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

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.

The 20×200 20% More Ridiculous Sale has arrived. Today through noon on Sunday, we’re offering 20% off everything on 20×200 when you make a purchase of $40 or more. Enter code RIDONK in Google checkout to get your discount. The site-wide sale happens but twice a year; there’s no better time to get your art on than right now!

Browse using our Valentine’s day gift guide, our artist-designed guides, our staff picks, VIP picks or by price, color or artist. Or, see prints with just a few left before they’re going going gone!

What does 20% More Ridiculous mean?
$50 prints are now $40
$200 prints are now $160
$500 prints are now $400
$2,000 prints are now $1,600
$5,000 prints are now $4,000

A few small details:
– You’ll need to spend a minimum of $40 to qualify for the discount. (We’re ridiculous and generous, but not entirely foolish!)
– No double-dipping! RIDONK stands alone, and cannot be combined with any other offers or promotions.
– Gift certificate purchases are not eligible for the discount.
– Being the incredible opportunity that they are to begin with, the very few and rather gorgeous prints by Mike & Doug Starn are not eligible for discounts.

We also just unveiled our Valentine’s Day Gift Guide that will help you find the perfect print for your bookish babe, sporty suitor, and pretty much every or any sweetheart that could possibly be in your life! We also just rolled out 20×200 edition-maker Lisa Congdon’s contribution to our series of artist-designed gift guides.

The Overachievers by Clare Grill

We are anxiously counting down the days to Clare Grill’s opening exhibition here at the JBG (details below), so were thrilled to release a new edition by Clare on 20×200 yesterday to give our collectors a taste of what’s to come. While the textures and richness of The Overachievers can only be fully realized in the original, which will be one of the six paintings in What You’re Told, the print is utterly gorgeous and we suggest you pick one up!

Jen wrote in yesterday’s newsletter:

Looking at her works, I was transported back to those mysterious years of childhood and recalled the vague terror that arises when you’re a kid and you’ve done something wrong. Without undermining the foreboding feeling of getting caught at being bad, the paintings are also comfortingly familiar — when you’re young, that terror is (hopefully) the only terror you know. There’s something cozy and sentimental about remembering that, especially when comparing it to the much more complex, unbounded realities of adulthood. These realities lie in the murky and misty areas in Clare’s works and bring forth the lessons learned that weren’t always as black and white as they were presented.

The Overachievers is available on 20×200 in four sizes for $20, $50, $200 and $2000, and—lucky you—the 35”x28” original is also available, which you can see for yourself at the opening on Friday night.

What You’re Told
Six paintings on canvas and eleven works on paper by Clare Grill
Opening Reception: Friday, January 15th, 2010 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.
On View: January 16th – February 27th, 2010
Jen Bekman Gallery
6 Spring Street
New York, NY

See you there!

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

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!

Cover image of Kate’s book!

As if truly catching up with the industrious Kate Bingaman-Burt is really possible! Kate is always involved in multiple projects while planning and scheming her next wonderful art adventure. In fact, she is working on mixtape drawings that will be on view at Jen Bekman Gallery at the end of this month! The lovely lady is truly an inspiration.

Her book Obsessive Consumption: What Did You Buy Today? which chronicles her decade of daily consumption is now up on Amazon. Sadly it has not yet been released for pre-orders. Still, it is pretty exciting to see and anticipate! I am marking the release date, March 31, 2010 in my calendar! Congrats, Kate!

More immediately, Kate’s work will be exhibited in three shows in three cities opening this Friday.
Choose your city for complete exhibition details:
New York
Austin
St. Louis

Want more Kate? Visit her site: Obsessive Consumption and view her editions, I Bought All of These, Drawings from July 2009 and Plattsmouth, Nebraska, Carts #1 on 20×200.

Untitled (Hanoi no.2) by Hot Shot Kelly Shimoda

We at JBP are an understanding group of art lovers, so we have extended the deadline for Hey, Hot Shot! to Tuesday, October 27th at 11:00 p.m. (EDT). THAT’S TODAY!!

The exposure Hey, Hot Shot! affords is unbeatable—editions of each selected Hot Shot’s work will be released on 20×200! Every applicant is considered for 20×200 editions. Check out work by former Hot Shots we’ve featured on 20×200 in the past.

Buona fortuna!

Laundromat by Colleen Plumb

If you are in Fort Collins, CO you can start off your Labor Day weekend by going to the opening reception of JBG, 20×200 artist, AND Hey, Hot Shot! 2008 Ne Plus Ultra Colleen Plumb’s Animals Are Outside Today at the Center for Fine Art Photography, this Friday, September 4th.

If you can’t make it, check out Colleen’s available 20×200 prints. Don’t forget about free shipping on orders over $50 (before shipping + handling + taxes!) through Monday, September 7 @ midnight EST.

Center for Fine Art Photography
Friday, September 4, 2009

400 North College Avenue
(in the Poudre River Arts Center)
Fort Collins, CO 80524
MAP

The exhibition will be on view through September 26, 2009.

i have found what you are like by Amy Ross

Bostonians, lend me your ear! 20×200 sweetheart and Jen Bekman Gallery artist, Amy Ross, will take part in South End Open Studios on Saturday, September 19th & Sunday, September 20th.

Amy will also have work in an upcoming group show, Gone to the Dogs, at Denise Bibro Fine Art. The show will run through November 7th, with an opening reception from 6 – 8pm on October 8th.

Gone to the Dogs
October 8 – November 7, 2009
Denise Bibro Fine Art
529 West 20th Street 4W | NYC

P.S.
The painting above is named after an e. e. cummings poem, so here it is for you to enjoy:

i have found what you are like
the rain,

(Who feathers frightened fields
with the superior dust-of-sleep. wields

easily the pale club of the wind
and swirled justly souls of flower strike

the air in utterable coolness

deeds of green thrilling light

with thinned

newfragile yellows

lurch and.press

-in the woods

which stutter and sing

And the coolness of your smile is
stirringofbirds between my arms;but
i should rather than anything
have(almost when hugeness will shut
quietly)almost,

your kiss

Ideal Bookshelf 1, JMM by Jane Mount

Frequent 20×200 artist Jane Mount is back today with an offering from her Bookshelf series, choosing her favorite—and most influential—childhood tomes, in a painting created just for 20×200. You may recognize Jane’s bookshelves from Summer Reading, on view through August 22, at the gallery. Both the pieces in the show are sold and the edition is moving fast so you should really get on it.

Here is what Sara Distin had to say about the piece in this morning’s newsletter:

I have a theory about this. Most impressionable when we’re young, books and other sources of great ideas are given more weight. These books have also, often, been given to us by adults who regard these gifts as important and inspirational in their own lives. The Little Engine That Could, Goodnight Moon and The Little Prince are all titles that have passed the test of time.

How often—recently or long ago—were you able to accomplish a great task while chanting in your head, “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can!”? Am I the only one who still nods off some nights with sweet thoughts for the moon and all the other good things in life? And really, where would we all be if we hadn’t learned from the young prince to listen to our hearts as often as we listen to our heads? Generations of us owe these books thanks! And so it is fitting that Jane has memorialized them here in Ideal Bookshelf 1, JMM.

You can read the full newsletter here.

If you haven’t seen the show yet, make sure to make it in before the show closes in just over two weeks on August 22nd. NY Art Beat critic Laura Meli writes, “Just as a summer read should be, the exhibition is intriguing, short, and fast-paced, with a few welcome surprises buried within.” If you still don’t believe me, see what Elle and Artlog have to say.

Ideal Bookshelf 1, JMM (detail) by Jane Mount

Hot Water, 2009 by Carrie Marill

Jen Bekman Gallery artist, Carrie Marill, will open a solo show of new work this Thursday at Seattle’s Howard House Gallery. The exhibition, Visual Aides, recontextualizes educational images found at a Parisian flea market. Of the work, Marill writes:

Originally these visual aides were didactic drawings used in classrooms in the late 1950’s to illustrate for children different aspects of the world (farming, industry, water tables the seashore, etc). I scanned, archived and reproduced these images on watercolor paper and updated them with specific current events which relate to the state of our environment and how humans anthropomorphize the planet. The chosen events were applied to the drawings in a similar style as the originals so the completed image becomes a “Where’s Waldo” of what’s evolved and devolved environmentally and socially since the 1950’s. Collectively the works introduce contemporary issues and ideals into a 1950’s world view creating a sometimes satirical, but persistently critical look into to our collective past and future.

Visual Aides
Howard House | 604 Second Ave | Seattle, WA
Opening reception: August 6th from 6-8pm
August 6th-29th

View more of Marill’s work on her site, and on her gallery page. You can also purchase her work from 20×200 here.

20×200 offers fantastic art each week, so I frequently find myself obsessing over images. Today the photograph that I cannot get out of my head was made by Rachel Hulin. Her edition print, Globe, was released earlier today.

Read all about it, and perhaps add one to your collection, by visiting 20×200.

Image by Alison Grippo

Hello beloved art enthusiasts! This fine Tuesday I am delighted to bring you an interview with photographer Alison Grippo. Alison was christened a Hot Shot and named a Ne Plus Ultra, gaining her representation by Jen Bekman Gallery in 2006.

Alison has just finished a book, Chasing, which is available here on Blurb.com.

Her two edition prints Untitled (Mott Street), and A Man and His Horse, are available on 20×200 in limited supply.

Let’s start by breaking the ice, shall we? Do you have any guilty pleasures?
Cheese. I’m addicted to Cheese. I’m not ashamed. I am a little, but I can’t stop myself.

When did you realize you wanted to be an artist?
I’ve always enjoyed the camera, and a few years back I decided I’d take my camera with me everywhere for 30 straight days. I was determined to always come home with a photo. After that, I couldn’t stop. I became slightly obsessive, and I set goals for myself, and the next thing you knew I was on my way to becoming a photographer.

Can you remember your first photograph?
The very first photo I took (and developed) was of Washington Square Park from a friend’s window one winter in 7th grade. The very first photo I took that made me turn the corner and realize I loved photography was of a woman leaving a senior citizens home on bingo night which I called “Bingo Thief”. It was digital and I lost the hard drive it was on so it only exists on flickr:

If you could live anywhere and photograph, where would it be?
Ideally I’d live nowhere. I’d like to constantly be on the move. Deep down all I want to do is travel to places no one has ever heard of and find stories to photograph and tell. I’m always looking up airfares. Maybe I’d get an RV and drive around the country endlessly but I don’t have a drivers license, which I’d have to remedy…

What does an ideal day look like for you?
Contrary to my wanting to move all the time, I think a day of napping is just delightful. Ideal day? It changes with the tides. Last week I climbed to the top of huge cliff and thought this is it the week before that I jumped out of plane and thought perfect today I napped the day away and I’m sure it can’t get any better.

Do you have favorite artists that inspire you?
Your favorite painter?
Edward Hopper. I’m a sucker for lonely.

Photographer?
Mary Ellen Mark. I feel in love with her documentary Streetwise, I’ve always just found her work to be right in front of you, but almost surreal.

Musician?
Right now I’m listening chronically to Tim Fite.

Author?
J.K Rowling – lies! Nabokov. I real a lot of non fiction so I go through phases with Mark Bowden, Kurt Eichenwald, and now Steven Coll.

How do the above influence your art making?
I photograph documentary style more than anything; street shooting; long form narratives which resembles what I like to engulf myself in during my free time. I’m intrigued by the details of people, what drives them, how they arrived wherever they are things like that. Usually the people or the scenes you walk through and take little notice of have the most amazing background which creates a context that you might be lucky enough to know. Everyone has a story, I like finding it out. I’m nosy.

Do you collect art?
I collect books and some photographs. It wasn’t until I really started working with Jen Bekman that I was introduced to more contemporary photography. I don’t know them, but now I know the work and when I have the chance to own some I’m not going to pass it up. I collect images I think, more than artists, images and stories.

Untitled (Mott Street) by Alison Grippo
Available on 20×200

You’ve had two edition prints sold on 20×200. How important is it to you to keep art affordable?
For someone like me, who wants to tell stories, it’s critical. I don’t want to take a picture of boxer who has worked his ass off, given me time and trust, and a portion of himself so that no one can know he exists. People do exist, people are special and unique and have something about them which deserves to be admired. If I take a photo of a woman just released from Bellvue, or Bernie for that matter, and no one can appreciate her story, or feel it then I am not really doing my job I think. Beyond that, I always agreed with the image Ishmael Reed created about the horror of art prisons—cold lonely rooms where you keep the art locked away where the pretension continues.

If you didn’t make photographs what would you make?
I’d love love love to be an industrial designer and make amazing furniture and fixtures people didn’t think twice about – like the best toilet paper holder ever, or the perfect suspended modular kitchen.

Sounds dreamy!

See more of Alison’s work on her site and on flickr.

Orb 5 (Long Island, New York), by Carlo Van de Roer

Today’s editions on 20×200 are by photographer Carlo Van de Roer. Van de Roer was a Fall 2007 Hot Shot who has seen his work on the walls of the gallery, and now is offering his fifth and sixth edition prints on 20×200.

Today’s edition prints are super special as all of the print sales will go directly to Carlo! From Jen’s newsletter:

We’re releasing Orb 5 as a new kind of benefit edition, one offered specifically in support of the artists themselves. In this case, all profits from the sales of this print are going toward funding Carlo’s critically acclaimed, ambitious Portrait Machine Project. The project also happens to be an expensive one, as the equipment he uses to make the portraits is costly.

Doing an edition like this puts the spotlight on 20×200’s ability to directly support artists in their practice — it’s one of the things that really drives me to want to make the site a sustainable, successful endeavor. As you all know, I work with lots of artists; what causes many of them to give up on making art is something I’m all-too-familiar with. Unsurprisingly, money is probably the biggest obstacle. It’s all too easy for the making of art to become a luxury, especially these days. By participating in 20×200 as a collector, you’re a patron. You’re helping them not give up.

Yes, you read that right. With just a few clicks, you can help yourself get some excellent art and help an artist keep on keeping on! How fantastic is that? Click on over to 20×200 to enact a mutually beneficial purchase now!

I’m particularly fond of the Orbs photographs, which I wrote about here last summer. I was amazed to discover that there is a burgenoning population of people on our planet that believe that lens flare is more than just lens flare. It’s true, and it is this fascination that started Van de Roer on the project. You can see and read more coverage of the Orbs project:
but does it float, The Exposure Project, design work life, ISO50 Blog, Abecedarian, Dossier Journal,Beautiful Decay,Dear Ada, SeeSaw Designs.

More about The Portrait Machine Project, which, yes, I also love here:
The Portrait Machine Project site, The Moment Blog (NYTimes.com), Interview Magazine

Furniture Barn by Colleen Plumb

Photographic Center Northwest recently selected a distinguished group of artists for their 14th Annual Photo-Op exhibition competition. The winners now have their work on display through September 4, 2009 at Photographic Center Northwest Gallery in Seattle to be judged by Ms. Jen Bekman. Four of the finalists are part of the JBP family, Colin Blakely; Katie Baum; Kevin Miyazaki; and Colleen Plumb are vying for first, second, and third prize. Youngna gives a thorough review on the Hey, Hot Shot! blog here.

If you’re not in the Pacific Northwest, have a look at the photographers 20×200 edition prints:
Colin Blakely
Colleen Plumb
Kevin Miyazaki
Katie Baum