a passion for prints

Alexander McQueen

Honestly, I am not one to venture so far as wearing prints.  As a general rule, said prints can be dangerously fattening, particularly if you are not... naturally shaped like a toothpick, so to speak.  However, the phrase "you get what you pay for" holds some credibility and Bergdorf Goodman has selected a series of the TEN BEST PRINTS for fall that actually, surprisingly, struck my attention.

vintage vantage point

Stephen Kunken, Tony Award Nominee, photograph © Pushett Irby 2010

Pushett Irby is a photography duo in Brooklyn, NY, that uses a wooden 11x14 camera. The resulting images completely rock my socks off. Loving the old school ambiance of film and technique, my songs of praise go to anyone who manages to maintain original photographic procedures, materials and concepts in the fast paced society of today. "We love how the experience teaches us to slow down and appreciate the beautiful things right in front of us." Long live the darkroom.

belk rebrand

I have toyed back and forth with the idea of voicing my opinion about the new Belk identity for some time. Finally, I decided yes, I will construct a brief comment on the concept.

Maybe it is because I recently had what seems like infinite years of concept development strategy beaten into my head or maybe it is simply my inner consumer or maybe it is both, but the only thing I like about this logo is the type.  I'm not sure what the flower/feather vector art on the left side is supposed to symbolize.  And southern hasn't been synonymous with style since before the Civil War, so I am not sure why they would want to bring their Charlotte origins to market attentions. (Not to say that people who live in the south can't be stylish, but when you think "style," "southern" is not what comes to mind.

Obviously, this a company striving for relevance in contemporary culture, not only by image but expansion of merchandise offerings.  I'm not sure that I'm intrigued enough to check it out...

loving london

As if there were not enough reasons that London is the number one place on my list of highly desirable locations to visit, here I go adding yet another: the Design Museum. Particularly exciting is the new exhibition, Drawing Fashion, that begins November 3rd. Showcasing some of the greatest fashion illustrations since the beginning of the 20th century, this show is sure to be an amazing presentation of sketches and finished pieces with photographic and musical support woven throughout.

The collection took 30 years to produce and was meticulously curated by Joelle Chariau.

young love

© Nirrimi Joy Hakanson. Age 14/15

© Nirrimi Joy Hakanson. Age 16

© Nirrimi Joy Hakanson. Age 17

This photographer, Nirrimi Joy Hakanson, is seventeen or eighteen years old. I am absolutely amazed at this talent. Her website is full of beautiful photographs and her blog is full of literature and more beautiful photographs. A true developing artist that can teach us all something about life.

sea sculpture

A new book from Alison Luchs, the curator of early European sculpture at the National Gallery,  focuses on Renaissance fantasy aquatic imagery in Venice.  A long-time of love of mermaids (what little girl never completely adored Ariel?) certainly attracts my attention to this publication, aside from my weakness for any opportunity to buff up on some art history.  The NGA explains that the book "explores the ways Venetian Renaissance artists interpreted a variety of mythical hybrid sea creatures that were handed down, through art and literature, from the ancient and medieval worlds."

*This is not yet available from Amazon.com.  You can pre-order it and wait.  Or you can support the National Gallery's efforts to keep art and related education free to the public by shelling out the extra cash that comes with the reward of immediate gratification.  And, you can listen to the podcast for free.

in the loupe: photography focus

Recent New York rulings (see the New York Times Lens page) have reinforced the rights of photographers in public spaces.  While I have never understood how street photography could be a threat to public safety or any kind of hazard, many artists have been wrongly harassed by officials and suffered from their equipment being confiscated.  The Musumeci case discussed here (against the Department of Homeland Security) is just one example, but boldly highlights the creative rights we have to photograph anything from public property.  Happy Shooting.

a little bit more on good ideas...

This very smart comic "Sense vs. Nonsense" was introduced to me by the SwissMiss blog (Tina Roth Eisenberg).  Frank Chimero illustrates our thought processes in a fun way.  Don't miss out on his blog (Personal Fridays?!) or the fabulous work on his website, such as So Far Around the Bend.

identifiability

Contact Sheets by Parsley Steinweiss on 20X200

As a photographer and graphic designer, I felt the need to post this image that I completely identified with.  This photograph of a stack of contact sheets is a simple tribute to time spent completely adoring your work.  Line, color, texture, and concept won me over.  Love.

lessons in cartography

Maps are always interesting to look at.  All containing some sort of similar information, but all appearing different, depending on the focus of the information which they are aiming to communicate.  I recently came across the creative work of a graphic designer, Aaron Straup Cope, on 20X200.  His interpretations of city maps produce unique visions that make pretty the purpose.  Though all pieces in the series utilize the same color scheme, I especially like Prettymaps NYC (left).  Although I might just be biased with my love for New York, it is a compositionally intriguing presentation of color balance and unity.  No, it won't help you navigate the complex subway system or traverse the city by foot, but it will surely brighten up your office and give you a shove in the direction of unconventional thinking.

illustration love

Maybe it's because illustration is not my key talent, but I have always admired illustrators.   Whether geared towards naturalism or stylistic interpretations, I love to see renderings that even remotely resemble their subjects (I'll address my devoted relationship with abstract and modernism work in a different post for sure). One of my favorites is Margarete Gockel (left) whose style is relaxed and fashion-oriented.  Her shoe illustrations are particularly fun and remind me much of Manolo Blahnik's sketching style. 


 

 

Clearly my preferences rest in the whimsical world of fashion illustration that is not meticulously detailed in the way that an architect would consider primarily necessary, but places significant emphasis provoking thought.  James Jean's work for Prada (right) is an ideal example of such conceptual work.







Another artist that is particularly creative in his ways is Monsieur Qui (right).  His collage style imagery and skillful use of tonality produces exceptionally intriguing works.  In addition to being a fashion illustrator, this French talent is also a brilliant street artist. Speaking of street art, Banksy can't go without mention and applause, no matter how cliché that may sound.

Certainly, this is one of sure to be many posts on my love of illustrations.  I'm always interested in seeing new and exciting (not to mention revisiting) works and will continue with brief exposes on artists as I discover and re-discover their pieces.