Découverte du travail de Patrick Joust, un photographe basé à Baltimore qui cherche avant tout à capturer le monde qui l’entoure. Avec des clichés splendides, cet artiste animateur du groupe “Film in Baltimore” dévoile tout son talent. Plus d’images dans la suite.
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Fresh French art helps launch Agnès B.’s latest NYC space
When Agnès B. opened her first NYC boutique on Prince Street nearly 30 years ago, well before Soho transformed into the retail destination it is today, the area was an emerging hotbed for young artists. The French fashion designer meshed seamlessly with the city’s downtown scene, establishing herself as one of the most trusted brand benefactors of the arts through sponsorships—from the Sarajevo Film Festival and a Godard exhibit to work by Harmony Korine and Dash Snow. Her commitment to the project and keen eye for new talent remains sharp continues when her third NYC outpost, Galerie Boutique, opens with the show “Certain Young French Photography and Drawings” tonight, 14 July 2010.
The new gallery kicked off with a show of well-known friends’ work and brings stateside the strong photography of Agnes B.’s Galerie du Jour in Paris (shows since opening in 1984 have spanned Martin Parr to Ryan McGinley), now moving on to what she does best—a display of exciting up-and-comers. The exhibit includes the work of ten photographers and artists selected with a focus on portraiture’s ability to present “people and issues of contemporary society in a critical or ironical way.”
Nicolas Dhervillers’ questions the line between fact and fiction by positioning subjects in cinematic scenes depicting everyday life (pictured below), where the high-contrast images by Matthias Olmeta (at top) “ascribe little importance to reality.” Claudia Imbert (above) similarly presents contemplative work with strong geometry in her compositions to “provoke moments of solitude and intimacy.” Drawings by Lionel Avignon (at bottom) adds levity to the mix with his narrative pictures that “resonate of a personal and universal currency.”
This contrast between lighthearted illustrations and contemplative photography highlights how the two major mediums compare, hinting at the legacy of “the most eminent figure of French photography, Henri Cartier-Bresson.” Never ceasing to stop drawing but nearly giving up photography all together, Cartier-Bresson explained that his interest in the latter was because “a small camera like the Leica is an instant drawing.”
“Certain Young French Photography and Drawings” runs through 30 August 2011 at Galerie Boutique.
Punchdrunk Theater Company’s designer talks to us about creating an immersive and interactive set
An intensely detailed set, we took a minute to find out more about the challenges and excitement of Punchdrunk Theatre Company’s Sleep No More‘s decor from the Associate Designer Livi Vaughan. Check out our video for an in-depth look at what it takes to create such an enigmatic ambiance and read on to learn more about the immersive theater’s experience.
Wandering, disoriented and alone, no two people will ever experience Sleep No More in the same fashion. This choose-your-own-adventure sets audiences in a dark and stormy, detail-obsessed mash-up of film noir and Shakespeare’s Macbeth. This is not a play you take a seat for. In fact, you might just find yourself running through a forest chasing after a blood-soaked witch. Defying category, this immersive experience blends ambiance, dance, and elements of a carnival fun house for three hours of interactive theater.
Sleep No More takes place in The McKittrick Hotel—three Chelsea warehouses, gutted and linked together in a labyrinthine manner. From its exterior, McKittrick wouldn’t warrant a second glance. Once inside, the performance begins immediately as guests meander through a dark maze, finding their way into a gaudy cabaret, complete with a full bar and jazz band.
Masked and regrouped, everyone’s experience diverges from here. A bellhop lays out the rules and from then on, nothing can be taken at surface value. The McKittrick Hotel dictates your course, much the same way the Overlook Hotel lead to the unraveling of Jack Torrance in The Shining. Dull, throbbing mood music fills every room and floor, and each turn casts a unique sense of awe or mystery. Walls yield. One moment guests are in a grand ballroom, the next at the remains of a castle foundation. You can indulge in a candy shop, or admire the taxidermy. Everything can be touched. All the while, a loose adaptation of Macbeth, circa the 1930s, breezes around you.
Unexpectedly, guests catch sight of a sole unmasked figure. It is an entry point, with the option to follow. Taking place, simultaneously throughout, the characters of Macbeth interact. You can follow one character through the entirety of the production, or stray and seek a point of reentry. The dialogue is minimal, but if chance or preparation allow, you can glimpse Lady Macbeth and her iconic, “out, out damn spot!”
Physical, dance-driven performances illuminate character and plot points. Murder, betrayal and sex are all choreographed elements. Without much warning the performers disperse, leaving the guest to pick a direction and scramble among throngs of onlookers.
Playing off one another, the McKittrick and the actors vie for guest attention. Macbeth has been adapted over and over, but this site-specific production embodies a striking breed of theater where the guests themselves are an active component. All attendees, losing identity behind their masks, are ghosts populating the magical realism. With balletic grace, performances erupt and cease. Plot points may fall to the wayside, but the text is so familiar that it bears no influence. The space shifts and performs, leaving no moment unfilled. Therein lies Sleep No More’s greatest ally—unbridled, consistent stimulation uniquely yours.
Belgian beer brand finds five men with extraordinary stories to match its equally remarkable flavor
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With a history steeped in robust flavor, Belgian beer brand Leffe recently turned to the intriguing men of NYC to find a cast of characters whose personal stories matched the beer’s extraordinary qualities. Part of Leffe’s nationwide “Craft Your Character” campaign, the five finalists shared intimate stories from the past that shaped who they are today, spanning an archaeologist lost in the arid deserts of Petra to a gym teacher waking the streets of Prague with an inspirational bell ringing.
The first finalist, Ryan Eberts, saw his opportunity to make a difference after watching a slideshow on Bangladeshi orphans. For two and a half years Eberts taught at an orphanage in Bangladesh, and has since published his written experiences. Also seeking adventures in foreign places, fellow finalist and Notre Dame alum Blaine Pennington backpacked and lived abroad for three years, traversing 26 countries. His escapades, including finding himself lost in the city of Petra on a recent excavation, are documented in his travelogue site, Glimpse. Not to be outdone, Adam Strauss chimes in with his exotic tale. The comedian-turned-entrepreneur details leaving the Volvo-lined streets of Newton, MA for the spiritual mecca of Varanasi, India, crashing weddings and catching sunrises on the River Ganges.
Diverging from the exotic theme, but spinning no less of an interesting tale, teacher-turned-trader Charlie Sewell has been an NYC educator for 20 years and currently manages an online equities account. Sewell’s story of friendship founded over beers and brawls made him a worthy finalist. Last but not least, Nick Sonderup balances his love for music with a career in advertising, working at Weiden + Kennedy while promoting his personal project, “100 Bands in 100 Days.” Ranging from indie venues in the Lower East Side to a church in London, Sonderup chases a whirlwind odyssey of music.
Though a close race, ultimately the winning entry went to Connecticut-based teacher and fisherman Ryan Eberts for his heroic work with orphans in Bangladesh. As the winner, Eberts will fly to Belgium, Leffe’s home.
Leffe’s Stories of Characters will continue to travel throughout the U.S. in search of men with character. Check out some of the finalists’ stories in this video.
Tournée avec un Nokia N8, cette vidéo “Splitscreen – A Love Story” a été sacrée dans la compétition Nokia Shorts 2011. Une histoire d’amour scindée en deux, montrant les divergences entre la France, les Etats-Unis et l’Angleterre. Une réalisation soignée par J.W.Griffiths.
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Parisian street artist brings his gritty vision of Oz to NYC
As rebels against not just art world norms but against conventions for public space, many see graffiti as by definition disagreeable. Artists like Ugly-Kid Gumo embrace that position, providing commentary through art that originated on the street. Gumo’s raw, emotional figures and faces draw attention to the flaws and fallacies in our urbanized society by literally and figuratively staring straight at them.
The 30-year-old Parisian street artist Nicholas-Gumo first became involved in underground public art while he was still in high school. Going on to graduate with a degree in fine arts from Paris’ Ecole Supérieure des Arts Appliqués, since then he has taught art to children and dabbled in fashion design before turning back to graphic arts.
Gumo’s work emphasizes the cruelty of life in the city. “It’s a constant questioning and reinterpreting the brutal code of the city, again, especially in the suburbs—its plasticity, or rather the abstract figurative aspect of it,” he explains, continuing, “it depends on the moment, it depends on the music in the MP3. It’s brutal, romantic as a dinner with black light.”
Often the urban environment itself becomes the medium (like in his graffiti paint chips series, pictured top and below) with materials varying based on his location. When in Paris, the artist works mainly on the streets of the city, but while in NYC most of his process takes place in his studio location—even bringing in chunks of plaster from Paris to pursue his passion in the remote location.
Oz, the mythical city created by L. Frank Baum and perpetuated by Judy Garland, figures as a driving force in Gumo’s work. According to Gumo, attempting to understand the world around us is comparable to making sense of Oz. “These stories are actually metaphors for the social problems that plague the American society but which are transferable to every corner of the world or human lives. Oz is never far from us,” he suggests.
The mythical city is the only recurring thread in Gumo’s work, as he prefers to work organically from a feeling, rather than basing it on an abstract idea. “When people ask me to describe my work, to explain which wave I’m close to, I just want to answer: I don’t know. I’m honest. I don’t have a strategy or a project study, only maybe with OZ. I was too bored at school because we needed to justify our reasons and explain our influences. I find nothing more annoying. The important thing is that we’re here and together.”
New York got a preview of Gumo’s collection,”Oz, le visage du mal,” in a one-day gallery showing last fall, but his first solo show at Dorian Grey Gallery, curated by Marianne Nems opens tonight. It includes a wide variety of Gumo’s work, ranging from spray paint on paper and acrylics on canvas to cardboard and mixed media. The reception tonight from 6-7pm will have a live performance, “Mask,” by performance artist Blizard, and the show runs through 24 July 2011.
Jeans made to order from the most coveted denim in the world
Founder of both Earnest Sewn and Paper Denim & Cloth, Scott Morrison’s commitment to the raw essence of denim extends down to the brand names of each new project. His latest, 3×1 Made Here, borrows a name from the technique that gives denim its diagonal weave. Shoppers at his new 4,000-square-foot Soho space can customize a pair of ready-to-wear limited edition jeans, order a pair in their denim of choice or make an appointment to work with Morrison from scratch.
As a pioneer of the premium denim phenomenon, it makes sense that Morrison’s next step would be to elevate denim fashion to a level typically reserved for high end men’s suit tailoring. But don’t worry, the project is setup for laymen and elitist denim-heads alike. Morrison says of the shop, “I think some people are drawn to the 65+ selvedge denims they can select from, others are just looking for a great fitting pair of jeans, while others are coming down because they’ve heard about this new store/factory/gallery space in SoHo that makes jeans while you watch.”
The idea began back in September 2010 when Morrison started sewing the first patterns in his apartment. The line has continued to evolve and now includes a ready-for-purchase run of limited-edition styles for men and women, with the in-house production curbed at between eight-24 pieces per model. For these, the customer can still tweak the hemline and buttons, but to take it a step further, a second option is available. Patrons can choose an existing cut and then apply one of the 100+ fabrics on hand, coming from Japanese, American and Italian mills, delivering a tailored pair of jeans without going fully custom. Morrison reflects on his raw denim fascination we discovered during a previous interview, saying, “Thankfully we offer both [washed and untreated], but 3×1 is unique in that it’s a raw denim fanatic’s dream shop. There is simply no better place in the world to find the best selvedge denim than in our shop in SoHo.”
I was invited to check out the studio and worked with Morrison for over an hour to achieve the perfect fit. Deciding to build a pair from the beginning, I chose a gorgeous red cast, 15.5 ounce denim from Collect (the coveted Japanese mill) as my base, adding a white button, silver rivets and two different hues of orange stitching. For the back pockets I went large and low with tight parallel run-off stitching and a fold-over top that gives a hit of selvedge. Two days later I was back in the shop, where the mostly-finished pair was perfectly arranged to my specifications (web visitors, check out the gallery to see the process and finished product). I was so enamored with the experience and the output that I ordered another pair on the spot, leveraging the fact that my specs are now on permanent file. This second, summery pair is made from a lighter weight, linen-cotton blend from another Japanese mill, Kaihara, and feature a rainbow-colored selvedge on a blue-green cast denim.
Curious about Morrison’s own take on the ubiquitous material, we followed up our visit with a few questions about living the denim life. Read more about 3×1 and get some advice from the guru below:
I’ve probably got a dozen or two pair at home here in the city, but my denim collection (if you will) is at my house upstate. There are probably 300-400 pair—much of which are from my own labels—but far too many for anyone who’s not in the denim industry to rightfully own.
My first pair of jeans were Levi’s, but my love affair with denim started with my first pair of Replay jeans—which happened to be a limited edition pair made from Japanese denim (which were pretty rare at the time in the early-to-mid ’90s).
I rarely wash my jeans, but when I am I typically go one of two routes. If it just needs a little fresh air, then I spray with a little Febreze and hang outside. But if it needs a heavier clean, then I’ll hand wash with Woolite Extra Dark (make sure it’s inside out) and then hang dry.
My hope is that the brand will grow slowly and steadily, as we’ve intended, and over the coming seasons we will slowly offer a few limited edition products to a select group of retailers around the world, and eventually add a second and third store for custom made and bespoke customers.
3×1
15 Mercer Street
New York, NY 10013
+1.212.391.6969
Wintercheck Factory’s space-saving take on a bathroom staple
Brooklyn’s Wintercheck Factory has made a name for itself by updating everything from sunglasses to swimsuits with their brand of locally-made and highly-functional chic. The latest to get the Wintercheck treatment is the humble shower curtain. Like all the design studio’s products, the simple yet intelligent concept improves on a standard necessity with a few key design features. This clever solution to cluttered shower floors has interior pockets large enough to stow eight shampoo and conditioner bottles in self-draining pockets, as well as a razor and toothbrush. On the exterior, two loops on either end of the curtain are perfect for hanging your towel to save even more space.
Taking into consideration the small and often windowless bathrooms that plague NYC apartments, Wintercheck constructed the shower curtain from machine washable nylon, making it great for any unventilated bathrooms where mold and mildew thrive and one less thing you have to routinely replace.
Swing on over to Wintercheck Factory’s online store where the utility shower curtain (available in five colors) sells for $48.
Photography duo capture fashion’s poetic moments with animated GIFs
Whether showing how to drop your pants or adding creepy slow-lidded blinks, animated GIFs perhaps come the closest to capturing the true essence of a moment—what photographic technology has often struggled to achieve since the first recorded image. NYC-based innovators Jamie Beck and Kevin Burg poetically attempt just that with their forward-thinking fashion photography that they’ve dubbed “cinemagraphs.”
Teaming up with high-fashion names such as Tiffany’s and Christian Louboutin, Jamie and Kevin have created a whole new style of art for digital ads. The images sometimes lean towards the slightly fantastical—the shimmer on a pair of glitter-covered heels or the shadowy flicker of a film. Theirs is a perfect world that somehow collided with ours, creating sensations like the idealized ripple of a silk skirt that may not exist in reality but ought to.
The beauty of their vision lies in its simplicity. Movements are so subtle (a model’s hair blows in the wind, the gentle jostle of the subway, the flash of a passing car) as to not always be apparent at first glance, but closer scrutiny rewards you with these isolate moments of delight.
“There’s something magical about a still photograph,” Jamie explains, calling them “a captured moment in time—that can simultaneously exist outside the fraction of a second the shutter captures.” To see more cinemagraphs, check out Jamie’s Tumblr.
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