One original casein-on-paper drawing and 14 archival giclée prints on Entrada Fine Art Rag paper
Artworks (of varying dimensions) enclosed in "Punch" wooden cigar box
11" x 8.5" x 2.25"
Edition of 13
Since the incorporation of the Esopus Foundation Ltd. in 2003, we have asked contemporary artists to create limited editions that we offer in exchange for donations. Revenue from these artworks allows us to continue our mission of providing an unmediated, accessible forum for artists and the general public.
These limited editions are not for sale; therefore, a portion of their value is tax-deductible per the Internal Revenue Code. Donors will receive an email receipt for their records.
Punch, available in an edition of 13, incorporates a wooden cigar box containing one signed casein-on-paper original artwork by Brooklyn-based artist Nat Meade along with 14 giclée prints of other works by the artist printed on hand-trimmed archival rag paper to approximate the look and feel of the originals. “Flower Duet,” a personal essay by Ames Varos written especially for the edition (and also signed by the author), accompanies these images in the form of a 16-page foil-stamped chapbook.
Meade's stylized portraits of ”manly" archetypes and Varos’s moving essay about a catastrophic accident that changed his relationship to his body and identity offer unique perspectives on masculinity. As Meade mentioned in a recent interview, “Perceptions and expectations around being a guy are changing. I wonder what a male archetype is at this point. So much of the male image was, at one time, tied to occupation and region; that seems to be fading and now there is this element of self-invention and artifice.”
The edition launched at Brooklyn’s Picture Room on December 12th. The launch will also featured an exhibition of the edition’s original artworks along with other related works by Meade, who will attended.
Brooklyn-based Nat Meade’s richly rendered portraits of men—simultaneously heroic and ridiculous—explore and dissect masculine tropes. His work has been featured in solo and group exhibitions nationally and internationally. His solo shows include those at the Froelick Gallery in Portland, Oregon; the Schneider Museum, Southern Oregon University; and Honey Ramka, Brooklyn. Meade has been awarded residencies in the Sharpe Walentas Studio Program (2016–2017) and the James Castle House (2020). His work has been reviewed in publications including Artforum, Juxtapoz, Maake, and Hyperallergic. He holds an M.F.A. from Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY, and a B.F.A. from the University of Oregon. Meade attended the Skowhegan School for Painting and Sculpture in 2009. He is the Assistant to the Chair of Fine Arts at Pratt, where he teaches drawing and painting to undergraduate and graduate students.
Ames Varos is an artist and writer based in New York and California. He has been published in the Cream City Review, DIAGRAM, New Delta Review, and Gulf Coast.
