Hasta La Ideas

(All photos courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art)

“I never thought people would want to wear clothes with monkeys and bananas on them,” said Miuccia Prada of her spring 2011 collection, a retail smash that featured madcap cotton separates printed with baroque scrolls, embroidered monkeys, and thick stripes. And the bananas? A wink at Carmen Miranda and Josephine Baker. More than 70 years earlier, when Miranda was still working the carnaval circuit in her native Brazil, Elsa Schiaparelli was feeling a circus theme. The designer described her summer 1938 collection as the “most riotous and swaggering” one she had ever created, and illustrator Christian Berard immortalized the “circus parade at Schiaparelli’s” in Vogue. “Clowns, elephants, horses, decorated the prints with the words ‘Attention a la Peinture,’” said Schiaparelli of her Barnum-infused couture. “Balloons for bags, spats for gloves, ice-cream cones for hats, and trained Vasling dogs and mischievous monkeys.” The two fanciful collections meet at long last in the “Naïf Chic” gallery in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s spring Costume Institute exhibition, “Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations,” which opens today.

Curators Harold Koda and Andrew Bolton reveal the striking similarities between Schiaparelli and Prada by focusing on seven areas of aesthetic kinship, from “Ugly Chic” and “Hard Chic” to “The Classical Body” and “The Surreal Body.” That last one is the showstopper, celebrated in a final gallery of mirrors (pictured directly above) that tricks the eye into perceiving an infinity of Dali collaborations, trompe l’oeil accents, furs, feathers, and pailletes, which Prada believes are irresistible to women. (“Paillettes are a typical form of eveningwear,” the designer has said. “Because I hate eveningwear, I try to make pailletes problematic—by making them so big or so heavy, for instance, that they become problematic.”) It can be a challenge to tell a Prada from a Schiaparelli, particularly when hefty fabrics and exotic textures are involved, but as Judith Thurman writes in an essay in the masterpiece of an exhibition catalogue designed by Abbott Miller of Pentagram, “Prada’s citations of Schiaparelli are an exercise in sampling, not imitation. They enrich and complicate, rather than merely translate her models, and they illustrate the way that critics and artists of every generation reinvent the formal language they inherit.” Prada is neither a copycat nor someone who is interested in translating the work of the contemporary artists she collects into covetable clothing. For her, art is an entirely separate barrel of monkeys.
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WIth so many clever language experiments on exhibition in MoMA’s “Ecstatic Alphabets/Heaps of Language,” it makes sense that the exhibition catalogue would be equally cheeky and avant garde. So instead of taking the traditional check list approach, introduced by the appropriate essays and commentary, of course, MoMA commissioned David Reinfurt and Stuart Bailey of the design group Dexter Sinister (whose work is also in the show) to come up with something a little more enlightened.

Reinfurt and Bailey decided to make the catalogue the third issue of their journal Bulletins of the Serving Library, which continues the legacy of Dot Dot Dot, their “previous house journal which ran for ten years and twenty issues.” The catalogue/issue acts not as a compendium but a companion piece with thirteen essays, articles and visual works. It begins with “MMMMMMMMMMMM…,” by Andrew Blum, which appeared in The New York Times in 2003 under the title “The Modern’s Other Renovation.” It’s about MoMA’s history of logo redesign, beginning with the controversial 1966 decision to lower the upper case “O” and continuing to Yoshio Taniguchi’s subtle 2004 redesign. (Did you know that the little “o” was initially so unpopular that it wasn’t officially used for twenty years?)

To give you a sense of the rest of the catalog, Blum’s article is followed by Bruno Latour’s essay “How To Do Words With Things” and Graham Meyer’s “Let’s Eat Grammar.” Chris Evan’s untitled contribution spells out ETHICAL MOP, one letter per page, and Jessica Winter’s essay “Brought To You By The Letter I” is preceded by an image of the big round googly eyes shared by every character in Sesame Street. Dexter Sinister write the last story themselves, a dense piece about the meeting point between mathematic and typeface design. This is followed by ads, but they’re the nicest, most pleasant ads you’ve ever seen, designed like works of art accompanied by their museum cards. There’s a lot more, including a pull-out reproduction of Robert Smithson’s “A Heap of Language,” and yes, a concise exhibition check list. Usually issues of Bulletins of the Serving Library are $15, and this one’s only $5, so you really should just get one of your own.

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Highlights from and musings on the London fair’s NYC takeover

“I think of our fair as a discovery fair,” explains Frieze co-founder Amanda Sharp. For the first US edition of Frieze Art Fair, Sharp and partner Matthew Slotover have taken over Randall’s Island, a sprawling piece of land at the confluence of NYC’s East and Harlem rivers. What began as a London-based magazine in 1991 soon evolved into a must-see contemporary art event at Regents Park in London. Now in NYC, the massive venue is teeming with curious works from a cast of well-chosen international galleries, with new delights to be had at every booth. Nude mannequin nutcrackers, neon jokes, custom-casted busts, turntable muffs—Frieze NYC is packed with innovative art.

Criticized somewhat for taking place outside of Manhattan, Frieze is worth the free ferry ride to Randall’s Island, thanks to careful consideration of the venue as a destination. The Brooklyn-based architects at SO-IL have designed a 250,000-square foot serpentine tent that encourages visitors to linger and look, building out enough space to really stop and take in the art. When you need a break, there are equally alluring NYC restaurants to choose from, like Roberta’s, Fat Radish, Saint Ambroeus and The Standard Biergarten.

For New York, the fair has special significance; it’s a sign of a rebounding post-recession art market. In terms of timing, Frieze comes on the heels of the recently ended Armory Show, and coincides with the NADA, Verge and Pulse art fairs happening throughout the city. Sharp has lived the past 14 years in New York, and this show is in part her response to gallery owners who have been requesting a New York version of Frieze. Of the 182 galleries showing at Frieze, 46 hail from NYC.

While media attention has hyped the fair to the point that this is now being called “Frieze Week”, we went along for the art. Among the standout galleries were Alfonso Artiaco from Naples, London’s Sadie Coles HQ, Sean Kelly Gallery from NYC and Paris’ Galerie Perrotin. Text art, floor art and neon were all out in full force, and the sprawling collection offered endless examples of new works from the best artists around.

Frieze Art Fair runs through 7 May 2012 with free ferry service running to and from the island. For those who can’t make the fair, head over to Frieze Virtual New York 2012 to browse all of the galleries, artworks and artists. Find more stellar art (and captions for the above pieces) by checking out our slideshow.

Kawaii cuteness and “Bronies” in a month-long LA exhibition

The magical world of My Little Pony (MLP) brings delight to everyone from school-age girls to grown men (we’re looking at you, “Bronies”). This weekend the My Little Pony Project 2012 will debut at LA’s Toy Art Gallery with customized 18″ ponies, jewelry by Onch Movement and a month-long celebration of the super cute kawaii world of MLP with an art show, mural project, screenings and events.

My Little Pony was created by illustrator Bonnie Zackerle in 1983 as the smaller version of Hasbro’s original 1981 My Pretty Pony design. Little girls immediately fell in love with these small, colorful plastic ponies featuring silky hair and whimsical designs on their hind legs and hoofs. The original set of MLP characters sported names like Cotton Candy, Clue Belle, Butterscotch, Minty, Snuzzle and Blossom. As the popularity of the toys grew, so did the My Little Pony world. In 1984, their first prime-time special “Rescue at Midnight Castle” led to more specials, a TV series and a feature-length film aptly named ” My Little Pony: The Movie”.

Hasbro celebrated the 10th anniversary of their favorite equines by debuting Sweet Kisses, Colorswirl, Sippin’ Soda, Wedding Pony, Flower Fantasy and more. Now, nearly 30 years later, the brand is still going strong thanks to an alternative scene that continues to worship the pastel ponies. Customized toys have sprung up around the globe, transforming MLP into everything from horror film icons to Star Wars characters. Even fetish imagery was branded on the plastic ponies. My Little Pony is a major force in pop culture, spawning trans-generational obsession evidenced in the endless stream of MLP tattoos.

For more proof of MLP domination, a search for My Little Pony on Etsy yields over 4,000 results and Deviant Art boasts hundreds of thousands of MLP-inspired artworks. Many a Brony—the brilliant mash-up of “brother” and “pony”—could be found at the recent “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic” show, saying they’re attracted to the pony’s colorful imagery and positive messages.

The My Little Pony Project 2012 kicks off its exhibition in LA with a series of events presented by Hasbro, We Love Fine, LA-based design firm Mighty Fine and Street Sweets. The show features one-of-a-kind customized ponies by 6%DOKIDOKI, 64 Colors, Ana Bagayan, Angry Woebots, Blamo (Mikie Graham), Lisa Alisa, Luke Chueh, Madoka Kinoshita, Martin Hsu, Perez Hilton, Spank!, TOUMA and more. Ten percent of the sales will benefit Give Kids the World, an organization that gives children with life-threatening illnesses the opportunity to take a vacation to a fantasy-filled resort with their families.

Coinciding with the show, Onch Movement—the pop culture icon and jeweler who creates Nicki Minaj’s over-the-top treats—will launch an MLP line alongside his existing collection of colorful novelties. Onch created these new pieces for the Bronies and Pegasisters (the term for women who love MLP). As Onch enthusiastically proclaims, “We are trying to take the pony to another level!”

The show opens 5 May 2012 and will be on view at Toy Art Gallery until 26 May with events for fans to meet special guests from The Hub TV’s “Friendship is Magic“, a family day with crafts and face painting and cupcakes, and a screening nearby at the Silent Movie Theater (where at least a few Brony’s are sure to show up). Also beginning the week of 5 May, Buff Monster, COPE2, Indie184, and other artists will be busy painting MLP-inspired murals at Joyrich and De La Barracuda near Toy Art Gallery on Melrose.

The original 18″ ponies will be available in the Toy Art Gallery online shop.

Toy Art Gallery

7571 Melrose Avenue

Los Angeles, CA 90046

Curator Hanne Mugaas dishes on the group exhibition of food-related works

Our relationship with food knows no end, as we elevate it to divine status, play with it, turn it into nonconventional formats and even demand that it entertains us. This intimacy provides the theme behind The Art of Cooking, a group art exhibition opening 27 April 2012 at Royal T in Los Angeles that features the work of 48 artists—including Olaf Bruenning and Kenny Scharf—alongside a schedule of performances. We spoke with curator Hanne Mugaas about the concept behind the show, which runs through 1 August.

Where did the concept for the show come from?

I guess that food is something that is very basic; it’s right in front of you several times a day. To me, the endless depictions of food and the explosion of food blogs seem to be about lifestyle. You are what you eat, right? While researching artists and artworks for the show, I realized that most artists have at least one work that has to do with food.

Can food ever move so far in art realm that it makes us forget what it is?

I don’t think so. At least not if you spend a lot of time with the artwork. This also depends on the intention of the artist, of course. Maybe the intention was to make us forget.

Can you highlight some of the artists and pieces in the show?

One group of artists who work primarily with food is White Zinfandel, which publishes a magazine about art and food. Each issue has a specific theme: TV dinners, food fights—and they organize conceptual dinners for the launch of each one. They invite artists to explore each theme, and the result is included in the magazine. Another artist is Viktor Kopp, who paints chocolate squares; although rather than exploring chocolate, he explores the grid of painting through chocolate.

Your family is involved in the restaurant business. Did you make a jump from this universe into art?

I didn’t really jump from food to art. My family are all working with, or did work with, food, but I was never interested in learning to cook. My dad owns restaurants, my brother is a chef, and my sister is the manager of a restaurant.

What did you learn from your personal background in restaurants and food that you brought into your work as a curator, and vice versa?

From food to art—I basically grew up in restaurants, so I learned the work ethic and the social aspect, which are both similar to the art world. From art to food—I’ve been consulting on creative aspects of my dad’s business, although he’s very creative himself so he doesn’t need much help.

What other unique angle to food did you discover while putting together this show that you’d like to explore in another exhibit one day?

I am planning to make a cookbook including the favorite recipes of the artists in the show. I would also like to do an art show in one of my dad’s restaurants in Norway, and bring in artists like Scott and Tyson Reeder to do a series of food-related performances, or White Zinfandel to do a conceptual dinner party.

Royal T

“The Art of Cooking”

Now-1 August 2012

8910 Washington Blvd.

Culver City, CA 90232