New Yorker Cover-boy Jorge Colombo + 20x200 Totebag Giveaway!
Tuesday (not Monday, even though it feels like that) greetings, my collector friends! Hope you all enjoyed this weekend's bonus track and are reacclimating nicely to your working week. I had a fabulous stay-cation in NYC, which was filled with leisurely meals with out-of-towners and a whole lot of excitement about the cover of my favorite magazine ever. This week's issue of The New Yorker, (yes! The New Yorker!) features a cityscape created by 20x200 artist Jorge Colombo, whose iPhone sketch editions were introduced in this very newsletter back in April.
It all started a few days ago, when I received a short note from Jorge that went like so: "Jen: guess who did the cover of the next New Yorker with his iPhone? I never tell ahead because things always change last minute, but it's official." Officially awesome! As I said on Facebook, it's not that I'm competitive, but... I'm awfully proud that 20x200 was first.
I'm bursting with pride over the whole thing, in fact — ask any of my Twitter cronies or IM buddies or Personism readers or dining companions or brunch dates or margarita compadres or oyster eating, champagne sipping, al fresco eating partners in crime. It's pretty much all I've been able to talk about for days.
First of all, it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. Jorge is wonderful, something I knew already based on past experience — but his wonderfulness was confirmed again and again this weekend as we exchanged dozens of emails about the cover, the coverage and our various collaborations. (Aside from his already released editions, you can look forward to more from Jorge in Summer Reading, the group show that's opening at Jen Bekman Gallery in mid-July, and we just might be cooking up some other stuff as well.) In fact, I don't know how he found the time to type anything to me at all! The phone was surely ringing off the hook, and he's been all over the media and yet: witty, considered and insightful emails kept showing up in my inbox all weekend long.
In light of my single-minded obsession with Jorge's superstardom, writing about anything else today seemed just about impossible. I also wanted to give 20x200 collectors a refresher course in Jorge's editions — plenty of my friends said to me "I knew I'd seen them somewhere!" but weren't quite sure where exactly till I ever-so-helpfully reminded them. So, here I am! Helpfully reminding you too.
I've also got a little something new to share as well. If you look to your right, you'll see a most cheery Youngna Park holding a very handsome 20x200 totebag aloft — with Sara Distin more reservedly revealing its flipside in the background. We've got some of those totebags, which made their debut at the San Francisco Collectors Confab, to give away today. They'll go to the first 20 collectors who place orders of $200 or more.*
As alluded to earlier, I'm hardly the only one overjoyed and ridiculously excited about all this good news: Jorge received early accolades and attention from The Guardian, The Huffington Post picked up on The New Yorker story. Which is to say: buzz is ricocheting all over the blogosphere!
It's not just words and pixels either — cut to tape! Jorge unveils the methods to his magical renderings of NYC's madness in two short videos — he gives a charming interview — not to mention 20x200's first ever (!!!) on-air shoutout — in the middle of his Times Square stomping grounds for none other than ABC news. The New Yorker also has a fantabulous video which documents the layering process he describes, from start to finish, on their website.
Aside from their excellent taste in cover art and unparalleled content, The New Yorker also gives the rundown on not-to-be-missed events, like this Saturday's music/comedy/literary extravaganza "You're Not Alone" at the Highline Ballroom, a music/comedy/literary extravaganza put on by the brilliant and funny fellas at The Rumpus, McSweeney's and Smithmag.
That's but one thing on my calendar this week, which is packed full of lots of events that combine more of my favorite things: art, the internet and, of course, collecting! Among the highlights, tomorrow, I'll be at the Brooklyn Museum for the debut of their Collecting Currently lecture series. Please join me and my co-panelists — artist and collector Danny Simmons, Joe Amrhein from Williamsburg's Pierogi Gallery and Steve Weintraub of Arts in Bushwick — we'll discuss the borough's bevy of artists and how and why to collect their work, right now! On Thursday, I'll have the honor of introducing my dear friend and HHS! panelist, co-founder of Flickr, Caterina Fake, as she is recognized for shaping today's online communities at Rhizome's 2009 Benefit at the New Museum.
Previous Email : Edition Announcement #169 - Alex MacLean
Love it? Share it!
on Twitter...
on Facebook...Limited-edition art carefully curated for collectors like you. Yes, YOU!
Find a gift in your price range: $20, $50, $200, $500, $1000, $2000, $5000
These 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.