Edition Announcement #241 - Kent Rogowski

Can-you-believe-January-is-almost-over-already? greetings, collector friends! (I, for one, cannot believe it.) It's brisk and bright here in NYC, and I'm up and at 'em early, compliments of my somewhat shocking new routine. The two office early birds hardly knew what to think when I came strolling through the door well before 8 a.m. The impending announcement of today's editions by the beloved Kent Rogowski deserves at least a little credit for my bright-eyed and bushy-tailed demeanor; I've been trying to get Kent to edition a couple of his bears for years and I'm ever so pleased that my persistence has finally paid off.

Bears #51 and #52 were created by Kent especially for us, with Valentine's Day in mind. I must confess that I'm deeply ambivalent about V-day myself. On the one hand, I'm always a fan of showing some love to the ones you love. And on the other, the schmoopy sentimentality, the out-sized expectations, the impossibility of getting a dinner reservation and countless other vexing aspects of this largely-manufactured holiday make me want to run and hide.

With these editions, Kent has created disturbing-yet-endearing afters which are, in my book at least, far preferable to the kitschy befores currently lining the shelves of the Duane Reade downstairs. Both of these bears were also holding hearts in their furry paws, which fated them armless once Kent had his way with them. They are quite fitting for thoughts of love and loved ones — who hasn't felt turned inside out by matters of the heart after all? Or only loved someone more completely after they've revealed the what-they-feared-might-be ugly underbelly of their true selves? Kent's editions ably address matters of the heart, whether that heart is aflutter with affection or blackened by cynicism.

Holiday schmoop and cynicism aside, these Bears and the book of the same name are totally internet-famous. Avid consumer of the internet that I am, it is this book that put Kent's work on my radar. I have to tell you, though, that I hated them at first! I resented how these forlorn, disheveled creatures tugged at my heartstrings and I wondered about the twisted mind that thought to make them. When I finally got to spend some time with Kent at Fotofest in Houston just about two years ago, I was pleased to discover that their maker was both mild-mannered and kinda brilliant.

The pieces I saw there, his Love=Love puzzles, inspired the a-ha! moment where I really got his work and BLAM! my strong feelings towards his creatures veered from hate to love. It was suddenly clear that Kent is the king of deconstruction. From edges, gaps and seams, he rips apart and reassembles, simply making something entirely new and forever altering the way we think about these things.

My ever-after story with Kent is one of the happiest of sorts: we exhibited Love=Love at the gallery and eventually released a couple editions here. Uber-popular as they are, we're glad to still have a few 11"x14" Untitled #10 prints around — and I'm betting the clock is ticking on the two remaining Untitled #5 30"x40"s. Who will snap them up!? We also have XXL prints available at the gallery and (zomg!) the original puzzles. You can contact collector AT 20x200 DOT com for the deets on those.

And that's all for today — but before the week is over and the next new-art-filled Tuesday arrives, we'll be dropping you all a most newsworthy note, a little 20x200 goodness to get you through the very last weekend of the first month of the year! Till then!

Previous Newsletter : Edition Announcement #240 - Lisa Congdon