Hasta La Ideas

Cool Brittania Peter Lanyon’s “Airscape” of 1961 and below, a 2007 chair by Tom Dixon. (Images courtesy Museum of Art Rhode Island School of Design, Providence)

As London designers today kicked off their turn on the global fashion calendar, the Museum of Art Rhode Island School of Design is putting the finishing touches on a major exhibition highlighting its impressive collection of contemporary British art. Opening next Friday, “Made in the UK: Contemporary Art from the Richard Brown Baker Collection” will showcase approximately 100 works by artists such as David Hockney, Anish Kapoor, Jim Lambie, Tacita Dean, and Julian Opie. The show traces the collection of Baker (1912-2002), a Providence native and Rhodes Scholar who lived in London during World War II before moving to New York, from British takes on Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art to the moiré effect canvases of Bridget Riley and the YBA explosion (Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin, Jake and Dinos Chapman, and Rachel Whiteread are all represented). Baker proved to have a sharp eye for emerging artists and donated around 135 works to RISD and provided the museum with funds to further enrich its collection of British art. “He never lost the thrill of discovering new talent, and, as he could afford it, continuing to support those whose work he had previously collected,” says Jan Howard, who curated the exhibition with Judith Tannenbaum. “Made in the UK” will be on view at the RISD Museum through January 8.

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A celebrated collector brings to life the latest series of USPS commemorative stamps

Philanthropic art collector George R. Kravis II has a penchant for “almost anything with a motor, light, cord or battery.” The former radio head’s passion for industrial design has led him to amass thousands of objects. Some he used over the years and some he kept in pristine condition, but all are equally treasured.

Tulsa-based Kravis was recently at NYC’s Cooper-Hewitt museum for the unveiling of the U.S. Postal Services’ latest Forever stamps, a series dedicated to pioneers of American design. Noticing that he owned many of the designs, he offered to loan them to the museum for a small exhibit, now on view through 25 September 2011. Kravis was able to donate eight of the 12 designs, initially curated by veteran art director Derry Noyes.

Kravis told us his favorite design among the assortment is Norman Bell Geddes’ 1940 “Patriot” radio, which came in red, blue or white base colors. The white was not successful in his opinion, noticing that after several years its brilliancy turned to more of a muted butter color. Kravis also shed light on why Raymond Loewy’s 1933 pencil sharpener was not present, explaining the design never moved beyond the prototype stage. “The prototype was put up for auction, and then stolen. They do not know where it is today, but if they put it into production I know a lot of people who would like to purchase one.”

Pulling out his iPhone—complete with black perforated leather case—Kravis showed us an image of his latest obsession, an environmentally-friendly sports car still in development. With his finger on the pulse, Kravis remains one of the most important collectors of art and design, and his enthusiasm for it is contagious.

The “Stamps of Approval” exhibition will be on display for the following ten days, through 25 September 2011 in the foyer of the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt museum for design before traveling on to other cities around the U.S.

Ross Lovegrove explores elegant furniture design through fluid sculptural form in a new show in Milan

A design novice might be quick to throw the work of Ross Lovegrove in with the grandiose designs so highly sought after a decade ago, but the legendary Welsh designer’s glossy aesthetic isn’t without purpose. His new solo show in Milan, called “Endless,” demonstrates Lovegrove’s continual exploration of new materials and his elegant approach to functional design.

Endless picks up where his 2007 show “Endurance” left off, with Lovegrove adding two new pieces of polished aluminum to his Liquid Collection. The Long Liquid Bench and Liquid Shelving seem to spontaneously adapt to invisible lines, defining a sinuous silhouette that Lovegrove derived from the natural world. The limited edition pieces are not only sculpturally beautiful, but they also speak to a strong interest in efficiency, consuming little energy while maximizing space.

Part of the installation includes a video piece, amplifying the essence of his robust but nimble designs through colorful projections that bounce off the forms. Endless will run from 8 September through 1 October 2011 at Cardi Black Box Gallery.

London-based industrial designer Ben Wilson of the Wilson Brothers is at least as passionate about contemporary bicycle design as we are, between his collaborations with the likes of Brooks and Rapha and his art projects such as the “4H.”

His latest work, the “Pocket Rocket 2″—a collaboration with goldleaf specialists Melliard’s—falls somewhere between the two disciplines: it’s a sort of miniature cycle with handpainted details and 20” wheels. While the stylized goldleaf mimics lugs, they’re actually painted over the fillet-brazed joins.

For PR2 we collaborated with Melliard’s modern pinstriping and lettering to create a paint scheme inspired by traditional bicycle lugs. Butting up to the hand fillet brazed steel frame, they hand applied 23 carat gold (machine turned) leaf accents to emphasize the honest workmanship that went into building the bicycle. We used 20” wheels with 2 speed kick back SA brakes and to top it off, a one off hand tooled Wilson/roofer special Brooks saddle!

Other features of the “ongoing investigation for the ultimate urban bicycle” include a pursuit-style top tube, fully integrated (i.e. brazed-on) seatpost and saddle, and integrated cockpit, which means that the geometry is completely fixed… though it still looks a bit more comfortable (and conventional) than, say, Joey Ruiter’s take on the very same “ongoing investigation.”

More detail & process photos after the jump…

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Berlin’s former power plant hosts the world’s brightest contemporary artists

by Shawn Thomson

Known for its unfiltered take on contemporary art in recent years, Germany’s capital city has increasingly become an international stomping ground for artists, dealers, collectors and enthusiasts alike, all there to relish in an atmosphere without the financial constraints of art hubs like New York and London. One show really capturing Berlin’s artistically autonomous spirit is Berliner Liste, a three-day fair located in a former power plant that showcases over 100 galleries from Germany and beyond.

The broad spectrum of both established and emerging artists sets the stage for an international exchange across disciplines, spanning sculpture, painting, photography and video and performance art. On par with most major art fairs, the impressive display is nearly overwhelming—but a few stand out from the pack.

Vincent Bousserez showed his satirical take on scale with beautiful executions of tilt-shift-style photographs at The Artistery. On view at Artcuraor.ru, Ilya Kukushkin describes his bold paintings as “Neo analytical constructivism.” Controversial contemporary vet Morten Viskum made a statement with the striking new work, “I’m crazy about Liza. We get on the phone and just gossip, gossip, gossip” and the life-sized self-portrait “The Perfect Sculpture,” at Son Espace Gallery. The result of a year spent traveling around the world with an imaginary superhero called SleepingBagMan, Marcus Veith’s documented his fiction with photography .

Berliner Liste closes 11 September 2011, at the extraordinary Trafo building, with the award ceremony for The Peter-Christian-Schluschen Foundation‘s young photography contest on 11 September 2011 at 7pm.