Smoke Signals, 2007 by Clare Grill

Oh, the weather outside is frightful—slush!—but in here it’s so delightful. Thanks in part to our trusty heater, but mostly because of the gorgeous paintings of Clare Grill, whose solo-exhibition What You’re Told closes this Saturday. If the painting above doesn’t warm you up, I guarantee that Clare’s artist statement will.

Clare writes:

I didn’t dare eat candy during Lent because the saints were watching. Our old house was haunted – our dad said so. We imagined a wolf roamed our neighborhood because it was fun to be scared. I thought our family was ideal. I believed in Santa until I was 13. I clung tightly to the things I was taught, my heavy cloaks of security. Like most, I’ve unraveled them slowly and steadily, being careful not to rip out all the seams through the years.

These paintings, however, aren’t just run-of-the-mill nostalgia. “Ms. Grill’s expressionistic portraits can remind you at times of the work of Elizabeth Peyton, who made it big painting acquaintances at art-world parties. But Ms. Grill is actually a better painter, suggesting she will make a success of whatever subject she chooses,” writes Benjamin Genocchio for The New York Times. Especially when seen up close and in person, Clare’s intuitive technique, “makes you notice the paint as much as the pictures.”

While the snow shows no signs of stopping, we really hope that you’ll slog over the the gallery and check out these wonderful paintings before the show closes on Saturday!

The Overachievers, 2009 by Clare Grill (also available as a limited-edition print on 20×200)

Close Our Eyes and Go to Bed, 2008 by Clare Grill

If you’re not in New York at all, make sure to have a look at the show’s installation shots on Flickr and peek inside her studio, courtesy of MoMA/P.S.1.

Celebrity photographer Todd Eberle, who was out shooting the 2010 Whitney Biennial last night for Vanity Fair Magazine, praised the work of Jen Bekman Gallery artist Nina Berman as the one the Biennial’s highlights.

He writes:

There were some knockout moments, particularly from Nina Berman, whose brilliant and sensitive photojournalistic images of an American soldier whose injuries at the hands of an Iraqi suicide bomber left him beyond any reasonable description of “disfigured.” After 50 reconstructive surgeries, he wed his high-school sweetheart. Berman’s pictures are at once beautiful, intimate, and defiantly deny the act of “looking.” (I had to go back three times to take in their terrifying poetry.)

A few members of the JBP team also hit the town the last two nights for the VIP openings and were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of Nina’s photos, which are located on the 2nd floor of the museum. To see more of Eberle’s impressions of the Biennial, visit the full article at Vogue.

The Biennial officially opens to the public today and will remain on view through May 30, 2010, so make sure to head up town and view the exhibition in-person.

Ty with gun, 2006, by Nina Berman

The JBP tumblr—one of the many places you can find us online

Perhaps you’re an artist or gallery and want to know how to reach a wider audience using that buzz-y little thing called Twitter. Or, you want to know how to use mobile technology to get people clued in about your organization. Or you want to see how Facebook can really work to help spread your mission, project or news about your upcoming event.

Then, the first-ever Social Media Art Camp may be just for you. What is SMartCAMP, you ask? It’s a full weekend (March 5-7, 2010) of lectures, talks, seminars, roundtables and demos here in New York City about how artists and arts organizations have successfully used existing social media tools—blogs, mobile-technology and existing online networks—to develop relationships with collectors, build communities, and generate excitement and attention in the art world.

On Sunday, March 7th, from 2:30 – 3:15 p.m., Jen will speak on The Value of Building Community alongside Yancey Stricker of Kickstarter, Charlie Festa of Threadless/skinnyCorp and Anda Corrie of Etsy about each of the models these companies have undertaken to create their own circle of support.

Anyone can register to attend, either for a half day ($35), full day ($65), or the entire duration of the conference ($120). Click here to see the full list of conference speakers and the schedule for the weekend.

What: Social Media Art Camp
When: Roger Smith Hotel in New York City
Where: March 5th – 7th, 2010

We hope to see you there!

Looking for openings and closings on the go? There’s an app for that. Pop open the NY Art Beat app on your iPhone and it will present you with a list of shows, sorted by walking distance from your current location. Shown above is the info page for What You’re Told by Clare Grill. From this page you can also access the press release, gallery hours, telephone number, subway directions and the option to email the information to a friend. The app also contains a fairly limited browse-by-neighborhood functionality.

Though its scope is simple, at just 99 cents there is no more convenient way to access this information on the go. You can grab the NY Art Beat app for iPhone and iPod Touch from the App Store.

A photograph by Jen Bekman Gallery artist Nina Berman is featured in the Wall Street Journal today as part of an article titled “The Whitney Biennial Lightens Up”. Kelly Crow writes, “The country’s pre-eminent survey of new American art has a reputation for focusing on angry or anxious young things. But the latest edition, opening Feb. 25 at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, aims to be something else: fun.”

About Nina’s work Kelly writes:

The biennial doesn’t abandon politics altogether, but Mr. Bonami says he went looking for art that reflects the American psyche about war without being “bombastic.” New York photographer Nina Berman is showing a series about the postwar daily life of former Marine Sgt. Ty Ziegel, who was severely disfigured in a car bomb in Iraq but returned home and married his fiancée, Renee Kline.”

You can read the full article, which features a slideshow as well as profiles of Charles Ray and Aurel Schmidt, online or in today’s print edition. More information about The Whitney Biennial: 2010 is available at the Whitney’s website.

Jason Polan, one our most endearing and prolific artists, is collaborating with Robin Cameron and the entire city of New York, in The Assembled Picture Library of New York City at the Esopus Foundation, tonight, February 16, 2010 through March 18, 2010.

From the press release:

The Esopus Foundation will host a collaborative exhibition.
Visitors will be invited to come in during gallery hours
Monday, Tuesday & Thursday from 12-6pm

The Assembled Picture Library of New York City will provide free and open access to a set of images. The collection will be initiated by the personal archive of Robin Cameron and Jason Polan. Visitors are encouraged to submit images to build upon the collection. A copy machine and workspace will be open for use to make new artwork from the available materials. Within this collection is unorganized manuscripts, vintage advertisements of strange products, rare prints, photographs of points of interest, modest drawings and more. With this project, the artists hope to create a collaborative and creative relationship with the general public, and also to enable a sense of community around artists’ processes.

The Esopus Foundation, LTD
64 WEST THIRD STREET, #210
NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10012
PHONE: (212) 473-0919

The exhibition will provide access to and use of hundreds of drawings and materials and ephemera from the collections of Polan and Cameron. Anyone is free to participate, and the gallery is open to view, use and peruse Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from 12-5 throughout the duration of the show. You are also invited to submit your own images and ephemera to the source collection, and these collaborative artworks made by the public will be on display on the Esopus Gallery walls through March 18, 2010. Jason Polan and Robin Cameron will be on hand throughout the duration of the show to work with the visiting public-artists and to engage in dialogue with them about the project.

From the NYAB:

With this project, the artists hope to create a collaborative and creative relationship with the general public—an important component of both Cameron and Polan’s previous work, as well as an essential aspect of the Esopus Foundation’s mission. The artists are also interested in engendering a sense of community around the production of self-published books, zines, and editions. Along those lines, Polan and Cameron will create a book featuring visitors’ artworks, The Assembled Picture Library of New York Book, that will be available at the closing reception on March 18.

If you’re one for installation, collage, public and community art works, or just merely curious what all this stuff looks like, drop by during gallery hours and consider making a piece of art with other artist’s materials! It starts today, and Jason will be there to assist in your art-making.

More information can be found at http://aplny.tumblr.com/.

Google, 2009, by Michael Mandiberg

If you caught the Summer Reading show at Jen Bekman Gallery last year, you will surely recognize the laser-cut and shrink-wrapped phonebooks above as the work of interdisciplinary artist, designer, and technologist Michael Mandiberg. Since Summer Reading, Michael has been working on lots of exciting new projects, talks and exhibitions and he shows no signs of slowing in 2010.

As part of the Transmediale Festival in Berlin, Michael collaborated on a “book sprint” with five authors, one programmer and several remote contributors to write a 130-page book called Collaborative Futures in just five days. Starting with nothing but the title, this group of strangers put together a book in which the process embodies the content.

Michael writes,

I just got back from one of the most intense and satisfying work weeks I have ever had. We started Monday morning with only two words: the title of the book. As we raised a toast to our success with the festival director Stephen Kovats at 10 p.m. Friday, we sent the book to the printer.

The book will be printed on demand for visitors to the festival. If you pre-order, it will be available for pick-up at a book launch party on March 4th at Eyebeam in New York City. You can read more about the book here and download a free PDF.

Collaborative Futures Book Launch
Thursday, March 4th, 7:30pm
Eyebeam
540 West 21st Street
New York, NY

The other project Michael has been working on is a Kickstarter project called Bright Bike, an initiative to make riding your bike at night safer. The Bright Bike kit, starting at $10, includes a set of custom-cut vinyl stickers which look normal in daylight but become super reflective in car headlights.

Michael writes,

Right now, we make each kit by hand, which takes time, and is expensive. We are actually afraid to really start promoting the idea, because right now, we are not ready for the kind of interest that might be possible. We need to streamline production so that we can lower prices and be ready to get this kit out to the cycling community.

To learn more about helping fund the Bright Bike project, click the Kickstarter badge above.

We could go on forever, but instead will leave you with this list of Michael’s upcoming events:

• If you’re in Chicago, don’t miss this talk at CAA titled “Giving Things Away Is Hard Work: Three Creative Commons Case Studies on DIY“
.

• New Yorkers are advised to attend this panel titled “Mashups, Memes, and HOWTOs: New Forms of Online Video” on new forms of online video and keep their eyes peeled for more details on “The Digital University,” a day-long conference on “the impact of digital media on academic work.”


• In Portland, The Great Recession, a solo show at Pacific Northwest College of Art, opens April 1- May 31 at Feldman Gallery
.

Ty With Gun by Nina Berman from Marine Wedding

Jen Bekman Gallery artist Nina Berman spoke with Mike Melia of PBS’ Art Beat to discuss her work, particularly the series Marine Wedding, which will be exhibited at the upcoming 2010 Whitney Biennial. In the article, Associate Curator of the Biennial Gary Carrion-Murayari says of Berman’s work:

You come away with a real emotional connection to the individual she is depicting. Anybody could take a picture of someone who is disfigured and make a shocking image. These go beyond that and get to the emotional experience of soldiers.

PBS’ site also features an audio interview with Nina. Click HERE to read the full text and to hear Mike and Nina’s conversation about her exceptional bodies of work, Purple Hearts, Homeland and Marine Wedding.

Last week we wrote about our upcoming 20×200 print giveaway at Brooklyn Museum’s Target First Saturday, and we wanted to send you a quick reminder to cancel all your other plans, because it’s happening this Saturday from 6 to 8 p.m.! All 200 8”x10” prints from Valerie Hegarty’s gorgeous forthcoming edition, First Harvest in the Wilderness with Pileated Woodpecker are packed, our brand new 20×200 banner has arrived, and we’re uhhh…still brainstorming on our apparel. We hope you’ll join us for what is sure to be an awesome evening full of talks, music, film, dancing and art.

Ms. Jen Bekman will be speaking, exclusively to 1stfans, about 20×200 and JBP’s approach to supporting artists. So, after you’ve started or renewed your 1stfans membership (and picked up Valerie’s print!), join us for a talk!

We’ll be giving away 10”x8” prints by artist Valerie Hegarty to new and renewing 1stfans members and Ms. Jen Bekman herself will be speaking to an intimate group of 1stfans at a meetup. Meetups are an opportunity for 1stfans to interact exclusively with the Museum’s staff, its collections, artists, and other members every month at Target First Saturdays.

Bierstadt with Holes, 2007 by Valerie Hegarty

20×200 has been collaborating with 1stfans founders, Shelley Bernstein and Will Cary, and artist Valerie Hegarty over the last few months to produce this unique benefit edition. For the first time ever, collectors will be able to pick up a print in person and become a 1stfans member all for the ridiculously affordable cost of $20! 1stfans is the Brooklyn Museums’s socially networked membership. Valerie Hegarty and 20×200 have donated the prints for this event.

If you can’t make it to the event, you’ll have another chance to pick up one of Valerie’s prints plus the 1stfans membership. We’ll release the prints in two larger sizes, 14”x11” and 20”x16,” the following week on 20×200. Every print from Valerie’s edition will include a one-year membership to 1stfans and the proceeds from the print will benefit the Brooklyn Museum as well. The prints are gorgeous and we think they’ll go fast, make sure you’re signed up for Jen’s newsletter to get first dibs on one!

Target First Saturday at the Brooklyn Museum
Saturday, February 6th, 2010 | 6:00 – 8:30 p.m.
Jen’s talk | 8:00 – 8:30 p.m.
Brooklyn Museum
200 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, NY

Laundromat, 1997 by Colleen Plumb

Jen Bekman Gallery artists Ian Baguskas, Colleen Plumb and Sarah McKenzie have generously donated pieces to the Sixth Annual BAMart Silent Auction at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

From the website:

With opening bids starting around $100, there is something for everyone! Works can be viewed and bid upon right here once the live exhibition and bidding both begin on March 18th and you can visit this site to place and track your bids, and keep on top of exciting auction news from BAM. Best of all, every dollar earned will go to support BAM’s dynamic and innovative programs. So click, bid, support!

BAM brings a lot of vitality to the arts in New York, and they’re an organization that we’ve supported through collaborating with them on a 20×200 benefit edition. Proceeds from the sale of Greg Lindquist’s edition Embers of the Maritime are donated to BAM.

We’re also thrilled because the three artists involved truly represent the breadth of Jen Bekman Projects. All three have had exhibitions at the gallery, all three have released limited-edition prints through 20×200, and the two photographers came to our attention by entering Hey, Hot Shot! As they develop new bodies of work and their accomplishments accrue, we’re reminded about how happy we are to work with such talented and generous artists.

Don’t miss this opportunity to bid on an all-star roster of artists in support of a great organization. More details on lots and bidding are available at the BAMart Auction website.

Exterior 1 (Plastic Trees), 2009 by Sarah McKenzie

Traces, Ocotillo Wells, California, 2008 by Ian Baguskas

The clock is ticking, but you’ve still got two and a half hours to get your hands on one of these amazing editions at 20×200 by painter Clare Grill, whose solo exhibition, What You’re Told is currently hanging in the gallery. We’ve been sitting amidst Clare’s work for the last two weeks, and the colors, textures and narratives that comprise this work are truly captivating. These prints do an incredible job of translating the motion and richness of her pieces in a way we can make available to every single one of you.

To pick up one of Clare’s prints for 20% off, click on any of the works below, then enter the code RIDONK at Google checkout. This offer ends at 2 p.m. (EST) today, so do not delay!

Assignment by Clare Grill

Cake by Clare Grill

The Overachievers* by Clare Grill

*The original painting, The Overachievers, hanging in the exhibition, has been sold. But, that makes the 30”x40” edition of this print, only $2,000 $1,600, an even more incredible steal.