20x200 is featured in the October issue of Dwell, with work by Kate Bingaman-Burt and Youngna Park appearing in the spread.

She's not your average pusher, but gallerist Jen Bekman intends 20x200 to be a gateway drug to the art market.

As a challenge to the hoity-toity art-buying world, Jen Bekman's newest venture presents prints by mostly emerging artists in limited editions of 200 for $20 each, or 20 for $200 each. By melding the inclusiveness of internet commerce and nonprohibitive prices with the exclusivity of a curator acting as quality control, Bekman ensures that new collectors can be confident that the "buy" button will not lead to clicker's remorse. Whether it's an alternative to mass production or an alternative to high art, Bekman realizes that $100 is still a considerable chunk of change to most people.

Kate Bingaman-Burt's I Bought All of These.
Younga Park's Brooklyn Morning

Hello art lovers and welcome! My name is Mike and I will be assisting here on the blog, helping to fill you in on updates and exciting tidbits as well as all the latest with artists and new editions.

Since Jen announced the launch of 20x200 on Personism back in April, we have all been anxiously awaiting the reveal of her latest project. A lot of buzz has followed and it's fantastic that we are finally here.

I had the chance to attend a status meeting midway during the process with Jen and the rest of the 20x200 team, and sat in a trance as they engaged in a rapid spitfire of debate over a slew of technical, aesthetic and logistical issues. You can find a nice rendition of the development and creation process from chief orchestrator extraordinaire, Raul: here.

Fast-forward a couple of months later, and we have live editions up-and-running, with many admirers already gushing over the work available for purchase. (Gallery Hopper and artist Matthew Langley are pining for Tema Stuaffer, and Amy Stein has quickly grabbed an Amy Ross print for herself, while others are trying their best not to succumb to the temptation for as long as they can.)

A recapitulation of this week's 20x200 mentions:

Todd Walker of Gallery Hopper:

"Whatever reservations I have about the value of 20X200 to the participating artists and photographers, from a purely materialistic impulse, it's hard to pass up a 16"x20" Tema Stauffer print for $200."

Melissa Lyttle from APhotoADay.org has this to say about Jen and 20x200:

I like that she's trying to make art affordable as well as trying to get the public to support emerging artists. It's a win-win.

Photographer Amy Stein :

It will be interesting to see how hungry the masses are for art in large editions at low prices, but I know I will keep coming back for more.

The big Wall Street collectors may be hurting these days, but that shouldn't stop us hoi polloi from getting into the game and start building our own collections.

Notcot.org, the community of design lovers and the congnescenti's guide to instantaneous fixes on art, technology, and products, loves 20x200 and Amy Ross. Danconnortown says that 20x200 makes available: "Great art at great prices."

UnBeige's Alissa Walker gives praise to Jen and finds meaning in her life.

If there's one person who keeps us going every day when we're confronted with this crusty old keyboard and an empty screen, it's UnBeige founder Jen Bekman. Because if this whole blogging thing doesn't work out, we think, hey, maybe we'll go on to run a famous gallery in New York. And maybe we'll start a new affordable art experiment like 20x200, which just launched in semi-super-secret mode with artists like Kate Bingaman-Burt. And maybe it'll get covered in magazines like Dwell and Good.

Although, we wonder, if we did all those things, would Bekman realize that we're blatantly ripping her off?

Still...to dream.

Untitled by Mike Monteiro

This week's 20x200 work on paper, a reproduction of an untitled painting by my pal Mike Monteiro, is a personal favorite of mine. The simple message, You're Impossible, stands out in white in sea of thick black gouache brush strokes.

We've made 2 editions of the piece, both archival pigment prints on cotton rag paper. They'll be on sale on our site at 2pm (EDT) today:

200 of the smaller prints (8.5"x11") are available for $20 each.
20 of medium prints (13"x19") are available for $200 each.

As always, the original painting (gouache on paper, 19"x24") is available for purchase too. To inquire about purchasing the original, send an email to collector at 20x200 dot com.

Detail of Untitled by Mike Monteiro

It's tough to see the handmade-ness of it looking at a .jpg online, but the prints themselves are velvety and gorgeous - you can see the texture of the brushstrokes, and the irregularity of the borders of the letters. All that aside, it's just funny and true. All the people I like best are impossible at least some of the time - being able to tell them so with art delivers the message with love . I blogged it a while back for exactly that reason.

Mike has a documented a whole whole series of word paintings with his cell phone camera right here. Some paintings are considerably more offensive than others, but even the offensive ones are funny. They make me a little uncomfortable - I laugh, then there's some politically-correct induced discomfort and then I'm frustrated with myself for being so predictably PC. This sort of reaction is something Mr. Monteiro enjoys skewering, in life and in art. Being a grouchy East Coast fella living in sunny San Francisco gives him ample opportunity to do so.

There's more art coming to your Inbox tomorrow - we have a great photo queued up. I can't wait to tell you all about it! You can fill your hours of anticipation between now and then by browsing the current inventory.

Art Attack

"You’ve got Picasso dreams but you’re living on a Basquiat budget. Put your small bucks to big use at 20x200.com, a new online gallery and art shop where the motto is “It’s art for everyone!� Sensibly curated by Jen Bekman, gallerist, writer, and champion of emerging artists..."

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Art for everyone.

Proprietor of a small New York gallery, Jen Bekman's launched 20x200 to make art accessible to everyone. What does that mean? It means large editions of low-priced prints. It means if you have access to the Internet, and $20, you can have a work by an emerging artist. It means no more art from IKEA hanging on your walls. No more blank walls. No more excuses.

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This week's photo edition, an untitled piece by Kelly Shimoda, was a huge hit with the Hey, Hot Shot! panel this past Spring. The panel represents a diverse array of tastes by design, so everyone ooh-ing and ahh-ing over the same photo is a rare occurrence. This mysterious night shot was a show stopper.

We've made 3 editions of this photo. All are archival pigment prints on cotton rag paper:

200 of the smaller prints (6"x10") are available for $20 each.
20 of the medium prints (13"x20") are available for $200 each.
2 of the large prints (26"x40") are available for $2000 each.

Once the panel got past the oohs and ahhs, we moved into the "What is it?" phase. I confess that I still couldn't quite figure out what was going on. The balloons, the night sky, that halo of light showing a glimpse of green treetops.

Like most of Kelly's work, the perspective is a bit off-kilter and hard to define. She's usually lower or higher or closer or further away. Her unique cadence captures lights, angles and colors which might have been otherwise overlooked, transforming them into images that are entirely memorable.

In a recent email Kelly told me more about the photo:
The balloons were on an extremely busy intersection in Hanoi - mopeds, bicycles, crowds of people going quickly in every direction. A few women stood in the middle of it all, selling balloons to couples and children late into the night. Above all the madness, the balloons formed a beautiful landscape in the air.

And with that, we end our first week of new editions at 20x200! With a total of 8 works to choose from, you should have enough to keep you busy till next Tuesday's work on paper. And if all that beauty and talent isn't enough for you, turn your attention to the daily updates we'll be posting on the 20x200 blog. Still not enough? Tune into the Hey, Hot Shot! blog - with entries open for the Fall Edition, we'll be featuring new contenders daily.

Many thanks to everyone who is expressing excitement, interest and enthusiasm during our first week of official launch. We have been working many months on this project and it's really exciting to have this out in the world and to be receiving so much great feedback.

Laurel Ptak, from I Heart Photograph, prepares to wreck havoc on her storage of loose change, and advises others to follow suit with the following war cry: "Get ready to crack your piggy banks open!"

Lisa Hunter, author of The Intrepid Art Collector, writes:

Taste Without a Trust Fund

I know, I know. Some art expert probably told you not to buy prints, because multiples don't appreciate as much as unique works. So what? Personally, I think prints are the BEST thing for a new collector, because they're relatively affordable and easy to resell if your tastes change later on (which they almost always do.) How affordable is "affordable"?

[...] The so-simple-it's-brilliant idea is that if prints are sold in a large-ish edition (in this case, 200), anyone with a disposable income can afford to buy them. 20x200 has already signed up artists like Brian Ulrich and Whitney Biennial alumna Zoe Strauss.

Jhayne, from Black . White . Bliss is "all about affordable art for all!" Kate and Mike are featured on her blog this week:

I just might have to pick up Kate Bingaman-Burt's I Bought All of These. Kate is actually having a show over at Jen Bekman, opening on September 21st. [Reception 6 - 8pm] p.s. Kate's also a great blogger! Be sure and visit Crap Detector and Obsessive Consumption.

On Tuesday's Edition, "Untitled" by Mike Monteiro : "I love this, just makes me laugh. The artist statement also cracked me up: I'm really not good with words. It's tough to see the handmade-ness of it looking at a .jpg online, but the prints themselves are velvety and gorgeous - you can see the texture of the brushstrokes, and the irregularity of the borders of the letters. All that aside, it's just funny and true."

We are very flattered that BuzzFeed, whose slogan is "The web is a 24/7 popularity contest. We help the good stuff win" is following 20x200 on their Culture Buzz section:

20x200 is new online project from NY gallery owner Jen Bekman that makes great art affordable. Aspiring art collectors now have an affordable place to start: works from up-and-coming artists can be bought with a high school allowance.

Michael Sippey, VP of Products for the Professional Division at Six Apart:

Jen is one of the web's original pioneers ... It's great to see her combine two of her (many) passions -- art and the web -- into this new venture... Jen has a great eye, and the work that's already up is fantastic. If you've never bought art before, maybe this is the way for you to get into collecting.

Graphic Design Bar observes that 20x200 is: "where art lovers can be art collectors, even on minuscule budgets...a great opportunity to start building your own collection or just acquire original art at affordable prices—check it out!"

Steel City Modern: "I love the idea, especially for residents of smaller cities where art opportunities may be somewhat limited."

OhMyThatsAwesome.com: "To the people selling their plywood collages for thousands of dollars, You're Impossible."

Thank you to the following sites, among many others, for mentioning 20x200 this week:
Design Milk, Design Observer, Gentle Graffiti, Spramp, and Laughing Squid.

The Faceted Couroucou, by Carrie Marill

This week's work on paper edition is The Faceted Couroucou by Carrie Marill, an artist (and farmer!) living in Arizona.

These are archival pigment prints on cotton rag paper. This edition is available in one size only. They'll be on sale on our site at 2pm (EDT) today:

200 prints measuring 11" x 8.5" are available, for $20 each.

I came across Carrie's work during one of my marathon internet art-surfing sessions. I fell in love with it immediately - her drawings are beautiful, odd and fascinating. The fact that many of her pieces feature birds give her work an instant appeal for me - I've had an abiding fascination with our fine feathered friends for many years now.

In Carrie's world, living things are united not by habitat, but by a common bond of endangerment - disparate plants, birds and other living things co-habitate in unlikely combinations in her gouache on paper compositions.

The process of proofing this print was an interesting education for the 20x200 team. The mix of strong and delicate colors played out very differently as we looked at them on a variety of papers. Naturally we went with the best one - the Crane Portfolio cotton rag paper that this is printed on brings out the warmth and detail of the piece, and its matte surface makes the colors incredibly lush.

You can see more of Carrie's work on her website, and also on her LA gallery's site. She is represented by wonderful sixspace in sunny California, among a terrific array of emerging artists.

Enjoy Carrie's work, and be on the lookout for tomorrow's photography edition from Minneapolis-based Karolina Karlic.

Katarina, by Karolina Karlic

This week's photo edition is from Minneapolis-based photographer Karolina Karlic. This portrait is part of a new series she's been working on. She has been seeking out subjects who post missed connections on Craigslist. Katarina is one of the people she met, interviewed and photographed.

We've made 3 editions of this photo. All are archival pigment prints on cotton rag paper. They'll be on sale on our site at 2pm (EDT) today:

200 of the smaller prints (11"x8.5") are available for $20 each.
20 of the medium prints (22"x17") are available for $200 each.
2 of the large prints (40"x30") are available for $2000 each.

I first met Karolina late in the Spring at Review Santa Fe, where I had an opportunity to review her ongoing series, The Dee, in person. I was already familiar with the work since she'd entered it in the Spring Edition of Hey,Hot Shot!. She got rave reviews from me and the Hey, Hot Shot! panel and a few short weeks later, she was exhibiting work from the project at the gallery.

We've had a few long conversations over the Summer about her Craigslist project. It captures my interest on lots of levels: first and foremost, I love Karolina's portraiture and I've been drawn to projects that explore things related to the internet for a while now. Craigslist is especially of interest to me - I was on the list back when it was an actual list, and it's been amazing to watch it mushroom into the phenomenon it is today.

The Missed Connections posts are especially fascinating, with such diverse fragments of narratives that are simultaneously intimate and anonymous. And to me, that's the essence of internet relationships - the distance here has an uncanny way of opening people up in ways they never might in the real world.

Big ideas aside, I love the way this photograph looks: all the creamy colors, the textures, and yes, the anonymity. I want to know Katarina's story; in the absence of having any real answers in front of me, I found myself immediately inventing one.

Karolina is our last edition for September - next week we greet a new month with new editions. Until then, enjoy our first month of editions and watch the blog for updates and news.