The Intrepid Art Collector

It's a [Democratic] Party

2008-08-09T19:57:00.001-07:00

I try to keep politics off this blog, and while I respect everyone's views, I want to let y'all know that my husband and I are hosting an Obama fundraiser in Montreal on August 28 (the night Obama accepts the nomination). If you're an American abroad, put a blank check in your NPR totebag and come hear the speech. Refreshments include chardonnay, arugula, and decaf lattes. You can also get absentee ballots and bumper stickers for your Volvo. Who knows - it might even turn into a dance party:

For details, contact Montreal's chapter of Democrats Abroad, or email me. (Please note that legally only U.S. citizens can donate to the campaign.)

Summer Bulletin Board

2008-07-26T07:24:00.000-07:00

During my summer stupor, I've received many emails from people more energetic than I am: new art shows, new art blogs, and more. Since my posting gets lax as the temperature goes up, please feel free to post your events and accomplishments in the comments section. And take a look to see what others are up to. For those of you able to rouse yourselves in the heat, there's a lot going on.

Cheers.

Summer Group Show: "Dress Up"

2008-06-24T09:06:00.000-07:00

While gallerists and curators are in Europe or at the beach, I thought I'd try my hand at curating an on-line summer group show. "Dress Up" is an examination of how children's personalities and personas are transformed by what they wear. (OK, "Dress Up" is actually just an excuse to show some photographers whose work I love.) Enjoy.

Michal Chelbin photographs professional performing children in their costumes, often highlighting the disparity between their glamorous on-stage persona and the reality of their itinerant lives. I especially love "Alicia in the Golden Dress," (top image) which shows a beautiful elegant girl in trashy surroundings.

Jeongmee Yoon's Pink and Blue Project (above and below) shows children in their own bedrooms, surrounded by their gender-defining clothes and toys.

Montreal artists Carlos and Jason Sanchez have a creepy-pedophile riff going on in several of their photos, but "The Hurried Child" is a stand-out, with its allusion to Jon Benet Ramsay.

Amy Stein's fabulous "Halloween in Harlem" series shows the world of make-believe in a city where children trick-or-treat by daylight. (That's the worst part of growing up in Manhattan, in my opinion. Taking the elevator to a fluorescent-lit hallway to trick-or-treat just doesn't have the same magic as running around in the leafy, dark suburbs.)

Angelika Rinnhofer (right) dresses "ordinary" people in the garb of Renaissance nobles, a meditation on the way we (even today) use clothing to convey status.

To round out this group show, I'd also include vintage images like Diane Arbus's "Child in Blackface," Mary Ellen Mark's circus photographs, and Helen Levitt's wonderful images of the make-believe world of childhood.

With all the recent brouhaha about photography shows being closed down for showing images of nude children, it's nice to know that, until censors come to their senses, there are still plenty of wonderful images of children fully clothed.

1,000 Words: stories behind the pictures

2008-06-22T10:07:00.000-07:00

Krista Steinke's "Backyards, BB Guns and Nursery Rhymes" deals with the scary side of childhood fun. I've always been troubled by how incredibly violent so many children's stories and songs are -- what with kids being nearly eaten by wolves or witches, abandoned in a forest, and all. Krista was kind enough to answer some questions about her projects.

LH: What led you to do this type of project?

KS: "Backyards BB Guns and Nursery Rhymes" was inspired by my experience of being a new mother. This series explores memory, cultural conditioning, and the role of the artist, the subject, and the viewer in interpreting experience and assigning meaning. The work is intended to be dreamscape, sociological document, biographical musing, theater, and post-modern searching, all at once.

"Although my background is in photography, prior to this series, I was working primarily in video and mixed media. After my daughter was born, like any new enthusiastic parent, I took up photography again and found myself falling back in love with the process of making images. I also became interested in how unself-conscious a child is in front of the camera and the uncanny, impulsive gestures and expressions that one can capture in the photographs of children.

"Conceptually, the original idea for the series came while reading classic storybooks such as The Real Mother Goose and The Grimes Brothers Fairy Tales to my two year old. As you mentioned, it also felt strange to me, reading tales of violence, rape, and murder to an impressionable young child. I was reminded that many nursery rhymes and fairytales were designed to teach morals and values in order to help children confront internal conflicts such as the struggle between right and wrong. I wanted to use these familiar literary references as a point of departure to explore the darker, mysterious side of childhood. The images are also intended as visual metaphors that stir up fear, anxiety, or desire in order to reveal uncomfortable truths about the human experience.

"The nature of innocence is an obvious theme throughout this work. Although the work is not directly autobiographical, many of the images are inspired by my own childhood. While observing my young daughter, memories from my past experience are often triggered. Already at the age of 2, a person’s personality is developing as she makes decisions, interacts with others, and learns the difference between good and bad. It is through play and imagination that a child understands who they are and tries to find her place in this world. As a new mother, I am constantly reminded and warned that childhood is the one stage in life that leaves a profound, lasting impression on us as adults. During my own upbringing, I clearly remember not being a perfect angel and in fact, some of my most vivid memories are those moments when I was not. These were not the moments from big events such as birthdays or the first day of school, but instead, strange, private moments when my interaction with the world made a poignant impact on me."

LH: It seems to me that "until there were none," in contrast, deals with the imaginary fears of parents, rather than those of children. Images like the legs of an abandoned doll behind a pillar suggest that something menacing happened to the child.

KS: "For the series “until there were none”, I was given the opportunity to photograph in an old, office space in the legendary Bethlehem Steel complex. As I explored the site, the place felt peculiar and ominous but somehow familiar. Each room with its unusual mix of fluorescent and natural light spilling over debris, torn curtains, empty boxes, and uninhabited furniture, was like a gloomy dreamscape or a scene from a hazy memory. Because I was in the middle of working on the “Backyards” series at the time, my thoughts were very focused on the theme of childhood. The space seemed like the perfect setting where children might be tempted to play but would never dare to explore alone. It was like a post-apocalyptic never-never land, completely abandoned."

"Abandonment and isolation are two of the greatest fears in both parents and children. Again, as a new mother, I witness this daily as my two year old suffers from separation anxiety everytime I leave the room. In keeping step with my other series, it is also a common theme found in fairy tales, myths, and archetypal stories. This fear, introduced to us early in life, never really leaves us as adults; we simply get better at disguising it and tucking it away deep inside our subconscious. The images of discarded old toys placed in the desolate setting are meant to echo those interior places leftover from childhood which are strange and daunting but oddly familiar."

LH: How tightly do you stage these images? How do you direct the children to create disturbing images without freaking them out?

KS: "In order to imitate the fantasy world of a child, my images are designed to sit on the cusp between reality and fiction. For this series, I chose the location and props and then invited the children to interact, unrehearsed, in the prearranged environment. I like to consider this work collaboration between the models and myself or a documentation of an impromptu performance. Some children needed more directing than others. I find the younger ones are more intuitive, curious, and animated in front of the camera. While the older ones wanted or needed more direction, they often had good suggestions or ideas on how to create the shot. The children that I worked with were eager to participate and my favorite images are the ones in which the child’s personality is revealed or the young model contributed something from their own imagination. They enjoyed acting out the theatrical, make-believe roles in the photographs, which at times read as “disturbing”, especially when there are masks involved. How do their parents feel about the “disturbing” quality in my images? That is another question altogether.

"One of my favorite behind-the-scene stories from this series is from the image “the apples grew ripe and fell far from the tree”. On one particular shoot, my model threw a rock and broke a window in a neighbor’s house. Unfortunately, I missed this because I was busy loading film in my camera, but it is the exact type of behavior that I sought to capture in my images. I decided to try another photo shoot inspired by this event which would involve the same boy throwing apples at a house. This time, as I prepared my equipment, I gave the young boy the job of arranging apples on the porch. As I got my camera together, I turned around and there was the boy smashing apples with a hammer. In an instant, I got my shot without any further directing. What made this image even more intriguing is that the older sister was sent along as a chaperone to make sure no more rocks were thrown. She became the cropped, blurred figure standing in the foreground. The final image came out very different but much better than I originally planned.

Hurrah! It's summer!

2008-06-15T03:57:00.000-07:00

The Intrepid Art Collector Blog will be going on a summer semi-hiatus, so posting will be light. Meanwhile, feel free to peruse the archives. Cheers!

Photo: Toby Old, "Cheerleaders, Daytona Beach, FL 1988." Available from Light Work foundation for $275.

See you at the Affordable Art Fair

2008-06-11T12:19:00.001-07:00

On Saturday at 2 pm, I'm moderating a panel discussion -- "Top 10 Tips for Starting Your Collection" -- at the Affordable Art Fair. If you're in New York this weekend, come say hello and scope out the art. There's also a panel discussion at 7 pm tomorrow night (Thursday) about collecting photography. Both take place at:

The Affordable Art Fair
The Altman Building/Metropolitan Pavillion
135 West 18th Street
New York, NY

Full details are here.

Photo: Amy Stein's "Watering Hole," which I first saw two years ago at the Affordable Art Fair. Now it's a centerpiece in the Museum of Contemporary Photography's upcoming exhibition. (Word to the wise: make a beeline for the School of Visual Arts' booth at AAF. It's a major source of emerging photography talent.)

Be it ever so Humble

2008-05-29T13:22:00.000-07:00

The folks at Humble Arts are at it again, offering affordable limited editions by mega-talented artists like Shen Wei, Hannah Whitaker, Susana Raab, and more. (It seems as though every time a new photographer catches my eye -- boom! -- there's Humble Arts with a limited edition.) Prices start at $175 for 11x14 photos. I know Jen Bekman has spoiled everybody with her populist 20x200 print sales, but these Humble editions are a seriously good deal.

Photo: Shen Wei.

SF Cameraworks sale

2008-05-20T18:38:00.000-07:00

Looking to add some museum-quality photography to your collection? San Francisco Cameraworks just announced its 2008 slate of limited edition prints. Prices range from $350 to $1,250.

Strangers in Paradise

2008-05-18T20:15:00.000-07:00

I just got Susana Raab's photo 'zine Rank Strangers in the mail, so even though I recently blogged about how great she is, you have to hear it again. Yowza! Who wouldn't love these images of Elvis impersonators, Superman convention-goers, medieval reinactors, Playboy bunnies dressed in lettuce bikini tops serving tofu hotdogs (I kid you not), and other wildly delicious images of Americana.

For some reason, her 'zine reminds me of those great scenes in Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita, in which the hero and his beloved drive cross-country through America. Rank Strangers has the same sly hilarity and a keen eye for the simultaneous vulgarity and romanticism of American passtimes. (No teenage nymphettes, though. Sorry.)

Buy the 'zine for $15 here.

UPDATE: The photo below is now available as a limited edition from Humble Arts.

Photo book of the year?

2008-05-17T09:46:00.000-07:00

The only thing that keeps me from declaring Strangely Familiar the best photo book of the year is knowing that Amy Stein's Domesticated comes out soon. But this book should be on everyone's short list.

Michal Chelbin's images of acrobats, matadors, wrestlers, and cadets transcend the "Hey, look at the freaks" trap of Diane Arbus imitators. They're entirely fresh, original, and gorgeous meditations on adolescence, family dynamics, performance, old Europe, and more. Astoundingly, every image is strong enough to be a stand-alone (whereas many photo series have images that, out of context, don't look like much). I also love the way the series creates a world, rather than just making the same conceptual point again and again.

Strangely Familiar is available from Aperture now, though it's cheaper on Amazon. My advice: buy two copies -- one to keep pristine, and one to thumb through again and again and again.

P.S. If you want to have some of these images on your wall, Aperture is selling two limited edition prints.

The Brothers Grim, and why artists have it better in Canada

2008-05-14T13:00:00.000-07:00

Attention, fans of Carlos and Jason Sanchez. Through the CONTACT photography festival, you have a chance to buy a 20"x24" photo of their stunning image "Descent" for $2,000. Now, some of you may wonder: why is this a good deal? Even though the immensely talented Sanchez Brothers were chosen for American Photo's list of the Top 15 Emerging Photographers, 2K for an edition of 25 hardly seems like a run-grab-it-now bargain. Some other artists on that list sell even bigger prints, in smaller editions, for the same price. Ah, but THEY're not from Montreal.

Let me explain.

Montreal is a wonderful place to be a struggling artist (cheap rent, free healthcare), but for an artist on the cusp of getting international (read: American) attention, it's paradise. The Canadian art world has a chip on its shoulder about New York, so Carlos and Jason Sanchez are treated like hometown heroes. Canadian Museums -- with government-funded mandates to promote Canadian art -- snap up works by les freres Sanchez and give them important shows, entirely out of proportion to what their American peers are getting.

At the Sanchez Brothers' 2007 exhibit at Montreal's Mois de la Photo, a museum director took me around, telling me which major museums had bought which pieces. The photos were all museum-size (such as 7 feet by 5 feet), available only in an edition of 5, and at museum-budget prices. Clearly, the Sanchez Brothers don't have to worry about making lots of small prints and chatting up pesky collectors at parties. That's why this CONTACT print is a rare deal. If you've been admiring their work, as I have, get a move on.

Oh, and for any artist reading this and thinking what an unfair advantage Quebec artists have, take heart: If you move to Montreal as a Permanent Resident, you'll get all the same government-support goodies (grants, subsidies, healthcare, gay marriage, the works).

Your Sister Wears Combat Boots

2008-04-30T19:11:00.000-07:00

Two photographers I admire both have series about women soldiers: Claire Beckett's images of U.S. troops [both male and female] "simulating" conditions in Iraq (above) border on surreal -- not through image manipulation, but simply because the real-life situation is surreal.

Meanwhile Rachel Papo's series Serial No. 3817131 (below) looks at everyday life for female soldiers in Israel. (I remember once, as a kid, watching a Miss Universe pageant; the narrator was saying "Miss Italy is an actress... Miss Sweden is a model...Miss Israel is a soldier." It made quite an impression.)

Both series are acutely observed, highly nuanced meditations on gender roles, patriotism, war, and more. I never get tired of looking at them.

25 Under 25

2008-04-25T11:46:00.000-07:00

Normally I'm not a big fan of age-based exhibits or books, but for 25 Under 25 I'll make an exception. This soon-to-be-published book will feature some staggeringly talented photographers, all chosen by Sylvia Plachy.

It includes Peter van Agtmael, whose work I revere (and am lucky enough to own), SVA alumna Lissa Rivera, and some previously unfamiliar names that I definitely want to keep an eye on.

At the same time, though, I wish someone would do a book on photographers whose fine art careers didn't even start until they were post-30. Heck, I can come up with a pretty good table of contents just off the top of my head...

Take the Intrepid Challenge

2008-04-18T08:02:00.000-07:00

Mystified about how dealers choose the art they show? Think you could do better? Take the Intrepid Challenge!

I challenge you to sift through the Saatchi Your Gallery site -- where thousands of dealer-less artists post their work -- and identify one to three artists you'd represent if you had a gallery. Tell us who they are, and why you like them, in the comments section. (Please note that you CANNOT pick your own work. But since this is, after all, the art market we're talking about, feel free to pick friends or acquaintances.)

Here. I'll go first with two photography picks (excluding artists I've written about before, to be fair): Jennifer Loeber, whose exquisitely observed nudes are illustrated here, and Susana Raab, whose "Consumed" images are simultaneously witty, grotesque, alarming, and memorable. (Take a look, but perhaps not while you're eating a super-sized combo.)

So get to work, all you would-be gallerists!(Note: If you're an artist on Saatchi, don't feel I'm dissing you -- I likely just haven't seen your work on the site yet.)

1,000 Words: stories behind the pictures

2008-04-15T08:51:00.000-07:00

If idle hands are the Devil's workshop, then Satan clearly isn't meeting quota at Kate Kretz's house. Her painstakingly intricate embroideries, made of human hair, are at the forefront of "the art form formerly known as craft." In between a major exhibition, Pricked: Extreme Embroidery, at the Museum of Arts and Design and gallery shows, Kate kindly took the time to answer my most burning questions about her work: Why embroidery? Why hair? Here's what she had to say:

Kate Kretz:
"I am a workaholic: my hands need to be busy all the time. For many years, I painted during the day, and spent my nights making objects, often with sewn components, to decorate my home. Eventually, visiting curators started incorporating the objects into exhibitions alongside my paintings, and I became “a contemporary artist working in craft media”. My various bodies of work in fiber have evolved quite naturally: each time I begin a project; I simply choose the medium that would be most powerful in conveying the concept. With increasing frequency, I reach for the sewing needle over the paintbrush.

"As our world becomes more virtual, work in textiles satisfies a vital human need for the tactile, the sensual, and the handmade. I still love the alchemy of painting, but there is less historical baggage, and more freedom, associated with fiber media. I feel like I am making up my own rules, and, for once, I happen to be in the right place at the right time, because there is a lot of excitement surrounding the use of craft in contemporary art right now. Although it was never a conscious strategy on my part, this choice of media has provided me with tremendous opportunities as of late.

"Embroideries with human hair constitute the perfect language for speaking of neurosis and obsession. Hair is an intimate and delicate, yet potent, medium. It seems perfect for rendering the fragile quality of dreams loaded with dark, swirling imagery. The presentation of my most recent images, in Victorian frames with convex glass, references both mourning pieces of that period and the reliquaries of Catholicism.

"These pieces are unfathomably time consuming and technically difficult to make. Whenever I think that my work can’t get any more painstaking, I find a way to up the ante. With each embroidery, I have reached a point where I question my sanity. I frequently pull out a hair that proves to be too thick or too dark. I can spend 12 hours straight working on an area, and most people would register no discernable difference between the “before” and “after”. The last 2 or 3 weeks, I was icing my wrists each night in order to work the following morning. I will undoubtedly make less than minimum wage on this piece. And it seems that the more work I do, the more needs to be done.

"Why subject one’s self to repeatedly tying tiny knots, threading and rethreading needles with a medium that breaks, slips, and is generally unwieldy?

"Because working in any other medium would be a compromise. Because making these pieces is a defiant act at a time when our most famous artists are overseeing corporations and managing brand identity, without ever touching their materials. The objects that I make gain meaning from the lavishing of time and focus of emotional energy: cathectic art is an increasingly rare gift, offered up to the viewer."

Image: Oubliette II, 2008, human hair embroidery on found linen doily, hand-dyed velvet, convex glass, frame, 9 x 9", 13 x 13” framed. The process of making this piece was documented from January through April on Kate’s daily studio blog, and it can be seen at Packer/Schopf Gallery in Chicago.

April Bulletin Board

2008-04-08T13:37:00.000-07:00

Artists and gallerists: Have an exhibition coming up in April? Feel free to list the info in the comments section below.

Collectors: Take a look. Lots of springtime art action coming up!

MoMA to deaccession its photography collection

2008-04-01T05:09:00.000-07:00

In a move that smaller museums are likely to watch closely, the Museum of Modern Art announced today that it is digitizing its photography collection to reduce storage and conservation costs associated with maintaining fragile photographs on paper.

Sensitive to concerns about glutting the photography market, the Museum will be auctioning only the most valuable works in its collection. The rest of the Museum's photography collection will be given away as membership "premiums" to those who sign up for MoMA's new Photography Membership Program. For the lowest level membership, $150, you get a small b/w photograph of the museum's choosing. Prices -- and presumably quality -- go up from there; the top level membership is $10,000.

Details -- and info on how to sign up for the Photography Membership Program -- are here.

UPDATE: Please don't pester the nice people at MoMA. This was my April Fool's.

Photo: Edward Steichen's vintage photograph "Heavy Roses."

Beltway Pundit

2008-03-30T12:07:00.000-07:00

Feel like taking a break from the political news? I'm quoted in today's Washington Post, in an article about collecting art on a budget. For those of you in the D.C. area, the reporter put together a helpful list of places to buy art on a sub-Rockefeller budget.

Critical Mass results

2008-03-29T15:27:00.001-07:00

As a judge in this year's Critical Mass competition, I was curious to see how my own choices would match up with what the "mass" of curators, critics, photo editors, collectors and gallerists picked. The quality of the entries was so impressive that --- despite my having strong favorites -- I had no idea who the finalists would be. Happily, two of my top three made the short list for the book prize, and the Top 50 includes other favorites whose works I'd love to own -- or already do.

Inevitably, there are a couple of stunning omissions, but if anyone's interested in discovering talented emerging photographers, the list of Critical Mass winners is a great place to start:

Book prize short list:
Beth Dow
Bill Sullivan
Jeong Mee Yoon
Joni Sternbach
Krista Steinke
Peter van Agtmael

Top 50:
Alejandro Cartagena, Andrew Sovjani, Beth Dow, Bill Sullivan, Claire Beckett, Colin Blakely, Daniel Traub, David Prifti, Elzbieta Piekacz, Eric Curry, Fernando Klint, Frank Relle, Fritz Liedtke, Hakan Strand, Hee Seung Chung, Ian van Coller, James Soe Nyun, James Rajotte, Jane Alt, Jason Horowitz, Jenny Ellerbe, JeongMee Yoon, Jing Quek, Jon Edwards, Joni Sternbach, Karen Glaser, Kevin Cooley, Krista Steinke, Larry Louie, Lucas Foglia, Lydia Panas, Martin Miller, Michael Levin, Mitch Dobrowner, Patrick Shanahan, Peter van Agtmael, Preston Wadley, Przemyslaw Pokrycki, Rafal Milach, Rania Matar, Rosanna Salonia, Ryan Zoghlin, Sarah Small, Sarah Sudhoff, Steve Hanson, Susana Raab, Teri Havens, Tessa Frootko Gordon, Toni Pepe, Vanina Feldsztein.

photo: Peter van Agtmael (also World Press Photo winner)

Hurrah for appropriation video that doesn't suck

2008-03-21T10:04:00.000-07:00

When I was taking film classes in college, a famous director cautioned us against ever putting "hommage" clips of old movies in our own films; "It just makes the audience wish they were watching Grand Illusion or Psycho instead of yours," he said. That's sort of how I feel about appropriation art. If an artist incorporates an iconic image, I want the new piece to be every bit as compelling as the original. I get grumpy when I see artists using popular images as a crutch for vague, poorly concieved "statements."

If you mash-up, say, Marilyn Monroe clips to make some lofty point about the nature of contemporary culture, it ought to be as intellectually interesting as the dullest five minutes of "Some Like It Hot."

That's why I was surprised and delighted by the "Reinactments" exhibition at Montreal's new DHC Art Foundation space. Featuring amazing video installations by Nancy Davenport, Stan Douglas, Jarun Farocki, Ann Lislegaard, Paul Pfeiffer, and Kerry Tribe, "Reinactments" proves that, no -- an hommage to Goddard's famous tracking shot in "Weekend" doesn't have to be boring and pretentious. If you're anywhere near Montreal, go see the show. It runs through may 25.

Slideluck Potshow

2008-03-17T10:29:00.000-07:00

Ever read about cool art events that took place in Paris in the '20s -- or New York in the '50 or '80s -- and thought, "Gee, I wish there were something like that now"? There is: Slideluck Potshow. This NYC-based non-profit brings artists and art lovers together for lively slide shows and potluck suppers around the globe. Everyone is asked to bring something good to eat and drink, then everyone watches slideshows of up to 40 local and international artists. How neat is that?

On March 29th, there's a NYC event in conjunction with the Armory Show. Later this spring, I'm delighted to report that Slideluck Potshow is planning two events in Canada -- tentative dates are May 21 in Montreal and May 24 in Toronto. Anyone who wants to help should contact the organizers.

Jen Bekman just made my day

2008-03-12T11:51:00.000-07:00

Is anything as delightful as finding a great deal on an artwork you already loved and wanted? Prima gallerina Jen Bekman just made my day with a 20x200 edition by Nina Berman -- the same piece I coveted when I saw it last month at the gallery's Plus Ultra show. Berman's stunning solo show got a rave review from the New York Times, but you don't need the "newspaper of record" to tell you how powerful her work is. Your own eyes will suffice.

Prints are available in small, medium and large sizes for $20, $200, and $2,000, respectively. (P.S. If you don't know what 20x200 is, now's a good time to find out!)

1,000 Words: stories behind the pictures

2008-03-10T11:06:00.000-07:00

Sarah Sudhoff -- whose powerful work is now on view in the exhibit 31 Under 31 -- kindly agreed to share with Intrepid readers the background to her series Repository. I'm always fascinated by the question: Why does the artist make THIS, and not something else? In "1,000 Words" -- which I hope will be a regular feature on the blog -- we'll hear from the artists themselves. (And to all you pure theorists out there who don't think an artists' intentions or biography should ever be considered, well... read Sarah's interview and see if you still feel that way.)

Sarah Sudhoff:
"Repository was created for many reasons and was a result of months of medical treatment following my diagnosis of cervical cancer. Some argue the series was a form of therapy for me and lacked artist merit. I fought this my entire time in graduate school. I don’t deny there are aspects, especially early on, that were in some ways for me a form of therapy. The first works I made were extremely raw and visceral. I am still very attracted to these images not only for what they stood for then or mean now but also for their formal qualities of composition, color, and the story they hold within. For me, the images of containers with organs and the highly saturated photographs of medical waste are a type of portrait -- a story is revealed if one is willing to look. However, I think the project took on its own life and became more than an emotional release for one woman. It began to resonate with the viewer when I introduced myself as the subject and object of the series.

"In May 2004, I was asked to come in to my doctors office. Still I cannot imagine why my doctor did not suggest I bring a friend or family member with me. The news that was relayed to me that day felt like a shock wave through my system. The usual why me, holy shit, and where is the nearest building I can jump off? were all thoughts racing through my head. I left the gynecologist’s office and walked out on to Madison Avenue and headed south all the way to a park on 23rd. I was so distraught I could not even place a phone call to find comfort in a friend or my mother. It wasn’t until much later that afternoon I was able to calm down enough to dial the phone.

"My surgery was scheduled for June. I made arrangements with my mom to fly up to accompany me to the hospital. Ironically, I started graduate school on Monday June 21, 2004, and had surgery June 25, the Friday of that week. The first two weeks of school I did my best just to attend class and keep up with readings. My advisor had met with me prior to surgery asking what I wanted to work on for the semester. I had no real ideas or thoughts. I showed her what little previous conceptual work I had done before and left it at that. Following my surgery, she kept asking me if I had shot anything, and of course I hadn’t. I was sore, uncomfortable and tired. Not to mention emotionally drained. Shooting was the last thing I wanted to do. I mentioned to her the vending machine I had seen on the way up to surgery and explained how it struck me, with its empty containers, florescent lights and tacky impersonal bouquets. She said to start there. And so I did."

Photo: Sarah Sudhoff, available from Humble Arts Foundation.

Talk, talk, talk

2008-03-06T19:51:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, I'll be speaking at Montreal's Musée d'art contemporain, as part of their symposium on the contemporary art market. (Yes, you heard right. A MUSEUM is having a conference about the market.) The event is sold out, but you can hear the talks afterwards on the museum's website (link to come). Wish me luck -- it's an awfully big auditorium...

Collector-mania ! !

2008-03-04T10:14:00.000-08:00

Like photography? Here are two new places to build your collection. Right now, Photolucida is offering a stunning portfolio of Northwest photographers. It's an instant collection, with 15 prints for $5,000.

And if that's not enough, the Museum of Contemporary Photography's shop website -- which had been "closed for repairs" -- now offers a bevy of new 2008 prints, all priced at $300.

Photos: top, Christopher Burkett, part of the Photolucida portfolio.