2012 senior class photos
2012 West Carrollton graduation
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Friday, April 23, 2010
Automating censorship via Hitler. Surprise!
Not too hard to see this one coming, if you think about it…
For my money, the funniest one was Hitler hearing Michael Jackson had died… Classssssssssssic.
And a shame, to be taken down. I’d think it would make more people want to see “Downfall,” which is, btw, a brilliant film that I strongly recommend.
Weird, the whole thing.
Thoughts, anyone?
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Get ready to art-hunt at DVAC’s auction
Really, it’s a hunt-and-gather operation.
All right, it’s more than that. It’s a terrific party, too, a great place to meet-greet-see-be seen, always a good thing.
And more importantly, for those of us who want to stay in the know about such things, it’s the best one-stop shop for finding out what sort of things are happening in the studios of all the artists, sculptors and photographers scattered across the area.
Well, OK — not all of them. But a lot of the best ones.
We’re obviously talking here about one of my favorite annual events, the Dayton Visual Arts Center’s Art Auction. The 17th, a fundraiser for the local arts-support organization, happens next Friday, April 30, at Sinclair Community College’s Ponitz Center downtown, the second year it’s happened there.
Over the years, the auction has been in the Dayton Art Institute and the Kettering Tower lobby, and each venue has given it a slightly different flavor. What has remained the same, regardless of location, is the happy little thrill of excitement that comes from finding and pursuing a new artwork.
For the silent auction, it means studying and getting a feeling for what you like best from dozens of pieces by Dayton-area artists, imagining where you’d put it in your home or office, deciding how much you’re willing to pay for it, and then hovering around the bid sheet, wine glass in hand, to make sure you’re still in the running and haven’t been out-done.
For the live auction, it means throwing your hat into what can become a very lively, expensive ring — one in which passions rise, money flies and artists’ reputations are made in a few minutes of fast bidding. It’s always fun to watch.
Folks have been dropping by DVAC’s Jefferson Street headquarters the last few weeks to have a look at the auction pieces in the gallery and do a little auction pre-planning. I did the same the other day, and was pleased by what I saw.
Katherine Kadish’s monotype “Pathways 4” was typically bold and bright, and will get blood flowing at the live auction with an opening bid of $1,2000.
Paula Wilmot Kraus’ “Bird Study 3” is priced a little more modestly, but is a thing of brittle, ethereal beauty — a photograph of songbirds on a tangled branch, carefully printed on parchment-like encaustic paper.
Jack Holtel’s photographic tryptych of book spines is a lovely blur of color, light and shape. Gary Gardenhire’s painting “Blue Box” is a playful outpouring of energy. John Emery’s delicate watercolor and paper construction “Specimen Red” will make you think differently about radishes afterward. Ray Must’s intaglio “In the Meadow (Englewood)” is an airy, lightly hued dance of fine lines and interconnections. These are just a few — visit www.daytonvisualarts.org to peek at all the offerings. They’ve got time and ticket info there, too.
It’s fun to go back to the auction each year and see how artists are changing and evolving, trying new things. This year, for instance, Richard Malagorski has moved away from his huge, wide-angle shots, well-known around town, and has put into the auction a more traditional landscape shot of the Grand Canyon that looks like real, rushing water. Gretchen Durst Jacobs, usually on hand with one of her color-burst oil landscapes (one of which we bought a few DVAC auctions back), this year has turned in a marvelously detailed charcoal drawing of a dark, wooded scene. It’s fabulous.
And it’s in my price range, too, so stand back. Don’t make me tell you again.
