Hello loyal blog followers! The JSG website has moved over to a new platform (oh so lovely), and in order to keep getting notifications about new and exciting blog posts, you now must subscribe to the feed over there.
It’s easy. You’ll love it.
Go here and click on “subscribe to our blog” on the right-hand side. http://www.jenniferschwartzgallery.com/blog/
We launched our new website last week, and although we still have a few minor tweaks to work on, we are thrilled with the look and the ease of use. We hope you agree! Explore and enjoy!
We were glad to have a quiet week last week at JSG, still recovering from an amazing weekend of photography fun.
Our second Walk Away With Art was a huge success, having made few improvements on the first one which went so well. Two little additions made the most impact – Jonah and Lila emceed the event, calling out numbers and cheering for the photographers. Read about the general format for Walk Away With Art here, and see the invite and pictures below.
On Saturday we had the big reveal of Lady Blue at the Bus Bash event at WonderRoot. It was a mini trial-run of what the pop-up shows will be like on the Crusade for Collecting road trip next year, as well as a fundraiser for the trip and for WonderRoot’s artist exhibition fund.
In case you missed it, here you have four hours of fun condensed into one minute of video (click on the image to play).
Four days, sixty portfolio reviews, three cheeseburgers in the hotel lobby bar, endless photography fun. Yes, that would be FotoFest – Houston’s marathon photography festival.
If you’ve read the blog for a while, you know I love portfolio reviews. I love seeing work, and more than anything, I love that moment when it all clicks – when the photographer is stuck, and we talk through the problems with the work, and then a lightbulb goes off, and we get all excited and chatty the twenty minutes flies by. Figuring out how to move a body of work forward is as exciting, if not more so, than seeing a body of work that totally blows my socks off.
So on that note, here are some things I saw that I cannot stop thinking about. #agoodthing
Sylwia Kowalczyk (Edinburgh photographer, I’m going to buy this photograph)
Tracy Birdsell (women affected by cancer, posed as pin-up girls)
Chang Kyun Kim (Void – blank LED screens in large urban centers, very clever project about the over saturation of visual imagery)
Elizabeth Orcutt (double self-portraits – pairing current images with photos of herself as a child)
There were dozens more – possibly worthy of a follow-up blog post. But this should be enough to get you started. . .
I got my first tattoo when I was 30. It was about my kids, my life at that moment. I was in New York City on a girls’ trip, and I was holding the hand of my oldest friend. It was perfect.
I got my second tattoo in Portland during Photolucida, a photography festival. I was holding the hand of my best friend, and yes, I put a bird on it in Portland.
So I’m all about the time and place. It also matters who I am with and the challenge I am currently facing.
If you are reading this blog, you are well aware of the challenge. I am totally committed to this Crusade, to working toward an incredibly challenging goal, to driving an undriveable bus around the country. But if I think about it for too long, my head will explode.
This is my tattoo – it is a famous quote by Rabbi Nachman of Breslav: The whole world is a very narrow bridge. The most important part is to not be afraid.
Recognize your challenges, face your fears, work to cross your bridge.
You are watching me cross mine.
A big thank you to Jason Houston for taking these pictures and being my person.
Most people don’t know this, but I have a crazy alternate-reality obsession with being a radio personality. A few weeks ago I got a taste of the dream coming true when I was invited to be a guest on Atlanta Business Radio X! Listen to the podcast here.
I love my job. I say this all the time, and it couldn’t be more true. This past weekend I really, really loved my job. It was one of those perfect storms of photography meets life that makes what I do so rewarding.
Three photographers came from the West coast for the openings on Friday night. On Wednesday night (my husband’s birthday!) we met up with Kerry Mansfield and her partner for a late night drink. The next morning I picked them up from their hotel and brought them to the gallery so she could see her solo show, hung and beautiful. I love this moment. The photographers work so hard for so long to create the images, to print them, to get to this moment where they get to see a whole body of work hung together. All I do is provide the walls, and I love that I can do that.
The ceremonial unveiling of the vinyl lettering for the show. I wait to do this when the artist gets to the gallery - the best part.
Thursday night we screened the film “Naked Ambition” at the gallery. It was our first film screening, and I loved it. We have a great space for this type of event, and I hope to be able to do more in the future.
The film is a documentary on adult film stars and specifically follows two women who are up for best new “actress” at the Oscars of porn. Lusty for sure. Michael Grecco, the filmmaker and photographer behind the film and book by the same name, came in that night just in time to field questions and sign books. I know the people I was with continued to talk about the film long after the event was over, and I suspect we were not the only ones.
Michael Grecco, signing copies of his book, "Naked Ambition"
The following day (Friday), Kerry, Michael and Clay Lipsky (the Ten winner for the Lust show, also in town from LA) met up at the High Museum and spent some time with the photography curator, Brett Abbott. And then we opened the shows!
Kerry Mansfield discussing her work
Michael Grecco and some lusty ladies in our photobooth
Photobooth take-away, the hubby and me!
In addition to all of this gallery fun, I tried my best to show the West coasters how cutting edge and amazing Atlanta can be. I was helped out by gorgeous weather and an exceptional event on Saturday night, Wonderglo. Here are a few more pictures from the weekend. . .
Chillaxin' with Clay in the back yard
Kerry Mansfield and RJ Muna testing out the seesaw
Any photographer who has stayed with me knows that trampoline time is mandatory
Wonderglo!
Wednesday night marked the second ArtFeast adventure at Jennifer Schwartz Gallery. The first ArtFeast dinner with photographer Lori Vrba and Wisteria chef Jason Hill was a smashing success that got a lot of great press and attention. The word definitely got out, because this ArtFeast was oversold with a waiting list, but I can’t say that’s a surprise – between Joe Truex’s amazing cooking and Jeff Rich‘s gorgeous imagery, we were bound to hit it out of the park.
After champagne and delicious bites, we feasted. . .
Now that your mouth is excessively watering (the meal was so, so good – and the art talk was incredible too). . . here are some photos:
Set and ready to dine - a huge thank-you to David D'Ambrosio who graciously contributed all of the beauty from his store, Redefined (http://www.redefinedhomeboutique.com/)
going around the table introducing ourselves - Jeni Cook, Amy Bailey, Finley Campbell, Gabe Campbell, David D'Ambrosio
Chef Joe's faithful servant for the evening, Matt Arnett, gives Jeff Rich his salad
Chef Joe Truex hard a work on the duck
You know I'm having a good time when the self-portrait iphone pictures start happening - with Jeni Cook
Chef Joe Truex introduces the next course
playing the doppelganger game - Jimmy Hamilton/Andy Richter
On Saturday, February 18, Jeff Rich gave an artist talk at the gallery to a large and very engaged crowd. In case you missed it, here’s the video. (Please excuse the shaky start – it gets better!)
Our Walk Away With Art event was featured on CBSAtlanta.com! Click on the image below to see the video, photo slideshow, and nice write up.
Jennifer Schwartz Gallery Blog 