Far from the Madding Crowd-Julie Verhoeven
If you have the chance please visit Art Basel which runs from Dec 4-7 in Miami. This year the Rug Company has put together an exhibit titled Demons, Yarns, and Tales featuring artists Kara Walker, Julie Verhoeven, Ghada Amer and many others.
They invited these artists to work with a different medium, tapestry, and three years later this is the result. Each one is more provocative then the last and leaves you wanting to know more about the story behind the art.
A Warm Summer Evening in 1863-Kara Walker
The Bugs and the Lovers-Ghada Amer and Reza Farkhondeh
(All images of artwork created by moodboard, more info at Banners of Persuasion)
Sorry I was out for the count yesterday. I've been traveling for the last three days and wi-fi connection has been spotty at best. I'm taking pictures right now of some of the treasures(to me) I picked up lately, but I wanted to highlight another item that caught my eye in the November Lucky.
Little Red Riding Hood is a German company with one of their specialties being silk scarves that look like pieces of artwork. Which is exactly how I would use these, by framing or putting on a canvas.
I had to study several pieces to see all the themes, but a common one is that of a thing trying to escape. Which oddly goes with the music to their website, which is a drum noise that seems to emulate the heart beating faster and faster.
I'm sure I'm not the only one that has dreamed of owning a vintage Ossie Clark piece with one of Celia Birtwell's exquisite flower prints.
I found these vintage Japanese mugs while thrifting and the blue one awakened my longing again.
I was happy to see that she offers greeting cards featuring her flowers on her website
Best of all she has introduced a line of fabric, including the new Mystic Daisies. I've written the company to see if they will be introducing any bedding into the line. I'm imagining the smaller print for sheets, and then the flowers blown up and used for a duvet. Of course I'm also imaging the fabric on a wall or a favorite chair.
I found out about IrenaSophia via Genart alerting me to her new prints. One tiny picture in the newsletter was enough to know I would love her work.
The picture above I believe is my favorite, her sensitive face has a haunting quality to it, and she wears her heart out for everyone to see.
I'm on a print freeze until I frame the other fifty pictures we have loose around the house, but this is on my list to buy. Of course now I don't like any of those fifty pictures as much as this one, because it would be *perfect* on my office wall. Isn't that how it always goes?
You can purchase prints on Etsy here or visit her blog to learn more.
Forget the thrill of the hunt. The happy happy joy joy dance after finding hunted object is much more fun. As with all of my stories, there are various paths and offshoots one has to take to get to the conclusion.
The Marilyn Minter towel for Art Basel landed on my porch yesterday, so begins this tale. I first spotted this towel in a March 2007 issue of TeenVogue.
You can't even see the whole towel, but something about the multicolored drops against the brown caught my eye. I began googling Marilyn Minter/ Art Production Fund/ towel and came across articles for Art Basel, an art fair that exhibits the newest in contemporary and modern works. It happens twice a year and you have your choice of Switzerland in June and Miami in December. You can't lose right?
Target teamed up with APF to sponsor the Artist Towel Series for Works on Whatever. WOW produces a limited collection of affordable everyday items designed by artists to be shown at Art Basel.
Unfortunately by the time I saw the Teen Vogue article the 2006 Art Basel had already passed and the Marilyn Minter towel was sold out. I searched on Ebay for months but nothing ever popped up. Fast forward to my post the other day where I used the glittering eye image. It made me start thinking about the towel all over again and I tried Ebay one more time. I came across another towel from the same series, and emailed the seller to see if they had any of the Marilyn Minter left in stock.
Yes, came the reply, but it is the floor model, do you want it? YES! YES! YES!-happy dance ensues.
The 2007 series features artists Jeff Koons, Elizabeth Peyton, Kehinde Wiley and Cindy Sherman. The towels measure a substantial 60 x70 and are 100% cotton, so nice enough to use as a throw or hang on the wall as art.
They don't seem to be on the Target site anymore but you can still purchase them at Wow.
I stumbled across a Charley Harper poster at the thrift store last weekend. They had it rolled up with the clearance wrapping paper so it was my lucky day. It is a poster for the National Park Service, The Sierra Range, with a lovely spotted fawn on the front. My poster was published in 1990, I'm not sure if these are, but it looks like you can still order one here. Finding it reminded me of my chance meeting with Mr. Harper in Cincinnati.
I was lucky enough to attend the opening night of Graphic Content: Contemporary and Modern/Art and Design at the Contemporary Arts Museum in Cincinnati. Not only was Charley Harper going to be there, but also Todd Oldham, who had a big hand in bringing new attention to Harper's work. I've been a fan of Todd since the 90's, so I was about to bust with anticipation.
It was such a packed house that I had to stand on tip toe to catch site of Charley and Todd as they spoke. I was so impressed with the respect that Todd showed Mr. Harper, and he was constantly putting Charley center stage.
After drinking up the many creative outfits and discussions of Charley's work, we tried to locate an exit. We finally found what we thought was an elevator in a corner and waited. When the doors slid 0pen there stood Todd Oldham and Charley Harper on what was the freight elevator. My group froze until they beckoned us on.
Apparently they had gone up by accident and were trying to get back down. I've worked with different celebrities, so you would think I would be a breeze at idle chit chat. But when you are in front of people whose work you admire and respect, you can't utter a thing. We all just smiled shyly back and forth.
Thank goodness on the next level, another unsuspecting couple got on and started chattering right away. Todd again was so thoughtful and excited to talk about Charley to them. When we emerged off the elevator some people helped Charley into a wheelchair, and it only hit me then that he was not feeling well. I was sad to learn that he passed away this past June, but he was one of few that get to experience accolades for his work while he was alive. I can't think of anything better.
A little souvenir I picked up in Cincinnati, an old issue of Ford Times with a Charley Harper illustration on the front cover. I think I'm going to take off the cover and have it framed.
Kat Heyes is at the top of my list for favorite fashion illustrator. She has done work for the likes of Elle, Vogue and Marc Jacobs. She also has a great affinity for nature, she wrote a book with Tess Carr, The Happy Campers. We could probably share many tales about pitching a tent outside. It wasn't enough that we practically lived in the woods during my childhood, but I think we stayed in every legal and illegal campsite across the United States.
Doesn't this card look like it could have come out of a 1930's Vogue? So gorgeous in detail:
She has broken off a bit to develop some new owl prints that can be purchased on Etsy. They still share the drowsy eyes and blushing cheeks of her fashion girls.
I love that her aesthetic is reflected in all areas of her life. Take a look at her beautiful home and how she arranges vignettes even when putting her boots away.
There isn't much about Mats Gustafson on the internet, I was hoping he would have a website showing more of his art. Once you see it, you will recognize his work everywhere. Kareem Iliya's work is often compared to his, but while Iliya's vibrates with energy, Mat's silhouettes have a darker mysterious quality.
Watercolor he did for Tiffany. Can you tell who he is inspired by?
He manages to capture movement in fabric no matter how subtle.
I first came across this series of 8 decoupage images in an Italian Vogue years ago. I kept them to be framed and only realized recently who they belonged to. The white and nude tones are so different than his shadowy Audrey-eque figures.
I would love to have a piece by Kareem Iliya on my wall. His watercolor and ink works have an almost spiritual quality about them.
I think his ink blotches look a bit like anemone flowers.
Born in Beirut, Kareem graduated from FIT and is currently residing in NYC. He has done work for Chanel, Visionaire magazine and Bergdorf Goodman among others.
He puts such intricate detail into the jewelry
A picture of me wearing my favorite vintage cuff bracelet next to his version.
