Mentally Athletic

My New Show in NY. Surveillance Culture, Paris, London, New York. Archive Digging.

I have a new show. ONE of ONE. Opening Friday September 5th at ABRI MARS in New York.

53a Stanton Street. 6pm - 8pm. Up til October 25th.

Features the work of Daniel Arnold, Mark Borthwick, Juan Brenner, Mike Brodie, Rebekka Deubner, Philip Lorca diCorcia, Barbara Ess, Jerry Hsu, Shaniqwa Jarvis, Irina Rozovsky, Gray Sorrenti, Mario Sorrenti

Over the last few years I’ve tried to reframe how I think about photography. And in exhibitions I’ve been organizing. Create a more engaging experience that’d make someone want to see the work in person. Rather than a small screen. Using different printing, framing and install concepts.

Having Philip-Lorca diCorcia in One of One brings it full circle for me. The install of his show at Zwirner in 2009 has been stuck in my mind since.

When Ana at Anent Gallery in Mexico City asked me to come up with an idea for her it was the first thing I thought about. Polaroids, Small Prints & Ephemera first opened there. Later traveled to Webber Gallery in London.

A year ago, Fairchild Fries opened the gallery ABRI MARS (meaning “March Refuge” in French). After a tragic fire where he lived in lower Manhattan. Not to be defined by the loss of all his possessions, he instead decided to put something back into the world. Several months ago he asked to curate a show for him— One of One

It’s deeply meaningful to Fairchild and the founding of the gallery. Having Daniel Arnold in the show is another full circle moment. He by chance captured a photograph of Fairchild seconds after the FDNY lowered him and two other tenants to the ground from being trapped on the roof of the burning building the night of the fire in November of 2023.

Group shows— often looked down upon. I prefer them.

I want to make them feel like a solo show. Unify several artists. With the concept and installation.

Think I’ve looked at my life like a group show. When someone great is in it— I want them to meet the other people I love being around. So they can appreciate each other. I get satisfaction in saying— “they’re great, right?”

I like working as a curator and editor. Putting my energy into other people’s work. Their books.

It’s nice to put my time and thoughtfulness into someone else’s work. And then see them succeed.

Speaking of— I designed a small edition size zine for Jerry Hsu. On the occasion of this exhibition. Going to make a habit of choosing one artist from each show to do this with.

You can purchase the zine at the opening, on my website HERE or at Dashwood Books. A few copies will be available at other stores if it doesn’t sell out this week.

A new artist I have in the show is Rebekka Deubner. I saw her installation at Le Bal in Paris few years ago. This is her first time showing in New York and the US.

Grief can come in many forms. The loss of your home and all your possessions is not an easy thing to process.

Which brings me to Rebekka. Her mother passed away unexpectedly. And Deubner made camera-less Photograms of her clothing. Using an enlarger. Hand printed in the dark room and unique— one of one. And a meditation on grief.

Which reminded me of another artist I am really happy to be showing. Shaniqwa Jarvis. Who also recently lost her mother. Which led her to the discovery of the use of these photo cubes. Often used for family photos. Jarvis has repurposed them to feature her work on all six sides.

I wrote the rest of this back in July. Had a busy Summer. London for my show in May. Paris twice for work.

Spoke to Another Magazine and C4Journal about my now closed London exhibition, Polaroids Small Prints & Ephemera. Click them to read if you like.

Took a few pictures in both cities.

Most of them in London were of the hotel room window. In Kensington.

Made me think of these small Thiago Hattnher paintings. Saw them at Kurimanzutto in Chelsea. Earlier in the Summer. Also a group show.

Like a porthole in a ship. A peak out into the world.

They’re dream-like. Maybe memory-like. Reminded me of a conversation I had with Mark Borthwick recently. And the collages he made for the show— of a deconstructed journal.

We talked on the phone. Mark in Portugal. Me in New York. I prefer a phone call to a text or email.

We discussed what it’s like to dig through your archive. At times it can feel like a rollercoaster. Clicking through thousands of memories— in the form of a file.

Years of folders. Each like chapters of your life.

You gotta be mentally athletic to endure it. Relive it all.

Kinda like social media. Looking back or looking at it in its present form. The drama with the CEO I never heard of. His affair I couldn't care less about. Enraptured the world. Whatevs? Surveillance culture. Everyone is investigable. Watching each other’s lives unfold. Replaying. Revisiting. We have too much access.

Most of it fabricated. Performative. Much like the media. Or those dubbed themselves commentators. A billion talking heads.

Why I haven’t written one of these in a while. I like having all my thoughts and references in one place. Helps to get it outta my head. Onto a page. But am I contributing to the digital onslaught sprawl?

I thought about this foldout from a book my friend Clement at L’Plac Art showed me. When I was in Paris in late June. Can’t remember what it is. Reminded me of another book he showed me at AIPAD back in April in New York.

Oh! Shinjuku. Shomei Tomatsu. I like how it was designed. Made me think of a Bruce Weber book. Gentle Giants. It’s all shot in Saskatchewan. Bruce has always photographed and loved dogs. These are New Foundlands. Gabe sent me a PDF.

Thought about my own dream of a place outside the city. Or spending a month somewhere. Biarritz? And making it a yearly tradition. Invite friends to stay. Reminded me of pictures Annie sent me of Ingmar Bergman’s house in Fårö, Sweden.

Thought about something Yoko Ono said. “A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality.”

I remembered a Richard Diebenkor painting I’ve always liked.

I was in the car when I got the text from Annie. The Long Way Round came on. Felt like it went with the pictures of the house.

I’ve been busy working on several future shows. September in New York. October in New York. November in LA. January 2026 back in New York. February back in LA for Frieze. Couple books for other artists.

Our attention span is spread thin. It’s asking a lot to take up someone’s time. So it’s nice if you’re still following along this rambling slinky visual staircase tumble newsletter thing.

Visual and audio pollution. Try to weed through it all. It overwhelms me. Hope I’m not a contributor. Searching for the bright spots. Or in the form of a person.

I thought about a poem my friend Carl Phillips posted. Allison Benis White. Often think about the lives of strangers. Passing by. On 7th Avenue. In a car. An airport escalator. You get to see a lot of life decisions on the faces of people in New York. Overhear snippets of conversations.

My view above for the last almost ten years. Taken hundreds of video and pictures of it. Something about repetition in art makes me feel good. Like hours in a day. Days in a year. Reminds me of the Ellsworth Kelly postcard collage below. Has stuck in my mind since I saw it in 2022. Matthew Marks Gallery. Manhattan Skylight at Night, 1985.

A view of something nice. Shared with someone. Had me thinking of a poem my friend Carl Phillips wrote.

One last thing...

Thank you to my friends Olivia Smith at Magenta Plains for lending the Barbara Ess Polaroids. And to Marlene & Lucas Zwirner and everyone at David Zwirner for lending the Philip Lorca diCorcia Polaroids.

ABRI MARS is based in the Lower East Side and focuses on a program of influential emerging artists from international backgrounds who communicate deeply personal stories and experiences with discerning style and sensibility.

Hope to see you at the show Friday night.