Edition Announcement #119 - Justin James Reed

Far-flung Wednesday greetings, collectors. As Sara mentioned yesterday, the 20x200 crew has been criss-crossing the nation. Jane returned to our fair metropolis yesterday evening, leaving her just enough time for a full night's sleep before today's Thrilla in Manila kick-off. Sara heads back to NYC today, and me? I'm in Miami till Saturday, checking out the art fairs and putting faces to the names of all my friends from the interwebs. PLUS: new editions for you! Not just today, but tomorrow and Friday as well. More on that after I give you the lowdown on these two photographs from Justin James Reed.

Norristown, Pennsylvania, from Justin's Paradise series, and Idaho Springs, Colorado, from his series Westward, both capture the incongruous beauty that lurks in the modern American landscape. And capture is really the right word here; utility wires and that particularly motley assemblage of roadside signage are subjects both mundane and unforgiving. Justin's landscapes are majestic and painterly — their luminosity and composition are transformative, thoughtful and almost celebratory.

With the 70s color fellas as his progenitors and formidable contemporaries like his former boss, Mr. Alec Soth, working in the same milieu, Justin's got some big boots to fill. Fortunately, Justin's well aware and is inspired rather than imitative.

He might not have had homage to Sternfeld's classic Maclean, Virginia on his mind when he shot Norristown, Pennsylvania, but he surely needn't click through on that link to know which photo I'm referring to. I'd also hazard a guess that he owns a well-thumbed copy of American Prospects. (If not, I bet it's on his wish list.) As for The Soth's influence, I'll bet folding money that Justin's got a fondness for Cemetery, Fountain City, Wisconsin 2002. (A fondness I share, having shown it at my gallery in 2004 and more recently citing it as favorite on Personism.)

In discussing these images with Ms. Distin, she didn't come around to Idaho Springs, Colorado as quickly and enthusiastically as I did. Its Western roadside tableau is exotic to me, an East Coast city girl, but it's her terribly familiar everyday. In fact, she's going to be driving by it on her way to the airport this afternoon. And yes, she'll be driving carefully (very carefully, please!) as today's road is similarly snowy, but I know she'll look a little harder, seeking the beauty captured in Justin's image.

As for me, I'm seeking sunshine and new artists to work with, so I'm gonna wrap things up and get going. Speaking of wrapping, 'tis the season for gift-giving and we've got gift greatness in store. Tomorrow I'll be debuting our special holiday series, which is sure to be a crowd pleaser. And you? You're sure to please your gift-receiving crowd with a 20x200 print in its plain brown wrapper, fancied up with a festive bow. Why not skip that more odious crowd, the holiday shopping one, and do your shopping here?

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