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In this issue:
+ Current Exhibition
+ Upcoming Exhibitions
+ Recent Events
+ Q&A with artist Lisa Kellner
+ MSAC Visual Artists' Registry
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News:
Welcome New Staff!
Sofia Rutka, Registry Coordinator
Sofia Rutka took over the position of Registry Coordinator previously held by Emily Hunter in November. A recent graduate from Goucher College, Sofia received a degree in Art and Art History. Her education and background as a studio artist will enable her to effectively assist Registry artists and those wishing to use the Registry.
Esther Kim, Programming Assistant
Esther Kim became MAP's Programming Assistant in December. A graduate of the University of Maryland, College Park, she holds a degree in Fine Arts. Esther also interns at the Maryland State Arts Council as a Gallery and Events Assistant. With her experience in gallery settings, and tremendous enthusiasm, she will surely contribute a great deal to MAP.
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We Bid Farewell!
After three years of working with MAP, first as an intern, and then as the MSAC Visual Artists' Registry Coordinator, we bid a fond farewell to Emily Hunter who has joined the staff of MICA working in the Joseph Meyerhoff Center for Career Development. Although we miss her dearly, you'll be sure to see her volunteering at some upcoming MAP event in the near future!
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Annual Report
MARYLAND ART PLACE
2008 Annual Report
The 2008 Annual Report comprises gifts made to Maryland Art Place (MAP) throughout the 2008 calendar year. Please be advised that this list does not include ticket sales or artwork purchases. We feel it is important to stress that proceeds from all gifts directly support MAP’s ongoing initiatives in promoting contemporary art in the community.
MAP would like to extend sincere appreciation to all donors, members and contributors. It is with your support that MAP is able to continue to present original, high-caliber programming, while constantly devising new ways to promote the talents of regional artists. MAP strives to build upon its critically-acclaimed exhibitions and educational initiatives while maintaining an environment that fosters intellectual exchanges between artists and viewers. Our continued efforts make contemporary art fresh, accessible, and a regular means for community enrichment.
On behalf of the Board of Trustees and staff of MAP, we are honored to acknowledge you as supporters of one of the most important cultural art institutions in the region and recognize the importance your contribution signifies to others in the funding community. Thank you.
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Upcoming:
Laure Drogoul Exhibition
Follies, Predicaments, and Other Conundrums: The Works of Laure Drogoul at MICA, January 30- March 15, 2009
Opening reception:
Friday, January 30, 2009, from 5-8 pm at MICA’s Decker and Meyerhoff galleries, Fox Building, 1303 Mount Royal Avenue; and at BBOX, the Gateway, 1601 Mount Royal Avenue
MAP Board Member and 14Karat Cabaret Director Laure Drogoul brings her Cultural Crackpot Aesthetics and "Cabaretist" showmanship to MICA's galleries and landscape, on view January 30 through March 15, 2009. Ms. Drogoul's large-scale interactive sculptures, gallery installations and performances as well as computer-driven interactive works play upon populist themes, science (fiction), and biology —ultimately shedding light on humanity's elusive inner core of darkness, wonder and beauty. At once, she can embody the free-form 20th century Modernist, the psychologist and the "outsider" artist. While she creates many different avenues for experience, all are consistent to her structure: the involvement and interaction of the participant.
Join MAP in supporting Ms. Drogoul in her largest solo exhibition to date by attending the opening on Friday, January 30, 2009, from 5-8 pm. For more information about the exhibition, please visit: http://www.mica.edu/drogoul/index.cfm
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Wishlist:
Do you want to help the organization in other ways?
MAP has compiled a wish list of much-needed items to assist staff with office duties and exhibition installation. If you have something you would like to donate, please contact a staff member by calling: 410.962.8565
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Membership:
Is it time to renew your membership? As a member you will receive fantastic incentives and have the satisfaction of knowing you are supporting
Maryland ’s premiere center for contemporary art.
Become a member or
renew your membership here.
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Gallery Rental:
Interested in having an event at MAP? Consider renting MAP’s beautiful galleries
for your next function.
Learn more!
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Contact Us:
Maryland Art Place
8 Market Place, Suite 100
Baltimore, MD 21202
p: 410-962-8565
f: 410-244-8017
map@mdartplace.org
www.mdartplace.org
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Current: Framed Reality
Through January 31, 2009
To learn more about this event
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Framed Reality is an exhibition of the work of four figurative painters who draw inspiration from various sources, such as childhood memories, folklore, pop culture, and narrative. The artists use different approaches to interact with the viewer, whether through unique painting styles, production processes, or subject matters, drawing the viewer in and evoking a highly personal response.
Participating artists include: Daniel Finch, Brian Martin, Becky Slemmons, and Nora Sturges
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Upcoming: Fantastical Imaginings
February 19 - March 28, 2009
Friday, February 27:
Gallery Talk 7pm / Reception 8pm
Work by: A.D. Loveday
IMG_0018, 2007
Pen, gouache, collage on paper
20” x 15”
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Fantastical Imaginings is a traveling exhibition curated by J. Susan Isaacs that originated at the Delaware Center for Contemporary Art. The exhibition will be featured at MAP from February 19 through March 28, 2009, and additional works will be on display at the Julio Fine Arts Gallery at Loyola College. The artists represented in this exhibition, some emerging, some established, work across styles and media to create work that is filled with discovery, fantasy, and imaginary worlds. Influenced by factors such as outsider art, Surrealism, graphic novels and cartoons, each of the artists share the notion that they are enabling “the creation of a unique world in which human activity takes place, fully invented by the artist.”
The exhibition will include the work of: Laylah Ali, Roberley Bell, Paul Chidester, Amy Cutler, Marilyn Holsing, Mark Hosford, John Karpinsky, A.D. Loveday, Caire Owen, Serena Perrone, Hiro Sakaguchi, John Shipman, Ann Siems, and Lee Wilkinson |
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Upcoming:
Out of Order!
MAP's infamous free-hung benefit exhibition and auction returns!
Auction & Gala: Friday, April 10, 2009
Hanging Dates & Times: 9am, Wednesday, April 8 through 9am Thursday, April 9, 2009
That's right - 24 hours nonstop! |
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Last year, 426 artists participated in this annual fundraiser, and over 600 guests enjoyed an evening of music, mingling, food and an open bar. Preparations for this year’s event are underway and details, including how to receive tickets, will be made available soon. If you are an artist planning to participate, now is the time to be working on your original masterpiece! Stay tuned for submission deadlines, and remember, there is never a charge to submit artwork for this event. Proceeds from the sale of artwork will be split 50/50 between MAP and the artist and support MAP’s invaluable programming throughout the year.
View artists' prospectus |
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Recap:
The Seven Deadly Sins
MAP's Annual Benefit Exhibition, Auction & Gala
Auction & Gala: Friday,
November 7, 2008
See photos from the event |
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MAP would like to extend sincere appreciation to the attendees and supporters of its fall benefit exhibition and gala, The Seven Deadly Sins, held on Friday, November 7, 2008. Most notably, we would like to thank: event Co-Chairs; Benefit Committee members; participating artists; and our fantastic volunteers and interns, without whom this event would not have been possible.
Inspired by sinful decadence and delightful hedonism, the evening featured an exceptional seated dinner, memorable entertainment, and a gothic-like ambience. Highlights from the event include: Cigarette Girls showing off their wares; a bag full of sinful favors for each guest; an interpretive performance of the Seven Deadly Sins by the Daniel Burkholder dance troupe; a live auction of exclusive packages and getaways; and hand-selected work from over forty artists featured in a silent auction.
We are pleased to report that the gala grossed $96,000. As an organization that values the contributions of its artists, MAP returned 40% of each sale to the exhibitors. Proceeds from the event will support MAP’s programming throughout the upcoming year.
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Recap:
Joyce Scott's
60th Birthday Celebration
Saturday, November 15, 2008
See photos from the event |
MAP would like to thank everyone who attended and helped make Joyce Scott’s 60th Birthday such a success! Held at MAP on November 15, 2008 and open to the public; close friends, colleagues, and adoring fans celebrated the event with wings, cupcakes, and champagne.
Special thanks to: the Majestic Notes and Joyce Scott for their unforgettable performances; Suzi Cordish; Goya Contemporary; Dr. Leslie King-Hammond; and MAP’s fabulous volunteers and interns for their incredible efforts.
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MAP hosted Artists' Professional Development Workshops this past fall, produced in collaboration with Maryland Lawyers for the Arts. The three informative seminars held at MAP in October 2008 featured the following subjects: Protecting Your Work: Copyright Issues, led by Cynthia Sanders; Marketing Your Work, led by Ann Clark Priftis; and Protecting Your Work: Navigating Contracts, with Michael Yang. Stay tuned for future partnerships with Maryland Lawyers for the Arts. In the meantime, artists with legal questions or concerns are encouraged to contact Maryland Lawyers for the Arts at: www.mdartslaw.org
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Recap:
MLA Workshop Series
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Q&A
with artist Lisa Kellner |
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Lisa Kellner is an artist who resides in both Virginia and New York. Her sculpture and abstract work retains a space and an ephemeral presence that grasps the viewer, forcing him or her to look a little closer.
Left: Im Plant (Detail) silk, pigment. Dimensions variable |
Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
I live in Hanover County, VA with my family, two dogs, two cats and the occasional stray. Hanover is a rural farming community that is rapidly growing. We have lived here for 5 years. Before that I lived in New York where I still have a studio. Growing up my family traveled a lot. I lived in Australia, Denmark, Jamaica as well as the U.S. I continue to travel as much as possible. That is probably why I have a rather transient personality!
In your work, you seem to use forms relating to the human body. What about the body inspires you to create such delicate images?
The human body can be burdened with so many cultural ideals. I am interested in the beauty and history found in the most banal regions of the human form. The delicate quality of my work speaks to the inevitability that all things eventually end.
In my sculptural work and my drawings, I tend to work in layers, building up the form. Skin is a façade that reveals the nuances of what is going on underneath. I really try to attain that level of complexity in my work. Sometimes that means working on one square inch of a drawing for several days, even a week. Or, in the case of my silk structures: dying, shaping, cutting, sewing and then repeating the process until the history of the piece is established.
There is an interesting dichotomy in the body’s ability to be simultaneously magnificent and horrific. For example, if you were to open up the skin of a disfigured finger afflicted by rheumatoid arthritis, you would find these delicate bulbous pink forms that, on their own, are quite incredible. My process of making incorporates the splendor and the grotesque, the beauty and the imperfections.
You have two studios, one in Virginia and another in Brooklyn. Does having two vastly different settings help you make your work stronger?
For me, it is absolutely essential to immerse myself in these two vastly different, but strikingly similar environments. In both settings, I am acutely aware of my place in relation to the whole and how very small it can be at times. This awareness challenges the critical level of the work. I thrive on this level of engagement.
My work is really a fusion of the two environments, rural and urban, and my encounters in them. My piece, “Im plant”, is made of hundreds of hand dyed and formed structures that resemble a sea of jelly fish, blood platelets or….breast implants. The similarities of a cultural object to a natural organism are evident here as is the question of necessity. Right now, I am working on a drawing of a newspaper I found on the city sidewalk. A hard rain and the subsequent treading of shoes had turned it into pulp. Only a few letters were discernable. It struck me how similar it looked to the natural debris and clay build up on the trail I hike in Hanover.
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How are identity and political structures visible in your work?
Each piece I make is an excavation of a particular construct. Whether addressing cultural identity, politics or societal rules, I am mostly concerned with how these constructs operate and why. These structures are visible in the materials I choose and the subject matters I explore.
My piece, “2,000 and Counting” uses quilting pins, applied directly into the wall, representing the soldiers who have died in Iraq. The quilting pins were to me so symbolic in their complete uniformity and individual cast shadows. I wanted to convey that sense of tremendous loss; both in its sheer volume but also in my own imagined notion of the soldier’s mother sitting back home, sewing or knitting, while she waits to hear from her son or daughter.
My drawings use the surface of the body as a tool to tap into an emotional awareness or memory. The drawings are also an exercise in challenging my own limitations and perceptions. There is always a sense of frustration that I work from, trying to replicate and document exactly what I see and never quite achieving it because my perception can be so misleading.
What kind of reaction and thought do you want people to have after seeing your work?
I think my work is most successful when it allows for a multitude of opinions and reactions. Each piece I make centers around very specific ideas that are integral to the process of making it. But life is breathed into the work only when it becomes more than I intended it to be.
When I had open studios in Brooklyn last October, a woman walked in and proceeded to grab, caress and remove part of my wall sculpture while inundating me with questions. Though it was a little alarming, I found it fascinating that the piece could provoke such a reaction that she would inadvertently break the unwritten rule in art by handling the work. That same day a seven year old boy walked into my studio and proceeded to tell me how disgusting my drawings were, with facial expressions and all! I am thrilled when my work generates a variety of reactions!
I think my viewers have a common willingness to spend time with the work, consider the details, the time involved and the ideas explored. These are people with their own unique points of view. I enjoy when my work is able to interact with different perspectives. |
Left: Slab (detail) Silk, pigment, thread, monofilament 58” x 36” x 43”
Above: 2,000 and Counting. Pins placed directly into the wall.
We hope you enjoyed Q&A, MAP's new addition to our online newsletter. To let us know your thoughts, or to submit your own work for consideration, please contact Esther Kim at: ekim@mdartplace.org |
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MSAC Visual Artists' Registry
Are you an artist?
The Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC) Visual Artists’ Registry is an important resource, available free of charge to artists in the Mid-Atlantic region. The Registry, which is housed and maintained by Maryland Art Place, includes profiles and images for over 3,200 artists in a searchable online database.
As a part of the MSAC Online Registry, your profile will be accessible to curators, galleries, patrons of the arts, artists, and the general public.
The Registry works to showcase and promote area artists, leading many artists to make important professional contacts in order to sell and/or exhibit their work.
Questions about the Registry may be directed to Sofia Rutka, Registry Coordinator at registry@mdartplace.org or 410-962-8565.
Visit the MSAC Visual Artists' Online Registry
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Featured Registry Artist:
Rachel Bone
"Rachel Bone is a 26-year-old painter and printer living and working out of a Baltimore city row home in the historic neighborhood of Hampden. Bone's gouache and ink paintings stand as open ended visual narratives to allow the viewer to act as collaborator in the writing of new stories. The characters in her paintings - often inspired by vintage photographs, folk tales and strangers on the street - are sent on bizarre adventures and tasks to remind her viewer that there is nothing more heartbreaking than a person so confined to a world of order that she doesn't recognize the beauty of nonsense when it surrounds her." |
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MSAC Resource Bulletin for Visual Artists
The Online Resource Bulletin lists hundreds of opportunities for artists and is available through MAP's website. The Bulletin is updated regularly and includes calls for entry, funding opportunities, studio spaces, classes, and workshops, jobs, and more.
If you have information that you wish to have included in the Resource Bulletin, please email registry@mdartplace.org, subject : “Resource Bulletin Listing”
View the online Resource Bulletin |
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Maryland Art Place :: 8 Market Place, Suite 100 :: Baltimore, Maryland 21202
410-962-8565 :: map@mdartplace.org :: www.mdartplace.org
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