beana bern has officially thrown her hat in the ring with a series of 10 limited edition prints – all run in a limited edition of 10, signed and numbered and printed on archival quality matte paper. the series is called the relative size of everything and is the first limited edition print series from beana. for 25 euro + shipping you can choose what number you’d like (i’m partial to 10/10) and look forward to some affordable art. when they are sold out, it’s over so make haste while the sun shines…
It’s not often that you have a chance to peruse Beana Bern prints in a venue that doesn’t require fiber and electricity but on April 5th you will! A funky hand-made market will spring up in the pmk and yours truly will be hanging selected limited edition prints from the performance archive, the Holga stash and, if you’re lucky, the remaining pieces from last years austellung PARALLEL UNIVERSE. Priced from “that’s all!!!” to “uh…really? how much??” there will be options so bring some cash and a desire to take home some artwork.
It’s been some time since I shared some of my silkscreened inspirado with you all but I’m always on the lookout for posters that make my mouth water and hope that one day I have a loft space big enough where I can hang the ones I do own plus all the ones I find and make along the way. I have one UBER favorite in this bunch, I wonder if you can guess which one it is. Regardless, they are all interesting in their own right and if you want to learn more about any of the prints, click on it and it will take you to the artist’s or galleries page.
Patchwork by Eltono
The Hills Are Dead by Danny Sangra
My New York Neighborhood by
Track Record by mwedge
Sleeper by estasketch
untitled (blue) by David Corbett
Mondrivan by RYCA
Specimen 3. Globigerina/Merganser by wondercabinet
Bear in Mind by Luke Chueh
The Tube Station by Cyril Power
Far and Wide by Ann Tarantino
(This print is part of a very cool project run by Jen Bekman called 20×200. She has a cool gallery around the corner from my old flat on the LES and has found a way to make limited edition art available to peeps without a bankroll. $20, $200 and $2000 editions of some beautiful artwork. Check it out.)
I’ve featured this artist on 2bean before but tonight, as I said goodbye to one of my dearest friends in the Tirol, I came home to this sentiment from Sarah and it was absolutely perfect. Its true, you know, we are everyone we have ever loved. Just last night I was having a conversation about how I thought my own capacity for love (and beauty, for that matter) is infinite. People come into your life and even when they leave are still with you. I am gonna miss the hell out of Raquel and am already counting the days to a visit in her new home in Sao Paulo, Brazil….
i love you Raquel and you are already missed…only the sweetest things and success in Brazil. xo.
still in frantic mode and looking forward to chilling the hell out this weekend. its my own fault for spinning in other peoples static and letting the crazy sweep me away but, such is life, and at the moment im weak and going with the flow instead of swimming against the hectic stream. peace is on the horizon.
a while back i might have mentioned that i was collaborating with some filmmakers on a documentary film called Rcokumentary. It was made during the first ever Paul Green School of Rock Music Festival in Asbury Park, NJ. I happened to document the same fest in photos and found these guys right after I moved to Austria. I ended up doing the graphic design, cover art and a slammin photo slide show of my work from the fest. Did I just say slammin for real? what an ass.
in any case, the film (and some dough!) just arrived in the mail and it always makes me happy to see the fruits of my labor. this was a very cool experience and im hopeful to do more collaborating in the future. speaking of that…i almost forgot that i am in the process of collaborating as we speak!! its too soon for details but my buddy Andy and I are making some Trans-continental video art. You will surely hear all about that when the time comes.
Now I am stepping away from the imac that i should rename Vortex instead of C3PO…this bitch is hard to get away from!!
This withdrawal from the world has seen both positive and negative effects. Walking through a shopping center yesterday, my eyes fixed in front of me, the crowds of people felt like droplets on the water. Rippling into me and seemingly through me. I was the boat and my distraction parted this sea of people and left a only a deaf wake of detached confusion and the necessity to ask people that spoke to me to repeat themselves. Part exhaustion and part awe, I decided to steer myself back to the safe oasis of my apartment to let the cosmic dust in my brain settle and to let the noise out with some paint and some sleep.
The opening of Parallel Universe went so well that, I think, that is where the awe came in. About 20 people showed up and one piece (Rock Monster) sold in the first 15 minutes with 2 others under heavy consideration. Either everybody I know is being really nice or I produced something good. I hope it’s both. It felt amazing to have people come and see my work and it also kind of sucked my soul out of me in a way. That sounds terrible, I know, but I don’t mean it in a bad way. I just mean that talking about ‘my process’ and trying to explain how my head works is very challenging and I felt torn…I wanted to make the work more meaningful to everybody by explaining why it exists but I wasn’t able to convey how I really feel and what I really wanted to say. I guess this is the cliche where I suggest that one should let the art do the talking and see what it means to them….
Sure, there are similarities between the rock and the graffiti. Most of them aren’t all that subtle so it doesn’t take much to see. It’s the invisible strings between each pair that tells the real story though. Hanging “Heard Not Seen” next to “Through Me” was a conscious choice…juxtaposing the raw and free ability to surrender to your feelings and the moment next to the reserved and almost fearful image of somebody not prepared to see the truth is a lot like the battle most people fight with themselves every day. How much should I risk? How much should I restrain? Do I need to be quiet and polite here or can I let my thoughts and feeling free? It is exactly that balance (or attempt to achieve it) in my own life that made this work possible…Getting into that story for each of these would have come across as both pretentious and little preachy and also would have made me vulnerable in way that I wasn’t expecting. It was the hope that people could read this in the work and the fear that they wouldn’t that was hardest for me. But again, that’s no big surprise….it’s the human condition to hope to be truly understood that is responsible for the greatest learnings and stories, I think.
So, long story short, there are still some pieces available for sale. They are each one of a kind. I am hopeful that I can sell enough to break even or, better yet, afford the next exhibition. The process of assembling something from pieces of and parts of me is challenging in a way that I love and I am hopeful that I will get to do it again. If one of these diptychs moves you, call Herr Ainberger and ask him to save it for you.
All of these fragments and realizations have been hitting me in waves. I swirl around in my head for a while and then come up for air only to get sucked back under…the emails are piling up, my house still isn’t clean and all i can seem to do is escape into a Lonely Planet about the Mekong Delta or some oil paints I bought yesterday. Art therapy and prep for an upcoming adventure, I suppose, but something about it is making me feel a little distorted. I think it’s the Sisyphus Syndrome that I speak of frequently…every dream I achieve sees me rolling down a hill into a pile of more. A pile of dreams…that sounds nice, right? It is. It is definitely nice but it also takes work and attention and constant tending. Like a little garden, this field of dreams is my life and my future. I need to pull the weeds, train the roses, water and feed the seeds so that some of them can grow up and bloom. Maybe it’s my middle-American roots, but I put a lot of stock in the cycle of the harvest and the seasons…My little show in Kufstein was an early and unexpected harvest and I guess I didn’t have ‘room in the silo’ for the bounty so it caught me a little off guard.
My temporary withdrawal from the world is just that…temporary. Even the act of writing this here post is part of the medicine that’s pumping fresh air into my lungs and pulling me back up. Gravity and the heavy nature of even the best things in our lives is unavoidable. Sometimes its better to let yourself fall all the way down before you try to stand back up.
As a tribute to gravity and also as a celebration of the role that ‘leaps of faith’ have in my life, I am going to share something with you. I can’t say that this is true for everybody, but for me, I can say that I find myself on top of the hill every time I let go and jump. Gravity be dammed…at least until I achieve my next dream and find myself rolling back down…
To my (and many peoples) dismay, the Transmission Fest was canceled yesterday. Politics, money and bureaucracy triumphed over art, music and culture and everybody lost…well, almost everybody.
Upon learning of the cancellation it was natural to think that my show would be affected as the whole reason for the show in the first place was to compliment the festival. I forged my way to Kufstein anyway, art in trunk, and hoped for the best. I arrived to Herr Ainberger and the whole team of Transmission ready to help install the show. Humbling, fun and amazing are the three words that come to mind first.
I make art and photos all the time. I even share them all the time but making and sharing do not feel quite the same as seeing a lovely gallery space devoted to your work and your perspective. It’s still sinking in. Deciding where to hang each piece, discussing why it goes there, adjusting the height and the light…watching something I made come to life and emerge as a 3D experience was so cool. From 4 white walls to a Parallel Universe…
The show opens tomorrow morning and will remain on display through the end of July. After seeing the finished product, Herr Ainberger asked if “i would mind” leaving the work on display for another 3-4 weeks. I certainly wouldn’t mind that at all!
I will re-visit the work tomorrow night with some proseco, some friends and a very full heart. For those of you too far away to join us in Kufstein, click the photo below of us assembling the show and catch a glimpse of Parallel Universe.
It’s been a little while since I have shared some of the latest and greatest poster art creations that have inspired me but just ’cause I’m not sharing doesn’t mean I haven’t found some new and amazing artwork. I am *so* excited to move this summer, out of corporate (but sweet!) housing and into my own little nest….if for no other reason than I will have an excuse to add to my delicious and sorely missed poster collection.
Sadly this beauty by Yoskay Yamamoto called “The Last Two” is already sold out over at APaperTiger
The Keep Calm Gallery has an interesting collection of rare limited edition prints from the 1968 Paris Rebellion. This interesting print was originally made by the Faculty of Medicine protesting the anti-socialist propaganda of “law and order.”
I found this guy by accident and totally loved this print. Andy Smith’s work is funny and interesting and for sale, of course. If you have a little time, browse through his portfolio of illustrations and typography for some more inspirado.
Ilana Kohn was another happy accident and I totally fell in love with this print called “Puddle.” For such a childish image it feels grown-up to me and serious in a way the surprises me. Sad, too, considering all the rainbows.
I have a heafty stash of artists, images and prints that make my mouth water and my eyes happy and I will make an effort to share them with you more regularly…I have been dabbling with a couple graphics since the WeenT 5.0 wrapped up and I have it in mind to introduce a club here in Innsbruck to the concept of limited edition posters. I would LOVE to have make another rock poster for an audience other than myself and 4 t-shirts…
i am in love, love love with this bed. seriously. it is this kind of furniture that makes me want to work hard, save money and buy myself a house on 20 acres in Vermont.
