On the surface, Gregory Krum’s photograph, Cherifa Tree, made with his Blackberry, may seem to be just another picture of a plant, but in reality, it denotes the complicated and fascinating relationship between Jane Bowles and her Moroccan lover.  Bowles, considered one of America’s most prolific fiction authors and playwrights of the 20th century, had quite the interesting love life. Krum’s series references the lesbian love affair the author engaged in with her Moroccan servant, Anima Bakalia, more commonly known as Cherifa.

The saucy romance began when Jane moved with her husband—yes husband—Paul Bowles, to Tangier, Morocco in 1948. The story goes that Cherifa controlled Jane through a voodoo “spy plant”, which Krum alludes to in Cherifa Tree. Through the spy plant, the housekeeper utilized a talisman of blood and pubic hair to keep Jane under her charge. The author did not relinquish her loyalty to Cherifa, over a lifetime of alcoholism and serious partying, until her death in 1973. Paul Bowles maintained that Cherifa was responsible for his wife’s mental and physical deterioration and rumor has it that she poisoned Jane. For pictures of Jane Bowles and Cherifa, take a look at these photographers on her husband’s website and to see Chrerifa Tree in-person, come into the gallery to see Krum’s exhibition, ...Practice….

Monday, March 15th marked our seven (!) year anniversary of being here at 6 Spring Street. So with lots of joy and lots more nostalgia, we wanted to take a tiny glimpse back at just a few of the gorgeous works that have graced the gallery walls over the the last few years. The Hey, Hot Shot! 2009 Second Edition Exhibition is currently on view at the gallery through this Saturday, March 20th, and we’d love to celebrate with you, so come by and say hello!

Untitled by Mara Bodis Wollner from The All Girls School

Untitled by Katie Murray from home (for the holidays)

Untitled by Agnes Barley from Agnes Barley: Recent Work

Untitled by Jeffrey Teuton from Hearts of Gold and Other Expensive Things

The Garden by Addie Juell from The Way It Is

Untitled by Holly Lynton from Solid Ground

#1 by Kent Rogowski from Love = Love

Bonnie (with a photograph of an angel) by Alec Soth from A New American Portrait

The Point of Distance by Carrie Marill from Doing a Lot With Very Little

Adam Zaremba by Nina Berman from Purple Hearts

Leaning Tower by Beth Dow from Ruins

Praia Piquinia 14/08/06 16h04 by Christian Chaize from Praia Piquinia

We Love Having You Here by Zoe Strauss from Summer Reading

Rockin’ Rollin’ by Kate Bingaman-Burt from Mixtape

Geumo-dong by Hosang Park from A Square

Close Our Eyes and Go to Bed by Clare Grill from What You’re Told

Look forward to lots more to come, starting with the opening of Carrie Marill’s Visual Aides next Friday, March 26th from 6 – 8 p.m.!

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

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

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

Image of Jen Bekman’s apartment by Youngna Park

Every week design*sponge invites our collective desire for voyeurism to come out and feast on images posted in their sneak peeks column. Sneak peeks lets us into the homes of talented folks, and just yesterday Ms. Jen Bekman had the spotlight turned in her direction. It should not shock you to know that Jen’s space is overflowing with art as colorful as a box of macarons from Ladurée. She is a lady who lives by her word: LIVE WITH ART, IT’S GOOD FOR YOU.

See more of Jen’s home photographed by JBG artist Youngna Park here.

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

Untitled by Mike Sinclair

Since the 2009 First Edition Hot Shots were announced at the beginning of June, everyone at Jen Bekman Projects has been excitedly looking at the photographers whose work will be hanging in the Hey, Hot Shot! 2009 First Edition Group Exhibition opening September 9, 2009 here at JBG.  One of those Hot Shots, Mike Sinclair, caught my and Jeffrey’s eye with his spectacular artist blog.

I think Youngna said it best when she wrote that Sinclair “takes large ephemeral portraits of crowds at sun-soaked fairgrounds, beaches, and baseball games capturing a sense of nostalgic Americana that many of us get lost in, but hardly look at with any distance.” The work on the blog continues in this vein offering images, most recently, from the Missouri State Fair.

Untitled by Mike Sinclair

I’m a sucker for portraiture so I can’t stop looking at images like the one above. Everything from the subject’s poncho to her modest toe ring to the bangs flowing from her visor describe something normal and everyday, but her posture and Sinclair’s lighting transform it into something out of 16th century Dutch paintings. Nothing is particularly invasive or exploitative about what Sinclair captures in the festival goers—what he captures is honest and true.

When asked about the best advice he’s ever received as a photographer (and/or a human), he responded that his wife told him: “You don’t know what you don’t know.” Sinclair seems to view every subject with new but knowing eyes.

I’m excited to see more of his work in the upcoming Hey, Hot Shot! 2009 First Edition Group Exhibition opening September 9, 2009. Stay tuned for more!

Jen Bekman personally took to the Hey, Hot Shot! blog yesterday to introduce the project’s new Associate Director, Alan Rapp. I won’t repeat too much of the eloquent Ms. Bekman’s introduction (you can read the full post), but here is a brief bit about Alan and the path that led him to Jen Bekman Projects:

Alan recently joined the JBP team as the Associate Director of Hey, Hot Shot!. As our intrepid panelist Nion McEvoy can attest, we’re awfully lucky to have him! Alan arrived here in NYC about a year ago, leaving behind SF and his plum role as Senior Editor of art, design & photography titles at Chronicle Books. Nion—Chronicle’s Chairman and CEO —was recently telling me how hard it’s been to fill Alan’s shoes, giving me the opportunity to proudly announce our good fortune. (There might’ve been a little bit of “Nyah! Nyah!” in there, not that I’m competitive or anything.)

It is a busy time for Alan to come aboard and we are pleased to have him.

The 2009 Second Edition of HHS! is currently open for submissions! The deadline for entries is Friday, October 23, 2009 @ 8pm (EDT).

And the gallery is in full swing for the upcoming opening of the Hey, Hot Shot! 2009 First Edition Group Exhibition.

HHS! 2009 First Edition Group Exhibition Opens September 9th

Artforum by Parsley Steinweiss

Hey, Hot Shot! 2009 First Edition Group Exhibition
Please join us at the gallery Wednesday, September 9, 2009 from 6-8 p.m. at a reception for the artists.

The exhibition will be on view from September 10 through September 19, 2009 and features photographs by 2009’s First Edition Hot Shots: Michelle Arcila, Daniel Cheek, Mike Sinclair, Parsley Steinweiss and Kurt Tong.

See you there!

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!

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.

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

Jen Bekman is interviewed in the June/July issue of HotShoe International. Jen talks to Bill Kouwenhoven about the gallery, 20×200, and Hey, Hot Shot! The article features the work of Christian Chaize, Allison Grippo, Joe Holmes, Holly Lynton, Youngna Park, and Colleen Plumb. You can read the full interview with a paid online subscription to HotShoe International.

Here is what Jen had to say about the witty bit that graces the door of this establishment, “Live With Art, It’s Good For You.” – “People think it is a tag line, but it is real. It really is what drives me. I want to help as many people as possible live with art.” You have and you do! Read more online.

Growing up in Chicago, I found a handful of photographers (‘Chicagraphers’) working in the city who gave me something to look at, something to learn from. One of those photographers is Brian Ulrich. His work is going to be featured in the upcoming Summer Reading exhibition here at JBG and I am super excited to see it.

My goodness, this show is going to be fantastic!

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

At the Sea-Side

BY ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON

When I was down beside the sea
A wooden spade they gave to me
    To dig the sandy shore.
My holes were empty like a cup.
In every hole the sea came up
    Till it could come no more.

—

It’s amazing how one show comes down and another one goes up, and how, in that brief moment where the gallery sits in an empty stillness, the walls seem to yearn to have something on them again. The newest exhibition satisfies that void, featuring nine images from photographer Christian Chaize’s Praia Piquinia series, a body of work spanning five years and a total of twenty-seven images where the artist “faithfully returned to the same beach in Portugal, taking photographs from approximately the same elevated angle to create the images.”

I’ve been in the gallery all day and I find myself drifting in and out of the pictures searching for the place I’d like to be most: on the beach alone? or maybe just on a less crowded day—there, underneath one of those umbrellas.

As the sky is now overcast, I’ll close up tonight with my fingers crossed with the hope that the rest of the weekend can be like what’s seen in these images of Praia Piquinia.

JBG artist Christine Callahan is part of a group exhibition at ICP on view until June 7th, 2009.  The exhibition features the work of eight students in the 2009 ICP-Bard MFA program, a rigorous exploration of all aspects of photography through an integrated curriculum of studio and professional practice, critical study, and master classes.  Nayland Blake, chair of  the MFA program writes:

For these eight students, the photograph is hammer, scalpel, confessional, playground. Their varied approaches to such time-honored subjects as childhood, social space, personal identity, and cultural history yield startling insights into the way we live today. They blend their images with video and installation, producing works both quietly intimate and deceptively offhand. It is not until well after our encounter with them that we realize the true depth of their concerns, and the seriousness with which they pursue them.

Education Gallery: 1114 Avenue of the Americas at 43rd Street
Hours: Monday–Sunday, 10:00 am–6:00 pm

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…

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!

If you’ve been thinking about submitting to Hey, Hot Shot!’s first round of competition in 2009, now is your chance! The deadline has been extended through the weekend and entries must be completed by Tuesday, May 5, at 11:00 p.m. EST.  The opportunities and exposure available for Hot Shots, honorable mentions and contenders are better than ever. Apply now!

ALSO, our fearless leader, Jen Bekman, is in Chicago this weekend with associate director, Jeffrey Teuton, at NEXT Art Fair  with work from Hot Shots Ian Baguskas, Joseph Holmes, Brad Moore, Gregory Krum, Hosang Park, Carlo Van de Roer and HHS panelist Kent Rogowski.

If you happen to be in Chicago, visit Jen + Jeffrey:
Thursday, April 30 – Monday, May 4, 2009
The Merchandise Mart

Booth 7-8033

Don’t have passes? Drop us an email at info at jenbekman dot com and we’ll give you some!