lisa Dietrich) compares historical alterations of the female body to that of a constantly pruned topiary bush, speaking to the tendencies of humans to control nature as well as the human form. Another piece, entitled “Ballerinas- The Three Fates, Maiden, Mother, and Crone” (shown here in a scene from aminibigcircus’ “Cari Amici: Our Magic Show Moovee”, photo by Alexander Webb) illustrates age-oriented stereotypes of women dressed in over-the-top pink ruffles and frills.

Fiber-art and performance art share a commonality in that they tend to be female dominated mediums. To appreciate feminist art, one thing to do is just look to the sheer volume of great work that has been added to the pool since the sixties, and specifically to the vast addition of new materials and approaches. Many talented women came on the scene during the feminist art movement and started getting people’s attention with their unapologetically raw imagery and subject matter… they weren’t afraid to speak about taboo subjects relating to women’s bodies, love, sex, and so many other previously taboo and unexplored topics. These women broke down boundaries that for one thing, allow artists working today to say what they want with their art, however they wish to with out it being perceived as simply about shock value.

CO: On your Baker Awards Site, you have documented a performance piece called 'Uppity Ladies' which has received a lot of interest and attention. How did this project come about? Why do you think people relate to this piece?

MW: Uppity Ladies was collaboration with M. Jane Taylor, and with the company of folks we chose to play the different characters in the piece. I was asked by Sarada Conaway to do some stilting at the Transmodern Festival in 2007. The idea came to me to have Victorian tea party on stilts. Jane and I decided to collaborate, and together our ideas developed into something much larger than we imagined it would be in the beginning. We wanted the piece to speak partly about class-system and labor issues, and originally the workers were going to be people in sort of stylized rags or something. One day though we were staring at a “worker” costume, both feeling like something was wrong, and we decided that the missing element was humor. It was just too serious. So Jane says, “How about garden gnomes?”… and there we had it.

I think people related to “Uppity Ladies” in lots of different ways- they loved the Ladies’ costumes for example, and the energetic butler who was the go-between for the other characters, but I think the gnomes were what really did it for a lot of people. The idea of garden gnomes as slaves that use their bodies as croquet wickets and mount protests for cupcakes really amused everyone, I would say all of us especially. It was such a fun thing to do, and we were all really proud of it.

(Images: “Uppity Ladies”, photos by Uli Loskot)

CO: You have a studio at the Load of Fun Building and seem to participate in many events there. How does being a part of a creative community influence your work? What are the advantages and disadvantages to keeping a studio in a communal artist building?

MW: There are so many advantages to being part of an art community like Load of Fun, and no particular disadvantages that I can think of. In the past I lived and had a studio at the Whole Gallery at the H&H building for 6 years, and after that I worked for a time at my home in Sowebo. Now at Load of Fun I think I finally found the perfect way to work, separate from my or anyone else’s living space. When you work out of your home there are so many excuses not to make your art. I always felt like I had to have my plate clean to be ready to make stuff, like I had to make sure the laundry was done or do the dishes or whatever before I could get going. When I am at my studio now I am there to work.

The size of my work is an issue too- in the couple of years I lived in Sowebo I didn’t have room to store parts of installations, so my work focused only on small costume pieces during that time. Since I moved my studio into the Load of Fun and got more space, my work has gotten very large.

Several of my good friends also have studios at LOF, and we get to talk to each other about the work we are doing and the goals we have for ourselves. It such a valuable thing to get feedback from other artists while you are in the process of making… also it is really nice to take breaks and chat or go get a bite to eat together! Load of Fun is filled with people who are serious about their work. It helps me to be motivated to keep my own work going strong.

BMA APPOINTS NEW CURATOR OF CONTEMPORARY ART

Curator Kristen Hileman

Doreen Bolger, Director of The Baltimore Museum of Art, has announced the appointment of Kristen Hileman as Curator of Contemporary Art and Department Head of this important collection. Currently Associate Curator at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, Hileman will begin her position at the BMA on November 2, 2009.

“Since its inception, collecting and presenting contemporary art has been an important part of the BMA’s mission” said BMA Director Doreen Bolger. “Kristen Hileman continues this incredible legacy, bringing experience working with artists on collaborative projects and a familiarity with Baltimore’s cultural community that will serve the Museum well as she guides our contemporary program for future generations.”

During her eight years at the Hirshhorn, Hileman undertook projects on the work of Cai Guo-Qiang, Jim Hodges, and Oliver Herring in the Directions series in 2004, 2005, and 2006; organized the exhibition Ways of Seeing: John Baldessari Explores the Collection in 2006; and co-organized with other Hirshhorn curators The Cinema Effect: Illusion, Reality, and the Moving Image—Realisms in 2008, publishing an essay for the catalogue. Most recently, Hileman organized Strange Bodies: Figurative Works from the Hirshhorn Collection, which is on view until November 9. On October 8, 2009, the Hirshhorn will open Anne Truitt: Perception and Reflection, a major exhibition which she has organized and for which she has written the catalogue.


Hileman began her career at the Hirshhorn as a fellow in 2001, was named an Assistant Curator in 2003, and Associate Curator in 2007. Before joining the Hirshhorn staff she was a Curator at the Arlington Arts Center in Virginia. She has also held positions as an adjunct faculty member at the Corcoran College of Art and Design and George Washington University. She is a graduate of American University with a MA in Art History from the University of Maryland at College Park. In addition to her responsibilities at the Hirshhorn, Kristen has served as a juror for many exhibitions in the Mid-Atlantic region as well as a visiting critic at the Maryland Institute College of Art and at Virginia Commonwealth University. She has also published numerous articles and reviews.

One of Hileman’s first projects will be coordinating the BMA’s showing of Andy Warhol: The Last Decade, first U.S. museum survey of Warhol’s late paintings. This five-venue nationally touring exhibition is organized by the Milwaukee Art Museum and scheduled to open in Baltimore in October 2010.The Museum has one of the largest collections of late works by Warhol in the United States and is a major lender to the exhibition.

CONTEMPORARY ART AT THE BMA

Since its founding, the BMA has been exhibiting and collecting works by contemporary artists, resulting in an impressive collection of 20th- and 21st-century works of art alongside that of emerging talent. Featuring core works from the major contemporary art movements, this rapidly growing collection is housed in the spacious galleries of the 36,000 square-foot West Wing for Contemporary Art, a 1994 addition to the Museum. Notable in the collection are outstanding examples of Abstract Expressionism by Robert Motherwell and Jackson Pollack, Minimalism by Ellsworth Kelly and Donald Judd, and Conceptualist works by Sol LeWitt and Bruce Nauman. The BMA also has excellent Pop art with one of the country's largest collections of late works by Andy Warhol, including major paintings from the 1980s. Among other important American contemporary artists represented in the collection are Robert Colescott, Willem de Kooning, Dan Flavin, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Grace Hartigan, Jasper Johns, Barbara Kruger, Alison Saar, David Smith, and Frank Stella. Recent acquisitions include works by international artists such as Flower observatory (2003) by Danish artist Olafur Eliasson and Chandelier with Hands (2006) by Swiss artist Thomas Hirschhorn. In addition to painting and sculpture, the BMA holds a major collection of works on paper, particularly contemporary drawings.

VISITOR INFORMATION

General admission to the BMA is free; special exhibitions may be ticketed. The BMA is open Wednesday through Friday, 11 a.m.–5 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m. (except major holidays). The Museum is closed Monday, Tuesday, New Year’s Day, July 4, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. The BMA is located on Art Museum Drive at North Charles and 31st Streets, three miles north of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. For general Museum information, call 443-573-1700 or visit artbma.org.

NOTE: Beginning Wednesday, September 2, 2009, the BMA will begin opening weekdays (Wednesday through Friday) at 10 a.m. Weekend hours will remain the same.

Academy 09 opens Saturday, August 1 at Conner Contemporary

Jin Young Kang - 2009 CRM Stripes, oil on panel

Academy 2009: 9th annual MFA/BFA survey
Saturday, August 1, 2009
WPA workshop: 4 - 6pm. exhibition opening: 6-8pm
PULSE Presents:emerging artist award - 7pm.

ACADEMY 2009 : August 1 – September 4, 2009

Conner Contemporary Art is very pleased to announce ACADEMY 2009. Exhibition founder, Jamie Smith, Ph. D., is the curator of our 9th annual invitational survey of outstanding work by recent fine art graduates of regional college art programs.

Participating artists: Celina Amaya, Danny Baskin, Alan Callander, Charles Clary, Margot Ellis, Kyle Ford, Jeremy Flick, Corey Grimsley, Steve Ioli, Casey Reed Johnson, Jin Young Kang, Patrick McDonough, Aziza Murray, Igor Pasternak, Ding Ren, Alex Roulette, Andrew Schrock, Ryan Schroeder and Rafael Soldi.

Represented institutions: American University, Catholic University of America, Corcoran College of Art and Design, Georgetown University, George Washington University, Maryland Institute College of Art, Savannah College of Art and Design, University of Maryland.

Nearly 150 grads have participated since ACADEMY's 2001 debut. Some have achieved international recognition, exhibiting at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC; the Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York; Nassauischen Kunstverein, Wiesbaden, Germany and The British Museum, London, England.

Conner Contemporary Art
1358-60 Florida Ave, NE
Washington, DC 20002
v: 202-588-8750
info@connercontemporary.com
www.connercontemporary.com

The Unfolded Crystal: Seduction of the Hyperreal Curated by Melissa Moore opens August 6

The Unfolded Crystal: Seduction of the Hyperreal
Curated by Melissa Moore
OPENING RECEPTION AUGUST 6, 6-9PM
THE STAMP GALLERY/ UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND
AUGUST 3 - 14TH, 2009

Artists: Jen Kirby, Gina Denton, Ayako Kataoka, and Jenny Graf Sheppard

The Unfolded Crystal: Seduction of the Hyperreal attempts to materialize an existence that reaches beyond the capabilities of human consciousness. We perceive the world according to the parameters of three-dimensional space. Seduction of the Hyperreal challenges these limitations by pushing one further into the absolute realm of existence where there is nothing, beyond concept, where one may transcend above reality to the realm of the “hyperreal.”

The work of Melissa Moore, Jen Kirby, Gina Denton, Jenny Graf Sheppard, and Ayako Kataoka aims to create such an environment through the use of multi-disciplinary approaches including installation, sound, video, sculpture, and constructed objects.

The Stone Carving Oraclestra will also perform the evening of the reception--featuring artists, Serena Williams, Miranda Bushey, Katherine Porter, Shana Palmer and J.Graf



TAKE THE MARC TRAIN (Camden line) or PARK FOR FREE ON CAMPUS LOTS 1 and Z
http://www.mtamaryland.com/services/marc/schedulesSystemMaps/Jul09Camden.pdf

http://thestamp.umd.edu/visitorInfo/directions.shtml

Introductions5 at Irvine Contemporary August 8

Wayne Toepp "Monitor no. 8," 2008. Oil on canvas (detail).

Christopher LaVoie "Headstone-Milestone," 2009.
Concrete and yellow tape (installation detail).

Introductions5
August 8 -September 5

Irvine Contemporary is pleased to announce Introductions5, our fifth curated “MFA annual” that brings a selection of new artists from leading art college programs to Washington, D.C. To select this year's invited artists, we reviewed the work of over 200 recent graduates from leading MFA programs across the US. Finalists were selected through thesis exhibition visits, artist studio visits, and open submissions. Info.

Opening reception with artists, Saturday, August 8, 6:30-9 PM.
Collectors Preview: 1:00-5:30. Discussion with the artists: 5:00-6:00.

Invited artists for Introductions5

*Jonathan Dankenbring MFA, Indiana University, Sculpture and Installation
*John Hill, Jr. MFA, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Drawing
*Christopher LaVoie MFA, Maryland Institute College of Art, Sculpture
*Paris Mavroidis, MFA, Pratt Institute, Digital Media & Film
*Matt Sartain MFA, Academy of Art University, San Francisco, Photography
*Wayne Toepp MFA, Maryland Institute College of Art, Painting
*Yi-Hsin Tzeng MFA, Savannah College of Art and Design, Painting and Mixed Media
*Stacey Lee Webber MFA, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Sculpture

Yi-Hsin Tzeng "Invisible Series (Orange)," 2009. Acrylic on panel (detail).

Landscapes & Exteriors Exhibit at Thomas Segal Gallery

The Thomas Segal Gallery opens Landscapes & Exteriors on Tuesday, July 21, 2009.

Featuring the works of David Campbell, Jim Condron, Wolf Kahn and Trace Miller, this exhibition displays modern landscapes including works on canvas and works on paper. This exhibition will run until September 15, 2009.

for more info: thomassegalgallery.com

"A New Currency: Shared Resources" A group exhibition organized by Civilian Art Projects for 87FLORIDA on August 1

Kate MacDonnell

As part of the "First on 1st Neighborhood Art + Music Walk" sponsored by the Pink Line Project and North Capitol Main Street, CIVILIAN ART PROJECTS has cooked up a summer show for 87FLORIDA:

Organized in conjunction with the New York City based School of Visual Arts MFA 2009 class who instigated a series of exhibitions and projects across the country called "A New Currency," Civilian asked the following artists to create new or existing work that shared a common spirit of abundance.

In new and imaginative ways, artists in the exhibition interpret art and ideas as resources with a currency unlimited by monetary definition.

More information can be found on the SVA's "A New Currency" project here: http://anewcurrency.blogspot.com/

"A New Currency: Shared Resources"
A group exhibition organized by Civilian Art Projects for 87FLORIDA includes:

Seth Adelsberger / Nicholas Carr / Anthony Dihle / Carole Wagner Greenwood / Ryan Hill / Erick Jackson / Amanda Kleinman / Kate MacDonnell / Cara Ober

'found' money drawing by Cara Ober

August 1 - September 26th
Opening Reception: Saturday, August 1, 12-4pm
Join us for refreshments, conversation, and art.

On the 2009 Sondheim Prize (2 of 2)

Kriston Capps: I need to post a disclaimer because it might come up in this leg of the conversation: Molly Springfield is a friend of mine.

If I'm a Sondheim Prize finalist in 2010, I'm thinking that I need to put a Baltimore Zip code on my resume and highlight my teaching experience and spend a few hundred hours volunteering in the city from the semifinalist round forward. As you say, the winners of the Sondheim Prize since its inception could all point to their civic work in Baltimore—though none of the winners, except for the Baltimore Development Cooperative, would point to their civic work as their submission for consideration.

That's a critical point that distinguishes the BDC from past winners. There are, after all, other commonalities between past winners that are clearly not cause for concern. All the winners are also MICA alumni, for example, yet I don't think—at the very least I haven't heard anyone express it seriously—that only an artist with a degree from MICA stands to take home gold.

Putting aside the fact that the BDC claims their civic interaction as art work in a way that past winners like Geoff Grace do not, the concern about artists' civic qualification is one I shared after the award ceremony. It's hard not to, particularly as a Washington resident. Coming into the awards ceremony, with Baltimore's mayor and a Baltimore newscaster introducing the prize to a primarily Baltimore-based audience, artists hailing from D.C. or Virginia must feel like they're playing an away game. Add to that this issue that the past winners are conspicuously important to the Baltimore community and you have the makings of what seems to be a fix—maybe not deliberate but there, nevertheless.

So when I reported my story about the Sondheim, I spoke to Gary Kachadourian at length about this issue. I asked, specifically, what instructions or other guidelines the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts gives to the jury. He was unequivocal about it: none. No fix for social justice or community activism or what have you. He said that he asks jurors to consider the work. He noted that the BDC didn't make it through the first round for the 2008 prize, to give an example of how mercurial the jurying process can potentially be. So social activism, or the benefit to Baltimore, is not being considered as a qualification for this prize—Kachadourian was very clear on this point.

However, there is an interview segment to the award. I think you could argue that the interview benefits artists whose practice is conceptual, off site, untethered to an object, and so on. Artists like Leslie Furlong, Jessie Lehson, Molly Springfield and the others in the finalists' circle are given an opportunity to clarify the work that they've put up for consideration. On the other hand, the BDC has an opportunity to expand upon the work they put up: They're able to tell the jurors that the work is much more than what's on display there at the BMA. It's maybe a structural advantage for artists who engage in a more conceptual practice—maybe.

Cara: Well, we could argue a lot of things, in terms of potential strategies and also conspiracy theories. There is ample ambiguity in the process, and you can’t help but to see patterns. I can see your argument that DC-based artists are seen less favorably in this process, which is an idea I hadn't bother to consider. When the Trawick Prize is given, there's no interview process, and there seems to be no bias in terms of choosing Baltimore or DC artists for the top prize.

That said, I do not believe that community activism is a necessary component in an artist’s resume in order to win the Sondheim Prize in Baltimore. Most, if not all, artists volunteer their time, donate their work, and give back to the larger communities. However, I think that AFTER the jurors choose their favorites, the interview process can’t help but to give an advantage to the artists whose projects are most expansive and inclusive.

Every year the jurors are different, which seems to guarantee objectivity and fairness, a fresh start for each new competition. However, upon closer inspection, the national and international art world is small. Many of these jurors have studied under the same teachers, have exhibited in the same museums, and read the same theorists and critics. Despite the differences in jurors from year to year, there is a surprising degree of sameness in their choices. The Sondheim has only existed for four years, yet we see the many of the same finalists year after year. In a pool of several hundred artists, this seems odd. If we look at the CV’s of Karen Yasinsky, Molly Springfield, Geoff Grace, Baby Martinez, and the BDC (as Camp Baltimore), what similarities emerge? Are there certain experiences – residencies or exhibitions, not just the work – which mark these candidates, year after year, as heavyweights? And if this is the case, how can we expect jurors to choose ‘fairly’? Building on this, is it wrong to expect a degree of fairness and impartiality from a juror?

Like any other competitive sport, certain athletes and teams are always in the playoffs. Not to say that they always win – that’s always a surprise, but the finalists mostly are not. The interview process, conducted the day the awards are given out, seems to be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.

If the exhibit is the proof, why is an interview necessary? The interview process may actually be counter-productive, in terms of choosing the strongest body of work as the winner. There’s no interview in choosing the semi-finalists, so why should there be one for the winner? Why can’t the works speak for themselves? The BDC had three individuals to answer questions, as opposed to just one of each of the individual artists. Doesn’t that give them an advantage?

Kriston: Last week, someone sent me a link to a blog post by Elizabeth Evitts Dickinson that expresses something that could be material, given the interview process. She writes, "The intent of the BDC, on paper, seems admirable enough. Get through the chewy curatorial jargon and hyper-politicized prose explaining Participation Park and you learn that their stated intent is to gather the community around a vacant plot of land in order to foster democratic public space and a dialogue about development."

Now, Dickinson brings up a lot of concerns about the work that are valid—I recommend reading them and would echo a lot of those points. They are concerns that ought to have come up to a jury, but even she expresses caution about voicing them out loud because she doesn't know the work very well. But she's able to speak in an informed way about some issues surrounding Participation Park—issues about Baltimore's history and politics that a jury just is not going to know.

I'm a fan of Bravo's Top Chef. I watch at home with friends and we bitch and moan about an episode's winner when it seems like the better contestant was snubbed. But at the end of the day, this is sort of absurd: As an armchair food critic, I can't taste the food, so how can I judge?

Would the Sondheim Prize lose something if the work up for consideration were restricted to the objects on display—the stuff that jurors can taste firsthand? Or would that eliminate performance art, activism, and other conceptual, post-object practices from consideration altogether?

Cara: I don’t think the prize would lose anything if the work on display is the sole factor in picking the winner. I think the Sondheim Prize would actually become more equitable and less frustrating for everyone who does not get to participate in the final interview process. What is the point of having the exhibition if a half hour conversation can tip the scales? Each artist has a written statement on the wall in the museum and submits other written materials. This should be adequate. The more I think about it, the interview process seems skewed and unnecessary, and downright disadvantageous to the artists who aren’t smooth talkers, magnetic personalities, or pious souls.

Final Opportunity to see KITCHEN STORIES July 25 at The Library

Gallery hours: Saturday, July 25th 12 - 4pm
Closing reception: Saturday, July 25th 4-7pm
Panel Discussion begins at 5pm

ABOUT THE PROJECT
Julie Lin, Art on Purpose's Resident Community Artist, who also conceived the project, implemented a series of workshops at local social service organizations working with adult refugees, immigrants and asylum seekers in the Baltimore community. During each three-hour workshop, clients of Advocates for Survivors of Torture and Trauma (ASTT) and other organizations serving immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers, including the International Rescue Committee, Adelante Familia and Baltimore City Community College's Refugee Assistance Program, engaged in a variety of cooking and collage workshops and events.

During each session, participants discussed cooking, eating and family, exploring issues of identity and assimilation. They traded stories of their lives, shared recipes from their native countries and created art works to illustrate their experiences.

M3: MCs, Mics and Metaphors at Flashpoint Thursday, July 23

Opening Reception: Thursday, July 23, 6-8pm
July 23 - August 29, 2009

M3: MCs, Mics and Metaphors (M3) explores the creative power of the lyricism and poetry of hip-hop music through visual imagery. The exhibition gathers a group of emerging artists from around the country, each responding to the theme of the MC (Emcee, or Master of Ceremonies) or simply a favorite hip-hop verse or song. These visual artists are working in a variety of media, including photography, mixed media, painting, fashion, design, installation, video and animation.

The opening reception will be held on Thursday, July 23 from 6 - 8pm and will be
hosted by Asheru and feature music from Deejay Munch.

An artist talk and performance will be held on Saturday, August 8 from 5 - 8pm.

Opening Reception: Thursday, July 23, 6-8 pm
Artist Talk & Performance: Saturday, August 8, 5-8pm
Exhibition: July 23 - August 29, 2009
Gallery Hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 12 - 6pm or by appointment
flashpointdc.org

Gallery at Flashpoint · 916 G Street, NW · Washington, DC 20001
A CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION PROJECT

School 33 Studio Artists Exhibition July 9 - August 1

Saturday, July 25 Closing Reception and Gallery Talk
Wed - Sat 12-6 p.m. Gallery Hours

Artists: Anne Chan, Rosetta DeBerdardinis, Amanda Engels, Matthew Freel, Aaron Yamanda-Hanff, Seon Kim, Kate McKinnon, James Murphy, Bill Tamburrino

www.school33.org

Washington Project for the Arts announces the Artists Selected for OPTIONS 2009

Jenny Mullins, American Reincarnation Machine, 2009

Graham Coreil-Allen, New Public Sites, 2009, multimedia installation & performance, dimensions variable

Polly Townsend, Summit, 2009, oil on canvas

Washington Project for the Arts will present its thirteenth installment of the biennial exhibition, OPTIONS, from September 17 - October 31, 2009 at 1358 Florida Avenue NE, second floor. This year's exhibition, featuring works by thirteen of the region's most exciting artists will be curated by Anne Collins Goodyear, Assistant Curator of Prints and Drawings, Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery.

As a tradition, OPTIONS is a survey of the brightest and most talented emerging artists in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia regions. The WPA originally developed the biennial series in 1981 with legendary artist Gene Davis and Washington Review Managing Editor Mary Swift as curators of the first WPA OPTIONS showcase. OPTIONS exhibitions offer the opportunity for artists who do not have gallery representation at the time of their selection to increase their visibility and presents visitors with a glimpse into the breadth and diversity of contemporary art practice in the region.

After a review of over 200 mailed submissions and visits to the studios of over 250 artists throughout the region, WPA is pleased to announce our curator's selection of artists for OPTIONS 2009:

Leah Beeferman, VA; Jessica Braiterman, MD; Graham Coreil-Allen, MD; Younseal Eum, VA; Andy Holtin, DC; Sue Johnson, MD; Patrick McDonough, DC; Kim Manfredi, MD; Jenny Mullins, MD; Ding Ren, DC; Matthew Smith, DC; Polly Townsend, DC; and Matthew Wead, MD.

An opening reception is planned for Thursday, September 17, 2009 from 6-8pm. Please stay tuned to our web site (www.wpadc.org) for more information as the exhibition approaches.

Congratulations to the selected artists! OPTIONS 2009 is funded, in part, by the D.C. Commission on the Arts & Humanities, an agency supported, in part, by the National Endowment for the Arts.

On the 2009 Sondheim Prize (1 of 2)

Kriston Capps and Cara Ober discuss the exhibit at the BMA, the jurors, the artists, and the outcome.

KC: Who did you think would win and why did you think that?

CO: Every year I am stymied by the Sondheim winner, so this year I decided to do a reader's poll on Bmore Art, asking who did readers think would win. Notice, this is quite different than asking who deserved to win. For a couple of weeks, people solidly believed Karen Yasinsky would take it, so I did, too. After the show was up and photos of the exhibit were posted, I changed my mind. I thought that Ryan Hackett was a shoe-in. The room he occupied felt elegantly curated, thematic in a way that made each piece more interesting, and tactile in an intellectual, scientific, and sensory way. Hackett handled concerns of space and color with finesse and walked a fine line between sterile and warm/fuzzy in a way that I had never experienced before. Hackett's 'room' could be equally enjoyed by an art theorist and a five-year-old, challenging yet accessible.

I thought that all the artists put together interesting exhibits, but felt most strongly about Hackett’s work after viewing them all. Judging from the six finalists, I thought that the jurors seem to favor intellectual precision, an integration with technology, a contemporary narrative, and an unemotional editing process. Five out of the six finalists embodied these terms – everyone except the BDC.

From the beginning I thought the BDC was the black sheep of the group; their content and their craftsmanship appeared to be completely different. They seemed to be the anomaly, rather than the front-runner.

How about you, Kriston? Were you surprised by the outcome of the prize? Who were you betting on? And what, in your opinion, should a jury consider when choosing the winner of the Sondheim Prize?

KC: I get sucked in by the Kremlinology involved in trying to guess what the judges will like. This year I thought there were a lot of clues. Knowing Ellen Harvey's work and the shows that Elisabeth Sussman made and would have seen and so on, I guessed that Karen Yasinsky would be out because they would have seen a lot of work by Nathalie Djurberg over the last year: a solo show at Zach Feuer, stuff at the Biennale, stuff at the New Museum. Djurberg's work was in "The Puppet Show," which traveled to the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston this year, so undoubtedly Valerie Cassel Oliver was familiar with it. Yasinksy's video piece strikes me as very familiar but not as advanced as Djurgberg's.

I felt the same way about the Baltimore Development Cooperative: The work looked too much like what I'd seen (and what I was sure the jurors would have seen) at the last WhiBi and the big NuMu Unmonumental exhibit. Of course, when I first toured the exhibit I was just considering the work on display, and not the careerwide practice that in all likelihood earned them the top nod.

It's not wrong to consider the broader art-world context when doling out the award—that's presumably why the Sondheim folks bring in outside, established art-world figures to serve as jurors. At the same time, I think that limits the extent to which the jury can determine the work's effect within the community, such as you might need to judge with the BDC's work if you're not just looking at the physical artifact. Is the group's community garden area (Participation Park) as integrated within the east Baltimore community where it's located as the artists say? I know that only a couple groups have signed up to use the geodesic tent (The Pavilion) outside the museum.

For their work, evaluating their success on their own terms seems really crucial to determining whether it's good work. The impression I got is that they have yet to really realize these utopian projects. And if that's the case—if they aren't socially integrated activist projects—aren't they just lo-fi, cardboard sculptures with high aspirations?

So, sure, I was disappointed with that decision. I have a hard time squaring the fact that the jurors used this criterion for the BDC's work that they didn't or couldn't apply to the other artists in the show. And it's a criterion by which the BDC arguably fall short. But maybe you can elaborate on that: What is their effect within the community? What sort of research is involved in their practice? I got no sense of that from the work, from their site, etc.

CO: I am not sure about the effect of the BDC within the community. In certain art-based social circles, the three members who won the prize - Scott Berzofsky, Dane Nester, and Nicholas Wisniewski – are well-respected names, but before the prize was given, I could find nothing documented online about the group - no website, no publications, nothing. In terms of research, if you read the literature provided by the museum, the BDC “uses the strategies of art, research, and activism to critically engage with urban spatial politics.” This sounds admirable, but what does it mean? I asked a random sampling of people about the geodesic dome in front of the BMA and very few people seemed to understand its purpose or intended political statement. Only a very elite group of artists seemed to 'get' the dome's egalitarian purpose, which, to me, seems like unclear communication.


I think this group has good intentions and good ideas, but there is an element of rigor that is missing – both visually and in content. When I think about art historical examples of activist art, Mierle Laderman Ukeles comes to mind. She did a project with the NY city sanitation department, set up a desk there, conducted research, and then did a series of performances to educate the public and to contradict commonly held assumptions about sanitation workers and garbage men. Her work was conducted with a pointed humor, and was precise – in terms of message and media. In contrast, the BDC’s work at the BMA seems incoherent and vague.

Looking back, it seems that every year the winner of the Sondheim Prize is chosen based on community activism or contributions beyond the body of work displayed in the museum. Laure Drogoul, the first Sondheim winner has been a tireless volunteer and participant in Baltimore community art projects. Tony Shore, the second Sondheim winner, is the founder of Access Art, a youth art center in Baltimore’s Morrell Park Neighborhood. The third Sondheim winner, Geoff Grace is a public high school teacher who integrated some of his students work into his installation. If we look at the three previous winners, the obvious connection is not media or content – it is community involvement and service.

While this civic activity is noble and beneficial to Baltimore, especially, I fail to see why this should be considered as criteria for naming a top visual artist. When you look at Sondheim Prize literature, there’s nothing explicit about community involvement. In theory, the Sondheim Prize is supposed to be given to the best artist, the best body of work. Do you think this element of community activism is an invention of my imagination or there is a connection between an artist’s politics and the outcome of an art award? If so, what does it say about the credibility and mission of this award?

SINK/ FLOAT at Area 405 Thursday, July 16 from 8-11 p.m.

Area 405 is pleased to announce SINK/ FLOAT, a juried exhibition of new and existing works by 19 National and International Artists. In the heat of another Baltimore Summer, work in this show is both reaction to and incorporation of water and weight.

Artists are: Adam Nelson, Aric Hiser, Beki Basch, Ben Lock, Bill Pressly, Christian Benefi­el, Elena Volkova, Daniel Sullivan, Marilee Schumann, Jonathan Taube, Matt Saindon, Morgan Showalter, Minna Philips, Rollergirl, Ruth Bowler, Ryan McKibbin, Rick Hornig, Sarah Laing, and Tanya Synar.

Artist Reception: Thursday, July 16th 8-11pm
405 East Oliver Street Baltimore, MD 21202
www.area405.com

Sink/Float is and Official Artscape Off-site Exhibition
July 16 - August 16, 2009
Gallery Hours during Artscape July 18 & 19 noon- 5pm all other Sundays noon-3pm or by appointment

This exhibition is made possible in part through the support of Mayor Sheila Dixon and Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts with additional support from the Maryland State Arts Council. Views and opinions expressed byt the artists/grantees are not necessarily those of the aforementioned.


All the Artscape Openings on Thursday, July 16:
6-8pm - Janet & Walter Sondheim Prize Semi-Finalists in the Decker & Meyerhoff galleries
6-8pm - Unexplained Forces at Theatre Project
6-8pm – Baltimore Sculpture Project on Mt. Royal Ave
8-11pm –SINK/FLOAT at Area 405
7pm - Screening of Harrod Blank's new film "Automorphosis" at the American Visionary Art Museum (800 Key Highway) in the Permanent Collection Gallery followed by reception 9:00 - 10:30 at the cafe balcony on the 3rd floor of the main building.

And the 2009 Sondheim Winner Is ...

The Baltimore Development Cooperative wins the $25,000 Sondheim ARTSCAPE Prize in 2009. (NO, that is NOT a bag of money).

Mayor Sheila Dixon and the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts are proud to announce that Baltimore Development Cooperative is the winner of the 2009 Janet & Walter Sondheim Artscape Prize. The coveted $25,000 prize was presented by Mayor Dixon at this evening’s awards ceremony at The Baltimore Museum of Art. Works of art by the prizewinner and five other finalists are on view at the BMA until August 16.

Mayor Shiela Dixon, Scott Berzofsky, Dane Nester, Nicholas Wisniewski, and BMA Director Doreen Bolger

The Baltimore Development Cooperative (BDC) is an artist group with an interdisciplinary practice that uses the strategies of art, research, and activism to critically engage with urban spatial politics. Co-founded in 2005, the group has produced tours, exhibitions, workshops and site-specific projects in public space. The BDC is dedicated to the analysis of neo-liberal urbanism and the invention of alternatives based on social, economic, and ecological justice in the city. The core members of BDC are Scott Berzofsky, Dane Nester, and Nicholas Wisniewski.

For the 2009 Sondheim Prize Finalists exhibition, BDC created Participation Park, a two-part multi-media installation. Outside on the terrace in front of the BMA is a colorful geodesic dome with seating that invites viewers to create their own experience; whether listening to music, eating, or talking. In the exhibition galleries is a cardboard sculpture of Baltimore’s downtown landmarks on bulldozer tracks.

Click here to read today's article in the Baltimore Sun.
To read the Art in America Online Article by Kriston Capps, click here.

Bruce Nauman represents the U.S. at the Venice Biennale '09

H&Hscape July 11 from 8:30 - 11 p.m.

1st Annual H&Hscape Opening Reception July 11 8:30 - 11 p.m. (After the Sondheim Prize).

3 galleries join forces with BOPA to present a 19,000 sq ft visual art event July 11th, 2009, Baltimore, MD. Gallery Four, Nudashank, and Whole Gallery, three galleries; founded, forged, and funded, by artists living Arts) to expose the largely unaware regional community to the pulse of Baltimore’s thriving underground H&H Arts Building:

Protocol: /Syntax/Semantics at Gallery Four

Shaun Flynn at Gallery Four

Gallery Four goes coast to coast with its new exhibition featuring artists from L.A., Baltimore, and DC. The artists in this show compile objects from material culture to invent a stunning new vernacular, which sometimes compliments and also contradicts their original meaning.

Featured Artists: Shaun Flynn, Brian Randolph, Hadieh Shafie, and Dan Steinhilber

Where The Sun Don't Shine at Nudashank
7.11 - 8.05
Opening Reception 7. 11. 2009, 8 - 11 pm

Artists: Nick Van Woert / Jimmy Joe Roche / Annie Farrar / J M Giordano / Bart O'Reilly / Waltr Carpenter / Brendan Sullivan / Henry Winfiele

Radix at the Whole Gallery

RADIX @ the Whole
July 11 - August 9
405 W. Franklin St. 3rd floor

A radix is the basis of a system of numeration, and implies the point from which everything else stems. This exhibit will showcase art that builds on itself and celebrates repetition.

Artists: Jennifer Becker, Michael Benevento, Brent Crothers, Gina Denton, Jennie Fleming, Ellen Ann Gallup, Dawn Gavin, Doug Hansen, Ben Piwowar and Renee Rendine

curated by Emily C-D and Jessica Unterhalter of the TwoCan Collective