MANIFEST EQUALITY gathers together a diverse array of hundreds of the nation’s most talented visual artists under one roof to celebrate that role and join with our LGBT (lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender) friends, family members and co-workers to demand full and equal rights for all Americans.
Esteemed panel of judges includes: Antonio R. Villaraigosa, the 41st Mayor of Los Angeles; Ann Philbin, Director of the Hammer Museum at UCLA; Lisa Love, Senior West Coast Editor of Vogue, Franklin Sirmans, Curator of Contemporary Art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Edward Ruscha, LA based artist; Shepard Fairey, artist & Obey Giant; RIck Jacobs, Courage Campaign Founder and Chair; Edgar Arceneaux, LA based artist; David Pagel, Art Critic; Lari Pittman, Artist & UCLA Professor of Painting & Drawing.
As part of the Washington Project for the Arts sponsored program 36 Studios in 36 Hours, Mera Rubell, of the Miami based Rubell Collection, visited my studio on O Street NW. Then we headed down the street to visit Boxer Girl on W Street, NW.
Mera Rubell is a pretty rad lady, and I am thrilled to hear that she is bringing 30 Americans to D.C! Get excited for this one! It even features my girl IRB!
Washington Post art critic Jessica Dawson writes that Lisa Gold WPA Director reports that, “Mera wanted to acknowledge artists who have been dedicated to their practice and artists that foster a sense of community”.
As a result, Mera curated a new Boxer Girl on wood panel in Washington Project for the Arts’ 2010 Art Exhibition
Located at American University’s Katzen Arts Center
4400 Massachusetts Avenue, NW,
Washington, DC 20016
On exhibit through March 6, 2010
Curator’s talk: February 25 at 6:30pm Located in the Abramson Family Recital Hall at the Katzen Arts Center.
The Exhibition and curator talk are free and open to the public.
Art Auction & Gala: March 6, 2010 (Party tickets are available,)For more information on purchasing party tickets or bidding on Boxer Girl please email wpa.auction@gmail.com or visit www.wpadc.org
Thank you to everyone who has shown support for Boxer Girl! In October the D.C. Police reported that “there has been a 55 percent decrease” in crime since Boxer Girl was installed in D.C.’s Bloomingdale neighborhood in May 2009!
This demonstrates the power art has to encourage positive change in our communities.
Boxer Girl Controversy Press Highlights:
ARTNET NEWS
PUBLIC MURALS, PUBLIC CONTROVERSY
October 22, 2009
Lizards Live
Artworks by Lisa Marie Thalhammer
Located at The Butcher’s Daughter Contemporary Art
Ferndale, Michigan
October 24 – November 25, 2009
Artist Talk: Saturday October 24, 2009 at 5:00 PM
The Butcher’s Daughter is proud to present the work of D.C. artist Lisa Marie Thalhammer for her solo debut in Detroit.
Born in the eighties, Thalhammer’s family owned a truck plaza off the banks of the Mississippi River. Her exhibition, Lizards Live, features drawing, collage and cut paper animation influenced by reflections upon life as a young woman amongst a male dominated American highway subculture. Her works piece together iconoclastic body parts into lizard-like creatures, transforming object and context into new symbols of veneration.
“Embellished with appropriated gospel illuminations and Byzantine patterns, the Lizards in my drawings are enthroned upon hand drawn semi trucks combining references form the two most dominate female figures within Catholic mythology: the Virgin Mary and the Mary Magdalene. I attempt to merge these two definitions of femininity by placing the Lizard in an enthroned position similar to the Madonna and Child, the work becoming an examination on the way feminine beauty is reverenced and objectified simultaneously.”
Thalhammer harnesses the power of iconography and reinvents her complicated byzantine patterns, steeped in personal contemplation into efficient, universal, and undeniably powerful symbols of attraction and empowerment. Her newest work is a testament to the dedication between artist and subject:
“Lizards Live is the next chapter in my Lizard anthology. My newest works reflect a contemplative pause on the power, history and beauty of the rainbow.”
Thalhammer has been the recipient of numerous awards including five grants from the D.C. Commission on the Arts & Humanities, an agency supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. Her work has been featured in esteemed publications such as U.S. News & World Report, Washington Post, Washington City Paper, Washington Life Magazine, D.C. Modern Luxury Magazine, Cultureserve.net, Hoogrrl.com and MTV.com. She has also appeared the cover of the Washington Blade.
Please join The Butcher’s Daughter as we welcome Lisa Marie Thalhammer to Detroit on October 24, 2009 for an Artist Talk at 5:00 PM that precedes her exhibition reception from 6:00 – 9:00 PM.
The Butcher’s Daughter is located in Ferndale, Michigan, and is committed to creating innovative, cultural context for contemporary art through the representation of emerging and mid-career artists and the sale of their work. www.thebutchersdaughtergallery.com
22747 Woodward Avenue, Suite 201
Ferndale, Michigan 48220
T (248) 808-6536
mb@thebutchersdaughtergallery.com
G Fine Arts
will present Lisa Marie’s new drawings at
ART IS NOT A LUXURY
A private event hosted this month by the Human Rights Campaign & DC Modern Luxury Magazine
About G Fine Arts: Founded in September 2001 to exhibit and promote international art from the 1960s to the present day, G Fine Art places a special emphasis on young artists - those dedicated to exploring cutting-edge cultural and artistic issues by pushing the boundaries of traditional media. Yet the gallery’s mission is not tied to any youth cult. Rather, G Fine Art seeks to create opportunities for younger artists to expand and explore new dimensions in their work, while enabling already-established artists and those who came to prominence in previous decades to be celebrated for the depth and contemporary relevance of their art.
Darcey O’Callaghan & Romina A. Casadei, 2009, pastel and gold on paper; 73″ x 42″
Lisa Marie will be exhibiting with:
Transformer’s Flat File at the X Initiative
548 West 22nd Street, NY NY 10011
Opening Reception: June 23, 6-9pm
Opening time: June 24 - 28, 2009, 1-9pm
FREE ENTRANCE
Held at X from June 24 through June 28, NO SOUL FOR SALE - A Festival of Independents will bring together the most exciting, creative and respected not-for-profit centers, alternative institutions, artists’ collectives and independent enterprises from around the world that contribute to the international art scene by inventing new strategies for the distribution of information and by supporting a diverse cultural program.
Participants include: Ballroom (Marfa), BizArt/Arthub (Shanghai/Hong Kong), DISPATCH (New York), FLUXspace (Philadelphia), Kadist Art Foundation (Paris), Filipa Oliveira + Miguel Amado (Lisbon), Forgotten Bar Project (Berlin), Hermes und der Pfau (Stuttgart), Kling&Bang (Reykjavík), L’Appartment 22 (Rabat), Latitudes (Barcelona), LAXART (Los Angeles), Light Industry (Brooklyn), Migrating Forms (New York), Mousse Magazine (Milan), Next Visit (Berlin), Participant Inc. (New York), Rhizome (New York), STARSHIP (Berlin), Storefront for Art and Architecture (New York), Studio Film Club (Trinidad), Swiss Institute (New York), TART (San Francisco), Thisisnotashop (Dublin), Transformer (Washington, D.C.), Via Farini (Milan), Vox Populi (Philadelphia), White Columns (New York)
About X Initiative: X is a not for profit initiative of the global contemporary art community that will exist for one year and present exhibitions in four phases. Advised by a 50+ advisory board comprised of artists, curators, museum professionals, gallerists, collectors, art historians and critics, X is reaching across traditional boundaries to form a consortium interested in responding quickly to the major philosophical and economic shifts impacting culture.
About Transformer: Transformer is a Washington, DC based 501 (c) 3 non-profit visual arts organization providing a consistent, supportive, and professional platform for emerging artists to explore and present experimental artistic concepts, build audiences for their work, and advance their careers.
Thursday, June 11, 7pm
@AFI Theater, 8633 Colesville Road, Silver Spring, MD
I was honored when asked to contribute artwork by Collector, Mike Pollack, to a silent auction benefiting Pyramid Atlantic during the DC film premier of Beautiful Losers!
Beautiful Losers originated as an internationally touring visual art exhibition that linked together “a loose-knit group of like-minded outsiders rooted in the DIY (do-it-yourself) subcultures of skateboarding, surf, punk, hip hop & graffiti.” The Beautiful Losers film highlights 14 artists from this exhibition including Aaron Rose, Barry McGee, Chris Johanson, Ed Templeton, Geoff McFetridge, Harmony Korine, Jo Jackson, Margaret Killgallen, Mike Mills, Deanna Templeton, Stephen Powers, Thomas Campbell, Shepard Fairey and Cheryl Dunn.

Also contributing to the auction is my good friend and colleague, Cynthia Connolly, who’s photography has been touring with the Beautiful Losers exhibition since the early 1990’s. Cynthia’s photograph of Allison Wolfe (one of my all time favorite lady rockers whose bands include Bratmobile and Partyline) graces the cover of the exhibition catalogue. Cynthia’s work will also be available during the silent auction. I LOVE this photo and personally curated it into the Transformer’s Silent Auction and Benefit Party in 2008! I also had the pleasure of meeting Aaron Rose, Beautiful Losers Director, a few weeks ago when he was in DC for a conference on the direction of the National Endowment for the Arts during the Obama era. He is very cool and so is his movie! Go see it, support DC area artists and support DC area art organizations in the process!
Tickets include admission to the Screening, Silent Art Auction and Reception. VIP Tickets include a pre-reception with our special guests, a private gallery viewing, and complimentary wine and light appetizers. Individual $50, VIP (includes VIP pre-reception) $125, More info here.
Beautiful Losers Film Trailer
Beautiful Losers film trailer from beautifullosersfilm on Vimeo.
I heart PARTYLINE!!!
I heart BRATMOBILE!












