Art and commerce are traditionally thought of as opposing forces. Of course, this is especially true for artists who’s work lands on both advertisements and gallery walls. Finding inspiration from commercial work while maintaining a sense of integrity in the art world is…
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Transportive and transformative, the following six sculptural pieces found at this year’s Art Basel push the boundaries of the medium and its definition within art. Chaotic, thoughtful and sometimes even funny, each work manages to bring a new world into our own.
The summer solstice is the official start of summer and the longest day of the year. It’s also a time to get together with friends and family for food, drinks and—in the higher reaches of the northern hemisphere—bask in the midnight sun. Nobody…
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by LinYee Yuan Those familiar with the work of American artist Ellen Gallagher often view her delicate works on paper and canvas through the lens of racial and gender politics—Gallagher’s “DeLuxe” series famously abstracted African-American beauty and…
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With the history of art stretching back to the earliest stages of humanity, it can be difficult to enter unexplored frontiers. The following artists presented work at this year’s Art Basel that, whether by means of innovation or refreshing clarity, delivered on the festival’s promise of the world’s…
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Mysterious works from Brooklyn artists in a one-night gallery show
Keren Richter—who last year had us reading Space is the Place, a psychedelic art zine inspired by the eponymous film by Sun Ra—has teamed up with designer Nanse Kawashima to present “Secret”, an art exhibition dedicated to the many faces of the unknown. The one-night-only show, which is composed almost entirely of Brooklyn artists, will take place in Richter’s Williamsburg studio space. While reflecting the community of local talent, the show is also a celebration of eclectic mediums.
Richter’s deliberately cryptic description of the Secret Art Show details few certainties. There will be 25 artists from diverse backgrounds ranging from jewelry design to music video directing to painting. All works channel the notion of secrecy in some form—veiling and darkness a common thread throughout. Not even Richter is quite sure what some of the artists have in mind. There may also be a peep show.
Participants include Richter, Eva Tuerbl, Josie Miner, Caris Reid, ByKenyan , Wyeth Hansen and Symbols + Rituals, among others.
SECRET
29 March 2012 from 7-10pm
109 South 5th Street #500
Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY 11211
Wrap yourself up in something nice to ward off the winter blues
When the bleak winter months really hit full swing, a scarf becomes an essential element for staying warm. Rather than walk around with your eyes poking out of a massive knitted muffler, we’ve found wrapping a silk scarf around your neck before zipping up your parka provides an elegant base layer and a light touch to the season’s heavy ensembles. Below are 11 silk scarves guaranteed to brighten up the doldrums of cold weather months.
The London-based illustrator and print designer Charlotte Linton brings her sketches to life with an assortment of 100% silk double georgette scarves, found across three collections named for exotic locales like Java, Himalayas and Madagascar. “Mineralogy” packs a colorful punch with rocks bursting from geometric shapes. To order (£270) contact Linton.
The 100% “Carmen Foulard” silk scarf in slightly muted, but still juicy hues, comes with a crocheted border made from recycled twine. The Swiss-made wrap is the upshot of a longstanding friendship between two Italian women who share a desire to create social- and environmentally-friendly garments. The scarf sells from Ikou Tschüss for 300 SFr.
Intentional or not, Berlin-based artist Viron Vert‘s “By Aidmail” scarf series is likely to make the hair on the back of your neck stand up. Inspired by the socio-politics of contemporary culture, if worn over your head they appear as an identity-changing wig. The series sells exclusively from Colette, each is €205.
Bless’ “Berlinmexico” silk scarf features a digital print designed by the Berlin-based concept shop. This breezy edition sells online from Ssaw for €79
Celebrated for their spirited graphics and unusual silhouettes, Anntian is the work of Berlin-based designers Anne Hilken and Christian Kurt. Each piece is a hand-printed labor of love, designed to reveal a story within a certain theme. This double-sided silk scarf sells online from Creatures of Comfort for $290.
From the “φοῖνιξ” collection by Amelie Charroin and Marie Colin-Madan—the young duo behind the French label Milleneufcentquatrevingtquatre—the “Rideau Antichambre” silk scarf features a vibrant surrealistic scene that feels like a study on perspective. The painting propped against the wall is a cheeky nod to another scarf, their “Orion” scarf from the the preceding “Desertshore” collection. “Rideau Antichambre” sells from Boticca for $111.
Conjuring up thoughts of long, serene summer afternoons, the watercolor design on the aptly named Poolside Scarf is soft on both body and mind. The piece is available from Eskayel for $209.
Hand-dyed by trained architect Martha McQuade in her Minneapolis studio, each Scarfshop scarf is created in small batches using water-based dyes. This sublime colorblock cotton-and-silk scarf sells from Spartan for $80.
The gold leopard and dashing zebra prints on this extravagantly fringed silk topper puts a modern twist on the traditional accessory. The scarf, which is handmade in Spain, would be an investment piece for most, justified by an all-seasons appeal and a dramatic look that’s easy to throw on and go. Buy one at Beklina for $780.
For a moodier option, Richard Weston has designed this silk and wool-blend scarf with a forest scene under blue dusk. The winter-perfect accessory goes for £205 at Liberty of London.
Known for his Polaroid scarves, Philippe Roucou‘s cinematic scarves pre-date any Instagram-inspired concepts. Gorgeously printed on 100% silk, the scarf sells from Reborn for $CAD 350.
The Japanese designer’s signature painterly patterns come to life in a contrast-print gingham and spotted Animal Gingham Scarf. The graphics have a childlike whimsy while offering a sophisticated punch of color to a dark winter outfit. The wrap is available from Opening Ceremony for $255.
A new show curated by Sarah Schmerler sheds light on the luster of four artists’ work
In the forthcoming group show “Gʉilty / (NOT) Guilty,” art critic and curator Sarah Schmerler brings together four talented artists for a cohesive display of works surrounding the play on words that the title implies. Turning guilt instead into a word synonymous with a gold surface, the exhibition explores the luster of an artist’s work in economic downtime and questions what makes a piece of art attractive in the eyes of society. Or, as Schmerler explains in her curatorial statement for the show, “I think of this show as my own kind of illustrated ‘Fuck U’.”
Originally debuting in May 2011 on Schmerler’s virtual exhibition space 45projects (which she curates with the industrious design director Paulius Nosokas), the physical manifestation of “Gʉilty” on view at Brooklyn’s Norte Maar will keep the same foursome on roster, a group of established yet emerging artists Schmerler says have been “hiding in plain sight.” The lineup includes Ellen Letcher, Francesco Masci, Alfred Steiner and Pablo Tauler, who will each show the works included in the online version as well as new pieces.
In his spare time, copyright lawyer Alfred Steiner creates works that Schmerler considers “visually arresting” in their own right, but at the same time reflect a fascinating narrative. Steiner beautifully entwines various body parts like eyeballs, noses and even muscle tissue to create impeccably rendered silhouettes that transform the sum of its parts into an incredible whole.
NYC-based Chilean artist Pablo Tauler uses just a ballpoint pen for his meticulously drawn illustrations on display at Norte Maar, which turn ethereal scenes and abstract forms into bold, large-scale works of art. The airy depictions he presents for Gʉilty / (NOT) Guilty are only a small facet of his work, which spans painting, digital photography and video.
Schmerler describes Francesco Masci as a classic Renaissance artist who can really paint, but one with no misgivings about crossing boundaries. In addition to his Twitter-inspired portraiture, Masci will show his 2009 “Totem” series, comprised of images created from hundreds of digital files procured through Google searches and stacked to make a wildly emblematic statement on modern obsessions. Masci’s formal training allows him to move seamlessly between subjects and styles, executing his work with a fresh perspective for his medium.
Ellen Letcher cuts and pastes in the physical realm, arranging images pulled from periodicals and magazines into perceptive collages adhered together with paint. The slightly ominous subject matter only backs up already engrossing compositions that toe the line between fact and fiction.
Gʉilty / (NOT) Guilty opens 1st January 2012 at Norte Maar with a Champagne brunch to celebrate, and will run through the end of the month. Check out the online catalog—created by Nosokas, who will also have a few works on display concurrently at Norte Maar—for more on the show and the four New York-based artists it champions.
Norte Maar
83 Wyckoff Avenue, #1B
Brooklyn, NY
11237
+1.646.361.8512
A prolific artist channels global communities and Eastern philosophy
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Brooklyn-based visual artist and musician Hisham Bharoocha blurs the boundaries of artistic medium, creating multi-sensory anthems that deftly move between a daydream quality of images and sound. The skateboarding scenes in LA and San Diego instilled an interwoven sense of creativity and community in Bharoocha at an early age and, melding seemingly divergent influences of punk rock aesthetics with the prevalence of his mother’s homespun folk art, Bharoocha pursued a burgeoning interest in visual art. After attending high school in Tokyo, Bharoocha enrolled at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), which introduced Bharoocha to what he fondly refers to as, “a really good balance of kids who made interesting visual work and people who played music.”
While studying photography and video, Bharoocha’s compositional experimentation took a new direction as the inducted drummer of Black Dice, a progressive noisecore ensemble. Inspired by flyers accumulated from years of touring and the art of fellow bandmate, Bjorn Copeland, Bharoocha started to explore the artistry of collage. His art pairs psychedelic imagery with naturalistic elements, assuming an otherworldly quality with undertones of hyperreality that has garnished exhibitions ranging from D’Amelio Terras gallery in New York, to Vleeshal, a state-run space in the Netherlands.
Originally influenced by ’60s street photography, Bharoocha later began documenting nature to contrast the predominance of living in urban environments. Bharoocha explains, “As a person who grew up mostly in big cities like Tokyo and New York I was always seeing nature as something that felt displaced in urban environments. I now see it as an escape where people have to leave technology behind and I love the way people seem relaxed in nature when they are away from the devices that usually cling by their side.”
Informed by his consciousness of space, Bharoocha worked with multi-media artist Doug Aitken to create an atmospheric backdrop to cinematic art installation, Sleepwalkers. Aitken’s Sleepwalkers, projected on eight exterior walls of New York’s Museum of Modern Art, visually interconnects the tale of five New Yorkers over the span of one night. Bharoocha, along with an assembly of other percussionists, provided rhymthmic ambience, drummed out on a customized “sonic table” designed by Aitken known as the K-N-O-C-K-O-U-T. Frequent collaborators Bharoocha and Aitken have fortified a relationship that reflects Bharoocha’s dedicated commitment to the arts. “I’m all about growing the creative community to expand in as many directions as possible,” explains Bharoocha.
Bharoocha continues to expand his work, connecting with Japanese avant-garde group the Boredoms. Inspired by the concept of 77 drummers, Bharoocha and the Boredoms organized a free concert event entitled 77 Boadrum held in Brooklyn to coincide with 7 July 2007. The popularity of the event prompted an encore, entitled 88 Boadrum, facilitated by Bharoocha as musical director, held on 8 August 2008 at the La Brea Tar Pits in LA.
Bharoocha has forged a spiritual relationship between drums and technology with stylings that range from the intensifying surge of his early musical inceptions, Lightning Bolt and Black Dice, to the aural atmosphere of his current project, Soft Circle (with a new release due early next year). Underlying Bharoocha’s musical and artistic work is the meditative philosophy of Vispassana; an introspection that has clearly driven Bharoocha’s diverse talents and communal spirit. Bharoocha muses, “I’m fascinated by the fact that we are all born with a certain path paved for us and depending on the choices we make along the way our lives change and differ drastically. I am fascinated by life and all its avenues.”
Bharoocha and The Boredooms will be performing in Kyoto, Japan at Kyoto at Seika University on 2 November. The Boadrum events continue with the 111 Boadrum event held at Byron Bay Australia on 11 November 11 2011. Bharoocha has also developed a eyewear line entitled “Phosphorescence” through the Phos Project.
This story is part of an editorial series sponsored and inspired by Le Meridien.
New Perspectives explores fresh ideas and distinct points of view in global art and culture.
Music and animal hijinks come together in a handmade children’s book by Breathe Owl Breathe
For a child, the ritual of bedtime reading is as important as the story. They enjoy the togetherness, the feel of the pages and the imagination that the illustrations inspire. It’s refreshing to hold something that looks and feels like a family treasure, which is exactly what Micah Middaugh of the band, Breathe Owl Breathe has given us in his new children’s book “The Listeners / These Train Tracks.”
Structured as two stories that read from either cover into the middle, the endings culminate at the centerfold where a seven-inch vinyl record awaits, holding two musical renditions of the stories by Breathe Owl Breathe. Everything from the canvas cover to the pages—hand-printed from wood blocks—was made in Michigan by Middaugh, the final product a result of three years’ work.
“The Listeners” is a comic tale of the friendship between an ostrich and a mole who meet by chance one day in a hole. The mole with sightless eyes and the bird with flightless wings join to form a band called “The Listeners,” and perform together in an underground concert for their friends. “These Train Tracks” is a story of metamorphosis, in which a set of train tracks transforms into everything from a caterpillar to the night sky to a set of pajama buttons. Its mood is both whimsical and soothing, a perfect end to a child’s long day.
“The Listeners / These Train Tracks” is a limited-edition production and is available from Breathe Owl Breathe’s website, shipping in time for the holidays on 6 December 2011.
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