Super hard-working DC artist Dana Ellyn has been in the news a lot lately for her irreverent paintings at a recent art exhibit in Washington that marked the first-ever International Blasphemy Day (Sept. 30) at the Center for Inquiry DC near Capitol Hill. She and her work were discussed on CNN, then on USA Today, earlier on Religion News Service (that story received more comments than any other article in the history of their news service).
All the discussion was on the subject of Ellyn's "blasphemous" artwork, which pokes irreverent, nearly always quite harsh commentary on mostly Christianity and sometimes Judaism. One of her pieces depicts Jesus painting his crucifixion nails. Ellyn says she created the painting after she noticed that a local church group was using space next to a nail salon in a shopping mall. In another work, she paints a scene from Noah's Ark that shows a black child sitting under the table. It's a critical commentary on the evolution of the races for those who believe in the Biblical tale. See the works online at the artist's website at www.danaellyn.com. And on December 5th, 2009, from 6-8PM, "Divinely Irreverent," a solo show of Ellyn's work has an opening reception at Evolve Urban Arts Project, located at 1375 Maryland Ave, NE, Washington, DC 20002, Tel: 202.489.8160.
Having done a few blasphemous drawings in my own lifetime, I have one comment on the focus of Ellyn's artwork. It’s easy (and safe) to be blasphemous versus the Judeo-Christian religions, but where are the blasphemy paintings versus the Islamic religion? Versus Hinduism? Where’s fat, bald Buddha in all of this? Versus whatever it is that the Druze believe in? Why just pick on the two "safe" religions? Let's open up the whole can of artistic o' whup'ass on the opiate of the masses in all its versions. Ellyn has a good answer. She says that the works are a reflection of her "feelings and reactions to my Jewish Christian upbringing. The paintings are personal in nature - my reactions to the religions I have personal experience with. To paint against Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, etc. would be to do exactly what I've been (wrongly) accused of by many: being provocative and controversial just for controversy sake."
Georgetown Gallery Gaze
The galleries and art venues in Georgetown have launched the "Georgetown Gallery Gaze," a synchronized set of gallery openings and happenings every third Friday of the month from 6-8 for a movable feast of art, music and libations throughout Georgetown. Maps and details with the 13 participating venues are located online at www.georgetowngallerygaze.com.
The Contemporary Art Purchasing Program at UMD
In the spring of 2008, five gifted students from the University of Maryland were selected to be part of a committee that was taught the "intricacies of contemporary art and sent on trips to New York City and Washington D.C, where they visited multiple galleries and artists’ studios. The program concluded with the committee of students purchasing a number of pieces of contemporary art to be added to the collection of The Adele H. Stamp Student Union, Center for Campus Life."
The committee’s selections were then on exhibition at the University's Stamp Gallery. I was very interested in seeing the results of what sounds like a very cool program and visited the exhibition a while back. This is the second iteration of this program, and a new one will soon be underway.
According to the school: “The journey included a fall semester art theory course, countless hours in meetings to discuss independent research, leading up to exhilarating and exhausting trips to visit New York City and Washington D.C galleries. The committee worked directly with the galleries to both plan and schedule the trips and to acquire valuable information about the artists that piqued their interests. Final decisions were made after a formal presentation to an advisory board consisting of University community members and art professionals. It is safe to say that each artwork that the committee purchased was thoroughly researched and discussed.”
The student committee members were Sana Javed ’09, Ophra Paul ’08, Alison Reilly ’09, Alisyn Stuebner MA ’09, and Megan Wickless ’10. And I will report immediately that each one performed superbly and acquired work that definitely fits what the program aimed for. It is the program itself that needs both to be lauded (and I really, really like this program) and also fine tuned a little to make it more realistic and tuned to the University's own backyard's art community.
I am told that the ultimate goal of the program is to "educate and inspire by exposing the campus community to challenging art created by noted contemporary artists. At the same time, committee members are given the opportunity to develop leadership skills as well as a deeper appreciation for art and the art world."
The selected artists for the last iteration of the program and 2009 additions to the University's permanent collection are Barbara Probst, Dulce Pinzon, Jefferson Pinder, Edward Burtynsky, Annu Palakunnathu Mathew and Linn Meyers. All but Meyers and Pinder are photographs; Meyers and Pinder are also local artists to the DC regional scene.
My own favorite works in the new collection are the two pieces by Mexican photographer Dulce Pinzón. According to the acquisition proposal: “Mexican-born artist Dulce Pinzón challenges the stereotypes held against Mexican and Latino immigrants in the United States with her Superheroes project. In the wake of September 11, Pinzón found herself intrigued by the use and meaning of the word hero. The artist set out to capture images of those whom she considered the unsung heroes of her community—those immigrants who not only keep U.S. cities like New York running by working long hours for little pay, but who also support their families in Mexico by sending home substantial portions of their paychecks each week. Pinzón captured immigrant workers performing their jobs in their work environments, dressed as popular American and Mexican superheroes. Each photograph is accompanied by a short paragraph providing the subject’s name, his or her hometown, and the amount of money he or she sends to family members in Mexico each week.”
It’s a smart, intelligent idea and the artist delivers flawlessly on the concept. I find it interesting that Pinzón's best work was triggered by the viewing of her Mexican kinfolk from an American perspective. It delivers powerful images with a resonant social message. I wonder if when Pinzón returns to her native Mexico she now "sees" her working class compatriots in a different light. I say this because Mexican society is very harsh on its own lower working class people, and the heroes of Pinzón's American photographs are often the same heroes in her own native land, as a visit to most any house or flat in Mexico City's Zona Rosa will reveal.
The interesting fact that the Mexican government has one of the harshest and most oppressing immigration policies on the planet (Mexico has its own "illegal alien" problem in its southern borders) should yield some really interesting images if Pinzón were ever to do a new set of photographs depicting the painful issues faced by Salvadorian, Honduran and Nicaraguan illegal immigrants to her nation. Or the immense brutality of the Mexican government towards its own native indigenous population.
It is an interesting political paradox for a government that pretends, Presidente after Presidente, to be progressive and liberal, while its own policies are short of fascist in some cases.
Because the course says that the students are "sent on trips to New York City and Washington D.C, where they visited multiple galleries and artists’ studios," I was curious which Washington, DC galleries and studios they had visited. To say that I was disappointed on the answers is the understatement of the year. In fact, I will reveal my hand now and affirm that the one huge flaw in this otherwise terrific course is the astounding lack of local connectivity in this program.
One student told me that they had only visited one DC gallery and that she was personally disappointed that they hadn't been to more. I asked her why not and was told that it was "too hard to get everyone together to see more DC galleries."
But then I noticed that all of the works from "local" DC area artists both in 2007 and 2009 come from the same gallery. The program coordinators and students could only go to one DC gallery two years in a row and yet were able to go to multiple New York galleries?
This needs immediate resolution in the next version of this course. It is lazy and irresponsible on the part of all concerned. Here’s a list of the galleries and the associated artists that I would recommend:
-Curator's Office: Nicholas and Sheila Pye or Jiha Moon.
- Hemphill - William Christenberry
- Conner - Mary Coble
- Irvine - Susan Jamison or Akemi Maegawa
- Fraser - Trawick Prize or Bethesda Painting Awards
- Civilian - Cara Ober
- Parish - E. J. Montgomery and Herbert Gentry
- Red Dirt Studios - Margaret Boozer
- Washington Glass School - Tim Tate and Michael Janis
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