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 Monday, January 07, 2008
Updates on the International Invitational Watermedia Exhibition
Posted by jessica
As we mentioned in the February issue of the magazine, the first Invitational Exhibition of Contemporary International Watermedia Masters opened Nov. 19 in Nanjing, China, marking the first formal international event of its kind in the country. Cheng-Khee Chee was asked to nominate the American artists who would participate; below is part of a letter he sent to them after he returned to the U.S. from China. How we wish we could’ve attended!
After recuperating for a few days, I am ready to report all the excitement I experienced in China. The following are some highlights.
The welcoming banquet, 6 p.m. Monday night, Nov. 19
The banquet was attended by about 80 people, including exhibiting artists, invited artists, officials of the Jiangsu Union of Literature and Fine Arts, the Jiangsu Watercolor Research Institute and government dignitaries. As always, the banquet was an elaborate feast of 12 courses.
The opening ceremony, 10 a.m. Tuesday morning, Nov. 20
The stage was set at the main entrance of the Nanjing Library, a magnificent ultra modern building. Guests of honor lined up in front of the long silk ribbon adorned with huge silk bouquets. Madam Yang Chengzhi, vice president of the Jiangsu Provincial International Cultural Exchange Association of China, delivered the opening remarks, followed by me representing the exhibiting artists. Twelve people cut the ribbon at the same time, and the show was officially opened. Several hundred visitors swarmed into the exhibition hall. The hall is large, well lit, and paintings were very professionally framed and presented. Paintings were grouped by continent: North America, Europe and Asia. The quality of works seems to vary quite a bit. Our [U.S.] section drew the most attention. It really stole the show!
The watermedia forum, 2-4 p.m. Tuesday afternoon, Nov. 20
About 40 artists, art historians and art critics participated in this forum. Topics included the responses to the show, exchange of ideas of the medium, future plans and supports for similar international activities, and prospects of the watercolor paintings in the future.
The exhibition catalog
The exhibition catalog is elegant! The reproduction quality is super! It is far beyond my expectation! It is sad to know that only 1,000 copies were printed. I understand the various provincial governmental agencies will take a cut of more than half of the edition. They take great pride of this publication and want to present them as handsome gifts.
The travel show planning
The response to the exhibition is overwhelming. Many organizations are already requesting for the show to travel to their areas. After Nanjing, the exhibition will travel to Yangzhou, a historic as well as artistic city northeast of Nanjing. It is well known for the school of eight innovative painters in the Qing Dynasty. We are not sure what other cities the show will go to. Professor Li Chi-mao of the National Taiwan Fine Arts University, who was a guest of honor at the event, is planning to select about half of the show to travel to Taiwan at the end of the Mainland China circuit. It looks like the ball is just beginning to roll! This will give both the artists and the watercolor medium a great exposure.
Other activities, Nov. 21-22
The sightseeing trips included the Ming Tomb, the Dr. Sun Yat-sen's Monument, the Jiangsu Province Art Museum, a boat ride at night on the famous romantic Qinhuai River, and general city tours. I gave a slide presentation and demonstration at the School of Fine Arts of the South East University on Nov. 21.
The farewell banquet, Nov. 23
Most of the guests left. There were only about 20 artists, mostly from outside Mainland China, who attended the banquet. Everyone sat at the same huge round table. It was a warm and cozy atmosphere. As always, the dinner was a 12-course feast!
From the Magazine | Reviews
1/7/2008 12:00:20 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00) 
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How Artists Draw
Posted by sarah
 Recently, I had the good fortune of visiting The Menil Collection in Houston ( The Rothko Chapel and Watercolor Art Society-Houston's
new building are within walking distance, by the way) and was thrilled
by their extensive collection of important works on paper. Room after
room after room. Now, the Collection’s most
significant drawings (in combination with exceptional works on paper
from private collections) will come together for one unique exhibition:
How Artists Draw: Toward the Menil Drawing Institute and Study Center, February 15 through May 18, 2008.
Here's the skinny on the show:
From early on, The Menil Collection assembled
important groups of works on paper by Max Ernst, René Magritte, Pablo
Picasso, and Kurt Schwitters. Acquisitions continue to be made as the
museum begins to formally introduce its plans to form the Menil Drawing
Institute and Study Center, with a new focus on collecting,
researching, and exhibiting drawings. In the last five years, for
example, major groups of drawings by Mark Rothko, Willem de Kooning,
Ellsworth Kelly, Jasper Johns, Michael Heizer, and Robert Gober have
expanded the collection. This exhibition will highlight the museum’s
long commitment to the medium, while facilitating a public discussion
about the new initiative within Houston and the broader art community.
It effectively lays out the conceptual framework for envisioning the
future of this long-term initiative.
Pretty exciting, eh?
Overheard
1/7/2008 8:38:24 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Thursday, January 03, 2008
Winslow Homer, Edward Hopper Exhibitions Coming to Chicago
Posted by jessica
 Those close to the Windy City next month will want to make a stop at the Art Institute of Chicago for a two-for-one bargain: Watercolors by Winslow Homer: The Color of Light and Edward Hopper (both on display Feb. 16–May 10; $20 nonmember tickets allow entry to both exhibitions). Here’s what the Art Institute says about the Homer exhibition: “Twenty-five spectacular Homer watercolors in the Art Institute’s collection have been carefully analyzed using the latest conservation technologies. The works and the revealing associated research will be displayed in the context of over 100 watercolors, drawings, and oil paintings that explore the artist’s most important subjects and sites and his interest in color and light.” And the Hopper show, touted as “the first comprehensive presentation of Hopper's work to be seen in American museums outside of New York in a quarter century,” will no doubt captivate as well. For more information, go to the Art Institute’s website.
Overheard
1/3/2008 10:13:30 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Happy Holidays from the Watercolor Artist Elves
Posted by jessica
Before we head out of the office for the holidays, we decided to make total elves of ourselves—quite literally—via OfficeMax’s ElfYourself website. Upload up to four digital photos at a time, “start the elfamorphosis” and sit back and watch yourself dance your troubles away! Her we are, L-to-R: Kelly, Cindy, Sarah, me
12/19/2007 3:12:52 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Monday, December 17, 2007
Your Less Than Wholesome Art News
Posted by sarah
 It might be the worst time of the year to be anything less than perfectly nice, but the art news this month is awfully naughty. Here's a holiday sampler that won't rot your teeth. That is, provided they're still in your head: Gauguin's teeth were discovered at the bottom of a well recently, along with pigments, a coconut shell palatte and various liquor and perfume bottles. It appears the artist may have dug the well himself. Read the sordid details here. Discover a collection of artful erotica 170 years in the making at the Bibliothèque Nationale through January 15, 2008. The "Enfer" (hell) section of the institution will open its doors to the public for the first time ever to reveal a secret stash that is said to run a close second to the Vatican's collection of "taboo" materials. Read a candid, if conservative, critique of the exhibition here. Discover why London's Lisson Gallery is garnering a good deal of attention these days: Artist Santiago Sierra's latest sculpture that aims to get a little too close for comfort. I'll resist the urge to pun and just give you the link to the gallery and some decent coverage and call it a day.
Overheard
12/17/2007 4:06:38 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Friday, December 14, 2007
The Best of the Best of 2007
Posted by Kelly
It's end of the year list making time, and I couldn't resist making one of my own. So here are a few of my favorite items from this year's lists.  • From Time magazine's list of the Top 10 Nonfiction Books of 2007, " A Life of Picasso: The Triumphant Years: 1917-1932" by John Richardson (608 pages, $40 list price, $26.40 on Amazon). This third installment of a multi-volume biography chronicles "Picasso's transition from his Bohemian youth to wealth, fame and marriage, and then to a romance with a very young mistress."  • From InStyle.com's list of the Best Gifts for Book Lovers, " 30,000 Years of Art" by the editors of Phaidon Press (1072 pages, $49.95 list price, $29.97 on Amazon). The cool thing about this anthology is that it arranges pieces from around the world on time lines of major world events and art movements, offering you a unique look at what was happening at different times around the globe. • Time.com also put together a list of the Top Ten Museum Exhibits of 2007, which doesn't do you much good, I suppose, if you missed them, but it was interesting to see the artists and styles that drew attention this year. • And The New York Times critics published their picks for the best art and architecture books of the year. More good ideas if you still have some holiday shopping to do—or just need a good book to read this winter. Are there any other art-related year end lists that I've missed? I'd love to hear about them. Click on Comments below to let me know. (By the way, you don't have to fill in your e-mail, if you don't want it published.)
Overheard | Reviews
12/14/2007 11:53:05 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Online Philanthropy for the Holidays
Posted by jessica
 We included an item about DonorsChoose.org in our December issue. For those who missed it, the site is a fund-raising entity for public schools. The way it works: Teachers request donations for specific projects (books, art supplies, technology or other resources), DonorsChoose posts them on the site, visitors decide which one(s) they want to support and with the click of a button, the donation is complete. Need inspiration? Arts Journalist Tyler Green is featuring on his Modern Art Notes blog one arts-related project each day from now until Christmas. Or you might be inclined to take on Apple Computer, the Cult of Mac Blog and Claire Danes’ challenge. You can search for projects to fund by subject, region, type of teacher, the amount needed to complete the donation, type of school, type of resources needed and student profiles. I typed in “art” this morning and got 1,000 possibilities; an advanced search within “visual art” yielded 713 options. The best part? Each project tells you how many children will be impacted, and whether these materials will be used by future students.
From the Magazine
12/12/2007 10:48:15 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Friday, December 07, 2007
Mark Your Calendars
Posted by Kelly
Don't miss these exciting events in early 2008: Dallas, TexasDallas Museum of Art’s exhibition, J.M.W. Turner, features approximately 140 works, divided almost evenly between oils and works on paper—the most comprehensive retrospective presented in the United States of the artist’s career. February 10-May 18. Los AngelesThe Geffen Contemporary at The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles reopens with © Murakami, a 90-plus piece retrospective of the artist’s career. Through February 11.  Washington, D.C.The Smithsonian American Art Museum presents Color as Field: American Painting, 1950–1975, a full-scale examination of the sources, meaning and impact of the Color Field movement, with 40 paintings by artists such as Gene Davis, Larry Poons, Frank Stella, Helen Frankenthaler (her painting Small's Paradise is at right) and more. February 29-May 26. Find more must-see shows in our February issue.
From the Magazine | Overheard
12/7/2007 12:26:40 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Wednesday, December 05, 2007
Carolyn Brady at Nancy Hoffman Gallery
Posted by sarah
 If you're heading to NYC for the holidays, a stop at the Nancy Hoffman Gallery at 429 West Broadway is an absolute must. The current exhibition (which runs through January 9, 2008) is Carolyn Brady's first posthumous show, featuring monotypes and a selection of watercolors, many of which have never been publicly exhibited before. A word from the gallery: Brady was known for her garden and still life watercolors, which are close-in views of tabletops, tablescapes, incorporating the ordinary stuff of life... . In this exhibition she conveys the beauty of the natural world in paint... . From the objects of every day in her still lifes to the fruits of summer gardens, Brady was an artist who transformed the ordinary into the extraordinary.
For further information, contact the gallery at info@nancyhoffmangallery.com. Orchid on a Box/Roland Park (2001; watercolor on paper, 43x52)
Overheard
12/5/2007 9:55:23 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Monday, December 03, 2007
Steve Mumford in Cincinnati
Posted by jessica
 I was pleasantly surprised Friday night to come across watercolors and sketches by Steve Mumford—the combat artist featured in our August issue—here in Cincinnati. My husband and I stopped by Publico (as part of the Final Friday Gallery walk in Over-the-Rhine), which was already on my not-to-be-missed gallery list as I read that this opening was to be its last. The exhibition sounded intriguing: Local Color, featuring four individual artists and one group of artists, focuses on regionalism and how one’s surroundings impact her art. And the show (on view through Dec. 30.) is great, especially the paper collages by Stephen Eichhorn, but seeing Mumford’s sketches and paintings of the war in Iraq in person is truly something spectacular. (Shown here is Pool of Oil at 299 Engineers Base (ink and watercolor on paper, 13½x11).) I also found a video of Mumford during his last trip to Baghdad. It’s a great look at the artist’s daily life on the front lines. Update: Publico gallery owner Paul Coors says it's not the final show, but the final regular show. The gallery will be closing after its five-year anniversary show and a series of events at the end of January.
From the Magazine
12/3/2007 1:25:50 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Friday, November 30, 2007
Milford Zornes Turns 100 in 2008
Posted by Kelly
 I first had the pleasure of talking to Milford Zornes when I interviewed him for a feature in the Winter 2002 issue of the magazine. His love of watercolor, painting, and creative expression in general, were evident in his every word. On January 25, Milford will turn 100. In celebration of this significant milestone, we're featuring the acclaimed artist again in the February 2008 issue of Watercolor Artist. Along with Phil Dike, Millard Sheets, George Gibson, Emil Kosa Jr., Barse Miller, Lee Blair, Dong Kingman and Hardie Gramatky, Milford was part of California’s premier regional school of art from the 1930s and early ’40s, known as the California Scene painters. “The California Scene painters were historically very important, not only because they documented the California countryside, but also because of the innovative approach they took to watercolor painting,” says Sandy Hunter, of the California Art Gallery in Laguna Beach, California. “These artists painted boldly and directly, with little or no pencil drawing; they used broad brushstrokes, and preferred a typically brown/ochre dominated palette.” This was in stark contrast to the more traditional, tightly rendered, delicately colored watercolor style American painters had inherited from the English.  To see more of Zornes' work, check out this video made by fellow artist, friend and gallery owner, Bill Anderson.
From the Magazine | Overheard
11/30/2007 11:43:48 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Peace on Earth—Peace by Piece
Posted by jessica
 We’re confident in assuming that peace is always on your holiday wish list. This year you can participate in an interactive seasonal installation and promote global harmony with Whimzey, a Florida gallery that features decorative pieces. Send them your peace-inspired flags (directions are here) and they’ll display every entry from around the world—and send all the proceeds to charity. ( Peace on Earth—Peace by Piece runs Dec. 17- Jan. 1.) Here’s how the “Whimzey Twins” describe the event on their website: “From 1992-1999 we created interactive displays during the holidays with different themes and always with all the proceeds going to charity. We are so inspired by a trip to Myanmar, where no freedom of expression is allowed to exist, we are ready to take on an artistic holiday display called 'Peace on Earth, Peace by Piece'...in which we will cover our house/studio/lawn with the handmade peace flags we receive from folks around the world.” The deadline for submissions is Dec. 15. Click here for more information.
Overheard
11/28/2007 10:07:52 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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