Tonight I Party, Tomorrow I Pack

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Midway, London, Kentucky © Susana Raab

My foyer looks like a yard sale right now. I have pulled out and piled clothes and equipment, cords and books, computers and toiletries in a mad attempt to fit it all in my suitcase and take it with me to Denmark this Friday. Things are anxious to say the least, but that doesn't mean I can't maintain my usual New York art scene schedule.

Tonight, I will be going to the opening reception for the Affordable Art Fair and then over to Tribeca for the NYMPhoto Group Show opening at Sasha Wolf Gallery.

The NYMPhoto show at Sasha Wolf will be full of impressive work by a number of talented photographers including dear friends Juliana Beasley, Tema Stauffer, Nina Corvallo and Susana Raab.

Three years ago my work was featured in the SVA booth at the Affordable Art Fair. It was the first time my prints were presented in a market context and the first time they received a measure of public recognition. I would highly recommend stopping by AAF this week and purchasing the amazing work of current students and recent grads from the School of Visual Arts. And, while you're there, stop by the KlompChing Booth and check out the work of Lisa Robinson, Simon Roberts and William Greiner.

Jeongmee Yoon and Her Black Things © Jeongmee Yoon

Also, if you are in San Francisco this Thursday, you must go to the opening reception of Jeongmee Yoon's show at Jenkins Johnson Gallery. Jeongmee's Pink & Blue Project is gorgeous and must be seen in person to really be appreciated. Plus, she is as sweet as sugar cake. If you go, please tell her Amy said hi!

SVA in the Mother F'n House

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Untitled, 2004 (#3) © Thomas Holton

At least once a week I get an email from a photographer asking me if they should apply to the School of Visual Arts MFA Photography program. My answer is always yes and I give a host of reasons why they should consider the school including the facilities, the faculty and the location. The best reason I can give, however, is the amazing work and success of the people who have been through program.

Today I opened the latest edition Photograph Magazine and it seemed like an SVA yearbook. Besides my own show currently at Paul Kopeikin, thank you very much, there were full and two-page ads for upcoming solo shows by fabulous SVA grads Thomas Holton, JeongMee Yoon and Matthew Pillsbury. Throw in Shen Wei, Katie Kingma, Daniel Traub and Domingo Milella being named to PDN's 30 list and you are talking about a red letter week for the School of Visual Arts MFA program.

Here are the details on these upcoming must-see shows:

Thomas Holton, The Lams of Ludlow Street
Sasha Wolf Gallery
New York, NY
March 6 - April 26

JeongMee Yoon, The Pink & Blue Project
Jenkins Johnson Gallery
New York, NY
March 6 - April 26

Matthew Pillsbury, Elapsed
Bonni Benrubi Gallery
New York, NY
April 3 - May 31

I will be at Sasha Wolf tonight for Thomas' opening and at Jenkins Johnson on Saturday for JeongMee's opening. See you there.

UPDATE: The always fabulous Rachel Dunville reminded me of another upcoming show by an SVA MFA grad. Shai Kremer's solo show at Julie Saul Gallery opens April 10.

But The Good News Is...

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Yerim and Her Pink Things, 2005 © JeongMee Yoon

My dear friend JeongMee Yoon just got a lovely write-up in the New York Times. In addition to the article they also gave her work the full multimedia slide show treatment. Really impressive. You can see JeongMee's work in person beginning March 3 when her solo show opens at Jenkins Johnson Gallery in New York.

I have been thinking of JeongMee lately after I saw a recent feature in New York Magazine about five New Yorkers whose entire wardrobe consists of a single color.



One of the five people profiled is Stephin Merritt (brown). Stephin is the lead singer of one of my favorite bands, the Magnetic Fields, who I happen to be seeing live tomorrow at Town Hall.

UPDATE: JeongMee's show at Jenkins Johnson opens Saturday, March 8.

I Love Gifts in the Mail: Jeongmee Yoon and Jason Polan

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© Jeongmee Yoon

Yesterday I came home to find two packages at my front door. Inside the first package was a signed copy of Jeongmee Yoon's new Pink & Blue Project monograph. The book is published by the Geonhi Art Foundation and includes an essay by Art in America editor, Richard Vine. It's simply stunning. Jeongmee is a dear friend and a fellow SVA MFA grad and I couldn't be more proud of her continued success. If you would like to order a copy of her monograph, you can contact Jeongmee directly.

© Jason Polan

The second package contained another great gift from the talented, Jason Polan. Jason was very kind to send me a copy of his The Every Piece of Art in the Museum of Modern Art Book. The book is an amusingly exhaustive inventory of every piece of art in MOMA drawn in Jason's unique and lively style. If you want to order a copy of this, or any of Jason's fabulous work, just give him a shout.

I Love Photo L.A.

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Paul Kopeikin Gallery, Photo L.A. 2006

If you are a fan of photography and the warm kiss of Pacific sunshine you are probably packing the Amex card and the suntan lotion in preparation for this year's Photo L.A. While there, I urge you to stop by the Paul Kopeikin Gallery booth and check out all the quality photography he will be exhibiting, including my own Domesticated work.

Also on the 'must see' list is Jeongmee Yoon's work at Jenkins Johnson.

The details:

Photo L.A.
Santa Monica Civic Auditorium
1855 Main Street
Santa Monica, CA 90401

Opening Reception hosted by Graham Nash
to benefit the Elton John AIDS Foundation
Thursday, January 18th, 6 - 9pm

Public Fair Hours
Friday, January 19th , Noon - 7pm
Saturday, January 20th, Noon - 7pm
Sunday, January 21st, Noon - 6pm

Pretty in Pink

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I have never been a pink girl. Growing up I didn't own a My Little Pony, I never wanted a Hello Kitty backpack, and I may have even rooted against Molly Ringwald finding love with Andrew McCarthy. This is not to say I am a tomboy -- I still enjoy girlie things and I believe my autopsy one day will show I was made of mostly sugar and spice -- I just wasn't wrapped in a pink blanket when I was born. As a photographer I am drawn to any discussion of the cultural significance and deeper meanings of color, so imagine my delight when I came across these two passages that reveal the capriciousness of our pink/blue gender tradition:

"If you like the color note on the little one's garments, use pink for the boy and blue for the girl, if you are a follower of convention." [The Sunday Sentinal, March 29, 1914.]

"There has been a great diversity of opinion on the subject, but the generally accepted rule is pink for the boy and blue for the girl. The reason is that pink being a more decided and stronger color is more suitable for the boy, while blue, which is more delicate and dainty, is pertier for the girl." [Ladies Home Journal, June, 1918]

When I read this I immediately thought of Jeongmee Yoon's wonderful photo series, The Pink Project...

© Jeongmee Yoon 2005

...and the video piece Charlie White did for Adidas, Pink.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Dinner tonight with Jeongmee and Shen and then I am off to Pittsburgh tomorrow to celebrate our annual holiday of humble and gracious reflection by gorging myself in a frenzy of meat and carbs. Delicious!

This year I am thankful for all the obvious things like health, happiness, my husband, family, friends, Joseph Nicéphore Niépce's mother, my cats, the kindness of strangers... But, when 2006 is all said and done, the one thing that will have truly inspired appreciative pause and a joyous “hallelujah!” was the crushing repudiation of the myth of Karl Rove's infallibility. Thank you, America!

2006 Photo Benefit Auction at Daniel Cooney

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© Todd Deutsch

I will be making the long trek home to New York this Monday and heading straight to Daniel Cooney Fine Arts for the Camera Club of New York's 2006 Photo Benefit Auction. I'm looking forward to seeing (and bidding on) work by good friend, Jeongmee Yoon, as well as former SVA student, Max Dworkin, and a piece from Todd Deutsch's stunning Gamers series. See you there!

2006 Photo Benefit Auction
Daniel Cooney Fine Art
511 W. 25th Street, Suite 506
Nov. 20, 7-9pm

Also: While you are at Daniel Cooney don't miss Charles Traub's amazing Indecent Exposure show.