Project 5

Amador Gallery, ClampArt, Daniel Cooney Fine Art, Foley Gallery and Sasha Wolf Gallery are collaborating on a series of projects starting this fall. The galleries, referred to here as Project 5, will begin their collaboration with a portfolio of 5 images by 5 artists, one from each of the participating Project 5 galleries to be released on September 15. The portfolios will be released in an edition of 30 and will provide collectors the opportunity to start a relationship with five different artists and galleries at the same time.

All images will be unique to the portfolio - made specifically by the participating artists for this project. The artists included in the first portfolio are: Olaf Otto Becker from Amador, Jill Greenberg from ClampArt, Stuart O'Sullivan from Daniel Cooney, Thomas Allen from Foley, and Guido Castagnoli from Sasha Wolf.

Another exciting collaboration will be a monthly series of Artist's Salons that will alternate between Project 5's galleries. The first salon will be held at Daniel Cooney Fine Art on Saturday, September 26th at 3pm and will feature four emerging artists presenting their latest bodies of work. Participating artists are: Timothy Briner, Yola Monakhov, Jessica Dimmock, and Cara Phillips.

Project 5 is also introducing a series of group portfolio reviews for artists to receive constructive criticism and to establish an ongoing dialogue about their work with art world professionals.

To apply for Project 5’s Portfolio Review, please send:
- A written description of your work
- A biography that outlines your education and professional experience.
- A link to your website, if you have one.
- 10 jpegs sent either in a zip file or attached to an email (or series of emails). The jpgs should be 100 dpi and 6 inches at the largest dimension.

Project 5’s Portfolio Review will consist of three 20-minute reviews with three of Project 5’s gallerists. Great consideration will be given to the matching of gallery owners and artists based on the strengths and experience of each. After the formal reviews, there will be a social hour for all of the participating artists and reviewers to meet one another and share contacts.

Deadline for receipt of materials for this review will be September 6th and the artists will be notified of acceptance by September 9th. A $250 check made out to Project 5 will be due by September 12th.

Please direct any questions to info@project5group.com or to any of the galleries involved.

Homeland

Boy on the Corner
2005
copyright Brett Bell

I'm back in NYC cooling off in the mere eighty degrees temperatures after nearly a month straight in the hundreds - hoping the film that I brought back from Texas survived the heat, and eventually, some new images will begin to emerge.

Tonight, I am celebrating my return to the city with the opening of Homeland: Portraits of America's Queer Youth at Leslie/Lohman Gallery, including work by Molly Landreth and my very dear friend, Brett Bell.

According to the press release, Homeland: Portraits of America's Queer Youth is an exhibition that explores how GLBTQ youth from rural or suburban areas find and/or create community. In many locations across the United States, young gay, lesbian and trans people are geographically isolated from major centers of queer culture.

The work of photographers Brett Bell (of Missouri) and Molly Landreth (of Washington State) exemplify this challenging experience. With roots in rural Missouri, Brett Bell created a body of work that calls upon friends and acquaintances to express personal childhood experiences with longing and sexuality. Photographer Molly Landreth, in contrast, journeyed through America in search of queer people and documented their lives. In their juxtaposition, these images depict subjects, both real and fictional, that help create a picture of what it means to be queer in America today.

Homeland: Portraits of America's Queer Youth
The Photography of Molly Landreth and Brett Bell

Leslie/Lohman Gallery
26 Wooster Street

opening reception: Thursday July 16th, 6-8pm
thru October 10, 2009

Found in Austin

arthouse

Yesterday afternpon, I stopped by my favorite art space in Austin, The Arthouse at the Jones Center, to take a look at the current exhibition, New American Talent: The Twenty-fourth Exhibition curated by Hamza Walker. I first discovered the Arthouse during the summer of 2007 and wrote about that year's New American Talent show on my blog.

I didn't find as much good photography in this year's show, though I did like some black and white images of families shot by Amy Grappell accompanying a video piece. The other two photo series on exhibit involved considerably more stylization, campiness and staging. Amy's work is straightforward and curious - evoking early work by Bill Owens of families in suburbia.

Besides showing work by emerging artists, one of the coolest things about the Arthouse is the architecture of the space itself and its history. In the 1920's, the Arthouse was a thriving movie theatre on Congress Avenue, the Queen Theatre, which then became a Lerner's department store in the 1950's. Now a sleek contemporary art space, the Arthouse is currently undergoing a major expansion which will include three new galleries, two artists' studios, a 90-seat community/screening room, and a 5,500 square foot rooftop with a movie screen. Enough to make even Minneapolis and New York jealous.

The Arthouse also has a blog, THE ARTHOUSE BLOG, which is now listed in the Artist Resources section of Culturehall's homepage.

Pictured above:

"Space Suit Form with a Burden of Platonic Solid Talismans," 2009, Garland Felder

"The Kings of Hearts," 2008, Stephanie Bernstein