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/.

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

Danziger Projects (James Desk) from Workspaces by Joseph O. Holmes

JBG artist and 20×200 edition-maker Joseph O. Holmes has been included in the upcoming show The Year in Pictures at Danziger Projects, opening this Thursday. The show, which has been put on annually since 2007, is curated from work that has been featured in the last year on the popular Year in Pictures blog of gallery owner James Danziger.

Danziger writes,

The 15 contemporary photographers featured in the show represent 9 different countries – Saudi Arabia, Korea, Denmark, Britain, Mexico, Japan, France, Canada, and the U.S.. Over half have work I had originally only seen via the internet, evidencing the well-known power of the web as a connector, and what is sometimes taken for granted – the web’s unrivalled capacity as a transmitter of photographic images.

Earlier this year, Joe and Danziger crossed paths when Joe was working on his Workspace series, candidly documenting the unique spaces in which people do their work.

About the series, Joe writes,

Because I document a space exactly as I find it, never arranged for the camera, the Workspace project is necessarily a spontaneous process. I can’t, for example, call ahead and explain what I’m after without inviting the destruction of what I hope to capture. Lately I’ve been finding workspaces by walking in off the street with camera and tripod and simply asking (though “simply asking” doesn’t quite convey the complex dance of explanation, skepticism, persuasion, and fascination that goes back and forth). What I end up capturing, then, turns out to be the work that was interrupted to answer the door.

Danziger responded, “As I like both my workspace and Joe’s work, I was happy to co-operate and now his picture (above) is about to be all that remains as a visual record of where I’ve sat for the last five years, often writing this blog!”

Congratulations to Joe and to Danziger Projects on the show, which we cannot wait to see!

You can view the full Workspace series on Joe’s website and grab limited-edition prints on 20×200. Keep your eyes peeled because we’ll be opening a solo-show of Joe’s work later this year at Jen Bekman Gallery.

The Year in Pictures
Danziger Projects
Opening reception: January 21, 6-8 p.m.
534 West 24th Street
New York, New York 10011 USA

Featuring: Jowhara AlSaud, Chan-Hyo Bae, Thomas Bangsted, Mandy Corrado, Stephen Gill, Joseph Holmes, Alejandra Laviada, Greg Miller, David Schoerner, Patrick Smith, Tommy Ton, Scout Tufankjian, Oliver Warden, Katherine Wolkoff and Tsukasa Yokozawa.

West Nineteenth Street (Yellow Dress) by Joseph O. Holmes

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!

Site by Sarah McKenzie

Jen Bekman Gallery is exhibiting at the PULSE Miami Contemporary Art Fair, Thursday, December 3 – Sunday, December 6, 2009. Please join us!

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

On view:
Paintings by Sarah McKenzie.

Additional featured artists:
Ian Baguskas, Nina Berman, Mara Bodis Wollner, Christian Chaize, Beth Dow, Joseph O. Holmes, Karolina Karlic, Gregory Krum, Holly Lynton, Carrie Marill, Brad Moore, Hosang Park, Colleen Plumb, Jason Polan, Kent Rogowski, and Carlo Van de Roer.

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!

For all book-lovers and art-lovers alike!
Starting this weekend, October 2nd, Printed Matter will host its 4th annual NY Art Book Fair at PS. 1. Free and open to the public, Printed Matter takes over three floors to exhibit the best of the best contemporary art publications from international presses, antiquarians, museums, galleries, and independent artists and publishers.

All weekend long, PS.1 will be infiltrated by stimulating exhibitors, lectures, performances and the second annual Contemporary Artists’ Book Conference. The diverse programming includes: a featured exhibition of Richard Prince; Calling All Readers, a retrospective of influential artists’ books and posters from the 1970s onward; a DIY exhibition of rare zines and hand-packaged DVDs by zine-makers, artists, collectives and young publishers; a solo exhibition of Canadian photographer and film-maker Bruce LaBruce, as well as Dexter Sinister, EAI (Electronic Arts Intermix), Gallery 360º from Tokyo, and the entire student body of Dutch super-school Werkplaats Typografie.

On the third floor, the Contemporary Artists’ Books Conference features a keynote session by artists Maria Eichhorn, Hans Haacke, and Seth Siegelaub in conversation with MoMA curator Christophe Cherix.

Other events include titillating electro performances by Hot Box and DubbknowDubb, book signings, and unique events to the NY Art Book Fair such as the artist-driven program The Classroom and Learn To Read Art: A History of Printed Matter
For more information and the complete list of exhibitors and programming check out their website at www.nyartfair.com

You can see today’s 20×200 edition maker Mickey Smith’s large-scale works on display there this weekend. Collocation No. 4 (TODAY)—a fifty panel piece printed on canvas—will be on display at the Invisible-Exports Booth #005.

The fair is open for preview, Thursday October 1st, 6-8pm. Following the preview, a BENEFIT will be held for Printed Matter @ Deitch Studios, in Long Island City. Tickets begin at $20 and included limited artist editions by Elmgreen & Dragset, Jutta Koether, Tom Sachs, and Mungo Thomson. The night will also feature industrial punk-and-dub duo, I.U.D. (Lizzi Bougatsos of Gang Gang Dance and Sadie Laska of Growing), and vintage house DJs Tim Lokiec and Gary Murphy.

Benefit for Printed Matter:
October 1, 8:30 PM
Deitch Studios 4-40 44th Drive at the East River waterfront
Long Island City, NY
MAP
Purchase benefit tickets online at www.nyartbookfair.com or call 212 925 0325.

Fair Location
P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center
22-25 Jackson Ave at the intersection of 46th Ave
Long Island City, NY 11101
MAP

Fair Hours:
Friday/Saturday, October 2 & 3, 2009, 11am – 7pm
Sunday, October 4, 2009, 11am – 5pm

Though the Hey, Hot Shot! 2009 First Edition Exhibition is only up at JB Gallery for a few more days, on Tuesday, September 29th, you’ll have another opportunity to mingle with Hot Shots. Team JBP is hosting the first-ever Hey, Hot Shot! Confab + Print Trade at White Rabbit from 6:00 to 8:30 p.m. Come mingle with past and former Hot Shots, esteemed panelists, contenders and fellow artists.

Space is limited, so please RSVP to RSVP@heyhotshot.com.

We’ll also be having a Print Trade! To participate, bring an 8.5” x 11” (or smaller) photographic print of your own and leave the party with another artist’s work! When you RSVP, please send a jpeg (800 pixels wide, 72 dpi) of the print you plan to bring to RSVP@heyhotshot.com.

We’ll also have drink specials, giveaways from our generous sponsors at Arlo/Artists and Crumpler—with a few surprises from JBP as well—and ample opportunities to meet fellow photographers and artists in the JBP community.

If you’re interested in applying to Hey, Hot Shot! and want to know more about the competition, more information is available on the site. Or, come by the confab and ask us about it in-person.

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.

If I Had a Voice I Would Sing, 2009 by Michelle Arcila

So it seems, summer is over. It’s the first week of September and already the weather is cooling off; the city is once again flooded with people returning from their vacations, new students are arriving to begin college, no more concerts in the Park, no more beach trips… and I’m not ready. Everyone is back to the grind, and with all the rain we had this summer, I’m not wiling to surrender to September just yet. Here are some ways I’m trying to keep the relaxing days of summer with me as long as I can. Please, come with me!

Take one last—or first, if you were tragically stranded in the city—summer retreat with this animated video by New York Times contributor Jeff Scher, titled Summer Retreat. It’s a relaxing, beautiful short that manages to make you feel like it’s July at the beach in only one and a half minutes.

I keep going back to Hot Shot Michelle Arcila’s photographs; her work never ceases to amaze. I especially love her set In August from her Flickr Photostream, which Jeffrey linked to in an earlier post, also about the end of summer. The set contains some beautifully serene photographs, including staple summer scenes like lake-swimming and a blanket blowing in the wind of the woods.

For an away-from-the-computer-and-outside activity, I’m looking forward to checking out Dome Colony X at the San Gabriels created by Fritz Haeg at x-initiative on 22nd Street between 10th and 11th Ave. The show space contains, “a shifting encampment or colony of four geodesic dome tents for occupations, gatherings, regular meetings, and intimate organized activities,” all set within a mural of LA’s own San Gabriel mountains. As a native Los Angeleno myself, I’m very interested in seeing this 8000 square foot “Mountain Colony.” Find out more on their website or just go! It’s running until October 24, Wed.-Sat. 11am-6pm.

Am I the only one who hasn’t been to the High Line? I’m going this weekend. Also, just watched this video on Governors Island— perfect summer activity, seven minute ferry ride away and it’s open year-round. It’s still warm enough and I don’t have a pile of work on my desk just yet, so I’m going to get on it before the leaves change and the wind picks up and the snow starts to fall…

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

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

from the series 58 Empress Pines Drive by Christine Callahan

JBG’s Christine Callahan will be participating in the 2009 Pingyao International Photography Festival, the world’s largest photography exhibition. Art Director of the PIP Festival, Zhang Guotian, announced in June that the festival will be held from September 19th to 25th in Pingyao, a Chinese city and county in central Shanxi province.

The theme of this year’s festival is “Life & Dream:”

Each photographer is full of life; each photographic work is the visual life; and each artistic creation can represent life. The dream is just the reason why life has aroused our concern. Only by endowing life with dream can it give the act of thinking and get into the act in its diverse splendor, and, in this case, life is worth while to consider, document and break new ground.

from the series 58 Empress Pines Drive by Christine Callahan

Callahan’s photographs seen above will be on display in the “Young Artists Emerging in America” portion of the festival.  For more information on this year’s Pingyao International Photography Festival, please visit the 2009 festival website.

More work by Christine Callanhan can be found on the gallery website or on her personal website.

This weekend, June 6 + 7, from noon-7 Desalvio Playground at the corner of Mulberry and Spring plays host to Fragment. The event will feature live events at the playground and a NOLITA art walk through many of the neighborhood galleries. The maps for this self guided tour will be available from the playground.

Jen Bekman Gallery is pleased to be apart of the event and we will be open this Saturday and Sunday from noon to 7 to give you the extra chance to see Christian Chaize’s, Praia Piquinia. For more info go to the NOLITA Neighborhood Association website.

Fragment
Art in the Park and NOLITA Art Walk
Saturday and Sunday, June 6 + 7 from 12-7pm.
Maps available at Desalvio playground @ Mulberry and Spring Streets

Can’t Make it This Weekend?

Christian Chaize Praia Piquinia video diary from jenbekman on Vimeo.

Check out Christian’s video diary from the opening of his show. (It’s set to music from Twin Peaks so you can’t go wrong!)

Jen Bekman will be a part of the Collecting in Brooklyn panel TOMORROW Wednesday, May 27, from 7 – 8:30 p.m. at the Brooklyn Museum. The panel is part of the museum’s Collecting Currently program, a conversational evening series on art collecting in the fluctuating market for both the savvy and the curious.

Collecting in Brooklyn
Wednesday, May 27, 7 – 8:30 p.m.
Familiarize yourself with the work of emerging Brooklyn artists and develop insider strategies for collecting. Moderated by Andras Szanto, senior lecturer at Sotheby’s Institute of Art and co-founder of artworldsalon.com, the panel includes noted artist and collector Danny Simmons, Joe Amrhein, from Williamsburg’s Pierogi gallery, Steve Weintraub of Arts in Bushwick, and Jen Bekman of the here fine Jen Bekman Projects, Inc.

Registration
$20 per session ($15 for members)
To Register go to www.museumtix.com

Brooklyn Museum
Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Gallery, 5th Floor
200 Eastern Parkway
Brooklyn, NY 11238
MAP

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.

Heads up!  If you’re in the LES tonight, you should know about these shows opening tonight in the area…

DCKT Contemporary (195 Bowery 6-8pm) has a new show called Abundant Creatures by artist Michael Velliquette.  The artist “hand cuts and glues paper cardstock into complex dimensional assemblages reminiscent of the interiors of large-scale pop-up books or mosaics in high relief. In his current body of work Velliquette returns once again to garden and jungle settings where humorous and visually dense paper tableaux are populated with animistic spirits, beasts, goons and gods.” Click here for more information.

Thierry Goldberg Projects (5 Rivington Street 6-8pm) presents painter Ben Grasso and his new body of work, Clearing. “With his new body of work, Grasso continues to explore the boundaries between notions of representation and abstraction. Tossed like confetti, hurtling parts of man-made structures freeze in midair and mingle with nature—suggesting a potential surprise within all objects.” Click here for more information.

Other shows opening tonight:

• Alex Asher Daneil’s Private Cosmogony at Kate Robinson Fine Art, 95 Rivington Street from 7-9pm.


• Carrie Moyer’s Arcana at Canada, 55 Chrystie Street from 6-9pm.


• Everyman’s An Angel, a group exhibition at NY Studio Gallery, 154 Stanton Street from 7-9pm.

Get your bids in! The Fifth Annual BAMart Silent Auction closes MONDAY, MAY 11 at 8PM.  JBG artists Kent Rogowski and Carrie Marill both have wonderful pieces up for auction. Take a look at what Ms. Jen Bekman has to say about Carrie’s piece, Optical (shown above), on her Tumblr.

Remember! The Silent Auction Cocktail Reception is TOMORROW, May 9, from 5-7 PM at BAM (30 Lafayette Ave in Brooklyn) with special guest emcees Andrew Andrew. After that, you can follow the party to Diety Lounge (368 Atlantic Avenue between Hoyt and Bond Sts.) 7:30PM until 11PM where there will be drink specials and DJs helping BAM celebrate another successful year!

Exciting news! Jen Bekman Gallery’s booth at NEXT Art Fair in Chicago was named as one of Time Out Chicago’s ‘fave booths!’ Lauren Weinberg reports on a more compact fair this year noting, “NEXT, an invitation-only fair for ‘emerging’ (often hipper) galleries, dropped from 192 exhibitors in 2008 to roughly 86.” Due to this downsizing, the fair is more easily navigable so your “eyes won’t glaze over before you reach our fave booths, [...] NEXT’s Jen Bekman [...].”

Click here to read the full article.

If you happen to be in Chicago, stop by and see Sarah McKenzie’s work and our booth’s sweet digs courtesy of Design Within Reach! We’d love to see you… We are here at The Merchandise Mart in Booth 7-8033 until Monday, May 4, 2009. Don’t have passes? Drop us an email at info at jenbekman dot com and we’ll give you some!

Jen Bekman Gallery is exhibiting at the NEXT Art Fair, Thursday, April 30 – Monday, May 4, 2009. Please join us!

NEXT Chicago — Booth 7-8033
The Merchandise Mart

We have a sneak preview for you! The official first day of NEXT 2009 is tomorrow, May 1st, but we have a glimpse of our booth at the fair especially for you. You will probably notice how wonderfully crisp, clean and swanky our booth looks which is very much a result of the beautiful furniture donated by the folks at Design Within Reach. The table and chairs they sent our way add something extra special to our booth. Even better, they are having a sale that ends today that includes free standard shiping! Of course, our booth would be nothing if Sarah Mckenzie’s paintings were not gracing the wall! We have included two brand new paintings, Interior 4 and Interior 5 in this showing of her work.

In addition to paintings by Sarah Mckenzie, additional featured artists are: Ian Baguskas, Mara Bodis Wollner, Christine Callahan, Christian Chaize, Beth Dow, Joseph Holmes, Gregory Krum, Holly Lynton, Carrie Marill, Mike Monteiro, Brad Moore, Hosang Park, Jason Polan, Kent Rogowski, and Carlo Van de Roer

Ian Baguskas, Mike Monteiro, Brad Moore, Hosang Park

Opening Night Tickets
We have a limited number of tickets to the opening night of NEXT TONIGHT from 7-10pm. Email info@jenbekman.com to RSVP.

NEXT Talk Shop Panel with Jen Bekman
Jen will be speaking as part of the panel Alternative Spaces and the Creative Current on Sunday May 3 @ 2:30.

Allison Peters, Hyde Park Art Center; Independent Curator, Britton Bertran; gallerist Jen Bekman and Heather Hubbs, Director NADA, as they discuss alternative spaces and today’s market place. Addressing curatorial practices, innovative programming, creative funding models and inventive marketing this panel offers insight to moving forward in this economic climate.

Sunday May 3, 2009 | 2:30 – 3:30 pm
Location: NEXT Talk Shop, 7th floor
The Merchandise Mart