Public Memorial Service for Mark Planisek

Mark Planisek, WPA member and friend, passed away last weekend from injuries sustained in an automobile accident. Mark could always be spotted at art events around town, and had a massive network of friends and colleagues who will miss him dearly. A public memorial is being held at the National Portrait Gallery where Mark was an art handler for Saturday, July 11 at 9am.

Mark will be remembered as a committed friend, talented artist and a tireless and enthusiastic supporter of the visual arts in DC. DC Arts Center extends sincere condolences to Mark's family and his many friends. Read more about Mark, his life, work and valued contribution to the arts locally, nationally and internationally at the DC Arts Center website, the National Portrait Gallery Blog and the blog Art and Art Handling.

Edgar P. Richardson Symposium Marcel Duchamp

Friday, March 27, 1:00-6:00 pm
Nan Tucker McEvoy Auditorium

The fourth Edgar P. Richardson Symposium features new research on Marcel Duchamp and the role of portrayal in his career and his legacy. This symposium is presented in conjunction with the opening of the museum's exhibit Inventing Marcel Duchamp: The Dynamics of Portraiture. Speakers include Dr. Catherine Craft, independent scholar; Dr. Linda Dalrymple Henderson, David Bruton Jr. Centennial Professor in art history and Distinguished Teaching Professor, the University of Texas at Austin; Dr. David Hopkins, professor of art history, University of Glasgow; Dr. Lewis Kachur, associate professor, art history department, Kean University; Brian O'Doherty, artist; and Wendy Wick Reaves, curator of prints and drawings,

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Conservation Panel: New Research on Marcel Duchamp Portraits by Jean Crotti
Friday, March 27, 10:00-11:30 am

Nan Tucker McEvoy Auditorium
A panel of conservators and curators from the Museum of Modern Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the National Portrait Gallery discuss new research on portraits of Marcel Duchamp by his brother-in-law Jean Crotti. Reserve seats at no charge


National Portrait Gallery. Reserve seats at no charge, call 202.633.8330. More information: www.npg.si.edu

Colbert's Bump at the National Portrait Gallery

Watch the video.

The Smithsonian knows how to take a joke, or at least it’s learning. When Comedy Central’s Stephen Colbert lobbied on-air for his portrait to be included among the national treasures at the National Museum of American History, the museum’s director Brent Glass played straight man. But the National Portrait Gallery’s former director Marc Pachter, who was the second to hear Colbert’s plea, deserves some props.

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Portrait Accepted - Brent Glass

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The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Portrait Accepted - Brent Glass

He played hacky sack with Colbert in a tight gallery space and temporarily hung his portrait in the entryway to the bathrooms just outside the hall of America’s Presidents. Glass redeemed himself when he reconsidered, as well. The portrait now hangs in the American History museum, next to Dumbo the flying elephant. Word on the street is that Colbert is pitting his portrait against Fairey’s Obama in a face off. He has asked the National Portrait Gallery to calculate whether Fairey’s is more popular than his, based on visitation numbers.

Source: Around the Mall

Shepard Fairey at the National Portrait Gallery

The The New York Times has an interesting article about the acquisition, by the National Portrait Gallery, of street artist Shepard Fairey's Obama portrait.

Read The New York Times Article By Randy Kennedy HERE, Outlaws at the Art Museum (and Not for a Heist).

"Carolyn Carr, the portrait gallery’s chief curator, said that the poster acquired by the museum — a 60-by-40-inch mixed-media collage that Mr. Fairey created after making the initial image — was a beautiful work of art. But she added that “one of the reasons the gallery acquired it is that the image — as opposed to the object — is ubiquitous and it became the image of the campaign.”

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Listen to Shepard Fairey on NPR, Fresh Air fromWHYY Jan. 20, 2009
Spreading The Hope: Street Artist
Shepard Fairey

Obama “Hope” portrait enters the Smithsonian

The red and blue stencilled portrait of President Elect Obama by street artist Shepard Fairey, which became the central image of the election campaign, has been acquired by the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC for its collection. It is the first portrait of the new president to enter the national collection, part of the Smithsonian Institute.

The Art Newspaper, Article by Helen Stoilas

See post at The Specullector - http://specullector.com/

Call to Artists / Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition

The National Portrait Gallery's second Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition

The competition is open to all professional artists age 18 and over who are living and working in the United States. Both emerging and midcareer artists are invited to participate. Each artist may enter one work depicting anyone—a friend, a stranger, a relative, a self-portrait—but it must be the result of the artist's direct encounter with that person. While the human form must be the focus of the work, artists are invited to interpret the concept of portraiture broadly; for example, an entry might not include a face. The work must have been completed after January 1, 2007.

The winner of the competition will receive a cash award of $25,000 and will be awarded a separate commission to portray a remarkable living American for the Portrait Gallery's collection. The winning artist and the Portrait Gallery will collaborate to select the subject for the commissioned portrait. The second-prize winner will receive $7,500, and the third-prize winner will receive $5,000. Up to four additional artists may be commended for their work, and they will receive $1,000 each. All finalists' works will form a major exhibition on view at the National Portrait Gallery from October 23, 2009, until August 22, 2010.

Entries will only be accepted electronically, through the National Portrait Gallery's Web site, http://www.portraitcompetition.si.edu/, from June 2 until July 31, 2008.

Please read the detailed rules for the competition before entering.

“RECOGNIZE! Hip Hop and Contemporary Portraiture”

February 8 through October 26, 2008

Since its inception in the 1970s, hip hop has been arguably the most influential and popular musical form in America. Its popularity extends beyond the urban centers of its inception and pervades youth culture throughout the world. Images of hip hop stars are as pervasive as the music itself, and the National Portrait Gallery is featuring the work of artists who have explored this phenomenon. David Scheinbaum has been photographing hip hop artists since 2000, Two Washington, D.C–based graffiti artists, Tim Conlon & Dave Hupp, created four portrait murals to be installed in a hallway that connects the galleries. Jefferson Pinder created three video self-portraits that will be included in the installation. Curators for the exhibition are Frank A. Goodyear III, assistant curator of photographs and Brandon B. Fortune curator of paintings; Jobyl A. Boone, a Smithsonian predoctoral fellow is the guest curator.

All exhibitions are held at the Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture, located at Eighth and F streets N.W., Washington, D.C. For public information, call (202) 633-8300. The National Portrait Gallery is open every day (except December 25th) from 11:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Among the Crates and Barrels of Fine Art

I met up with Mark Planisek at one of the 9 X 10 WPA/C member shows this year. He was showing an intriguing series of mixed media collage boxes. Mark Planisek was interviewed by the Washington Post about his job at the National Portrait Gallery on December 23. Read the article HERE.

Katherine Hepburn at the National Portrait Gallery

One Life “Kate: A Centennial Celebration”
Opening today

Katharine Hepburn, one of the most iconic actresses of the 20th century, is the latest person to be featured in the National Portrait Gallery’s “One Life” gallery. Hepburn was a 20th-century icon who carefully constructed and maintained her own myth, from her earliest days in the studio system through more than 50 years on stage, screen and television. The exhibition includes her four Oscar statuettes—the most won by anyone for best actress—images from her life and career and a video kiosk that will play clips from a selection of her work.

The National Portrait Gallery is open every day
from 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Eighth and F Streets N.W.
Washington, DC
(202) 633-1000.