Art for After I've Thrown My Phone into the Hudson River
On burnout, backyard gardens, and the artworks that brought me back
Good morning! I have been mostly offline the last week to recover from art week in New York (please remember that I am 40 years old and need extended recuperation). Sometimes when I stare at a screen for too long or even stare at art in such an intense, compressed environment, I just need to do something with my hands.
Sadly, that something is not to create art, I’ll happily leave that to the contemporary artists I feature here each week. But I did roll up my sleeves, haul bags of soil across the yard, and worked with my mom on my garden (she’s a Master Gardener! Reply here for consult requests during her next visit in autumn). While the Negroni O’Clock hours thankfully kept arriving, this week I really just needed dirt under my fingernails more than I needed another glass of wine at a vernissage.
When I came back to my inbox and started pulling works for this issue, I noticed the artworks I kept selecting were grounding. This week’s picks feel introspective and stabilizing: Abbi Kenny’s martini olives; Ron Isaacs building a nest out of painted plywood; Lucy Jones’ title “Just Looking, Just Checking On You”; Pace Taylor’s perfect soft pastel “The Nights are Now”. These works feel so right for the reset moment after a burnout month, now that I’m fishing my phone out from the river.
Also if you don’t already own a Brian Oakes work yet, I’m not sure what’s the matter with you, but the lamp below is accessibly priced and a brilliant addition to any collection and home design. There’s literally one at the Pocketbook Hotel Show Room in Hudson so I'm not sure how else to convey the extent of its chicness.
This is a paid issue, which means the full selections below are for paid subscribers. If you’ve been on the fence, this is a good one to come in for! The average retail of the below works is under $8,000, and each week I try to keep featured works around the $10k mark.
REMINDER: The Campus (and the café and bookstore I help operate) opens at the end of June. More details on the opening celebrations for paid subscribers coming soon!
