New Addition

I have started a Tumblr as a companion to this blog.  Please check it out!

Ms. Bean

Beautiful photos of Frances Bean by Hedi Slimane.

Extraterrestrial

Zdzislaw Beksinski was a renowned Polish artist who executed paintings and drawings in what he called a ‘Baroque’ or ‘Gothic’ style. He is best known as a fantasy artist.  Surrealism is evident in his work, which portrays imagery from post apocalyptic worlds beyond. Figures often appear to be both human and alien, wrapped up in their environments which are both nightmarish and beautiful.

Beksinski was born on February 24, 1929 in the town of Sanok in Southern Poland. He studied architecture in Krakow but was never formally trained as an artist. Most of his paintings were created using oil paint on hardboard panels which he personally prepared. Following a successful exhibition in Warsaw in 1964 he became the leading figure in contemporary Polish art. While the subject matter of his work was often considered grim, he believed them to be rather optimistic and even humorous. He hated silence and always listened to classical music while he worked.  Music, in fact, was his main source of inspiration – he rarely visited exhibitions or museums.

Tragedy was no stranger to Beksinski.  In 1988 his wife died, and in 1990 his son committed suicide.  His own life came to a grievous end on February 21, 2005, when Beksinski was fatally stabbed by the son of his longtime caretaker.

See more of his work here

Every Layer Has A Story To Tell

Nicola Samori was born in Forli, Italy in 1977. He studied at the Academia di Belle Arti in Bologna, and now lives and works in Bagnavacello.  His paintings are executed with close reference to techniques of the Italian Baroque.  Figures are applied in chiaroscuro onto wood, canvas and copper.  The faces are often obscured; some are hidden beneath mask of fluid paint application, while others are peeled away, revealing the surface below.

Visit his official site here

Slow Fashion

On March 12th, graduates at the Institute for Fashion Design in Basel, Switzerland presented their 2011 thesis work.  Senta Amacker described his collection as “Slow Fashion instead of Fast Food,” which follows suit with the program’s manifesto:

DOING FASHION

The one, universally valid way to design professional, state-of-the-art fashion doesn’t exist.

We develop different positions & criteria with the students for professional design praxes in fashion. This includes exploring how the formative design process becomes visible through the collection & representation and what qualities are evoked by these means.

TO FIGHT MINDLESS UNIFORMITY

Rejecting a marketing-dominated development of uniform products and representation in fashion we are searching for unique ways of design process praxis. Ways for the development of diversity and actual quality in products, services or technical procedures that are designed for people.

We consider fashion as worthwhile when it communicates positions independent of marketing industry dogmas and is meaningful in relation to a specific context.

In this way it is possible to achieve relevant criteria in the design process and production, richness of artistic expression, as well as compelling representation and a culture of design can unfold in the best understanding of the field.

Some examples of their work (one look from each student’s collection, to emphasize the diversity of their designs):

Antonella Petraccaro

Ursina Bleuler

 

Stefanie Salzmann

 

Senta Amacker

 

Sandro Marzo

 

Paula Alicia Studeli

 

Noemi Frey

 

Noemi Anna Tina Ceresola

 

Mirjam Lea Egloff

 

Miriam Andrea Stocklin

 

Miranda Kaloudis

 

Matthias Waldhart

 

Marc Fuhrer

 

Laura Costa

 

Karin Wuthrich

 

Jean-Rene Wyss

 

Irina Heeman

 

Bettina Gruber

Videos, bios, and more images can be found at the school’s website.

On Hold

Once finals are over, I’ll be able to post more. In the meantime…

Happy Monday!

Grim Inspiration

Here’s a designer to look out for: Lea Peckre, recent winner at the Hyeres Festival, an annual fashion and photography competition held in the South of France.  Her inspiration for the collection? Graveyards.  Pretty cool.  In her words:

“…The subject is not religious and macabre but attracted by the absurd beauties of the end of life and by the confusing places who gave a strong and mysterious atmosphere… Details and elements are the essences of the cemeteries… graves (stones and monuments), woods, surrounding trees, creeping vegetation, wreaths of flowers and wrought iron drawing contrasts in the landscape which will be the starting point for my collection.”

I can’t wait to see more.

Into the Woods

Now that it’s so nice outside, all I want to do is explore a forest somewhere…

Autumn/Winter 2010 campaign by Endovanera

“…a lot I care, me with my red heart in the dark earth and my tattooed feet following the animal ways.”

Vali Myers was an artist, dancer, and shaman, among other things. She spoke to animals and painted magnificent, psychedelic self portraits. She lived on the wild coast of Italy in an abandoned shack with her lover. She tattooed a lightening bolt on Patti Smith’s knee. I could go on and on about all the wonderful and fascinating aspects of her life, but what it comes down to is that she lived her life to the fullest, which is something we can all do. While I love looking at her paintings and reading about her life and musings, what I’m mostly inspired by is her spirit. May we all be a little more like Vali!

If I make the lashes dark
And the eyes more bright
And the lips more scarlet
Or ask if all be right
From, mirror after mirror,
No vanity’s displayed:
I’m looking for the face I had
Before the world was made.

—from Before the World Was Made by W.B. Yeats

“The Passions” by Vali Myers