GAYLETTER

From a young age we learn how much the flow of goods and capital can be livened up with a little mystery. (Think: Happy Meals, holiday grab bags, whether or not your debit card is going to get denied at your bodega on Sunday morning). Surprises rock! It’s an obvious, objective truism. You get excited, you beg for clues, you scramble to guess. The excitement is hard to contain.

And Visual AIDS — a contemporary art organization we’ve definitely told y’all about before — understands this excitement. Specifically, they do with the upcoming 19th annual ‘Postcards From the Edge’ benefit, scheduled for this weekend. This event provides “an opportunity for the public to purchase original pieces of postcard-sized artwork by both established and emerging artists for only $85 each.” And not without some mysterious fun; the individual cards are displayed, sans the artist’s names, the identity of whom you find out post-purchase! This is your chance to take home original pieces by favorites like William Wegman, John Arsenault, Loraine O’Grady, Benjamin Fredrickson, Marilyn Minter, Kerry James Marshall, and many more.

Image courtesy of the artist Benjamin Fredrickson

The actual benefit sale will occur all day January 14th and 15th, preceded by a Preview Party on Friday the 13th from 5:00PM-8:00PM where you’ll have the chance to win first dibs on your favorite pieces. VIP passes and a silent auction are also in store at the event, so head to the host gallery Metro Pictures for some awesome surprises that benefit an even more awesome cause. Visual AIDS is still the “only contemporary arts organization fully committed to HIV prevention and AIDS awareness through producing and presenting visual art projects, while assisting artists living with HIV/AIDS,” so it’s a must-support for the queer community. They have already raised over $900,000 with ‘Postcards From the Edge’ over the past two decades; let’s all help make it a milli! And who knows who you’ll end up taking home.

PRICES VARY, JAN. 14th 10:00AM-6:00PM, JAN. 15th 12-4:00PM, METRO PICTURES, 519 W 24th ST. NY, NY.