Mar 07

Scouring the Globe: A Brillo Box Moment, at the Armory Show and Beyond

Posted in: Armory Show, Charles Lutz, fab

It is both surreal and disturbing to watch people–Very Important People, no less–stagger around an art fair carrying unwieldy cardboard boxes, but such was the scene at yesterday’s Armory Show preview, where a rapidly shrinking tower of the colorful crates made famous by Andy Warhol was there for the taking. And take they did. The flurry of grabbing, folding, and foreign accents was apropos, as this was “Babel (Brillo Stockholm Type)” (2013) by Charles Lutz. The work was commissioned for the fair by Eric Shiner, director of the Andy Warhol Museum. He also curated the special “Armory Focus: USA” section of the fair, which includes Gagosian Gallery, making its Armory debut with a booth wallpapered in Warhol–the man, the myth, the camouflage.

This outbreak of Brillo Box fever is not an isolated incident. Belgian furniture brand Quinze & Milan has inked the appropriate licensing paperwork with the Andy Warhol Foundation to produce the Andy Warhol Brillo Box pouf (at left), a cushy foam cube screen-printed with the Brillo logo. The stool-sculptures will be unveiled next month at MOST in Milan, but the online retailer Fab is now taking pre-orders at $425 a pop.

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Mar 05

In Brief: Armory Week Arrives, Buy Bob Hope’s Lautner House, Condé Nast Backs Farfetch

Posted in: Armory Show, Conde Nast, farfetch, John Lautner

• Another Armory Week Arts Week is upon NYC, which will play host to a whopping ten art fairs. Unable to resist a good centennial, a Friday afternoon panel at the Armory Show on Pier 94 considers the 1913 original (commemorated in a fetching set of postage stamps), “bringing new facts and controversies to light and dispelling popular myths and misconceptions around the show’s reception by the public and critics alike.” Robert Storr will moderate the discussion among Marilyn Kushner, Francis Naumann, and Gail Stavitsky.

• Once you’ve loaded up on art, you’ll need more walls. May we suggest the Palm Springs home that John Lautner designed for Bob Hope and his wife, Dolores? It’s on the market for for $50 million. Your Kapoor would look divine in the shadow of the curved copper roof.

• Condé Nast has led a $20 million funding round for indie fashion marketplace farfetch. “This investment underlines our commitment to extend the scope of our activities and back great entrepreneurs,” said James Bilefield, president of Condé Nast International Digital, in a statement issued Monday. “It follows the recent news of our involvement with the e-commerce businesses Monoqi and Renesim in Germany.” Also participating in the fundraising were existing investors Advent Venture Partners, Index Ventures, and e.ventures.

• Ever wonder about that tiny text at the bottom of a movie poster? Ben Schott recently took to The New York Times op-ed page to breaks down the billing block.

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