Baptista and Sale in Artomatic

AU artists Josh Baptista and Bonner Sale have work on display in Artomatic!

photo by Alex Ebstein

Check them out before Sunday, June 15th!

About Artomatic from Artomatic's website:

Artomatic is a month-long multimedia arts event that draws together visual artists, musicians and performers and brings their work to the community without charge.

It was originally conceived as a way to break down the geographical and social segmentation of the Washington arts scene, to bring art directly to the public and to build cohesion among artists. The city's ongoing development in recent years has diffused the arts community by breaking up pockets of artist studios. In addition, local artists are sometimes overshadowed by national blockbuster shows and federal landmarks. Artomatic provides a forum for all of our area's artists to convene, perform and exhibit, strengthening the visibility, cohesion, and marketplace of Washington's arts community.

Visit Artomatic's website for more information about this event.

Art from Brightest Young Things

AU artists' work created for Brightest Young Things website relaunch party...

Josh Baptista



Bradley Chriss



Amy Misurelli Sorensen



Cory Oberndorfer



Great job, guys- way to represent!!


What is "Brightest Young Things," you might ask. Well, here's what you need to know, straight from the source: (quoted directly from brightestyoungthings.com)


Brightest young things is a website
for
the entertainment of your own
DC making.
Written by the young and urban of DC for the young (at heart) and urban of DC.

...

BYT contains things you need to know to survive the nation’s capital:
the parties you want to go to
the dance moves you want to have
the desserts you want to eat
the pools you wish to crash
and
the people you want to brunch with every saturday, sunday and monday
(if only you did not have to work).
welcome to our and your playground.

Check it out!

Brightest Young Things, May 3rd

Website relaunch party, featuring music, dancing, and LIVE ART by:

Kelly Towles

AND American University MFA art stars:

Josh Baptista
Brad Chriss
Cory Oberndorfer
Amy Misurelli Sorensen

NINE opening

(photo by Alex Ebstein)


Last night's opening of "NINE," showcasing work by AU's first year MFA students was well-attended.

If you missed it, you missed out on some awesome krab dip, sweet ASICS, and of course, ART JUMPING!!!!

(photo by Alex Ebstein)

(photo by Alex Ebstein)



Luckily, you can still see the terrific art. "NINE" will be up until Tuesday, so be sure to check it out.

"Proximity," our MFA Thesis Exhibition will open Friday, April 18th, from 6-9 pm. Mark your calendars!

To read more about "NINE" and for more awesome images of the opening, check out ArtCade Forum and There Were Ten Tigers.

Friday Night!!!

"NINE"
First year MFA candidates present new work.

Opening reception Friday, April 11th, 7-9 pm

Josh Baptista
Kate Gartrell
Nikki Painter
Igor Pasternak
Allison Reimus
Katherine Sable
Bonner Sale
Lana Stephens
Zac Willis

Work will be exhibited April 10th- 16th in the Katzen Arts Center.

For museum hours and information, please click here.

We hope to see you there!

Dude where is my peace pipe dream?

Still from "Dude Where Is My Plane?"

By Bonner Sale


Upon watching "Dude where is my plane?" one would gather the free spirit and humor that artist Josh Baptista has to offer. It’s a video piece where two boys on a balcony in New York send a large cardboard air plane across the street and on to the facing building's roof top. The video opens up with a shot of the cardboard air plane with "Save the world" across it as an animated shooting star christens the piece with humor of such an innocent thought on hope. Vince Guaraldi's "Christmas time is here" starts to play as a voice says "What up bitch, save the world."

The video is a curious gesture that two boys can send a cardboard air plane across the street as an attempt to save the world, if not saving it, just making the world a little bit better. In today's society of expensive promises and sensationalist media, it’s a reassurance that somewhere someone is enjoying life's simple pleasures. Baptista does just that and shows a genuine interest for alternative achievement and friendship, creating a simple paper airplane and throwing it across a street and then filming that happening. Though many have done work like this before- like Yoko Ono- it has tended to fall flat as a whimsical gesture opposed to a great idea that nobody has thought of. But unlike Ono, Baptista considered the raw element of human emotions displayed in his argument for peace.

When the plane finally lands, Baptista tells the camera operator to turn the camera on himself to share the credit for this great act of endearment: "Turn that shit onto yourself," as the operator and Baptista continue to chant "What up bitch, save the world."

What up bitch, indeed. The quote almost serves as a new slogan said over and over again explaining to the viewer that it is up to themselves to save the world or their world. Is it that easy to save the world though? With the problems and identities that surround his other work, one would have to guess that most signs point to no, but Baptista much like the Beatles before him has a gift and practice to show and if the work is in coalition with good will toward man, let it be.

Ugh, Beatles puns, the worst. The piece gives nothing of what is wrong about the world but simply explains on how to make it better by a simple gesture of fun or engagement which is a facet lacking in Baptista's other political or social commentary art work.

The title is a play on the film "Dude Where is my Car?" a stoner comedy directed by Danny Leiner. Or even better, "Dude Where is my Country?" a preachy political satire written by Michael Moore. The film seems to lay somewhere between the two great "Dudes where is my...?" genre in that it is a political piece but it also has a warm-hearted feeling throughout the video.

At the end of the day with all the elements added up, the video stands strong against the almost transparent attributes of a peace piece. With much to do with the raw human factor that could only be caught at that one time making a cardboard airplane fly over a street, and certainly the human factor is very present in all of Baptista's work as well as in this video performance "Dude where is my plane?"

Check out "Dude Where Is My Plane?" at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zLd2bgK8wA

Roger Brown: Southern Exposure at the Katzen Museum

Roger Brown, "Sarajevo the Serbian Way," oil on canvas, 1993

By Josh Baptista


Roger Brown is showing at The Katzen in his show, "Southern Exposure." As one might imagine, yes, it was as boring as one might find the south to be at times. If you want to relax and get away from the hustling of the concrete jungle then this is the show to go to.

My first reaction to this show consisted of feeling the flatness of the South apparent in his paintings. The sculpture and paintings all imitate a clean and illustrative narrative. I found them to be boring. The colors did nothing for me. At points, I imagined how someone arrived in this museum. For me it seemed unfathomable to reach a conclusion as to how the work arrived here and can only contribute it to being about the time that this artist was a live. Therefore, around the 80's and 90's, the economy was good and that is maybe where this artist has gotten a break.

I want to discuss the idea of straight flat lines. When I look at an Edward Hopper who uses the same qualities that Brown does, it still has substance. If the goal of this work is to provide a feeling of nothingness, then I think they succeed especially in the landscape pieces. These big, vast, empty worlds with small generalized insignificant people. However, wait...

Brown is exactly going for that- this is what wants (nothingness). He wants us to feel the empty of everyday. By using these imaginary landscapes, he detaches us from ourselves and our world and allows us to really look at what is going on.

The breakdown of how no one really knows anybody and everybody is on this journey by themselves. The loss of humanity through building structures and the irony of how physically close we are but mentally detached. In even more we encourage these structures to divide us and create our false sense of security. Then in privacy, we wonder what the other person is doing.

I cannot say I feel in love with these paintings or sculptures, but I do embrace their concepts. This is interesting, because I really do not look at them as paintings anymore but more as ideas, thoughts.

Is Graffiti Dead?

Banksy, "Laugh now, but one day we'll be in charge"

By Josh Baptista

Is the war over? Are there still starving kids out there? Maybe our views are too fucken narrow; maybe, we have been living in a fantasy world where the comments and convictions we make no longer have any meaning, but who knows, maybe I'm wrong.

I think we need to open the picture up. First of all, we have been communicating with graffiti from the beginning of time. It was not dead for the cave painters, the Egyptians, or the French revolution -- the birthplace of the stencil. However unfortunate it may be that "suits" have taken a hold of graffiti's marketable quality, the power of real graffiti has not diminished. I am moved every time I see a Swoon or a Banksy in a public space and cannot imagine that the intentions of the artists were for Urban Outfitters to get a hold of their influence. This is a huge concern and a problem not just for graffiti artists, but also for all alternative lifestyles. On the other hand, good graffiti has a message, and so, if the art receives attention, then more people will be exposed to the message.

Sterile surroundings provoke ideas of change in highly motivated kids. When people believe in what they are doing enough, they disregard their own safety and well being in order to benefit others. This is an ever-evolving energy that does not make sense to the corporate world, and thus, is something the corporate man will never obtain. All they do is ape the idea of graffiti without understanding exactly what graffiti really is. For example, a Rambo poster is not graffiti, no matter how hard Hollywood tries to make us think it is. It is waiting to become graffiti though, but that can only happen at the hands of artists.

The untrained person that encounters the Rambo poster that Cory Oberndorfer referenced in his review "Graf is Dead" on this blog might consider the poster to be graffiti, but then again, that same person might be wearing a graffiti-inspired t-shirt from Urban Outfitters. The poster lacks the convictions of an artist.

I would like to take a minute to question the nature of graffiti -- an art that constantly comments on its environment. With that said, do you think with an ever changing world there will be ever changing questions? In addition, yes, the suits will get a hold of that freedom that makes graffiti what it is, but this is only a cheap imitation, and it can never be authentic. This is the cycle, and the fact that it's becoming commercialized I think will only make this cult stronger. So how can the innovators die? The market needs graffiti and graffiti needs the market.

A world that has become desensitized to television, commercial stores like Urban Outfitters, and the ever-growing leeches of the marketing world. The corporate will always be trying to suck the marrow out of the honest nature of graffiti, but advertising could never possess the qualities this art has. Advertising will never be graffiti. The nature of the beast is never ending, and graffiti just keeps pushing on. As time has gone on, graffiti has just reinvented itself to stay ahead of the market. The language has only become more elaborate and sophisticated. Naïve people will always interpret advertising as graffiti, and it is job as the public writers to educate them so we do not get confused.

The exposure graffiti has received has spread worldwide awareness through the work. Graffiti is a virus of potent information and there will never be a cure for it.

Elena Sisto: New Work at the Katzen Museum

Elena Sisto, "Doubles," oil on linen, 2005

By Josh Baptista

It was an early Wednesday morning and the perfect time to steal an intimate moment in a museum. I walked down to our local eye-candy museum The Katzen. Inside I found the paintings of Elena Sisto and received the fix that I had been craving.

Elena Sisto's work portrays young girls transcending their youth, thus allowing you to share in magical, and at times awkward, moments. All I have to say is if you like paintings you will love Elena Sisto's work. The paintings express everything I love about paint. Even though the work is subtle, the excitement and energy that good painting provides is pervasive.

The figures in the work are mysterious and doll-like at times. The work seems to have its own logic. It functions on its own terms and commands attention from every angle of the museum. I find myself entering the art through the girls' eyes and somehow bouncing in and out of the body or container. The figures are present but not exactly part my world either. They seem empty at times but completely present at others. It makes me feel unclear as to what role I play as a viewer. For me, this is the fascinating part of Sisto's work.

I find myself questioning: who is this girl, or is she a woman? What is my role as a viewer? Am I a viewer or am I the figure? What are the patterns on the dress? Are they some kind of flag or just an abstract element? These questions keep the viewer engaged and seeking.

The longer I looked at the works, the girls' gazes became more demanding. I could not help but see these young women as they relate to my younger sister-- evoking the events of the past months. The challenges and struggles that face girls on the brink of young adulthood make me imagine my sister's own struggles and how things were not always easy. Yet, the figures expressed an angelic feeling of ease at the same time. They seduce me with their gazes and by allowing me to look upon them, I can see the fragile states they appear to be in. There is also a great deal of strength in these young women, evident by their standing center stage and allowing judgment to be passed on them.

There is also a second body of work by Elena Sisto. They are 12x17 water media on paper. These paintings seem to take a more playful approach. The images seem to read as the artist's diary. It takes on a narrative using symbol, pattern, and childlike figures. Which bring me to my next question -- How do these works relate?

The connection is not that clear to me at first. They could be thoughts or diaries about the process of growing up. The difficulties of which I spoke of earlier relating to my sister's life become illustrated in these smaller pieces. This would explain the undeniable childlike qualities in these works. These qualities apply a narrative for the face of young adulthood that women deal with today.

Even if you do not find yourself relating directly to the work, the paint in-and-of-itself is reason enough to love Sisto's work. Whatever your reason, you should do yourself a favor and check out this exhibit.

RIGHT UNDER THE ROOF

Come drink and see good art. Right under the roof @ Warehouse.

Dean Monongenis High Rise Vista at Chelsea's Stux Gallery

By Josh Baptista


Dean Monongenis is showing new paintings in High Rise Vista
at Chelsea's Stux Gallery. The first thing that attracted me to the
paintings was an unbelievable amount of craft and flawless execution
of the paint. The craft has been painstakingly mastered through years
of practice. The painting brings together the ideas of fantasy with
the realm of reality. They bring the urban element of structure as
well as incorporating mountains and pieces of green landscape.
Dean Monogenis paintings question the ideas of permanence in
the structures around us. In Another Residential Fantasy Dean begins
to ask questions about the wants and needs of a location in a home.
We all want our space and privacy but to be close enough to Starbucks
and our favorite department stores. It becomes a deconstruction of
the urbanization as these structures invade spaces of secluded homes
in nature. He provides clever imagery as escalators that lead us into
digital structures of the doom and eventually leave us on the edge of
a cliff.
The show as a whole is a glimpse into a world of what maybe
our future landscape. Through technology and process, these paintings
become beautiful and slick. If you cannot appreciate the concept, you
can definitely find something desirable in the quality of the craft.
In the end I left with more questions than answers. Is the
current state of our living condition sustainable in our environment?
Is the architecture around us formatted for future weather conditions?
Is convenience the end of privacy? These are the questions I find
myself asking in Dean Monogenis's work.