After introducing the CUAP shirt in December of 2014, this month our good friend Sergei Sviatchenko has introduced a new addition to the collection of his Private Classicist label, slowly evolving into a complete range of products created from the roots of his signature Close Up And Private art/style platform. Sergei found another perfect like-minded partner - sharing a sincere passion for modern classics and clean aesthetics - in the Danish accessories specialist Mismo. A company which has been a favorite of ours since we first encountered their beautiful products in 2009, and we have been appreciating their output for years, making it a dream collaboration. A very limited capsule collection of 25 pieces of 2 designs, created by Sergei and Mismo out of one of the most iconic styles by Mismo; the M/S Shopper. The Mismo staple piece was adorned with a photography and a collage artwork in signature Close Up And Private style, applied on an incredible Blue/Black and a Grey/Cuoio version, individually embossed with numbers. We can't wait for more incredible Private Classicist pieces. [ Continue reading ]

Our friend Sergei Sviatchenko from Close up and Private is rocking big time. He collaborated with media artist Noriko Okaku (resulting in this lovely animated collage movie), was announced the Best Dressed Man of Denmark and did a wonderful collaboration London based writer, stylist and creative director Jason Jules, the man behind the blog Garmsville. [ Continue reading ]

Just came across this wonderful project called CLOSE UP AND PRIVATE by artist Sergei Sviatchenko. In this project he's capturing the spirit of modern style, as seen through the subtle shades of the individual. Great inspiration! [ Continue reading ]

Once again our friend Sergei Sviatchenko returns with a very interesting project. After starting Close Up and Private in 2009 as an online art project in which he shared his collage-like photographic vision on style, it quickly rose to fame for both this created aesthetic as Sergei's own impeccable style, which gained him personally a lot of rightful attention. Based on this fundament of Close Up and Private, Sergei now decided to take his endeavors one step further, in a concept which features continuing collaborations with an international rage of heritage brands and skilled craftsmen. With the new project, named Private Classicist, Sergei aims to create a solid range of classic menswear items that verges on pushing the boundaries of current minimalist fashion towards the classic style championed by Sergei himself and his work. [ Continue reading ]

There's a new magazine, and this time not a paper one, but a beautifully designed online publication. Please welcome the first issue of the Swedish online magazine Suit Up or Die. A magazine dedicated to style, sharing 'a look at how fashion, art and aesthetics are being transformed by the online revolution'. A magazine sharing new impressions and ideas, visual, intellectual and spiritual for the ones who knows that to relieve boredom you have to love what you do or do what you love... We like that very much! [ Continue reading ]

Costume National asked Sergei Sviatchenko from Close Up & Private to give his take on the Autumn/Winter '11/'12 collection. The result is "The Beetles News". In a mix of photography and collage the style is inspired on a concert back in 1965 from The Beatles in Milano. An inspiring mix of classic style and minimalism. As Ennio Capasa describes it: "In Sergei's work I see many of Costume National's characteristics: simplicity, attention to detail, pop style and minimalism". Be sure to check the CoNSCIOUS video project as well - pretty amazing! [ Continue reading ]

What is the residual value of an image shared on the internet in today’s volatile visual culture? This fundamental question served as the starting point for our collaboration with contemporary artist and architect Sergei Sviatchenko, known for his pioneering work in collage—a partnership more than ten years in the making. After producing numerous images while working in-house for Atelier Munro over the past three years, we found ourselves questioning: What truly remains of this work once the images are no longer actively used? And what have people actually seen and will even be remembered? To explore this, we invited Sergei to use our publicly available earlier work as the foundation for a new series of art. For which photography and art expert Roderick van der Lee wrote the introductory essay. [ Continue reading ]

We’ve known our friend Sergei Sviatchenko for many years, ever since he first reached out to us when we posted about his Close Up And Private in 2009. Over the years, we’ve stayed in touch via the internet. And despite being close to meeting a few times, we had never actually met in person. However, at the end of last summer, we finally found a great reason to collaborate—and as a result, meet in person for the first time. Over the past few months, we worked together remotely on a project that repurposes three years' worth of publicly available imagery we created, allowing Sergei to give it a second life, by creating new imagery with more lasting power—or at least make it part of his incredible oeuvre—while also marking the beginning of a new chapter for us, once again.

But first, to learn more about the artist (and architect) behind the collage imagery and to provide some context on how he became the person he is today, last Thursday we sat down with Sergei in the Cristel Ballroom Gallery, where we would later that day launch our project in Amsterdam. We discussed the different aspects of his career, which spans many decades and took him from Ukraine to Denmark in 1990. Fast forward to later years, when his career received another enormous boost with the emergence of the blogosphere. All the way to now, at the respectable age of 72, with our friend showing no signs of slowing down. [ Continue reading ]

At the end of October SCHLEBRÜGGE.EDITOR published the first monograph to focus exclusively on the prolific collage output of our friend Sergei Sviatchenko. Edited by Rick Poynor, whose essay provides an engaging critical overview, it gathers Sviatchenko’s most significant work from the past 10 years and shows little seen collages from his early years in Ukraine before he moved in 1990 to live and work in Denmark.

The severe reductiveness of Sviatchenko’s image manipulation sets his collages apart. Works from his long-running 'Less' series consist of only two or three elements floating on a jarringly bright background. The fewer fragments he allows himself to work with, the more crucial the acts of selection, excision and montage become. Depthless backdrops deny his collage constructions a sense of location and push them forward as graphically sculptural objects. The swift cuts that Sviatchenko makes into his source pictures give them angular new outlines that can verge on abstraction. The elegantly designed monograph is illustrated with 165 images, selected to bring out salient themes in Sviatchenko’s continuing development, which has made him one of our favorite collage artists since we discovered his work. [ Continue reading ]

In August of this year our friend Sergei Sviatchenko took his Close Up And Private project, which we've appreciated from the very beginning, to a new level by starting Private Classicist. The new label which roots deeply in the vision created through Close Up And Private aims to create a solid range of classic menswear items that verges on pushing the boundaries of current minimalist fashion towards the classic style championed by Sergei himself and his work by collaborating with an international rage of heritage brands and skilled craftsmen. When Private Classicist was introduced at the last Copenhagen Fashion Week, Sergei created a tie and belt. Last week the third staple piece was released in the form of a limited edition t-shirt marked undeniably with the letters CUAP in kobalt blue or white. Inspired by the shirt worn by Paul McCartney on the cover of the US edition of the HELP album and on the other hand Teruyoshi Hayashida's 'Take Ivy' photo trip through Ivy League universities in 1965, the t-shirt forms another elegant step towards a complete Private Classicist wardrobe. [ Continue reading ]

We have been following the very talented Sergei Sviatchenko, born in Kharkiv, Ukraine, and now based in Denmark, since he stepped into the limelight about five years ago. This starting point was the foundation of Close Up and Private in 2009, Sergei's online art project in which he shared his collage-like photographic vision on style. The project quickly rose to fame due to both the unique aesthetic he created and Sergei’s impeccable personal style.

Building on the foundation of Close Up and Private, Sergei recently decided to take his endeavors a step further with a new concept that features continuing collaborations with an international range of heritage brands and skilled craftsmen. Named Private Classicist, the new project aims to create a solid range of classic menswear items that push the boundaries of current minimalist fashion, all while championing the classic style that Sergei himself embodies through his work.

Having been highly inspired by Sergei for all these years, today we’re excited to share some of the questions we asked him to learn more about what inspires a master like him. [ Continue reading ]

'Everything goes right and left if you want it' is the title of the first publication on Sergei Sviatchenko, the good man behind Close Up and Private. The Berlin-based publisher Gestalten released this beautiful book featuring Sviatchenko's modern collages and keen eye on colour. "In the world of contemporary art, Sviatchenko is a provocateur. He draws on and harnesses all of the cultural tides he has experienced in 40 years of image-making. Sviatchenko’s oeuvre spans the known and the unimaginable. It cuts through the boundaries of traditional and contemporary visuals to merge pop culture with politics, personal memory with collective histories, and architecture and science with the logic of dreams." [ Continue reading ]

Sergei Sviatchenko from Close Up and Private shares his Etiquette for the Modern Classicist for Vs. Magazine in this nice video feature. ‘A man with a beard and a strong face is trustworthy.’ Trust the Classics, just that!… [ Continue reading ]

This coming Friday, the doors of the beautiful Capital C building in Amsterdam will open for BIG ART. The exciting new initiative by curator Anne van der Zwaag presents over 50 XL artworks by contemporary artists and designers and will run for 10 days in what was once the Diamant Exchange of the city. It’s a unique mix of acclaimed names and up-and-coming talents, featuring monumental paintings, drawings, large sculptures, big photographs, and huge installations. As one of the official partners of BIG ART, we will present some of our favorite artists included in van der Zwaag’s curation. We begin with Rotterdam-based painter Katinka Lampe, with whom we discussed the democratization of contemporary visual culture, the rise of artificial self-representation, and how this is reflected in her haunting, distorted paintings of young human figures. [ Continue reading ]

It was a long time coming when, three weeks ago, we finally met one of Belgium’s most exciting contemporary designers, Michaël Verheyden, in his beautiful home on the edge of the industrial city of Genk, in a green area toward neighboring Hasselt. Last year, Verheyden debuted on Wallpaper* Magazine's Power List—underscoring the widespread international recognition of his work. But even before that moment, we were very curious to learn more about his creative vision, basically from the moment we discovered his work at the beginning of 2015. The first appointment we made to meet up was scheduled for March of this year, but time and again, we were forced to reschedule due to various emerging obstacles on both sides. Eventually, we got in the car and made our way to the Belgian province of Limburg on a Friday afternoon at the beginning of June, right after a period of extreme rainfall that caused problems in northern France and different parts of Belgium. [ Continue reading ]

On the 31st of October the Paris-based gallery Air de Paris opened 'Love is Never Enough' by the exciting art collective Claire Fontaine, presenting a new selection of works revolving around the emotional bankruptcy of our times. The title of the exhibition suggests that our need for love is almost unlimited and it cannot be satisfied by the current configuration of society but also that in our world, more than ever before, good intentions cannot be carried out without material means. The exhibition tackles the issues of exclusion and inclusion, security and fear, through the conceptual use of diverse medias. When in Paris make sure to catch the exhibition by one of the more exciting contemporary collectives active, before it closes at the end of December. [ Continue reading ]

The Offenbach am Main-based David Schiesser is a very talented (tattoo-)artist of only 25 years old. He recently opened a small private tattoo studio where he works at least two days in the week, with the rest of the days focussed on his free work and preparations for exhibitions. After graduating in visual communication at the HfG of Main in the city of Offenbach he’s been working hard and slowly getting his work out, through his two main outlets. And even now he still follows the advice from renowned mentors, famous artist Manfred Stumpf and like-wise known graphic designer Eike König, who support Schiesser in his endeavors. His drawings show typical tattoo-aesthetic elements although in some work one even gets a sense of medieval artwork. Schiesser draws in ligne claire, reducing his work to the bare essentials, in which the artist succeeds to infuse a lot of personality through his unconventional juxtapositioning and overal subject choices. His main inspiration in these choices are the human body and its coexistence with technical expansion: how the sense of body have or will transform in the future. [ Continue reading ]

At the initiative of the OstLicht Gallery and Peter Coeln in Vienna, 'Araki Teller, Teller Araki' which took place from the 4th of April until the 25th of May of this year, brought together two of the most important photographers of our times, showing new works conceived for this joint exhibition and entering into an artistic dialogue. The exhibition presented the encounter between two attitudes of extraordinary photographers, who are united in their radical artistic attitude and their almost insatiable hunger for images as reflections of their personal experience of the world. The elementary interest at the core of their work is the spiritual and physical ambivalence of human existence. To coincide with the exhibition Antenna Books in a collaboration with Araki's own eyesencia released Nobuyoshi Araki's and Juergen Teller's first jointly conceived and designed book. The publication assembles more than 300 photographs, including those works shown as part of the exhibition which were previously unpublished. In addition, Araki and Teller have each dedicated a text to the other. [ Continue reading ]

We really like South African BOS, employing potent African mythology and rich symbolism to articulate its message and brand of premium ice teas. The BOS brand; its packaging, which feature these familiar traditional African emblems like the lion, sirius and the celestial wolf; and the original range of ice teas (which has been extended by now) were conceived by its founder Grant Rushmere. In 2009, Rooibos farmer and entrepreneur Richard Bowsher joined Grant as a co-founder of the business. Together they established the business and launched BOS unto the South African market in June 2010, with the brand spreading worldwide since. And although a very significant growth over the last few years the company still has its core goals close to its heart: to become a globally successful brand and beverages business; which is ethically managed (from farm to table), and is inspiring to its customers, employees and business partners. [ Continue reading ]

The Berlin-based Contemporary Fine Arts gallery recently opened a great pop-up shop named Front Row on the ground floor of its David Chipperfield-designed space on Museum Island. Open until the 26th of April, the store sells: artists’ books, catalogues, DVDs, vinyl, paintings, woodcuts, sculptures, and paraphernalia associated with the gallery for a large range of prices. The basic idea behind Front Row was to create a traditional analog exhibition. Nowadays speed has become a major factor in the work of the gallery, but in the early days of the 20-year-history of the gallery everything was thought out to the last detail; from exhibitions to books, to editions. Over the years these objects moved further and further away, partially because of the dominance of the internet, with them eventually ending up in storage. The idea of CFA-founder Bruno Brunnet was to put these beautiful elements produced by his gallery on display again next to work of his liking of a broad spectrum of artists. [ Continue reading ]

Ka'ana is a lovely resort that was founded by the brothers Ronan and Colin Hannan in 2007 as a tribute to the rich heritage and natural beauty of Central American country Belize. The resort is located in Belize's western Cayo district and offers personalized service and modern design that respects the country's culturally rich past. Located closely to areas where the ancient Maya civilization resided and surrounded by marvelous jungles, Ka'ana's tour excursions for exploration of the beautiful country are completely altered to the visitors' wishes to ensure an exclusive and most likely overwhelming experience. [ Continue reading ]

When we visited Gent this month we really enjoyed our stay at the inspiring and wonderful bed and breakfast Le Jardin Bohémien of interior designer Jeanpierre Detaeye and his wife Kristine Dehond. The beginning of Le Jardin Bohémien lies in 2011 when Jeanpierre's collection of vintage furniture had no more room to expand and he decided to open up his vault for others. In his quest for a space to offer his gems to the public Jeanpierre found the location at the Burgstraat, close to the Gravensteen, which now houses Le Jardin Bohémien. The seventeenth century building, with a fourteenth century pilar in it, inspired Detaeye to expand his horizon beyond just selling vintage and together with his wife the decision was made to also open a lunchroom in the spacious ground floor. After the lunchroom had been open for 1,5 year, another expansion took place within Le Jardin as the room sitting next to the end of the monumental stairs to the first floor was designed and set up for the public as a bed and breakfast. [ Continue reading ]

This Spring Tenue de Nîmes launches the first chapter of a hand-crafted private label. The initial idea of the private label is that each Tenue de Nîmes garment will be built in limited, exclusive quantities, under decent, proper circumstances from the best available materials that our suppliers can get their hands on. Tenue de Nîmes devotes itself to re-building daily icons (like the men´s shirt) that unite quality and craftsmanship and combine style with soberness. [ Continue reading ]