jan huling, the beadist and the social experiment

Don’t stand around Jan Huling for too long.  She will bead you. The New Jersey based beadist and her intricately beaded, found object collages recently became part of a successful social experiment.

Shoe of Denial

When Huling heard that Chelsea based Lyons Wier Gallery had a new approach to a declining economy, she jumped at the opportunity to show her work. Lyons Wier took advantage of the slow summer months to try a social experiment and in a bold move, started the weekend Art Bazaar.  The bazaar was an open call to artists during weekends in July and August, offering space to about 20 artists on a first come, first served basis.  No politics, no criteria.  Just show up and sell.  The artist who sold the most during the seven weekends of the bazaar would also earn a fully curated, month-long solo exhibit at Wier in 2010. Read the NY Times article here.

Huling showed up. She sold $10,000 worth of art in 10 hours. She won the month-long solo exhibit. For real.

Pretty Birds

Forgiven

Kewpie

Congratulations to Jan Huling on her success and to the Lyons Wier Gallery for their forward thinking approach. Here’s a time lapse video of the artists setting up a weekend exhibit.