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!

Our founder, Jen Bekman, was on FOX Business News, speaking with Eric Bolling about Jen Bekman Projects. The clip is above and if you watch the whole video, the title of my post will make more sense.

We have all been busy here at Jen Bekman Gallery (and all of JBP). Here are some quick links to keep you posted on all that has been going on.

Over at We Covet blog—well, they covet the work of JBG artist Carrie Marill!

Mixtape is open. You can check out install shots and photos from the opening on the gallery Flickr page.

Brad Moore over at ACAD Photo.

Driver steals and deals an Andy Warhol work.

Coolio has a cookbook and The Village Voice is on it, providing the best quotes.

Dan Flavin’s work is up at David Zwirner through December 19th. As always, it is rad.

Painter Allison Schulnik did an awesome video for the band Grizzly Bear.

Lastly, Jen Bekman Gallery will be at PULSE Miami so come by and see the paintings of Sarah McKenzie in booth I-107.

Album 01 by Paul Madonna

Don’t forget to come to the gallery tonight, November 20, 2009! Jen Bekman Gallery will proudly open Mixtape, a group exhibition featuring forty-five original works and limited-edition prints from 20×200, by thirty-six artists. In the spirit of what Geoffrey O’Brien declared the “most widely practiced American art form,” Mixtape brings the studio soundtrack to the gallery walls.

Participating artists include: Michelle Arcila, Ian Baguskas, Kate Bingaman-Burt, Christine Callahan, Christian Chaize, Jorge Colombo, William Crump, Jessica Eaton, Scott Eiden, Clare Grill, Chad Hagen, Nick Hardeman, Joseph O. Holmes, Jason Jagel, Roel Knappstein, Gregory Krum, Liz Kuball, Jeff Lewis, Yijun (Pixy) Liao, Scott Listfield, Paul Madonna, Sarah McKenzie, Mike Monteiro, Jane Mount, Tommy Perman, Gary Petersen, Colleen Plumb, Jason Polan, Tyson Anthony Roberts, Mike Sinclair, Jessica Snow, Trey Speegle, William Swanson, Amy Talluto, Ann Toebbe and Matthew Tischler!

See you soon! If you are out of town, please visit the Mixtape exhibition page here.

Mixtape
Opening Reception: Friday, November 20th, 2009, 6 to 8 p.m.
On View: November 21st – January 9th, 2010*
Jen Bekman Gallery
6 Spring Street
(between Elizabeth + Bowery)
New York, New York 10012

Gallery Hours:
Wednesday – Saturday | Noon – 6 p.m.*

*The gallery will be closed for the holidays: Nov. 26 – 27 | Dec. 24 – 26 | Jan. 1, 2010

Bird on Stairs by Colleen Plumb

Colleen Plumb is featured on the NYMPHOTO blog today, in an interview where she discusses her work and her aspirations.

When asked how she discovered photography, Ms. Plumb replies: 

I had a job at a graphic design firm after college and I was restless, I felt like I was not doing what I was supposed to be doing. One day after work I was driving home and it literally struck me all at once: ‘I will go to grad school in photography’ ...I do feel like I still am discovering photography all the time. It keeps getting better and more interesting to me. It is such an intricate language and my goal is to become fluent.

Colleen’s Tiger Rug, Cabrini Green will be featured in our upcoming group exhibition Mixtape. The show opens Friday, November 20th and will be on view from November 21st through January 9th.

Howon-dong | 40” x 50” | Edition of 5 | Digital C-Print
Larger views and image details are available on our Flickr page

Jen Bekman Gallery is pleased to announce the extension of  A Square through November 14th. Hosang Park is one of two artists to be awarded representation by Jen Bekman Gallery in 2008 through the international photography competition, Hey, Hot Shot!

Park, a Korea-based artist, began taking aerial photographs of parks that are often developed alongside luxury apartment buildings in Seoul. His resulting images in A Square flatten the spaces into geometric surfaces reminiscent of modernist abstraction.

Recently DLK Collection posted a review of the exhibition; there is more to Park’s photographs than meets the on-screen eye. Associate Director of the gallery, Jeffrey Teuton, also talks about the subtle details of Park’s work in the 20×200 reprise of the artist’s two editions.

Les, Amber, Honeybees, New Mexico, 2008, from Holly Lynton’s series Bare Handed wass donated by the artist and Jen Bekman Gallery for SF Camerawork’s 2009 Benefit Auction

SF Camerawork is a non-profit artists’ organization and gallery for photography. Each year an auction is held to raise funds to support SF Camerawork’s exhibitions and educational programs. This year, five JBG artists, Nina Berman, Christine Callahan, Holly Lynton, Joe Holmes and Colleen Plumb, have donated work to be auctioned. Preview the catalog of vintage and contemporary photographs online. For those of you lucky enough to call San Francisco home, mark your calendars for the exhibition viewing being held from November 10th – December 4th. The auction will commence Saturday, December 5th at 1 p.m.
More details available here.

Michael Mandiberg will have an installation on view at Eyebeam this Friday, October 23, and Saturday, October 24, from 3–6 p.m. as part of Eyebeam Open Studios .

The central piece featured, FDIC Insured, is a collection of cast-off investment books from the Strand’s dollar racks, engraved with the logos of all of the failed banks of the Great Recession. Mandiberg explained that it is a monument to the current economic crisis. In a sense, Mandiberg has excavated our country’s past misfortunes and brought them to life through his use of laser-cutting technology, at a time when it hits home to so many of us. After viewing the show, I got the chance to sit down with Michael and we spent a good deal of time throwing around ideas for future installations of this piece. I can’t say too much but if you have a few-stories-high atrium, give me a ring. 

Along the right side of the wall are laser-cut drawings of security patterns from the inside of security envelopes, that were scanned, created into Illustrator files and then laser cut.

Before and After is made from 1982 and 1992 World Book Encylopedias, enscribed with things that were (Free Love, Analog, Prisoner of War) and things that are (HIV/AIDS, Digital, Enemy Combatant).  For me, the vacillation between ironic humor and current social/political issues does not curb the effectiveness and impact of the works but instead highlights the scope of Mandiberg’s artistic ideas and visions. Michael says he ”likes taking dictionaries and turning them into memorials”, and so throughout the installation there are altered reference books acting as “memorials” to the books we have all seemed to stop using, opting for today’s technology to instantly provide us with answers. 

This piece (below) in the World Book Dictionary expresses his reaction to seeing dictionaries actually in use.

In a video by Graham Parker, Michael speaks for himself, eloquently describing his techniques and influences on his work:

Michael Mandiberg studio visit from Graham Parker on Vimeo.

Eyebeam Open Studios
Friday, October 23 and Saturday, October 24, from 3-6 p.m.

Guided tours of artists’ work will be given every hour.
Work on view from Fellows and Resident Artists:

Ayah Bdeir
Jeff Crouse
Steve Lambert
Michael Mandiberg
Diana Eng
Scott Kildall
Ligorano/Reese
Rashaad Newsome
Marina Zurkow

With the deadline for this edition of Hey, Hot Shot! competition looming just around the corner, next Friday, October 23rd @ 8 p.m. (EDT), I thought I would take a peek at the contenders. The resulting pairing features images by contenders Magda Biernat and Gregoire Pujade Lauraine.

I don’t know why yet but the pairing has stuck with me all day and so I thought I would share it. From both I get a feeling loneliness and sense of something being wrong. Something that everyone may not know just yet. Perhaps it is the eerie awkwardness that I feel radiates from both images that brings them together in my mind.

Souche by Gregoire Pujade Lauraine

Waiting room, Alishan, Taiwan. 2008 by Magda Biernat

Don’t forget to submit your photos to HHS! Apply now:
We only accept submissions online, via this website.
The deadline for entries is Friday, October 23, 2009 @ 8 p.m (EDT).

Hot Shots will be announced on Monday, November 30, 2009.

There is a $60 handling fee for your entry.

Submissions are open to everyone, from anywhere in the world!

Questions?:
Check out our informative FAQ, follow us on Twitter or find us on Facebook.

Interested in seeing work from previous Hot Shots? Check out the index for all previous Hot Shots, visit the Hey, Hot Shot! blog or look at our photo sets on flickr.

Apply Now!

On Tuesday, October 20th, the gallery will host the Official Release Party for City Walks Architecture: New York, published by Chronicle Books.

First, join us for drinks and view Hosang Park’s photographs included in his exhibition, A Square. Then, author Alissa Walker will lead the group on a stroll through the ever-changing Lower East Side with special stops at the New Museum, the Storefront for Art & Architecture and more. The evening winds up back at the JB Gallery for a tasting of four special New York-inspired flavors of gelato from il laboratorio del gelato. You will be able to purchase a copy of the book, on-site, that evening, and Alissa will sign your favorite neighborhood!

Order of Events:
6 p.m. — Meet at Jen Bekman Gallery, 6 Spring Street
7-8:30 p.m. — Walk through the LES
8:30 p.m. — Gelato reception at Jen Bekman Gallery

Alissa will be leading a Week of Walks, from October 18th to the 24th, taking six different urban adventures based on City Walks Architecture: New York! For a full list of other walks you can check out Alissa’s blog—Gelatobaby. The Brooklyn Bridge, High Line, Broadway Skyscrapers and more are all on the schedule!

All walks are free and require no advanced reservation, simply show up at the denoted time ready to walk. All tours include a complimentary serving of gelato or ice cream, plus all attendees will receive a coupon good for a discount on City Walks Architecture: New York.

About City Walks Architecture: New York (stolen from the Chronicle website):

City Walks Architecture: New York—Packed with 25 walking adventures, this unique guide uncovers the Big Apple’s most breathtaking buildings, parks, and monuments! Each card focuses on a specific area and features helpful background information, detailed walking instructions, a full-color map, and stunning photography. Covering both landmark structures and little-known wonders, this is the perfect gift for design-savvy travelers and adventurous locals alike.

Walks include:
Greenwich Village
Empire State Building
Central Park
World Trade Center Site
And more!

Daechi-dong by Hosang Park

The New Museum led tours around LES galleries is back again this weekend with two more tours! It is this Sunday, October 4 with a group leaving at 12:30 and another at 3 p.m. Both groups meet in the New Museum Lobby and take off from there. Each tour is different so come to both!

Once again JB Gallery’s Associate Director, Jeffrey Teuton (me) will be around to talk about the exhibition, A Square, photographs by Hosang Park that is currently on view, as well as other Jen Bekman Projects, like the Hey, Hot Shot! competition and 20×200.

LES Gallery Tour Group One 12:30 PM @ The New Museum Lobby
DCKT Contemporary (I love the current show, LOVE), Jen Bekman Gallery, Thrust Projects, CANADA, James Fuentes LLC, Rental,Invisible-Exports, Lisa Cooley, Heist, Rachel Uffner, Number 35.

LES Gallery Tour Group Two 3 PM @ The New Museum Lobby
Sue Scott, Thierry Goldberg Projects (a great painting show is up), Eleven Rivington, KumuKumu, Nicelle Beauchene, LMAK Projects, Envoy, Small A Project, On Stellar Rays, Sloan Fine Art, Participant, and SUNDAY.

New Museum
235 Bowery
New York, NY 10002
212.219.1222
MAP

If you missed the last one there is no excuse to miss it again.

Dongbaek-dong by Hosang Park (detail)

Part of what makes the photographs work in Hosang Park’s A Square is the myriad of entry points into the photographs. In Dongbaek-dong, my eye moves like a snake through the images and between all the subtle details.

When I first unpacked the photographs, my favorite find was the two abandoned bicycles in the pond (above). In order to help show these details in the work, we have created four detail images of each photograph that is included in the show. Moving clockwise through each image, the detail shots help to bring this amazing work closer to those of you who cannot make it in to the gallery.

To check out all the detail shots head over to the gallery’s Flickr page.

Dongbaek-dong by Hosang Park (detail)

Dongbaek-dong by Hosang Park (detail)

Dongbaek-dong by Hosang Park (detail)

Need last minute Saturday plans? Head over to The Storefront for Art and Architecture for the launch of The BLDGBLOG Book TODAY, September 26, from 3 to 8 p.m. Author Geoff Manaugh will be joined by many of the “writers, thinkers, and practitioners whose work is featured in The BLDGBLOG Book, in a day-long event of back-to-back presentations.” The event is free and you can view the schedule of speakers here.

At 6:00 p.m. our very own Hey, Hot Shot! Associate Director Alan Rapp will be speaking. Alan is the editor of the book, which is published by Chronicle Books. Alan worked at Chronicle up until last year before coming to join us at Jen Bekman Projects.

This past Thursday, Peggy Roalf of AI+AP’s Design Arts Daily newsletter published her interview with Alan on how the blog became a book. You can read the full interview and view the newsletter here.

Catch up on the blog by visiting bldgblog.blogspot.com. A good place to start would be with Nicola Twilley’s article, Park’s Parks, discussing the work of 2008 HHS! Ultra Hosang Park. Hosang’s solo exhibition, A Square is currently on view at the gallery through November 7th.

The BLDGBLOG Book Launch
The Storefront for Art and Architecture
Saturday, September 26th, from 3:00 to 8:00 p.m.
97 Kenmare Street, New York, NY.
MAP

Speedboat and Hearse, Maine by Chris Hoare

I give you another pairing of work to contemplate today, maybe slightly macabre, on the idea of departure—from what, I’m not sure. In looking at Hey, Hot Shot! contender Chris Hoare’s photograph, Speedboat and Hearse, Maine, the juxtaposition between the two subjects suggests to me two different means of departure.

Untitled by Kent Rogowski

The photo, paired with Kent Rogowski’s Untitled neon sign, reading “Someday it will happen”—from our past Summer Reading show—lends an ambiguous, ominous tone to Hoare’s photograph, making you consider “the end”, but I also like this pairing for its subtle humor, to me at least.

The giant speedboat plays well with Rogowski’s neon sign; both reference some vein of consumerism—possibly advertising that “someday” you too could have this life, your own speedboat in the driveway. But, of course, we return to the solemn idea that even in this same dream, it will all end. There, I said it. Everyone will die someday. But, in the meantime, go get your speedboat and ride on the water and enjoy your life!

Dongbaek-dong by Hosang Park

For his upcoming exhibition, A Square, photographs of man-made Korean parks surrounding luxury high-rise buildings, Hosang is looking at areas that are created to bring people out of their homes and bring them together. However, he says of his photographs:

I find that showing the parks in this way reflects the characteristics of the Korean metropolis where I live. While a park might be associated with rest and play, these areas are increasingly used commercially as a means to boost property values. It would, after all, be hard to have discussions or take rest in such places. Likewise, for people in contemporary Korea, days are compressed in terms of time and space and taking a rest in a small downtown area doesn’t seem to have any meaning at all.

Have Park’s parks lost out to video games such as Second Life perhaps? James Deavin’s work from his 2006 solo show, Photographs From The New World explores where perhaps the people have gone. Deavin says:

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?

Untitled (interior) by James Deavin

Are the parks in Park’s photos just as much a fabrication of an ideal as what Deavin found in Second Life? Is one more real than the other, just because it physically exists? Is the online world winning out against our real lives?

Yesterday, the New Island Festival commenced on Governors Island for the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s first voyage from the Netherlands to what is now New York City. A collaboration between NY400 and over 150 Dutch artists, the festival not only celebrates this historical journey, but the “free spirit, openness, entrepreneurship and tolerance of those Dutch-American pioneers, and their continued relevance today and beyond.”

There are various site-specific installations and performances taking place throughout the 172-acre island, including a 400 ft long table that also serves as a stage and runway, the sprawling Wind Nomads installation by Floris Leeuwenberg and “ a joyous dance party where all the participants wear headphones.” The only downside, unfortunately, is that a pass costs $35, but you can also buy single admission tickets at $5 per event. But with over 150 artists, I’d say $35 dollars is a pretty great deal. 

Weather permitting, the festival takes place this weekend and the following, 11am-11pm. See you there.

Faering, 2007 by Michelle Arcila

Why don’t you join the New Museum as they lead two groups of tours around LES galleries! It is this Sunday, September 13 with a group leaving at noon and another at 3 p.m. Both groups meet in the New Museum Lobby and take off from there. Each tour is different so come to both!

The JB Gallery’s Associate Director, Jeffrey Teuton (me) will be around to talk about the current Hey, Hot Shot! 2009 First Edition Exhibition that is currently on view, as well as other Jen Bekman Projects, like the Hey, Hot Shot! competition itself and 20×200. The show looks great so I suggest you take advantage and get here before it comes down on September 19!

LES Gallery Tour Group One 12 PM @ The New Museum Lobby
DCKT Contemporary (I love the current show, LOVE), Jen Bekman Gallery, CANADA, James Fuentes LLC, Rental,Invisible-Exports, Lisa Cooley, Rachel Uffner, Number 35.

LES Gallery Tour Group Two 3 PM @ The New Museum Lobby
Sue Scott, Thierry Goldberg Projects (a great painting show is up), Eleven Rivington, KumuKumu, Nicelle Beauchene, LMAK Projects, Small A Project, On Stellar Rays, Sloan Fine Art, SUNDAY.

New Museum
235 Bowery
New York, NY 10002
212.219.1222
MAP

Be there or be boring and sleep all day.

Artforum by Parsley Steinweiss

Hey, Hot Shot! 2009 First Edition Exhibition
Opening Reception | Wednesday, September 9, 2009 | 6–8 p.m.
images | statements | press release

Please join us THIS Wednesday, September 9, from 6 to 8 p.m., at the opening reception for the Hey, Hot Shot! 2009 First Edition Exhibition, featuring eighteen works from five photographers: Michelle Arcila, Daniel Cheek, Mike Sinclair, Parsley Steinweiss, and Kurt Tong.

See you soon at 6 Spring Street, (btwn. Elizabeth + Bowery) New York, NY!

The exhibition will be on view Thursday, September 10th through Saturday, September 19th, 2009.

Psst! Also:
HHS! 2009 Second Edition Competition is now open for submissions.
Entries will be accepted until Friday, October 23rd, 2009 at 8:00 p.m. EDT.
See what the competition is all about, then enter your work!

Rickery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, Florida, 2009 by Daniel Cheek

Is it really almost the end of the summer? I say boo to that. Some links to help you take your mind off that thought:

In case you cannot get enough text-based artwork (I never can), the art collectors have a great post about two new books that deal with the “rise of text in art.”

Don’t forget that JBG will open the Hey, Hot Shot! 2009 First Edition exhibition on September 9, with a reception from 6 – 8 p.m. The show features work from Michelle Arcila, Daniel Cheek, Mike Sinclair, Parsley Steinweiss and Kurt Tong.

Michelle Arcila’s Flickr stream has long been a favorite around here.

As we mentioned earlier, Mike Sinclair’s blog is regularly updated as he makes new work.

And Parsley, Daniel and Kurt’s personal sites are all chock-full of their recent projects. Take a peek!

See you at the opening!

American Heritage Encyclopedia by Hot Shot Parsley Steinweiss

Mark your calendars! Before you know it it will be Thursday, September 10th! On this day from 6-8pm be sure to swing by Jen Bekman Gallery to see our Hey, Hot Shot! 2009 First Edition Group Exhibition. You’ll see photographs from a brilliant bunch:

Michelle Arcila
Daniel Cheek
Mike Sinclair
Parsley Steinweiss
and Kurt Tong

See you there!

Jen Bekman Gallery
6 Spring Street
(between Elizabeth + Bowery)
New York, New York 10012

Gallery Hours:
Wednesday – Saturday | Noon – 6pm
Opening Reception: Thursday, September 10th, 6pm – 8pm
On View: September 10 through September 19, 2009