In our eyes Danny Fox is one of the most exciting names who has arrived in the London art scene in recent years. The artist with the appearance of an outlaw biker is an autodidact who found his interest in painting somewhere in his mid teens, inspired by the work of Alfred Wallis, who like Fox lived in St. Ives. Over the years he created a style which is unpolished and uncompromising, showing elements of early Modernist art, the graffiti aesthetic and a color palette that reminds of African art. Both the figurative, symbolic and decorative elements are slapped with great speed onto the canvas as if they were a sheet of flash tattoos (as immortalized on the artist's own skin for instance). Fox's figures represent boxers, horses, cowboys, snakes, fruit, transsexuals, strippers or patterns reminiscent of ancient Greek decoration, with everything blending together perfectly in the artist’s fascinating raw narratives, rooting directly from Fox's own memory or personal history. [ Continue reading ]
The Amsterdam-based artist Matthijs Booij has come up with a creative solution for his old age: One Thousand Drawing Pension Plan. Since 2014, Booij has been selling drawings for long-term monthly payments and hopes to build up his pension in this way. For €1,- per month you can buy a drawing of the former half of notorious artist duo Miktor & Molf. When one decides to buy a work, the payment continues until the artist's pension, with Booij receiving as much money for a drawing as he would now when it's paid at once, in full. The contract can't be broken, but can be resold (unless there's a case of mortality). By the time he can retire in 2050, he hopes to have earned €440.000,- with the project. Next to this fascinating creative form to buy his art, we love Booij's grimey aesthetic, using both collage techniques as free flowing sketches, showing a beautiful diversity in the works he creates. Make sure to keep an eye on this extraordinary project. [ Continue reading ]
After we wrote about the inspirational presentation of the summer version of his A Suit To Travel In, Paul Smith once more shows his remarkable vision in the campaign of his Autumn/Winter 2015 collection. Capturing the confident use of color in the designs, the campaign for the inspirational designer's collection is the first Paul Smith collection to be shot by the photographic artist Viviane Sassen, who we have been admiring ourselves for years. And what a wonderful hybrid of worlds the campaign has become - both creatives having an eye for exquisite stand out colors and the beauty of aesthetic contrast. As part of the campaign one can spot that the signature ‘Paul Smith’ logo is re-imagined with a playful sense of scale and positioning. A sense of modernity and wit is present throughout the campaign, echoing the essential qualities of Paul Smith, making the campaign a clear season favorite of ours. [ Continue reading ]
We have been following and appreciating Klas Enfro's inspirational graphic output since we acquired one of his incredible textile footballs, when he released a series of them back in 2008. In the years that followed the Swedish illustrator and graphic artist who's based in Barcelona has produced a diverse field of graphic projects - both independently as for clients. All of the artist's projects show his incredible sense for colors and patterns, which he for instance exemplified with his free project 'Color Study'; a library of hues packaged in casual drips. And also his most recent project is highly impressive. Consisting of 18 separate boards, Ernflo created a large work showing his signature organic forms, a wonderful sense of humor and tremendous colors. [ Continue reading ]
Through his work the Greek artist Panos Tsagaris aspires to express the emanation of the Divine as it is reflected through the abstraction, the beauty and the poetry of the everyday, in order to bring himself and the viewer closer to a state of Catharsis. Furthermore Tsagaris aims to create a unified spiritual environment that highlights the fact that most religions and spiritual traditions are not hostile in their nature but instead are connected to each other through compassion and love. In addition Tsagaris’ work contemplates on life’s fragile struggle between the sacred and the profane. Ultimately through his work Tsagaris is eager to capture and express the restlessness and magic that exists in the soul of all of us. We are highly inspired by Tsagaris extraordinary artistic vision. [ Continue reading ]
As observed through the eyes of artist Mark Whalen, the world is an obscure and mysterious place. His highly fascinating paintings, ceramics and sculptures explore darkly comic, elegant tableaux alive with futuristic mini-dramas. Sexual play, arm wrestling competitions, and ominous rituals are to be found in all his work. He grants an endearing single-mindedness to his cookie-cutter figures in pursuit of their tiny subversive acts. In short, their bliss depends on staying inside the box, literarily being the strict limits of the particular work, forming an interesting snapshot of intriguing worlds. Whalen incorporates elements of decoration, graphic design and architectural rendering technique – props of our refined civilization – to comment on conventional social mores in a totally unique manner. We love Whalen's exquisite sense of humor to be found in his work as his fine aesthetic eye for color and form. [ Continue reading ]
On the 30th of April, a very special new meeting place for lovers of art, design and food opened its doors in the city of Amsterdam. In a monumental building in between the streets Rokin and Nes, right in the heart of Amsterdam. The initiative of cultural entrepreneur Jessica Voorwinde combines an exhibition space for art and design and a spectacular barroom, which was designed by Lex Pott, resulting in an incredible hybrid for lovers of food and art under one roof. By collaborating with astonishing people of the creative industry Voorwinde created a playground for all art-lovers. A place where people can meet and enjoy various inspiring events and exhibitions, taste some amazing ’culture bites’, have a drink at the marmor bar or buy a design from exquisite designers. Whenever visiting Amsterdam make sure to stop by and be inspired. [ Continue reading ]
Today Acne Studios has launched another incredible project. After 'Snowdown Blue' in 2012 they now present 'Peter Schlesinger Sculpture', a monograph about the work of renowned artist Peter Schlesinger, accompanied by a capsule collection of silk pyjamas that has evolved directly from the work. Through his numerous collaborations with Acne Paper, a friendship has grown between Schlesinger and Acne Studios Creative Director Jonny Johansson and together they developed the idea of doing a book, with photographs by Eric Boman, Schlesinger’s partner of 40 years. The limited edition book contains a pictorial history of more than 150 of Schlesinger’s work, dating from the late 1980s to present day. It is lavishly produced in Sweden on Japanese paper and bound in rustic cloth. Alongside the book, an exclusive collection of pyjamas, a favorite garment of Schlesinger’s, has been designed by Jonny Johansson based on prints drawn by the artist. The collection is produced in the finest silk printed in colours inspired by his ceramic glazes. [ Continue reading ]
John David Deardourff is an very talented artist residing in Washington, DC. In 2012 he received a BFA with an emphasis in printmaking from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. JD's incredible abstract work lends aesthetic elements from comics, resulting in a unique raw style in an exciting color palette. In his own words, Deardourff finds inspiration in "the vocabulary of comic book art: exaggeration, movement, energy, the interplay of sequential imagery, black contour line, and, most importantly, artificial color." Over the last few years JD's work has been receiving growing attention, both from art lovers and critics. Deardourff has exhibited his artwork in Chicago, San Francisco, Philadelphia, and DC. In addition, he has designed graphics for Burton Snowboards and album art for RAMP Records. In February 2015, he was awarded a fellowship at Yaddo, an artist colony in upstate New York. A solo show of collages and screen prints made during the fellowship is currently on view at Hillyer Art Space in Washington, DC, which is running for two more days. [ Continue reading ]
Today, eBay and Sotheby’s will launch the first two live events in the all new Sotheby’s live auctions experience with the themes 'Photographs', starting at 10:00 EDT (14:00 GMT), and 'New York' starting at 20:00 EDT (0:00 GMT tomorrow). The experience enables art aficionados and casual collectors alike to participate in Sotheby’s live auctions anytime, anywhere with the same confidence and access of those bidding in person in the New York salesroom. The Sotheby’s live auctions destination features an innovative Museum View transitions, that bring the experience of walking through a museum or gallery to life in the online world – including enhanced zoom, in-context images, and item-level video. Participants - regardless of their location - see the exact same item and current real-time bidding online and experience real-time bidding sensitive to the millisecond. Today's auctions include work by Edward Steichen, Alfred Stieglitz, Man Ray, Brassaï, Robert Longo, next to the New York Yankees stadium sign from circa 1973. We love this promising collaboration between the two retail giants, make sure to check out the gems going on sale today - and try your luck. [ Continue reading ]
We continue our stay in the beautiful city of Antwerp - after the latest A Magazine - where about a month ago the second 'Dries van Noten Inspirations' exhibition opened for the public in the MoMu Fashion Museum Antwerp. Last summer we wrote about the first Dries van Noten Inspirations exhibition in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, and in February a new extraordinary peek in the mind of the Antwerp Six designer was completed in his hometown. In similar fashion as in Paris, Dries Van Noten takes the spectator on a new intimate journey into his artistic universe, revealing the singularity of his creative process which he illustrates with his various and numerous sources of inspiration captured in themes. One receives an eye opening experience into the creative space within van Noten’s mind - through photographs, videos, film clips, musical references, as well as artworks by renowned artists that have triggered the designer’s imagination throughout his life and career. The new exhibition shows some of the old themes from Paris, but feels like an all new exhibition, with a little more focus as the exhibition space is a little smaller - making it possibly an even more impressive fashion exhibition than our favorite of last year. [ Continue reading ]
The British artist Nigel Howlett - whose work we recently discovered - is interested in illusion and the cartoon. He likes simple ideas illustrated through colorful, bold and fresh image making. Having left Art school in 2003 with a BA in fine art, Nigel has since worked in the film and television industry as a set designer, for clients including Channel 4, BBC, ITV, and Sky, brands include Issey Miyake and Nike. Recently he has been concentrating on different personal art projects - among which is this fascinating series named 'Behind the Scenes'. The 'Behind the Scenes' series was born on set, inspired by Americana and its cliche characters. The canvas is used playfully - hung facing the wall - and the images are painted on the back, leaving a lot of space for interpretation with the spectator. Howlett deliberately makes the wooden frame and the canvas part of the piece - creating as he states it; a strange dialogue between this 'real' element and the cartoon nature of the painting. We love this beautiful series. [ Continue reading ]
A tribute to style, sophistication and service, The Norman in Tel Aviv brings unprecedented prestige to the heart of the historic Mediterranean city since it opened last December. For business or leisure, The Norman aims to be a luxury hotel that has refined the art of hospitality, capturing the timeless elegance of the 1920s, matched with the superb comforts of a world-class luxury hotel. It incorporates antique elements from the original interiors of the historic buildings, blended with hand-picked textures and materials to create a rich design tapestry inspired by the prestige of the past. With the newest addition to its services they really caught our attention; this month the hotel introduces a personalized art tours curated by the hotel’s expert art curator. Reflecting the hotel’s devoted support of Israeli artists; The Norman’s décor incorporates original Israeli art works throughout all rooms and public areas. Now the hotel is offering guest’s exclusive access to visit the galleries and studios of the artists showcased throughout the hotel and meet with the artists themselves. Each tour is tailor-made depending on the particular interest’s guest. [ Continue reading ]
A little while ago we became familiar with the fascinating work of the very talented Tokyo-based artist Ei Kaneko, who just opened a new solo exhibition named 'YEN' at the Clear Edition & Gallery in his hometown last Friday. With his moody and slightly surrealist style, Kaneko's work, which he creates strictly with graphite, is at once strikingly beautiful and also a little disconcerting, a combination which we find particularly fascinating. The work of Kaneko often features limbs and facial features cut out and re-assembled, using the fragments of images to create a new ambiguous meaning within his juxtapositions. Through the use of the toned down color palette of pencil graphite the images all inhabit a certain softness in their core which clashes strongly with the hard juxtapositioning of the image fragments, creating something like a second layer of contrast beyond just the fragmentations. Without a doubt Kaneko's work inhabits everything to absorb the spectator and leaving an intrinsic impression. Make sure to catch his show when in Tokyo. [ Continue reading ]
Two days ago the first collaborative effort between Christian M. Andersen's Creative Future and the iconic Parisian concept store colette was launched for pre-order. Compiled as a close collaboration between de two parties involved, the elegant book which was created examines not only colette’s affiliation with art and design, but also the artistic processes, approaches and ideas of the many artists that have worked and exhibited with colette since 1997. The project took more than one-and-a-half years to develop and features a long list of notable artists including KAWS, André Saraiva, José Parlá, Kevin Lyons, Erik Parker, Curtis Kulig, Michael Dupouy, Pedro Winter and Julia Chiang. In addition, the cover artwork of the book is created by the Brooklyn-based artists, KAWS. [ Continue reading ]
After premiering the first half of Ashkan Honarvar's ‘King of Worms’ last week, we now present a selection of the second half of the biggest project till date created by the Norway-based visionary. Ashkan has been producing collages for almost a decade now, both under his own name as the pseudonym Who Killed Mickey, always finding inspiration in the dark side of humanity and from the questions that rise about it. The extraordinary new project is no different; consisting of 107 collages, divided in 10 chapters with a unique aesthetic, although undeniably marked with Honarvar’s signature style. Today we ask him about that particular style and his vision, inspirations from the dark side, Jane Arden’s film ‘The Other Side of the Underneath’ and how he translated this into a major work like 'King of Worms'. [ Continue reading ]
We are very excited to premiere to the world this brand new series of phenomenal collages named 'King of Worms', which is the biggest project till date created by one of our favorite artists period: Ashkan Honarvar. The Norway-based visionary has been producing collages for almost a decade now, both under his own name as the pseudonym Who Killed Mickey, always finding inspiration in the dark side of humanity and from the questions that rise about it. The extraordinary new project is no different; consisting of 107 collages, divided in 10 chapters with a unique aesthetic, although undeniably marked with Honarvar's signature style. It was inspired by a quote from Jane Arden's film The Other Side of the Underneath, with the overall theme focussing on how power corrupts and is abused as well as the role men play in this misuse and women’s faith. In our eyes Honarvar succeeded tremendously in created something like a second personal layer for the film, which has almost mythical status amongst fans of radical, experimental cinema, because of its visionary and disturbing depictions of the mental state of its schizophrenic protagonist. Today we share a selection of the first 5 chapters of 'King of Worms', with the other half coming soon. [ Continue reading ]
AMMA Studio is the label of New York City-based design duo Samuel Amoia and Fernando Mastrangelo, which they founded only last year. Introducing materials never before seen in furniture design like rock salt, sand, coffee, silica, pink and gray Himalayan salts, AMMA’s creations are at once geometric and organic, rough and smooth, earthy and elegant. More than utilitarian, AMMA tables, stools, benches and consoles are enduring objects that merge sculpture and design. Based on the East Coast, AMMA Studio emerged from a unique blend of sensibilities. Interior designer Samuel Amoia contributes a vision for design, color, texture and furniture, developed through his own commissions and experience working alongside the celebrated Stephen Sills. Sculptor Fernando Mastrangelo brings a conceptual use of materials and an original casting process, the result of years of artistic practice. Together, they have developed a visual language inspired by nature and geometry. We are blown away by the raw aesthetic their experiments with material have resulted in, making their creations some of the most interesting designs we've discovered recently. [ Continue reading ]
The Amsterdam-based Raymond Lemstra has been one of our favorite Dutch artists for some years now. The creatures he creates (mostly drawn) show his interest in distortion as a result of selective emphasis; parts of interest are emphasized, unimportant parts reduced or left out. His distinct characters therefore often come out big headed, with focus on the faces and the body trimmed to its essential properties, all marked with his personal style, tough often very different in specific form. As he has stated on his vision and aesthetic: "The contrast between my naive and at the same time sophisticated approach to my work gives it a somewhat awkward taste. It is a clash of intent, simultaneously assuming simplicity and complexity, randomness and reason, flaws and perfection." We've been following Raymond since the very beginning of Another Something & Co and feel extremely grateful to have collaborated with him during the first Our Current Obsessions. Having been this inspired by his work for all this time, we now ask him about his inspirations. [ Continue reading ]
During last year's London Design Festival, in the second collaboration with BMW group, British design duo Jay Osgerby & Edward Barbar created this incredible bespoke installation, the largest structure that they have ever created, for the annual event. The project named ‘Double Space' – Precision & Poetry of Motion— was an immersive experience constructed within the V&A museum‘s prestigious Raphael gallery that combines technical precision with poetic semantics. It was the British creatives’ intention to interpret the leitmotif of BMW’s design philosophy, ‘precision and poetry’, bringing forth an all-encompassing piece that merged technology and sensuality into a single experience. The kinetic installation is composed of two large reflectors, each composed of one flat wall of mirror and one curved surface, hovering over the 600 m² space where Raphael’s famous cartoons for his Sistine Chapel tapestries hang. The two shimmering volumes (each measuring 15 x 10 meters each) revolving on their own axis, either simultaneously or alternatively, collectively citing the monumental size of the Raphael gallery – "A place that cries out something great," according to Osgerby, with which we can only agree. [ Continue reading ]
The impressive exhibition named BLUEPRINT, which opened on the 24th of January in the New York City-based Storefront for Art and Architecture, asks individuals from the world of art and architecture to embark on a trip of self-reflection to identify a place of origination for their work in the literal and metaphorical form of a blueprint. The fascinating curation of 50 pieces, dating from 1961 to 2013, are presented as traces willing to bring clarity to work, practice and the context in which they were created, selected by photographer Sebastiaan Bremer and Florian Idenburg & Jing Liu of design office SO-IL. With the installation which was created for the exhibition by SO-IL, BLUEPRINT leaves the gallery in a totally new organic form, totally open, but at the same time closed and fixed. Wrapped in time and in space, the Acconci-Holl façade opens its doors permanently to the works that –while present in the show by reference– are outside the gallery walls. The space looses its literal operational transparency to become a white, translucent icon of its curatorial aspirations. Rendering everything on either side as a world of shadows, the installation denies the spatial properties and the implications of the processional exit of the platonic cave towards a world of truth. [ Continue reading ]
American artist Margaret Boozer is internationally renowned for her magnificent sculptural works, whose material hails from the very earth we walk on daily. The artist focuses with her creations on the individuality, history, and geology of clay used as subject matters. She finds her material at areas like construction sites, the direct surroundings of her Red Dirt Studio, in Mount Rainier, Maryland, or basically any place where purple, red, grey, brown, or orange clay might be found. Subsequently Boozer starts creating her works from the natural material without modifying anything. Everything is created by hand, with the sculptures ranging from more traditional forms like her paintings made out of clay, among which is for instance a delicate work of cracked white clay, named 'Winter Landscape', large floor installations like her 'Dirt Drawings' and 'Line Drawings', to constructions like the incredible 'Dichotomy of Dirt' consisting of clay disks, forming a beautiful wall-mounted work, which is our favorite piece by Boozer. [ Continue reading ]
In October of last year the biggest and most ambitious private museum of Paris opened its doors for the first time. The new institute named Fondation Louis Vuitton aims to become a monumental contemporary-art museum, housed in a building designed by the legendary Frank Gehry and commissioned by the LVMH director Bernard Arnault himself. In the first months visitors could tour the building, view sketches and maquettes of Gehry's design, and discover a rotating selection of artworks from the Fondation's own impressive collection. In December the very first art exhibiting was opened, featuring tremendous new work by the Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson named 'Contact'. Like 'Riverbed', which we were lucky to visit at the end of 2014, Eliasson once again created a highly immersive world, but instead of a rocky riverbed he takes the visitor on a virtual space odyssey after which one is intermittently plunged into darkness, making the exhibition a dark opposite of his exhibition at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art. [ Continue reading ]
Joe Cruz is a very talented artist, illustrator and textile designer, which we have been following since we discovered his work some years ago. In this period he has been consistently creating very strong images, distinctly using a toned down color palette and collage techniques. Joe was born in London in 1988 from a multi-cultural background: with roots in France, Spain, Austria and Morocco. He graduated from Norwich University of the Arts in 2010 with a BA in Graphic Design, specializing in Illustration after which he worked on commissions for clients such as Mary Portas, Stussy and Nokia, next to his free work which seems to have been influenced by his eclectic background in one way or the other. We were very happy to collaborate with Joe in Journal de Nîmes Nº 9, for which the artist created an extraordinary collage using vintage photographs out of the Tenue de Nîmes private collection named 'Denim Anonymous'. Having been inspired by Joe's incredible work for all this time, we now ask him what inspires him in life. [ Continue reading ]
