Wednesday Edition: Sarah Spitler

No One Can Live Outside of History
8"x10" ($20) | 11"x14" ($50) | 16"x20" ($200) | 30"x40" ($2000)
by
Sarah Spitler

Sunshine-y Wednesday greetings, my collector friends, and an open-armed welcome to the newcomers among you, of which there are many. This might have something to do with our "striking, affordable artwork" being featured in the July issue of Martha Stewart Living, or perhaps you're here on the advice of Martha's crafts department? Or... maybe Jeff sent you? Jeff Hamada, that is — he being the energetic impresario behind the ever-inspiring Booooooom. (More on that later!) However you made your way here, I'm happy that you've joined us and look forward to sharing lots of amazing art with you in newsletters to come. Let's get started, shall we?

Talented Bay Area painter Sarah Spitler is making her 20x200 debut with today's fine art print, No One Can Live Outside of History. This piece has inspired an odd narrative that totally makes sense to me, and I've got my fingers crossed that Sarah will be pleased and flattered with the tale it tells.

It’s going to seem completely off-the-wall, but in its many layers and techniques I see unruly nature intermingled with tightly-controlled forms that are caught in the space between both graphic design and photography.

In this painting, Sarah's captured a moment in a very funny scene. I see the looseness of the background shades — the smoky blues and greens — as being the plates of the earth shifting, forming continents and roiling the ocean. It's a messy chaotic process, all in all. Then along comes the spirit of Ryan McGinness — seriously, stick with me here — attempting to bring order to the chaos.

The spirit of Ryan is all about order and consistency. It brings both precision and playfulness, adding a layer comprised of human-engineered forms over the messy organic process of nature's progress. The reason I see it as a photo is because the moment captured is an unresolved one, in the best possible way. Everything's still in motion; it's not clear who's winning and you're not even sure who to root for. There's the beautiful mess of splatters and drips, but they're so close to escaping, seemingly untameable. The steady hues and clean lines of the McGinness-like moments offer up the control, comfort and certainty.

I know it's wacky, but hopefully it makes a little sense. And if it doesn't, well that's cool too. You can make your own meaning, and I encourage you to do just that! Once you've got the story Sarah's painting all sorted out, I'll bet you'll be hungry for more inspiration. When that happens, you can do what scads of savvy surfers do and head on over to Booooooom. I'm generally proud of my appetite for imagery, but I have to say Jeff's curation on Booooooom gives me a bit of a complex. He finds so much great stuff, and shares it with unflagging enthusiasm.

We've been keeping an eye on his offerings for a while now, and just recently the eagle-eyed Ms. Distin noticed that he'd featured Sarah's work as well. With many new fans of her work tuning into his site, Jeff announced a give-away last week. I'm happy to announce its two lucky winners here today. Big congrats to readers Haley and Suzan, both of whom will be receiving 11" x 14" prints of No One Can Live Outside History!

With my tales told and prints en route to the lucky winners, my newsletter work for the week is done. I'm going to turn my attention to other things, like picking out a party dress and putting on some dancing shoes!

Tomorrow night Aperture is hosting their first-ever summer benefit, Some Like it Hot — flush with festivities, cocktails and art for all. I've been all about Aperture lately, thrilled to support their excellent programming with our recently-released editions from Penelope Umbrico. Her cyber-celestial works are stunning side-by-side, if I do say so myself.

I'll be attending the party with the talented and charming, Gregory Krum, perennial star on 20x200 and Summer 2007 Hot Shot. Krum was selected as a Hot Shot with the help of HHS! panelist, Aperture's book publisher, Ms. Lesley Martin.

I encourage local collectors to join us, and not just for cocktails and conversation. If you spring for the $150 ticket you'll leave with a limited-edition print from Thomas Allen in hand. Allen, one of several super book-smart artists whose work we'll be exhibiting at the JB Gallery's upcoming Summer Reading exhibition, is a wonderful and highly collectible photographer. So spend some smart money on a good cause and meet us there!

Jen Bekman Projects is hiring!....

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