As Youngna posted over on the Hey, Hot Shot! blog, PetaPixel, the photography blog geared towards the tech-savvy, has an interview up with our very own two-time Hot Shot and Jen Bekman artist, Joseph Holmes. In it, he talks about his popular blog, joe’s nyc, his work-flow, which camera he takes out on the streets and how he got acquainted with Jen Bekman Projects.

New York Times Digital by Joseph Holmes

Here’s a wonderful sentiment from Joseph when asked about his goal in photography:

My goal is to continue to explore and learn. Photography isn’t a journey with a final destination, it’s a life-long process of discovery. That sounds corny, but it’s important: photography is infinitely deep, and becoming a photographer never ends. I’m a beginner, and that’s something I embrace, not rush away from.

Universal Spring by Joseph Holmes

With that in mind, check out joe’s nyc and visit the archives to see Joseph’s work from the very beginning, dating all the way back to 2004! I’ve chosen a few of my favorite images from Joseph’s Workspace series.

Don’t forget to head over to PetaPixel for Joseph’s full interview!

Michael Jackson and Bubbles (1988) by Jeff Koons

I’ve been avoiding most of the news regarding the King of Pop’s passing but Hilton Als’ heartbreaking piece on Michael Jackson for The New York Review of Books was hard to miss.

See more of the art world’s response to MJ and his death via the round-up of links below:

Of course we all know the image above by artist Jeff Koons, but apparently French artist Jean-Baptiste Seckler is sculpting a public tribute to the icon in front of Paris’ Pompidou Center. The sculpture is a rendering of Jackson during the Thriller era. Sculptor Seckler explains, “I’ve spent quite a lot of time on the eyes to try and capture the intensity of the personality.”

A shopping mall in Berlin is hosting a 200 ton sand sculpture constructed as a memorial for the late star.

Hip-hop video blogger Jay Smooth responds to Jackson’s passing noting his decision to process memories without making media.

Could Gary, Indiana, Michael Jackson’s birthplace, be the new Graceland? Maybe not:

Their house shows no mark of its former occupants’ success, save for the renamed streets—it sits at the corner of Jackson Street and Jackson Family Boulevard. It’s incredible to imagine that a family of 11 once lived in the tiny two-bedroom bungalow. There is no garage. Maybe there was, once. Maybe they just practiced in the yard, though dancing in the grass is hard. Maybe there’s a basement we don’t know about.

When you think about it, Michael Jackson, the dancer, didn’t have a lot of moves but was so much fun to watch:

Greetings, fair readers. It is a beautiful Wednesday afternoon and I wanted to share some inspirational images to carry you through to the rest of your day and perhaps into Thursday. The following images were found with the upcoming Summer Reading show in mind. Enjoy!

Things Could Be Worse, 2007, by Jim Torok

Untitled (My Bad), 2009, by Mike Monteiro

OOF, 1962, by Edward Ruscha

Addicted to the Internet?, 2009, by Michael Mandiberg

Praia Piquinia | 06/08/04 15h40 | 44” x 37” Lambda print | Edition of 9

Opening Reception | Wednesday, May 20, 2009 | 6pm-8pm
images | artist statement | press release

Please join us at the gallery this Wednesday, May 20th, from 6-8 p.m. We’ll be celebrating French photographer Christian Chaize’s debut US exhibition, Praia Piquinia. Comprised of nine large-scale color photographs, the exhibition will remain on view through Saturday, July 11th.*

Jen Bekman Gallery
e: info@jenbekman.com | w: www.jenbekman.com | p: +1.212.219.0166

6 Spring Street
(between Elizabeth + Bowery)
New York City 10012

The gallery is open Wednesday — Saturday from noon-6 p.m., or by private appointment.

* Please note that our regular gallery hours will be in effect for the duration of this exhibition and throughout our upcoming group show, Summer Reading.

The work of JBG artist Carrie Marill has been featured on the website BOOOOOOOM!. BOOOOOOOM! is a multimedia blog dedicated to “fostering a community of people excited to go out and be creative!” Other JBG artists have been featured on this site as well such as Amy Ross & William Crump.  

BOOOOOOOM! also listed 20×200’s blog as one of the ‘17 creative websites to bookmark (unless you are dumb)’ saying, “It’s a great cross-section of artists and all the work you see is available for purchase.” Ain’t that the truth? I should probably mention here that I just bought my first piece of art off 20×200 a couple of weeks ago and now that I’m looking again, I kind of want this one to be my second. I just can’t get enough!

Now, I think I’ll spend the rest of the day surfing BOOOOOOOM!. Happy Friday, everyone…

On Tuesday, April 28th, the Village Voice wrote an online feature of Lower East Side art spaces in an article called, “Canvasing the Neighborhood at Sunday, Jen Bekman, Janos Gat, and Beyond’. The fine folks at the Voice mention stopping by JBG to see Beth Dow’s show Ruins during their tour of the neighborhood galleries. If you find yourself with a free day, especially during this beautiful bout of sunshine we’ve been enjoying, take their advice and go on your own gallery-hop. Come by Jen Bekman Gallery and pick up a Lower East Side Gallery Guide map – you won’t believe how many art spaces there are to see around here!

As was mentioned last week, Beth received a lovely review by William Meyers in the Leisure & Arts section of the April 25-26 weekend issue of the Wall Street Journal. If you missed the printed version, you can read the article, “Veterans, Youngsters and ‘Ruins’“ online.

Ruins is up at Jen Bekman Gallery through May 16th, 2009. Make sure you don’t miss it!

Robert Frost once wrote, “No surprise in the poet, no surprise in the reader.”  Sitting behind the desk here at JBG, I have the wonderfully unique experience of seeing the reactions of the people who visit the gallery.  Just now, I watched a woman react to the image above with disbelief and amusement.  It is a sure testament to Beth Dow’s current work “Ruins” when visitors to the Gallery question what they see.  This is one of the many magical instances where art photography is uniqely engaging.  In her artist statement, Dow admits to us that she “[approaches] these pictures as a tourist.”  This sort of honesty speaks to that engaging element of surprise from both the artist’s perspective and, subsequently, the viewer’s.

What surprises me about these pictures is the way in which they offer the uncanny reality of an unknown American landscape. Visitors to the gallery often ask if the images are enhanced suspecting that the artist may have digitally inserted these ‘ruins’ onto the scene. No, we say, these places actually exist!  William Meyers, photography critic for the Wall Street Journal, seems to suggest that Dow’s work contains a kind of layered irony in the fact of the existence of the ‘ruins’  and in the way that they are then found, photographed, and printed.  In his review of the show, he writes that “Ms. Dow’s platinum-palladium prints have the look of 19th century photographs of actual antiquities, a final jest.”

Joke or not, the work contains multitudes.  On certain days, the images read as unusually depressing indications of cultural decline; other days, they become humorous depictions of surreality.  This transformation that the photographs undergo, describing something different in the eye of the beholder, creates space for the possibility of continual surprise with every viewing. And that the pictures ultimately ask us to reflect on our own humanity is, in my opinion, Dow’s greatest success. “While genuine ruins remind us of our own mortality,” Dow says. “[T]hey also suggest the opposite by showing it’s possible to endure, even if only in a reduced and degraded form.”

To be surrounded by such poetry is a rare treat.

“Ruins” will be on display until May 16, 2009. Click here to read the review from the Wall Street Journal.

Welcome back from the weekend, everyone. Kate’s opening was a great success and for those of you who could not make it, we missed you. The show runs until October 27 and the gallery is open from Wednesdays – Saturdays, noon to 6pm and you can come see us anytime during those times to get your dose of Obsessive Consumption. You can see photos of Kate in action as she installs and of the wondrous opening on her Flickr stream. Also, be sure to stay tuned to Kate’s blog: What Did You Buy Today? if you do not already do so, as there are sure to be juicy updates and treats in the next while as she gets back into action.

Also in other news, Jen will be talking about her work at the gallery, Hey, Hot Shot! and her latest project, 20×200 at an event this Wednesday at 6:30pm at the Apple Store in Soho, sponsored by Gothamist and nyc.photobloggers.org. Among the other participants, Jen will be joined by Hey, Hot Shot! ne plus ultra, Joe Holmes and Eliot Shepard, who had a solo show with Jen back in Spring 2005.

Admission is free, and seats are limited on a first come, first serve basis. It should be a great evening with a lot of great discussion and an informative chat, no doubt. Hope to see you there!

You can find the full invite, here or find more information from the official press release, along with info on location and details below:

September 26, 2007 @ 6:30 PM
at the SoHo Apple Store
103 Prince Street @ Greene (map)
After Party Merc Bar

NYCPB’s Featured Photobloggers
Eliot Shepard Eliot Shepard
Jay Parkinson Dark Shapes Prowl
Joe Holmes Joe’s NYC
Matt Weber Urban Photos
Red deLeon 990000

And a special presentation by Jen Bekman of 20×200, Hey Hot Shot, and the Jen Bekman Gallery

Sponsors
Gothamist and nyc.photobloggers.org
Hosted by Jake Dobkin.

As regular blog readers know, Nina Berman’s recent exhibition Purple Hearts, got an amazing review in The New York Times, which was followed by two additional listings in subsequent weeks and an overwhelmingly fantastic array of international press.

20×200 has been getting some attention as well. You can check out our media mentions to date on the 20×200 blog. Also look for us in the current issue of Dwell and the upcoming issue of Ready Made.

In her free time, Jen’s been pursuing her own journalistic endeavors. Look for her interview with photographer Alec Soth in the Fall issue of photo-eye Booklist.

To stay up to date on all the various Jen Bekman Projects, bookmark our blogs, or subscribe to their RSS feeds:

Jen Bekman News Blog

The Hey, Hot Shot! Blog

The 20×200 Blog

Personism (Jen’s personal blog.)

Enough with the virtual, let’s get real – the best way to have the Jen Bekman experience is live and in person. Come visit us at the gallery:

Jen Bekman Gallery
6 Spring St (between Elizabeth + Bowery)
NYC 10012
+1.212.219.1066

Gallery Hours:
Wednesday – Saturday | Noon – 6pm

Image currently on view at jen bekman thru August 3
© Todd Hido

Jörg Colberg, co-curator of the A New American Portrait exhibition, writes one of the internet’s most widely read blogs on photography. Jörg’s blog, Conscientious, considers the scope of contemporary photography, some current photo-related news, and acts as a hub for many of the other photography blogs online. Somehow, Jörg also manages to find the time to interview interesting photographers, one of my favorite parts of his blog. He then shares these interviews in a category he’s labeled “Conversations.”

Over the course of time that he has been conducting these interviews, Jörg has actually spoken with many of the ANAP artists: Amy Elkins, Todd Hido, Alec Soth, Alec Soth (again), Brian Ulrich, and Shen Wei.

Take some time to read through all the conversations, learn more about the photographers and see what each of them have to say about their own work.

ANAP blogs (Alec Soth, Brian Ulrich, Amy Elkins, Shen Wei)

A few of the ANAP artists also keep personal blogs on photography, which I’m deeming “required reading.”

For your perusal:

Alec Soth
Brian Ulrich
Amy Elkins
Shen Wei

Stay tuned for more required reading.