Radar by Aili Schmeltz

Greetings from France, which is quite a spiritual distance from Los Angeles, the muse and hometown of this week's artist, Aili Schmeltz.

The edition is a reproduction of Radar, an original mixed media on paper painting measuring 18"x24". The print is available in 3 sizes, printed with archival pigment inks on a nice hefty 100% cotton rag matte paper. The editions are live on the 20x200 homepage at 2pm EST today, but if you're reading this email, step to the head of the line and buy one now:

8.5"x11"
Edition of 200 each $20.

17"x22"
Edition of 20 each $200.

30"x40"
Edition of 2 each $2000.

It's hard for me to write about LA while I'm sitting in a smoky tabac with socks damp from trudging around in the chilly rain looking for Wifi access, but for you people: anything. And it's fun to be thinking about our shiny happy Western frontier having just transported myself to a place where everything is old (and smoky.)

I have a confession to make: I love LA, in spite of certain aspects of it which epitomize everything that's ugly about America. I used to spend a lot of time there, some of my favorite people live there, and it has a really amazing art scene. It' also just so freaking weird and plastic and a reality unto itself. Aili has a similar ambivalence about Los Angeles, considerably more fleshed out and beautifully rendered in her paintings.

Radar is particularly appealing to me, its bright swaths of a nearly florescent orange overwhelming a small amount of greenery and reflecting off of what look to be the modern buildings of LA's skyline. And all of it's afloat amongst some invented geography of strata and stalactites that seem to crowd inward upon the painting's, and perhaps the city's center. It's simultaneously claustrophobic and exuberant, a lot like LA itself.

I am going to keep it brief today - I've got a city to explore and some French people to offend with my own brand of ugly Americanism. Tomorrow I am back with another shot of orange, in the form of a photograph.

Before I go: we continue to enjoy your feedback! I love getting photographs of 20x200 editions in situ and am hoarding them all for a monster blog post about all you budding collectors. And the answers to your most frequently asked questions are yes, yes and yes:

Will we offer framing in the future? Yes. We definitely will, although I'm not quite sure when.

Will we have gift certificates in time for the holidays? Why yes, we certainly will.

Will we be offering subscription programs in the future? Yes indeed, but as with framing, the timeline is a bit fuzzy right now.

'Til tomorrow, mon amis!