Photo book of the year?

The only thing that keeps me from declaring Strangely Familiar the best photo book of the year is knowing that Amy Stein's Domesticated comes out soon. But this book should be on everyone's short list.

Michal Chelbin's images of acrobats, matadors, wrestlers, and cadets transcend the "Hey, look at the freaks" trap of myriad Diane Arbus imitators. They're entirely fresh, original, and gorgeous meditations on adolescence, family dynamics, performance, old Europe, and more. Astoundingly, every image is strong enough to be a stand-alone (whereas many photo series have images that, out of context, don't look like much). I also love the way the series creates a world, rather than just making the same conceptual point again and again.

Strangely Familiar is available from Aperture now, though it's cheaper on Amazon. My advice: buy two copies -- one to keep pristine, and one to thumb through again and again and again.

P.S. If you want to have some of these images on your wall, Aperture is selling two limited edition prints.

The Brothers Grim, and why artists have it better in Canada

Attention, fans of Carlos and Jason Sanchez. Through the CONTACT photography festival, you have a chance to buy a 20"x24" photo of their stunning image "Descent" for $2,000. Now, some of you may wonder: why is this a good deal? Even though the immensely talented Sanchez Brothers were chosen for American Photo's list of the Top 15 Emerging Photographers, 2K for an edition of 25 hardly seems like a run-grab-it-now bargain. Some other artists on that list sell even bigger prints, in smaller editions, for the same price. Ah, but THEY're not from Montreal.

Let me explain.

Montreal is a wonderful place to be a struggling artist (cheap rent, free healthcare), but for an artist on the cusp of getting international (read: American) attention, it's paradise. The Canadian art world has a chip on its shoulder about New York, so Carlos and Jason Sanchez are treated like hometown heroes. Canadian Museums -- with government-funded mandates to promote Canadian art -- snap up works by les freres Sanchez and give them important shows, entirely out of proportion to what their American peers are getting.

At the Sanchez Brothers' 2007 exhibit at Montreal's Mois de la Photo, a museum director took me around, telling me which major museums had bought which pieces. The photos were all museum-size (such as 7 feet by 5 feet), available only in an edition of 5, and at museum-budget prices. Clearly, the Sanchez Brothers don't have to worry about making lots of small prints and chatting up pesky collectors at parties. That's why this CONTACT print is a rare deal. If you've been admiring their work, as I have, get a move on.

Oh, and for any artist reading this and thinking what an unfair advantage Quebec artists have, take heart: If you move to Montreal as a Permanent Resident, you'll get all the same government-support goodies (grants, subsidies, healthcare, gay marriage, the works).

Your Sister Wears Combat Boots

Two photographers I admire both have series about women soldiers: Claire Beckett's images of U.S. troops [both male and female] "simulating" conditions in Iraq (above) border on surreal -- not through image manipulation, but simply because the real-life situation is surreal.

Meanwhile Rachel Papo's series Serial No. 3817131 (below) looks at everyday life for female soldiers in Israel. (I remember once, as a kid, watching a Miss Universe pageant; the narrator was saying "Miss Italy is an actress... Miss Sweden is a model...Miss Israel is a soldier." It made quite an impression.)

Both series are acutely observed, highly nuanced meditations on gender roles, patriotism, war, and more. I never get tired of looking at them.

25 Under 25

Normally I'm not a big fan of age-based exhibits or books, but for 25 Under 25 I'll make an exception. This soon-to-be-published book will feature some staggeringly talented photographers, all chosen by Sylvia Plachy.

It includes Peter van Agtmael, whose work I revere (and am lucky enough to own), SVA alumna Lissa Rivera, and some previously unfamiliar names that I definitely want to keep an eye on.

At the same time, though, I wish someone would do a book on photographers whose fine art careers didn't even start until they were post-30. Heck, I can come up with a pretty good table of contents just off the top of my head...

Take the Intrepid Challenge

Mystified about how dealers choose the art they show? Think you could do better? Take the Intrepid Challenge!

I challenge you to sift through the Saatchi Your Gallery site -- where thousands of dealer-less artists post their work -- and identify one to three artists you'd represent if you had a gallery. Tell us who they are, and why you like them, in the comments section. (Please note that you CANNOT pick your own work. But since this is, after all, the art market we're talking about, feel free to pick friends or acquaintances.)

Here. I'll go first with two photography picks (excluding artists I've written about before, to be fair): Jennifer Loeber, whose exquisitely observed nudes are illustrated here, and Susana Raab, whose "Consumed" images are simultaneously witty, grotesque, alarming, and memorable. (Take a look, but perhaps not while you're eating a super-sized combo.)

So get to work, all you would-be gallerists!(Note: If you're an artist on Saatchi, don't feel I'm dissing you -- I likely just haven't seen your work on the site yet.)

1,000 Words: stories behind the pictures

If idle hands are the Devil's workshop, then Satan clearly isn't meeting quota at Kate Kretz's house. Her painstakingly intricate embroideries, made of human hair, are at the forefront of "the art form formerly known as craft." In between a major exhibition, Pricked: Extreme Embroidery, at the Museum of Arts and Design and gallery shows, Kate kindly took the time to answer my most burning questions about her work: Why embroidery? Why hair? Here's what she had to say:

Kate Kretz:
"I am a workaholic: my hands need to be busy all the time. For many years, I painted during the day, and spent my nights making objects, often with sewn components, to decorate my home. Eventually, visiting curators started incorporating the objects into exhibitions alongside my paintings, and I became “a contemporary artist working in craft media”. My various bodies of work in fiber have evolved quite naturally: each time I begin a project; I simply choose the medium that would be most powerful in conveying the concept. With increasing frequency, I reach for the sewing needle over the paintbrush.

"As our world becomes more virtual, work in textiles satisfies a vital human need for the tactile, the sensual, and the handmade. I still love the alchemy of painting, but there is less historical baggage, and more freedom, associated with fiber media. I feel like I am making up my own rules, and, for once, I happen to be in the right place at the right time, because there is a lot of excitement surrounding the use of craft in contemporary art right now. Although it was never a conscious strategy on my part, this choice of media has provided me with tremendous opportunities as of late.

"Embroideries with human hair constitute the perfect language for speaking of neurosis and obsession. Hair is an intimate and delicate, yet potent, medium. It seems perfect for rendering the fragile quality of dreams loaded with dark, swirling imagery. The presentation of my most recent images, in Victorian frames with convex glass, references both mourning pieces of that period and the reliquaries of Catholicism.

"These pieces are unfathomably time consuming and technically difficult to make. Whenever I think that my work can’t get any more painstaking, I find a way to up the ante. With each embroidery, I have reached a point where I question my sanity. I frequently pull out a hair that proves to be too thick or too dark. I can spend 12 hours straight working on an area, and most people would register no discernable difference between the “before” and “after”. The last 2 or 3 weeks, I was icing my wrists each night in order to work the following morning. I will undoubtedly make less than minimum wage on this piece. And it seems that the more work I do, the more needs to be done.

"Why subject one’s self to repeatedly tying tiny knots, threading and rethreading needles with a medium that breaks, slips, and is generally unwieldy?

"Because working in any other medium would be a compromise. Because making these pieces is a defiant act at a time when our most famous artists are overseeing corporations and managing brand identity, without ever touching their materials. The objects that I make gain meaning from the lavishing of time and focus of emotional energy: cathectic art is an increasingly rare gift, offered up to the viewer."


Image: Oubliette II, 2008, human hair embroidery on found linen doily, hand-dyed velvet, convex glass, frame, 9 x 9", 13 x 13” framed. The process of making this piece was documented from January through April on Kate’s daily studio blog, and it can be seen at Packer/Schopf Gallery in Chicago.

April Bulletin Board

Artists and gallerists: Have an exhibition coming up in April? Feel free to list the info in the comments section below.

Collectors: Take a look. Lots of springtime art action coming up!