I would mention this benefit even if James and I weren't the honorees! I am told you should be able to buy tickets on the website starting Wednesday.

Not only do you get to support a good cause, and have a chance at some inexpensive art, you can meet my mother if you attend. She had suggested that week to visit without even knowing about the event.

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NURTUREart Non-Profit, Inc. Invites You To:
NEW '07
Celebrating Ten Years of Nurturing the Edge

Monday, June 4th, 7 PM
Hosted by the CUE Art Foundation
511 West 25th Street
New York, NY 10001
Purchase Tickets Online at: www.nurtureart.org

Join Us for our Ten Year Anniversary Party
Honoring Visionary Supporters of Emerging Art:
Barry Hoggard and James Wagner, Collectors, Bloggers and Curators
Introduction by Artist William Powhida

Honorary Chairs:
Marty Markowitz, Brooklyn Borough President
Sina Najafi, Editor in Chief and Co-founder, Cabinet Magazine

Nurture the cutting edge of contemporary art by collecting from our Annual Small Works Salon Sale, an extraordinary array of new work by our talented and ambitious emerging artists. See the future in the student projects from our Education Outreach Program with the Juan Morel Campos Secondary School.

Student Art Materials Awards funded by the Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation Inc.

Ticket Prices:

Gala Entry Ticket: $75
gala celebration with wine & hors d’oeuvres, from 7–9 p.m.

All Artworks: $150 Each
choose your own from the extraordinary array in our
emerging artists small works salon

The Following are Available for Purchase by May 31st Only:

Combination Ticket: $200
includes entry to the gala and one artwork

The VIP Preview: $275
exclusive for dedicated collectors, first choice art selecting at the
champagne reception at 6:30 p.m., includes one artwork

From the press release:

Lance Wakeling is the director of Art Mini, a miniature art fair. Each participating artist designs every detail of their booth including layout and the work to be shown. Parody and satire are indistinguishable from earnest and literal representation.

Seen in the "One Pill Makes You Small" show at Tastes Like Chicken Art Space. Here are some photos I found on Flickr from the opening.

Artist websites:

• Jacques Louis Vidal
• Brian Bress

Jacques was also in the show we curated last fall.

Julian Montague is the winner of the Diagram Prize for the Oddest Title of 2006, for his book The Stray Shopping Carts of Eastern North America. It is a book documenting his art project of the same name. Other books in the competition included How Green Were the Nazis? and Spoon Boxes of Daghestan.

There are a huge number of news articles on him winning the prize, including ones from The Guardian and the CBC.

I first wrote about this project in July 2004 and again in October 2004.

My MacBook is still in the shop, so here is a quick post of my favorite things from last Saturday. The first two are now "top picks" on ArtCal.

Christopher Lowry Johnson at Winkleman Gallery. Hard to show via JPEGs, these are beautiful subtle paintings. We've been fans for a long time, having bought a painting by Christopher from the very first show at Plus Ultra. This is the final week, so run over there!

Donna Huanca, Che Guevara's Family, 2006, fabric, 82 × 57.5 inches

Donna Huanca at Susan Inglett Gallery. We first saw her work at the "Manic and Wasted" show curated by at LMCC's Swing Space. I will probably add some photos to my Flickr feed once I have my MacBook back, as there are some great sculptures/installations too. The show also includes a sound installation.

Julie Evans, Perch, 2006

Julie Evans at Julie Saul Gallery. Gorgeous paintings influenced by Indian miniature painting. I met her via Edward Winkleman, who has a big post on her work.

Lisa Sanditz, Pearl Farm II, 2007, acrylic on canvas, 70 X 90 inches

"Endangered Wasteland" at CRG Gallery. Lots of big paintings hovering between abstraction and landscapes. I especially liked the paintings of Lisa Sanditz.

Jae Hi Ahn at Phoenix Gallery. Jae Hi is pushing the limits of what one can do with found plastic objects. We have one lovely example hanging on wall here at the Hoggard/Wagner Collection.

Here is a reminder to buy tickets to the benefit events of Rhizome (April 16) and The Civilians (April 18). While you're at it, the playwright organization 13P is having a cabaret benefit at Joe's Pub on April 29th. More details are on their website.

I don't know more now than you did then, 2007
acrylic on paper
18" × 24"

ArtCat artist Wendy Heldmann has a solo show at sixspace in LA opening on Saturday. Check out Wendy's site and the gallery website for more information.

Timothy Lonergan, Prometheus in Baltimore No. 1, 2002
digital print from video still image, 11" × 14"

I met Tomoko in her role as the curator/director at AG Gallery in Williamsburg. She has put together a beautiful web gallery this month from the Visual AIDS slide registry, concentrating on documentation of performance. The artists she chose are John Eric Broaddus, Timothy Lonergan, Hunter Reynolds, Richard Sawdon Smith, Stephen Varble and Yolanda.

In reading her curator's statement, I learned she is a bit more wacky in her history as an artist than I had surmised from her sweet exterior!

I used to be a performance artist before my curatorial career and always believe that the body is the most effective medium to express how human beings are strong and sensitive. It is also the most effective medium to actually interact with the audience. I sold my used panties in the subway, gave audiences a menu with several options of sexual activities to choose from, and lay down with only my underwear in front of an audience and watched a Japanese pornographic video. There was always this amazing moment when I actually felt through my body that I shared the same time and experience with the audience. It was one of the reasons why I chose performance as a medium for my artwork.

[image from the Visual AIDS website]

Mark Creegan sent me a link to this Gilbert and George video on the Tate website. In it they talk about their "Bomb Paintings" inspired by the London terror attack in 2005 and about their working methods.

James already wrote about her show (now closed), but I thought I would add a few of my photos.