Today we bring you news from the revolving door. Artworks are arriving, artists are leaving, and the local scene remains ever-changing, even in the slow, muggy doldrums of summer.
>>A Klee In the Hand: Just last week we were pimping Paul Klee in the Arts Agenda, and here he is making the news again this week. The Post reported Tuesday that The Phillips Collection has acquired two Klee pieces from separate private donors. To the Right, To the Left (pictured), a mixed-media on paper, depicts the epic battle between Caveman and Prehistoric Goose. Well, maybe not, but it is a fantastic work that plays with lines and color, and it’s hanging right now in Klee and America. The second piece is a mean mug of a woman telling you straight where to go with her arrow hands. We hope to see the lithograph, The Witch With the Comb, displayed soon.
>>Goodbye, and Good Luck: A few of us art aficionados slash internet geeks noticed that D.C. Art News has been a little slow lately. This week we found out why: D.C.’s own Lenny Campello is leaving us…sort of. The co-owner of the Fraser Gallery in Bethesda is leaving the gallery for “personal reasons” and moving part-time to Pennsylvania, explaining further here. Although we are delighted to hear that D.C. Art News will expand with two additional writers, we’re disappointed that Campello plans to transform it into Mid-Atlantic Art News. This is an unfortunate blow to the local art scene, especially considering Campello has been one of the loudest admonishers of the virtually non-existent media coverage it receives. We certainly hope that the focus on D.C. doesn’t drift away completely, when the close ties its founder has with the city get looser. In any case, we wish him good luck in his endeavors. Say thanks and sort-of-goodbye to the city’s art-scene social chair this Friday at 6 p.m., when Campello opens his last show with Fraser for the 10th Annual International Art Competition.