Thursday Editions: Penelope Umbrico to Benefit Aperture

87 Suns From Flickr - 29 Visible
11"x14" ($50) | 20"x24" ($500) | 24"x36" ($1000)
and
79 Moons From Flickr - 51 Visible
11"x14" ($50) | 20"x24" ($500) | 24"x36" ($1000)
by
Penelope Umbrico

These prints are produced using archival inks on 100% cotton rag matte paper. All of our editions are supervised by the artist and come with a signed certificate of authenticity. Profits from 79 Moons From Flickr - 51 Visible will be donated to Aperture foundation.
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Benefit Thursday greetings, my collector friends! The editions I've been blabbing about all week long (and then some) are finally here and I'm super excited to introduce them. I'm also nervous... I've been thinking about Penelope Umbrico's work a lot, for a long time and I am a huge fan of the Aperture Foundation. I'm counting on all of you collectors to help us support them in a big way!

Without futher ado, I present to you: 87 Suns From Flickr - 29 Visible and 79 Moons From Flickr - 51 Visible. All profits from the sale of the Moons print will be donated to Aperture. Penelope created these prints exclusively for the Aperture/20x200 collaboration, using her brilliant Suns from Flickr as the foundation for the final images. She picked a great place to start: the Suns project has many ties to Aperture itself, and it's also the genesis of my ongoing and public fascination with her images.

My first encounter with Suns was its stunning installation at The Ubiquitous Image exhibition, curated by Aperture Books Publisher — and HHS! panelist — Lesley Martin. The show was part of last year's inaugural New York Photo Festival, where Penelope also did an artist's talk that blew me away. Her process, her humor and her fresh perspective captivated me; she sees the internet as a vast repository of source material and does ingenious things with its plenty. Her perspective transcends the confines of art and internet culture, moving beyond each discipline's tendency to be hopelessly self-referential. Being someone who dwells in both worlds and works hard to unite them, the discovery of Penelope's point of view was downright thrilling.*

I feel incredibly fortunate to be writing this newsletter today. To be presenting the work of someone who inspired me from a stage, in support of a foundation which advances the medium about which I am most passionate is truly an honor. I am so grateful to artists like Penelope and organizations like Aperture for the important work that they do — the role of artists and what they create is grossly undervalued in contemporary culture.

Aperture plays a vital role in advancing the medium of photography, which I consider to be the most crucial medium of our time. They produce gorgeous books, mount ambitious exhibitions and publish a terrific magazine. They support emerging artists and collectors via their competitions and limited-edition print programs, and their offices are populated by some of the hardest working, most thoughtful and passionate people I've met.

Most recently, they've been focused on putting together The Edge of Vision: Abstraction in Contemporary Photography, curated by Lyle Rexer. The exhibition features work from a fascinating array of photographers, including Ms. Umbrico herself. Aperture's hosting an opening reception this Saturday, May 16th, from 7:00 to 10:00 p.m. and the show is on view through July 9th.

I've already mentioned that Penelope's got a lot of good things to say; tomorrow's your chance to hear them firsthand. In conjunction with the show, Lyle Rexer will be moderating a panel at NYPH'09 with Penelope and two other participating artists, Jack Sal and Silvio Wolfe, at 5:00 p.m. on Friday in DUMBO at St. Ann's Warehouse.

Not in New York this summer? Snatch up your prints and bring a little abstraction to your neck of the woods. Be sure to add Aperture's book that accompanies the exhibition to your wish list as well — it'll be available later this month! We got a sneak peek and it is indeed a beautiful book.

There's a lot of other gorgeousness to be found on Aperture's site, but don't take our word for it. As an added incentive to get you to go see for yourselves, Aperture's offering an additional 10% off already discounted books when 20x200 collectors shop at www.aperture.org. Use Coupon Code UMBR59 during checkout to receive this exclusive discount on some of the best photography books available today.**

*I was tempted to insert what feels like an obligatory aside here about my utter sincerity in spite of what might seem to be an excessive use of superlatives, but I'm putting it down here instead. Trust me, I am this excited, engaged, impressed.

**Offer expires May 31, 2009. Discount does not apply to Curated Collection, signed, and limited-edition books.

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