Saturday Night Party Then Sunday Afternoon Kong

Edinburgh, UK 2003 © Brian Ulrich

Last night I went to a party at the fabulous home of photography collector Joe Baio. Each year Joe throws a big shindig during AIPAD to show off his amazing collection of photographs. The walls were covered in photographs by Sally Mann, Brian Ulrich, Arthur Tress, Vik Muniz, Loretta Lux, Angelika Rinnhofer, Muzi Quawson...the list goes on and on.

The joint was packed with a who's who of gallerists and photographers featured in Joe's collection. I found myself in many amazing conversations with people I have admired for a very long time but never had the opportunity to meet. I had about three glasses of wine too many, but I think everyone else did too. It really was a special evening and I am now counting the days until next years party.

This afternoon I am paying the price for my partying ways. I am nursing a decent hangover and consuming copious amounts of coffee so I can get on with the business of the day. During my downtime I watched the documentary King of Kong. If you haven't seen it yet you must stop everything you are doing and watch it now.

Now I am off to AIPAD one last time.

Colin Blakely and 20x200

The Seeming Impenetrability of the Space Between © Colin Blakely

I have mentioned this image by Colin Blakely several times in the past. I gushed about it so much Colin was nice enough to send me a signed print last year.

Now you can own it via 20x200. And you must own it! It really is a gorgeous image and you can't beat the price.

I Love Gifts in the Mail: Colin Blakely and Rachael Dunville

© Colin Blakely

Last week was a gift-in-the-mail bonanza. Colin Blakely sent me a signed print from his Somewhere in Middle America series. I first saw the image, The Seeming Impenetrability of the Space Between, at the Griffin Museum and promptly gushed about it on my blog. If you are in the Boston area you can still see the photo in person at the 13th Annual Griffin Juried Show. Also, be sure to check out Colin's blog. Probably the most interesting and honest take out there on the struggle to be a successful photographer.

Also in the mailbox was a signed copy of Rachael Dunville's Springtown catalogue. You can pick up your own copy at photo-eye. The Springtown show is still on display at Peer Gallery and just got a lovely write-up in the New Yorker. Not too shabby.

Big thanks to Colin and Rachael for the fabulous gifts!

© Carrie Marill

In addition to these wonderful gifts, I have also received my first two pieces from 20x200. Arriving were gorgeous prints by Amy Ross and Carrie Marill, respectively. Both prints are still available. For only $20! What are you people waiting for? Beyond the solid curating, Jen Bekman has done a wonderful job with all the identity work around 20x200. When your prints arrive it really is an impressive production.

Sold to the Lady with the Wine in Her Hand

© Rebecca Norris Webb

Saturday we drove "upstate" to Mt Tremper to visit Mathew Pokoik and finally see the Interactive Landscape show. Mathew lives on an enviable slice of paradise in the Catskill Mountains. Vegetable gardens, 150 acres of forest, a beautiful house from the 1800s nestled next to a two-hundred-year-old Sugar Maple tree; it's the type of place that makes city dwellers drool. Mathew made us a lovely meal and we sat on his porch drinking wine and talking photography. Sitting there watching the sun go down over the Catskills I actually managed to shed my city skin and achieve something very close to a relaxed state.

As night arrived we decided to make the move over to Woodstock for the Center for Photography at Woodstock's benefit auction. Before we left Mathew's house it began to rain. Given the drunken spending spree we were about engage in, we should have recognized the rain as a proper metaphorical omen and stayed on the porch drinking wine.

Before the auction we reviewed the catalog and decided on two pieces we would go after if the price was right. When the final gavel hit we ended up with the highest bid on the two pieces we wanted, an Andrea Modica print from Treadwell and an Alessandra Sanguinetti from The Adventures of Guille and Belinda and the Enigmatic Meaning of Their Dreams, plus a third piece by Rebecca Norris Webb that appeared on the cover of her monograph The Glass Between Us. For the Sanguinetti piece we engaged in a friendly bidding war with Mathew, but in the end I think we wanted it more (or had a little bit more to drink). All three pieces went for well below their estimate price, so despite spending more than we wanted, the deals were too good to pass up.

If you want to start a photography collection, benefit auctions can be a fabulous way to get some great piece by big names at a fraction of the gallery cost. Of course, I don't recommend getting tipsy before you go or you may get a little paddle happy.

Meet Me at the Fair

In case you haven't heard there is a perfect art storm happening in New York this weekend. Pulse, Scope, The Armory Show, LA/Art, ADAA, DiVA...if you love crowds, temporary walls, and booths chock full of marginal art, then rush on down to one of the too many art fairs going on right now in NYC. A quick rundown of the weekend so far:

LA/Art -- Highlights included the Marcel Dzama pieces at Richard Heller and Rachael Papo's print at Paul Kopeikin's booth.

Pulse -- Standout photos by Brian Ulrich, Jeff Chien-Hsing Liao, and Didier Massard at the Julie Saul booth. I am not a big fan of Massard's fantasy landscapes -- they remind me of Yes album covers -- but I loved the Rhino.

Gurnee, IL © Brian Ulrich 2003

Dinner with Peeps -- Friday night our posse had velocity. We met up with Bill Sullivan, Shen Wei, Amy Elkins, Brian Ulrich, Paddy Johnson, and Kevin Faulkner for some tasty food and some quality post Pulse conversation.

The Armory Show -- One hour lines to pay $20 to see "SHIT" in neon? Oh yeah! Contemporary photography not represented well in the big show, EXCEPT Pieter Hugo's work at the Michael Stevenson booth. I think we are going to make the big leap and buy one of his beautiful prints.

UPDATE: We just bought this Hugo print! Woohoo!!

Morris Toe, Monrovia, Liberia © Pieter Hugo 2006