Quality Meats by Colleen Plumb

Warmest of Wednesday greetings, collector friends. We're having quite a day around here, as usual, with too much to do and not enough people to do it. Which brings me to our first item of business: Did you know that we are hiring? We are. One of the plum positions we're seeking to fill is that of Photography Competition Manager, which is to say: someone to run Hey, Hot Shot!. And speaking of plum(b)s and HHS!, today's most important matter is to introduce you to our fourth edition by 2008 Hot Shot and Jen Bekman Gallery artist, Chicago-native Colleen Plumb.

Quality Meats is a let's-get-real counterpoint to Colleen's most common subjects, the animals with which we coexist. Let the record show that I, for once, have opted to not feature a creature. Sure, it's a text edition of sorts but still! I am not utterly enslaved to my weakness for our furry friends.

Colleen's work is all about the bizarre range of interactions we have with animals. We've all encountered extreme cases of both adoration and neglect. We strive for their conservation and also consume them. I myself struggle with how it is that I can eat bacon when I know it comes from what my beloved Wilbur was made of, and that the Wilburs of the world are likely more intelligent and evolved than my beloved Ollie Otter. I'd never in a million years dream of dining upon the Otter, and yet! I know that my distaste for such a concept is more cultural than culinary.

Honestly, it's all so confusing and upsetting that I often don't have the stomach for thinking it through. Ms. Plumb, in possession of a certain Midwestern practicality, is a different story. Her exploration has been both enduring and unflinching, resulting in a compelling body of work whose evolution I've had the good fortune to witness over the course of the past several years. Two major milestones in said evolution are happening in tandem: first is the publication of her first monograph Animals Are Outside Today by our friends at Radius Books and the second is her NYC solo exhibition debut, which we are exceedingly proud to be presenting at Jen Bekman Gallery. We'll be celebrating the opening of her exhibition next Friday, March 18th, from 6 to 8 p.m.

Both of these milestones are major, and the result of Colleen's considerable efforts, expense and yes, perseverance. They really underplay that perseverance part in art school, but let me tell you: it matters. The expense part, so unseemly to converse about and also underplayed, is considerable. Which brings me to the part of 20x200 that I couldn't be prouder of: patronage. Buying art from our artists makes monographs and exhibitions possible. So, get a print and come to next Friday's opening to witness the magic that your patronage makes possible.