The Curated Object

Exhibitions London. Made in Scotland: Scotland's Best Contemporary Artists and Craftsmen . The Fleming Collection. The Curated Object

'Standing Cup' by Malcolm Appleby, silver and gilt, height 330mm, width 260mm.

 

‘Single box’ by Frances Priest, ceramic. Credit:Shannon Tofts Photography.

 

'Red Camellia' by Keiko Mukaide

SCOTLAND’S BEST CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS AND CRAFTSMEN

AT THE FLEMING COLLECTION

17 APRIL – 2 JUNE 2012

A wealth of talent will be on display at The Fleming Collection in London when "Made in Scotland," an exhibition featuring some 30 of the country’s finest contemporary artists and craftsmen, takes place from 17 April to 2 June 2012. Silversmiths, jewellers, glassmakers, ceramicists, tapesty makers and engravers will be among those showing their work in the selling exhibition at 13 Berkeley Street, London W1. Prices will range from under £100 up to £20,000 and a percentage of all sales will go towards The Fleming-Wyfold Art Foundation, the charity that runs The Fleming Collection. This year marks the tenth anniversary of the opening of The Fleming Collection’s public gallery in Mayfair, which has become an embassy for Scottish art in London. “Promoting the work of Scotland’s contemporary artists and craftsmen is an important part of what we do,” says Selina Skipwith, Keeper of Art at The Fleming Collection. “In 2010 and 2011 we held selling exhibitions of works by Scottish artists and this year we have extended the formula to cover a wider range of disciplines. There is so much talent north of the border.”

Among those exhibiting in "Made in Scotland" will be Malcolm Appleby, considered to be one of the most original and highly skilled craftsmen working anywhere in Britain today. Known primarily as an engraver, his prolific output ranges from sculptural table pieces to small silver buttons and he has also established a reputation as a brilliant designer and engraver of sporting guns. His commissions have included a condiment set for the Prime Minister’s home at 10 Downing Street, the sculptural table centrepiece for Bute House, the First Minister of Scotland’s residence, and the Seal for the Board of Trustees of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.

"Made in Scotland" will also include works by the silversmith and jeweller Dorothy Hogg, who was recently appointed as the first Emeritus Professor at Edinburgh College of Art. She was awarded an MBE for services to jewellery and silversmithing design, was granted Freeman status by the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths in London and in 2008 spent six months at the Victoria & Albert Museum as its first-ever craft artist-inresidence.

Work by the Leith-based ceramic artist Frances Priest has been shown around the world and is included in the collections of several leading British museums. So it is appropriate that Made in Scotland will include a number of pieces by this skilled and inventive maker. Other ceramics artists in the show at The Fleming Collection will include Simon Ward, who won a Bronze Award at the World Ceramics Biennale and Craig Mitchell, whose surreal ceramic creations are his way of relating to what he calls “the increasingly bizarre reality which forms the fabric of our daily lives.” Lindean Mill Glass, based in the Scottish Borders, has an international reputation for beautifully-designed contemporary tableware and an ever-changing collection of individual vessels, plates and panels, while James Denison-Pender has been a key figure in reviving stipple engraving – the art of creating pictures on glass made up of tiny dots scratched on the surface. Tapesty maker Amanda Gizzi is a lecturer at the University of Edinburgh while jeweller Susan Cross was the joint winner of the Jerwood Applied Arts Prize in 2007 and teaches at Edinburgh College of Art.

Contributing makers will also include, amongst others: Jo Barker, Sara Brennan, Stephen Bottomley, Angela Cork, Katy Hackney, Adrian Hope, Alison Kinnaird, Grant McCaig, Roger Millar, Grainne Morton, Keiko Mukaide, Allan Pollok-Morris, Hugo Rittson Thomas and Andrea Walsh.

For more information please visit: The Fleming Collection

 

 

 

Exhibitions Minneapolis. Smarter Living: 2,000-Watt Society. The Goldstein Museum of Design. The Curated Object

courtesy of the GoldStein Museum of Design

 

courtesy of the Goldstein Museum of Design

 

Smarter Living: 2,000-Watt Society 

January 17 – March 1, 2012 

In 2008, the citizens of Zurich approved a referendum to reduce energy consumption by each person from the current 6,500 watts to 2,000 watts by 2050. The exhibition illustrates the goal and the current status of the path to sustainable construction and demonstrates the diverse range of possible solutions. This exhibition gives architects, investors, and contractors the courage and desire to continue on this path and to invite them to accept the challenge of a 2,000-watt society. 

Why a 2,000-Watt Society? On global average, a person needs 17,500 kilowatt-hours a year, corresponding to a continuous requirement of 2,000 watts. In Switzerland, the figure is three times higher, i.e., 6,000 watts per person, and in the U.S. the figure is currently approximately 6 times higher at 12,000 watts. People in some Asian and African countries only need fractions of that amount. The vision of a 2,000-watt society enables a balance between industrialized and developing countries, thus making it possible for all people to enjoy a good standard of living. 

Is a 2,000-Watt Society Feasible? The 2,000-watt society is embodied in the City of Zurich’s constitution as a guiding concept and mandate. The objective of this vision is that we handle our planet's limited resources with greater care and no longer live at the expense of future generations. The path toward the 2,000-watt society will affect many aspects of life. Today, buildings account for over 40 percent of energy consumption and CO2 emissions. That must change dramatically. What we plan today must still be in place fifty years from now. 

The exhibition features 18 projects that illustrate different approaches to sustainable architecture with complex technical solutions and clever references to traditional construction methods in small and large projects, retrofitting old housing stock, and new urban developments. What is being done today needs to be part of the future. In Switzerland, “Green” is no longer an option, it’s the law! 

For more information please visit: The Goldstein Museum of Design 

 

Exhibitions Chicago. POEMS AND PICTURES: A RENAISSANCE IN THE ART OF THE BOOK (1946 – 1981). Columbia College Chicago’s Center for Book and Paper Arts. The Curated Object

First Name of Rita Hayworth's Theory, 1971. Ron Padgett and George Schneeman 

 

Joe Brainard, Comics #1 and #2, C Press and Boke, 1964/66 (Courtesy the Poetry Collection, University at Buffalo) 

 

POEMS & PICTURES: A RENAISSANCE IN THE ART OF THE BOOK (1946 – 198

February 9 – April 7, 2012

“Poems and Pictures” features books, paintings, collages, periodicals, and ephemera that explore fundamental relationships between: form and content; seeing and reading; writing and drawing; and the extraordinary occasions when these things and activities fuse. This exhibition was previously mounted at the New York Center for the Book, among other venues.

Poets, artists and collaborators include Wallace Berman, Joe Brainard, Robert Creeley, Jim Dine, Johanna Drucker, Philip Guston, Joanne Kyger, Emily McVarish, Karen Randall, Larry Rivers and George Schneeman. Together they share the common objective of bringing bold new writing into print where commercial presses fear to tread, and to do so with flair, imagination and intelligence.

For more information please visit: www.colum.edu/bookandpaper 

 

 

Exhibitions NYC. ANTONIO PIO SARACINO: SECOND NATURE. BOSI Contemporary Gallery. The Curated Object

Clover Chair, courtesy of Antonio Pio Saracino.

courtesy of Antonio Pio Saracino.

courtesy of Antonio Pio Saracino.

courtesy of Antonio Pio Saracino.

courtesy of Antonio Pio Saracino.

courtesy of Antonio Pio Saracino.

courtesy of Antonio Pio Saracino.

courtesy of Antonio Pio Saracino.

courtesy of Antonio Pio Saracino.

courtesy of Antonio Pio Saracino.

courtesy of Antonio Pio Saracino.

ANTONIO PIO SARACINO: SECOND NATURE

through March 2, 2011

by Lisa Vincenti

Young Italian architect and designer Antonio Pio Saracino has earned a place at the design-art table. His furniture designs have been presented at galleries around the world and earned him numerous awards. In his latest show, “Second Nature,” 10 pieces will be presented and explore how the man-made morphs into a natural element in the created world.

“Design is the place between humans and nature,” muses Saracino, who was born in 1976 in southern Italy. His furniture designs are influenced by mythology and by natural forms, such as plants, bones, animal horns, crystals and microscopic element.

“My work highlights some aspects that will never be affected by technology, in particular the quest for the most important things: sensitivity, poetry, our feelings,” says Saracino, who splits his time between New York City and Rome. “I do not try to glorify or stigmatize technology, but rather [use it] to create emotion-provoking objects.”

The drama of his designs are immediately apparent. His limited-edition Cervo Chair, 2010, of formed strips of plywood, is modeled on the timid dear with its antler- and rib-like profile. The Blossom Chair, 2010, also crafted from formed plywood, consists of an elastic flexible seat and a back that curl toward each other like the pedals of a flower.

“Second Nature” moves as far back in time to Greek philosopher Aristotle and makes reference to objects that do not belong in nature, yet, through habitual use, these “foreign” elements transform to the  natural within the context of the human environment. Throughout human history nature has propelled many leading thinkers to investigate and explore the parallel between nature and human design – the root of Sareceno's recent work. In the spirit of this complex relationship, “Second Nature” intends to create an environment that unites the natural world with spirit and imagination, and manifests itself through influential seating and furniture for a brave new world.

Saracino received his master's degree cum laude at the University of Architecture La Sapienza in Rome and soon after the accolades began rolling in. Between 2007 and 2008, Saracino won Agorafolly art competition in Brussels, to create a work celebrating the 50th anniversary of the European Unity. Also in 2007, he received the American Architecture Award from the Chicago Museum of Architecture. Saracino, in 2011, was  chosen as one of the Top Ten Italian Architects under 36 by New Italian Blood, an organization that promotes competitions and prizes in the areas architecture, landscape, design and visual arts.

“An object is half instrument and half part of an imagination we have to build in the theater of everyday life,” the designer says.

For more information please visit: BOSI Contemporary Gallery or  http://www.antoniopiosaracino.com/

MAJOR Event Los Angeles. Catching the Carnivalesque: A Preview of.... "CELEBRATE: THE WEARABLE" Fundraiser for the Architecture + Design Museum, Los Angeles (A+D) March 10, 2012. The Curated Object

Richard Meier:

Title:  “I SWEAR”, produced in 2005, Limited edition of 25, this is #19.

Richard Meier created this special collage which was printed onto the lining fabric of this limited edition, signed linen blazer. Richard Meier stated: “I thought that it might make us think about jackets in a new way. It seemed that the exterior of the jacket was not that bad, and no one had given much thought to the interior.“

BIO: Richard Meier received his architectural training at Cornell University and established his practice in New York City in 1963. Since that time his international practice has encompassed major civic commissions such as courthouses and city halls in the United States and Europe; museums, corporate headquarters and housing and private residences all over the world.

Mr. Meier has received the highest honors in the field including the Pritzker Prize for Architecture, the Gold Medal from both the American Institute of Architects and the Royal Institute of British Architects, as well as the Praemium Imperiale from the Japan Art Association. His most well-known projects include the acclaimed Getty Center in Los Angeles; the High Museum in Atlanta; the Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art; and the Jubilee Church in Rome.  His numerous design awards include 30 National AIA Honor Awards and 54 Regional AIA Design Awards.

 

John Baldessari for Gelila Couture:

Designed by Gelila Assefa Puck, this couture belt embodies wearable art while paying homage to American conceptual artist John Baldessari. For this piece, Gelila had fabric printed with a pattern borrowed from Baldessari’s “Two Boats” from the print portfolio “Hegel’s Cellar” (1986, photogravure and aquatint on paper). 

GELILA'S BIO: Gelila Assefa Puck is an internationally known fashion designer, and an award-winning international philanthropist who was born and schooled in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.  Her life story and business success has been featured on CNN and in major fashion and business publications worldwide. She is based in Southern California where she lives with her husband and their two young sons. 

Gelila’s designs are rooted in her East African heritage.   As a young child in Addis Ababa, Gelila was exposed to the city’s open markets and bazaars to extraordinary cloths and fabrics from all over Africa – and to the extraordinary weavers of Africa who created distinctive, dramatic patterns, each unique to a tribe or nation somewhere on the Continent.   That rich heritage of fabric and pattern of the African past is evident in Gelila’s thoroughly contemporary couture clothing designs today.

 

Eric Corey Freed 

David Hertz

 

 WHY Architects

Eric Kahn

Mehrdad Yazdani

Robert A.M. Stern

 

Catching the Carnivalesque: A Preview of.... "CELEBRATE: THE WEARABLE" Fundraiser for the Architecture + Design Museum, Los Angeles (A+D) March 10, 2012

 

Many moons ago someone once confided to me that there are design "events" and then there are the "occasions that mattered."  Translated: They are those occasions that conjure a deep-seated desire to let your guard down, explore and just bathe in the moonlight of creativity. This event, ladies and gentlemen, promises to be such as occasion. The design world will be talking about it months later. - J. Molina

Tix on sale now:  http://www.aplusd.org/celebrate2012

 

And check online for "Buy It Now" portion of auction!

 

The Architecture + Design Museum, Los Angeles (A+D) is celebrating its eleventh year of cutting edge exhibitions and progressive architecture and design programming at its annual fundraiser, this year titled "CELEBRATE: THE WEARABLE." From 7:00-11:00pm on Saturday, March 10, 2012, a salon style runway event at A+D (6032 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA, across the street from LACMA) will feature wearable artworks provided by top talent from the realms of architecture, design, fashion, graphic, product, industrial and the visual arts. On display on live models, the donated pieces will be auctioned that evening and available for sale through an advance online "Buy It Now" feature with all proceeds benefiting the Museum. 

Key participants providing wearable pieces include architecture / furniture / fashion designer Karim Rashid; fashion designers Trina Turk, John Baldessari for Gelila Couture, and JC de Castelbajac; architects Richard A.M. Stern and Richard Meier; street artist Chase; and culinary artist Wolfgang Puck. Also providing Wearables: architects David Hertz, Marmol Radziner, organic architect/author/speaker Eric Corey Freed, and architect / interior designer James Magni; landscape architect Mia Lehrer; L.A. milliner Louise Green; l.a. Eyeworks; and L.A. design house Sol Angeles.

Known for his own embellished fashion style and love of car design, author, showman and pop-culture humorist Charles Phoenix will host the evening.

The concept of the Wearables is to explore the commonalities between structure, form and the body with no limits to design or materials. "We cannot wait to see what our design leaders and creative thinkers from around the world bring to this," states Museum Executive Director Tibbie Dunbar. "We are so fortunate to have the kind of participation that will help us continue to offer the region high-quality exhibitions and events that explore and celebrate how design touches our daily lives." Wearables will include clothing, jewelry, shoes, hats, and more...

Sponsors for "CELEBRATE: THE WEARABLE" include HBO, Room & Board, Bentley Prince Street, City National Bank, Escalante Architects, Frinier LLC, Gensler, Fentress Architects, Edward Cella Art+Architecture, James Perse Furniture Collection and SILESTONE by Cosentino. Room & Board will provide event design services and furnishings. Bar compliments of PAMA and IZZE.

******

Wearable Artists

Architects and Designers:

Eric Kahn - Architect 

Kanner Architects

Karim Rashid - Architectural, Furniture and Fashion Designer

Neil Denari - Architect

Steven Ehrlich - Architect 

Electroland - Installations & Exhibits Designers

Fitzsu - Modern Accessories Purveyor

Frederick Fisher - Architect

Eric Corey Freed - Architect

David Hertz - Architect

Gulla Jonsdottir - Restaurant and Hotel Designer

Eric Kahn - Architect 

Karten Design - Industrial Designer

Lisa Krohn - Designer 

Mia Lehrer - Landscape Architect

James Magni - Architect and Interior Designer 

Marmol Radziner - Architects 

Richard Meier - Architect 

Dan Meis - Architect 

Minarc - Architect 

Gary Paige - Architect 

Michael Palladino - Architect 

Predock Frane - Architect 

Robert A.M. Stern Architects

Sussman Prejza - Graphic Designers 

Paola Tassara - Architect

wHY Architecture

Mehrdad Yazdani - Architect

 

Fashion Designers:

John Baldessari for Gelila Couture

Rory Beca - Fashion Designer 

JC de Castelbajac - Fashion Designer 

Diana Eng - Fashion Designer

Trina Turk - Fashion Designer 

Heather Goldberg - Fashion Designer 

Louise Green - Milliner 

L.a. Eyeworks - Eyeglass Designers

Syuzi Pakchyan - Fashion Designer

Shadowplay - Jewelry Design

Stewart+Brown - Organic Fashion Designers

Valeri Pobega - Fashion Designer

 

Visual Artists:

Chase - Artist 

Andre Miripolsky - Artist 

Elsa Mora - Artist

Rebecca Niederlander - Artist

 

Culinary Artists:

Wolfgang Puck

 

 

Exhibitions NYC. Invocations for the Vessel: The Après Veronese Collection. Cleto Munari and GD Cucina Showroom, NYC. The Curated Object

Cleto Munari

 

Paolo Portoghesi

 

David Palterer

Mimmo Paladino

 

Anonimo  (Anonimo is the design by the anonymous glassblower on Murano who came up with the original vase design so many hundreds of years ago. Anonimo is Italian for anonymous because we really don’t know who designed that very first vase that Veronese put in his painting.)

 

Massimiliano Fuksas

 

Carlo Nason

 

Matteo Thun

 

Borek Sipek

 

Alessandro Mendini

 

Mario Botta

 

Richard Meier

 

Cleto Munari

 

Invocations for the Vessel: The Après Veronese Collection 

By Anastasia Kruglyashova

Time transcends and tradition exists beyond its given time period, as renowned Italian avant-garde glass design impresario Cleto Munari has proved by inviting a group of international architects and artists to recreate a medieval glass vase in the contemporary historical frame. The delicately hand-blown transparent vase – a refined hallmark of the enigmatic and vibrant Renaissance glass blowing tradition of the Venetian island of Murano (one of the only glass-making movements to be kept and retained throughout the Middle Ages) – had once mysteriously found its way into the narrative of the XVI-century religious painting by the Venetian artist Paolo Veronese. 

 “The vase is the most significant one in the Murano tradition. It appears in a famous painting entitled “The Annunciation”, displayed at the Accademia galleries in Venice, Italy”, Munari explains. “Every great artist has always revisited this mythical vase. I did the same. I thought it would be interesting to involve a group of artist friends to reshape this artifact. Mimmo Paladino, Sandro Chia, Alessandro Mendini [were among them]. Reimagining this vase brought a completely new dimension [into contemporary design concept] because it acquires a new, fresh approach.”    

A true marvel at the time, the vase from the Veronese painting has inspired glass making artists and artisans throughout subsequent centuries ever since: Milanese lawyer Paolo Venini and antiques dealer Giacomo Cappelin were among them, having replicated the vase in 1921 and titled it “Veronese” in honor of the Venetian painter, thus marking the birth of the original concept of ‘glass design’. 

Ninety years later, Cleto Munari and a group of his contemporaries continue the tradition by endowing the vase with various new interpretations – experimenting with color and lucidity and utilizing today’s innovative glassmaking technologies. In the end, a versatile and vibrant collection of blown-glass masterpieces is produced possessing a unified historical silhouette, yet each one is uniquely personal, reflecting its creators’ inspirations and revealing the aesthetic vision of each one of them. 

“The choice [of participating artists] was intentional because I only chose artists I trust immensely such as, for instance, Richard Meier and Boris Sipek”, Munari says. 

According to the artist, regardless of how advanced new design technologies have become allowing for much experimentation, several integral elements vital to the creative process should always remain unchanged. “Besides experimentation there is a deep passion that drives me for...36 hours a day...to develop new ideas in the field of design”, Munari adds. “The creative process should involve a great passion and a sharp curiosity because these are two fundamental elements to be creative in design.”       

(Participating in the Après Veronese Collection are architects Mario Botta, Massimiliano Fuksas, Richard Meier, Alessandro Mendini, David Palterer, Paolo Portoghesi, Borek Sipek, Matteo Thun and artists Carlo Nason, Mimmo Paladino, and Cleto Munari.)  

For more information please visit: Cleto Munari in Italy www.cletomunari.com and the GD Cucine Showroom 

 

 

 

 

Exhibitions Minneapolis. Character in Costume: A Jack Edwards Retrospective. The Goldstein Museum of Design. The Curated Object

Costume drawing for The Misenthrope, The Guthrie Theater 1987, Jack Edwards

 

Costume design for The Misenthrope worn by Christine Lagerfeld, The Guthrie Theater 1987, Jack Edwards

 

 

Character in Costume: A Jack Edwards Retrospective 

January 21 – May 20, 2012 

Character & Costume: A Jack Edwards Retrospective highlights Edwards’ remarkable 50 year career from the Twin Cities, to New York City, to Los Angeles and Santa Fe. Edwards’ diverse career focuses on bringing characters to life through his detail oriented work. He creates spectacular costumes that engage viewers and allow them to understand the nuances of each character. This exhibition will feature dozens of refined costume sketches, photographs, press clippings, playbills, reviews, and 30 actual costumes designed by Edwards. 

Edwards’ career began with a trip to New York City with five dollars in his pocket. In the 1950’s and 1960’s Edwards created one-of-a-kind commissioned opera gowns for stars such as Mildred Miller and Martina Arroya. Edwards also worked as Sir Cecil Beaton's assistant on the only musical Katherine Hepburn ever tackled entitled “Coco,” which was the story of Coco Chanel. Edwards had the privilege of conducting fittings with Hepburn and Chanel, under Sir Cecil's direction. After running the costume workroom for the Santa Fe Opera, Edwards moved on to Los Angeles, and worked as Bob Mackie’s assistant for one season of the Carol Burnett Show. 

Back in the Twin Cities, Edwards worked as the costume director at the Guthrie Theater for almost 20 years, working with every director from Sir Tyrone Guthrie to Joe Dowling, the current director. For twelve years, Edwards brought children’s stories to life with his magnificent designs for the Dayton’s (and Marshall Field’s) 8th floor Christmas extravaganza, and co-creator of the Holidazzle Parade. Edwards also designed stage costumes for Lorie Line and her Pop Orchestra, and for a Prince tour in the early nineties titled Ulysses. 

Edwards has kept one true constant: engaging in design processes that bring unique creations to life. His designs emerge from paper to the stage and exemplify his ability to imagine worlds that have not yet been realized. 

Exhibition Guest Curators 

Tim Carroll, Installation Artist 

Liseli Polivka, Costume Director 

Gabriel Backlund, Designer 

For more information please visit: The Goldstein Museum of Design

 

Exhibitions Cordoba. EUGENIA SCAVINO: Venetian Masks & GABRIELA PEREZ GUAITA. MARIA ELENA KRAVETZ GALLERY. The Curated Object

 Scavino

 

Pérez Guaita

Eugenia Scavino & Gabriela Perez Guaita

December 27-February 24, 2012

Gabriela Perez Guaita, sculptor with a renowned background in her country and abroad, surprises us with a collection of reliefs specially created for this exhibition. Iron, engraving, patinas sober images of poetry, will dialogue from the walls with the colorful exuberance of venetian masks created by Eugenia Scavino young painter who will present these unique sculptures bringing to present a carnival with reminiscences of the Commedia dell 'Arte.

GABRIELA PEREZ GUAITA lives and works in Cordoba, Argentina. She is teacher and researcher at the National University of Cordoba 2011.  Outstanding exhibitions: Sala Molina Rosa. Córdoba/2009- Project "Something remains" Research and Production Center in Arte Cordoba / Project "Identity" Cripta Jesuítica / Project "Diagonal" Cabildo Histórico de Córdoba / Tribute to Osvaldo Guayasamin - Guayasamin Foundation House Havana - Cuba / Maria Elena Kravetz Gallery "Just to use" / 2008 - Mural at the Faculty of Philosophy and Humanities .- UNC / Maria Elena Kravetz Gallery, solo show - Cordoba Argentina /Show  "SIGNS" CEPIA / "Looks" Culture Británica/2007- CARAFFA-Collective exhibition Museum / Arytuca Foundation, San Rafael Mendoza / International Exhibition of Sculpture, Objects and Functional SOFA Chicago / XXIX  Award Salon  Córdoba City Object Art  - Direction of Culture of the Municipality of Córdoba / 2006 - Winner of the competition for the Monument  of St. Ignatius of Loyola, organized by the Catholic University of Córdoba / 2005 - 2004 – 2003  International Exhibition of sculpture, objects and functional art SOFA Chicago / International Exhibition of sculpture, objects and functional art SOFA Palm Beach / 2004  - 2003  International Exhibition of sculpture, objects and functional art SOFA New York /  Art  Miami

 

EUGENIA SCAVINO: Venetian Masks

The mask integrates cultures, places and eras. It is a bond between the man and the other being. It is “the other identity”. The death cult, the mommies, the animal’s resemblance, the jokes, the customs, the “hide and seek” and the proximity to the rituals and myths are related to the masks. We present decorative masks, some of them with a modern design and adapted to the carnival parades, some others recreate the Commedia dell’ arte characters. These masks are artistically conceived and generate aesthetic emotions. They raise joy, mystery and attraction to the intrinsic beauty and at the same time they evoke a certain symbolism. They are crafted according to an ancient tradition dated to 1100 combining a majestic elegance with creativity and fantasy.

For more information please visit: www.mariaelenakravetzgallery.com or http://www.granhotelvictoria.com.ar

 

 

 

 

Exhibitions NYC. Duncan Phyfe: Master Cabinetmaker in New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Curated Object

D. Phyfe & Sons
Grecian Bedstead, 1841
Rosewood veneer; secondary woods: ash, white pine
42 x 95–1/2 x 61–1/4 in. (without casters)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Purchase, Leo and Frances Bretter Gift, 2006 (2006.399a-i)Image: © The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

 

Attributed to Duncan Phyfe
Secrétaire à abattant, 1820–25
Rosewood and kingwood veneers, ebonized mahogany, gilded gesso and vert antique, gilded brass, looking-glass plate, marble; secondary woods: mahogany, white pine, yellow poplar, 60 x 40 x 19 in., Private collection Image: © The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

 

 

Duncan Phyfe: Master Cabinetmaker in New York

December 20, 2011–May 6, 2012 

Renowned in his lifetime for his elegant designs and superior craftsmanship, Duncan Phyfe (1770–1854) remains to this day America’s most famous cabinetmaker. Opening December 20 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the exhibition Duncan Phyfe: Master Cabinetmaker in New York—the first retrospective on Phyfe in 90 years—will serve to re-introduce this artistic and influential master craftsman to a contemporary audience. On view will be furniture produced in Phyfe’s Fulton Street workshops that once stood on the site of the former World Trade Center. The full chronological sweep of his long and distinguished career will be featured, including examples of his best-known furniture from the period 1805-20, which was influenced heavily by early English Regency design; his more opulent, monumental, and archaeologically correct Grecian style of the late 1810s and 1820s, sometimes referred to as American Empire; and his sleek, minimalist late work of the 1830s and 1840s known as the Grecian Plain style, based largely on French Restauration furniture design. 

The exhibition is made possible by Karen H. Bechtel. 

Additional support is provided by The Henry Luce Foundation, Dr. and Mrs. Paul Cushman, the Americana Foundation, Mr. Robert L. Froelich, and Mr. Philip Holzer. 

It was organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. 

The exhibition brings together nearly 100 works from private and public collections throughout the United States. Highlights of the exhibition include some never-before-seen documented masterpieces and furniture that has descended directly in the Phyfe family, as well as the master cabinetmaker’s own chest of woodworking tools. 

Exhibition Overview 
Organized chronologically, the exhibition will present the life and work of the noted early 19th-century New York City cabinetmaker Duncan Phyfe through furniture, drawings, documents, personal possessions, and furniture. Portraits of his clients and contemporary depictions of New York City street scenes and domestic interiors will provide a glimpse into Phyfe’s milieu. 

A poor immigrant when he arrived in America in the early 1780s from his native Scotland, Phyfe acquired wealth and fame through hard work and exceptional talent both as a craftsman and a businessman. Throughout the first half of the 19th century he made neoclassical furniture for the social and mercantile elite of New York, Philadelphia, and the American South. His personal style, characterized by superior proportions, balance, symmetry, and restraint, became the local style for at least two generations in New York. Many apprentices and journeymen exposed to this distinctive style by serving a stint in the Phyfe shop or by copying the master cabinetmaker’s designs helped to create and sustain this local school of cabinetmaking. Demand for Phyfe’s work reached its peak around 1815–1820, when he was in such demand that he was referred the “United States rage.” He remained the dominant figure in his trade into the 1840s and his eventual retirement in 1847 at the age of 77. The fires of Phyfe’s fame were briefly extinguished after his passing in 1854, but rekindled in the early 1900s by a passionate amateur historian, who was himself once a New York cabinetmaker, and a coterie of scholars, collectors, and connoisseurs who lionized Phyfe once again. This renewed fame culminated in the first-ever monographic exhibition held in an art museum on the work of a single cabinetmaker, Furniture from the Workshop of Duncan Phyfe, which opened at the Metropolitan in November of 1922. 

Because Phyfe’s furniture was seldom signed, yet was widely imitated, it is sometimes difficult to determine with accuracy which works he actually made. The exhibition breaks new ground by matching rare bills of sale and similar documents with furniture whose history of ownership is known, thereby codifying his style over time. 

A video featuring some of the techniques used in the Phyfe workshop to create his furniture masterpieces, including relief carving and turning will be shown within the exhibition. 

Publication and Related Programs 
An illustrated catalogue by Peter M. Kenney, Michael K. Brown, Frances F. Bretter, and Matthew A. Thurlow will accompany the exhibition. Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art and distributed by Yale University Press, the book will be sold in the Museum’s book shops. 

The exhibition catalogue is made possible by The William Cullen Bryant Fellows of the American Wing. 

A variety of education programs will be offered, including a Sunday at the Met on January 22 that examines Phyfe in the context of contemporary furniture artists and craftsmen; exhibition tours; a special Friday afternoon gallery workshop focused on craftsmanship, featuring short discussions with three Metropolitan Museum furniture conservators; and an interactive teacher workshop on March 10. Unless otherwise noted, programs are free with Museum admission. 

The exhibition is organized by Peter M. Kenny, Ruth Bigelow Wriston Curator of American Decorative Arts and Administrator of the American Wing, and Michael Brown, Curator of American Decorative Arts at Bayou Bend, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Exhibition design at the Metropolitan is by Michael Langley, Exhibition Design Manager; lighting is by Clint Ross Coller and Richard Lichte, Lighting Design Managers; and graphics are by Sue Koch, Graphic Design Manager, all of the Museum’s Design Department. 

Following its presentation at the Metropolitan Museum, the exhibition will be shown at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. 

For more information please visit: The Metropolitan Museum of Art 

Books. YOSHITOMO NARA: THE COMPLETE WORKS. (Chronicle Books) The Curated Object

 

All photos are from Yoshitomo Nara: The Complete Works, By Yoshitomo Nara, Published by Chronicle Books, 2011

 

 

Walk On, 2000, Sculpture

No Fun! (In the Floating World), 1999 Edition

 

Romantic Catastrophe, 1988, Painting

YOSHITOMO NARA: THE COMPLETE WORKS. (Chronicle Books, 800 pages), $250

Review by JoAnn Greco 

Gorgeously printed and packaged — in a slip case, with two fabric-covered volumes plus a limited edition tote bag — this release is unremitting eye candy for fans of Japan's premier pop artist. Yoshitomo Nara's eerily wide-eyed characters have become iconic, staring out from mugs, stationery, and toys. This book moves Nara into a higher realm, offering an extensive survey of the multitude of media in which the artist works, from paintings to sculpture to photography, and providing illuminating commentary from his contemporaries, including novelist Banana Yoshimoto, photographer Hiroshi Sugito and fellow pop icon, the equally prolific Takashi Murakami.

 "His work attracts many people because they recognize their precious inner solitude with in," writes Yoshimoto in the very first essay. Known for his fondness for round-faced children, often with a grumpy mien, and Disneyish animals, Nara uses his kawaii ultra cute) characters to address the alienation of modern society. As with other contemporary Japanese artists, isolation, rebellion and, significantly, pop culture (especially music) are running themes.

But, also like other modern artists from the Land of the Rising Sun, Nara never strays far from his Japaneseness. That can be evidenced, of course, in his fondness for using the stylings of anime. But it's also there, charmingly adept, in a series of limited edition, late-1990s illustrations that may homage to traditional ukiyo-e woodcuts. "No Nukes (in the Floating World)," one is titled; "What's Going On (in the Floating World), asks another, all of them using the phrase for the mysterious and slightly illicit entertainments of geisha and kabuki.

Much has been written about the Japanese propensity for the idealized child — it usually stems around ideas of helplessness and passivity. Whether you subscribe to such notions or not, Nara's work will surely make you stop and think.  Quietly provocative, demurely unsettling. It's all here, staring you in the face.

For more information please visit: Chronicle Books

 

Books. My Little Paris, by Amandine Pechiodat and Anne-Flore Brunet, with translation by Catherine Taret and illustrations by Kanako Kuno. Hachette Livre Editions du Chene. The Curated Object

 

 

 

 

 

My Little Paris

by Amandine Pechiodat and Anne-Flore Brunet, with translation by Catherine Taret and illustrations by Kanako Kuno. (Hachette Livre Editions du Chene, 156 pages)

Review by JoAnn Greco

As charmingly illustrated as the eponymous blog that inspires it, this compact covetable is a terrific stocking stuffer for all of the lovers of art and design, fashion and interiors on your list. Arranged as an extensive to-do list for those who can't get enough of the City of Light, the book begins with a set of extra challenges for those in a rut. They range from "Go the 'white dinner' in black" to "Walk down Avenue Montaigne wearing nothing but your trench."

But, after that, things get serious — sort of. Paying a stop at Oscar Wilde's former hotel of choice, the authors tell us that those in the know can now rent the underground pool at the recently redesigned L'Hotel for their own private use. Le skinny dip, anyone? 

If you'd like to keep the literary fires burning, there's a entry on Le Club des Poetes, where readings and soirees are held several evenings during the week. Bring out the black turtlenecks and Gauloises! A different kind of artistic encounter up your alley? Then make your way over to a certain phone booth and wait (and then, most likely, wait some more) for French conceptual artist Sophie Calle to call. Oooh la la.

There's more, lots more. Where to thread your eyebrows, have copies made of your favorite but ruined clothes and shoes, get the best massages, and eat the best jambon. Why, you can even dream up your own cocktail. If you like the result, the bartender names it after you and adds it to the menu. Pour moi: anything with Grand Marnier sounds about right. . . .  — JoAnn Greco

For more information and to purchase please visit: ACC Distribution 

Exhibitions Toledo. Small Worlds. The Toledo Museum of Art. The Curated Object

Lori Nix (American, born 1969), Library from The City series. Chromogenic print, 2006. Courtesy of the artist © Lori Nix

Joe Fig, Jasper Johns 1963. Wood, polymer clay, oil, acrylic paint, metal, plastic, paper, canvas, fabric, and pencil, 2008. Courtesy of the artist and Cristin Tierney Gallery © Joe Fig 

 

Small Worlds

November 18-March 25, 2012 

The Toledo Museum of Art challenges us to look at the world from new perspectives through its Small Worlds exhibition on view Nov. 18, 2011–March 25, 2012.

Five contemporary artists in the exhibition offer engaging works that create an intimate space or environment or show scenes which are familiar but perhaps slightly askew.

Intricate and intriguing, the drawings, relief paintings, photography and sculpture explore the realms of the home, the studio, the neighborhood, the city and the natural world, said Amy Gilman, curator of contemporary art, associate director of the Museum and organizer of the exhibition.

“The artists encourage the viewer to consider space and perspective in different ways,” said Gilman. “We may feel oversized when peering at Gregory Euclide’s miniature ecosystems, yet small and disoriented when we are surrounded by the video installation by Tabaimo.”

 Tabaimo, who represented Japan at the 2011 Venice Biennale, is one of her homeland’s leading young artists. Her surreal, technologically sophisticated video installations of hand-drawn animation reference the aesthetic of traditional ukiyo-e woodblock prints of the 18th and 19th centuries and the modern phenomenon of Japanese anime cartoons. Her installation danDAN, shown at its full size for the first time in the United States, provides the experience of being in a home where the rooms shift, the walls become the ceiling and reality is turned upside-down.

Visitors will walk through Gregory Euclide’s new site-specific work, Take it with You-Toledo, to enter the Canaday Gallery, where approximately 40 “small worlds” are rendered in various media. Euclide’s installation incorporates sticks, dirt, wooden creates and other recycled items found at the Museum and its environs to create miniature worlds viewed through peep holes in a structure that cascades from the second floor gallery area to the Museum’s first floor.

Charles Kanwischer’s graphite drawings are uncannily familiar. For this exhibition, the northwest Ohio resident and Bowling Green State University School of Art faculty member created 11 new works depicting houses within a one-mile radius of the Museum.

Rich in detail, the dioramas of Joe Fig’s artist studios and Lori Nix’s photographs of post-apocalyptic scenes she created in miniature are breathtaking in their realism.

There’s also a fully functional, 65-square-foot house on the terrace of the Museum on Monroe Street that is part of the exhibition. The smallest home designed by Jay Shafer of the Tumbleweed Tiny House Company, the extra-efficient “XS” house illustrates the current trend of downsizing. Community partners The Andersons and The Lathrop Company donated materials, labor and space to build the Tumbleweed Tiny House, which features a living room with built-in desk and couch, a kitchenette and a loft bedroom big enough for a queen-size mattress.

Admission to the Museum and Small Worlds is free.

A print catalog in the form of a small box containing a fold-out map, mini book and illustrated check list of works of art in the exhibition, is available for purchase. An online catalog accessed through QR codes in the book enables exploration of the exhibition on a website laid out like a world map. Searching the map lets visitors obtain artist information and additional multi-media content. The online catalog is also accessible through the Museum’s website.

The Small Worlds exhibition is made possible by members of the Toledo Museum of Art and with support in part from the Ohio Arts Council, The Andersons and The Lathrop Company.

For more information please visit: The Toledo Museum of Art

 

 

Exhibitions Paris. The Hôtel particulier. A Parisian ambition. Cite de l'architecture et du Patrimoine - musée des Monuments français. The Curated Object

Courtesy of Cite de l'architecture

THE TOWNHOUSE. A PARISIAN AMBITION October 5, 2011 - February 19, 2012 The townhouse is a key part of Paris’s architectural character and we can trace the story of the capital by studying the development of the townhouse in different districts of the city.

The Parisian town house made its first appearance in the Middle Ages and became more popular during the 16th century when, thanks to François I, Paris again became the political capital where the monarchic state assembled and settled. It was important to be at court, near the King, and, therefore, at Paris. This golden age continued throughout the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. The last of the townhouses were built in the period between the two world wars, marking the end of a long history, but they still exist in today’s 21st century Paris and are very much in use: (museums, embassies, ministries). This exhibition aims to explore this history and takes the visitor on three complementary and illuminating journeys, in a bid to discover the secret of the Parisian town house.

The first section features a small reconstructed townhouse, between garden and courtyard, with different authentically decorated rooms for the visitor to explore. In this way, each visitor can enjoy a sense of familiarity with, and ownership of, the building. The building is not an exact replica of an existing townhouse but aims rather to convey a general impression, an overall picture, with each “external” and internal space specifically designed for educational purposes.

In the second section of the exhibition, the visitor will take a journey through the history of the townhouse, this time organized chronologically, from the Middle Ages to the Belle Epoque. This part of the exhibition, displayed in a vast open space, presents a series of large models of townhouses, specifically chosen for their distinctive characteristics - hôtels de Cluny, Lambert, Thélusson and finally the Palais-Rose (these last two buildings no longer exist - complete with an interactive terminal with wonderfully illustrated information on some 300 town houses.

The last section offers themed reading, examining the Parisian hotel as an architectural object. Three “alcoves” will be devoted to the relationship between the city and the townhouse - a relationship which was both passionate and destructive. A further three sections allow the visitor to explore the external architecture of the townhouse (façades overlooking gardens and courtyards), its interior décor, gardens and finally internal layout. To complete the display, there is a multi-touch screen on the layout and organization of the townhouse, presented in a fun way.

Exhibition designed and produced by la Cité de l’architecture et du patrimoine/Museum for French monuments with support from the National Library of France and the Carnavalet Museum. The exhibition has benefited from sponsorship by Bouygues Bâtiment Ile-de-France and the support of Tricotel.

For more information please visit: Cite de l'architecture et du Patrimoine - musée des Monuments français

Books. Expressions of Innocence and Eloquence: Selections from the Jane Katcher Collection of Americana, Volume II, edited by Jane Katcher, David A. Schorsch and Ruth Wolfe (Yale University Press/Marquand Books, $95). The Curated Object

Flying Fame weathervane, possibly N.Y., ca. 1880–1890. Copper, zinc, traces of original gold leaf, verdigris. 30 x 31 x 12 inches. Courtesy Jane Katcher Collection of Americana. Photography by Gavin Ashworth

 

Tall-case clock, New England, ca. 1830. Decoration attributed to George Robert Lawton Sr. (1813–1885). Scituate, Providence County, R.I., ca. 1883. White pine, 30-hour wooden movement, iron hinges and lock, lead pendulum bob. 85 x 17 ¾ x 9¼ inches. Inscribed on dial: “R. Whiting/Winchester”; Stamped on inside of door: “Mary L. Sprague.”  Courtesy Jane Katcher Collection of Americana. Photography by Gavin Ashworth

 

Dressing table, Eastern Connecticut, circa 1750–1770. Maple and white pine, cast brass handles, old resin-based finish, 30¾ × 33½ × 23⅝ inches  Courtesy Jane Katcher Collection of Americana. Photography by Gavin Ashworth

 

Washington Benevolent Society traveling desk box, probably Mass., 1812. Pine, original iron hinges, iron lock, brass drawer knobs, molded brass oval pull on top, brass escutcheon, original painted decoration, initialed and dated in red paint “W.B.S.” “1812” and “N.L.,” with an engraving of George Washington under glass. 10¼ x 22 x 10¾ inches.  Courtesy Jane Katcher Collection of Americana. Photography by Gavin Ashworth

Infirmary counter, New Lebanon, New York, circa 1830–1840. White pine, turned maple knobs, original red paint, iron hinges, iron lock, wood spin-latch, 30 × 46 × 22½ inches.  Courtesy Jane Katcher Collection of Americana. Photography by Gavin Ashworth

 

 

Probably northern New Jersey or New York, circa 1700–1720. Black walnut, eastern white pine, and red pine, old resin-based finish, cast brass pulls with iron cotter pins, iron lock, iron hinges, 33 × 17½ × 9½ inches.  Courtesy Jane Katcher Collection of Americana. Photography by Gavin Ashworth

 

Expressions of Innocence and Eloquence: Selections from the Jane Katcher Collection of Americana, Volume II, edited by Jane Katcher, David A. Schorsch and Ruth Wolfe (Yale University Press/Marquand Books, $95), 

Review by Joanne Molina

 

“The acquisition of books is by no means a matter of money or expert knowledge alone. Not even both facts together suffice for the establishment of a real library, which is always somewhat impenetrable and at the same time uniquely itself….Dates, place names, formats, previous owners, bindings and the like: all these details must tell him something—not as dry, isolated facts, but as a harmonious whole…” – Walter Benjamin, Illuminations

To pen a volume of authentic importance is similar to creating a collection of a similar disposition. It is an activity where the reciprocity between the objects acquired and the subject who submits herself to them is asymmetrical, but nevertheless rooted in respect and sincere joy.  Half a decade after Jane Katcher’s premiere of Expressions of Innocence and Eloquence (2006), readers will find that her second volume is a journey through one of the most exquisite collections of Americana, its very existence a courageous, captivating snapshot of the social, political and aesthetic realms that create a triptych of the United States. Katcher’s 452-page volume is a monumental achievment and a necessary addition for those truly interested in the life forces that have produced the decorative arts and antiques—as well as the multiethnic and richly textured history - of the United States.

With nearly 100 recent collection acquisitions illustrated with 417 color images, it might have been easier to craft a book that solely resembled an annotated catalog. Instead, in these 20 chapters, 19 writers and scholars have joined Katcher in addressing a spectrum of questions and curiosities regarding several items in the collection with their essays. There is, of course, a catalog at the end of the volume, but one that is beautifully mediated by Katcher’s chapter “Connections,” and followed by a list of auctioneers, dealers and former owners.

As Robert W. Wilkins states so pointedly in this essay, "Innovation and Refinement in Shaker Design: An Analysis of Five Objects" :  “As the highest compliment that can be paid to anything manmade, all too frequently, ‘masterpiece,’ is asserted, with little or no attempt at justification, or to address the begged question, “Why?” What is it about these five pieces that sets them apart from the merely ‘good’ or even from the truly ‘excellent”? How, exactly, do they reflect the inspired genius of their creators? What makes them so very beautiful?”

To answer these questions means more than offering slick imagery coupled with affective commentary—it means a serious but nevertheless entertaining and emotional commitment to understanding objects. As Katcher describes in her introduction, “…Rather [this book] is a sampling that illuminates my new perspective on collecting…. Some of [the authors’ investigations] have unraveled mysteries about the men, women and children who created these works. In other instances, research has provided fresh and captivating accounts of the early American families who first owned the intriguing possessions that led us, often after considerable inquiry, to their front doors.” Each of the three main sections, “Family, Makers, and Interpretations,” offer compelling discussions that rival any imaginary life ascribed to objects by the onslaught of advertising and advertorial pages in the twenty and twenty-first centuries (crafting fictional stories about objects is hardly a new concept).

One of the best examples of this is Robert Shaw’s essay, " Dat So Lee and Her Baskets."  Shaw not only offers the historic and social background that informed the work of Native American basket maker So Lee (who was called “Dubuda” [little willow in her native Washoe] but preferred to be called Louise Keyser after marrying Charles Keyser in 1889). But Shaw doesn’t simply offer biographical details or praise the beauty of her work. He gives details about the modes of cultural production that allowed her work to become visible and popular in the public eye.

Shaw explains how her job as a laundress for Amy Cohen, the wife of the owner of an emporium of men’s clothing, led to the promotion and sale of her work during a time when “museums and wealthy collectors were eagerly gathering examples of Indian craftsmanship, old and new, as artifacts of a vanished age and a vanished race.” With colonization and the mythology of the ‘noble savage’ in the forefront of the American imagination, Cohen developed a marketing strategy for Keyser’s work: a completely fabricated past that played to the affects of consumers and collectors—as if her technical aptitude and authentic personal history weren’t ‘enough.’ According to Shaw, Amy Cohen “claimed that Dat So Lee had been born in 1834, well before whites came to the region and at least 15 years earlier than her actual birth date…. described [her] as a medicine woman and the daughter of the Washoe’s highest chief and further explained that her status as an Indian princess gave the exclusive right to make degikup [baskets.]”   Using excerpts from books, such as The History of Nevada (1913) and the seminal 1904 book Aboriginal American Basketry written by the curator of the Smithsonian’s Division of Ethnology, Shaw also paints a portrait that illuminates how Lee’s work achieved its popularity during the end of the 19^th century—a time when “the conquest of Native America was complete.”  Shaw’s brilliantly written essay reveals what he aptly called Keyer’s “Faustian bargain:” the Janus-face of being Native American in the 19^th and early 20^th centuries and a master craftsperson and artist—a struggle that exists to this day in the cultural imagination.

Another of Shaw’s essays, “A Fame Weathervane,” offers a similar genealogy of the use of the “fame” motif in decorative arts history, but more specifically in reference to the “Flying Fame Weathervane” (circa 1880-90). Robin Jaffee Frank’s essay “ ‘Forget Me Not:’ James H. Gillespie’s Portraits of an African American Couple,” offers an equally profound and important analysis of the connection between art, politics, race and nationalism. Truly, every essay offers a similar evocation of passion, intelligence and reflection.

Expressions of Innocence and Eloquence is a volume that all serious books about the decorative arts should aspire to. Its visual narrative and written cadence create a sentimental journey accompanied by the most necessary of traveling companions: thoughtfulness and critical reflection. 

For more information please visit: The Yale University Press 

Exhibitions Paris. Graphisme et French Touch. Musee des arts decoratifs. The Curated Object

 

 

 

Graphisme et French Touch 
October 11, 2012–28 April 28, 2013

In 1994, Eric Morand, cofounder of the techno label F Communication with DJ Laurent Garnier, declared: ‘We give a French touch to house music’. The term ‘French Touch’ came to designate a movement in French electronic music that rapidly became famous on the international scene and involved all the visual artists – graphic designers, video directors, VJs – involved in this music. Never have graphic design and music been so closely associated as during the 90s and early 2000s. Electronic music invented a veritable visual identity for itself. And often the collaboration of graphic designers with emerging independent labels was shaped by constraints and basic principles: the absence of photo budget, the musicians’ desire to remain anonymous, and the arrival of the Macintosh and its simplicity as a design tool. French labels emerged, such as F Communication, founded by Eric Morand and Laurent Garnier and aided by graphic designer Geneviève Gauckler, who had only just graduated from the Ecole des Arts Décoratifs. The Solid label, founded by Alex Goffer, Etienne de Crécy and Pierre-Michel Levallois, worked with the H5 collective, created the same year, some of whose work – the Super Discount album cover by Etienne de Crecy and the Child video by Alex Goffer – have become emblematic of a whole generation. The Yellow label, created by Alan Hô and Christophe le Friant, alias Bob Sinclar, enlisted the talents of Serge Nicolas. These graphic designers, fresh out of school, broke free from the teaching they had received at college, with its insistent reference to the Polish and Swiss schools and the militant graphic design of the Grapus collective, and looked to Anglo-Saxon post-modernist graphic designers such as Peter Saville, Neville Brody and Designers Republic for their inspiration. M/M accompanied this music scene by creating the fanzine EdEN and designing disk jackets for the Micronautes. Graphically, this was also the heyday of the flyers that publicised each club evening and became a creative showcase for personalities such as La Shampouineuse (Michel Poulain), for Pedro Winter’s soirées at the Folie’s Pigalle, and the photographer Agnés Dahan for the Respect soirées at the Queen. This music-graphic design-video symbiosis was taken to its paroxysm by the group Daft Punk and their studio Daft Art.

For more information please visit: Musee des arts decoratifs

 

Exhibitions Paris. Louis Vuitton Marc Jacobs. Musee des arts decoratifs. The Curated Object

Photo courtesy of Ed Kavishe

Louis Vuitton Marc Jacobs 

March 6, 2012–16 September 16, 2012

This exhibition tells the stories of two men, Louis Vuitton and Marc Jacobs (artistic director of LV), and will highlight their contributions to the fashion world. How did they succeed in taking the pulse of their respective periods to innovate and take an entire industry forward? How did these two personalities, each with their own language, appropriate cultural phenomena and codes to write the history of contemporary fashion? An analysis rather than a retrospective, this parallel Vuitton-Jacobs comparison will provide new insight into the fashion system during its pivotal periods, beginning with its industrialisation and ending with its globalisation, focussing also on its artistic professions and crafts, technological advances, stylistic creations and artistic collaborations. It will also be homecoming for Louis Vuitton, who set up shop only a stone’s throw from the Louvre, the home of his first great patron, Empress Eugénie. Over a century separates Louis Vuitton and Marc Jacobs, but both come together in the excellence of their creativity.

For more information please visit: Musee des arts decoratifs

 

Events NYC. The Metro Show NYC. The Curated Object

Tailor Shop Trade Sign
c. 1875
Allan Katz Americana, Woodbridge CT

 

Charissa Brock
Cobalt, 2011
black bamboo, glass, waxed linen thread
23 x 30 x 4
photography by Jurate Veceraite
Cavin-Morris Gallery, New York NY

 

An important Federal mahogany tall case clock
The impressive case attributed to Wood & Taylor, Florida, New York
c. 1811
92.75 x 20.125 x 9.5
Gary R. Sullivan Antiques, New York NY

 

George Nakashima Rocking Chair, circa 1977, walnut and hickory, 36 1/2 inches high, 24 3/4 inches wide, 29 inches deep.
Lillian Nassau

 

1864 Lincoln and Johnson presidential campaign parade flag recycled from an 1860 John Bell, Constitutional Union Party Flag with 35 stars arranged in a unique variant of a "pentagon" or "heart" medallion
flag: 16.25 x 27
frame size: 26.5 x 37
Jeff Bridgman Antiques, York County PA

 

African-American Pictographic Kirkwood Plantation Desk/Secretary
Mississippi, c. 1870s
yellow pine and "found" wood with over 50 applied relief carvings including Masonic iconography and various tools and utensils from daily plantation life
This desk/secretary represents a remarkable example of African-American vernacular furniture. According to tradition, this desk was made by William "Willie" Howard, the favored slave of Mississippi Governor McWillie and his wife Catherine, of Kirkwood Plantation, Madison County, Mississippi.
65 x 44.5 x 24
Ricco/Maresca Gallery, New York NY





The Metro Show NYC

Wednesday, January 18 and runs through Sunday, January 22, 2012

 

With a robust roster of new and returning exhibitors, the inaugural Metro Show leaps onto the art fair circuit with a group of highly acclaimed fine and decorative arts specialists.  The show opens on Wednesday, January 18 and runs through Sunday, January 22, 2012 at the Metropolitan Pavilion, 125 West 18th Street, in New York's Chelsea arts district.

Among the fair's newcomers in the field of 20th-century fine art and/or design are the New York galleries Barry Friedman Ltd., Cavin-Morris Gallery, Galerie St. Etienne, and Schillay Fine Art; Syracuse-based Dalton's American Decorative Arts offering American Arts and Crafts; Santa Fe's ethnographic specialist William Siegal Gallery; Chicago-based Worthington Gallery, which features European naïves, Der Blaue Reiter, and Bauhaus paintings, drawings and sculpture; the San Francisco-based tribal specialist B.C. Dentan; Joel Cooner Gallery, from Dallas, specialists in oceanic, tribal, pre-Columbian, Asian and ancient artworks; and from Japan,Yukiko Koide Presents, with turn of the century Japanese woodblock prints. 

"We are delighted to welcome these outstanding dealers to the Metro Show," said Show Director Caroline Kerrigan Lerch.  "Their diversity expands upon the core group of original dealers from the former American Antiques Show."  

According to Lerch, among those returning to the fold are: American Primitive Gallery, Jeff R. Bridgman American Antiques, Marcy Burns American Indian Arts, M. Finkel & Daughter, Allan Katz Americana, Garthoeffner Gallery Antiques, Gemini Antiques Ltd., Carl Hammer Gallery, Samuel Herrup Antiques, Hill Gallery, Just Folk, Lillian Nassau LLC, John Molloy Gallery, Steven S. Powers Inc., Ricco/Maresca Gallery, Stella Rubin, Gary R. Sullivan Antiques Inc., and Clifford A. Wallach Tramp Art, Folk Art & Americana.

"The Metro Show reflects the new attitude toward collecting in which a work is valued for its intrinsic qualities and the beauty of its design - not solely for its place in the historical continuum," said Lerch.  "When visitors walk through the entrance, they will see the connections linking historic and contemporary arts and design in all its forms - whether it's pre-Columbian textiles, visionary paintings, Asian art, mid-20th-century studio design, Native American material, anonymous folk art or formal furniture."

With this in mind, The Art Fair Company invited interior designer Anthony Baratta, who is known for his signature look of bold and colorful patterns, to collaborate with video installation artist Sean Capone to create the mise-en-scène for the Metro Show.  "Tony and Sean have been given the edict to create something provocative and unexpected," added Lerch.

In addition, a committee of prominent interior designers and collectors has been formed.  Mario Buatta, Anthony Baratta, Ellie Cullman, Jamie Drake, Maureen Footer, Thomas Jayne, and Miles Redd will co-chair the Metro Show Collectors Circle.  

Opening Night Preview

The Opening Night is Wednesday, January 18 and will begin with a by invitation only VIP Preview from 6 - 7 pm.  The Public Preview will begin at 7 pm.  Tickets for the Public Preview are $75 and will be available online or at the door.  Both previews continue until 9 pm.  

General Admission The show opens to the public on Thursday, January 19. Hours are Thursday, January 19: 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM; Friday, January 20: 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM; Saturday, January 21: 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM; Sunday, January 22: 12 noon - 5:30 pm.  General admission is $15 per person; a multi-day pass is $30 per person.  

About The Art Fair Company The Art Fair Company, founded by Michael Franks, the former COO of dmg world media, and Mark Lyman, Founding Director of the Sculpture Objects & Functional Art Fairs (SOFA), now produces SOFA fairs in Chicago, New York and Santa Fe, the leading contemporary decorative art and design fairs in the world. They also produce The Intuit Outsider and Folk Art Fair, in Chicago and Santa Fe. The company also provides professional promotional and operational support to other art and antique fair producers

For more information, vIsit www.metroshowny.com 

 

Exhibitions Paris. Trompe-l’œil. Imitations, pastiches et autres illusions. Musee des arts decoratifs. The Curated Object

 
Example of wallpaper group type p6m. From The Grammar of Ornament (1856), by Owen Jones. Persian No 2 (plate 45), image #8.

 

Trompe-l’œil. Imitations, pastiches et autres illusions 

Feburary 2, 2012–November 2013

In the Musée des Arts Décoratifs’ Study Gallery the public can discover the wealth of its collections via selections of rarely or never previously shown works from its storerooms, shown for an 18-month period. Trompe-l’oeil, as its name indicates, is meant to trick the eye, and originated in painting, in which the illusion created by a painted object relies heavily on perspective and chiaroscuro. In decorative art, this ‘trickery of the eye’ took very diverse forms. Wallpapers, for instance, proved ideal for this form of expression. From the most modest to the most sumptuous, they all imitate materials: wood, lacquer, tiles, straw, velvet, and even framed pictures. Many imitations were of course done for economic reasons, and in this game of substitutes, one sees that for centuries many materials have been imitated by others: marbled ceramics imitating jasper, glazed ceramics imitating porphyry or gold, paste imitating the diamond, linoleum floorboards, and so on. This game of illusions evolved in the 19^th century, when, historicism oblige, it was not only materials that were imitated but motifs too. Owen Jones’ famous The Grammar of Ornament, like its French equivalent, Albert Racinet’s l’Ornement polychrome, provided numerous medieval and Moorish motifs for 19^th-century creators. 

Fashion was no exception and became the theatre of the most outrageous illusions. In the 18^th and 19^th centuries, wigs, tournures and faux-cul were worn to give false impressions. In the 20^th century, illusion focussed less on form than on the fabric itself, with the appearance of false wears and tears, false pockets, false buttons, etc. Like a treasure hunt traversing centuries and materials, this exhibition invites us into the great game of illusion or the ‘vertigo of imitation’.

For more information please visit: Musee des arts decoratifs

Exhibitions NYC. Collecting Treasures of the Past VII. The Blumka Gallery. The Curated Object

Sitting Angel: An extremely life-like modeled figure of an angel whose mate is in the Bavarian National Museum, this wood-and-gilt sculpture is by the German Baroque sculptor and woodcarver Johann Joseph Christian, who worked in the mid-18th-century in southern Germany.

 

A Small Siculo-Arabic Casket of the 12th Century: With its original linen interior, this caskets' sides are made of sheets of ivory carved with ornate flowers, peacocks, and what are perhaps family crests.

 

Pluto and Proserpina also has an impressive provenance: It was once one of the prized pieces in the collections of the Princes von und zu Liechtenstein, Baron Anselm Salomon de Rothschild (1803-1874), Baron Albert Salomon Anselm de Rothschild (1844-1911), and Baron Dr. Alphonse Maier de Rothschild (1878-1942).

 

*A Highly Important Jeweled and Silver-Gilt Narwhal and Ivory Cup Attributed to Georg Pfründt, Augsburg, 1670-1674: Once in the collection of Baron Nathaniel von Rothschild and exhibited in "The World of Wonder" exhibition at the Walters Art Gallery, this exceptional and exotic cup of carved sea monsters, unicorns, and Native Americans representing the American and European continents, is probably the finest example of similar cups that were avidly collected by German sovereigns.

Collecting Treasures of the Past VII

January 26-February 10, 2012 

 

Anthony Blumka of Blumka Gallery in New York and Florian Eitle-Böhler of the Starnberg, Germany-based Kunsthandlung Julius Böhler announce that "Collecting Treasures of the Past VII," an exhibition of exceptional Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque objects, opens on Thursday, January 26 through Friday, February 10, 2012 at Blumka Gallery, 209 East 72nd Street in New York. This exhibit coincides with Old Masters Week.

With over 80 rare and historically significant objects on view, Blumka and Eitle-Böhler are particularly pleased to present Pluto and Proserpina, by Matthias Steinl, an Imperial Court sculptor in Vienna (1643/44-1727) and one of the greatest ivory carvers of all time. "We consider Pluto and Proserpina to be the most important Baroque ivory to enter the market in the past 50 years," said Anthony Blumka. According to Blumka, there are only six or seven pieces by this artist in existence, and this example is possibly one of the 10 most important Baroque ivories in the world today.

This unique carved ivory depicts the ancient Roman gods Pluto and Proserpina. According to the myth, Pluto, god of the underworld, is enraptured by Proserpina (the daughter of Ceres, the goddess of agriculture and crops, and Jupiter, the god of sky and thunder), and their passionate love story forms the basis for the creation myth of winter. "Art historians around the world have accepted that, indeed, this is a master work by Steinl," added Florian Eitle-Böhler. "Because of this, it is the first time in memory that an object held in dealers' hands was requested by a museum - the Liebieghaus in Frankfurt - where it was on view last year in their exhibition, 'Elfenbein Barocke Pracht Am Wiener Hof.'"

 About Blumka Gallery and Kunsthandlug Julius Böhler

Blumka Gallery and Kunsthandlung Julius Böhler, both founded in the 19th century, are two of the leading firms in the field of European works of art. Over the years, each gallery has played a role in enhancing both private and museum collections across the globe. The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Treasury at the Cloisters in New York, the Bavarian National Museum, and the Louvre are merely a sampling of museums that have acquired important pieces from Blumka and Böhler.

For more information please visit www.blumkagallery.com or www.boehler-art.com.

 

Exhibitions Paris. Le Wall paperLab. Musee des arts decoratifs. The Curated Object

 
Courtesy of A3P

 

Courtesy of A3P

 

Le Wall paperLab 
January 20–May 6, 2012

Following the success of the three 3 previous shows, the Association pour la Promotion du Papier peint (A3P), the Musée des Arts Décoratifs and the publisher Domestic are relaunching the Wallpaper Lab. Five designers and graphic designers were selected to give their vision of wallpaper inspired by a set theme. Akroe, Helmo, Big-Game, Constance Guisset and Leslie David will have their designs shown on the walls of the contemporary department of the museum alongside works in the permanent collection. The Musée des Arts Décoratifs Prize was awarded this year to Constance Guisset. The A3P Prize was awarded to Helmo and will be published by Domestic.