Fezziwig Press & Photography by Stu Jenks

From The 2009 All Souls' Procession

From The 2009 All Souls' Procession, Tucson, Arizona (c) 2009 Stu Jenks

[All images by Stu Jenks, except the bottom one of me in a kilt, taken by Tom Willett]

 

"Flam Chen at Arcosanti"

"Flam Chen at Arcosanti, Cordes Junction, Arizona" (c) 2009 Stu Jenks

"Flam Chen at Flowing Wells"

"Flam Chen Performing at Flowing Wells High School, Tucson, Arizona" (c) 2009 Stu Jenks

"Flam Chen at the Ronstadt"

"Flam Chen at the Ronstadt Transit Center, Tucson, Arizona" (c) 2008 Stu Jenks

[My first shots with my new 70-200mm f 2.8 Canon lens. After the performance, Paul called over and asked how'd it go. I believe I said something like "It's a new day." Yes it is.]

"Adam's Spiral"

"Adam's Spiral" (c) 2008 Stu Jenks

[Taken at a Flam Chen performance last Saturday night. Adam Cooper-Teran is a very talented artist and quite the visionary if you ask me. And as important, he's a very kind and good man. Also, his mother is about as sweet as they come, and a great artist herself. I'm happy to know Adam, and happy, as well, that he loves the spiral as much as I do. Hell, he's more committed to the swirl than I, for I haven't tattooed a spiral on my body. Yet.]

PRESS RELEASE: "Nine Prayers: Photographs of Stu Jenks"

PRESS RELEASE:
"Nine Prayers: Photographs of Stu Jenks"

The Hotel Congress Lobby
311 E. Congress, Tucson, AZ
July 21st - September 13th, 2008

Artist's Reception: Wednesday, August 20th, 2008, 6 - 8 p.m.

 

        Beginning July 21st, Stu Jenks will be displaying what he calls "A small retrospective of large photographs" from the past eleven years. Each of the nine photographs has a personal prayer associated with it, be it the hopeful "I pray we have a good Christmas" to the humorous "I pray that bull doesn't get mad at me, once he finds out I don't have any food." Most of the images are printed using the revolutionary Roland D'Vinci pigment printer, which gives amazingly deep blacks and brilliantly vibrant colors.         
        Jenks' work ranges from mysterious nocturnal images of twinkling hoops and flaming spirals in desert and forested locales, to action photographs of the Tucson Roller Derby women and of the circus troupe Flam Chen. The show is being curated by David Aguirre of Dinnerware Artspace of Tucson.
        The exhibition will run through September 13th, and there will be an Artist's Reception on Wednesday, August 20th, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Hotel Congress Lobby.

 

   

[As you can see, the show is up. It looks good, especially in the daylight hours. Head on by if you are in town, or simply enjoy this Ones-And-Zeros exhibition, if you are afar. And so many to thank, but here are just a few: Annie, Cathy, James, Terri, Charles, David, Paul, Nadia, Doe, Flo, Dana, Crane, Dirk, Dirk, Barb, Tana, John, John, Michael, Sterling, Ronn, Blake, Mary Anne, Dahna, Brenda, Peggy, Geoff, Cindy, Mark, Angela, Mike, Mike, Bo, Mary and Stuart.]

[All images, including the lobby installation photos, by Stu Jenks]

"Celebrating The Summer Solstice" (c) 2008

"Celebrating The Summer Solstice" (c) 2008 Stu Jenks

[Images from top to bottom: "Pipes and Flames: Flam Chen with the Seven Pipers, University of Arizona Campus, Tucson, Arizona", "Polly Graf: Jammer for Vice Squad, Tucson Roller Derby, Bladeworld, Tucson, Arizona"]

"Nine Prayers": The Hotel Congress Show (c) 2008

"Nine Prayers": The Hotel Congress Show (c) 2008 Stu Jenks

    Hours after I got back in the Art Game last Saturday, I was offered to do a one-man show in the lobby of the Hotel Congress. I was excited. The Hotel Congress, for those of you outside of the area, is this wonderful old hotel downtown, where John Dillinger was arrested, where many a great band has played in its club, where the best breakfast in town is served, where love has been found, lost, and found again, and where some of the best visual artists in Tucson have displayed their work. (I’ve often said that the spiritual and artistic center of Tucson is the front desk of the Hotel Congress, when Al Perry is manning the phones.) A very great honor to be asked to show work there. A very big deal.
    With the help of many in the past couple days, I edited and organized the show, picking just nine images, Nine Prayers. It would be a show of large prints, framed and matted, printed on the finest photographic paper. I would be economical but not cheap. It would be a greatest-hits show in some ways, a show of recent work in others, but a show with a underlining theme, that being ‘The little prayers I say when I shoot.’
    Then I crunched the numbers and crunched them again. Only one of the nine images did I already have printed and framed large. The remaining eight need to be made and made big. And the numbers were very large too, at least for me.
    The eight prints, finely framed and matted, would cost me close to $2500.00. Ouch. I don't have that kind of money. But I'm selling the work for a reasonable and fair price, so I thought I'd probably sell two or maybe three pieces and come close to breaking even. Then I figured in the percentage that the Hotel and the gallery would take from sales (50% off the top), and I became very depressed. In order that I don’t feel like I’m ripping myself off, I need to get at least $850 per framed, and matted print. These being large Fine Art Limited Edition prints, this was doable. But double that, pricing them at $1700 and we are way outside of what the market in Tucson will usually. Damn. I obsessed about this for a day and then I realized I don’t think I can do this. I can’t take a $2,500 risk on eight photographs. I’m still in debt up to my eyeballs as it is .(See “Argument Against Photography” on this blog.) I was disheartened. I emailed David Aguirre at Dinnerware and said I just can’t do it.
    I just got off the phone with David, and he is so inspiring, so understanding, so encouraging, so evil. We both realize that this show could be a very big deal for me, to show my best work, in one of the premier venues for showing Art in Tucson. I’m now reconsidering. I’m going to sleep on it for another night or two.
    But while I’m sleeping, I thought, why not have a virtual show on my blog of the show and maybe, just maybe, I might make a sale or two.
    Here’s the deal on how I print for big shows. I print two prints of each image at Photographic Works, the best lab in town. I print two because the first one costs a lot but the second print is cheaper, therefore if (and when) I sell one photograph, I have the other one to sell as well.
    So, friends and neighbors, here’s the deal.
    I’m not begging but if someone buys a large non-framed, non-matted kick-ass Fine Art photograph, you will be contributing to me, to be able to afford to do this show. (And to the couple who just bought the Ikon, thanks so much and you know who you are.)
    Below are the nine images that will go the “Nine Prayers” show. They are for sale. Prices, sizes, edition numbers, jpegs and type of photographs are all below. If you would like an unframed, unmatted, beautiful image to arrive at your door, in a nice sturdy tube, just email me at stujenks@gmail.com or write me at P.O. Box 161, Tucson, AZ 85702. You can pay me by personal check or by using Paypal (My account name is my email address.) And maybe, just maybe, if I sell a few prints, then I’ll be able to afford to do the Hotel Congress show and break even.
    (Actually after David’s inspiring phone call from a few minutes ago, I’ll probably slam my plastic anyway, but you know what I’m asking for. Just some help if you can afford it. No expectation but some hope.)
    Either way, enjoy the digital show below and know that I appreciate y’all’s support, whether it comes in purchases, or in kind emails, or in deep hugs. Without an audience, I’m just a bozo in a basement. With you, I’m having a one-man-show at the Hotel Congress.

        Love and light,
            Stu

Nine Prayers by Stu Jenks



"The Ikon of Catalina State Park, Arizona" © 1997, 2008, Edition of 10, Fuji Crystal Archive Print, 22” x 22” image on 24” x 30” paper, $600

"I pray the flame spiral I draw tonight is better than the one I drew last night."

"Laxmii's Flight, Flam Chen, Avra Valley, Arizona" © 2007, Edition of 10, Fuji Crystal Archive Print, 22” x 34” image on 24” x 36” paper, $650

"I pray I finally get a good shot of Flam Chen after shooting them for all these years."

"Cedar Breaks Star Circle, Utah" © 2006, 2007, Edition of 10, Kodak Metallic Paper, 28” x 28” image on 30” x 40” paper, $750

"I pray I wake up before the dawn."

"Ghost Horses, Coalmine Canyon, Arizona" © 2002, 2008, Edition of 10, Kodak Metallic Paper, 22” x 24” image on 24” x 30” paper, $700

"I pray I don't fall off the edge of this cliff."

"Tumamoc Hill, Tucson, Arizona" © 2007, Edition of 10, Kodak Metallic Paper, 22” x 24” image on 24” x 30” paper, $700

"I pray that we have a good Christmas."

"Mary at the Cadillac Ranch, Amarillo, Texas" © 2008, Edition of 10, Fuji Crystal Archive Print, 21” x 33” image on 24” x 36” paper, $650.

"I pray I get my mother across the country, in one piece."

"The Doe and Flo Show, Tucson Roller Derby, Arizona" © 2007, Edition of 10, Fuji Crystal Archive Print, 22” x 34” image on 24” x 36” paper, $650

"I pray I get some good shots for the girls tonight, even with this slow lens."

"Cows near the Clava Cairns, Scotland" © 2007, Edition of 10, Fuji Crystal Archive Print, 22” x 25” image on 24” x 30” paper, $600

"I pray that bull doesn't get mad at me, when he finds out I don't have any food."

"Abajo Mountain Hoop Dance, Utah" © 2003, 2005, Edition of 10, $600, Fuji Crystal Archive Print, 22” x 22” image on 24” x 30” paper.

"I pray I leave the shutter open long enough so the Full Moon has time to do its job."

"Ms. Spyder's Tea Party" (c) 2008

"Ms. Spyder's Tea Party, Flam Chen, Tucson, Arizona" (c) 2008 Stu Jenks and Flam Chen

    [Two images of Paul, Nadia and the Flam Chen Troupe performing 'Ms. Spyder's Tea Party' at Nimbus Brewery, on April 28th, 2008. Not many good images that night, from me. I really need to invest in that $1600 long fast Canon lens. I hate to go more into debt, but I may have to, if I'm going to stay viable in all of this. All of this photography thing.
    I didn't intend to be a photographer. Really. I was just an artist who wanted to make circles and spirals and show them around. Capture the mystery of the night and all of that. Photography seemed like the best way to do it. Now, I want to make more night images but with people in them too, and my lens glass isn't long enough or fast enough. Maybe I'll just go to the BR-549 Studios and hang some batik from a rock instead. Nah. I love the fabric work but I still have these images in my head that need to come out.
    Sometimes I wish I was a trust fund baby. I'd be a great trust fund kid. Generous with the extra cash. Openly grateful to the dead grandparent that pays for my rent, my ink, my paper, my camera, my food. Guess I'll still have to keep going to the day job after all. Fuck. Well, life could be much worse. I could be living in Burma.
    And I got a couple of OK images that night, I suppose. I quite like the intimacy and strength in the image of Nadia and Paul, spinning poi. And the graininess of the Woo Shoo poi shot doesn't bother me at all.
    Thank God, Paul and Nadia get what I'm trying to do, namely to help build a bit of artistic community and cooperation, in a time of greed and selfishness. We'll all continue to work hard and perhaps with luck, we'll make a bit more coin then we are right now. Maybe a lot of coin if we time it right and are very fortunate. Who knows. Bottom line: The work has the be the primary pleasure.]

"Desert Dewali with Paul, Nadia, Arelia, Jericho, & Others of Flam Chen" (c) 2007

"Desert Dewali" (c) 2007 Stu Jenks and Flam Chen

       [Images: " Laxmii's Flight", "Jericho's Poi" and "Under Paul's Care"]

       Paul invited us to the party and I'm sure glad he did.
       Flam Chen is one of the premier pyrotechnic performance troupes in the world, if you ask me. We are lucky that they call Tucson home. Nadia is one of the co-founders. Paul is the other major mover-and-shaker. They are good circus people. Charlotte has threatened to run away with them. I wouldn't judge her in the least if she decided to.
       Diwali is the annual Hindi (and other faiths) Festival of Light. The party was thrown by a nice blond fellow in dreadlocks, on his property in the middle of bum-fuck-nowhere in the flat creosote desert, west of Tucson. Top Dead Center played Grateful Dead covers with flair and precision. Canoeists and kayakers paddled in the acre-large cow pond. Fire sculptors and amateur pyro artists set up and performed on the north side of the pond. Food was given and shared. Beer and wine was bought and drank. Strong Dope filled the air from time to time. I hadn't smoke Pot in over two decades. I didn't that night, but I didn't complain either, when I got a seemingly-slight contact-high. Then again, we didn't stay for more than a couple hours, and much of the high I got came from the performance of Paul, Nadia and the gang of Flam Chen. That's why we came.
       Charlotte got some nice shots of Circles of Poi, and I got a couple shots that I was thrilled to have captured of the performance. I've been trying for at least eight years to get a good shot of a Flam Chen performance, but with no success. I had success that night.

 We had a real good time. And for the first time ever, I danced my ass off AND shoot my camera at the same time. Thank God for a great digital cable release, that costed way too much money. Even when Rural Metro Fire Department showed up, the festivities only waned a little.

       And finally, the quote of the night:

       Me (after Flam Chen's performance): " Paul, I finally got a great shot of you guys. I'm so happy. I've been trying for so long to get an image that I could give to you all. I was just focusing and shooting. Move, focus and shoot. As fast as I could. Pow, Pow, Pow! Then I'd focus on Laxmii and Pow, Pow, Pow!"

       Paul (turning to a friend): "Stu's getting all Gangsta about this shit."

       We all laughed.

[Brief Note: The Laxmii shot, at the top, is performed by Arelia and Nadia of Flam Chen [Nadia is difficult to see]. Jericho is spinning the poi, in the middle image, and Paul is holding on to Arelia and Nadia, in the bottom shot. Four men including Paul make sure Arelia doesn't float into space. Paul, always the appropriate master of Safety, said to me, "We could all drop dead and the weight of our bodies would keep her from floating away. The only way she could float away is if all four of us cut ourselves loose, and that's not going to happen."]