Gurnee, IL, 2005 by Brian Ulrich

Photographer Brain Ulrich is part of a group exhibition, SIGNS, on view at the Mt Tremper Arts Festival. I've never heard of Mt Tremper before, but I do know New York state has lots of fascinatingly named towns. (Once, on my way to Buffalo, I got lost and ended up in Mexico. Yes, Mexico, New York.) Anyway, I did a little research and discovered that Mt Tremper is a hamlet located in the Catskills, boasts a Zen Mountain Monastery and lots of hiking trails. In other words, Mt Tremper sounds like a wonderful place to escape to. The Arts Festival is 10 days of performances, lectures, and dance classes.

Other photographer included in the SIGNS exhibition: Tim Davis, Walker Evans, Stephen Shore, Zoe Strauss, Matthew Pokoik, Shannon Ebner, Christian Patterson, and John Lehr

Mt Tremper Arts Festival
Mt. Tremper, NY,
July 19 - Aug 31, 2008

Brian's site
Brian's 20x200 edition: Untitled, Thrift 2006 (0635)

Paradigm Shift by Jessica Snow

Hey denizens of the Bay Area! Jen Bekman is throwing a party tomorrow night!

Who: Jen Bekman, 20x200 collectors, friends + fans

What: A 20x200 Party!

When: Wednesday July 23rd | 6pm-8pm

Where: Crown Point Press | 20 Hawthorne St. SF, CA

Why: Because art's for everyone.

RSVP: Upcoming.org

This little blogger is suddenly craving a soft pretzel.  Must be because as a former South Philly resident, and Spector gallery intern, I'm super pleased to share some news about 20x200 artist Todd St. John.  Todd is part of a traveling group exhibition entitled Big Kids/Little Kids, which recently opened at its third location, Subliminal Projects Gallery in Los Angeles (yes, Shepard Fairy's space).  

Big Kids/Little Kids chronicles the first 8 years of the newly emerging contemporary art movement in Philadelphia. It features artists from SPACE1026, 1Pixel, 222gallery and Spector (the galleries that have supported this energy) and artists from outside of Philly who have shown in these spaces by shaping and being influenced by this scene. 

The show will be up through August 8th: Subliminal Projects Gallery 1331 W Sunset Blvd LA, CA 90026

Todd's website

Todd's 20x200 edition print: Untitled (Black Blocks)

Jennifer Sánchez'sny.08.#7, 2008
Mixed mediums on canvas
30" x 40" x 1 1/2"

Ciao amici! For this week's artist interview I bring you some insight into 20x200 shining star Jennifer Sánchez.

It's clear from you participation in 20x200 that you're interested in making art available in affordable ways--what is your philosophy on this?
I just want anyone to be able to have some art; art isn't just for the elite/rich or something to be housed in a museum. The affordable prints are a gateway to even more art experiences.

The price of one print that you get to keep forever, equals admission for just one day to the MoMA, and I think that's ridiculous. There are a lot of barriers that established venues for art have built that intimidate the average joe. Jen's site makes it easy, friendly and fun.

How has participating in 20x200 helped your art career?
I've gotten a lot more traffic to my site! A Lot of people have signed on to join my email list and some have bought paintings.

What do you draw most of your inspiration from?
I like the idea of capturing movement, and awkward spaces that come from that motion.
My paintings tend to end up looking happy and optimistic; that's not necessarily my intent, but is what inevitably happens because I am attracted to bright, fluorescent and discordant color combinations.

I find interesting colors everywhere; on a t-shirt, plant or delivery truck. I bring those colors in to a painting and see what happens.

Read on...

Image from Carlo Van de Roer's Swim series

Photographer Carlo Van de Roer has volunteered to teach 25 New York City High School students photography. The combined fruits of their labor will result in a portfolio of images produced by each student. A reception and exhibition will be held at the Art Directors Club Gallery Saturday July 19, from 6:30-8:30pm.

ADC Gallery
106 West 29th Street
NY, NY

Carlo's site
Carlo's 20x200 edition prints:
Untitled (Bondi Baths, Sydney, Australia) 2007
Untitled (Astoria Park, Queens, New York)

Liberty City, 2008 gouache on paper, 33″ x 53″by Michelle Weinberg

Congratulations are in order for 20x200 artist Michelle Weinberg! Michelle is one of 13 South Florida artists to win a 2008 Cultural Consortium award in Visual and Media Arts. The winners are on display at the Museum of Art Ft. Lauderdale now through October 6th.

What a fabulous excuse to hop on a flight to Ft. Lauderdale this weekend! Did you know that it's the Venice of America? Now you do!

Museum of Art Ft. Lauderdale
One East Las Olas Boulevard
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301
July 13 – October 6, 2008

Michelle's website
Michelle's 20x200 edition: Cul de Sac

Untitled, from Nina Berman's Homeland Insecurity Series

For those of you close to New York, a summer trip to Dia:Beacon is always a treat. What would make this trip even better? A visit to Fovea where documentary photographer Nina Berman is part of a group show.

Dispatches from the Frontlines: 12 Women Photojournalists, is on view at the Fovea space through August 3rd.

Popular Photography's blog has a little article about the show.

Fovea Editions Beacon Gallery
143 Main Street
Beacon New York 12508
845 765 2199

Nina's website
Nina's 20x200 edition: 9-11-02
Nina's images on JenBekman.com

Buongiorno!

Think fast! What is your favorite thing in New York? Got it? Great! Now consider helping 20x200 artist Jason Polan. He's currently collaborating with subscribers to ESOPUS art magazine. He's inviting subscribers to email him their favorite thing in New York City. This beloved thing should be submitted by Tuesday, July 15, (that's, like, very soon!) to make the cut and appear as a hand drawn image for the Fall 2008 ESOPUS. So hurry up and subscribe to ESOPUS and then email Jason! Helping an artist is a lovely way to begin the week!

More Jason here, and here and here!

Group, 2007 by Jacob Magraw
10 x 13 Inches, watercolor and gouache on paper

This week we featured an edition print by Jacob Magraw who just happens to have work up as we speak at Richard Heller Gallery in Santa Monica. For those of you lucky collectors who are nearby, stop in and have a peek.

Summer Group Show @ Richard Heller
2525 Michigan Ave, B-5a
Santa Monica, CA 90404
310 453 9191

Le Hermitage Painting by HHS! winner Roc Herms Pont

Holy Cannoli! The winners of the first edition of Hey, Hot Shot! 2008 have been announced:

Juliane Eirich
Derek Henderson
Roc Herms Pont
Kate Orne
Colleen Plumb

The opening reception will be held on Friday, August 8. The show will be on view at Jen Bekman Gallery through August 23.

Jen Bekman Gallery Presents: Ornithology from Derrick Tan on Vimeo.

Hello! Today I'm happy to share a special little video with you. It is a guided tour of Ornithology, the show that is hanging now in the gallery, by Jen Bekman herself!

Hopefully it will inspire you to come out and take a closer look. But, if you cannot make it to New York, this is surely a good alternative.

The show is on view through August 2nd.

Jen Bekman Gallery
6 Spring St
(between Elizabeth + Bowery)

Gallery Hours:
Wednesday – Saturday | Noon – 6pm

Brazil (try again), 2008
Ink and gouache on paper
30 x 22 in.

20x200 artist Ann Tarantino has work in a benefit show for Doctors Without Borders. The show, Mixology I: Paintings and Works on Paper, opens this weekend at Curator's Office in Washington, DC.

Curator's Office
1515 14th Street NW Suite 201
Washington, DC 20005
12 July 2008 to 19 July 2008
Opening: Saturday, July 12, 6:00 - 8:30

Ann's edition print: Breath Portrait (favorite colors)
Ann's website

20x200's Linzie Hunter has a book of postcards, Secret Weapon: 30 Hand-Painted Spam Postcards, available here. Well, actually they aren't really available just yet, but you can pre-order a set now, and I suggest that you do. Recently I wanted to let you know about some adorable tea towels Linzie made for PataPri but by the time I was ready to post (less than 24 hours!) they were sold out.

Linzie is just delightful.
It's impossible to look at her website without smiling.
We still have a few of her edition prints available:
Boundless
Say Goodbye

Left: Artist Tommy Perman
Right: Traffic Mirror, Eindhoven Screenprint on paper, 2006

Hello! Today, many of us will be celebrating our independence from Britain, and I though it fitting to feature an artist from the UK, Tommy Perman, just to show that we've no hard feelings remaining. In fact, I am quite sure our founding fathers would be pleased with my decision to celebrate Tommy, as he is a man of many talents. While it's true that Tommy Perman did not discover electricity, he is indeed worthy of a seat at Ben Franklin's table of industrious young men. Not content to wear just one hat, Perman designs, writes and plays music, DJ's, makes art, shows his work and collaborates frequently with others.

Which came first for you--art or music?

Art came first – I was drawing from a very early age. My parent's still have drawings on the walls of their house from when I was three.

Music followed on soon after though. I come from a musical family. My dad plays bass in a blues band and my mum is a percussionist. My folks were always playing a diverse selection of music in the house when I was growing up. Mum used to review records for the Oxford Mail in the 60's and she still has some great vinyl from then. She almost interviewed Jimi Hendrix but passed it on to a friend because she was too nervous.

How does your music influence/inform your art and vice versa?

Since my early teens I've been interested in the boundaries between art and music. For me the two activities are inseparable. I am fascinated with the areas where disciplines cross over into each other and a lot of my work concerns this. With my band / arts collective, FOUND, we have done many projects that involve sound and visual art in equal parts.

Last year FOUND were commissioned to produce a piece of music to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop. Rather than just composing a song for them, we decided we wanted to build an interactive audio installation. What we came up with was a piece called Etiquette . It was an interactive table that allowed the user to move small boxes around and create their own interpretation of music we had composed. The best way to get explain it is to watch this video.

In 2006 I undertook an artist's residency in Eindhoven, Holland with my friend and collaborator Roel Knappstein. We spent two months examining the connections between the making of visual art and music through a project called Synchronicity. We share a keen interest for all forms of music and were particularly interested in the structures of contemporary music. We began by taking visual 'samples' – extracting small objects or areas of photographs that interested us. We gathered a large set of these samples and then 'composed' pictures with them.

I'm extremely interested in the idea of remixing and do a lot of audio remixes for other bands but I've also tried to cross these ideas over into my visual artwork. Possibly the best example of this is a two panel painting called Town & Country:
The second panel is a remix of the first; it is constructed using all the same constituent parts but composed in a different order.

Another of my passions is record sleeve art, as it brings together my three main interests: art, design and music.

It's clear from your participation in 20x200 and in your music endeavors that you're interested in making art available in affordable ways--what is your philosophy on this?

My involvement in both the art and music worlds has developed a dislike for exclusivity. In Scotland a great deal of the art community is very much like a private members club who seem to enjoy alienating people through their use of impenetrable jargon. I have no interest in alienating people and I create work in order to reach as wide an audience as possible – but I still wish to create work that is multi-layered, thought provoking and experimental. I believe that it is possible to produce accessible art without comprising it's integrity. Part of this ideology includes realistic pricing – obviously I want to earn a fair amount for my efforts but I also want my work to reach people. Multiples are a great way of achieving this and that's why I'm a fan of making my art available as prints, on tees and record sleeves.

However as I'm an artist I'm also slightly contrary! I like to make multiples in limited editions – I think it's a really nice feeling to know that you are one of only a small group of people who owns a copy of a particular piece of art.

Read on...

Hi there, yes, it's me again, back with a bonus edition for all you faithful 20x200 collectors. I thought I'd drop in on list subscribers a little on the early side, seeing as how lots of you probably have one foot out the door and are heading towards a weekend of summer fun.

This week's Grand Finale is our second edition from the talented Rachell Sumpter. I am pretty smitten with its seasonal appropriateness, not to mention its adorable yet enigmatic little people. Plus it's a fitting finale indeed for the week behind us, which included Colin's more modest pyrotechnic display and Lamar's avian pyromaniac. We are on fire!

Rachell's art career: also white hot. She's currently got work on view just around the corner from JBHQ at Sunday, a gallery most friendly and most fine. Echo Eggebrecht also has work in the show, titled Tenderly. You need to act fast if you want to see it though, since today is the very last day of the exhibition.

Rachell's 20x200 intersections hardly stop at that — she's married to Jacob Magraw and both of them show at Richard Heller Gallery in LA, which hosted an exhibition of Lamar's new works just a few short months ago.

That's a whole lot of interconnectedness to contemplate, and I will leave you to do just that. Hopefully you're planning on unplugging soon though, just like we are. Team 20x200 is getting the weekend party started right with a field trip to Shake Shack.

I'll be back on Tuesday, rested and ready, with additional editions that are sure to delight. Until then, bon weekend to all of you!

Minds/Mines Don't Care, 2008. Photogram C-Print by Rebecca Loyche

Rebecca Loyche is part of an all female artist collective called tART who have organized a salon show opening tomorrow evening. If you happen to be in New York, hop on over to Rabbit Hole Studio in DUMBO. An added bonus: you'll also be able to see two of Olafur Eliasson's wonderful waterfalls on your way.

Rabbit Hole Studio
33 Washington Street
Brooklyn, New York 11201
718.852.1500
July 3 - August 1, 2008
Opening: Thursday, July 3, 6-8pm

Gas Station by Tema Stauffer

For those of you nearer to the Potomac than the Hudson, Tema Stauffer will be showing work in DC at Randall Scott Gallery. The show will be up for two weeks, opening July 12th.

Randall Scott Gallery
1326 14th Street NW
Washington, DC 20005
202.332.0806
Gallery hours:
Tuesday by appointment
Wednesday-Saturday 11am-6pm

Left: Lazuli Bunting, 2008, gouache on paper
Right: Yellow Headed Blackbird, 2008, gouache on paper

Lastly, for all of you Texas roses, Carrie Marill is showing new gouache paintings she made while on an artist residency, cleverly titled Resident Birds. The work is up now through July 19, 2008 at Conduit Gallery in Dallas.

Conduit Gallery
1626 C Hi Line Dr.
Dallas, TX 75207
214.939.0064
Gallery hours: Tue-Sat 10-5

UPDATE: Carrie Marill just got a nice write up about this show in the Dallas Morning News. Read the article here. Congrats to you, Ms Marill!

Brandon Herman’s cover photograph, Untitled (boy in pool), for Kaiserin Magazine

Ambitious 20x200 artists, Brandon Herman, and Noah Kalina have images out on the covers of two periodicals this week. Brandon has photographs in the current issue of Kaiserin, a bi-annual magazine that features emerging artists.

Noah has commissioned images of laboratories at night in science magazine SEED. Shoot! The Blog has an interview with Kalina about the work.

Noah Kalina's Kostiuk Laboratory, Planetary Astronomy, NASA Godard Space Flight

Both photographers were also Hey Hot Shot! winners, making me more convinced that there is indeed a correlation between these rising stars and their involvement with Jen Bekman.

Brandon's website
Brandon's 20x200 edition: Untitled (Suzie Hedge), 2006

Noah is here, there and everywhere
Noah's 20x200 edition: Untitled (LA20070805)

Left: Jayne Mansfield making headlines in Hackney, 1949
Right: Budgie, Luke Stephenson

It seems that birds are all the rage these days. Did you know that East London is noted for its love of pet birds? Neither did I until learning about a very John Waters-ish collaboration between Susanna Edwards and 20x200 artist Luke Stephenson.

The duo posted these flyers around Hackney in early May to solicit locals to bring their birds to be photographed and judged. The idea was to recreate an curious event that occurred 49 years ago, when Jayne Mansfield appeared in Hackney to hand out awards at the Best Budgerigar & Foreign Bird Competition.

The results of their efforts are on view in the Jayne Amongst the Birds exhibition which features photographs that Luke made of the brave birds. Here's a sneak peak of one of the winners, Bobby:

Believe it.

The show is on view at Tatty Devine today until August 17th.

Tatty Devine
236 Brick Lane
London
E2 7LH
June 27th to August 17th
Gallery Hours: 11am-6pm everyday

More photographs of Luke's feathered friends are also on display at Jen Bekman Gallery as part of the Summer group show Ornithology.

Ginger Tulley has some kind words about the 20x200 website on the Movable Type blog:

Less than a year after 20x200 launched, the site has been an unqualified success: over 14,000 prints have been sold to date, to a customer list that includes artists, celebrities and respected collectors from around the world. The site has become an important corollary to Jen's New York gallery, and a vital part of her ongoing mission to champion emerging artists.

When we talk about Movable Type, we often say: "you imagine it, we enable it" and 20x200 demonstrates that maxim - dare we say - artfully.

Read the post in full here

Yellow on White, 2007
Acrylic on canvas

A warm hello, lovely collectors! Today I am offering you another cheery interview with one of our artists, Giovanni Garcia-Fenech. By now, you might be realizing that my interviews are modified Proust questionnaires, but I really cannot top this format for getting a conversation going.

To begin, an easy question: what makes you happy?
Making my wife laugh. Not that it's particularly difficult to do.

How did you come to live in New York?
I was born and raised in Mexico, moved to Texas when I was twelve and spent six months in London before moving to New York to go to graduate school. I always had the feeling that if things didn't work out I had the option to pack up and go somewhere else, but as soon as I moved to Brooklyn (14 years ago) I realized I had finally reached the end of the road.

What is your idea of an ideal day?
It might not be the most exciting day to describe, but I am happiest when I'm working on something in my studio while Sabine is next door working on her book or writing one of her articles. I know that we'll both be tired around five o'clock and start trying to figure out what we'll do for dinner. She'll usually do the cooking while I might help with less challenging stuff like chopping vegetables or running out to buy some wine. And when we're in the kitchen our cat and our rabbit will start hanging out with us hoping to get fed. I can't imagine things getting much better than that.

Read on...

Bonus edition greetings, collectors. I am both exhausted and aglow from last night's festivities. The show came together beautifully, with admirers just flocking to the opening, craning their necks to take in all the avian goodness.

As I poetically foreshadowed yesterday, today's edition is the delicate and delightful Bird's Nest by talented photographer (and master printer) Keith Taylor. Our 20x200 edition is an archival pigment print based on an original hand-printed photogravure that's in the Ornithology exhibition.

Keith is an amazing craftsman, specializing in these increasingly rare and labor-intensive processes. He's generous with his talents too - he teaches these techniques and also prints for many amazing photographers, including our own Beth Dow. He created the amazing platinum palladium prints for her Fieldwork exhibition at the gallery last Fall, which included Bags, one of our earliest 20x200 editions.

When announcing Beth's edition, I described what gorgeous, precious and increasingly rare objects these prints are. And then, as now, one of the biggest thrills about 20x200 for me is being able to offer a beautiful yet affordable reproduction to a larger audience of collectors.

And offered it is, but you'd better move quick. We've had a busy week here at 20x200; editions are moving faster than ever, breaking hearts the world over. Tuesday's Carrie Marill edition was gone in minutes flat — curatorial assistant Sarah didn't even have a chance to snap one up in time.

Of course, Sarah is one busy woman - her days are filled with sorting out the logistics of future editions, which is good news for everyone. We're all hard at work, planning ever more art for your growing collections. In fact, we've got at least two more great pieces headed your way next week, I'll be back on Tuesday with the first treat of the week.

See you then!

Greetings collectors, old and new
In NYC, looking for something to do?

Tonight's the night for Ornithology
Featuring photos and pictures, the highest of quality

Familiar as you are with my avian tastes
You're bound to enjoy all these birds in their place

And, as promised, for collectors further afield
We've got related editions here as part of the deal

Today's a new photo from Teunissen (Bert)
An edition you can own without losing your shirt

I'm happy to present you Saugnac et Muret #1, 27/12/2005 11:27
(A second print from Bert? It's like manna from heaven.)

Fair warning to you, collectors beloved
Since when editions sell out, you often feel horrid

In the morrow, search the Inbox with your eagle eyes,
Which will find nested there a 20x200 surprise.

And now I will bid you a most fond adieu
On this day, more than others, there's so much to do.

20x200 artists Doug and Mike Starn have been invited to create an installation for The Dalai Lama when he visits Aspen next month. I asked Mike Starn to talk a little about how he and Doug came to be involved in the project with Anderson Ranch Arts Center and how the idea for the installation manifested:

The fact that we make those [Buddhist] images and have been involved with Tibetan charities before is probably why we were asked to design the stage for HHDL. He likes to be surrounded by children’s art, so we designed an environment that the kids could make all the work for. It will be about 1200 prayer flags that they have painted and hundreds of snowflakes they have cutout underneath the flags and applied to a mural.

Image courtesy Kelly Cox/Post Independent

From the Glenwood Springs Post Independent:
“The kids are learning to be selfless,” Keohane said. “Which goes in line with what the Dalai is all about. I think that it’s a really great thing for these kids to put their artwork into the world to enhance other people’s lives.”

And how.

Read John Gardner's full article: Local kids make art for the Dalai Lama with Glenwood Springs Center for the Arts project

StarnStudio website

In case you were wondering, tickets for this event are sold out, but there will be a live web cast of the event offered from The Aspen Institute on July 26th.

Dye Pool, The Courts

A warm congratulations to photographer Beth Dow who is among the nominees for the 2009 Aperture West Book Prize.

Beth is presently working on a project about faked ruins in the American landscape. The Minnesota State Arts Board awarded Dow with a generous grant towards this new work. Double congratulations!

Beth is represented by Jen Bekman Gallery.
Images from her last solo show, Fieldwork, can be seen here.
Beth's 20x200 edition: Bags
Beth's website

Greetings collectors, on this unbelievably gorgeous New York City day. I'm sitting in the gallery where many a bird has come to roost for Ornithology, which opens tomorrow at 6pm. That all these birds are currently roosting on the floor rather than the walls is cause for some concern, but my guess is that the place will be transformed by no later than 5:55pm tomorrow. So, no worries!

Like I said last week, Ornithology's presence will be felt here on 20x200 for the duration of the exhibition. The reverse is true too — we've got several 20x200 originals in the exhibition, including original paintings by Echo Eggebrecht, Laura Levine and Christina Muraczewski, plus exclusive photography editions from the likes of Bert Teunissen and Luke Stephenson. It's good stuff, I tell ya!

I'm pretty sure that I'm speaking into the void at this stage, because you've probably clicked off to snap up today's edition, A Dream World Glimmers in the Background of the Soul by the insanely talented Carrie Marill. The even-more-stunning-in-person painting is just about to go up on the wall here, and a detail of it is the image on the postcard for the show, so it seemed a fitting edition with which to get this party started. Right? Right.

Speaking of parties, the install party awaits my input, so I am taking off till tomorrow, when I'll be back with this week's photography edition. I look forward to typing to all of you then.

Grassano #1, 31/10/2005 8:48

The Guardian selected 20x200 photographer Bert Teunissen to feature in the Arts section today.

Bert Teunissen: For the past 12 years I've been driving around Europe, building up an archive of houses whose interiors have not changed for decades. It is a project about light, and the era in which natural daylight dictated the architecture of a place, how it was used, and where you'd find the furniture. And, of course, I need the owners in the picture, because they are the people who keep it the way it is.

Eisenbach #1, 27/7/2005 15:34

Read Leo Benedictus' full interview here.

Bert is also part of the Ornithology group show opening this Wednesday June 25th at Jen Bekman Gallery.
Bert's website

Ornithology postcard image by Carrie Marill

This year our summer group show is united around things that fly, specifically those belonging to the branch of zoology known as Ornithology. Jen Bekman Gallery will be showing paintings, drawings and photographs from a talented lot, some of whom you already know from their 20x200 editions.

Artists in the exhibition:
Echo Eggebrecht | Todd Forsgren | Laura Levine | Carrie Marill | Christina Muraczewski | Victoria Neel | Lamar Peterson | Jason Polan | Amy Ross | Alec Soth | Amy Stein | Keith Taylor | Bert Teunissen | Luke Stephenson

The show opens Wednesday June 25th from 6-8pm, and I hope you get to use this wonderful word or·ni·thol·ogy in a sentence soon. Something akin to, "I'm sorry, I don't have time for a cup of tea, I'm on my way to see Ornithology". Rhyming is entirely optional. Finding exceptional art is a given.

Jen Bekman Gallery
6 Spring Street
(between Elizabeth + Bowery)
New York, New York 10012

Gallery Hours:
Wednesday – Saturday | Noon – 6pm

Fernanda Cohen is a busy bee to say the least! I am pleased she made time stop long enough to answer some questions for us, and to share some of her recently completed illustrations. After reading her answers you may just feel a strong desire to find out where she lives and take her out for tea. I know I do.

First, an easy question--what is one of your guilty pleasures?
Reading gossip magazines while I'm in line at the supermarket.

Where in this world would you most like to live?
June-August in Buenos Aires, the rest in New York.

Where is your favorite place in New York? in Buenos Aires?
Grand Central Station, Recoleta.

How do the contrasts of New York and Buenos Aires affect your work?
I think if anything the similarities between the two merge in my work, such as the constant chaos.

Having a Ball, 2008

Do you find your work changes contingent on your location?
Not so much the location as the different experiences I go through while I travel.

Describe a perfect day.
Sunny but breezy. Breakfast with my husband, treadmill and Seinfeld for
an hour, 2 ad deadlines, tea-tea-tea, going to a good opening at a
gallery, dinner out and a Mojito.

Your favorite artist? photographer? author?
Saul Steinberg, Jacques Henri Lartigue, and Isabel Allende

What is your favorite Beatles song?
All You Need Is Love

War of Words on Love, 2008

Has music inspired your work?
Only when I allow it.

Which 20x200 artists do you enjoy most?
Rachell Sumpter and Jennifer Sánchez. I love and admire the way Jennifer plays with abstract shapes and colors. I like and identify with the magic in Rachell’s images.

[UPDATE I asked Jennifer Sánchez and Rachell Sumpter to respond to Fernanda's love of their work. Here's what they have to say:
Jennifer I really like Fernanda's work. I like the the silliness and freeness of her figures and subject matter; her lines are really beautiful and I love how she injects her illustrations with such playful colors.
Rachell Magic is everything. I like the energy in her lines and strong use of color.

Seems like these three ladies should all go for tea, n'est ce pas?]

What have you been working on lately?
I'm working on a new personal series about dogs and their owners. I'm also producing my line of kitchenware "Queen Renée" in the States through Pop Cling. I just finished illustrating an ad campaign through DDB. I illustrate a monthly column for the San Francisco-based magazine 7x7.

Any near future aspirations?
I'd like to write and draw an animated movie within the next 5 years.

War of Words on Customer Service, 2008

Smitten? I'll bet.
Fernanda's 20x200 edition: Hot Dog and I
Fernanda's website

PS
Fun fact-Fernanda likes this song from Flight of the Conchords.

PPS
If you just can't get enough, here is another interview with Fernanda that just appeared on Sprayblog.

Wednesday greetings, collectors. School's out for the summer in lots of places, and about to be in others. I'm pretty sure that the NYC public schools are powering through next week, which seems just about right according to my memory. I remember fidgeting and sweating in classrooms well into late June year after year after year.

Today's Auditorium by Hot Shot James Rajotte is a perfect symbol of the eerie emptiness of schools in summertime, or even say, just after classes have let out. (If you look closely you'll notice that the clock's at just about 3pm.)

This photo, which James first exhibited at the gallery as part of the Summer 2006 edition of Hey, Hot Shot! is from a series called High School. Schools provide the perfect foil for his interest "in spaces that have an inherent tension between objects."

As a viewer, I admit that they create a bit of tension and turmoil for me (I was not a star student, alas.) The tension is balanced out by the irresistible pull of nostalgia, and the undeniable beauty of the images that he constructs. And what is art for, if not to stir up emotion and memory? This brings me to the other thing I love about this photo, and others in the series, which is the storytelling they inspire.

When the photo was hanging in the gallery, people would come in and launch into their own high school tales unprompted. That kind of interaction is one of my most valued standards for a successful show. I want all kinds of people to be able to connect with and respond to work, and I try to create an environment where they feel comfortable enough to say it all out loud. James makes the kind of photographs that do exactly that.

And now, if you will, imagine a school bell ringing. 20x200 art school is out for the week. If you want to keep up on your studies between now and next Tuesday, browse our archives or catch up with the blog.

As I mentioned, Ornithology is opening at the gallery on Wednesday June 24th. It's shaped up to be an amazing line-up; there are many names on the roster who will be familiar to gallery goers and 20x200 collectors alike, and we've got some great new artists in the mix as well. And naturally, since synergy is my middle name (or something) you can expect plenty of ornithological goodness to make its way into 20x200's curatorial program in the coming month.

To stay up to date on matters related to Ornithology specifically, and the gallery in general, I suggest signing up for the gallery's very low volume mailing list.

"Busy Tuesday greetings, my collector friends. Lazy days of Summer are nothing but a fond wish so far this year at JBHQ. We're in a frenzy of preparation for next week's big events and this week's deadlines, 20x200 and otherwise. More on all that after a few words on today's fine art edition.

Cul de Sac is an archival pigment print, created from an original gouache on paper painting by artist Michelle Weinberg. Using her Miami Beach environs as her inspiration and subject, Michelle contrasts its unique Deco-Pop color and charm with the city grit you find in any large metropolis.

In her statement she describes how she employs the pulse of pattern and the poetry of pasted words to create invented worlds. While much of her palette and geometry are distinctively deco, the painted plywood and the structures rising behind them also remind me of New York's constantly evolving skyline.

Last night, bedeviled by insomnia, I was composing today's newsletter in my head as I dug through the archives of Poetry. Using the The New York School as my point of departure, I came across An Urban Convalescence, a distinctively New York poem of a certain time (1962) by James Merrill. Locale and era aside, his musings on the impermanence of urban architecture struck me as a fitting accompaniment to this painting, and I set it aside for today's use:

It is not even as though the new
Buildings did very much for architecture.
Suppose they did. The sickness of our time requires
That these as well be blasted in their prime.
You would think the simple fact of having lasted
Threatened our cities like mysterious fires.

As the saying goes, the more things change they stay the same — in art, in poetry and in life.

Now I'm off to attend to today's other to-dos. Tonight's Hey, Hot Shot! deadline is mere hours away, which means we're fielding lots of queries from anxious photographers. Once the clock strikes 8, we'll turn our attentions to preparing for next Tuesday's panelist review of entries, which will be followed on Wednesday by an opening reception at the gallery for Ornithology. (You can count on seeing the fruits of these labors here on 20x200 in the coming weeks as well.)

I'll be back tomorrow with this week's photography edition - see you then!