The Overachievers by Clare Grill

Good getting-back-into-the-swing-of-things Tuesday collectors! Did the New Year really just pass? Whew! It's hard to believe we're getting into the second full week of the future. But we are and things are lookin' good! I'm terribly pleased to be kicking off the week's editions with a new work from Clare Grill, The Overachievers.

When Sara first introduced Clare's work to you, we were celebrating 20x200's second birthday. We've got lots to cheer about with the release of this edition as well: Clare's NYC solo debut exhibition will open this Friday at the JBG. We'll be toasting the gorgeous painting this print was produced from and the rest of the timeless works that complete What You're Told.

In preparation for this edition and the exhibition, Mr. Teuton, Ms. Distin and I paid a visit to Ms. Grill at her studio in Queens (home of my youth!). Surrounded by freshly-drying paintings, I felt like I was in someone's house, in spite of the fact that we were very clearly in a place that was set up, lit and furnished as a studio. It wasn't hard to imagine wallpaper hanging behind her paintings.

Looking at her works, I was transported back to those mysterious years of childhood and recalled the vague terror that arises when you're a kid and you've done something wrong. Without undermining the foreboding feeling of getting caught at being bad, the paintings are also comfortingly familiar — when you're young, that terror is (hopefully) the only terror you know. There's something cozy and sentimental about remembering that, especially when comparing it to the much more complex, unbounded realities of adulthood. These realities lie in the murky and misty areas in Clare's works and bring forth the lessons learned that weren't always as black and white as they were presented.

There's lots to take in, so I hope you'll accept my invitation to come over for Clare's show. Details:

What You're Told
Six paintings on canvas and eleven works on paper by Clare Grill
Opening Reception: Friday, January 15th, 2010 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.
On View: January 16th - February 27th, 2010
Jen Bekman Gallery
6 Spring Street
New York, NY