Just in time for the holidays, ReadyMade magazine has just released a “Deck the Walls” issue, filled with tons of projects and ideas for brightening those often blank white spaces in your home. ReadyMade has featured 20x200 artists on their blog before, and in keeping with the theme of the issue they’ve included Don Hamerman’s Rawlings print in their gift guide! As avid 20x200 readers may already know, Rawlings is part of a series that Don did on baseballs he found in a field near his home, all fascinatingly disintegrated in their own way. While the $20 edition of Rawlings is sold out, the $50 edition featured in the guide is still available.

Rawlings by Don Hamerman

And, if you’re not already a subscriber to ReadyMade, be sure to check out this winter issue!

Cover of Transfigurations by Michael Lundgren, published by Radius Books

I have been an admirer of Michael Lundgren's work for awhile, long having had his website in my bookmarks. One day, while wandering from gallery to gallery in Chelsea, I found myself inside Clamp Art where I paged through a copy of Lundgren's book Transfigurations. A few minutes later I was racing home with the book in my bag.

In the moment of decision before buying a new book, I sometimes ask myself: will I ever finish this, or, for that matter, return to it again? When I picked up Transfigurations a few months ago, I had no idea just how many times I would return to it. However, I've re-opened the book nearly every time I've passed by my bookshelf, even if just for a second.

Yuha Basin, form Transfigurations, by Michael Lundgren

The book opens with a scintillating introduction to the desert by Rebecca Solnit, who writes:

With time you learn to see what is absent: the spring in the winter, the mountain lion in the devoured stag, the flows of water that carved the dry land, the bygone feet that walked the path into being, the living in the dead, the movement in the stones. Only with time. If you come here seeking something particular you may find only it. Or find nothing. But if you come seeking the desert it will be given to you in time, if you take care not to get so irrevocably lost that you too become bones out here, but lots enough to find what you did not know you were looking for.

Like stepping into a dark theater, it might take a moment for your eyes to adjust before you can view the images of Transfigurations. However, Solnit's essay gives just the right context for really seeing the work. Some images are full of subtle grays, others at first glance, appear underexposed or blank, but keep looking and, as Solnit says, "it will be given to you in time."

Spread from Transfigurations by Michael Lundgren

The series is one that Lundgren worked exclusively on for seven years, and the resulting images are nothing short of transcendent. Through you can view the images online, it becomes clear when leafing through the book, richly printed by publisher Radius Books, that this is how the work is best experienced.

Lundgren writes:

These photographs are a lust for the primitive, for what lies behind personality. They are a search to understand beauty and terror, which are bound to one utter certainty—change. In the desert nothing is static; even rocks move. Through intuition, I hope to photograph the impossible, to fix the fugitive on film.

While the internet has made it easier than ever before to access art, many essential qualities are lost when viewing on the internet. Shortly after purchasing the book, I ordered one of Lundgren's prints then another. I can't recommend Transfigurations highly enough, but also offer a warning that it may result in subsequent impulse art purchases.

As quick sidenote: Radius Books publisher Darius Himes is the first guest curator of our photography competition Hey, Hot Shot!. Darius will be reviewing all entries submitted by 12am EST *tonight* and send his choice a Radius Books gift bag, with three books—including Transfigurations!

A peek inside the Brooklyn home of Gregory Krum was recently featured on Sight Unseen, an online magazine founded by two former editors of I.D. In addition to being a fantastic photographer, Gregory daylights as Director of Retail at the Cooper-Hewitt Shop in New York, curating one of the city's best spots for design shopping. Gregory's certainly got a knack for mixing high-design with thrift store finds to create a space that is uniquely his own. Throughout the house you will find Italian chairs and a custom-made bed frame mixed in with eclectic objects, art found at a thrift store, and several of Krum's own photographs.

In fact, Gregory's sold out edition Chateau Pool can be spotted behind this plant with a pair of googly eyes (an homage to SNL):

The slideshow is accompanied by an article on Gregory's experience as an artist, in design retail, and his upcoming exhibition ...Practice..., which opens May 15th at Jen Bekman Gallery.

Make sure to check out the full tour on Sight Unseen and then head over to Gregory's 20x200 page to check out his four beautiful editions.

(Image: Cooper-Hewitt Museum)

Quick Take: Rodarte, an exhibition curated by our very own 20x200 edition-maker Gregory Krum, opened last week at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum. The show surveys the work of conceptual fashion designers Kate and Laura Mulleavy, who founded the acclaimed fashion label in 2005, and provides a glimpse into the process and inspiration behind their work.

Part of what separates Rodarte from the rest of haute-couture is their unorthodox influences, which include "the building and taking apart of homes, California Condors, Boris Karloff as Frankenstein, land art and Japanese horror films." Gregory, who was recently interviewed by Cool Hunting on the exhibition, writes that the resulting designs are "meticulous, sophisticated and fearless."

He adds:

They have a very specific vision of what they want to do and are able to combine and convert very disparate references—none of which involve romantic nostalgia for past fashion designers—into garments that don't look like anything else we’ve seen. Aside from looking unique, the work is constructed in a very serious way, often combining traditional couture techniques with more radical ones…they'll do whatever it takes to achieve the look they want.

Don't miss the full interview on Cool Hunting and if you're in New York make sure to stop by the exhibition, which runs through March 14th.

Quicktake: Rodarte
Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum
February 11 - March 14, 2010
2 East 91st Street
New York, NY 10128

Two out of three of Greg's editions are completely sold out, but select prints of New York (Peony) are still available from 20x200. If you're a fan of Krum—and who isn't?—you'll also want to keep an eye on the mailing list.

New York (Peony) by Gregory Krum

Collocation No. 14 (NATURE) Left Panel by Mickey Smith

A large-scale diptych by book-loving 20x200 edition-maker Mickey Smith is included in the group show SIDE BY SIDE opening at the Esopus Space in New York this Tuesday. The piece that Mickey will display, EBONY is part of her Volume series, from which her three 20x200 editions MORE BOOKS, WORD STUDY, and NATURE are sourced.

About the series Mickey writes:

The act of hunting for and photographing these objects is fundamental to my process. I do not touch, light, or manipulate the books and words – preferring to document them as found in the stacks, created by the librarian, and positioned by the last unknown reader. I focus on simple, provocative titles that transcend the spines on which they appear to create conceptual, language-based, anthropological works.

Mickey has also created a 16-page artists project and 20"x30" two-sided removable poster, which will appear within Issue 13 of Esopus Magazine. The magazine will hits the stands on November 1st, but you can get a sneak peek at the opening reception of SIDE BY SIDE, which doubles as the Esopus 13 Launch Party.

SIDE BY SIDE / Esopus 13 Launch Party
Tuesday, October 27th, 6–9pm
Esopus Space
64 West 3rd Street, #210
New York

Artists Include:
Jeff Gibson, Oliver Herring, Peter Krashes, Alex Masket, and Mickey Smith.

20x200 edition-maker and globe-trotting photographer extraordinaire, Stuart Klipper, is included in the recently released book, Momento: Capturing Moments and Memories by Bill Westheimer, which takes a look into the unique and personal histories of cameras.

With each camera is a story told by its owner. The cameras were photographed using 19th century glass plate negatives, emphasizing how quickly the technology of past image-making has been made antique. The cameras capture our experience in mere fractions of seconds, but the cameras themselves endure to reflect the technology and aspirations of their eras. The memories we connect to the cameras are significant, sentimental and cherished. The cameras themselves evoke memories of meaningful moments in our lives that are as vivid and vital as the pictures they captured

Inside, among numerous others essays about the specific lineage of photographers' prized tools, you will find three pieces by Stuart on the histories of his Brooks Veri-Wide, Canon/Bell & Howell Dial and Hexar Cameras. Below is an excerpt from Stuart's History of the Canon/Bell & Howell Dial:

I was living in Stockholm a couple of times in the 60s and one time when I was sitting around with a friend in a konditori a photographer friend or hers – a Czech or a Frenchman, or maybe a Hungarian -- showed up and joined us. He quickly whipped out an object that was not immediately identifiable; but, he pointed it at me as if it were a camera, which – click, zip – it indeed was. At the time he had an exhibition of work he’d made with that selfsame camera – very raw and immediate Euro-nitty gritty grainy street pix. I’m not sure I previously knew of there being such things as a half-frame 35mm cameras, but this little beaut sure was. Thanks to the diminutive scale of the negs. it made, he was able to make the aforementioned style of photos.

It's fascinating to hear the stories behind Stuart's cameras, especially knowing the places to which they've traveled: Antarctica, Greenland, Iceland, Svalbard, Alaska, Lapland, Australia, Israel, Sinai, Costa Rica, Patagonia, Tierra del Fuego, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan.

Icebreaker, Emperor penguin, Southern O., Antarctica by Stuart Klipper

And, while a great camera may make for an interesting story or three, Stuart's photography shows that it's truly the adventure, not the camera, that makes for a great photograph. Luckily for us, Stuart's editions Icebreaker, Emperor penguin, Southern O., Antarctica and Swell, Southern Ocean near 50 S, Antarctica are still available on 20x200.

The Office
by Rebecca Loyche

When you say it's gonna happen now
Well, when exactly do you mean?
See I've already waited too long
And all my hope is gone
The Smiths

How Soon Is Now? is truly one of my favorite songs (I'll spare you the painful teen memories), and more to the point, has been borrowed to title an exhibition of emerging artists at The Bronx Museum of the Arts which includes 20x200 artist Rebecca Loyche.

How Soon Is Now?
June 1 – August 18, 2008
1040 Grand Concourse
165 Street, Bronx, NY

We still have prints available for you from Rebecca.

Welwitchia Mirabilis #0707-22411 by Rachel Sussman

Unsurprisingly, Rachel Sussman's 20x200 edition from earlier this week, Towards Christiana (Copenhagen), is sold out in all but the largest sizes already. The collectors who get the large ones are lucky ducks though — it just so happens that Rachel's photographs are particularly fantastic as big prints. Of course you should take my word on it, but why not see it with your own eyes?

If you're a NYer, or are planning on visiting our fair city any time this month, make your way to Michael Steinberg Fine Art over in Chelsea where you can see ginormous, delicious prints from Rachel's ongoing The Oldest Living Things in the World series.

For over a year now, Rachel's been "researching, working with biologists, and traveling around the world to photograph living organisms, aged 2000 years old and older." I love that she's chronicling her adventures on her project blog, as well as accepting frequent flier mile donations to offset what must be tremendous travelling expenses—if you've got any to spare, please consider sending them her way! "You'll receive a special limited edition print," she says, "in addition to my undying gratitude." Places still on Rachel's list include Tasmania, Southern Australia, Greenland, Sri Lanka, Antarctica, Ibiza, Crete, Sweden and Northern California, so she's still got lots of flying to do.

Frequent Flier miles aside, adding the work of an emerging artist to your collection is a meaningful and lasting form of support. We've still got those two 30"x40" prints of Rachel's available for purchase and we're also offering an edition of 3 prints at her above-mentioned ginormo exhibition size of 44"x54". Drop an email to collector at 20x200 dot com to learn more about those.

The Oldest Living Things in the World
Solo Show @ Michael Steinberg Fine Art
May 1-31st
526 West 26th Street, Suite 215

Palms, by Ian Baguskas

Let's start the week out right with congratulations to Ian Baguskas, the 20x200 edition maker and Hot Shot Ne Plus Ultra recently named to PDN's 30, whose current show at the Jen Bekman Gallery just received a lovely review by Peggy Roalf in the AI+AP's Design Arts Daily newsletter; Roalf says his Sweet Water is "one of the most beguiling exhibitions on view in New York."

If you're in the city, you really should go see it—if you think Ian's images look amazing on your screen, know that you'll find them absolutely mesmerizing in person. Sweet Water has been extended to May 3rd, so you've got time! We've still got prints of Ian's 20x200 edition Kamping Kabins available in all three sizes; I'm sure one of them would look great on your wall.

Untitled (from Sub Rosa), by Birthe Piontek

À nos amis Montréalais, we're pleased as punch to say 20x200 edition maker, Hot Shot! Ne Plus Ultra, and newly-minted PDN 30 Birthe Piontek will be one of ten photographers showing their visions of home in Bienvenue, a show opening at your lovely city's Maison de la culture Frontenac this coming Thursday, April 24th. We've still got prints of Birthe's moody, beautiful Untitled (from Sub Rosa) available, and think it would be a vision in your home!

Untitled (Geese), by Dana Miller

We're great fans of Dana Miller here at Jen Bekman World Domination HQ—one of her photographs was on the very first postcard for the Jen Bekman gallery's first exhibition, she had her third solo show there in 2004, and released the photo you see above as a 20x200 edition last October—so we're more than happy to say that she's just this very week released a book of her work through Blurb: analogue is a 72-page hardcover book of photographs "about the relationships between things", available now for $34.95. Congratulations, Dana!

If you like Dana as much as we do, we've still got her Untitled (Geese) available in all sizes, so pick one up while you still can; know that the intense green of the algae in the print is not done justice by our newfangled computer screens, it's striking and unbelievably beautiful in person.

Bags, by Beth Dow

Photolucida hasn't updated their website to reflect the results of this year's Critical Mass competition yet, but judge Lisa Snow recently posted a list of winners on her blog and everyone at Jen Bekman World Domination HQ is ecstatic to see Beth Dow's name as one of six on the book prize short list. Congratulations, Beth! She's represented by Jen Bekman Gallery, and she released a 20x200 edition last October. Her spare, melancholy Bags is now only available in medium and large.

Beth is not the only member of our extended family to do well in Critical Mass 2008—Hot Shots Colin Blakely, Daniel Traub, James Rajotte, Ian van Coller, and Sarah Small are all in the Top 50, so many congratulations to them as well! Colin's piece for 20x200, The Seeming Impenetrability of the Space Between, came out just last week and is already completely sold out save for the large edition.

Palms, by Ian Baguskas

Not even back in town a week from speaking on a SXSW Interactive panel in Austin, our jetsetting rock star leader Jen Bekman is in Texas again right now—in Houston this time, reviewing portfolios at the 2008 FotoFest Biennial.
While she's away looking at beautiful photographs and eating BBQ, let me update you on what's been going on with some of our favorite people:

Hey, Hot Shot! Ne Plus Ultras Ian Baguskas and Birthe Piontek, both represented by Jen Bekman, were recently named to PDN's 30 for 2008, and are featured in their March 2008 issue as two of this year’s top 30 emerging photographers. Congratulations Ian and Birthe! Ian's NYC solo show debut, Sweet Water, an exhibition of photographs documenting failed oases of the American West, opens at the gallery on Friday, March 21st and will be on show through April 26th. Read more about his show, or just come to the opening reception from 6 to 8 p.m. this Friday!

Prints from Birthe's Untitled (from Sub Rosa) and Ian's Kamping Kabins 20x200 editions are still available, and we're very much pleased and excited to share the news that their fellow 2008 PDN 30s Shen Wei and Daniel Traub (a Spring 2007 Hot Shot) have agreed to do editions with us. Can't wait to see what they'll come up with.

Mickey Smith, a Winter 2007 Hot Shot and nominee for the 2008 Baum Award for Emerging American Photographers, has both the cover and the One2Watch feature in the spring Fine Art Issue of PDNedu. Writer Jessica Gordon says, "Smith’s distinct style is attracting much attention in the fine-art world, and her breakthrough work is her ongoing Volume series, a collection of wall-absorbing, installation prints of library books in their stacks. Each image is graphically clean and includes a certain angle of a cheeky, ironic or symbolic book title, derived from the journals or periodicals it contains. For example, a series of worn, tan books have “Loco” on their spines. Two black books, one imperfectly ripped simply says “Life.” And one of her bestsellers among middle-aged men is a ruddy series of textured, brown books titled “The Metal Worker”; the buyers often say it reminds them of their fathers."

Word Study, Mickey's 20x200 edition from last November, is from the Volume series and is also completely sold out, except for one 30"x40" print that could be hanging on your wall soon—but only if no one beats you to it! Jen wrote about Mickey on her personal blog Personism last year as a perfect example of an artist who's got her eye on the prize; if you're starting out in the art or design worlds and want to know how to best approch galleries or prospective employers with your portfolio, you really need to read how Mickey does her thing and take notes.

Oh, and before I forget: hi! My name is Lia Bulaong, and starting today I'll be posting on the 20x200 blog, helping the incredibly busy Ms Jen keep you updated with news about our artists, editions, and all sorts of other things we think you might be interested in as art lovers and collectors. If my name seems a bit familiar, I've been bouncing around the internet for over a decade; I've been writing my personal blog at cheesedip.com since 2000, and have done stints at Gizmodo and Serious Eats in the past few years.

Some things you can expect to see here on the 20x200 blog soon: feature interviews with artists as well as collectors like yourselves (drop me a line at lia at 20x200.com if you'd like to share!), and the occasional inside look at what life is like at Jen Bekman World Domination HQ. Also the amazing Raul is currently working on enabling comments on the blog so we can have a public dialog in this space, hopefully they'll be good to go soon! has finally enabled comments, we're now good to go. Hoping to hear from you!