Walter by Joseph Holmes

Jen Bekman Gallery’s own Joseph O. Holmes has been awarded first place in an international juried portrait exhibition opening this January in Minneapolis. Joe’s portrait, Walter (above), was selected from a pool of over 200 entries by David Little. Little is currently the curator of photographs at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts but no stranger to the New York art world, having held positions at both The Whitney and the MoMA.

The co-op studio at Mpls Photo Center

The exhibition, which includes 84 portraits, will open January 8th, 2010 at the gorgeous Mpls Photo Center, a “member-based, public-friendly center for all things photography that includes classrooms, darkrooms, a digital lab, and exhibition space.”

Congratulations to Mr. Holmes on this exciting start to 2010! We can’t wait to show Joe’s work here in New York when his solo show opens later this year at Jen Bekman Gallery.

In the meantime, head over to 20×200 to collect some beautiful prints by Joe, and don’t forget to subscribe to Joe’s NYC to get your daily dose of Holmes.

Portraits at Mpls Photo Center
January 2, 2010 – January 31, 2010
Reception: January 8, 2010, 6:00 – 9:00 pm
Mpls Photo Center
2400 North Second Street, Minneapolis, MN 55411

Left to right: Mark Burnette, Jessica M. Kaufman, Mickey Kerr, Jeff Otto O’Brien

Tema Stauffer, who had her NYC solo-show debut at JBG back in October of 2004, was recently invited to curate the front page of contemporary art site culturehall for its Winter Issue. Her selections, shown as thumbnails above, perfectly reflect what Tema refers to as “the psychology of the season.” This virtual show will run through December 29th so make sure to check it out at culturehall.

Tema also has two editions of her own for sale on 20×200 but from the looks of it, they won’t be available for much longer!

One of the most fun pieces in Mixtape (which runs through January 9th!) is the collection of five old-skool cassette tapes drawn by Kate Bingaman-Burt. ”Mixtapes are almost dead,” she writes, “Goodwills and Salvation Army stores don’t want them, small thrift stores sometimes have them, but not often. People either nostalgically cling to their handmade tapes or they dump them in the trash.”

To immortalize this dying art, Kate put out a call for mixtapes:

I need your help. I want to draw your mixtapes. I want your sad songs, your love jams, your sing-at-the-top-of-your-lungs car tunes, your break-up tape, your make-up tape and your BFF-4evah cassette.

I am only drawing the tape. If you want to participate, please snap a picture of the best side of your favorite tape and email it to kate@obsessiveconsumption.com

Since then, she has been drawing away! Yesterday Kate put an awesome handmade zine of her mixtapes up for sale in her Etsy shop. The 14-page zine was produced in an edition of 30 and can be yours for a mere $6 + shipping. For a sneak peek, check out the full set of drawings on Kate’s Flickr.

This is a worthy addition to any shelf, but if you still can’t get enough, Kate’s got four fabulous editions at 20×200, and to inquire about her original drawings from Mixtape contact: sales [at] jenbekman [dot] com!

Velodrome, from The Games We Play by James Deavin

If you happened to miss the excitement, four new 20×200 editions by Jen Bekman Gallery’s own James Deavin were released yesterday! The editions all come from James’s series The Games We Play, which depicts “sporting environments portrayed as simply as possible.” Devoid of humans, these constructed landscapes reveal the strange and beautiful nature of modern leisure and competition.

The series also shows the fascinating scope of James’ work, which spans both the digital and physical worlds. Photographs from the New World, an exhibition composed entirely of screenshots from the computer game Second Life, had its acclaimed debut at Jen Bekman Gallery back in 2005.

Untitled, from Photographs from the New World by James Deavin

James writes:

Second Life is a place where people can live out their dreams. Some people’s dreams are to have a bigger version of what they already have. Others’ fondest wish is to be a talking elephant from Mars. Second Life is not a ‘game’ – there is no “next level,” no “level boss,” there is no winning or losing. Rather, characters enter into complex relationships, build things, earn and spend money. In fact, the world turns over ten million dollars a month. This money is spent in the market place and certain consumer products have become ubiquitous: grand pianos, waterfalls, boats, Japanese gardens. If money were no object, is this how real life would look?

Together, the two series raise an interesting contrast and comparison between what we imagine and what we make real. Taken out of their inhabited context, the environments from The Games We Play seem every bit as absurd and decadent as their virtual counterparts.

All five of James’s 20×200 editions have prints available for purchase.

To inquire about limited edition 30”x40” prints of the aforementioned series as well as other work by James Deavin, send an email to sales AT jenbekman DOT com.

Marine Wedding by Nina Berman

Jen Bekman Gallery is pleased to announce that represented artist and 2007 Hot Shot Nina Berman and 2005 Hot Shot Curtis Mann have been selected as 2010 Whitney Biennial artists.

Berman’s first solo show with Jen Bekman Gallery in 2007, Purple Hearts, the ground-breaking work that placed Berman in the Biennial, received international attention and acclaim. In a review for The New York Times, critic Holland Cotter proclaimed, “the images add up to a complex and desolating anti-war statement.” Purple Hearts received a tremendous response both locally and internationally. The gallery presented Berman’s second exhibition, Homeland, in October 2008.

Both Berman and Mann have released editions on Jen Bekman Projects’ online print program, 20×200.

The 2010 Whitney Biennial is being curated by Francesco Bonami, in collaboration with the Whitney’s Gary Carrion-Murayari, who will be associate curator. This will be the 75th in the series of Whitney Annual and Biennial exhibitions, inaugurated in 1932 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney. The show—which is scaled back to exhibit just 55 artists at only one location in 2010—opens to the public on February 25th and runs through May 30th.

Tree Tops, from the series Somewhere in Israel by Curtis Mann

G.I. Goat by Nina Berman

Rolling Acres Mall 1, 2008 by Brian Ulrich

We’re big fans of photographer Brian Ulrich and his beautifully executed work dealing with consumerism in America. In fact, Brian has been included in two past shows at the gallery, Summer Reading, earlier this year, and A New American Portrait, back in 2007. So we were totally delighted to find out that his photographs are currently featured on the expertly-curated photo section of The Morning News. Interviewer Nozlee Samadzadeh writes, “Brian’s photographs of closed-down malls and big-box retail stores reveal the potential ghost towns lying inside successful shopping complexes all across America.”

Though the interview is brief, it has lots of great bits from Brian such as, “I cringe to think we’ll all just be under one giant Costco roof like in the movie Wall-E in the future, though it sometimes it seems quite feasible.” Brian’s strangely haunting mall-scapes, which accompany the Q&A, point out that we may be closer to this dystopia than we would like to imagine. Creating his own work is just one of the ways that Brian wrestles with implications of consumer culture. He also serves as a judge on the panel for Picture Black Friday, a photography competition devoted exclusively to documenting our most stereotypically American ritual. Submissions for this year recently closed and the winners should be announced soon. So lay down your credit card real slow and head over to see the full set on The Morning News.

Seam by Sarah McKenzie

Happy Monday! Sorry we’ve been amiss these last few days—we’ve been in Miami, busily manning our booth full of gorgeous Sarah McKenzie paintings at the PULSE Contemporary Art Fair. We had a great time exhibiting many of our talented artists, doling out 20×200 tote bags and browsing the other booths at the fair. But, we are extra excited to be back in New York sitting in between the walls of Mixtape, and encourage you to stop in and see the show.

Reading & Writing by Jason Jagel

As a reminder, many of the artists and editions in Mixtape are already available on 20×200—and many others will be available in upcoming days. We’re celebrating Festivus with twelve consecutive days of brand new editions and extra steals and deals. Sign up for the mailing list to get first dibs on 200-minute specials while you can!

Exterior 1 by Sarah McKenzie

In Miami? Come visit us at the PULSE Miami Contemporary Art Fair. We’ll be featuring paintings by Sarah McKenzie and also have work by Ian Baguskas, Mara Bodis Wollner, Christian Chaize, Beth Dow, Joseph O. Holmes, Gregory Krum, Holly Lynton, Carrie Marill, Brad Moore, Hosang Park, Colleen Plumb, Jason Polan, Kent Rogowski and Carlo Van de Roer on view. The fair opens with a VIP preview at 10 a.m. on Thursday, December 3rd and remains open through Sunday, December 6th, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. Please come visit us!

Location: Booth I-107.
On View: December 3 – 6, 2009

PULSE Miami
Booth I-107
The Ice Palace
1400 North Miami Avenue
Miami, FL 33136

Hope to see you there!