Tuesday Edition: Amy Jean Porter
10"x8" ($20) | 14"x11" ($50) | 20"x16" ($200) | 30"x24" ($1000)
Today's edition, Rose-breasted Grosbeak is by Amy Jean Porter, an artist I've been pursuing a collaboration with for a mighty long time. Our correspondence started when 20x200 was an about-to-be-born thing, a time when my sleepless hours were spent scouring the internet for artists to invite (rather than today's scouring of my brain for the words to write about all the amazing artists that we work with.) On August 19th, 2007, I wrote her this note:
Hi there, I came across your site via the Drawing Center and then I spent a long time IMing about how great your work is with one of the artists I represent, Amy Ross. I'm launching a new project very soon called 20x200 and wanted to pass along info about it to see whether you might be interested in doing an edition with us.
There was enthusiasm and interest, but it wasn't till the dog days of this past summer that we got any momentum. One sweltering day in late July, my friend-on-the-internet Choire Sicha pinged me, asking if I was familiar with Amy's work. I've known Choire since, well, a while ago. Like maybe 2004 or something? I had recently launched Unbeige for Mediabistro and Choire was the only other art dealer I knew who was similarly immersed in this whole wacky blogging thing, which was still pretty new. Having someone to commiserate with over IM about the art world and the internet was awesome--back then, sitting by myself in the gallery, I often felt like little more than a glorified shopgirl. Plus, Choire's got great taste (obvi!) and is sharp of tongue and wildly intelligent. Today, he's forsaken the chilly frontiers of Chelsea and is the proprietor of The Awl, where his good taste and wit are amply evident. Also evident: Ms. Amy Jean Porter, whose work he used to show at Debs & Co, the gallery he used to own. Over IM (again! still!), he awed over today's edition:
Amy Jean Porter is the best! This print is fantastic because it's cheery without being soppy, it's somehow a little bit funny without being ironic, it's gorgeous while being plain. Look at that bird! It's like the bird is about to say something really unexpected. It's about to tell you its opinions on the latest Jonathan Franzen or the hockey scores. Ha, birds! What can't they do?
Amy Jean's blue-beaked feathered friend, perched over pastel-y pink flowers and flocked by black leaves on red stems, is a little off kilter--all those colors aren't quite right. But somehow, subtly, they work and are tucked among friends--birds and animals are abundant in 20x200's ever-growing menagerie. But that's not the only thing that makes Amy Jean and Rose-breasted Grosbeak right at home amidst our offerings. She's been included in all kinds of books put together by our friends at Chronicle and their friends at McSweeney's. The McSweeney's link runs deep this week, from yesterday's benefit edition by David Byrne, which is apart of Arboretum, a book beautifully produced and published by them, to tomorrow's new edition. It too has a little bit to do with McSweeney's and books, with a screenplay written by their founder Mr. Eggers and the directorial virtuosity of Spike Jonze thrown in. With those clues, I'll take my leave til then.
Next Email : Edition Announcement #323 - Shawn RecordsPrevious Email : Edition Announcement #321 - David Byrne
Love it? Share it!
on Twitter...
on Facebook...Find art in your price range: $20, $50, $200, $500, $1000, $2000, $5000
These editions are almost sold out: Grab them while you can!
Or browse by your favorite color: Try our new color browser.
Jen Bekman Projects is hiring!....
Forward this email to a friend
Update my subscription preferences...
Unsubscribe me from this list.