Jen Bekman is pleased to present Ian Baguskas’ New York City solo debut, Sweet Water, an exhibition of photographs documenting failed oases of the American West, at Jen Bekman Gallery, located at 6 Spring Street, New York, NY. The exhibition will be on view March 21st through April 26th, 2008.

An opening reception for the artist will be held on the evening of Friday, March 21st from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m at the gallery.

Sweet Water presents us with striking images of vast land and open skies, lying in contrast to artificial, isolated structures, portraying a landscape fractured by modern aspirations’ collisions with the formidable, often unbeatable powers of nature. While journeying from one end of California to the other, Baguskas documented the remains of human attempts to transform untamable landscapes into personal utopias. The resulting images are at once archaeological, anthropological and aesthetically beautiful.

Gallery Director Jen Bekman describes the work of Baguskas as “distinctive, beautiful, meditative and often subtly funny.” She says, his “work captured my attention with its quietness. It’s not uncommon for contemporary photographers to make their work via belabored processes but with Ian—he is curious, he plans a trip, he shoots. And that makes his process incredibly refreshing. And when he shoots, it’s magic, a magic that’s not about advanced degrees, theory-laden concepts or post-production. He’s good because he is.”

This, Baguskas’ first NY solo exhibition, will be his fifth collaboration with Jen Bekman over the course of the last two years. Since being selected for the Spring 2006 Edition of Hey, Hot Shot!, Baguskas has accumulated an impressive array of awards and accolades. In 2007, he was honored as one of four finalists for the Aperture Foundation’s Portfolio Prize; he was nominated for the 2008 KLM Paul Huf Award and will be featured in the April issue of South Korea’s Photo Art Magazine. Most recently, Baguskas was recognized as one of this year’s top thirty emerging photographers in the PDN 30, a prestigious honor awarded annually by Photo District News.

About the Artist

Ian Baguskas was born in Philadelphia, PA in 1977 and moved to New York to attend The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, where he received his BFA in 2000. Recently named a PDN 30, Baguskas was a nominee for the 2008 KLM Paul Huf Award. His Search for the American Landscape series was shown earlier this year in a three-person show at The Ice Box in Philadelphia, PA.