Forgive our lax attitude with the Arts Agenda of late, as we’ve been experiencing a few staff changes around here and are still working out the scheduling kinks. That being said, all of DCist would like to extend a hearty thank you to Cyndi Spain, who has decided to retire from her DCist arts duties to focus on being a busy career woman and a doting bride. Good luck, Cyndi! The Arts Agenda will return…

(This post was written by DCist Arts contributor J.T. Kirkland of Thinking About Art) An article written by Marc Spiegler titled “Do art critics still matter?” was recently published by The Art Newspaper, and we can’t think of a better time to discuss the issues laid out herein. Essentially, Spiegler’s main point is that traditional critics are a dying breed, at least in terms of power and paid profession. Upon giving it some thought, the…

Arts review from J.T. Kirkland of Thinking About Art. Just as you might turn a bottle of shampoo on its end to get every last drop out of it in the shower, so too does Dan Steinhilber get everything he can out of his materials. It just so happens that his work makes use of atypical artistic materials such as bottles of shampoo, packets of artificial sweetener, cardboard boxes, rolls of tape and anything else…

Editor’s Note: We promise, there is more to the D.C. arts scene than just photography, but its just that there’s a lot out there photography-wise at the current time. J.T. Kirkland of Thinking About Art reviews another photography exhibit. Check out his recent photography reviews of Barbara Probst and Prescott Moore Lassman. Of the books in this DCist’s personal collection, only a small fraction of them have actually been read. Though we have every intention…

(Review from DCist contributor J.T. Kirkland of Thinking About Art) For as long as there have been magic tricks, magicians have worked very hard to keep the secrets of their trade, well, secret. Part of the allure of magic is that the viewer always asks, “How’d he do that?” We never question a magic trick before it takes place. That just doesn’t make sense. As soon as we’ve been fooled, however, we naturally want to…

(Review by DCist contributor J.T. Kirkland of Thinking About Art) “I shoot things that interest me. Over the past several years, that has been, mostly, my family.” Now that the cherry blossoms have bloomed and signified the start of the spring season, D.C. residents cannot help but take notice of all of the camera-toting tourists that abound in our city. Photography is a significant part of all of our lives. Who reading this has NOT…

A controversy has been shaking the visual arts community following the firing of Philip Barlow, the curator of the Washington Projects for the Arts/Corcoran’s “OPTIONS 2005” biennial. The root of the artistic flap can be traced back to two public art exhibitions, the Party Animals and Pandamania, the much-loved sidewalk art/charity projects organized by the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities. In September, the Post reported that Barlow would not be considering artists who…