Masculine Art by Amy Elkins

Image: Amy Elkins, Kyle, New York, NY, 2008. Courtesy of Yancey Richardson Gallery.

I have been wanting to expand DC Shot List interviews into the collector sector and just this past Sunday, I had the good fortune to be invited over to Dr. Fred Ognibene's residence to view his art collection!  In an informal get-together, he was hosting his students who, up until the Washingtonian article, had no idea about his passion.  So, not only did I get a great afternoon of art viewing and a great interview with Fred, but I also got to chat with these students, too.

I promise that this interview will be up in the next few weeks.  One thing to mention now, though, is that in his collection are two pieces by Amy Elkins, who's works are on display at the Transformer Gallery as part of the show "Domesticated: Men and the Domestic Interior."

From the description of the show, it certainly seems like it is exactly as the title promises.  Featured photography by Amy Elkins, Yolanda del Amo, Dru Donovan, and Jamil Hellu depicts men in domestic interiors, "capturing moments of complex masculinity that can only occur behind the closed doors of the home."

Now, the opening day has already passed, but don't despair!  On June 20th, at 2pm, they are having a Closing Day Curator & Artist Talk.  Definitely worth going to.  And, of course if you can't make it, you have until then to drop by for your own viewing!

For more information, please contact Victoria Reis or Marissa Long at info@transformergallery.org or 202.483.1102.

Please see Transformer's website to download a full press release with more information on the artists and curator: www.transformergallery.org.

James Walker's Photo-media Takes Nothing for Granted

Information, descriptions and some beautiful sentences derived from a press release, courtesy of Shane Pomajambo and the folks at Art Whino.
Art by James Walker...of course.

First things, first, here's the low-down dirty...

WHAT:  The Art of James Walker
WHEN:  Friday, June 5th, from 6pm – Midnight
WHERE:  National Harbor, 173 Waterfront St., National Harbor, MD 20745
HOW MUCH:  The event is FREE and open to the public.
AND IF I CAN'T MAKE IT?:  Show runs until July 3rd.

Next Friday, June 5th, from 6 pm to Midnight, all are invited to celebrate the opening of The Art of James Walker. A local artist and photojournalist, his works are described as insightful and honest, reflecting on the current moment and fleeting nature of time. 

This exhibition does not just feature photography but also paintings, books, collage works all blending together as a collection of moments, insights and ideas that evolve from Walker’s constant documentation of the world around him. He describes his work as focused on the ideas of living in the present moment and never taking anything for granted.

Walker’s works strike a deeply personal chord
leaving viewers both lost in the moment
and somehow more aware of the present at the same time.

James Walker’s Artist Statement:
…..I never made a conscious decision to become an artist, it’s something I’ve always done for as long as I can remember, I make pictures and draw and paint and collage debris and objects as intuitively as possible and I’ve never specialized in anything except making the best art that I can and I don’t often think of myself as an artist but more of a sociologist or philosopher…..my background is in photojournalism and I take a documentary approach to everything I do with my work and I feel that my most successful images are ones that develop as a natural extension of existing

….all of my amalgamations are nothing more than a feverish attempt to create some sort of semi-tangible cohesion out of everyday experiences through obsessive collection of imagery and stories and adventures that I compile as the proof of life lived to bring a general awareness that every second exists for just that and at the same time facilitating this idea the only way I can, through my artwork, all of it being the cliff notes to my inclusion in this maelstrom of existence, examining the fact that everything is in a constant state of fluctuation, deterioration, and reconstruction, never lasting more than two blinks of an eye which may be why humans invented the concept of measuring time while we fruitlessly strive to sustain and avoid any contact with the inevitable thermodynamic deconstruction of our selves and everything we see as real and I’m enamored with the idea that everything is beautifully entropic and nothing will ever retain, permanently, its current physical form,

which is why I try be mindful of the present moment, the only thing that is not simulacra, without which we would have neither the future nor the past (both of which carry significance only as stubborn illusions), and with the realization that the present moment is the only thing that truly exists I gather information and juxtapose found treasures all decomposing and beautifully dancing in wonderful objectification with images in various states of archival-ness (frequently subconsciously depicting all too clearly our own frailty taken for granted) and I am helping to organize an introspection and focus that is easily lost in the cellularphonic espresso-paced world that I am also contently enveloped in, intensifying awareness of the swirling cacophony and freneticism of it all and all of the feelings and emotions colliding, and as I work I just let the chaos flow without judgment, acknowledging its existence as neither good nor bad, just that it is there, with hopes of creating nothing that is stale but instead just as alive as the subjects it depicts...