THE ARTOMATIC MANIAC

Artist preparing wall space at Artomatic

Originally published April 8, 2007

WITH ONLY THREE AYS left until the hanging deadline, I began painting my 2007 Artomatic nearly 180 square foot of space along two walls of a small room I share with an artist named Paula Bruening in the Old Patent Office at 2121 Crystal Drive in Arlington. The view from Room 6A43 (Sixth floor, Aisle A, Room 43) spans eastward toward the control tower at Reagan National.

For covering the old existing beige paint, I chose a signature charcoal graystone with a rough texture, and will trim it out in black before I actually hang my work on Wednesday. My wife charged into action today to keep me company and run the occasional errand. Her help was invaluable, and both our bodies are aching tonight for our efforts

Since this is my first Artomatic, and knowing the event will run for five weeks, I am somewhat overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of the project, not my own small exhibit so much, but given the enormous number of participants, reckoning with the sheer variety of creative content should surely be a learning experience. I shall be snapping pictures, shooting video, and soaking it all up, so that the next Artomatic won’t catch me short of inspiration.

The most unfortunate aspect of this wonderful and challenging extravaganza is that it opens on the same weekend as the annual two-day 52 O Street Open Studios, again, my first time particpating in the latter event, as well. This of course, encourages intrigue and exasperation with regards to which work should stay in studio and which should go to wheeling off to Arlington. Tough choices must be made.

LOUD SIGNATURES

Artist and wife, Sue Hedrick, in front of work at Artomatic

Originally published on April 15, 2007

AS THE MOUNTING PRESSURE of two upcoming events (Open Studios and Artomatic) eases, I thought I’d offer up an example of a work-in-progress. Inspired by daily world events, this picture is presently called “Loud Signatures.” Remember, I rarely begin a painting with a specific concept in mind, but by a limited series of choices paint what is set before me as refracted against a congealing consciousness compelling me to represent the competing forces of my symbolic vocabulary. The internal logic of a finished picture, if any, is influenced by those random choices and the whimsy of each competitive brush stroke itself.

Okay, I’ve taken down the work in progress, replacing it with these fine people standing in front of some wickedly jolly painting at the Artomatic ‘07 event.

ANNOUNCING ARTOMATIC '07

String Theory - Gabriel Thy - 40"x30" acrylic on canvas

IT'S FINALLY HAPPENING! Artomatic 2007 has been announced. I will be there next Saturday as one of the first registrants to pick prime real estate in this, my first Artomatic show. Two floors (the 6th and 8th floor) in the Old Patent Office Building in Crystal City—each floor is 45,000 sq. ft. and one has around 130 offices still walled in while the other one has been gutted. I hear it’s a nifty location and quite easy to navigate to either by car, bus, subway or even Virginia rail.

There are some spectacular views of the city from all the outer walls. The other cool thing about this location is that thousands and thousands of people both work and live right around this area.

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. 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. Unfortunately, local artists are frequently overshadowed by national blockbuster shows and federal landmarks, thus 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.

Artomatic began in 1999 in the historic Manhattan Laundry building. A dozen or so artists originally toured the empty building and within a month, three hundred and fifty artists had cleaned, lit, painted and colonized the 100,000 square feet. Over 20,000 visitors attended the first Artomatic over 6 weeks. From there, it grew organically, as buildings were made available to Artomatic by community developers. Music and performance of all kinds were added.

In 2000, 665 artists exhibited and 200 performed at the old Hechinger’s building; more than 1000 artists and performers took part in 2002 at the Southwest Waterfront and even more in 2004 at the old Capitol Children’s Museum in Northeast. The number of visitors has also more than doubled to over 40,000.

Stay tuned…