Tree Tops, from the series Somewhere in Israel, by Curtis Mann
archival pigment print .

Recent 20x200 artist Curtis Mann is a featured artist in The Solo Project, a show opening today in Basel. Organized by Kusseneers Galerie from Belgium, it was planned to coincide with Art Basel to direct attention towards "a carefully selected group of artists, each presenting solo or collaborative projects."

The show represents "an array of 25 established galleries in both Europe and America in order to address a number of qualities" that Kusseneers Galerie "consider to be missing from the international art agenda. Its aims are to present artwork from an invited group of international galleries, who in turn have selected artists from their own gallery programme to make a presentation in a clear and defined manner".

To read the complete statement, visit The Solo Project

The Solo Project
June 2-June 8
Voltahalle
Voltastrasse 27
4056 Basel
Switzerland

Two of Curtis' large edition prints remain, and are available over here.

The Office
by Rebecca Loyche

When you say it's gonna happen now
Well, when exactly do you mean?
See I've already waited too long
And all my hope is gone
The Smiths

How Soon Is Now? is truly one of my favorite songs (I'll spare you the painful teen memories), and more to the point, has been borrowed to title an exhibition of emerging artists at The Bronx Museum of the Arts which includes 20x200 artist Rebecca Loyche.

How Soon Is Now?
June 1 – August 18, 2008
1040 Grand Concourse
165 Street, Bronx, NY

We still have prints available for you from Rebecca.

Discombobulated Tuesday greetings collectors. I just arrived in Madrid a few hours ago for Photos Espania and after partaking of some breakfasty items and some not good enough coffee, I stumbled back to my room and fell asleep for too long. This means I have little to report of Spain so far, except for this: the breakfast pastries at the Oscar are yummy and the room I'm in, while oddly laid out, has an entirely too comfortable bed. Hopefully I'll have more commentary of note after this evening's festivities, which I am dashing off to just as soon as I dash of this note to you.

Today's print edition, the obsessively detailed and slightly creepy (why so angry my little bat friend?) Kerry, comes to us from Atlanta-based artist Jacob Escobedo. You definitely want to check out the bigger version of this bad boy, because the details are incredible.

I love this project of Jacob's. He's been making drawings of his friends' favorite animals and all of them are really stunning. When he came by the studio to sign certificates, I think I managed too convince him that being part of the 20x200 fam made us friends, so I'm hoping that there's a similarly rendered otter in the offing. Otters are not necessarily my favorite but my dog Ollie Otter is my favorite creature on the planet so it seemed apropos. Also, some of my other faves? Taken. Apparently I am not the iconoclast I'd thought myself to be. Hmph.

Bats are pretty damn cool, and like the bees they are in some recent, big and mysterious trouble. As with bees, they play a critical role in balancing out our eco-system and managing some pesky insect populations, so the trend of tens of thousands of them dying off is alarming for lots of reasons.

Bat Conservation International is an organization I learned about several years ago via my friend Antony. They've been really active in leading the charge to figure this whole thing out, so go have a look there and consider getting involved. You can also help in a more passive way, by simply drinking coffee. Specifically Bat City Blend a really delicious blend made by Austin-based roasters Katz Coffee. A portion of the proceeds from Bat City blend sales goes to BCI. Both the coffee and the organization are good, so I say: drink up.

Me? I'm off to find some cafe con leche after which I'll be off to the Biblioteca Nacional for a Best Photo Books of the Year event. This probably means that there are more interesting tales from my trip to be told tomorrow. Until then: Adios!

Discombobulated Tuesday greetings collectors. I just arrived in Madrid a few hours ago for Photos Espania and after partaking of some breakfasty items and some not good enough coffee, I stumbled back to my room and fell asleep for too long. This means I have little to report of Spain so far, except for this: the breakfast pastries at the Oscar are yummy and the room I'm in, while oddly laid out, has an entirely too comfortable bed. Hopefully I'll have more commentary of note after this evening's festivities, which I am dashing off to just as soon as I dash of this note to you.

Today's print edition, the obsessively detailed and slightly creepy (why so angry my little bat friend?) Kerry, comes to us from Atlanta-based artist Jacob Escobedo. You definitely want to check out the bigger version of this bad boy, because the details are incredible.

I love this project of Jacob's. He's been making drawings of his friends' favorite animals and all of them are really stunning. When he came by the studio to sign certificates, I think I managed too convince him that being part of the 20x200 fam made us friends, so I'm hoping that there's a similarly rendered otter in the offing. Otters are not necessarily my favorite but my dog Ollie Otter is my favorite creature on the planet so it seemed apropos. Also, some of my other faves? Taken. Apparently I am not the iconoclast I'd thought myself to be. Hmph.

Bats are pretty damn cool, and like the bees they are in some recent, big and mysterious trouble. As with bees, they play a critical role in balancing out our eco-system and managing some pesky insect populations, so the trend of tens of thousands of them dying off is alarming for lots of reasons.

Bat Conservation International is an organization I learned about several years ago via my friend Antony. They've been really active in leading the charge to figure this whole thing out, so go have a look there and consider getting involved. You can also help in a more passive way, by simply drinking coffee. Specifically Bat City Blend a really delicious blend made by Austin-based roasters Katz Coffee. A portion of the proceeds from Bat City blend sales goes to BCI. Both the coffee and the organization are good, so I say: drink up.

Me? I'm off to find some cafe con leche after which I'll be off to the Biblioteca Nacional for a Best Photo Books of the Year event. This probably means that there are more interesting tales from my trip to be told tomorrow. Until then: Adios!

20x200 artist and happy camper, Chi Birmingham, answered a few questions for us.

Where would you most like to live?
Since I was in high school I have wanted to live in New York. In August I moved to Brooklyn, and love living here. But the truth is that I have carved out a life for myself here that is very similar to the one I had before when I was living in Big Sur, California.

What is your idea of an ideal day?
I love camping. My favorite days have probably been the ones that I have spent entirely out of doors. There is something very satisfying about making total use of the available sunlight, and then going to bed when the sun goes down. I also like the little projects that are necessary on a camping trip. Daily tasks like washing dishes or making coffee become strange and novel challenges.

Who are your favorite characters in history?
Philosophers, Scientists, Inventors. You see pictures of these people in tweed coats milling around the confined little world of the university or the lab, but in the unseen world of ideas they are going places no one has ever been. As a fairly mild mannered fellow myself, I find this dichotomy reassuring.

Who are your favorite heroines in real life?
The heroines who have had the most direct impact on me have been my teachers: Paula Walling in elementary school, Mrs. Grecco in middle school, Elizabeth Rosengren in high school, and Kari Weil in college. All were women that were sincerely interested and engaged in the subject they were teaching. I could sense the satisfaction they got from their job, and it inspired me to look for something that would make me feel that way.

Your favorite painter?
I love the work of Giorgio Morandi. Fairfield Porter is another painter in a similar vein that I draw a lot of inspiration from. I have probably spent the most time looking at the work of Luc Tuymans. I keep a lot of his reproductions around the studio to work off of.

Do you listen to music when you paint?
Recently I have been listening to a lot of radio shows over the internet. I love to listen to the news, and countless hours in the studio gives me a good opportunity to explore the wide world of talk radio. I have been especially enjoying the Political Gabfest provided by Slate online magazine. PRI’s The Sound of Young America is another favorite. Also, if you have the time, Creative Screenwriting Magazine puts out an hour long interview with a contemporary screenwriter almost every week.

Which 20x200 artists do you most adore, and why?
Mike Perry is doing some great work. He has a great sense of design and I like that he seems to draw ideas from some of the less rarefied corners of visual culture (coloring books, mazes, 3D lettering). There is something beautiful in the way he elevates his humble source material, and his work reminds me of the pleasure I took in pouring over all manner of printed material when I was younger.

What are you working on?
Painting, of course, and a lot of drawing. But my most recent endeavor is an Online Painting Tutorial Site. I love to talk with people about the technical side of painting, but as you can imagine it isn’t always the sort of thing anyone wants to listen to, so I have been storing away my ideas on this Blog.

Can you share some thoughts behind your 20x200 edition, Studio Apartment?
Studio Apartment was painted in the first month after I moved in with the woman I am now engaged to. I was reexamining a lot of my daily routines and trying to find room for both of us in my single room cabin in the Big Sur. I didn’t know exactly what sort of relationship we would be able to carve out for ourselves around our artistic ambitions, but my hopes were represented in the layout of the shared workspace represented in Studio Apartment. On the right, Lorissa’s table is neatly organized for the work of writing. On the left my own desk is set up much the way I had it at the time. The urban setting was a bit of wishful thinking at the time, but it is not at all unlike the view we now see outside our Bushwick apartment.

Edition prints of Studio Apartment are still available for you here.

Chi's website.

Buenas tardes, coleccionistas de arte! (This is how the internet told me to say "Good evening, collectors!" The Spanish-speaking among you might be chuckling, but can you fault me for the effort?) Lucky for all of us, I shall not endeavor to deliver this newsletter entirely in Spanish.

Today's photograph Fortune (will be successful in...) is a favorite of mine, and has been since its taker Kirby Pilcher submitted it to Hey, Hot Shot! in Winter of '07. I wasn't the only one charmed; the entire panel agreed, and we showed this along with two other images from his Room Temperature series as part of that season's exhibition.

I am ever in search of anthems, witty quotes and words to live by. Its an utter compulsion that tends to bedevil my reading comprehension. I find myself scanning for the perfect snippet to remove from it's context and elevate as having True Meaning. I do this with novels, newspapers and magazines. I confess that part of my attraction to poetry and song lyrics is how easy it is to pluck the just-so part for placement elsewhere.

I know I'm not alone in this, as evidenced by the wealth of lyrics available and decoded online, and the tag lines so many people I know have claimed as their own on blogs, Twitter or Facebook. And of course, just like you, I've sat around the table with friends countless times, opening fortune cookies with ritualistic attention. I've kept several taped to my monitor for years on end, so that I'd always have some affirmation of future accomplishment just in view, out of the corner of my eye.

In Kirby's photo we have a fragment of fortune that's so ripe with possibility, or is it portent? I will be the optimist and call it possibility, because look at what it's brought already! It's been transformed into a beautiful photo, set against a sunny, sentimental background and is right this second being viewed by tens of thousands of people. Seems like a pretty successful right here and now, if you ask me.

I need to make the most of my own here and now. Jet-lag has undone me, which means that I've spent too much of today sleeping and the rest of it dazedly getting lost amidst Madrid's teensy tiny winding streets. I did discover that I'm just a stone's throw from the Prado, which is good news indeed; The Renaissance Portrait opened there yesterday and it seems like it will be absolutely incredible.

On tap for tonight is a reception at the Circulo de Bellas Artes for David Claerbout and Roni Horn. Portfolio reviews start tomorrow, and I'm looking forward to meeting lots of interesting photo world people. My fellow reviewers are an impressive lot, and the 70 Descubrimientos PHE finalists represent a great array of nationalities and genres. Of note is the fact that 20x200 photographers Jessica Bruah and Birthe Piontek are among those finalists. It'll be fun to hang out with them too!

Now, I'm off till next week, when I'll be back stateside with more printed matter to share with you all.

Shapeshifter Series 1 by Amy Ross

If you happen to be in San Francisco be sure to wear flowers in your hair, and stop by Rare Device tonight to see sublime new work by Amy Ross.

Shapeshifter
June 6 - July 8, 2008
Reception: June 6, 2008, 7-9pm

Rare Device
1845 Market Street
San Francisco, CA

Amy's 20x200 edition: Manshroom
Amy's works on paper: Jen Bekman Gallery
Amy's website

Positively sweltering Tuesday greetings, my collector friends. My welcome back from Spain has been rather too warm, I have to say. I'd like to offer each and every one of you a nice cool glass of lemonade, but since that's probably impractical, I'll offer up some visual refreshment instead.

Today's edition ny.07.#32, comes from perennial 20x200 favorite Jennifer Sánchez. This is Miss Sánchez's third edition with us, since her (now entirely sold out) ny.07.#20 launched us on our maiden voyage back in September, alongside photographer Youngna Park's Brooklyn Morning.

Jennifer has created lots of arty goodness between then and now. We offered a second edition from her ny.07#34 back in January. Shortly thereafter, I was preening like a proud mama-bird when I saw her work at the PULSE New York art fair in March, where she and many other fine emerging artists were exhibited by Saatchi Online. She also showed at Chicago's NEXT fair and her work is on view through September as part of Intricacies, an exhibition at art consultancy Soho Myriad's Atlanta outpost.

All the while she's been making lots of new work, and brightening our office every time she pops by for a visit.

One final note: today's edition is based on an original painting which is available for purchase as well. Drop a line to collector at 20x200 dot com for pricing and details if you're interested in learning more.

With the lowdown on Miss Sánchez complete, I'm going to take my leave for the day. I'm back tomorrow with a fine photographic edition, and will be trying to stay calm, cool and collected in the interim. I hope you're all able to do the same, and I'll see you then!

Greetings, collectors! In today's weather report, the summer heat has been tempered by a spectacular thunderstorm that swept in last night. It's still pretty warm, but in an infinitely less oppressive way. My friend Caterina and I watched the storm through the skylight of the restaurant we were eating at. By the time we were done and walked outside, it was a different world - cleaner, cooler and most importantly, less um, fragrant.

Our dinner conversation is actually germane to today's edition, Mameve, Cambridge, MA by Boston-based photographer Robert Knight, from his ongoing series Dwelling. Caterina and I were discussing how this modern world of digital photography and Flickr have influenced contemporary portraiture, and further how our current flavors of portraiture relate to the traditional bourgeois portraits of the Renaissance. (Some pretty highbrow stuff for Tuesday dinner conversation but stick with me here. It's not all that pretentious, I promise!)

Caterina is the co-founder of Flickr, so she's seen a lot more digital images than the average person (and the average person has seen a lot) and she's also got a background as an artist, not to mention a literature-hungry smarty pants. As for me, well, I have the gallery, am a voracious consumer of online imagery and my obsession with portraiture is a long-standing one. Last Summer, it manifested itself in the form of A New American Portrait, an exhibition I co-curated at the gallery with Jörg Colberg, he of Conscientious fame.

It turns out that, as in Renaissance times, people still love showing their stuff off as signifiers of their selves. Caterina was talking about Flickr streams populated by stiff people not relating to one and other, positioned in front of McMansions and Lear Jets. Lately I've been fascinated by the prevalence of snapshot portraiture and how accustomed we've become to having our pictures taken, which has lead to many people taking the careful control of their public image that had until recently been reserved for celebrities and politicians.

This all relates to Robert because one of the things that I've always found so fascinating about his work is how he creates portraits of people using their stuff, without actually including the people in it. What he includes and how he includes it is entirely subjective, as all photography is in the end. As he says in his statement the things in my photographs belong to my subjects, but by looking through my lens and the inherent imposition of my interests, beliefs and stereotypes, they may experience them as if they are another's. To add further texture to his process, all of his images have the lushness of paintings, his still lifes recalling the intricacies and intimacy of the Dutch Masters.

In a world where we're so inundated with photographic images, and where our private selves are so easily accessed via Flickr or Facebook, the role of the artist in constructing identity becomes ever more complicated. This is especially true with photography as an art medium — what distinguishes a snapshot from a "fine art" photo? Can't anyone with a camera take a good picture? How does one distinguish oneself as an artist when so many people are taking so many kinds of pictures? These kinds of questions are endless, and I confess that they sometimes keep me up at night. (In a good way, as it's the kind of thing I enjoy picking apart.) The skill, subtlety and sophistication that Robert employs in his work is one kind of answer, and watching develop Dwelling renews my faith in fine art photography's importance.

Image from Spectacle Wearing Folk series
by Luke Stephenson

Fashion and affordable art collide!

Luke Stephenson's 20x200 edition Yellow Canary #1 illustrates a post on Elle's blog Tell All:

"It seems everyone in New York is looking for something. While I'm not seeking one of the Sex and the City coined "three" (a job, apartment or boyfriend), after this new find I vote to add a fourth- extended wall space."

Read Alia Ahmed-Yahia's full item here.

You can catch more of Luke Stephenson in the Summer Group Show Ornithlogy at Jen Bekman Gallery.

This is your last chance to check out Love = Love, a collection of collages and photographs by Kent Rogowski at Jen Bekman Gallery.

We're open tonight till 9:30 in conjunction with Artlog's Collect LES event, giving you a few extra hours to see the show, drink some wine and meet the artist himself. Tomorrow we're there for our regular hours, noon-6pm, on Saturday. Don't miss it!

We've got all kinds of good stuff queued up for our Summer program. If you want to keep up (or at least try to) join our mailing list for announcements and updates.

In other exciting Kent Rogowski news, we've got a second edition of his puzzle prints for 20x200 collectors. Untitled #5 is available in three sizes right now.

You might remember that his first edition, Untitled #9, sold out within hours of being announced, so now is a fine time to take advantage of the fact that you're in front of your computer while some other people are sitting in traffic on the LIE. Go ahead and buy one now while there is one to be bought.

Neither Kent nor I have any beachy weekend plans, so we'll both be at the gallery tonight for the Collect LES festivities. Join us for a glass of wine, and set aside some extra time to check out our friendly neighbors who are also participating in the Artlog Crawl. If not tonight, then next week for sure - I'll be back on Tuesday with a fresh edition.

Tuesday also happens to be the deadline for entries for this year's first edition of the new! improved! ever more exciting! Hey, Hot Shot!. Read on for details about the competition.

The deadline for this year's first edition of Hey, Hot Shot! is upon us! Photographers have until Tuesday June 17 @ 8pm to enter the competition.

Unlike previous editions, it's important to know that this is the final deadline, we won't be offering any extensions or accepting late entries, which is just one of many big changes we've made to this year's competition:

fewer hot shots + longer exhibitions = more exposure
Our panelists will select five Hot Shots to exhibit their work in biannual two-week showcases @ Jen Bekman Gallery.

cold hard cash
All winning photographers will be awarded a $500 honorarium.

ultras go solo
At year's end, two Ultras will be selected from 2008's 10 Hot Shots. The Ultras will be represented by Jen Bekman and slated for solo exhibitions at the gallery.

Visit Hey, Hot Shot! to read up on all the details or go right ahead and apply now.

"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!

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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!

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.

Who are your favorite characters in history?
I'm a big sucker for the Abstract Expressionists. They were the last real bohemians and I like reading about their cold water flats and drunken fights in the Cedar Tavern. Maybe it's a little corny but I find their lives fascinating.

Are there any in particular that you feel most connected to? How has the way they lived inspired your work? Your art philosophy?
I particularly respond to their earnestness. There's something inspiring about how their ambitions, at least initially, transcended issues of money and fame. Most of them didn't really see the possibility of ever becoming successful as artists; their motivation seemed to be to satisfy themselves and impress their peers. Then of course money came in and the whole thing changed. Or at least that's how I interpret it, and naive as that might be, those were the standards that I came to New York with. Inevitably you become more cynical with time, but I still hold on to at least some of those ideals.

Who are your favorite heroines in real life?
I very much admire Joan Didion. I've read every book she's published except for The Year of Magical Thinking; I don't think I can deal with that one right now. Salvador is one of the best books I've ever read - very dark, unexpectedly funny at times and intensely indignant. I guess that also describes most of her writing.

Your favorite painter?
It would be hard for me to name just one - I love everyone from Giotto to Mary Heilmann. I am also very interested in Medieval illustrated manuscripts and Indian miniatures, which were often painted by anonymous artists. And I've been thinking a lot recently about Helmut Federle, a great Swiss/German abstract painter that was big in the 80's but seems unfairly neglected (in America, at least) as of late.

Do you have a favorite gallery?
There are many great galleries Uptown and in Chelsea, but I find the scene in the Lower East Side the most interesting right now. It seems the most flexible; it reminds me of Williamsburg when I first lived there in the 90's.

Your favorite photographer?
Diane Arbus. I feel like her photography was very close in tone to Joan Didion's from around the same time.

What authors (if any) are equivalent to your style of art? I know this is out there, but the connection you made between Arbus and Didion made me wonder...
The work I'm doing now is so formal that it would be hard for me to compare it to literature, or at least literature that I currently read. When I was in graduate school I was very influenced by Robbe-Grillet and I could draw some parallels to my paintings, but I don't have much patience for that type of experimental writing anymore, or at least not right now.

Your favorite poet?
I think Philip Larkin is amazing, and Aubade is really excellent.

Do you collect art?
I don't have much money to spend on art, but I am lucky to have a small collection of works that I've traded with fellow artist friends. And my wife Sabine and I also occassionally buy what I guess you could call outsider art. For example, the first time we were in Puerto Rico we walked into a botanica in the small town of Aguadilla because it was the only place that was open on a Sunday. Among the weird candles and figurines we found a wonderful painted carving of a man that was made from a tree trunk with three branches; the trunk was turned upside down so that the branches formed three legs. It looks almost like a German Expressionist sculpture. We were told to name it and treat it as a member of the family and he would protect our home. Customs laughed at us at the airport when we told them the story.

Could you photograph this for me to include in the interview?
Attached!

Which 20x200 artists do you most adore, and why?
I think Linzie Hunter's Spam prints are really good. They are poignant because Spammers appeal to our insecurities and needs, but the way the text is presented out of context makes them funny. And her lettering reminds me of Jay Ward cartoons.

What are you working on?
I'm excited because I just received some big sheets of cheap corrugated cardboard that I ordered from Staples. I'm planning on drawing on them with lumber crayons, which are just crappy big black crayons. If nothing else, it should be fun to do. And if it works, they should be easier to store and move than canvases.

Any progress on this so far?
I haven't yet gotten started, but I'm attaching a photo of my messy studio if you can fit it in.

What is your greatest ambition?
As happy as I am with my day job, it would be great to be able to make art exclusively, of course.

What gives you the most inspiration?
Other art. Nothing makes me want to go to my studio more than seeing a great exhibition at a museum or gallery. I should also mention that last week I saw an amazing little group show at BravinLee Programs in Chelsea.

Can you say a few words about your 20x200 edition?
Honestly, I'm touched that Jen picked one of my paintings to make into a print. My work looks so different from what she usually shows. It's very cool of her to be so open. People should really buy my edition by the dozen to let Jen know how great she is, shouldn't they?

Yes, they should.
Giovanni's 20x200 edition print: Black on Blue
Giovanni's website

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

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.

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)