Dots by Jonathan Lewis

Jelly Belly by Jonathan Lewis

Whirlwind Wednesday greetings, collector friends. I'm touching down after a hectic morning punctuated by myriad vexing errands, relieved that I'll get to spend the balance of the day in the cool comfort and warm conviviality of 20x200 HQ. It's a welcome relief to my surroundings a few hours ago, in the reception area of the doctor's office. I was miserable over all the indignities a healthy person must endure in order to confirm that they are indeed healthy, but found my mood lightening considerably the moment I turned my attention to today's sugar-sweet pair of prints from the awfully clever Jonathan Lewis. I quite literally LOL'd as I read through his witty statement, much to the consternation of the worried in my cramped company.

After a few minutes of examining the proofs of Dots and Jelly Belly that I'd tucked into my waiting-room reading material, the transformation was complete and I was sitting there grinning like an idiot. I've been fond of Jonathan's work for eons now, ever since the discerning tastemakers of Blind Spot (one of our favorite photography publications) featured his work on the cover of Issue 18.*

It's not just because it's candy (which I love, who doesn't?), nor because it's irrepressibly cheery. It's because Jonathan himself is so DROLL and British, insightful and curious, and also, seemingly utterly self-possessed about being all of the above. (Although, perhaps maybe a little bit embarrassed as he reads this? I imagine him shuffling about, looking at his shoes in a deferential, please-don't-make-a-fuss way that I also think of as being terribly British.) Plus, of course: CANDY.

Jonathan's fascination with America's glossy riches is that much more resonant with me right now as I'm in the thick of reading Air Guitar, a book of essays by critic Dave Hickey. Hickey would be likely to admire Lewis' willingness to accept America's sheen, even as he's deconstructing it. Hickey has his own love-hate relationship with consumerism and an eagerness for us to embrace everything that's shiny (dare I say crass?) as being authentically American, and in its own way, beautiful.

Lewis' ongoing investigation of consumerism in America and abroad has produced a passel of projects, many of which are available in book form. Once you've snapped up these two bits of stripey deliciousness, I suggest that you head over to the ABC Artists' Books Cooperative and check them all out.

*I've also been harboring an obsession with See Candy the edition of 44 (!) 6"x4" Iris prints, boxed in a container that pays homage to my #1 guilty pleasure purchase before boarding any flight out of SFO.