2010 Sondheim Finalists @ the BMA

Doreen Bolger introducing the exhibition

Chris LaVoie above and 8 below

Chris LaVoie's Lumber Crying

That weight is made of pureed OK Computer CDs!!!

Ryan Hackett

Ryan Hackett above and below

Matthew Dale Janson above and 7 below

Grate Stuff gut crib

Parlor Rat

Karen Yasinsky combines Robert Altman films California Split and Thieves Like Us in her 3 minute animation "You Have to be Very Careful"

Matt Porterfield's Hamilton

Some photos by Nate Larson of Twitter locations; this project may as well have page numbers....it would make the most narrative sense as a book

Leah Cooper's installation

The finalist exhibition is on view at the Baltimore Museum of Art. The prize will be announced on the evening of July 10th, followed by the second annual H&Hscape opening!

The 7th Annual Transmodern Festival

The 7th Annual Transmodern Festival
Four Days of Avant Performance, Installation, Sound, Film, Mayhem, Ecstasy, and Radical Culture
April 15th thru April 18th, 2010
Baltimore Museum of Art, H&H Galleries, Baltimore waterfront
www.transmodernfestival.org


The 7th Annual Transmodern Festival (Live.Art.Action) will be held at the Baltimore Museum of Art, the H&H Building galleries and Baltimore waterfront from April 15th to Sunday, April 18th. Following last year’s record attendance and crowds, the festival expands programming to the Baltimore Museum of Art, continues programming on all four floors of the H&H Building and moves outdoor site-specific work to selected areas of Baltimore waterfront. The festival’s visionary approach to presenting new multi-disciplinary work continues to attract regional art lovers, local cultural mavens, occasional passers-by, critical acclaim, and on-going academic interest. The festival kicks off on Thursday, April 15th at the Baltimore Museum of Art with an hour-long experimental film program including three recent Guggenheim fellows. The evening continues with cutting-edge performance art and experimental pop music from Dynasty Handbag (NYC), Lexie Mountain Boys (Balto.), Melissa Dyne (Portland), and Khaela Maricich (Portland) presenting her nationally acclaimed band “The Blow.”


On Friday, April 16th Nudashank Gallery, Gallery Four, The 5th Dimension, and the Whole Gallery will open for three floors of sensory delight, interactive art, roaming performances, and other major installations. A sample of featured local artists include: April Lewis, Sarah Jablecki, Jen Kirby, and the Annex Theater presenting a full immersion theatrical production with a live band based on the 1973 film “Fantastic Planet.” National artists include: Harrison Haynes (NC), Dan Gluibizzi, Benjamin Phalen (NYC), Laura Brothers, Suzi Poling (Chicago), Robert Lowe (Chicago), Stephanie Rothenberg (NYC), Ben Russell (NYC), and Marcia Bassett from the critically-acclaimed NYC underground band Double Leopards.


Saturday evening, April 17th brings the opening of all four floors of the H&H. Major installations from previous nights will be available for viewing and a stage oriented show will take place at Floristree on the 6th Floor at 8:30pm. Artists presenting at Floristree: People Like Us (UK) comprised of Vicki Bennett a major voice in European multidisciplinary A/V work. Ms. Bennett’s work has been featured at the Tate Modern, Pompidou Centre, Sydney Opera House, and she also presents a regular radio program on WFMU in NYC – also featured – Carly Ptak (Balto.), Joseph Keckler (NYC), Robby Rackleff (Balto.), and Blues Control (Philadelphia).


Sunday, April 18th brings Pedestrian Services Exquisite a site-specific free afternoon program featuring over 30 artists presenting work in and around the Baltimore waterfront. The event will feature exuberant community arts group Fluid Movement, as well as a mobile art center for urban youth – the Urban Engine.


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

Print Fair @ the BMA

The Baltimore Fair for Contemporary Prints & New Editions

Sat-Sun, Mar 27-28

PRINT FAIR EVENTS:
Mar 25: Artist Lecture
Mar 27: Guided Tours of Participants
Mar 27: Panel on Printmaking
Mar 28: Awards Ceremony

Discover limited-edition portfolios and single-image prints from 14 major contemporary art dealers, galleries, and presses from around the U.S. This unique event encourages new and seasoned collectors to peruse works in an intimate setting, talk personally with dealers, and learn more about contemporary artists and printmaking techniques.

Alumni and students from the Maryland Institute College of Art are among the established and emerging artists represented at the fair.

Artist Lecture: Christiane Baumgartner, Thursday, March 25, 7 p.m.
$8 BMA Members, $10 non-Members, FREE with Weekend Pass to the Print Fair; FREE at the door for Students & Teachers with I.D.

Join acclaimed artist Christiane Baumgartner as she discusses her signature body of work: large-scale woodcuts based on video stills. A reception will follow the lecture.

Co-sponsored by the Print, Drawing & Photograph Society and Friends of Modern and Contemporary Art.

Tickets on sale February 12. To purchase tickets, visit the BMA Box Office, call 800-919-6272*, or go to artbma.org.*
*Service charges apply.


Guided Tours, Saturday, March 27, Noon & 3 p.m.
FREE with admission to the Print Fair

Enjoy an informative tour of dealers, presses, and galleries with Associate Curator of Prints, Drawings & Photographs Rena Hoisington.


DIY Marketplace, Saturday, March 27, 11-5 p.m.
FREE

Learn about the do-it-yourself printmaking phenomenon directly from the artists! Participants include Atomic Books, Closed Captioned Comics, Eight Stone Press, The Holster, Jordan Jeffries, Gary Kachadourian, Leeking Inc., Narrow House, Shattered Wig Press, and Squidfire. Works by DIY Marketplace artists will be available for purchase, and two exhibitors will take part in the afternoon program, New Directions for Printmakers.


New Directions for Printmakers, Saturday, March 27, 2 p.m.
FREE

Join printmakers in a discussion about career options for recent printmaking graduates, which now range from the traditional track of becoming master printers for established print shops to self-publishing as a means of establishing oneself in this ever-evolving field. Panelists include Gary Kachadourian, Molly O'Connell, Ann Shafer, and Ben Levy.


Artist & Editions Award Sunday, March 28, 3:30 p.m.
FREE with admission to the Print Fair

Don't miss the announcement of this year's winner! The Artist & Editions Award is granted to an artist or artist/press team that has produced remarkable work in the field of printmaking, be it through conception or technique.

Print Fair

Book Discussion @ the BMA

The Lonely American: Drifting Apart in the Twenty-first Century


Sun, Jan 10, 3 pm

Join a conversation about loneliness in American society with two Harvard psychiatrists and authors of The Lonely American.

Are Americans becoming lonelier? This thought-provoking question is addressed in an insightful conversation about loneliness and isolation in today's society. Harvard psychiatrists Dr. Jacqueline Olds and Dr. Richard Schwartz, authors of the evocative book The Lonely American: Drifting Apart in the Twenty-First Century (featured in O, The Oprah Magazine), lead the discussion moderated by WYPR radio's Tom Hall. A book signing follows.

Art & Addiction @ the BMA

Sunday, November 1, 3-4 pm
BMA Meyerhoff Auditorium | FREE

Artists, performers, and medical experts explore the connection between art and addiction, and how art has the power to shed light on addiction and recovery. Featuring guest speaker Dr. Jack E. Henningfield, Director, Innovators Combating Substance Abuse Awards program. A reception follows at 4 pm. For more information, call Art on Purpose at 410-243-4750.

LIVE! Audio Tour Launch Party @ the BMA tonight

60 Objects | Countless Stories: Live!
Friday, January 16, 7–10 p.m.
FREE, open to the public
Cash Bar

Rediscover some of the BMA’s most beloved and intriguing works of art through the Museum’s first-ever audio tour of the collection. Launching on January 16, 60 Objects | Countless Stories spotlights a range of objects with revealing commentary from the Museum’s curators, conservators, and select Baltimore writers.

Celebrate the connection between arts and letters with an evening of live readings from the authors featured in this dynamic new Acoustiguide audio tour. Meet the curators, conservators, and writers who contributed to the project, and enjoy an evening of curatorial talks, poetry readings, storytelling, music, and book signings.

SOUND OFF! @ the BMA

Sound Off!
Friday, December 5
7 p.m., Doors open at 6 p.m.

Free BMA Members*
$10 non-Members
$5 Students with valid I.D.

Enjoy an evening of multimedia performances featuring winners from the Sound Off! competition and a lineup of local musicians and writers presenting original works, including young poets from the Maryland Institute College of Art and Baltimore Composers Forum members Keith Allan Kramer, Vivian Adelberg Rudow, and Benny Russell. There will be performances by Stephanie Barber, Lauren Bender, and Ric Royer, organized by Narrow House’s Justin Sirois, and original electronic performances by DJs Grayson Brown, Ravi Kittappa, Jason Urick, David Zimmerman, organized by Adam T. Rush. Tickets are available at the door. No advance purchase. For more information call 443-573-1832 or e-mail programs@artbma.org.

Media sponsors are b free daily, City Paper, and WTMD 89.7 FM.
*Limit one ticket per individual membership,2 free tickets for a dual membership, and 4 free tickets for Contributor membership levels and above.

Franz West @ the BMA

Seth and me, awesome photo by Cara Ober

The Franz West exhibition is a testament that the BMA is truly on its "A" game; reaching out to the public with an incredibly interactive exhibition, challenging institutional norms, and always willing to shake things up. It is truly one of the most exciting, interactive exhibits ever to grace the floors of the the BMA's main exhibition space. The exhibition includes almost every form of media you could ask for; photographs, collages, furniture, interactive rooms, video, ceiling sculptures, sticker paintings ( Amazing! I know! ) and one behemoth sculpture, the Ego and the Id, unveiled specifically for the retrospective. He runs the gamut artistically, which is only one of the reasons that this exhibition is so overwhelmingly powerful.


West is an artist who seeks to redefine the way in which we view sculpture. Once you think you have figured out his shtick, you find something that completely turns your universe upside down in a major way and realize that you have only begun to understand a fraction of this man's genius. He forces interaction; with the pieces, with fellow gallery-goers and with the idea of the museum as your setting. This exhibition invites conversation, prolonged hang-out, and ultimately removal from your immediate surroundings-however bizarre-sometimes resembling a cool apartment rather than a gallery. In a collaborative piece with Douglas Gordon, two couches are placed living room-like in a corner, with "each time you think of us," and "we die, a little" in vinyl lettering above them. While they provide an amazing vantage point for viewing the work, it is easy to forget that in sitting down, you have become part of the exhibition. West's work is not short on humor, which is often intertwined with unabashed alcohol references. My favorite caption in the show was for his Lemure heads, a recurring theme in his work, which he described as "hangover-induced apparitions," and champagne-bottle penises among the most memorable imagery. Despite his early influences, West is operating within and clearly benefiting from the commercial art world, but also arguably mocks these tastes. He isn't precious-or pretentious for that matter- about his work, using what appear to be second-hand frames, and trusts his audience with a rare sensory experience of direct interaction with his creations. Yes, you can and are encouraged to touch a large percentage of the work.

Cara Ober, reclining on a West bench

As a young artist, performance and "happenings" permeated his art awareness. "Art" took place in secret meetings, as anti-bourgeois demonstrations, definitely influencing his sensibilities. This concept of raw interaction is most apparent in his Adaptives, small white sculptures that people are asked to carry around, temporarily enhancing or inhibiting one's experience-props for a potential "happenings" within the museum. Footage of people using the Adaptives is displayed in a side gallery, an oddly melancholic video piece, a hiccup in the mostly playful exhibit. West is an artist who seems to grab from every source he can get his hands on, always exploring new territory with reckless abandon, and in this way he injects a powerful dose of dada and playfulness into every facet of his work and every corner of the installation space. Guess who I went to the art show with!

a better pic of the couch taken by Cara Ober

This show rules, don't miss it. On display at the Baltimore Museum of Art from October 12, 2008 through January 4, 2009, go at least twice.
Written by Alex Ebstein and John Bohl
with mostly sneaky hip-shot photos by Alex Ebstein