Off Season by Joseph O. Holmes
We don’t play favorites when it comes to our artists, but Joseph O. Holmes definitely has a special place in our hearts. Maybe it’s because he’s been a longtime 20x200 collaborator, or because his photographs of NYC never fail to remind us why we’re so smitten with our home city, OR because he’s one of the most easy-going, positively zen people we’ve ever had the pleasure to get to know IRL. All we can tell you is we can’t stop collecting his editions.
Holmes has a gift for recapturing romance, for looking at the familiar through a contemplative lens and revealing quiet magic where one might think there’d be none. He seems to specialize in liminal spaces. There’s a decidedly meditative quality to his images. It’s certainly clear from his body of work that he’s in pursuit of deeper meaning, whether that involves constantly re-discovering the city he calls home, exploring memory and unexpected moments of nostalgia, or delving into the often overlooked repercussions of progress and technology.
A Brooklyn resident, Holmes will be debuting a new print at this year’s ARTWALK NY, the annual art auction benefiting Coalition for the Homeless. Holmes and Jen Bekman Gallery will be donating a 24x30” print of Twenty-nine Feathers, number 1 in an edition of 6. If you’ll be in the NYC area this November, be sure to snag a ticket to the event—what could be better than bidding on beautiful art for a great cause?
Holmes, who’s racked up numerous solo and group shows around the world, will likely be rolling out his 2016 Annual in mid-November (highly recommended as a holiday gift for the photo aficionado in your life). He’s also recently been selected as a finalist in Photolucida’s Critical Mass competition—his fifth time as a finalist. In 2010, Holmes ranked among the Top 50 photographs in this competition, just one of the many ways he’s been recognized for his work over the years. Other accolades include first prize in the MPLS Photo Center’s 2010 Portraits Exhibition, a Curator’s Commendation at the Houston Center for Photography...the list goes on.
Want more? Go behind the scenes on our tour of Holmes' studio, complete with Q+A.
With art for everyone,Jen Bekman + Team 20x200
