I was in Philadelphia a few weeks ago for a wedding, and before the
event, while most of the other out-of-town guests reenacted the Rocky
stair climb or hit the malls, I convinced my mom to drive up and down
Market street so that I could finally see the Steve Powers Love Letter murals up-close. There I
was, braided hair and ballet flats, jumping in and out of the car,
taking pictures and squealing with excitement like a lunatic, much to
the amusement of the locals.
For years these murals have been the background on my computer screen - a
constant source of inspiration and a reminder to keep making things. However, it is not until I experienced this work live that I truly felt how amazingly powerful it is. There is something incredibly compelling about Power's use of simple expressions of love to convey the more complicated
things perceptible only when you consider the context in which the work
exists (along Market street in what I imagine is one of the poorer neighborhoods of Philadelphia).
I just fell in love with this newly discovered blog called Advanced Style Blog which showcases curated by Ari Seth Cohen, who roams the streets of NYC looking for "the most stylish and creative older folks"!
"Advanced Style offers proof from the wise and silver-haired set that personal style advances with age." - Ari Seth Cohen
One of the things I love about Montreal is the abundance of amazing artists who are constantly finding new ways of sharing their work. Even as a recent MFA graduate, I find the whole white cube / postmodern art world a little stuffy. Many big museums and galleries are very closely intertwined with capitalist consumerism, which is fine I guess, we all need to pay our bills, but for some artists, the ones I tend to love, it's not really about the money, which means that their work doesn't really belong on those pristine, high brow white walls.
Here is what it's all about:
"ROPE+THREAD=ISM seeks to break away from the traditional "white cube"
gallery space, so the show will take place a beautiful old church,
St-Brigide de Kildare, in the Gay Village. This event is going to be
huge, with over 60 contributors, featuring a wide variety of creative
works, including painting, sculpture, fashion, photography, design and
installation, as well as a full schedule of events; dance, circus,
music, film, interactive works and street performance."
"IQ Gallery is a modern gallery initiative that exists to push boundaries,
using unconventional spaces and methods to create innovative art events.
It is a gallery without walls that encourages artists of all
disciplines to express themselves creatively. IQ knows that there are no
limits to the human capacity for excellence and believes strongly that a
few souls with a clear and committed vision can change the way we see
the world." (cited from www.iqgallery.ca)
The show runs from June 30th 2012 to July 14th 2012, at Ste-Brigide de Kildare Church (1151 Alexandre-De-Sève) in Montreal.
Gallery Hours Monday- Wednesday: 11am to 7pm (Except July 10 th,closing at 10pm due to special event) Thursday: 11am to 10pm Friday: 12pm to midnight Saturday: 12pm- late Sunday 1pm-9pm
In another lifetime, Michelle Maynard and Natalie Finkelstein spent their 9 to 5 working for the man; the same man actually. Since then, both have set off on their own, Michelle with her chic, Eco-conscious women's label Simone's Rose, and Natalie who explores her sartorial ambivalence through the creation of paintings, illustrations and videos under the name natfink. Both women have now merged their talents into an exciting collaboration that will be launching in June 2012. Until then, the above video is a sneak peak of what is to come.
I am obsessed with the work of Portland Oregon illustrator and educator Kate Bingaman Burt. Since 2002 most of her work has been about consumption (which she refers to as obsessive consumption), she does these amazing daily drawings of the things she buys, as well as zines, photos, books, garments and all kinds of other amazing things that confront her relationship to consumerism.
I'm loving the work of the so, so, very talented artist Esra Roise. Check out her gorgeous fashion illustrations and sassy editorial work on her website http://www.esraroise.com/
I love when street art and community service collide and impact urban spaces in a positive way. Above is a great video of the artist collective A'Shop, working on their amazing mural "Notre-Dame-de-Grâce/ Our Lady of Grace" in NDG.
Here is what they wrote about the project:
"For 16 days straight, from dawn to dusk, five highly determined Montreal-based artists (who make up the artist run collective (A'shop) worked on a graffiti mural of a Mother Nature-esque Madonna or a modern-day version of "Our Lady of Grace." Inspired by Czech Art Nouveau painter Alphonse Mucha, the crew created this breathtakingly beautiful five story mural using 500 cans of spray paint in over 50 different colors.
The A'shop crew hopes this project will encourage other city boroughs to consider murals of their own. "Our city has way too much gray. So I hope this [mural] kickstarts a mural campaign."
To really appreciate the time and effort that went into this massive mural, here is a video that was taken over the 16 day period."
Not only do the designers at Me & Oli create lovely and whimsical illustrative textile prints they also create custom garments featuring these beautiful fabrics. Visit their website and have fun mixing and matching styles and prints. http://www.meandoli.com
Artist Jennifer Rubell had a solo show at Stephen Friedman Gallery in London last February called "Engagement" inspired by the Kate and William Royal Wedding.
" In the front gallery is Engagement (with Prince William Sculpted by Daniel Druet), a minutely detailed life-sized wax sculpture of Prince William placed off-center on a low white pedestal in the pose he struck at the engagement announcement. On his sleeve is a precise replica of the engagement ring (which Prince Charles had previously given to Princess Diana), attached where Kate's ring finger would normally be. Viewers are encouraged to mount the pedestal, slide their arms through William's, and slip into the ring." (via http://jenniferrubell.com)
Wacom has come out with an awesome new tablet called the Inkling that captures drawings made from a ballpoint pen cartridge onto paper.
"In addition to capturing your sketch, stroke by stroke, Inkling allows you to create layers in digital files while you sketch on paper. Digital files are transferred to your computer using the Inkling Sketch Manager software, and later, exported to applications such as Adobe® Photoshop® and Illustrator®. Files can also be opened with the included Inkling Sketch Manager software to edit, delete, add layers or change file formats."
Artist Pedro Oyarbide has challenged himself to create and post one pattern a day for a year, the resulting prints are quite varied in style. View his work at : http://meinmotif.blogspot.com/
My fellow blogger's recent post about M.A.C. cosmetics featuring Cindy Sherman as their cover girl, reminded me of another instance of art/fashion crossover that I've been wanting to address.
A while ago, I posted about the film Beautiful Losers, a documentary that follows the lives and careers of a collective group of Do-it-yourself artists and designers who inadvertently affected the art world.
All of the artists in the documentary seem to live in an in-between space, between fine art and street art; between mainstream and underground.
Recently, two of the Beautiful Losers created short 'fashion films' for major fashion companies, using their respective signature styles. This incorporation of storytelling into fashion campaigns, is an ongoing trend, that I find not only effective and exciting, but it may even be a successful new medium for using fashion to explore deeper issues.
Last year, filmmaker Harmony Korine (known for the movies KIDS, and Gummo) directed the short film Act Da Fool for Proenza Schouler and while the film has it's issues (which you can read more about is this great Threadbared article - furthermore, one would argue that the same ethnic questions asked about Act Da Fool could also be asked in regards to the most recent Korine-Schouler collab Snowballs) what I find interesting is the decision to use such a raw, subversive, DIY approach to fashion storytelling.
More recently, director Aaron Rose, created a short film for Opening Ceremony titled “El Mundo Es Tuyo.” While Rose's approach is more sweet and whimsical, it's still an alternative to the sexed up "in your faceness" of most fashion campaigns, which in itself is exciting.
There is this preconceived notion that if something enters the mainstream it looses all validity. In other words, some may say that by collaborating with the fashion industry, these artists are selling out. However, I think there is a need for more crossover between the art world and popular culture, because it gives us a popular culture that is richer and more progressive.
But don't just take my word for it:
“If a given “look” is appropriated by the fashion industry from a subculture or subordinate class, that is because its ideological force and formal bravura can no longer be ignored – because it has won not only won a style war, but a pitched cultural battle.”
- Kaja Silverman from the essay Fragments of a Fashionable Discourse
“Mass culture always contains cleaned-up, camera-ready variations on the underground, incorporating just enough of what’s “edgy” to maintain its own relevance. Sometimes – if we’re lucky – these transformations result in mass culture that’s more interesting than usual, that entertains in a way that feels surprising, and that perhaps even helps spread progressive values. But if a political idea is showing up in mass culture, that’s because it’s happening somewhere else in a more concentrated, grassroots way.”
- Sara Marcus from the book Girls to the Front
The influential contemporary artist best known for her self portrait work whereby she dons the costumes and personas of (mainly female) pop culture archetypes takes on a new role as covergirl for M.A.C. Cosmetic's current fall campaign.Sherman created three distinct characters for the ads featuring three different makeup color palettes.
M.A.C has often been known for its offbeat and exciting pairings with diverse artists and brands (past ads have featured Lady Gaga, Hello Kitty, Dita Von Teese, Miss Piggy and the french graffiti artist Fafi)
yet this campaign stands out as particularily gutsy.The ads figuring the 54 year old artist in full costume certainly stand out in the sea of glossy, airbrushed celebrities and supermodels typically seen in cosmetic ads.
I think the project exemplifies the transformative power of makeup and perhaps inadvertantly acts as a commentary on the nature of the beauty industry.
What do you think?
the Moma will be showing a retrospective of Cindy Sherman's work this year February 26-June 12 2012
http://www.moma.org/visit/calendar/exhibitions/1170
I am very much looking forward to viewing Stefan Sagmeister and Hillman Curtis's newest project:The Happy Film.The documentary will explore 3 different means of achieving happiness; meditation,cognitive therapy and pharmaceuticals. Serving as a guinea pig of sorts,Sagmeister will subject himself to each approach for a three month period all the while documenting his experiences.The film will also feature Sagmeister's trademark offbeat creative typography.
You can support this project on Kickstarter for 3 more days. http://www.kickstarter.com/
A 10$ pledge will buy you a digital dowload of the movie in February 2012 but if you sponsor 40$ or more Stefan promises to call you "out of the blue" to cheer you up. A brilliant incentive and well worth it to speak however briefly with a design legend.
A friend of mine just shared this link with me: http://feministryangosling.tumblr.com/ Yes, you read correctly: Feminist Ryan Gossling!! This is a blog filled with images of Ryan Gossling sharing his feminist wisdom. As someone who truly believes in the power of using popular images from mass culture to promote strong ideas, I think this is totally brilliant! Thank you Ryan! lol!
Here are a few memorable lines from his now famous commencement address at Stanford University in 2005. He was a creative visionary who forever transformed the worlds of design and technology. RIP Steve Jobs.
Authored by Natalie Finkelstein and Christine McPhee two graphic designers/ artists living and working in Montreal. The name Confection refers to the sheer deliciousness of inspiration and how the pleasure of making beautiful and interesting things, much like candy is addictive. We like to write about all things that turn us on creatively. Our subjects include: art, fashion, illustration, graffiti, design, textiles and craft. Not particularly interested in traditional labels or categories, we embrace all forms of creativity and as such our interests span the full spectrum from gallery bound art, to commercial design, craft, street art and everything in between. Our ambitions for this blog is to share inspiration, promote fresh emerging talent, spot the most exciting creative trends and share the best resources. Taking a competitive mindset, we would rather “spread the sugar” so to speak, by creating a support network of ambitious artists and designers.
