Palm Aire, by Tema Stauffer

Today we bring you Palm Aire, a photograph by Jen Bekman Gallery favorite Tema Stauffer, who's been bringing heartland USA to Spring Street since 2003.

Tema's edition is an archival pigment print on 100% cotton rag paper and it's available in 3 sizes. As of this writing, here's what we have available:

8"x10"
Edition of 200 each $20. 166 remain

16"x20"
Edition of 20 each $200. 18 remain

30"x40"
Edition of 2 each $2000. 2 remain

In many ways, Tema was the catalyst for my becoming a gallery owner. I met her at a crowded one-night-only exhibition that I was attending with a friend of mine. Said friend was captivated by a stunning photo of a red bird feeder against an evening sky. He wanted to know more about the photograph and the artist, but we couldn't figure out who to ask about it. Dana Miller, who also had work in the show, pointed out Tema to me (from across a crowded room no less!) A few minutes later, I had delivered the artist to the would-be collector. I didn't know it then, but in a matter of months connecting collectors and artists would become my primary vocation.

Five years later, I'm still at it: introducing collectors (ie: you) to artists and photographers continues to be a whole lot of fun. Tema's work has always been an easy sell for me - she has a knack for capturing Americana without seeming overly cliche or sentimental. She's got a distinctive sense for color, composition and quiet. A lot of her work, including Palm Aire, is simultaneously melancholy and cinematic.

Palm Aire is like a page out of a short story to me, one that starts and ends quietly and takes a while to settle in, but stays a long time once it's there. Invented narratives aside, a sign like this is the sort of thing that makes me love road trips as much as I do. Looking at it puts me smack in the middle of summer, with my feet up on the dashboard and the wind tangling up my hair. (Don't worry, I'm not driving.)

I guess that I'm the sentimental one here, but for good reason: from the downtown loft where I first saw her work, to the gallery's very first show, a solo exhibition and lots of group shows mixed in, Tema and her work are intertwined with the gallery's history in the best possible way. All of that aside, it's a swell photo and like Gallery Hopper said back when 20x200 went live, it's hard to pass up a 16"x20" Tema Stauffer print for $200.

We're back next week with new stuff! See you then.