Video Still from Sunday in the Country with Larry Rivers by John Glassie

It’s not that I’m curious. On the contrary, I am bored but it’s my duty to be attentive, I am needed by things as the sky must be above the earth. And lately, so great has their anxiety become, I can spare myself little sleep.
— Frank O’Hara, Meditations in an Emergency

NEW YORK, NY — jen bekman is pleased to present Meditations in an Emergency, a group exhibition of work in various mediums inspired by and interpreting Frank O’Hara’s poem of the same name. The exhibition will be on view from June 20 – August 4, 2006, at jen bekman, located at 6 Spring Street, between Elizabeth and Bowery, New York, 10012.

Jen Bekman will host an opening reception for the artists, all represented by the gallery, on Tuesday, June 20, from 6:00 – 8:00pm at the gallery.

From salad days at the Museum of Modern Art’s front desk to curating exhibitions and writing criticism later in life, Frank O’Hara (1926 – 1966) was a controversial figure in his time as today for both the content of his work and his refusal to draw formal distinctions between mediums. O’Hara was a pivotal figure during the particularly vibrant and creative era of the late ‘50s and early ‘60s; he was a prominent poet of the New York School and collaborated with many of the leading New York School painters as well. O’Hara’s synergetic spirit carried across media and genre and impacted a number of artistic realms.

Gallery director Jen Bekman originally planned on curating an exhibition of art interpreting Lunch Poems, probably O’Hara’s best-known collection, but ultimately decided that Meditations in an Emergency was most meaningful given the current political climate. Says Bekman, “The tenor of our culture now is that we’re in a constant state of panic and alarm and I like the idea of art and creativity providing calm in chaos or helping us to maintain composure in an unsteady moment. During the curatorial process I’ve really enjoyed the dialogue with each artist; seeing which part of the poem each artist responds to is fascinating. And of course there’s my obsession with O’Hara and the fact that he’s been a source of inspiration to me since my poetry-writing college days.”

Participating artists include Agnes Barley, Mara Bodis-Wollner, Christine Callahan, Christine Collins, Benjamin Donaldson, John Glassie, Anne Hall, Addie Juell, Holly Lynton, Dana Miller, Katie Murray, Leon Reid, Eliot Shepard, Tema Stauffer and Jeffrey Teuton.

Meditations in an Emergency at jen bekman, 6 Spring Street.
Hours: Wednesday, Friday & Saturday, noon – 6pm and Thursday noon – 8pm, or by private appointment.

Hey jb readers! Don’t be a loser with a sprained ankle like me and come down to the gallery! Tomorrow is the last day to view the Spring, Hey Hot Shot! showcase!

Photography by Spring Hey, Hot Shot!, Ian Baguskas

We’re busy bees here at Jen Bekman! The panel discussion on Photo Blogs is tonight at the School of ICP with panelists like Eliot Shepard, Jen Bekman, and Travis Ruse. Read more about it a couple posts down.

The Spring Hey, Hot Shots will open tomorrow with a reception from 6-8pm. As I said in the previous post, the awesome guys at Crumpler will supply beer, as part of their Beer for Bags event. You just might be able to win a free bag!

Exhibition Dates + Hours
Thursday through Sunday, June 8-11
Noon – 6pm (til 8 on Thursday)

You can also view some of the work the Hot Shots submitted on our flickr site and read some of their interviews on the HHS blog.

SlideLuck PotShow is coming up June 17th. The deadline for submissions is June 5, with the theme being “Grace.” Our Spring Hot Shot, Casey Kelbaugh, started the event in Seattle and many other cities. Great way to combine photography with audio (or silence.. depends on what you’re going for) and with people bringing in food, how great is that! I would love the combination of someone’s jambalaya with someone else’s chow mein. Mmm, food and art. Great combo! Another Spring Hot Shot, Sarah Small (HHS interview) also will be showing a slide show in the upcoming event. Lots of the jb family have contributed to the fun gathering!

Also, our represented artists have been working hard on the next show, Meditations in an Emergency, which will be opening June 20th. Read what all the artists were given as inspiration: Frank O’Hara’s prose poem, Meditations in an Emergency.

The awesome guys over at Crumpler are hosting an event this week (June 3-11th). It is what the title suggests: Beer for Bags! Simple idea that involves bringing a specified brand of beer and amount to the store and trade it in for a bag, an ipod case, or even a bean bag chair! All the beer will be dedicated to a party at the end of the week. Crumpler makes fantastic messenger bags, great photo bags for your equipment, and other bags to protect your goodies. They come in all sorts of colors to fulfill your style.

The store is so kind enough to offer some of their refreshments to the Spring Hey! Hot Shot reception this coming Wednesday! So come on by and maybe we’ll have some promotional goodies!

“Photoblogs- Photography meets Social Computing”

Photography by Eliot Shepard

Photoblogging is probably the easiest way to display artwork and be able to get widespread attention. Travis Ruse, photo editor and photographer started documenting his commute on the MTA and got widespread attention with an interview in the NY Times. What makes a successful photoblog, may you ask? Well, what are you doing next Tuesday at 6:30pm? The American Society of Professional Photography is hosting a panel discussion at the School of ICP about the popularity of photoblogs and the art of it all. $5.00 for ASPP MEMBERS// $20.00 Non-Members and Guests

The speakers include: Photographer / photo editor Travis Ruse will show his critically acclaimed EXPRESS TRAIN photoblog; our own represented photographer Eliot Shepard will show how his photoblog promotes his editorial photography; together with gallery impresario and technologist Jen Bekman. They will discuss the larger context—what photoblogging means now and what it’s future might bring. Sam Merrell will moderate.

Amit Gupta speaking about his blog.

The Apple Store in Soho featured the seventh NYC Photobloggers event yesterday night at 7:30pm. Great discussions were held about the art of photoblogging. Lots of the jb family have presented there before such as Jen Bekman, Eliot Shepard, Jake Dobkin, Joe Holmes, Youngna Park, Laura Holder, David Gallagher, Jesse Chan-Norris (our tech guru!). Last night’s line up includes Jay Parkinson of darkshapesprowl.com, Kevin Walsh of Forgotten NY, Kara Canal & Amit Gupta of Photojojo, Ed Leveckis of leckis.net, Matt Weber of Urban Photos, and Justin Ouellette of chromogenic.net. The event was hosted by Jake Dobkin and sponsored by Gothamist and NYC Photobloggers.