After the impressive Cleon Peterson exhibition closed in Antwerp last Saturday and the Panos Tsagaris' 'apocatastasis' closing in Brussels this coming Saturday, the next reason to visit the country already arises on Friday the 4th of March, when another thrilling exhibition will open its doors, this time at the Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst in Ghent. The Antwerp-based 'Crown prince' (after heavyweights Tuymans, Dillemans and Borremans) of Belgian contemporary painting (and Paul Smith's favorite); Rinus Van de Velde created a new extraordinary series named ‘Donogoo Tonka’ in which he draws himself as the leading player in the biography of an imaginary artist for the museum. Inspired by an existing French novel, Van de Velde presents nine new life-size drawings in S.M.A.K. The works in his signature charcoal looks are as virtuosic and light as ever, demanding total engagement of its spectator to find the layers beyond just the highly impressive aesthetic side, showing great visual intelligence, cutting irony, a free imagination and great sensitivity. Without a doubt Van de Velde, who's work reminds us strongly of another favorite of ours; Marcel van Eeden, is the next Belgian painter in the Hors catégorie.   [ Continue reading ]

It’s always special to meet an artist you admire—especially when that artist is the incredibly talented Cleon Peterson, one of our undisputed favorite contemporary artists. His highly distinctive style and unfiltered observations on the world around us make his work stand out, not to mention the turbulent life he’s lived before reaching where he is today. So, last week was, to say the least, an exciting moment. [ Continue reading ]

In March of 2014 we discovered Barcelona-based stationery and miscellanea company Octaevo, which at that point had just launced. Founded by Zurich-born creative Marcel Baer, who has a history in art direction and graphic design, the brand roots directly from the passions of its founder such as the sea, history, traveling and the Mediterranean, which were all translated into the elegant and colorful products of Octaevo. Soon after the launch the first collection was praised unanimously and found its way to stores all over the world. This month, Octaevo presents its collection for 2016 and it is again of our highest liking. The designs 'signed by the Mediterranean' show the familiar sunny color palette and next to for instance their wonderful philosophy and marble notes notebooks, which became instant classics, one finds some totally new creations by the hand of Baer and his team. [ Continue reading ]

With a little under two weeks of running time left, make sure to drop by Amsterdam's Rapha Cycle Club to catch the insightful exhibition named 'Goudkuipjes Mooiste' focussing on the career of one of Holland's most successful road riders: Hennie Kuiper. In the last year opened Cycle Club right in the heart of the beautiful historical center of Amsterdam, on the 9 streets and around the corner of our own studio, the olympic champion, world champion, five-time Tour de France stage victor and multiple one-day Classics winner is honored in an elegant overview. Both through beautiful photography and all kinds of original treasures his numerous accomplishments and accompanying stories of his greatest victories (and defeats) in the career of the cyclist also known as ‘The Gentleman’ have been integrated seamlessly in the space. When in Amsterdam make sure to drop by! [ Continue reading ]

In the Summer of 2014 we discovered the inspirational work of Japanese designer Kouichi Okamoto and his Kyouei Design when he released his elegant 'Square Wind Bell'. This year Okamoto has returned with another remarkable project named 'Re-rain', which was presented to the world at the Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art. In his inspirational project the designer created a sound installation through which he aims to express non-visible elements such as gravity, magnetic force, and sound as physical elements. Created with the sound of rain recorded in Japan during the early days of 2016 as its soundtrack, 'Re-rain' is constructed out of a set of umbrellas placed on top of speakers. The vibrations of the sounds out of the speakers are transmitted through the umbrella to make a sound, but an umbrella cannot vibrate if the magnetic force of the speaker is too small or if the rain hitting the umbrella is either too high or too low in pitch. For this reason a device picking out a state in which the magnetic force of the speaker, weight of the umbrella, and pitch extent of sound are all in a perfectly balanced state forming this beautiful installation. [ Continue reading ]

Last week, on the 3th of February, one of our favorite brands period; Rapha, presented its elegant set of new (and returning) designs of its different collections of cycling wear for the upcoming Spring/Summer 2016 season, shot once again immaculately by regularly collaborating master Ben Ingham, who this time shared the work with another talented eye in the person of Emily Maye. Having expanded significantly since its foundation in 2004, today the whole offering consists of the Pro Team, Souplesse, Women’s, Core, Brevet, Classic and City collections, all defined by riding style and purpose. With this complete set, Rapha underlines its leading position in producing some of finest, aesthetically pleasing clothing available for every road rider - both men and woman - on any kind of journey. We love the beautiful new color palette, being bold without losing its classic appeal, combined with the signature tremendous lines and cuts perfected for the road, continuing the brand's position ahead of the pack. [ Continue reading ]

Always looking for photography with the quality of a verb rather than a noun (in the inspirational words of Gus Powell), we recently encountered another great series of work. Greek photographer Marinos Tsagkarakis started his series 'Paradise Inn' in 2012, aiming to portray the (horrible) consequences of the massive and uncontrolled tourist development which has taken place in the last few decades throughout the Mediterranean, including his home Greece. The ruthless industry drastically intrudes the land, transforming whole coastal areas into generic paradises, designed to recreate the average man on holiday. Literarily just during that period of time, as the rest of the year these areas stay abandoned, losing its thin layer of camouflage in the form of happy holidayers and showing its true colors of intense ugliness. The images of Tsagkarakis show the cheap fundament on which the tourist industry is built, forming a sad but beautiful testament of how some people have lost the true meaning of the word 'paradise'. [ Continue reading ]