Hasta La Ideas

Almost a decade after emigrating to the United States in the ’40s, Swiss photographer Robert Frank decided to document the reality of his adopted country’s then-current condition—a nation as he saw it obsessed with money and struggling with the divisions among race and class. Of the 12 cities he visited in 1955, the particularly moving images of Detroit make up the current exhibit at the Detroit Institute of Arts.

Frank spent several days exploring the Motor City, visiting the Ford Motor Company River Rouge plant in the suburb of Dearborn, as well as the Gratiot Drive-In, and Belle Isle park. Capturing images of classic mid-century American life with his Leica camera, Frank compiled the pictures along with others from his journey in a groundbreaking photography book titled “The Americans” in 1958.

The show includes the eight photos from his iconic book, as well as a large collection of rare photos, many never before seen. With no catalog for the exhibit and no photography allowed inside the galleries, a trip to the slowly deteriorating city is the best way to understand Frank’s series of “gritty, dark and full of motion and emotion” photos.

“Detroit Experiences: Robert Frank Photographs, 1955” runs through 3 July 2010 at Detroit Institute of Arts. See more images after the jump.

via one of CH’s fave photographers
Lisa Kereszi for Daylight Magazine

© Lee Freidlander

©
Lisa Kereszi

©
Lisa Kereszi

Pioneers in fashion photography, it’s difficult to imagine that Brooklyn-based team Reed & Rader started shooting digital photographs just one year ago. The trailblazers “highly believe that technology and the augmented world is the future”—a concept they implement no matter the medium. Currently part of the group exhibition “Shoot The Messenger” at NYC’s APF Lab, they shot their creepy animated “notvideo” on a common point-and-shoot digital camera.

Pamela Reed and Matthew Rader met while in college and have spent the six years since then as the dynamic Reed & Rader team, now known for their cutting-edge convictions and discerning use of technology. Beginning with their augmented reality project “AR_YULIA,” (pictured below) they continuously create works that challenge current methods for both capturing and viewing reality. The pair look forward to the day when people aren’t restricted by fabrics, but rather, through the assistance of augmented reality it would seem like “you’re wearing amazing clothes, or even tentacles.”

With the future of print productions in constant question, Reed & Rader undoubtedly support online existence. Reed explains to CH that “As the medium of photography changes and images no longer need to be placed on paper—why is the medium still images—why can’t they move now? That is what excites us for the future.”

“Notvideo” is on view through 17 April 2010 at APF Lab.

An apt location for an exhibition dedicated to the use of black in fashion and costume design, Antwerp is arguably the industry’s minimalism mecca. As an influential fashion capital, its status owes much to the Antwerp Six—graduates from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in the early ’80s—whose roster includes Dries Van Noten, Walter Van Beirendonck, Ann Demeulemeester, Dirk Bikkembergs and briefly, the reclusive Martin Margiela.

The city’s Mode Museum hosts a new exhibition dedicated to fashion’s favorite color in “Black. Masters of Black in Fashion & Costume.” Throughout Western history black textiles have conveyed multiple messages and significance, with intrinsic ties to Antwerp, a city famed for dyeing fabrics the color in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Leading up to the 19th century, the complexity of dyeing methods meant that black fabrics were only available to the rich and wealthy. However, improved manufacturing capabilities bought the color to the masses, culminating in the turning point and arrival of Chanel’s Little Black Dress.

Tracing the roots and cultural significance of the color, the exhibition covers a breadth of information and references including materials, production methods and textures. Mode Museum’s Black exhibition also features garments from the likes of Ann Demeulemeester, Olivier Theyskens and Dirk Van Saene, as well as the international couture houses of Givenchy (Riccardo Tisci), Chanel and rapidly rising star Gareth Pugh.

The exhibit runs until 8 August 2010.

by Max Gold

Artist Alexa Meade works in the medium of flesh. The Washington D.C.-based artist, 23, calls her style of portraiture and performance art “Reverse Trompe L’Oeil,” compressing a 3-D space into a 2-D plane by painting directly on models. The resulting photographs of the person within a painted still life makes the illusion complete, an effect that in recent weeks has swept the Internet and landed her in some big name galleries.

Perhaps the biggest surprise is that she doesn’t use Photoshop or any other digital editing tools. “Essentially, I am creating art that imitates life on top of life” says Meade, who graduated from Vassar College last year as a Political Science major. “My political past has taught me that what one experiences cannot always be interpreted at face value; seeing is not necessarily believing.”

Of her live installations, Meade says “I am transforming people into art objects. It is not often that an object can return the gaze of the viewer. Many viewers feel uncomfortable making direct eye contact. There are a lot of sideways glances.”

Postmasters Gallery in New York will include the young artist’s work in the “Mirror, Mirror” exhibition opening 2 April 2010. Also, look for her work in the “Art of Giving” show at the Saatchi Gallery in London this October.

by Michael Tyburski

This video visits a traveling exhibit celebrating the work of Dieter Rams during its stop at the Design Museum London. Director Deyan Sudjic and Michael Czerwinski, who heads up the institution’s public programs, both chime in on what made Rams such an important designer and the show’s scope.

The next stop for the exhibition is Frankfurt’s Museum of Applied Art, where you can catch it from 22 May-5 September 2010.