The peculiar Washington art world

"I've never seen such isolation and loneliness," said Mera Rubell, one of the world's most well-respected collectors, about Washington artists.

Mera uttered this gloomy observation during her studio visit marathon last weekend, in which she visited 36 artists studios in 36 hours. The goal: to select work for "Cream," an exhibition Mera is curating for the Washington Project For the Arts' auction in March.  During this arduous weekend, which she masterminded, Mera observed artists working alone, without talking to each other or others in the art world.  In made sense then that one of her criteria for selecting work for the exhibit was to "acknowledge ... artists that foster a sense of community."

Mera Rubell just shot to the top of my list of people I admire!

She admonished artists as well.  "It's like children fighting for their parents' attention," Mera say. "It's basic competitive survival here -- you don't give an inch." This condemnation could be applied to the entire DC art scene. I hope Mera's scolding will inspire more connectivity, and I hope it will motivate us to work together more and help each other more so we can all succeed and so the DC art scene can thrive as a whole.

Another astute observation from Mera: "The gallery audience is very suspicious," Mera says as she moves toward the cab idling at the corner. "They think art is some kind of product. If only the audience could see the commitment behind the work. Artists really share something intimate." As an art collector, I love living with beautiful art objects, but what I love most is knowing artists. Artists are courageous for putting themselves into their work and then putting that work out into the world to be criticized.  Plus, artists are special people and can teach us about the world and ourselves. It's good to know them.

Read the rest of Jessica Dawson's report in The Washington Post HERE. (All quotations above are from Dawson's article.)

Congratulations to the artists Mera selected for "Cream." Excellent choices!

MG Barkovic

Holly Bass

Judy Byron

Lenny Campello

Rafael Cañizares-Yunez

Adam de Boer

Mary Early

Victoria F. Gaitan

Carol Brown Goldberg

Pat Goslee

Jason Horowitz

Barbara Liotta

Patrick McDonough

Brandon Morse

Dan Steinhilber

Lisa Marie Thalhammer

UPDATE: Kriston Capps' take on Mera's venture in "Art In America" HERE.

UPDATE: Jessica's article prompted this good discussion of issues facing artists working in DC.