Summer Fun

I have been trying to get to the beach as often as possible but this Summer it seems more of a challenge lately. I started shooting some beach images with a Holga a few years ago and have recently begun putting them together. Working on multiple projects is good because it keeps me busy but sometimes I get too busy to keep up with the work and things sit for a long time. So I thought it would be a good way to dust off this long dormant blog by posting an image i shot last Summer. Working on some new ones that I hope to have up before next Summer.

Home, Away from Home Solo Exhibition

I am so excited to announce that I will be exhibiting new work from my Home, Away from Home series at the Homefront gallery in Long Island City. I am very thankful to the Queens Council on the Arts for giving me a grant to produce new work from the series and help make this exhibition possible.
Please join me at the opening reception on November 12th from 4-7pm.

The Homefront Gallery
26-23 Jackson Avenue Long Island City, NY 11101

PDN Top 30!

I am so honored to be selected as one of PDN's Top 30! Much love to my fellow 30 especially Matthew Kristall, Susan Worsham, Will Steacy, Rachel Barrett, Katrina d’Autremont and David Black!

Check out PDN online for the complete list and don't forget to pick up the April issue.

Major Funding Cuts to the NEA!

This morning, the U.S. House of Representatives approved, by a close vote of 217-209, an amendment to cut an additional $20.5 million from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) in the FY 2011 appropriations package. The amendment offered by Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI) would reduce the NEA budget to $124.5 million, turning the clock back four years to its FY 2007 funding level. Considering the fact that the House Appropriations Committee had already cut the NEA’s budget by $22.5 million before it even got to the floor, this additional cut aggravates an already difficult situation. The NEA has not seen this kind of deep cut in 16 years.

To see how your member voted, please visit our Roll Call link by tomorrow at 3pm ET. For a quick preview of key votes, see the chart below.

Republicans Voting AGAINST NEA Cuts		Democrats Voting FOR NEA Cuts
Bass, C. (NH-02) Biggert (IL-13) Buchanan (FL-13) Dent (PA-15) Dold (IL-10) Gerlach (PA-06) Gibson, C. (NY-20) Grimm (NY-13) Hanna (NY-24) Lance (NJ-07) LaTourette (OH-14)	McKinley (WV-01) Meehan (PA-07) Platts (PA-19) Schock (IL-18) Shimkus (IL-19) Simpson, M. (ID-02) Stivers (OH-15) Tiberi (OH-12) Turner, M. (OH-03) Walden, G. (OR-02) Wolf (VA-10)	Boren, Dan (OK-02) Cardoza (CA-18) Costa (CA-20)

Members Not Voting: Boehner (OH-08); Giffords (AZ-08); Green, G. (TX-29); Diaz-Balart, M. (FL-21); Matheson (UT-02); Sullivan (OK-01) ; Wittman (VA-01); Young, D. (AK-AL)

Two Amendments Withdrawn:
The two amendments to zero-out funding to the National Endowment for the Arts by Reps. Scott Garrett (R-NJ) and Connie Mack (R-FL) were in effect withdrawn. The grassroots arts support rejecting these amendments was clearly effective. Advocates sent more than 62,000 messages to Congress within a three-week period.

Next Steps:
Congress will begin a 10-day recess on February 18. When they return, the U.S. Senate will begin consideration of their own version of the FY 2011 funding legislation as early as February 28. While members of Congress are back home in their districts, we encourage you to inform your local media about the devastating impact the House appropriations bill would have on the arts in your community. Americans for the Arts has set up a Media Alert through our E-Advocacy Center to help you quickly and efficiently send your opinions to the local radio, TV, and newspaper stations in your area. We’ve already matched up the media contacts for you based on your zip code. You just need to customize the article’s talking points and hit send.

We need the Senate to reverse the potentially devastating effects that could be caused on the arts that the FY 2011 appropriations bill passed by the House today. Our customizable Media Alert is a fast and easy way to communicate your support for the NEA to local media outlets and help show your U.S. Senators why the NEA is an important grant-making agency in your state.

Help us continue this important work by becoming an official member of the Arts Action Fund. If you are not already a member play your part by joining the Arts Action Fund today -- it's free and simple.

Minor Cropping May Occur

The artists participating in Minor Cropping May Occur (selected diaries 1962-2011), come from a diverse range of backgrounds and geographic locations: Mike Brodie (USA), JH Engstrom (Sweden), Carl Johan De Geer (Sweden), Janine Gordon (USA), Nick Haymes (USA), Hiromix (Japan), Takashi Homma (Japan), Keizo Kitajima (Japan), Daifu Motoyuki (Japan), Walter Pfeiffer (Switzerland), Jacob Aue Sobol (Denmark), Nick Waplington (UK), and Rona Yefman (Israel). Most of the works featured at Lombard Freid Projects will be premiered in the United States and many of them presented for the first time outside their place of making.

Don't miss the highlights of the exhibition both Nick Haymes's and Daifu Motoyuki's work both dealing with family.
"In Nick Haymes photographic series ‘Zoloto,’ there is a brutal honesty that challenges the cliché portrayal of family life in picture perfect photo albums. Photographed daily over a period of over nine years by imploying a diverse range of cameras and techniques, the series exists as a veristic diary that combines both the high and lows, the picturesque and perverse, the sublime and the banal. ‘Zoloto,’ the Russian word for gold (observed by Haymes through his interactions with his Russian in-laws) reflects his affections for his family life-however unhinged it may appear."

Tokyo based Daifu Motoyuki’s intimate family portraits present us with an idea that runs counter to the stereotype of the average Japanese family. Captured over four years, the photographs detail an honest account of the sprawling chaos associated with his large family’s daily life (five siblings and two working parents under one roof). Often hectic and unkempt, Motoyuki’s scenes are candid portraits of a working class Japanese family capturing the endearing dysfunction within.

Memory and Mortality

I will be speaking this Sunday January 31st at B&H as part of their Artist Lecture Series. I will be speaking about my work and process and also share my professional practices and experiences, namely how residencies and grants have shaped my development as an artist, as well as defined my work and career.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/find/eventDetails.jsp/id/896
Please join me on Sunday afternoon from 1-3pm.

The B&H Event Space is located on the second floor of our Super Store, located at 420 9th Ave, New York, NY 10001.

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

Check out Danelle Manthey's Christmas USA at Jenkins Johnson Gallery opening tonight from 6-8pm. 

"A childhood family ritual served as inspiration for Danelle Manthey’s series of photographs entitled Christmas USA; every holiday season, her family loaded into the car and traveled around their South Dakota area, looking at houses covered in Christmas lights, much to the chagrin of Manthey, who would have preferred to be at home opening presents. When visiting her family as an adult, the renewed tradition sparked curiosity within the photographer, causing her to wonder about the people behind the lights. Manthey, who has twice been selected as Chashama’s Artist in Residence, began documenting the families of these decorated homes in front of their masterpieces in December of 2003, and continues to do so each year at Christmastime, shooting in South Dakota, upstate New York, New Orleans, Florida, and New York City, among others. As Manthey states, her “images are but a glimpse into the world of [her] subjects. Identity and the question of individuality are the themes”that are pervasive within the series”; her ultimate goal is to communicate something about the subject and have it understood through the portrait process."

Christmas USA will be on view until January 8th.

Jenkins Johnson Gallery

521 W. 26th St

5th FL.