Pony Express Trail, outside Austin, Nevada 2006, The West by Daniel Cheek

Now here's a photographic lineup with a star-studded marquis: Daniel Cheek, Ben Huff, Shane Lavalette, Laura McPhee, Alec Soth and Zoe Strauss are all included in America Now, a group show that is a " visual commentary on regional identity within the context of the increased globalization of culture." The work spans across the entire continental U.S., including Alaska, and each of the artist's investment in photographing these regional "portraits" has occurred over a sustained amount of time.

From the press release:

Curators Leonie Bradbury and Shana Dumont sought artists who create counterpoints to both the proliferation of cheap, quick images in popular culture and the fashionable photographs that depict the homogeneous nature of American culture. The selected images document cultural and geographic diversity with photographic landscapes, both urban and scenic, and portraiture...Whether the image depicts a fisherman in Alaska, the Teuton mountain range in Idaho, or street vendors in Philadelphia, the works define American cultural geography in a manner that opposes homogeneity of settings, such as the standard highway system, big-box stores and restaurants labeled with recognizable neon signs.

Daniel Cheek is a 2009 First Edition Hot Shot, and was born and raised in the Midwest. He chose to move to California as an adult, and the images in America Now are from his series The West. His images of expansive Western landscapes are imbued with both heart and cheek (sorry, no pun intended...well, maybe a little), and Daniel often trains his ground glass upon things that most tourists to these places try to avoid in their vacation photos: fences, gates and railways; cars and industrial trucks intersecting otherwise pristine vistas and signposts that have long since lost their signage (and thus capacity to inform or instruct).

Both Zoe Strauss and Alec Soth are intrepidly known in photography-loving circles, and both of them have had work that has graced the gallery walls of Jen Bekman Gallery.

Strauss's contributions to the America Now show will be, she writes, a pushpin installation of images from her America series, which fits in perfectly with her grittily accessible annual installations of her I-95 work from the past decade, which can be seen one day a year in an I-95 underpass in Philadelphia (this year will be the last year it's shown, so plan ahead on attending!).

Alec Soth will be exhibiting images from his Sleeping on the Mississippi series. If you've yet to lay eyes on anything from this body of work, the pronouncement from critic John Wood of Soth's "wonderful and terrifying eye" should give you some indication of what you're in for. Soth is nearly as well known for his writerly musings as his terrific eye, and can be found regularly blogging at the idiosyncratic and quite wonderful writer's circle Little Brown Mushroom.

Some of the most thoughtfully curated and surprising shows that I've ever come across have been at private or public college or university galleries. America Now will be on view at the Montserrat College of Art Gallery, 23 Essex Street, Beverly, MA from February 5 - April 10, 2010.

There will also be a conversation with Zoe Strauss, Daniel Cheek and Montserrat Photography Faculty Ron DiRitoonight tonight, Friday, February 5th from 7 - 9 p.m.

Untitled from Sweet Water by Ian Baguskas

Welcome back to the Week in Review! What's that, you ask? Every Friday we reminisce on the highlights of the week, point out some great things we saw on the internet and drop hints about what the future holds.

20x200 Print Giveaway at the Brooklyn Museum THIS SATURDAY!

On Saturday, February 6th from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m., join some of us from 20x200, including Ms. Jen B. herself, at the Brooklyn Museum for a Target First Saturday event with 1stfans. We'll be giving away 10"x8" prints by artist Valerie Hegarty to new and renewing 1stfans members and Jen will be speaking to an intimate group of 1stfans at a meetup. Meetups are an opportunity for 1stfans to interact exclusively with the Museum's staff, its collections, artists, and other members every month at Target First Saturdays. Hope to see you there! Read More →

Photography on 20x200:

We were so proud and pleased to release the images above and below from legendary photographer, painter and conceptual artist William Wegman as a limited-edition print pair on 20x200 Wednesday.

Jen introduced the editions in the 20x200 newsletter:

William's work is the perfect incarnation of Bill the person...
He's so funny, affable and distracted that it's easy to underestimate him. People think of him as the dog guy and don't even know that he's an artist with a broader practice. Even if people do know about his other work, they complain about his obsessive repetition of a theme (the postcards), to which I say: who hasn't met an obsessive artist before? The dogs and the humor belie a very intense, earnest and important inquiry.

For more on Wegman, his process, and quirky sense of humor, check out this short essay on Art:21 about the photograph Cotto.

His own site, Wegman World, hosts a solid selection of video work that also informs his practice.

If nothing else, Wegman is extremely prolific. But to say he is just that is to sell him as short as to only know him for the photographs of the dogs. He's spent a lifetime looking hard at, yes, Weimaraners, but also at us humans and the way we experience humor, art and life.

This Saturday, February 6th from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m., join 20x200 | Jen Bekman Projects at the Brooklyn Museum for a Target First Saturday event with 1stfans. We'll be giving away 10"x8" prints by artist Valerie Hegarty to new and renewing 1stfans members and Ms. Jen Bekman herself will be speaking to an intimate group of 1stfans at a meetup. Meetups are an opportunity for 1stfans to interact exclusively with the Museum's staff, its collections, artists, and other members every month at Target First Saturdays.

Jen will be speaking about 20x200 and how all of Jen Bekman Projects, including Hey, Hot Shot!, work together to support artists.

The larger prints sizes in Valerie's edition (14"x11" and 20"x16") will be released on 20x200 the following week of Monday, February 8th. Every print in this special edition comes with a 1stfans one-year membership! To find out about the release online, make sure you're signed up for the 20x200 newsletter.

Target First Saturday at the Brooklyn Museum
Saturday, February 6th, 2010 | 6:00 - 8:30 p.m.
Jen's talk | 8:00 - 8:30 p.m.
Brooklyn Museum
200 Eastern Parkway, BK, NY