To Do Archives

Here at 20x200, our motto of “Art For Everyone” means we’re always interested in new ways of making great art accessible. It’s good for collectors, helps support artists, and enables everyone to live with art. A new-ish London outfit has found an intriguing way to address this concept with their Art Barter events. Art Barter is an auction, open to the public, taking place over 3 to 4 days. However, unlike at Sotheby’s, bidders are allowed to offer anything at all EXCEPT money for the work. Past bids have included a year of private chef services and cases of wine, but anyone is free to offer whatever they think is fair. At the end of the event, artists review all offers and decide what they’d like to accept. It’s an amazing way to open up the auction as a viable format for all kinds of collectors, and allows artists to trade their work for something of value to them without worrying about setting minimum reserves or what the long-term effect on their pricing will be.

Previous Art Barters have been held in London and Berlin. Art Barter 3 launches in New York today and continues through Sunday, December 12th. While the auction will feature some big-name artists such as Terence Koh and Mick Rock, all work will be identified only by a number, so the “value” of the work will really be determined entirely by each interested bidder.

Not only is this a fun idea, it’s a great way to make the auction sale format super un-intimidating for potential collectors. It’s interesting to note that Art Barter is also a Kickstarter project. We’ve featured some great art-related Kickstarter endeavors before, including Kevin Cyr’s Camper Kart and Rachel Sussman’s extremely successful journey to track down and document The Oldest Living Things in the World, which led to an invitation to give a talk at the prestigious TED conference on the project. One of the unique things about the Kickstarter model is the little incentives project owners offer to their supporters, which can range from a limited-edition copy of the work produced to lunch with the artist. As a whole, micro-funding sites like Kickstarter have the effect of fostering a personal, reciprocal exchange between donor and recipient that goes far beyond traditional funding models. Art Barter has the potential to do much of the same for the fine art market by encouraging art lovers to be creative and contribute more than just money. It’s less an auction than an exchange, based on the assumption that all participants have something unique and valuable to offer.

Art Barter New York
Thursday, Dec 9 - Sunday, Dec 12
NP Contemporary Art Center
131 Chrystie St, New York
Open daily from noon to 6 p.m.

Untitled, from the series Erasure by HHS! contender Ben Alper

It's no secret that many of the photographers we work with on 20x200 are discovered through our photography competition, Hey, Hot Shot! We at JBP are excited to invite you to celebrate our five newest 2010 Hot Shots on Friday, October 29th from 6 to 9 p.m. at the first-ever Blurb Pop Up/NYC at 60 Mercer Street (between Broome and Grand).

Jen Bekman, members of the Hey, Hot Shot! Panel and the Jen Bekman Projects' team are excited to meet and mingle with you—the New York City photography community. We'll have wine and snacks, you'll be able to browse a library of Blurb books, meet fellow artists, have the chance to win 20x200 prints and be able to learn about creating your own book. At 7:00 p.m., Jen Bekman will announce the five 2010 Hot Shots.

Space is limited, so make sure you RSVP here by Thursday, October 28th.

Who: Hey, Hot Shot! Panelists, contenders, Team JBP + the NYC Photography Community
What: Meet the 2010 Hot Shots
When: Friday, October 29th, from 6 to 9 p.m.
Where: 60 Mercer Street, New York, NY

Jen will also be giving a talk, Getting Your Work Out There, earlier that afternoon from 3:00 - 4:00 p.m.

You've collected the best of your work, checked and triple-checked that each image is the absolute best it can be. But who's going to see it? Jen Bekman, founder of Jen Bekman Gallery, 20x200, and Hey, Hot Shot!, will give you the scoop on presenting yourself to potential fans and collectors online, as well as how to land a spot on a gallery wall. Jen is an art dealer, curator, writer, and entrepreneur whose inventive approach to the art world has created new models for connecting artists and collectors.

RSVP for Jen's talk here and be sure to take a look at the full schedule of events, lectures and workshops happening at the Blurb Pop Up/NYC from October 21 - 30th. See you on the 29th!

Do you need an inspired idea for a last minute holiday? Have you always wanted to take up painting, but never found the time? Do we have a suggestion for you!

Amidst a flurry of activity that includes the daily documentation of her numerous and extensive collections, and a subsequent soon-to-be-published book about this very project (both of which we've written about recently),
Lisa Congdon has somehow managed to make time in her busy schedule to lead a 3-day/4-night retreat and painting workshop for Angela Ritchie’s ACE Camps. It is to be held at the magical-looking Whisper Canyon Ranch in the Siskiyou Mountains of southern Oregon, this coming October 7th – 11th. The workshop is titled It’s What You See that Matters (a quote from the ultimate nature-lover, Henry David Thoreau).

From the ACE Camps website:

Join Lisa to explore how to create your own paintings of the natural world—as you see it—through your own distinct vantage point. Lisa will lead the group in exercises designed both to help participants see the idiosyncrasies in the natural world and to draw and paint them in their own unique ways. Participants will learn to recognize and honor their own personal perspectives and translate them into their paintings and drawings.

All levels of artistic experience and ability are welcome, and the (long) weekend will include forest-wandering, group discussion, and guided exercises in both drawing and painting. You can learn more about this really special adventure here, and – if it sounds like your cup of tea – register here. But hurry! October is fast-approaching, and the cut-off for the workshop is just fifteen people.

Mehal Shah's Ignite presentation, Fighting Dirty in Scrabble

If you've ever been to an Ignite event, you'll know they're often funny, thought-provoking and highly entertaining. Ignite is a series of energetic 5-minute talks by experts in their fields ranging from designers and entrepreneurs to lawyers and writers. Each speaker gets 20 slides that auto-advance every 15 seconds, so it's a race against the clock to share your passionate insights, ideas and demonstrate your expert with the Powerpoint slide presentation format.

For those in the Bay Area, the next Ignite will be held Monday, May 3rd (at Mezzanine, 444 Jessie Street, San Francisco)and you can send your witty and compelling ideas for a 5-minute talk in until midnight on April 11th. Ignite notes, "Historical, knowledge-sharing, and funny talks tend to resonate better than product pitches in this format, and we encourage you to think big. Our only ask: enlighten us, but make it quick."

So, get out there and share your passion and know-how. Here are the details on how to apply:

Write to ignitesf@gmail.com with "submission idea" included in your subject line. Send a paragraph pitch by midnight on April 11 for consideration. Speakers will be notified the week of April 19 for the next set of public talks to be hosted by Ignite co-founder Brady Forrest, TechWeb, and Bay Area planners Carmel Hagen and Emily Goligoski.

Head over to the site for more info and to watch videos of previous presentations from Ignite events all over the country.

Armory Arts Week is upon us with nearly a dozen fairs and 2,000 galleries exhibiting over the very short span of five days. Our friends at Artlog have partnered with Flavorpill, NY Art Beat and us to open up voting for the People's Choice Award to all the fairs across Armory Arts Week so you can select your favorite exhibition.

Head over to vote.artlog.com to submit your vote or tweet to @artlog with a picture, the gallery name, booth number and the name of the fair of your favorite exhibit.

See the exhibits leading in the vote in real-time on the site right now and browse through Artlog's live online map guide of all the events, fairs and art of Armory Week. Fairgoers can post live updates as they traverse the exhibitions via Artlog.com, Twitter and text messages (Tweet #armory or text message to 41411 armory+ message Visit live.artlog.com for all the details.

The Armory Show and VOLTA NY will be hosting a series of conversations among industry professionals titled OPEN FORUM beginning on Thursday, March 4th and running through the weekend. Curated by Stamatina Gregory, the dialogues range in topics from art publishing and the socioeconomics of art to the future of Biennials (and lots more!).

On Saturday, the 6th, Jen will participate in a panel with Joshua Adler of Adler Development, Sharon Coplan Hurowitz of Coplan Hurowitz Art Advisory and Thomas Solomon of his eponymous LA-gallery on the topic of "The Upside to the Downside: Young Collectors in the Global Market." The panel will be moderated by Lindsay Pollock of Art Market Views and address the myriad opportunities available to collectors in the art market today. Are you a young collector or interested in becoming a collector yourself? Hear what this panel of art advisors, curators, gallerists and developers has to say.

The details:
The Upside to the Downside: Young Collectors in the Global Market
Time: Saturday, March 6; 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Location: : The Armory Show, Open Forum Lounge, Pier 92 (12th Avenue & W. 55th Street)

See the full schedule of OPEN FORUM conversations, and we hope to see you at Jen's panel!

Through the pass to the light up ahead, 2008 by William Crump

Often after the initial out-pouring of sympathy and donations in the wake of a great disaster, there quickly follows a sustained silence and collective forgetting as the story leaves the front page news, our radio headlines, and our news feed.

Nearly a month after the earthquake that completely leveled cities and communities in Haiti, there is still great need for both action, support and a promise to not selectively forget in the face of hitting a Paypal button.

Art for Haiti NYC is an auction benefit in conjunction with Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres. Over sixty works of art are for sale, with 100% of the proceeds going to the charity and relief efforts in Haiti.

Three 20x200 artists have generously donated their work for the auction: Amy Park, William Crump and William Lamson.

If you're in the area, please consider stopping in and possibly purchasing some art for an ongoing and very relevant cause. An online preview of most of the works for sale can be viewed here and you can also see the work from 12 - 6 p.m. today. The auction itself begins tonight at 7:00 PM, Wednesday February 10, 2010, with bidding beginning promptly at 8:30 p.m.

Art for Haiti NYC Benefit Auction
601 West 26th Street (@ 11th Ave.), 8th floor
New York, NY 10001
Email: info@artforhaitinyc.com

Also see our previous posts about how you can buy art to benefit Haitian relief efforts here, here and here.

Not just any walking tour, mind you, but an art walking tour! Meet in the lobby of the New Museum and enjoy a free walking tour of LES galleries. Believe it! Yes, 20x200's sister project, Jen Bekman Gallery, will indeed be included as a stop on the circuit. It's perfect timing since we've just opened a show of new photographs from our 2009 First Edition Hot Shots, including work from recent 20x200 edition-makers Michelle Arcila and Mike Sinclair! If you've been eying Sinclair's Fourth of July #2, Independence, Missouri, now's your chance to see it in 30"x40" glory.

Tours leave from the New Museum at 12pm and 3pm.

See you Sunday!

P.S.
Here is a link to the map above, made by the JBP team. Consult it in case you get lost, or just want to venture off on a choose-your-own-art-adventure.

Ciao collectors!
Once again two of the greatest pleasure on our planet--art and food--will collide to entice and fill your senses when MadArts throws open their studio doors for one and all this weekend in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Added incentive: recent 20x200 edition artist Jaclyn Mednicov will be participating in the tour.

On May 16th and 17th Madarts ends six months of darkness and goes public with their Spring Open Studio Tour - an invitation into the South Slope warehouse-turned-art-shop that happens only twice a year. The tour includes over 40 artists' paintings, drawings, sculpture, photography, film and video. The hours are noon to 6pm on Saturday and Sunday at the Madarts Building, 255 18th Street at 5th Avenue in Brooklyn. The crew puts on a solid, no frills art show in a gloriously makeshift and perfectly makeshift DIY warehouse space. The tour offers a peek into the private art studios where artists host individual receptions for their newest bodies of work.

Besides several new food and drink offerings in striking distance, it's an easy destination: R train to Prospect Ave. or F train at 4th Ave. and 9th St. get you there in as little as two blocks. Madarts is located just above Fifth Ave. on 18th St. between Fifth and Sixth Ave. The nearest subway stop is Prospect Ave. on the R line. Exit the station using the stairs on the left. Walk straight from the stairs on Fourth Ave. to 18th St. Make a left at 18th St. Cross Fifth Ave. Look for a large white industrial building. Enter at the girded glass window front filled with greenery.

Hope to see you there!

SPRING OPEN STUDIO TOUR
Brooklyn artists show latest works in private workspaces
MAY 16th - 17th, Noon - 6pm
Madarts BUILDING
255 18th St. (btn 5th Ave. and 6th Ave.)
Brooklyn, NY