'Whether you are spending $20 or $2,000, you are supporting an artist in their practice, and people feel virtuous about that,' she said, adding that her site's sales are split 50-50 with the artists. 'It means a lot to our audience that the artists benefit from the purchase.'
The 30 pictures at Bekman are supposed to follow the sun through the course of a day, and these works from 20 photographers and six painters do tend to illustrate the effects of light on a scene.
Many online services help you spruce up bare office walls inexpensively. 20x200.com offers low-cost prints of limited-edition artwork and photography.
The pioneer, 20x200, is surprisingly visible... it seems everyone I mentioned this article to has purchased one of the prints or knows someone who has.
Gallery owner Jen Bekman launched 20x200, which sells limited-edition prints online starting at $20, back in 2007. Two years later, venture capitalists plowed $2.9 million into her company.
"The four-year-old website 20x200 has a "Gifts for Kids" search option, and the site's founder, Jen Bekman, estimates that 14% of customers buy art tagged as appropriate for children. 'Why settle for a poster?' she said."
Bekman has quickly become an undeniable force in the art world, horrifying some of the cultural gatekeepers, while simultaneously creating a cult of admirers and spawning imitators—all around her mission to bring art to everyone.
It's so fun because every week they feature different, new artists' works. So you can go on there and you can buy art for as little as $20.
Jen Bekman, a gallery owner, launched 20x200, a site that regularly commissions a photograph and a print in small editions and sells them at affordable prices. "I wanted to scale this in a way where artists are getting big checks, and people like you and me and everyone else we know can become art collectors," Bekman says. Last September, after two years in business, Bekman raised $885,000 in seed funding; she now has 19 employees.
Many of the wares from stellar online gallery 20x200 are photographic prints, but occasionally we'll spot incredible text and typography pieces—like this piece by Craig Damrauer, available in three different sizes as an archival pigment print.
The site gives its audience an opportunity to own a work of art (all exclusive to 20x200), making the experience of collecting accessible for the non-millionaires among us.
Sites such as 20x200—known as the first of its kind...—offer limited-edition works of art in various sizes at low prices (starting at $20). The goal of these sites is to use the internet to help collectors and artists find each other. The prices are unintimidating enough to encourage a new generation of collectors, and the artists, who tend to be young and undiscovered, are better positioned to make a living from selling their work.
Design enthusiasts with small budgets, rejoice: there are now so many places to find affordable artwork, it is hard not to have impressive wall art. [These sites] follow the model established by 20x200.com. Jen Bekman, who created 20x200 in 2007, doesn't seem troubled by the competition. "It's fine with me," she said, "as long as they're creating great products and respecting the artists."
Art sites drawing a new generation of collectors focus on a carefully curated selection of lower-priced prints and photographs.
One of the hottest trends in home decor is hanging photographic art, which can make a big impact without costing a lot.
To get something on the walls right away, check out 20X200, which sells work from 220 artists, such as William Wegman and Paula Scher. And, to make gift-giving extra easy, 20x200 offers pre-framed limited edition prints for $125.
New York gallery owner Jen Bekman launched 20x200 to make affordable art more easily available on the Internet. Each week, two new editions by emerging or established artists are released, and prices begin at just $20. Occasionally noted artists make an appearance too.
Affordable prints, available on websites like … 20x200, are always in season.
Along with weekly limited-edition offerings of both photographs and fine art prints (most available in three sizes, starting at $20), 20x200 offers a newsletter that provides extensive information on the artists and their works so newbie collectors can become more savvy.
You might actually think that it's impossible to buy art for someone else but there's actually a site that makes it easy to hone in on the right piece of art for anyone's wall.
Instead of purchasing just one piece of affordable art for someone, why not get them mulitiple pieces, creating a little collection, curated by you?
It’s pleasant to reminisce about the golden age of air travel from the cramped cabins and security pat-down lines of today. 20x200 has just added an image of vintage airline luggage tags from photographer and collector Lisa Congdon to their series of affordable art.
Their striking selection of pieces obliterates the bare-wall problem and the “what to get that person” problem in one click.
If the piece is by an artist you're familiar with, similar to a work you have seen in person, or inexpensive--like something from New York gallerist Jen Bekman's 20x200.com Web site where prices start at $20--then feel free to click to buy.
Now that fashion has reached a point where good taste has gone mass, why not art?
In an effort to skirt the rocky shoals of gallery shopping and to create a new class of collectors who might otherwise balk at pricey, pretentious purchases, the former netscape employee founded the website 20x200.com in 2007 to sell prints of the contemporary art she loves.
The editors at ReadyMade selected Don Hamerman's Rawlings in their 2010 roundup of "all-time favorite" presents.
20x200--one of my favorite sites...you can get this print for $50! [on Christian Chaize's Praia Piquinia 06/08/09 14h01]
She is the founder and CEO of Jen Bekman Projects, including 20x200 and Hey, Hot Shot! and she is, to say the least, a new kind of power player in the art world. She uses her power and talent to make art and collecting accessible to everyone.
Transform your apartment with affordable art. [with Jessica Eaton's Filter Samples.]
“Many of the artists that we work with have actually never made as much money from making art as they have with us. And that's super rewarding.”
It wasn't until she tapped her online experience that she found a formula that worked both financially and philosophically: sell accessible, affordable, small-scale artwork in quick bursts (pieces sometimes sell out in the span of minutes), completely online.
Fashion an old-meets-new synergy by placing your contemporary art inside a lavishly ornate, antique-looking frame. [On Jessica Snow's Curvilinear Time.]
Released Wednesday on the affordable art website 20x200, an edition of satellite prints by San Francisco artist Jenny Odell captures objects cut out from Google satellite images. What Odell won't steal? Your wallet. The archival prints come in an edition of 200 and start at just $20.... One negative: Many of the $20 prints sell out quickly. I am still kicking myself that I did not buy Joseph O. Holmes' wonderful photograph of a father holding his son in front of a display at the American Museum of Natural History.
Though many rock stars pass their time outside the recording studio doing not much of anything, David Byrne has always remained artistically engaged, dabbling in media ranging from graphic design to photography. It's unsurprising, then, that he's now collaborating with 20x200.com, an art website that seeks to democratize and broaden art collecting by printing its works in editions and fairly pricing them.
What Bekman, a former dotcom media executive, understands best is that they key to selling art today is to use technology and social media to make buying and collecting art accessible and fun--two qualities that are not likely to be associated with buying art from most galleries. The idea of an online gallery selling high-quality collectible artist editions with prices starting as low as $20 is something that would have been unheard of a few years ago.
They'll deck out their bachelor pads with drawings or photographs.
Works are typically offered in three or four sizes and priced accordingly--great for those with space or budget constraints. In many cases, $20 will buy you a small print from a run of 200, as the titular formula suggests.
The ingeniously conceived 20x200.com sells high-numbered editions of excellent, collectible artist prints for a song ($20).
But perhaps best of all, the site offers such a broad range of styles, media, and subjects, that there is truly something for everyone.
Lively and happy, multi-colored stripes are a natural for kids' spaces but can also work well in sophisticated neutral rooms. [Editors on Jessica Snow's Curvilinear Time]
In the end, those who get the most reward out of collecting are truly passionate about it. So feel free to disregard any or all of this advice. As Jen Bekman of 20x200 gallery said, "Buy art because you love it and want to live with it."
In 2007 Bekman launched 20x200, an online gallery selling artist editions, with some prints starting at only $20. 20x200 has taken both the art world and the tech world by storm: Since its launch, 20x200 has sold more than 65,000 prints by both emerging and established artists, and in 2009, 20x200 received $885,000 in funding in a Series A round led by True Ventures.
The word in the US press about 20x200 is: “Buy fast. When they're gone, they're gone.”
I was looking for a series of photographs to frame and place on a wall. After several fruitless attempts, I came across 20x200 where I could search the art by color scheme and size. This flips the concept of purchasing art on its head because you typically buy art and then find a space.
This, in a nutshell, is the revolution in art that the internet offers: a world where painters wouldn't need patrons to survive and the people could afford great art. We're not there yet, but 20x200 is smashing the barriers to art collecting.
Art fairs aren’t the only way to move quantities of art.
You know how Wikipedia harnessed the power of the Internet to democratize knowledge? That’s what 20×200 has been doing for art since 2007, with a simple yet powerful formula.
When you give 20x200 it's very personal. You picked out something that you liked and that's priceless. Now I know what to get everyone for Christmas, and Kwanzaa and Hanukkah!
The only thing 20x200 won’t do is hang the art on your wall.
It's a great way to make something that is really intimidating, really accessible for everyone.
This is a great idea—a great way to fill up an apartment, a home, with some interesting, well-known artists without paying $10,000, $15,000, sometimes $25,000.
There will always be a debate about whether art can be affordable. I am firmly, firmly in the yes camp—beauty is a pretty relative thing, don't you think? Thus, the brilliance of sites like 20x200.com.
Sell fine art prints over the Internet? No VC would seed this idea, most wouldn’t even take a meeting. This is one of those cases where execution made the difference. Bekman made it work from scratch. Now 20x200 has a track record and cash coming in. Now she can raise money to expand.
"I love the idea of taking the friction out of the art world,” said Mr. Conrad. “A lot of people want to buy nice things, but don’t know how. Jen has built a business from that, which is growing very nicely and has a lot of repeat customers.”
Jen Bekman, site creator and gallery owner, has since mixed up the editions and prices, but the founding principle remains true: Artists and people looking to buy art have an open marketplace in which to play.
Jen Bekman, proprietor of 20x200.com and owner of Jen Bekman Gallery in downtown New York, is not only a bold advocate of art for the masses, she's also a powerhouse dealer, curator, and design maven.
The New Yorker's art editor, saw the prints edition I had done with Jen Bekman's 20x200.com and found cover potential in such images.
Mount’s canvases move beyond the obvious interest in who someone is reading to what they are reading, in a visual sense. [Describing Jane Mount's The Ideal Bookshelf series]
It's a smart way to collect art [DIY Network host Amy Devers on 20x200]
No matter the event, they say, the gift should speak directly to the person or the relationship and, if possible, be one of a kind. [Describing gift giving and featuring 20x200 artist Jason Polan's work.]
His design — the slogan “Get Excited and Make Things” under a crown that includes wrenches — became a Web hit, leading to a T-shirt from Howies, a Welsh clothing brand, and a set of prints sold on 20x200.com. [Describing how Matt Jones' Get Excited and Make Things went from being a slogan to a 20x200 edition]
Striking, affordable artwork is just a click away, thanks to two great websites. At 20x200.com, you'll find limited-edition works on paper by contemporary artists.
Jen Bekman has been a pioneer in new marketing strategies for her artists through her online presence on Facebook and Second Life, her virtual contest, Hey, Hot Shot!, and her limited edition print program, 20x200. Her eponymous real world gallery and her website have been go-to places to discover emerging artists.
Jen Bekman, who keeps a gallery in New York, featured Sarah McKenzie's crisp paintings of partially-built structures at NEXT; she also appeared on a panel to discuss her 20 x 200 project, whereby limited editions of artists' works are sold for as low as $20 via an online outlet....Perhaps the democratic battle cry of ‘art for everyone' is beginning to ring true, after all.
Collecting art is a wonderful pastime but can often be cost prohibitive. With the help of Jen Bekman and her website, www.20x200.com, it is easy to find interesting art pieces for reasonable prices.
Support artists directly and discover relatively affordable pieces at the same time!
But before you blame your apartment’s drab décor on the spiraling economy, check out this amazing site: 20x200. New York gallery owner Jen Bekman is bringing limited edition, covet-worthy originals to the masses through her online endeavor.
[A] great source for finding art easily and affordably.
Working from home? Add color and eliminate the monotone, cubicle feel of a home office with 20x200.com, where original, limited-edition prints start at $20.
She is utterly firm in her conviction that buying art should be possible for most anyone.
The best part about 20x200.com is that it's not only providing collectors with cheap art, it's providing new talent with exposure and income: profits are split evenly with the artists minus production costs.
Acquiring art can be tough for the discriminating neophyte: "Afforable" usually just means cheap (or lame), while the "real" variety is still sold only in intimidating, expensive galleries. Bekman's virtual gallery, which draws on her network of seriously talented emerging artists, nixes that dilemma.
For budding collectors, 20x200 beats a mid-afternoon splurge at the vending machine any day.
Sounds too good to be true: great art for twenty bucks....Without a doubt, the most democratic—and addictive—way to buy art.
Her idea was to afford anyone, regardless of location or occupation, the chance to become an art collector...She has already found homes for over 14,000 prints.
Less than a year after 20x200 launched, the site has been an unqualified success: over 14,000 prints have been sold to date, to a customer list that includes artists, celebrities and respected collectors from around the world. The site has become an important corollary to Jen's New York gallery, and a vital part of her ongoing mission to champion emerging artists.
It is always exciting to find a new place, but this one was particularly beautiful because of the red peppers he had drying on the ceiling, which was blackened with the smoke from the small stove. I was really excited about it, because I knew this was going to be one of the major pictures. The daylight gives exactly the atmosphere I want to capture. Afterwards I said to my guide: "You know what? We're not going to look any more today. This was such a beautiful moment that I don't want to push my luck." [Photographer Bert Teunissen describing his most memorable image for the series, My best shot.]
I found myself scouring recent issues of ELLE Decor for chic ways to reinvent the 200 sq ft I like to call "home", visiting MOMA for creative inspiration and signing up for a continuing education abstract oil painting class with half a dozen 70-year old women this summer. In my creative quest I came across 20x200...While I'm not seeking one of the Sex and the City coined "three" (a job, apartment or boyfriend), after this new find I vote to add a fourth- extended wall space.
There is nothing intrusive or especially intimate about these images. Berman does not invite her subjects to let down their guard, but rather offers them a chance to be seen on their own terms. [Describing photographer Nina Berman's Purple Hearts]
Often the best ideas are the simplest, and the simplicity of 20x200 has generated a lot of buzz from magazines such as Dwell and ReadyMade, and sites such as Boing Boing and Apartment Therapy. It’s also generated plenty of sales: In March, small-size prints by Colin Blakely and Bert Teunissen sold out in less than a week.
I love www.20x200.com....Archival pigment prints of their original works are created by top quality artisan printers and shipped to you via Priority Mail for $20. Yes, that’s right. $20!
Bekman, who once couldn't get an Internet job, has become a star in the digital universe. At South By Southwest this month, her old Internet friends bestowed on her the coolest adjective in their lexicon: "Disruptive." Her Web site, they said, is changing the way the art world works....And that's impressed the art world, where once she was an outsider. For Christmas, a Museum of Modern Art curator bought 20x200 Christmas presents for his staff....Even hardcore art lovers love a bargain.
To demystify art-buying for people who’ve never been to (or maybe even heard of) Art Basel, Nolita gallerist Jen Bekman launched in September 20x200.com, a portal for non-millionaires who want to decorate an apartment with real—and admirably cheap—art.
Almost at once, the site was in the black and gaining attention.
Five and a half months later, it counts among its customers art collectors from around the world, dozens of magazine writers and editors, a MoMA executive and many artists, including well-established ones like Brian Ulrich and Alec Soth.
Jen Bekman, lauded curator of emerging artists, takes her Soho gallery experience online, selling carefully selected limited-edition prints. We like the wildlife drawings by 21st-century Audubonista Carrie Marill.
It's a double shot of Joe today. That would be Joe Holmes, the extraordinary eye behind the lens of Joe's NYC. An image of his called Prospect Park is part of gallerist Jen Bekman's 20x200 series—limited editions at affordable ($20) prices. This is one of his most captivating images, and that's saying something. [Describing Joe Holmes' Prospect Park #2 ]
Possibly the single best affordable art project we've ever seen! Every artist should do one! Congrats Jen.. MAO hearts Jen Bekman!
Jen Bekman is not one to sit still. She is working on developing her database “List of Women Speakers for Your Conference” and a website dedicated to a Bowery arts district. In the meantime, she hopes 20x200 will encourage people to consider themselves collectors. “Until you’ve actually bought something and understood the specialness of it, I think there’s big shift with that. With 20x200 it’s a way that anyone can try it.”
Yes, we gab a lot about finding cool, original-yet-affordable stuff for your home. Maybe it's because we hate the idea of you living in an apartment with sparse, white walls, or even worse, some framed Van Gogh poster that your parents forced you to buy at MoMA. Enter our new hero, Lower East Side gallery owner Jen Bekman, and her Web site, 20X200.
It is a new way to think about buying art, and we like it. 20x200 is a very elegant, Web 2.0 sort of way of bringing people who need art in contact with people who sell their art.
Consider it a gateway to springing for those Rothkos.
New York gallery owner Jen Bekman is fed up with the notion that a $5,000 price tag on art is a bargain. So after nearly four years of running her eponymous Soho space, Bekman, a long-time supporter of emerging photographers, set out to offer aspiring collectors something a bit easier on the pocketbook.
Jen Bekman’s new 20x200 project is a wonderful resource for affordable prints. I’m loving this “ny.07.#20” print by Jennifer Sanchez...Such a fun idea.
I know, I know. Some art expert probably told you not to buy prints, because multiples don't appreciate as much as unique works. So what? Personally, I think prints are the BEST thing for a new collector, because they're relatively affordable and easy to resell if your tastes change later on (which they almost always do.)
It means if you have access to the Internet, and $20, you can have a work by an emerging artist. It means no more art from IKEA hanging on your walls. No more blank walls. No more excuses.
Whatever reservations I have about the value of 20x200 to the participating artists and photographers, from a purely materialistic impulse, it's hard to pass up a 16"x20" Tema Stauffer print for $200.
By melding the inclusiveness of internet commerce and nonprohibitive prices with the exclusivity of a curator acting as quality control, Bekman ensures that new collectors can be confident that the "buy" button will not lead to clicker's remorse.
Bekman realized there was an ever-widening gap in the price points between what the typical gallerygoer would pay and what her friends would shell out for original artwork. She devoted her attention to not only nurturing up-and-coming talents, but also making pieces from established artists accessible to a wider audience.
20x200 launches July 27, and the lineup so far is pretty damn sweet—artists having already signed on include Youngna Park, Eliot Shepard, Zoe Strauss and Brian Ulrich
20X200...raises interesting questions about the value of art, the boundary between the inclusive and the exclusive, the state of cultural expertise these days, and the possibility that as products become more like art, art is becoming more like products.
If you’re a lover of art, or simply want to taste the thrill of collecting (and it is indeed thrilling), the internet offers a wide array of opportunities to acquire all kinds of excellent pieces, often at surprisingly affordable prices.