some prints are bigger than others

We're nearing zero hour for the Transhuman Conditions opening reception--which, as you know, is this Friday, January 29, from 6 to 9 pm.

You can get a sneak peek of the catalogue--hot off the presses, and available at the reception--on the aac website here.

Below are some photos taken by the aac's own Catherine Satterlee of us installing two brand new ten foot wide prints on plexi from Jason Horowitz's drag portfolio. Jason and I have been scheming to get these fabricated for awhile now, and it's terrific to finally have them gracing our walls. (In the foreground you can see a bit of CarianaCarianne's installation, Drawing and Being Drawn.)

There's plenty more to see, so please join me this Friday! Have a glass of wine (or a crisp, refreshing can of PBR) and I'll give you the grand tour.

now it begins...

Installation for TRANSHUMAN CONDITIONS has started at AAC. The catalogue is finally finished, and will arrive next week. I'll be pretty preoccupied through Friday, January 29, when the show opens. Will try to give you status updates as I can.

ugly, dull, and fascinating as heck

Today Michael O'Sullivan takes a look at our juried contemporary photo and video show, IMAGE/PROJECT.

Michael's conclusion: These photos and videos are "neither especially pretty nor overwhelmingly interesting," but "can actually make for a kind of exhilarating experience."

Which is sort of like saying that your blind date for the evening is both ugly and a lousy conversationalist...but you're going to have a great time, anyway.

Seriously, though, I think Michael does an excellent job of considering how contemporary artists are using the camera lens right now, and explaining how this otherwise dissimilar collection of pieces consistently reflects that.


He also makes special note of David Hartwell and Josef Jacques' ongoing diaristic project, Library of Evenings (see image above).

In case you were wondering: I won't be holding any panel discussions to consider the fallout of this piece.

community-building with pitchforks and torches

The WPA panel on Monday at the Skyline hotel was way more well attended that I would have ever guessed--138 people braved the cold on the first Monday after the holiday to talk about the attitude of arts magazines and journalists to covering DC in general; the WaPo in particular; and the supposed insularity/disconnectedness/monk-like-existence of D.C. area artists. Strong opinions were definitely expressed.

I do have more to say, but I'm on deadline, so for now, I'll direct you to Greg Allen's excellent post from yesterday, Lookin' for Love in All the Wrong Places--where I think he sums up some of the conversation's limitations and disconnects really well.

Meanwhile, over at Pink Line, Philippa also offers her notes on what was said, as well as her own personal responses as a collector of--and agitator for--DC art and artists. Check 'em both out.

first introspective hand-wringing/holding panel discussion of the new year

Welcome back, and welcome to 2010!

So what's new for the new year? Well, tonight you should come over to the Capitol Skyline Hotel (10 I Street SW) to hear a WPA panel discussion in which Kriston Capps interrogates Isabel Manalo, Danielle O'Steen, and me about the trauma of being an isolated, lonely DC artist--or about the convenient fiction of said isolation.

Discussion starts at 6:30. See you there!