Hasta La Ideas

The famed fair for high quality historic design and contemporary wares travels from Paris to New York for the first time

Founded 15 years ago in Paris, the Pavilion of Art & Design brings together some of Europe’s most interesting galleries and dealers focused on modern, decorative and tribal art. In 2007 PAD co-founders Patrick Perrin and Stéphane Custot took the show on the road to London, and now the art savants have set up shop in New York at the Park Avenue Armory.

Perrin and Custot’s expertise on 20th-century art is clear. Each of the 52 purveyors picked to exhibit in NYC has a distinct draw, but the eclectic mix shares a cohesive aesthetic. The refined experience leads to an interesting discovery at every turn, whether it be a desk by Yves Saint Laurent at Lamberty, Rembrandt Bugatti’s “Giant Anteater” sculpture at Sladmore Gallery, or Ingrid Donat’s “Commode Facette” at Barry Friedman Ltd. A strong sense of geometry, the use of metal and thoughtful design pervade the work. While each exhibitor at PAD has a collection worth seeing, below are five not to miss.

Adrian Sassoon

Based in London, Adrian Sassoon eschews a gallery space in favor of finding artists and presenting their works at larger shows. Two that caught our eye were British kiln cast glass pioneer Colin Reid and emerging artist Junko Mori. Reid’s “A Vertical Sculpture Cast From Books” is a mesmerizing piece that uses glass’ refractive properties to create an optical illusion. Junko Mori coated forged steel in wax to create “Propagation Project; Bird” a strikingly eerie sculpture that captures the raw beauty of the avian form.

Secondome

Rome’s Secondome gallery is showing a stunning assortment of contemporary furniture that speaks to the younger collector’s aesthetic. Intriguing shapes and alluring materials abound, such as Sam Baron‘s 2011 table, “Le Bureau de Paolo.” The grain of the varnished teak surface contrasts nicely with the off-kilter drawers built into the legs, and Alessandro Ciffo‘s colorful take on the modern carpet, he calls “Tapislongue.”

Alain de Monbrison

Tribal art has a huge presence at PAD, and no collection exemplifies the beauty of these objects more than that of expert Alain de Monbrison. Ornate sculptures and masks sourced from Africa and Oceania modestly rest on gray stands, including standouts like the Bamana mask from Mali and the Kongo Dinga mask from the Republic of Congo.

Todd Merrill Studio

Yard Sale Project‘s Ian Spencer and Cairn Young use various types of wood to create their “chaotic” furniture, on view at Todd Merrill Studio. The “Corsica” and “Roccapina III” one-off chairs are a combination of computer-aided design and traditional woodworking techniques, crafted in their South London studio. The chairs are offset by an assortment of white sculptures, including Beth Katleman‘s “Folly” figurines and Katsuyo Aoki‘s “Predictive Dream XXIII.”

Galerie Du Passage

Undoubtedly diverse but with a definitive vision of notable works from the 20th century, Pierre Passebon’s collection spans lamps by Anne & Vincent Corbière, furniture from Guy de Rougemont and a Gio Ponti coffee table. Galerie Du Passage is brimming with covetable wares and exemplifies PAD’s notion that great design informs us about the world around us.

The most extensive collection of lewd literature by the infamous author

Slandered as a deviant and provocateur in some circles and worshipped as a cult figure in others, the work of director Ed Wood left a legacy of infamy. Although best-known for his abysmally applauded oeuvre, Plan 9 From Outer Space, which earned Wood the Golden Turkey Award for Worst Film Director, it was Wood’s idiosyncratic behavior of directing in drag, shoestring hustle and entourage of misfits—including his friendship with vampiric icon, Bela Lugosi—that has most fascinated fans and critics alike.

Characterized by his love of angora and kooky affability—eccentricities celebrated in Tim Burton’s film homage—Wood’s fetishistic proclivities soon gave way to the sleazy underbelly of pornographic pulp novels. Authoring such titles as Black Lace Drag and Orgy of the Dead, Wood countered his depraved plots by inter-splicing them with what a press release describes as “lengthy philosophical, sociological and psychological discourse.” Often writing under numerous pseudonyms and issuing erratic re-publications, the obscurity and sensationalism of Wood’s novels have both captured and eluded the attention of dedicated antiquarian collectors.

Now, curators, Michael Daley and Johan Kugelberg of NYC’s Boo-Hooray art gallery have amassed the most extensive collection of Ed Wood pulp novels known, debuting as the upcoming exhibition, Ed Wood’s Sleaze Paperbacks. Evolving from a core collection acquired from the science-fiction editor, Robert Legault, Kugelberg explains how Legault unveiled the mystique behind Wood’s evasive trail of aliases, “In the pre-Internet days when information was scarce he ‘discovered’ a couple of Ed Wood Jr. novels issued under pseudonyms by noticing similarities with other titles that were published under Wood’s name.”

Although the pseudonym debacle provided a “bibliographical mess that came out of the fly-by-night climate of sixties sleaze-smut publishing,” says Kugelberg, the significance of the collection impressed Cornell University, who purchased its entirety for their rare library. “The man is the art, and his strange personal narrative—World War II hero, transvestite, horror movie director, sleaze author—is endlessly fascinating,” surmises Kugelberg.

Ed Wood’s Sleaze Paperback opens at Boo-Hooray gallery with a reception, Wednesday, 2 November from 6:00 P.M. to 9:00 P.M. The show will run through 4 December 2011. 250 copies of the collection’s deluxe catalogue will be available.

Boo-Hooray
265 Canal St. #601
New York, NY 10013

Coffin shaped skateboards from an artist-run company living to skate and die

Inspired by the gritty streets of NYC and the raw style borne from them, Corpse Corps Boards makes coffin-shaped skateboards fit for the cutthroat mentality of East Coast skating. Founders and lifelong skateboarders Drew McKenzie and Jordan Walczak understand the need to make a product strong enough to hold up to the daily abuse of skateboarding. From its humble beginnings as a DIY art project in McKenzie’s Manhattan apartment, Corpse Corps Boards has evolved into a full-fledged skateboard company now making two sizes of decks and a small run of high-quality softgoods.

Not just another cruiser board, these shred-sleds are meant to be skated—case in point, the images of McKenzie killing it. Available in two sizes—9″ and 10″—with the perfect amount of concave, each deck is made with pure hard rock American maple. The standard 9″ deck is produced on the East Coast with wood sourced from the same legendary distributor that supplied Blockhead Skateboards and JFA in the mid-’80s and early ’90s. These 7-ply hand-screen-printed decks retain the general dimensions of a standard skateboard—31.5″ from nose to tail for plenty of pop.

In an effort to establish an artists’ network of sorts, Corpse Corps Boards’ 10″ decks are created in collaboration with local artists, graffiti writers, punk band members and all-around creative types who run the same seedy streets. Each board is cut, shaped and painted by hand in Brooklyn. Like all Corpse Corps Boards these individually-crafted decks are meant to be shredded, designed to the same length and concave as the 9″ board. In order to preserve the one-of-a-kind artwork, even after a good thrashing, each deck is coated in polyurethane.

To celebrate the official launch of Corpse Corps Boards the minds behind the company are curating a group exhibition featuring hand-painted decks by some of NYC’s most influential artists. “Open Casket” opens Friday 28 October with a party at Lower East Side’s Coat of Arms, showcasing original works from the likes of Nicholas Gazin, Greg Mishka, Bill Connors (top left) and many more.

“Open Casket” runs through 7 November 2011 and all custom-painted decks will be auctioned off after the opening party tomorrow night. Standard 9″ decks sell for $55 while the hand-painted 10″ decks go for $88—not bad for an original work of art. To purchase head to Corpse Corps Boards’ online store.

NYC artist Bruno Levy introduces street art to Nepal

Boasting a variety of talent across multiple mediums including painting, sculpture, photography, music and video, Bruno Levy‘s work has been exhibited in some of the America’s most influential museums, from the Guggenheim to the SFMOMA. The Paris-born, NYC-based artist—newly fascinated by cross-cultural differences—recently spent five months living and working in Kathmandu, Nepal in an effort to bring beauty to a stark landscape foreign to Western influence.

Upon encountering a culture in flux, besieged by communist propaganda and forced cultural views, Levy was compelled to begin painting his own pieces in the Nepalese capital this summer. For what he dubbed the “Bigfoot Project,” the artist took to the streets, using high-profile city walls as a canvas to inspire the locals rather than to interject his own foreign views. Included in his efforts were painted murals and an experimental sculpture that seemed to capture the city’s curious spirit. We caught up with Levy to pick his brain about the project, from inspiration to execution.

Why Nepal?

Kathmandu is a city in transition, modernizing rapidly, trying to catch up with the rest of the world. It’s somewhat raw, dirty and open. The concept of public space there is different than in the West. Although Nepal has a rich and amazing culture of craftsmanship, the concept of creative art is still very new. So I wanted to share some urban culture in an effort to make Kathmandu a bit more beautiful and inspire other people to express themselves.

Is Nepal generally free of un-commissioned street art?

This is very new. Graffiti does not exist. So it’s not legal or illegal, making it a perfect place to just play. There were a handful of tags in more hidden parts of town and Space Invader visited Nepal and left his mark, but for the most part it was out of the general public’s eye.

What inspired the “Bigfoot Project” name?

The Bigfoot is really elusive, abominable snowman. So I just started painting feet all around the city, BIG FEET. Also in Hinduism feet have a certain stigma. Feet are dirty or impure, yet the feet of gods or gurus are special.

How did the Nepalese people respond to the art?

The first reaction was curiosity: “why are you doing this and what does it mean?'” Most people have never seen anything like this and cannot understand why someone would paint a wall for free or for fun. Once people realized that there was no political agenda, they reacted with complete enthusiasm and support. They helped paint, an old man blessed me for cleaning the walls and the statue was even given offerings and worshipped. Newspapers and magazines wrote some stories. Soon local kids started forming groups and painting.

Describe the Bigfoot Project’s transition from street paintings to sculpture.

The paintings are part of the bigger project to share street art culture through all possible mediums. When that started picking up, and locals kids started painting, I thought it was important to introduce a new medium for a new way of public expression. The sculpture took a little over a month of 10-hour days. I had not made papier-mâché since kindergarden, so there was definitely a learning curve.

What were you trying to say with the larger street paintings?

The character with the money coming out of his head or “dreaming of dollars” was painted on the oldest government college’s wall. It was a statement about the corrupt politicians in Nepal and the future of the students. The mural of the character plugged to the TV was painted across the passport agency, where around 200 Nepalis a day wait for their passports, with idealistic visions of moving and working abroad. I wanted to make a statement about the impact of television and media. Most paintings have stories, but my main drive was to make the walls more beautiful rather then impose my foreign views and to explore some concepts of repetition that are so prevalent in urban art.

The founders of NYC’s park in the sky recount their ten-year journey with intimate detail

The road to creating one of New York’s most beloved parks was not unlike the unruly terrain that High Line: The Inside Story of New York City’s Park in the Sky,” chronicles the behind-the-scenes of the epic ten-year restoration project.

The densely-detailed—though “not comprehensive”—account begins with an interview from David and Hammond, who remember their initial encounter with each other at a community board meeting and, subsequently, the seemingly-infinite number of challenges they came up against in trying to save the 70-year-old rail system. A journalist described the two as “a pair of nobodies,” and, indeed, they had no prior experience in parks and recreation. Hammond admits, “I didn’t understand the complexity of what we were getting into…we would need to become versed in urban planning, architecture, and City politics, raise millions of dollars, and give years of our lives to the High Line.”

The raised tracks once carried a cargo train known as the Lifeline of New York, which delivered food to the refrigerated warehouses of the West Side until its last run in 1980. In the years that followed, many ideas were put forth on how to use the abandoned space, with several attempts made to offset the demolition proposed by many politicians. David and Hammond formed Friends of the High Line in 1999, but, for a decade, struggled against naysaying opposition groups like High Line Reality, numerous development problems and the economic crash in 2008. In overcoming it all, David and Hammond have created a park that stands for so much more than a respite from the urban jungle.

Today, the High Line is home to more than 200 species of grasses, wildflowers, shrubs and trees, hosts more than 300 public programs each year, from stargazing sessions to yoga classes, provides a setting for site-specific art installations and receives at times 100,000 visitors in a single weekend.

With the forthcoming relocation of the Whitney Museum to the park’s southern terminus and the adjacent Hudson Yards development on the horizon, the High Line spans an important area of NYC’s rapidly evolving urban environment. “High Line” is a thorough and enlightening read for any city resident, park enthusiast or person seeking a little inspiration. “I hope the High Line will encourage people to pursue all sorts of crazy projects, even if they seem, as the High Line once did, the most unlikely of dreams,” says Hammond in the book.

Copies of the 256-page “High Line” book sell from Amazon and Macmillan.