This blog from Richmond aritst JT Kirkland is a very insightful look into the D.C. Metro area scene. Kirkland's fingerprint is all over the reviews and musings, but what is most interesting is his lack of "art schooling", important enought to come up often in discussions of his body of work. His thoughts are not revolutionary, but heartfelt with a sense of Gardener's Art History.
As for his work(all jugdements made on Web viewings), it is terribly boring at its worst, but at its best is really quite pretty. The pieces that function most succesfully are those that succeed in engaging with the industrial/manufactured aesthetic by way of signmaking and flags. I see no link to Minimalism as some have suggested(definately no Puryear here either), more Studio Case Furniture. Perhaps in person the materiality of the pieces shines through(he apparently sands the wood to the sheen of glass), but the jpegs flatten everything to the point that they become drawings.
In general, though, Kirkland seems a very valuable, and extremely participatory, member of the emerging art world.
