This week's photography edition artist, Rachel Hulin, has talents that extend beyond the camera. She is a seasoned photography blogger and editor with a keen-edged eye--just have a look at her favorites from our 20x200 archives.


No. 13. 3/11/2006 (plane lifted by men) by William Lamson

Lamson's work always delights me. I wish I could spring for a big one.

Untitled (LA20070805) by Noah Kalina

A Kalina classic. Still good, after all these years.

Needle-Needle-Nee by Coke Wisdom O'Neal

For some reason I can't get enough of medicine cabinet photos. There's
one in the bathroom at Print Space printed on metallic paper that
started my obsession.

Tree Tops, from the series Somewhere in Israel by Curtis Mann

Orange, smoke, overexposure-- count me in.

La Paz, Bolivia by Stefan Ruiz

Stefan! You're the photographer's photographer!

Untitled #10 by Kent Rogowski

Um, horses and flowers and puzzles. Again, a no-brainer. I want.

I have a thing for birds. There are a bunch on my arm. I like the pink
ones here.

A smashing selection, Rachel!
Feeling inspired, collectors? Browse our archives here.

Forever, 2009 by Jonathan Allen

This Sunday 20x200 artist Jonathan Allen will be generous enough to open his studio to the public. He's about to transition into a new studio space, but before he packs he'd love to show you what he has been up to.

Jonathan Allen Open studio
29-16 38th Avenue
Long Island City, NY

See you there!

Jonthan's edition print, Torn is available here.

Jonathan's site

Ideal Bookshelf 1, JMM by Jane Mount

Happy Tuesday collectors! Jen is out and about again on some very important business, so it's Sara here, with the honor of introducing today's edition from our beloved Jane Mount. Jane created Ideal Bookshelf 1, JMM just for 20x200, choosing her favorite—and most influential—childhood tomes.

I have a theory about this. Most impressionable when we're young, books and other sources of great ideas are given more weight. These books have also, often, been given to us by adults who regard these gifts as important and inspirational in their own lives. The Little Engine That Could, Goodnight Moon and The Little Prince are all titles that have passed the test of time.

How often—recently or long ago—were you able to accomplish a great task while chanting in your head, "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can!"? Am I the only one who still nods off some nights with sweet thoughts for the moon and all the other good things in life? And really, where would we all be if we hadn't learned from the young prince to listen to our hearts as often as we listen to our heads? Generations of us owe these books thanks! And so it is fitting that Jane has memorialized them here in Ideal Bookshelf 1, JMM.

While Jane's previous literary editions, Bookshelf 20 and Bookshelf 29 tell us a little bit about the owners of these collections, the ideal bookshelves of this new series tell us more about the books themselves, and their roles as cultural and physical objects.

The significance of books and their various roles in our lives are thoroughly explored in Summer Reading, currently on view at Jen Bekman Gallery. Jane is joined by Lizzie Buckmaster Dove, Nina Katchadourian, Michael Mandiberg, Victor Schrager and Mickey Smith in her exploration of the book as an object. In particular, several of these artists examine the spines of books and the details that help us identify books for what they are, even though, as Jane writes, "It's such a small place for a lot of information, with very little room for distinct characteristics". Each artist makes more or less of these characteristics in their work.

Have you seen the show yet? If not, hurry on over before we close this chapter in JBG history. It'll be worth your while, I promise. NY Art Beat critic Laura Meli writes, "Just as a summer read should be, the exhibition is intriguing, short, and fast-paced, with a few welcome surprises buried within." If you don't want to take our words for it, see what Elle and Artlog have to say. Also, find regular updates about the show and all of the Summer Reading artists on the JBG blog.

Summer Reading at JBG won't last and I have a hunch that Jane's edition won't either—both of her paintings in the show have sold—so it'd be wise to pick up a print while they're available! The exhibition closes in just a few short weeks, on August 22nd.

cover of Threefold Sun by Taj Forer

Jen: Hi there. Love your editions so! I am excited!
Taj: Oh, shucks. Thanks for doing this. I'm very psyched myself.
Jen: Sure thing, I am sorry that we didn't connect sooner. But what's funny is that this weekend I was at the Hawthorne Valley Farm store. So I've had Steiner on my mind.
Taj: No way! That place is amazing.
Jen: And I also got to drink raw milk. For the first time ever. And it is delicioso. Buttery.
Taj: So tasty. Amazing! Amazing that that's the ONLY way milk used to be consumed and now it's the rare exception...
Jen: You moved right? Because before I think you were living upstate?
Taj: Well, I had been living in North Carolina and this winter moved up to CT where I am now. Just north of the city on Metro North which is nice. I love cities but don't think I could ever live in one—especially the Big Apple! You guys are all crazy for living there as far as I'm concerned B-)
Jen: I was imagining you up there all cozy, drinking the raw milk daily.
Taj: ha! Too funny. No, I wish I lived on a farm upstate—someday...
Jen: Yea, I spent a lot of time up there when I was growing up. My granny lives in Hillsdale. And I spent summers up there with her... we'd go to the Steiner school for performances and stuff.
Taj: Nice. It's so gorgeous and always shocks me how close the beautiful, open farmland is to NYC. Really incredible. Wow.
Jen: Long before slow food and sustainability was chic, it was all longhairs and wheatgrass, baby!
Taj: I had no idea you had a Steiner connection. Very interesting. Love it!
Jen: Last weekend, I was up there with my friends Alaina and Anil, and Alaina is the GM of this (awesome) food site called Serious Eats. So they were happy to go foraging with me and go to all the local farm stands, etc.
Taj: Sounds like my kind of weekend.
Jen: And the Hawthorne Valley place was the most store like, but also took first prize because aside from providing us all with the unique and delicious raw milk experience, they also stock a dazzling array of root beers.
Taj: Really? I didn't know that. Do they make their own?
Jen: And I discovered over the weekend that Columbia County has more working farms than any other NYS county! Yes, they are only allowed to sell it directly from the store there, they can't bring it down to the greenmarket even.
Taj: Wow. That's nuts. I guess it makes sense though. Seems to be almost all farmland up there.
Jen: It's super regulated although I can't tell if it's because of real danger or powerful Dairy Industry lobbyists.
So, can you tell me how you connected with Steiner?
Taj: Oh, I would imagine it's all lobbyist pressure. From my experience working on small, sustainable farms when I lived in NC (and my many friends that still run such farms), the 'raw' regulations have almost nothing to do with 'food safety'—it's quite scary and eye opening really. But, to answer your question re: how I connected with Steiner—I attended a Waldorf school when I was a child, K-8 grade.
Jen: Right, we are in such an interesting time in our history. A lot of my techy friends are newly interested in government because of Obama, but as they wade into the bureaucracy with the intention of being part of a big change, their eyes are being opened to a lot of the crazy stuff that is part of our government, lobbies being one of them.
Ah! Right see this is what was part of what was cool about the whole Hawthorne Valley thing, was getting to fire up Wikipedia... And talk to my friends about Steiner and Waldorf etc.
Taj: It was a school located in an old farmhouse and surrounded by fields, forests and streams. Just gorgeous. As I got older and began the process of exploring my own life (rather than the lives of others) through photography, I turned my attention to the landscape of the Waldorf school that I attended as a child.
Jen: I will freely confess that my level of Waldorf-informedness is fuzzy at best. Now though, looking at it as an adult in our current culture, it seems downright visionary in a lot of ways.
Taj: I completely agree that Steiner was a visionary.
No doubt about it. One of the greatest (yet little-known) thinkers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. I don't agree with everything he wrote/taught, but find amazing inspiration in the intention of his work.
Jen: Also I don't mean to be disrespectful in my glibness. I just have that way about me.

Tree house, Taos, New Mexico by Taj Forer

Taj: And do, indeed, find much of his teaching to be timeless and inspirational for sure... ha! No disrespect was felt.
Jen: But ya, I mean a lot of the ethos he puts forth (at least from my recent surface inspection) seems to address a lot of the stuff that we're dealing with today. And seems in sync with the growing sustainability/slow food movement. And you know, YOU were ahead of the curve in working to document them!
Taj: Exactly—and that was at the heart of what Steiner was interested in addressing through his life and work. The fact that society is often, somehow, in opposition to the freedom that we should experience and participate in as human beings.
Jen: Because you did this project a while ago, correct? 2004-5ish? When was the book published?
Taj: Well, ahead of the curve? Not really. What fascinates me about this 'movement' is that it simply suggests a reversion back to practices that sustained agriculture (and much of the human race) for thousands of years. Yes, I produced most of the work in 2006. The book was published in the fall of 2007, the project really began in '04 when I first took my camera back to the school I attended in my youth. Perhaps even '03 now that I think about it...
Jen: Ahead of the curve in the sense that it seems prescient that you started documenting a lifestyle that there's a recent huge interest in. Of course I cast a gimlet eye on that interest... hopefully it won't be a fad!
Taj: Yes, I see what you mean. I too hope this is not a fleeting interest!
Jen: Yea, this summer a lot of people are "farming", even here in NYC! Rooftops and window boxes and stuff. It's kind of amazing.
Taj: As long as these 'natural' (in the truest sense of the word) foods can become ACCESSIBLE, I think the movement possesses the potential to be long-lasting. Now you've hit the nail on the head!
Jen: Right, one of the things that I've found frustrating about some conversations I've had with foodies is that there's a sense that people don't eat organic because they're not enlightened or lazy or something. And the access is the key.
Taj: It's all about empowering people and communities to grow their own food.
Jen: There's no organic at the bodega in the 'hood, last I checked.
Taj: Yup.
Jen: Right, I guess that is what I mean about you being ahead of the curve. Because it's only recently in the spotlight for a lot of people. But you know, what you've documented includes food/farming but it's not just that, at all, particularly the images we selected today.
Taj: And with regards to 'organic', the FDA now OWNS that word and in order to use it, farmers need to pay thousands of dollars and go through an intense certification process. Yet at the same time, the FDA has opened up all kinds of questionable fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides and fungicides that can be used by certified 'organic' farmers, thus further undermining the foundation of the natural foods movement.
Jen: I heard about some new legislation that's being circulated that will make it even harder... is that what you're referring to? Did it get passed? :(
Taj: It's quite scary in my opinion. I'm not sure about the most recent legislation.
Jen: We're back at government stuff again, I think one thing that's so daunting about the idea of change actually happening is how monolithic the government is.
Taj: Amen. I couldn't agree more. But back to your comment about this series of photographs going beyond agriculture...
Jen: Right.
Taj: What I really hoped to get at through producing these images was an exploration of the underlying ideas/concepts that Steiner built all of his work from.
Jen: Well what I get is a sense of community.
Taj: Namely, that through everything we do as human beings, we should seek to better the world, ourselves and society.
Jen: And a connection that goes beyond family.
Taj: Yes, community is central to this process.
Jen: My little armchair theory about contemporary culture is that with religion being less central we've lost a major driver of community responsibility. But I do find it sad/frustrating that our world from Reagan forward—we're all about self-sufficiency.
Taj: Well, I think that it's all about a recognition/realization that we are small pieces of a much larger whole. Now whether or not we define 'whole' as transcending the physical world, is totally up to the individual.
Jen: Sort of broadly speaking. Well I think that's some of the appeal of Steiner to me, it's easier for me to wrap my head around honoring the earth and others around me, rather than thinking about some dude in the sky in flowing robes.
Taj: It's interesting, Steiner's biodynamic agricultural method came out of many of his followers begging him to address the negative effects that farmers in Europe were beginning to notice as a direct result of the beginning of industrialized farming. something affecting everyone...
ha!
Jen: Ok but yea, BIODYNAMIC, that word! Anil, one of the weekend-in-the-country sojourners, is a punny guy. We had a field day with the term. I like how its meaning breaks down. But it's kind of a sitting duck from a make-fun-ability perspective. :D
Taj: Steiner was a devout Christian and often times I felt that his religious beliefs got in the way of more tangible forms of communicating his ideas. Having said this, he was a very open-minded person who borrowed from all of the major faith traditions when formulating various aspects of his philosophy.
Jen: See now I want to dig into more about Steiner because he sounds like a righteous dude. Do you know if there's a good bio about him? One maybe NOT by an acolyte?
Taj: There is a TON written about him but so much of it is very incestuous.
Jen: Right, I got that even from Wikipedia! I will dig around.
Taj: I have read some biographical essays, etc. and can e-mail some to you.
Jen: Yay, thanks. So, let's get back to the pix again
Taj: Anthroposophy is very 'niche' in a way, yet addresses such universal concepts. The irony is thick.
Jen: I said connectedness and community is what I get from them, and you know, I've been looking at the work since the book came out. (anthroposophy: another sitting duck word!)
Taj: I like that that's what you get from the pictures. There is an interesting phenomenon right now wherein Waldorf education is slowly being incorporated into some public charter schools.
Jen: Wow! That is cool... wholesale or in part?
Taj: I love this because it suggests that perhaps the insular nature of the 'movement' is changing, branching out in part. It's experimental right now from what I understand but has been widely successful in the test schools and there is a hope of expansion.
Jen: Right I guess that's the slowly being integrated thing! Seems our education is due for a bit of an overhaul, so that's good to hear.

Meeting space, Santa Fe, New Mexico by Taj Forer

Taj: Yes, I agree. Maybe we can start by reinstating recess for shit's sake!
Jen: Hahah. OK, so we should wrap up for the NL.
Taj: Play is a basic part of child development!
Jen: I myself am agnostic AT BEST, maybe even an atheist, so I don't lament a less religion-focused culture.
What are you working on right now?
Taj: I almost hate to talk about it publicly because it is very difficult to articulate the subtle nature of the work through language (and that's actually part of what drew me to begin making the work) but...
Jen: We don't HAVE to. But now I'm burning with curiosity of course. :D ... the suspense is killing me! :D
Taj: Well, not to get too into it because I could go on all day, but I have been fascinated by the fact that for the vast majority of human existence (taking it WAY back...) our race has sustained itself through practices that we, contemporary people, have termed 'hunter gatherer.' Perceiving industrialization as commencing with the dawn of agriculture, we have only departed from the hunter-gatherer way of existing very recently. So, my work is an examination of this way of life but in a very non-documentary way.
Jen: (I am really glad to hear that someone else is thinking about this crazy stuff). The post-hunter/gatherer way of life you mean?
Taj: My new work is somewhat typological (although I try not to use that highly charged photographic term) in that it represents many of the objects and actions associated with basic survival practices.
Jen: Ah interesting. Hrm. I cannot wait to see!
Taj: I have been spending a lot of time learning how to live off of the land in the most simple ways imaginable and I have been photographing this process so as to suggest, via the visual language (which has the capacity for transcending linguistic barriers) these nearly 'lost' ways of being.
Jen: Nice, it sounds super interesting, and it seems like a natural progression. (or should I say regression?) from Threefold Sun.
Taj: ha
Jen: Oh also just super quick—the boots/raincoats—outside a Waldorf school?
Taj: Yes, an interesting school actually.
Jen: I love that photo so much because on a surface level it's just delicious eye-candy.
Taj: It's an old public school that the city of San Diego no longer wanted to use so it rents to the Waldorf school for a good price.
Jen: But also it has such a wonderful cozy warmth about it, and a nostalgia.
Taj: I find that so lovely and metaphorical...
Jen: I mean it has a soundtrack in my mind, when I look at it.
Taj: Thanks. That image seems to resonate with many.
Jen: That is actually super interesting/great to know. And then of course the chalkboard poem—
Taj: Oh, please tell me about the soundtrack!
Jen: which is ever more charming b/c of its small errors.
Taj: Yes, the flaws MAKE that image for me.
Jen: Well, the soundtrack is that distinctive din of kids in a school yard, and oddly the ocean, for some reason, in the background.
Taj: So representative of the whole movement: beautiful, well intentioned but, like anything worth a damn, also flawed. Like people!
Jen: Which is something I thought of before knowing it was taken in SD.
Taj: Cool.
Jen: And there's a film too.
Taj: That just about sums up the literal soundtrack when I was making the image.
Jen: A tangle of kids and a teacher sitting on her haunches trying to hold a kid still and get her into her slicker.
Taj: You got it.
Jen: It's comfortable and nostalgic, even though it's not something I ever experienced. I mean I think my teacher was kind like that, in pre-school, but I grew up in Queens NYC! heh. OK. This is super fun, I actually love talking to the artist about an image and finding out that the little stories I make up make sense. Sometimes they make no sense at all, which is fine too. But I can't lie, I enjoy being right. ;)
Taj: Nice. I always enjoy talking about the work as it often leads to new discoveries/ways of thinking about my own images and process.
Jen: Well, we can always talk more, right now I am going to write an intro... Yea we're a little late, so I gotta hustle like mad.

Boots and raincoats, San Diego, California

To live with you alone, Red Boiling Springs, Tennessee

Hot and sunny Wednesday greetings, my collector friends! I am grateful to Sara for filling in for me as of late, but I must confess that I am especially jealous that she got to write about our own Ms. Mount and her delightful Ideal Bookshelf. As I said to Jane yesterday: it's like she read my mind! I love every single one of those books, and it seems I'm not alone. Their utter ideal-ness seemed to roust many of you from your lazy summer slumber... the $20 prints were gone in a flash!

Today's photography editions from the talented and sweet-as-pie Taj Forer are also quite fetching. After a lovely chat with the photographer himself about To live with you alone, Red Boiling Springs, Tennessee and Boots and raincoats, San Diego, California, I am that much more enchanted.

We had quite a lot to talk about, it turns out! We started with Taj's Threefold Sun series, inspired by Waldorf school founder and biodynamic farmer, Rudolf Steiner and went on (and on!) from there. I'm only including a snippet below, so if you just can't get enough, look for the full transcript on the 20x200 blog.

Jen: Hi there. Love your editions so! I am excited!
Taj: Oh, shucks. Thanks for doing this. I'm very psyched myself.
Jen: Sure thing, I am sorry that we didn't connect sooner. But what's funny is that this weekend I was at the Hawthorne Valley Farm store. So I've had Steiner on my mind.
Taj: No way! That place is amazing.
Jen: And I also got to drink raw milk. For the first time ever. And it is delicioso. Buttery.
Taj: So tasty. Amazing! Amazing that that's the ONLY way milk used to be consumed and now it's the rare exception...
...
Jen: It's super regulated although I can't tell if it's because of real danger or powerful Dairy Industry lobbyists. So, can you tell me how you connected with Steiner?
Taj: oh, I would imagine it's all lobbyist pressure.
But, to answer your question re: how I connected with Steiner—I attended a Waldorf school when I was a child, K-8 grade... It was a school located in an old farmhouse and surrounded by fields, forests and streams. Just gorgeous. As I got older and began the process of exploring my own life (rather than the lives of others) through photography, I turned my attention to the landscape of the Waldorf school that I attended as a child.
...
It's interesting, Steiner's biodynamic agricultural method came out of many of his followers begging him to address the negative effects that farmers in Europe were beginning to notice as a direct result of the beginning of industrialized farming. Something affecting everyone... Steiner was a devout Christian and often times I felt that his religious beliefs got in the way of more tangible forms of communicating his ideas. Having said this, he was a very open-minded person who borrowed from all of the major faith traditions when formulating various aspects of his philosophy.
...
Jen: I said connectedness and community is what I get from [your images], and you know, I've been looking at the work since the book came out.
Taj: I like that that's what you get from the pictures. ...
Jen: I love Boots and raincoats so much because on a surface level it's just delicious eye-candy.
Taj: It's an old public school that the city of San Diego no longer wanted to use so it rents to the Waldorf school for a good price.
Jen: but also it has such a wonderful cozy warmth about it, and a nostalgia.
Taj: I find that so lovely and metaphorical...
Jen: I mean it has a soundtrack in my mind, when I look at it.
Taj: Thanks. That image seems to resonate with many.
Jen: That is actually super interesting/great to know. And then of course the chalkboard poem—which is ever more charming b/c of its small errors.
Taj: Yes, the flaws MAKE that image for me. Tell me about the soundtrack!
Jen: Well, the soundtrack is that distinctive din of kids in a school yard, and oddly the ocean, for some reason, in the background.
Taj: So representative of the whole movement: beautiful, well-intentioned but, like anything worth a damn, also flawed. Like people!
...
Jen: It's comfortable and nostalgic, even though it's not something I ever experienced. I mean I think my teacher was kind like that, in pre-school, but I grew up in Queens NYC! heh. OK. This is super fun, I actually love talking to the artist about an image and finding out that the little stories I make up make sense. Sometimes they make no sense at all, which is fine too. But I can't lie, I enjoy being right. ;)
Taj: Nice. I always enjoy talking about the work as it often leads to new discoveries/ways of thinking about my own images and process.
Jen: Well, we can always talk more, right now I am going to write an intro... Yea we're a little late, so I gotta hustle like mad.

Noah Kalina's eponymously titled magazine, Kalina Magazine, has just launched Issue #3, Remix. The issue features Aakash Nihalani
, Adam Dedman, Alice Cho, Andy Dixon, Andy Miller, 
Son of Tam, David Trawi, Grzegorz Domaradzki, Jeffrey Docherty, Jessica Walsh, Joshua Covarrubias, karlssonwilker, Laura Rieland, Leif Parsons, Maayan Pearl, Martina Fugazzotto, Mike DeSutter, Nicholas Felton, nyc
Toko, Patrick Moberg, Qian Qian, Ravi Vasavan, Staynice, Steve Nishimoto, tiphanie brooke, and Zack Nathanson all reimagining having their way with Noah's photographs.

All issue of Kalina Magazine are available here.

Noah's 20x200 edition print, Untitled (LA20070805), has limited quantities available.

Boy do I wish I was in rural Wisconsin this weekend! Two time 20x200 edition-maker and watercolor painter extraordinaire Amy Park has informed us that everyone's invited to a "summer jamboree art weekend" at the Poor Farm in Manawa, WI.

The centerpiece of the weekend is the opening of an exhibition called The Great Poor Farm Experiment:

The Great Poor Farm Experiment is a series of works (performance, installation, sculpture, painting) installed and presented in and around the Poor Farm during the renovation of the main exhibition building. A three day open-house will inaugurate these projects during the weekend of August 7 - 9, 2009. Additional projects will be presented throughout 2009 and 2010.

And when they said "jamboree" they weren't kidding around. In addition to artwork by artists from across the country (including Amy!) there will be river-tubing, fishing, golfing, conversation, camping, canoeing, a Saturday evening BBQ and more.

The event is brought to you by Michelle Grabner and Brad Killam, founders of The Suburban, an Illinois-based contemporary arts organization. The weekend will serve as a preview of what's to come for the Poor Farm which will function as a space dedicated to artists.

So head on over the Poor Farm and pitch your tent for a weekend of art and fun!

Friday, August 7, 2009
12:00 noon
Campsite on Poor Farm grounds open: bring your tents, coolers, water-craft, fishing tackle, bug spray.

7:00 pm
Welcome Reception

Saturday, August 8, 2009
2:00
Saddle Fitting Seminar
Shane Selzer with Master Saddle Fitter Gina Perilla

5:00 pm
Reception for the Artists
Brats and Beer Cookout

Sunday, August 9, 2009
12:00 pm
Little Wolf River Tube Float
A central Wisconsin tradition since 1876
Bring your water shoes, swimsuit and floating device: tube, kayak, canoe

The Poor Farm
E6325 County Highway BB
Manawa, WI 54949
708 305 2657 (please call Michelle Grabner if you have questions)

The ever humble and eminently talented Mr. Jason Polan had another drawing in the New York Times this week:

You can read the article this image accompanies here.

Jason will have work in a group show, Art—Read, opening this Saturday night at Glenn Horowitz Bookseller in East Hampton. The show features artists who have adopted a "multidisciplinary approach to making work and in every case has made the creation of artists’ books a significant part of their practice". Artists in the show with Jason are: Tauba Auerbach, Fiona Banner, Chris Duncan, Roe Ethridge, Terence Koh, Seth Price, Dean Sameshima, Paul Schiek and Derek Sullivan.

More info here.

Jason also wrapped up five new drawing videos for Hello Health:

Welcome from Hello Health on Vimeo.

Additionally, Jason has illustrations in the current issues of Esquire and GOOD magazines. I'm particularly interested in seeing more of his illustrations of A Visual History of Water Weaponry, so I better find myself a newsstand fast. Here is half of the history of The Evolution of the Squirt Gun from GOOD:

Books and zines that Jason has made of all things excellent are available at Printed Matter.

Jason Polan's 20x200 editions:
Insects and Myriapods at The American Museum of Natural History
Sea Creatures at The American Museum of Natural History
Dinosaurs at The American Museum of Natural History
132 Birds at The American Museum of Natural History
Every Person in New York
Hand Project

Jason Polan's sites:
Jason Polan
The Drawing Project
Every Person in New York
The 53rd Street Biological Society

ny.08.#14 by Jennifer Sánchez

This Friday I have a bright and colorful treat for you in the form of 20x200 darling, Jennifer Sánchez. I've asked Miss Sánchez to turn her starry eyes towards our archives to chose her number ones.

Owl No. 1 by Lisa Congdon
I love the colors and especially all the little lines that make up this wonderful owl.

Squeeze by Gary Petersen
Really, his work is quite beautiful. His subtle shifts in color can give me inspiration for days. Please do check out his website - his work breaths and expands, but also calms.

Contact High by Jeff Lewis
The freedom and looseness of this print is what attracts me - and well, yes, so do the ovals and circles! It seems that he never runs out of color variations for them. The interesting layers, splotches and drips of paint are perfect eye candy.

Well-being 2 by Valerie Roybal
I want to see her work live! I don't know what's happening and that's part of why I like it. The shapes she cuts her material into are very odd to me, they look like the left overs, but look closely and you'll see hands, bits of leaves, writing, etc - there's always something new to find.

Praia Piquinia by Christian Chaize
Look at that gradation of color from surf to sea, and the multicolored umbrellas that dot the sand! A perfect balance of color and form is created. I was fortunate to see his work at the gallery and the tonal richness is amazing!

amnh #10 by Joseph O. Holmes
"Your photos aren't tweaked in photoshop?!!"
When I met Joseph at the 20x200 Collectors Confab at White Rabbit he told me that his photos are un-retouched my jaw dropped. Those are peoples' real silhouettes! I like this series, there's a sense of humor I can appreciate--being watched without knowing it.

Mossball by Don Hamerman
I like it when it seems that someone has an obsession - especially an odd one like rotting or disintegrating baseballs. I happen to own this print and love it. I like to call it a chia baseball. That pink background really brings out the green in the moss.

The Mountain of Tomorrow's Sunrise by William Crump
Here's some of that lovely white space I was talking about. The quality of his line reminds me of etchings, and those bands of color at the bottom are gorgeous. I've also seen William's work live and it's quite lovely.

AA, 2007 by Jacob Magraw
This guy has to have a great sense of humor, right? What the hell is going on here? Looks like a shoe?! On what planet?!
The colors are great--acidic yet there are some very nice blues and pinks in there. It's a wasteland of a stump that I want to climb around.

Cul de Sac by Michelle Weinberg
The bold use of color and the graphic quality of her work is what I like. The patterns as backdrops and the inclusion of words are fantastic. It's like a cartoon of the feelings, colors and sounds in a neighborhood.

20x200 room, Storrs, Connecticut by Don Hamerman

The above photograph was sent to us by 20x200 photographer Don Hamerman who was immediately reminded of 20x200's color palette upon entering this cheery classroom in Storrs, Connecticut. Don couldn't resist snapping a photograph and sharing it with us. I see it as an early Valentine.

Viva l'amour!

Viva 20x200!

All of Don's 20x200 edition prints have increasingly limited quantities available: Hemi, Mossball, Stricken, Untitled (Elephant) and Rawlings, so hop to it!

See more of Don's work on his site.

Untitled (Let's Get Lost) by Shaun Sundholm

[Ed. note: Ms. Jen B. + Lesley A. Martin, Publisher at Aperture Books, spent some time chatting last week about Lesley's picks as a guest curator browsing the 20x200 archives. Part of the conversation was excerpted in today's newsletter. The entire artful conversation is published below!]

Lesley: Hola!
Jen: Hi there, long time no IM, or talk at all! How are you? I was really pleased by your selection because it was totally unexpected.
Lesley: Really?
Jen: I mean I did expect the Umbricos, of course. But I love the other selections you made and how they look together.
Lesley: I'm glad. I thought the selections might be somewhat expected but I couldn't help it—they all fell together pretty naturally and followed a nice thread—in my mind in any case.
Jen: I'm curious about the Let's Get Lost inclusion.
Lesley: That image resonates for me on several levels. First of all, I really, really wouldn't mind a few more sunny beautiful "lost days" before this summer ends. Second of all, how can I resist the Chet Baker reference? It's slightly paraphrased, but still... And well, in this case, it's a nice double layering of places where jazz and photography overlap. The Bruce Weber film, Chet Baker and a cool image that kinda brings these things together in a way that makes me think: yes, please, why DON'T we just get lost. It is the jumping off point for the rest of the selection.
Jen: You jazzy lady, you. That is true. What I really love, and what reinforces my feeling about it being a good idea for CURATORS to make selections from our archives, is the rosy glow you coaxed out of them. I know I'm hopelessly in the thrall of the color green but I'd never draw a rosy thread through the archives my own self. (Which isn't to say I'm not a Pollyanna, because I so totally am!)
Lesley: Yeah, rosy! It did turn out to be a bit pinkish in hue, didn't it? I thought I'd gotten that out of my system—if you look at the Aperture Spring '09 catalog, you'll see we had a bit of a pink and purple binge when it came to the covers of that list. I'm really not a pink person, truth be told—but yes, the Hassink, the Crane, the Abstraction book, even the MP3 are all in a pink and purple mood.
Jen: It took me some time to figure out my green problem. So now when I'm attracted to something and it's green, I stop myself and say "Do you love it because it's green or because it's GOOD." It's knowing what you're naturally drawn to and being able to account for your instincts in good ways and bad.
Lesley: Right. Right. You have to know when you're drawn to something just because it's one of those usual suspects. But I think it's also important to allow yourself to go toward something that you think you ought not to like, but you do despite yourself.

Shill by David Corbett

Jen: Let's talk about the non-photo selections.
Lesley: Sure.
Jen: So Gary Petersen—who is a super nice guy by the way—and David Corbett: they're both working in/out of strong traditions, building on abstract-expressionism and minimalism. But also, there's a really clever interplay between the two and in an odd way, now that I look at it, Jeff Lewis's work is sort of alike.
Lesley: I love the way David Corbett uses the frame.
Jen: The gooey centers of it all... not just ONE center either, lots.
Lesley: Oh yeah, gooey—but also both really dynamic. One is pushing toward the center, the other is pushing to the edge. And then Jeff Lewis just scatters that focus across the frame. Popcorn.
Jen: They all have that curvature in common, and yet: three totally different treatments of the surface. I gotta say, and I'm not flattering you because you're my friend, or because I think you have wonderful taste generally speaking, both things are true, but man, the selection is growing on me. There is a LOT going on!
Lesley: Curvy and roundness, yes—but the motion within each pulls the eye in unique ways.
Jen: I moved ahead in my head, and started looking at all the orbs. Jeff leading me to Rachel, and back around to Penelope’s, and then putting Chad's piece in there.
Lesley: I got into it. Really, the theme is, in fact, escape. But yeah, the orbs were a key factor. This is one of those things that I had to work against, truth be told. A little like you and the color GREEN.
Jen: You have an orb thing, I have a green thing.
Lesley: Yup. Or birds ... no?
Jen: Yes, birds too, but they are an easier weakness in a lot of ways. Part of why I love birds is because I know how much they delight other people.
Lesley: We all have wished to be a bird at some point, no?
Jen: Flying dreams are always disappointing to wake up from.
Lesley: I love my flying dreams.
Jen: Well, this imagery is certainly celestial, literally and figuratively. But the inclusion of Chad makes it about light rather than shape, in my mind, maybe light AND shape, but when I start or end with him, it's more about that—light.

The Drive with Christine by Chad Muthard

Lesley: What I like about the mix of the photos and the other mediums, is that the non-photographic material contributes movement and dynamism—the shape and motion thing. And then, for me, the photo-based work contributed an underlying narrative. It truly is about escape.
Jen: Dreamy and kinetic—all at once. You're a freaking GENIUS I say!
Lesley: Aw shucks, I just like to read the tea leaves.
Jen: Yeah, it's a little weird for me to ask people to go through what I've selected and re-sift them.
Lesley: It felt really good to me, to be able to manifest a particular mood based on the possibilities. There are a lot of possibilities for interpretation—I could have gone in several different directions. I started out thinking along the lines of a tech-driven theme—Mark Richards, for example.
Jen: Right. I like that you went for something abstract, and I like how every time I look at it, I notice some different interplay.
Lesley: Yay! I'll also add that some of my favorites, the Rogowski and the Mann, were on the blog last week, so I didn't pick them. But they're my two favorites not within my theme of inter-planetary escape!
Jen: Perfect. Oooh! I have a question: SOUNDTRACK. Aside from Chet Baker.
[Ed. note: J + L simultaneously typing here]
Lesley: Also—I have two requests for a soundtrack to listen to while enjoying this selection...
Jen + Lesley: HEY!
Jen: So, what do we listen to on the intergalactic Lesley Martin trip? Any particular track or album?
Lesley: Sun Ra! Sun Ra Visits Planet Earth + Interstellar Low Ways.
Jen: Nice.
Lesley: Space is The Place. Ok. Back to reality though. This was fun!

Contact High by Jeff Lewis | Untitled (Let's Get Lost) by Shaun Sundholm | 87 Suns from Flickr - 29 Visible by Penelope Umbrico | 79 Moons from Flickr - 51 Visible by Penelope Umbrico | The Drive with Christine by Chad Muthard | Squeeze by Gary Peterson | Shill by David Corbett | Globe by Rachel Hulin

Happy *hot* Tuesday collectors! It's finally feeling like summer around here but thankfully our second guest curator, the brilliant Lesley A. Martin, publisher at Aperture Books, has selected a gorgeous set that's all about getting away. Like she said as we were chatting it up last week, wouldn't we all like "a few more sunny beautiful 'lost days' before this summer ends"?

We get into deep (deep space!) conversation about her selections—and you can read on below and check the blog for the full conversation—but first, some news of note for you dear newsletter subscribers.

[Oops! Sorry, if you didn't get full details about the discounted editions in your inbox, make sure you're signed up for the 20x200 newsletter so you'll get the scoop on list-only specials and new guest curator selections next time. Don't miss out again!]

You'll also see that if you do the math, we're offering Lesley's entire set for a steal— snatch up all the prints for $2,500! While you're stocking your home with art, check out Aperture's site as well: their Summer Blockbuster Sale is in full force, offering 15% off limited-edition photographs and already-reduced books. Just enter APADV9 at checkout.

And, without further ado:

Lesley: Hola!
Jen: Hi there, long time no IM, or talk at all! How are you? I was really pleased by your selection because it was totally unexpected.
Lesley: Really?
Jen: I mean I did expect the Umbricos, of course. But I love the other selections you made and how they look together.
Lesley: I'm glad. I thought the selections might be somewhat expected but I couldn't help it—they all fell together pretty naturally and followed a nice thread—in my mind in any case.
Jen: I'm curious about the Let's Get Lost inclusion.
Lesley: That image resonates for me on several levels. First of all, I really, really wouldn't mind a few more sunny beautiful "lost days" before this summer ends. Second of all, how can I resist the Chet Baker reference? It's slightly paraphrased, but still... And well, in this case, it's a nice double layering of places where jazz and photography overlap. The Bruce Weber film, Chet Baker and a cool image that kinda brings these things together in a way that makes me think: yes, please, why DON'T we just get lost. It is the jumping off point for the rest of the selection.
Jen: You jazzy lady, you. That is true. What I really love, and what reinforces my feeling about it being a good idea for CURATORS to make selections from our archives, is the rosy glow you coaxed out of them.
............
Jen: Let's talk about the non-photo selections.
Lesley: Sure.
Jen: So Gary Petersen—who is a super nice guy by the way—and David Corbett: they're both working in/out of strong traditions, building on abstract-expressionism and minimalism. But also, there's a really clever interplay between the two and in an odd way, now that I look at it, Jeff Lewis's work is sort of alike.
Lesley: I love the way David Corbett uses the frame.
Jen: They all have that curvature in common, and yet: three totally different treatments of the surface...
Lesley: Curvy and roundness, yes—but the motion within each image pulls the eye in unique ways.
Jen: I moved ahead in my head, and started looking at all the orbs. Jeff leading me to Rachel, and back around to Penelope's and then putting Chad's piece in there.
Lesley: I got into it. Really, the theme is, in fact, escape. But yeah, the orbs were a key visual motif. This is one of those things that I had to work against, truth be told...
............
Jen: Well, this imagery is certainly celestial, literally and figuratively. But the inclusion of Chad makes it about light rather than shape, in my mind, maybe light AND shape, but when I start or end with him, it's more about that—light.
Lesley: What I like about the mix of the photos and the other mediums, is that the non-photographic material contributes movement and dynamism—the shape and motion thing. And then, for me, the photo-based work contributed an underlying narrative. It truly is about escape.
Jen: Dreamy and kinetic—all at once. You're a freaking GENIUS I say!
Lesley: Aw shucks, I just like to read the tea leaves.
Jen: Yeah, it's a little weird for me to ask people to go through what I've selected and re-sift them.
Lesley: It felt really good to me, to be able to manifest a particular mood based on the possibilities. There are a lot of possibilities for interpretation—I could have gone in several different directions. I started out thinking along the lines of a tech-driven theme—Mark Richards, for example.
Jen: Right. I like that you went for something abstract, and I like how every time I look at it, I notice some different interplay.
Lesley: Yay! I'll also add that some of my other favorites, the Rogowski and the Mann, were on the blog last week, so I didn't pick them. But they're my two favorites not within my theme of inter-planetary escape!
............
Jen: So, what do we listen to on the intergalactic Lesley Martin trip? Any particular track or album?
Lesley: Sun Ra! Sun Ra Visits Planet Earth + Interstellar Low Ways.
Jen: Nice.
Lesley: Space is The Place. Ok. Back to reality though. This was fun!

Image: Bookshelf 43; MM/CE, Oakland, California by Jane Mount

The one and only Jane Mount, star of 20x200, Summer Reading artist, and also part of the JBP team, is featured by Monica Racic on The New Yorker blog today. Congrats, Jane!

Racic describes Jane's Ideal Bookshelf project, which has her imagining other people's favorite books. This is a continuation of a previous project, where she documented bookshelves in other people's homes.

Racic writes of Jane,

Capturing the personality of a book-owner is part of what drew Mount to her subject matter. “I often meet people and want to paint their books.” she said over e-mail last week. “And people will commission me to paint theirs or a friend’s shelf of books, which I love doing, because it’s a way of peeking into their lives.” Such commissions have included a shelf containing the books used to write a dissertation on twentieth-century English novels.

Ideal Bookshelf 1, JMM by Jane Mount

Jane writes of her own ideal bookshelf, pictured above and available on 20x200 for $50 and $200, "This set happens to be a grouping of my favorite children's books; I’ve been more influenced by books I read as a kid than books from any other time in my life."

Click over to The New Yorker Blog to read the full post and stop on over at the gallery through August 22nd to see Jane's bookshelves in person.

Hot Dog and I by Fernanda Cohen

TGIF, collectors! This week let's end with some cheer from illustrator, professor and writer, Fernanda Cohen. Fernanda has carefully selected her best-loved 20x200 prints to share with us, and she also has some good news--she'll be opening a solo show, Water Makes Me Wet at Centro Cultural Borges and unveiling a window installation, Molecules, for designer Martin Churba in her hometown of Buenos Aires next week. More information for those of you traveling to, or already in, Argentina below:

I interviewed the ebullient Fernanda last year, and if you missed it, you can read it here. Fernanda's 20x200 edition print, Hot Dog and I, is available to you in all three sizes.

And now, on to see Fer's favorite 20x200 prints!

Trash Mountain by Megan Whitmarsh

This is one compelling image we can all relate to, especially in New York as years go by...

Vanity Fair MAY08:pg269 (and, incredibly, looking not a day older)
by Lauren DiCioccio

This piece makes me smile, and once I read about its background it made
me smart(er).

Secret Language 3 by Valerie Roybal

I like how it feels like a cityscape on a bright day at first sight.

ny.08.#14 by Jennifer Sanchez

She's by far one of my favorite abstract artists ever. Truly brilliant!

Balloons by Juliane Eirich

I can see quite a few things in this photo, such as a boob, bubble gum,
an ice cream and, well, balloons.

Radar by Aili Schmeltz

The message in this drawing is graphic and straight to the point if you
look at it hard enough.

Cave Dwellers by Rachell Sumpter

I've always loved the subtlety and simplicity of this drawing.

__

There you have it, folks! I'm sure by now you're feeling excited to browse and find a few of your own favorites now, aren't you?

Corner Building, Chelsea, New York by Keith Taylor

In addition to being an accomplished photographer, 20x200 artist Keith Taylor is also a self-taught master printer who prints for Beth Dow (his wife and JBG artist) as well as the likes of Alec Soth and Mario Testino. If you happen to be in Minneapolis this Tuesday, August 18th, you should head to the Mpls Photo Center from 7pm - 9.30pm where Keith will be speaking about his work.

From the press release:

Taylor is known for dusky, richly detailed images more reminiscent of etchings than conventional photographs. They are made with a laborious 19th-century printing process involving platinum and palladium instead of the more common silver salts used in most 20th-century photographs. Recently he invented a technique that includes using a computer to enlarge his negatives, but he still mixes his own light-sensitive solutions of platinum and palladium and brushes them onto the watercolor type paper on which the photos are printed.

In Keith's own words:

I’ll be speaking about my photography and the various alternative processes I work with. Beth spoke there at the beginning of August and set the bar pretty high, I thought, so I’ll have my work cut out. And although it won’t be a technical talk and full of numbers, I’ll be covering the reasons why I think combining analogue techniques with today’s digital technology can be liberating for photographers.

Keith Taylor Artist Talk
August 18th, 7pm - 9.30pm
RSVP to lectures@mplsphotocenter.com
Mpls Photo Center
2400 North Second Street | Minneapolis

Keith's edition print, Bird's Nest, went fast and has only two large prints remaining.

See more of Keith's work on his site.

A powerful JBP triumvirate, Jen, Sara and Youngna, are all vying for panel spots at SXSW '10. You can help them secure their places by casting a vote for their proposals on the SXSW 2010 Panel Picker.

Jen's panel proposal, Inbox Hero: Why Newsletters Matter More Than Ever is described thusly:

Want to forge real connections in this era of always-on social media? Send email. Yes, email! A well-crafted, thoughtful newsletter campaign can boost sales, generate buzz, expand your market, and drive traffic. 20x200's newsletters — essential to engaging its devoted, passionate audience — are key to the site's success. This session will examine how the inventive use of an old-school marketing tool formed the bedrock of a multi-million dollar business.

Vote for Jen here.

Sara and Youngna hope to present ideas on Supporting Artists with Social Media :

Can social media end the era of the starving artist? This presentation examines how 20x200 supports, promotes and markets artists through social media. Learn tips and tricks for finding new audiences for your artwork using twitter, flickr, facebook and blogs.

Vote for them here.

Voting Closes on September 4th, so please, kind collectors, give the talented ladies your votes today!

Drawings from July 2009 (One Week) by Kate Bingaman-Burt

Drawings from July 2009 (Two Weeks) by Kate Bingaman-Burt

Drawings from July 2009 (One Month) by Kate Bingaman-Burt

April, May, June, July 2009 by Kate Bingaman-Burt

Drawings from July 2009 (One Week)
10"x8"($20)
Drawings from July 2009 (Two Weeks)
11"x14"($50)
Drawings from July 2009 (One Month)
20"x16"($200)
April, May, June, July 2009
30"x24"($1000)
by
Kate Bingaman-Burt
--

Tuesday greetings, my collector friends. How are these waning days of summer treating you all? I'm feeling like a wanderlustful lazybones myself, and yes, it's confusing! It's also making it awfully hard to sit still and write a newsletter, forcing me to solicit forgiveness in advance — via IM, natch — from today's edition-maker, and last week's newsletter-contributor, the wonderful, warm and wickedly talented Ms. Kate Bingaman-Burt. She was quick to ping me on IM after I wailed about my writer's block on her Facebook page, assuring me that she knows I love her even if I'm not able to deliver an epic newsletter. Phew!

My brevity is certainly no indication of the level of affection I have for KBB or her new editions. I've been waiting for her to give us some fresh stuff for a while now, and I'm thrilled with her Drawings from July 2009 — a variation on her Daily Drawings theme, tailor-made for 20x200 and collectors like y-o-u. The number of purchases depicted range from a week's worth in the 10"x8" edition, all the way up to the whopping four months' worth illustrated in the 30"x24" print.

I've got a few of Kate's originals myself — it's how we met, in fact! I found her in the same way that I find many of the things I love best in the world — on the internet. (The internet itself is one of the things I love best too, obvs...) I can't remember exactly where and how, could've been Flickr? It's a blur of bookmarks, but regardless of how I got to her site, there's no doubt that I was completely smitten when I did. I purchased a handful of drawings, keeping several and giving the others as gifts. (Oh, she made me look so GOOD.)

Years later, they still look totally fresca and charming and their relevance has only increased. My most recent obsession, amply evident on my Twitter stream, is what I've been describing as the Slow Web. I only started documenting instances of "a web that's well-considered and worth savoring" this past weekend, but they've (ironically?) accumulated quickly. Taking a cue from the Slow Food movement, I'm trying to draw more attention to the sites that pay attention to you. And by you, I mean me, and by us, I mean the universal consumer. And by pay attention, I mean show respect for the fact that we're giving them our time and attention. This is something well-applied to almost any experience, whether it's food or web or, in the case of our KBB, shopping.

If we really take the time to savor what we consume, we're more inclined to be discerning about what exactly the input is. Conversely, if the makers of what we consume know that we're paying attention, they're more likely to give us the good stuff. Oh yes, my theory is riddled with flaws, I realize as I type this, but allow me some idealism, won't you please? Work with me people!

It's kind of how I see this here newsletter too. I take a lot of time to make them, and I certainly don't make them alone. A lot goes into forming my ramblings into something fit for your consumption. We go through several phases of editing, and that's just for the words. We're not perfect, but we sure do try hard — we figure that if you're going to take the time to read, we should take the time to put something together that's worth your while. Conversely, I've gotten a lot of wonderful feedback (constructive criticism included!) from people who look forward to what I have to say because they know how much work I put into it. What a virtuous cycle no?

Speaking of virtuous cycles, I have a request to make of you before I go! A few of us here at JBP put together proposals for talks at next year's SXSW and they've just opened up voting for the 2010 schedule via their PanelPicker. Please have a look at our sessions; we're hoping that you'll like what you see and vote YES for us:

Inbox Hero: Why Newsletters Matter More Than Ever — presented by yours truly.

Supporting Artists With Social Media — presented by Sara and Youngna.

That's all for now, but I'll be back in a flash. We've got a great photo edition lined up for tomorrow, so tune in then for its big reveal.

Image from Design*Sponge

Hello collectors!

20x200 was recently name-dropped on The Frisky as an excellent source for inexpensive art, and on CasaSugar a fantastic site for inspiring home ideas, so I thought I'd re-post this guide I made not too long ago, as we all need a little help to get the awesome inexpensive art off of the table and onto our walls. It is my hope that this post will serve to inspire reinspire us together.

And now let's flashback to Art Hanging 101!

___

Image from Sköna Hem

A million and one moons ago I worked as an assistant to a nutty creative director who had me up all night collecting "swipe." I'm not sure if this is a term used throughout the industry (I ran away and never looked back) so I will consider it a neologism, and give it this definition: a scrapbook of ideas that keeps one up all hours in order to please an overbearing creative director. Here I am happily providing you with the electronic equivalent, but without the slightest tinge of resentment.

First, let's have a peek at how Jen Bekman hangs art in her home:

Now let's check out two of Raul's approaches:

Both Jen and Raul are in favor of clustering their art. Here is a fool-proof link that will help you get the look just right.

More clustered art inspiration:

Image from Design Scouting

Image from Domino

Image from Design Scouting

Image from West Elm

For those of you who prefer more order in your art groupings:

Image from Jonathan Adler

Or the smart, singular approach:

Yes, this is Jen's home again

And for those of you that want to temporarily get your art up quickly try this:

Image from Apartment Therapy

It is fun to find inspiration, and these blogs will offer you hours of ideas:
CasaSugar
Abbey Goes Design Scouting
Design*Sponge
Apartment Therapy

Victoria's Peak, Hong Kong by Emily Shur

Victoria's Peak, Hong Kong
8"x10"($20) | 11"x14"($50) | 16"x20"($200) | 24"x30"($1000)
by
Emily Shur

Heated Wednesday greetings, collectors! NYC remains downright steamy and most people in their right minds have skedaddled for their holidays. I'm leaving for the more temperate climes of the West Coast next week; it's business that's taking me there, but I can't wait to get going! (And hope to squeeze in a small bit of R&R while out there, pretty please.)

With penning this newsletter on my mind, this morning's interior monologue has been accompanied by a soundtrack of just two songs on constant repeat: Vacation and American Girl. The choices are so totally me — I was gaga for those sassy Go-Gos when I was a teenager, and adore Tom Petty (shutup!) but I actually find the tracks particularly well-suited to Victoria's Peak, Hong Kong by hip West Coast girl Emily Shur.

Emily's quite busy professionally with an impressive roster of clients. Her fine art projects reflect her globe-trotting lifestyle, but what makes her work most compelling is a stylization which embodies a specific swath of American nostalgia. When I look at her work, I think of our Kodachrome-idealized mid-century past. When considering it this morning, I realized that it was the first time I truly felt like the twentieth century was a thing of the past; it's probably got something to do with the year 2010 now being firmly figured into my near-future plans. We're breaking away from a new century's dawn and hurtling quickly toward its interior.

With things moving so quickly, it's natural to want to look back a little, even as we document the present. As Emily writes: "Photography has allowed me to give due importance to all of the bits and pieces of my life—these images are not idealized views of life experience. Instead, they are representative of a conscious choice I have made regarding how and what I choose as my memories." Even as these memories are being created, we tend to put a little gloss on how we would like to remember them.

In my own glance backwards, I ordered up some of the photographers we've featured on 20x200 who all tend to put their own spin on the present with subtle references to the historical. This little (de)tour back through time starts with Justin James Reed's photographs of Idaho Springs, Colorado and Norristown, Pennsylvania and moves forward to Colin Blakely's dreamy black and white images, Recollection of the Battles Fought and The Seeming Impenetrability. We'd end up between here and there, in both time and space, with Tema Stauffer's Palm Aire—which brings me right back to Emily's Victoria's Peak.

While taken in Hong Kong, Emily's photograph of binoculars turned toward Victoria Peak (known colloquially as Victoria's Peak) could also be found in one of our own great parks in the U.S. It's this ability to make the foreign familiar with her own special blend of color, light, clarity and distance that appeals to me in Emily's work. Amidst my internal ramblings this morning, I also thought of the Obama Family's National Parks tour and my own road-tripping adventures out west. I was in New Mexico for Review Santa Fe in 2007 and was sorely sorry to have missed this year's event. I knew the talented Emily would be present and having become familiar with her work via the interwebs, lamented losing the chance to chat with her in person.

I guess that's another drawback in all this catapulting forward, no? Not enough time to do all that we would like to. And with that, of course, I'm off 'till we meet again next week!

Survival of the fittest by Jonathan Allen

Three cheers for Jonathan Allen who was recently awarded a Lower Manhattan Cultural Council residency. The highly coveted residency will allow him to relocate his studio to Lower Manhattan for the next nine months.

It has truly been an exceptional year for Jonathan. He's had a solo show, been awarded a Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant, was featured in Vogue and he was invited to be part of this year's Whitney Art Party!

Go Jonathan, go!

Jonthan's 20x200 edition, Torn is available here.

Visit Jonathan's site.

20x200 edition-makers, Doug and Mike Starn were recently commissioned alongside the likes of superstars like Jeff Koons, Frank Gehry, Jenny Holzer, and Francesco Vezzoli by the New York Times Style Magazine to reimagine the iconic "T" logo. Their sculpture, shown above, is a spin-off of their massive installation, Big Bambú. Congratulations Doug and Mike!

Worth noting is that the piece is actually built from giant bamboo sticks "and was assembled by a team of rock climbers under the direction of the artists." The NYT posted an exciting timelapse of the process:

Make sure to check out the other "re-imaginings" over at the NYT Style Magazine.

Friday greetings, collectors! For this week's edition of Browsing the Archives, I've invited the expert eyes of photographer Joseph O. Holmes to choose his favorites edition prints. Not too surprisingly, he has selected exclusively from our topnotch lot of photographers.

And without further ado, let's see what Joe's eye has spied!

Waiting for Hand Grenade Practice, Southern Israel by Rachel Papo

I love Papo's series of young women in the Israeli armed forces, Serial No. 3817131, and this portrait is a great example. She captures the strange juxtaposition of femininity and weaponry perfectly. And what a title: Waiting for Hand Grenade Practice.

A Man and His Horse by Alison Grippo

There are a lot of photos that grab you on first glance, but not so many that hold up to repeat viewing. I've never gotten tired of this one. Part of its charm is the unembarrassed tenderness shown by a New York City cop.

Running Track by James Deavin

Such beautiful curves cut by those yellow lines. I love how this almost tips over into abstraction. And the icing on the cake is the shadow in the bottom left corner that grounds the whole image in three dimensions.

Untitled (LA20070805) by Noah Kalina

Noah shoots a lot of models, but this image reverses things, offering only the suggestion of someone who just got out of that bed. It's all the more erotic for the absence.

Cairo, Egypt by Stefan Ruiz

I had a hard time choosing between this frame-filling view of Cairo and Ruiz's other 20x200 selection, a roughly similar aerial view of La Paz, Bolivia. I finally chose this one for how Ruiz finds extreme chaos and orderliness, all in the same space.

LA ALBERCA #6 1/3/2005 12:56 by Bert Teunissen

I've long been a fan of Teunissen's work, ever since I first saw his prints at the Aperture Gallery. Though the series makes a point about globalization and loss of individuality, I love them for the sweet portraits and the lovely soft light that fills each of the homes.

Blessing over the Rice Machine, Guiyang, Guizhou Province by Shen Wei

This is an oddity -- a Shen Wei with no naked skin! This tableau from Wei's native China appeals to me for many reasons -- the composition and framing, the soft mix of colors -- but also because it reminds me of some of my favorite Chinese neighborhoods in Manhattan.

Keen choices, thanks, Joe!

20x200 edition prints by Joe:
Prospect Park
Prospect Park #2
amnh#30
amnh#10
amnh#62
View Joe's gallery images on jenbekman.com, visit his site and daily photo blog.

Past 20x200 artists who have Browsed the Archives:
Fernanda Cohen
Rachel Hulin
Jennifer Sánchez

Illustration for The New York Times by Jason Polan

I will never tire of singing the praises of Jason Polan. In addition to being terrifically talented, prolific, and sweet, Jason has been generous enough to visit the school I teach at and draw with my 4-year-olds. Given all of the above, it is really no surprise that his talent is winning him acclaim outside of the city. Jason's work is part of a group show, Art-Read, on view at East Hampton's Glenn Horowitz Bookseller. The exhibition was recently reviewed in The East Hampton Star.

Praise was directed at Jason, whose work is used on the cover of the exhibit’s forthcoming catalog and on the invitation card for the show. Jason's text from the card reads like a manifesto:

Artists’ books are like any other medium, a means of conveying art ideas from the artist to the viewer/reader. Unlike most other mediums they are available to all at a low cost. They do not need a special place to be seen. They are not valuable except for the ideas they contain. They contain the material in a sequence which is determined by the artist. (The reader/viewer can read the material in any order but the artist presents it as s/he thinks it should be). Art shows come and go but books stay around for years. They are works themselves, not reproductions of works. Books are the best medium for many artists working today.

Sounds similar to our humble mission: to keep art accessible for all.

Art-Read will continue through September 20th.
Glenn Horowitz Bookseller
87 Newtown Lane
East Hampton, NY

Jason's illustration, above, appeared in The New York Times Op-Art, Thirsting for Fountains.

Chicago Place Mall by Brian Ulrich

So far, 2009 has been an exceptional year for photographer Brian Ulrich. Images from his Dark Stores series are included in this month's photography issue of Time Out Chicago. The editors of the issue sought out photographers who captured how Chicagoans are managing the economic decline. Of his work, Brian reflects, "I was born in ’71, and when I was growing up, there was never any thought that these places wouldn’t be sustainable. A tremendous nostalgia has built up around retail culture... I think it’s hard to let go of, for a lot of people."

See the Time Out feature here.

Earlier this year, Brian was a Guggenheim Fellowship winner, showed at Julie Saul Gallery and CEPA Gallery. Brian was also in the most recent JBG group exhibition, Summer Reading, which closed this past weekend.

Currently his work is on view at Yancey Richardson, in the group exhibition, Glitz & Grime: Photographs of Times Square. The exhibition will continue through September 12.

Glitz & Grime: Photographs of Times Square
Yancey Richardson Gallery
535 West 22nd Street | 3rd floor | New York

Visit Brian's website notifbutwhen.com to see more of his work.

And, if you're not already a regular reader, check out Brian's blog—recommended recent posts include: The Guggenheim How-To and Justin James Reed, Thomas Cole and Toys R US.

PS. If you like JJR's photograph in Brian's post, you can also find it on 20x200.

False Memory by Ricky Allman

Disco Peak by Ricky Allman

Happy Tuesday collectors! It's Sara, moving on from a serious case of the Mondays. We've lined up some gorgeous new editions and hope that you'll join us as the week unfolds. Tomorrow we'll feature a new guest-curated set from Web Wonder Woman, Gina Trapani.

Today's 20x200 artist, Ricky Allman, was born and raised in the middle of the country, surrounded by Mormons and the Rocky Mountains in Utah. There, as he put it, he was subject to "weekly earthquake drills at school and lessons about the apocalypse and the 'evils of the world' on Sundays." While he made a break for other lands both far and near later in life, the geography and ideology that suffused his formative years made a lasting impression on his work as a painter.

In False Memory and Disco Peak, the jagged edges and intimidating outlines of the high Rockies are omnipresent, serving as both subject and background. Stylized and vividly colorful geometric boxes intersect with the organic environment, highlighting Ricky's interest in architecture and nature as well as a foreboding sense of false security. The walls of these structures, weighty as they are in their precision, are either transparent or emanating colors, belying their soundness. It is the questionable characteristics of these walls that lead me to a discussion about the nature of religion.

Like Ricky, I have spent some time in Mormon country and will digress for a minute to share two stories:

The 1989 VW Jetta I drove in college broke down twice on cross-country road trips, first in Salt Lake City, Utah and, for the second and last time, in Boise, Idaho.

When my timing belt went out and I slid down the off-ramp in Utah, a truck immediately pulled up behind me and the driver emerged from his seat with tow ropes in hand. Turned out the kind fellow happened to know the only foreign car specialist in town and happily lugged my sad car to his friend's garage. Nothing short of a miracle! Even more remarkable, I was charged a reasonable fee and returned to the road before the end of the day. LDS pamphlets were left on the passenger seat for my perusal but as I headed west, I vowed never to pass judgment on Mormons again.

When the Jetta's transmission went out a year later, just east of the Washington/Idaho border on I-84 and miles away from the nearest big city, I held the clutch in gear, in fourth for as long as I could muster, then in third, and was crunching along in second at a speed rounding up to 20 MPH as I passed Boise's LDS Temple en route to a friend-of-a-friend's mother's house. The car ground to a halt in her driveway. I was well taken care of by my friend's friend's family, sold the Jetta for $250 and flew home. Things could have been a whole lot worse.

The moral of the story: you don't have to be a Mormon to be saved in Mormon country, or anywhere for that matter. Really, what you have to be and should be, is a good person; do unto others as you would have done to yourself (or something like that). What goes around, comes around. I think this golden rule is the one we should all strive to live by, within or without the glowing walls of a church. And I think that is what Ricky is getting to in these paintings; religion may be a centerpiece in many people's lives—not to mention fodder for some entertaining television—but people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. So, live by the golden rule, whether you are inside or outside of that glass box.

Brooklyn Morning (17"x22") by Youngna Park | Globe (8"x10") by Rachel Hulin | Apple 1 (16"x20") by Mark Richards | Howon (11"x14") by Hosang Park | Houndstooth Pattern in Parking Lot, at Disney World, FL (16"x20") by Alex MacLean | Untitled (Bondi Baths, Sydney, Australia) (20"x24") by Carlo Van de Roer | iSketch104 (14"x11") by Jorge Colombo | The Office (17"x22") by Rebecca Loyche

Good day, dear collectors! It's Sara, again, but I do bring dispatches from Jen, via American Airlines' excellent on-board wi-fi, as she traverses the country from JFK to SFO. And also, an IM convo (of course) between her and the one-and-only Gina Trapani. In addition to being our guest curator, Gina's a technology blogger, podcaster, author and founding editor of Lifehacker.com. On top of all this, she's built her own computer (seriously) and flown a small plane. Now you know why yesterday I referred to her as the Web Wonder Woman. She's the real deal.

As you've become accustomed to, we're offering you a list-only special on these fine prints. [Oops! Sorry, if you didn't get full details about the discounted editions in your inbox, make sure you're signed up for the 20x200 newsletter so you'll get the scoop on list-only specials and new guest curator selections next time. Don't miss out again!]

That Jen's flying high is oddly appropriate for today's introduction; as you'll see, Gina is also a fan of aerial views, and set her sights on a few photographs taken from far above. Jen and Gina had lots to talk about, so the entire, juicy conversation will be posted on the 20x200 blog in the coming days. It's good stuff, so stayed tuned!

And now, GREAT HERA!:

Jen: OMG, love your selections!
Gina: Oh, thanks! I had so much fun doing this. Normally, I'm looking at (often, pretty bland-looking) software, so this was really fun.
Jen: Well, as I've said to the other curators, it's REALLY fun for me to see the selections that our guest curators make. And I was keen to have you do it because, as you're well aware, I DO consider you a curator! I was day-dreaming about our dinner before the [2009 SXSW] Curating the Crowd-Sourced World panel just yesterday. How much fun was that?
Gina: OMG, SO fun. I still think about that dinner too!
Gina: I pitched a panel myself for SXSW [2010], so we must vote for each other's panels.
Jen: Me too! Yes, we will vote. Mine's called Inbox Hero and it's about how newsletters are awesome.
Gina: Love it! GREAT title. That's fantastic. Mine's called How'd They DO That? Secrets of Web Superstars.
Jen: Yay! That is really great.

[Ed. note: this is where the ladies start talking about the art and curating.]

Jen: It's kind of like a Rorschach to see what people choose... I think it's hilarious that Rebecca Loyche's photo is your favorite by the way.
Gina: I *love* that photo. It made me laugh out loud. That is totally me, on many days of the week.
Jen: It's a really great photo and it gets better and better as you dig into the details.
Gina: It's true, all the gadgets and computers everywhere, her outfit, the shoes... Love the wicked witch death hint.
Jen: The other thing I like about it is the really discordant color palette.
Gina: The pink window sill outlines are so great!
Jen: So are you trying to start a nerd war by choosing Woz's Mac instead of the IBM mainframe?
Gina: Yes! Macs are prettier! This proves it! ...You have so much good stuff for geeks. I love it.
Jen: Well, I am pretty geeky as art dealers go, perhaps among the geekiest. But also, I am very intent on engaging that audience with the artz...
Gina: I got really nostalgic about several of the NYC photos (speaking of location)... I really miss Brooklyn so much, which is why I chose Brooklyn Morning. It photo-tugs at my heartstrings. Those little pieces of colored paper on the sidewalk got me.
Jen: Aww! That is by Youngna Park, who is a very webby photographer. She did one of our very first editions and now she's the Associate Producer of all the JBP sites! ...Plus, she's been involved with the gallery forever. She was one of the very first Hot Shots in 2005. Plus, she was a photo-blogger. Remember those? A dying breed.
Gina: Oh yes, I do remember those, fondly! And, of course, Colombo's iSketch104 is also a predictably geeky pick on my part... I must confess: I'm a little judgmental about people who stand around staring at their phones when out in public. It's the whole disconnection/being absent thing. Keeping in mind that I do this all the time; we judge things in others we don't like about ourselves. So, what I love, is that Jorge turned that right over on its head. And now I can think, "well, maybe that person is making art."
Jen: Hah! Wow, that's totally great. And yes, they just might be. Have you seen the films of the process that are on The New Yorker's website? They are incredible.
Gina: Yes, that New Yorker cover blew my doors off. The video was amazing.
Jen: I was SO PROUD! They have been posting new ones every week... OK, did you pick up on the fact that you chose three aerial shots and a globe to tie it all in? Was that intentional or instinctual?
Gina: It was kind of intentional. I love aerial photography, kind-of obsessed with flight in general, I actually flew a small plane once! And, I love small things representing big things and vice-versa, which shows in a bunch of my picks... And the Howon photo, my goodness. Circuitry, neurons, urban landscape... all that stuff in one photo.
Jen: He is incredibly talented, that Hosang Park. He's going to have a solo show at JBG in the fall. And how did we find such talent? Hey, Hot Shot!
Gina: That photo really got into my head. I can't stop looking at it.
...
Jen: And actually, because you opened that door for me, thankyewverymuch, I sort of sense a less obvious kinship between Alex's wonderful Houndstooth Parking Lot and Mark's other edition, the aforementioned IBM mainframe.
Gina: Yes, indeed.
Jen: And as for Carlo's swim series selection... I could be confusing you with another kick-ass female tech-world superstar, Ms. Esther Dyson, but are you a swimmer?
Gina: I love swimming, and years ago I was pretty diligent about hitting the pool more often. I did my first triathlon last year—a super mini-sprint—and got back to the pool to train, and this photo took me back there. I love how the water bends the repeating lane lines, and that angle is perfect, with the tiny swimmer. So good.
...
Jen: Hehe. Now, we have to zoom out for an overview at the end! Which brings us to Ms. Hulin's wonderful globe photo, which I adore too.
Gina: Oh, yes—this was also a mix of geeky nostalgia for me with a little aerial fetish thrown in. I felt like I was a kid again.
Jen: Yeah, totally, and yet, it's a sophisticated photo. Because it's an interesting perspective on the mundane, which means that some people look at it and think, "snapshot!" But now that you've honed your curatorial process, it's not lost on you, nosiree.
Gina: It makes me feel like I'm nine years-old and about to go to bed, the door about to get pulled shut, great moment, even though this was a shot from her adult life of her room as a child.
Jen: Heh, totally. It was in her childhood bedroom and she took it from bed. I loved talking to her about it, it was another recent newsletter highlight for me. My job rocks. I can't help but brag about it. And speaking of which, I've monopolized a LOT of your time already. I'm guessing your job might need some attending to itself.
Gina: Yes! Let's keep in touch and be sure to catch up.
Jen: So talk/see you soon and have a great lunch. Thanks again.
Gina: Thanks Jen, talk soon.
Jen: Byeee.

* Sorry guys, not as exciting, I know. But still (!) you will no doubt receive many a helpful pointer in the midst of charming conversation, I promise you that. She will also entertain traveling to other interesting locales—Austin (TX), Paris (France), Memphis + London are already upcoming itineraries—let us know where you're at! She's excited about this! Really! I can feel the energy from the airplane!

It seemed fated that 20x200 would have something in common with twenty2wo, seeing as how we have the same affinity for alliteration and the number two. And it turns out, we do!

Designer Adam Beneke has highlighted more than a couple 20x200 artists on twenty2wo, his curated site that features "inspiring visual art from around the globe," with a lot of design and illustration thrown into the mix.

Recently on twenty2wo:

Filter Samples by Jessica Eaton

And do you recognize this artist? Hint: her 20x200 edition can be found here.

Geopolitical Tumescence by Sarah Spitler

Two tips to close:

1. twenty2wo is also a printed magazine and is always looking for artist contributions or creative collaborations. Drop Adam a line at adam AT twenty2wo DOT com if you have some ideas you'd like to share with him.

2. Adam's spotted a few artists we've had our eye on for some time; more overlap is imminent! I can feel it. Stay tuned to see who's next.

Peeps by Katie Baum

Buongiorno dear collectors! It's a rainy Friday morning here in New York, but the colorful selections from our archives, hand selected by photographer Katie Baum, should certainly serve to brighten things up.

Berry by Kevin Cyr

I would love a collection of Kevin's trucks on my wall!

Brooklyn Morning by Youngna Park

I am often drawn to photographs with a shallow depth of field.

Hot Dog and I by Fernanda Cohen

I love when art makes me laugh, and this piece cracks me up!

Hank William's Bed by Scott Eiden

It seems that every photographer has a bed shot, but this one is a gem.

Trash Mountain by Megan Whitmarsh

A colorful mound of trash! The tiny details delight me.

Katerina by Karolina Karlic

This image has a mysterious quality that awakens my curiosity.

Grand Finale by Rachell Sumpter

I have a thing for miniatures. I appreciate the play on scale in this piece.

Balloons by Juliane Eirich

Ahh, the simple clean beauty in a cluster of balloons!

Auditorium by James Rajotte

A brilliant formal photograph. I would love to own the 30x40 of this image!

Bags by Beth Dow

I like what Beth Dow says in her artist statement, "These pictures are about the beauty of mystery, and the mystery of beauty."

There you have it! Another excellent edition of Browsing the Archives to help inspire you! Don't forget to visit our Going, going, gone! selection to collect work that will surely not last much longer.

iSketch098 by Jorge Colombo

Jorge Colombo is known for his iconic iPhone drawings of New York City. His ephemeral, glowing sketches earned him a New Yorker cover, in addition to accolades and much attention, and a regular spot on The New Yorker blog.

What happens when an artist who is so devoted to NYC—Colombo has the opening scene of Woody Allen's Manhattan on his phone—ventures into new territory? We're about to find out.

San Francisco's own 7x7 announced that Jorge's due for a visit to their fine city and has plans to draw as much as he can. We're big fans of SF and will be looking forward to seeing what Jorge comes home with.

Brenda the Elephant by Luke Stephenson

Photographer Luke Stephenson has just completed a new project, Stanelli's Super Circus. The photographs are portraits of puppets made by renowned British puppeteer Stan Parker. The entire project can be viewed on Luke's Flickr stream.

Both of his 20x200 editions are from his ongoing series of portraits of show birds. Only one print remains!

See more of Luke's portraits of birds, dart enthusiasts and puppets on his website.