Hasta La Ideas

Dreaming of Paris. Again. (video after the jump)

One of my favorite designers. Her mini-films are exquisite much like her clothes. “Le Bel Ete”, enjoy!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Images of real people from the Citizen Stock library.

A new stock photography agency is seizing upon the world’s growing disenchantment with airbrushed-to-perfection ads and steady appetite for reality television. Meet Citizen Stock, a growing library of rights-managed photography that is free of suspiciously attractive professional models. Husband-and-wife team David Katzenstein and Sherrie Nickol, both commercial photographers, founded the company to build a library of images featuring real people, from chefs and jugglers to toothless tots and individuals captured mid-sneeze (Warhol would approve!). “We noticed through extensive research that there was a need for high-caliber imagery that also had a more real-life sensibility,” said Katzenstein, who has marshalled people of all shapes, sizes, and colors into his Manhattan photo studio and posed them against a pure white background. “Our favorite images usually have a great story connected to them,” he told us. “In general, the people we photograph are fascinating, and our goal is to bring out their true character.”

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Warped realist sculptures, Op-Art paintings and wearable instruments round out our list of Art Basel 2010 favorites

There were so many great things at Art Basel 41 we needed a second feature to capture them all. Check out Part One of our coverage here if you missed it.

At NYC’s Sperone Westwater, “Michael (Variation #1)” (2010), a larger-than-life bust by Canadian artist Evan Penny, captured the booth. This particular piece, following the theme of most of his work, is a strikingly realistic depiction of avery ordinary-looking man from one angle, appearing warped and disproportional from another vantage point.

Nick Cave‘s Soundsuit series (2010), featured at Studio La Citta gallery in Verona, Italy, expresses incredible energy, wit, and color with materials that include twigs, flowers, and hair. Cave (who’s also the director of the graduate fashion program at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago) makes wearable suits of various fabrics that create their own distinct sound through movement.

Known for his poetic work using only fans and tape, Lithuanian artist Zilvinas Kempinas did not fail to impress at Parisian gallery Yvon Lambert with his piece entitled “Oasis” (2010). Consisting of only a round fan and an enormous loop of magnetic tape, the morphing shapes and movement of the stunningly simple piece is fascinating. The tape, floating below the fan without straying, seemingly defies physics.

Venezuelan artist Jesus Rafael Soto‘s installation, “Environment” (1967), featured at Duesseldorf’s Galerie Hans Mayer, consists of what appears to be a window with a painting behind it. Hundreds of thin tubes hanging from the ceiling distort the image, creating multiple perspectives of the same painting, depending on where the viewer stands.

CH muse and Op-Art patron saint Bridget Riley continues to inspire and impress with “Pink and Three Others,” (2009) (above left), a work bursting with color, form and sensuality. The work was featured at Max Hetzler gallery from Berlin.

Neither abstract nor realist, Tomasz Ciecierski‘s work, “Untitled” (2002) featured at Krakow’s gallery Starmach. The painting (above right) balances repetition with a vast array of colors.

“Anillo” (2008) by Juan Genoves, the well-known Spanish contemporary artist, was featured at Marlborough Gallery. Using the fascinating technique of building up acrylic to create 3-D structures, Genoves has created his own unique form of painting. Observers of the piece are given a birds-eye view of a scene in which several miniature people appear to be in motion (see detail above right), giving a new perspective to the concept of painting portraits.

American portrait photographer Katy Grannan hit a home run with her simply shot “Anonymous” portrait collection (2009) at San Fransisco’s Fraenkel Gallery. The unaltered, honest images offer insight into the colorful personalities portrayed.

“TV Man” (2010) by Dublin-native Corban Walker is somewhat of a self portrait video. Presented by NYC’s Pace Gallery the image of Walker himself appears to follow you across the room.

The Bernard Jacobson Gallery included Joe Goode‘s “Sky Painting I” (1972) (above left), which mesmerized us. An American artist known for his images of milk bottles and clouds, this ethereal, impressive painting captures the sky in a way we haven’t seen before. A photograph can’t capture this painting’s energy.

Pavlos Dionyssopoulos‘ “Chemise Orange et Jaune” (2007), (above right) presented by Galerie Thomas Modern from Munich, uses intricate swirls and overlapping lines to create incredible textures.

Spike Lee’s short tours today’s Brooklyn stoops for Absolut’s latest city-themed vodka campaign

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Capitalizing on Brooklynʼs rise to global prominence and the man who helped put it there, Absolut recently partnered with the boroughʼs iconic filmmaker Spike Lee on a project that thankfully shines a spotlight on more than just the stereotypes.

Absolut Brooklyn blends red apple and ginger flavors meant to evoke the vibrancy of NYCʼs largest borough, along with the purported creativity of its residents. Playing off the Big Apple nickname, this latest edition in Absolutʼs line of city-themed spirits interestingly interprets a multifaceted city-within-a-city—impossible to capture in one sip.

Lee’s visual treatment of the accompanying video campaign promoting the limited-edition vodka reflects a style similar to his later film work, featuring crisply-shot trips through various neighborhoods and a swift editing style that teleports viewers from Bensonhurst to Bushwick to Bed-Stuy in a split second. We recommend doing your best to ignore the arrhythmic spoken word performance and focus solely on the beautiful shots of Brooklyn as seen through the lens of one of its own—and keeping your eye on a specific stoop for a special cameo from Spike himself.