Jump by Thomas Prior

Steps by Thomas Prior

Hello collectors! I am back from Boston, ever happy to be home for a fortnight, at least. And even more pleased to be introducing today's editions from Thomas Prior: Jump and Steps.

These editions came together a hop, step and a jump after the most recent Hey, Hot Shot! opening at the gallery. Tom was a contender in the last round (a very close contender, more on that in a few!) so I was happy to see him. He's someone who drops by the gallery frequently, is always nice, genuinely interested and without an agenda. The casual conversations we've had reinforce that he's both engaged in his practice and also paying attention to how hard everyone at JBP is working on all the projects we do here.

Likewise, Tom works hard and has kept at the photography thing for awhile. I've know him since 2003—which is starting to feel like a long time ago—the seven years in between span the better portion of his ten years of picture making. A decade's worth of dedication and persistence is evident in his work—it's gotten better and better.

When Steps popped up during the last Hey, Hot Shot! review, I thought, "wow, that's cool—what IS that—oooh—then OMG, I know this guy, and I really like him and I know he's doing the very, very hard work." I wasn't the only panelist who took interest; we actually spent a good deal of time discussing Tom and his work and, of course, the project itself. Ultimately, however, he wasn't selected for that edition of the competition, which speaks to the core of the challenge in evaluating the work of so many talented artists: choosing the final five almost always involves making heartbreaking decisions.

But, thankfully, there's 20x200! And I can share Tom's work with you all here. Having a platform to create an opportunity for someone I know and like and respect is one of the deepest pleasures of my job. It's why I do what I do. I just couldn't be on the other side of things: I could never be an artist, putting something out there —that's (on some level) about who I am and how I feel—to be judged, and often so arbitrarily. It's essentially really brave to me. It's usually a long rough road out there for artists. The idea of a young "art star" drives me nuts—for most it's a marathon of portfolio reviews (for which Mr. Teuton has offered up a few tips), competitions (Tom was recently named one of PDN's 30 New and Emerging Photographers to Watch), group shows and assisting gigs, all while making photos. It's WORK.

There's a slew of intrepid photographers out there who have started to enter this year's Hey, Hot Shot! competition—which I'm pleased to note, will award one photographer a $5,000 cash prize to prepare for a solo exhibition at JBG. In addition to all of the incentives that have made Hey, Hot Shot! so great in the past, like our incredible panel, the opportunity to have work reviewed for 20x200, and $500 awards and a group exhibition for the five selected Hot Shots, we're now offering this really-big-deal prize and a series of Curator's Choice Awards throughout the competition. The first Curator's Choice Award winner, Phil Underdown, was selected by Radius Books' acquiring editor, Darius Himes. The deadline for the next award is TOMORROW, Thursday, May 20th. CEO of Chronicle Books, Nion McEvoy will review all HHS! entries to date and award one with accolades and five books from Chronicle. So, if you haven't entered yet, now's the time!

Among the other photographers and Hot Shots out there who I know, respect and hold dearly to my heart is Gregory Krum whose solo exhibition at the gallery ...Practice... is super smart, beautiful and not to be missed. See it. ASAP. It will be on view at 6 Spring Street till June 27th.