NYC: Guggenheim

I had the pleasure of visiting New York City last Saturday.  The leaves were at full Fall peak in Central Park, and despite the drizzling rain, the day was great!  Artist Agnes Martin was the feature around the rotunda, but there were other floors to explore and enjoy with the likes of Chaugin, Picasso, Cezanne, Kandinsky, and one of my favorites-Chagall.  Most importantly, the building itself was the real show and I'd pay the $25 to go and explore any day.

As with any trip to the Big Apple, I walked plenty, drank high volumes of coffee (Joe Coffee), enjoyed multiple Old Fashioneds (Ace Hotel) and finished the day out with an incredible meal at the not-to-be-missed Uva.

Sean Yoro | Hula: Creating Beautiful Portraits

Sean Yoro, also known as street artist Hula, is creating beautiful portraits of nude women.  He can be found floating around on a Stand Up Paddleboard (SUP) and painting away on the "fringes" of NYC.  Since he is testing the boundaries of legal/illegal artwork, Yoro has not disclosed the exact locations of his work.  Tides are changing though:

“I’m getting a lot of legal walls around the world now, where I’m either permitted or commissioned to paint,” Yoro said. “So my plan is to just travel around the world and keep jamming on this project. This is the tip of the iceberg.”

His work is captivating and very realistic.  It's also quite an amazing feat for a person to stay balanced and focused enough to pull off this kind of work and stay dry.  You can find the original story here.

For a look at Sean Yoro, AKA Hula's work, click here.

John J. Audubon’s Birds of America: Via Digital Library

John J. Audubon’s Birds of America is an amazing collection of watercolor paintings reproduced from hand-engraved plates of North American birds.  The full size, high resolution files are all available for download (for free) over on Audubon's website, here. 

Learn more about John J. Audubon, here.

Feathr Wallpaper Designs to Drool Over

Feathr is taking interiors by storm and offering unique designs to liven up your home.  Stop accumulating crap to fill your house up with and start decorating with A R T.

What it is: Artist-designed wallpapers to spruce up any space!  300 artists and over 750 designs.:
Where to buy:  Check out Feathr.com  for info


More samples after the jump!

Local Listing: Something Cool at The Free Library of Philadelphia

The Free Library of Philadelphia has a shop on their website featuring some pretty cool stuff, really!  Looking to give your kitchen a vintage feel?  Or even your garage?  #FLP is doing it right!  These vintage posters are awesome and cheap.

Peter O'Toole's Baracuta Jacket Illustrations

OneManUpManship turned me onto Peter O'Toole and his amazing illustrations.  From O'Toole's Clark's Original illustrations to his work for Disney, Durex, Carhartt and one of my favorites Baracuta, he continues to produce wildly exact replicas of the product mixed with his signature style.  Keep on!  Also, if you're not hopping over to OneManUpManship now and then, you're doing it wrong.

Old Fashioned Ski Postcards...

Early modern period: Skis were in regular use by Scandinavian farmers, hunters and warriors throughout the Middle Ages. By the 18th century, units of the Swedish Army trained and competed on skis.

Continue reading the short history of Skis...

Woodcut by Bryan Nash Gill

Consider for one moment the changes that a tree goes through and all that they overcome to morph from a tiny seed into a tree towering above you.  Drought, harsh weather, strong winds, animals, invasive species, disease, many succumb others hold fast and grit through the harshest environments and thrive.  These stages are captured in each print, a canvas symbolizing the tree's changes by it's rings.  Woodcut is beautifully done.

Bryan Nash Gill's original prints vary in size but some measure to 4 FEET.  Now, for those of you interested in the work of Gill, consider the book as a small glimpse into the actual world of cross-section tree/wood printing.  This book is 10''x10''inches apprx. and is about a half an inch thick.  Chock full of meticulous prints of various wood species and text to accompany the pages.  I would consider this to be one of those books that I always wanted but never pulled the trigger.  Thanks to my sister for the great birthday present, I look forward to going through each page slowly but surely.

One review sums it up, "If you want to grasp the special sense of time and change held in the hearts of trees, buy this book."  

Norwegian Folktales

Especially around this time of year I get hooked on fairytales and mythologies.  Lately it's been Scottish and Norwegian Fairytales that I've been reading about and getting swept away in.  The illustrations above are by the famous Norwegian artist Theodor Kittelsen (1857-1914).  He illustrated for Asbjørnsen and Moe for their Norwegian Fairytale (Norse Folkeeventyr) book/pamphlets (1845-1870).   It is said that Asbjørnsen was skeptical when he first saw Kittelsen's troll drawings, he thought kids would be terrified of some of the trolls he illustrated.  This is a good reference for Kittlesen's work. 



Interiors and Furniture

More here

London to Erase Banksy's Olympic Art?



"In cleaning up London's graffiti for the Olympics city authorities threaten to squelch the work one of its biggest celebrities, the street artist Banksy, but on Monday the secretive graffiti artist showed he wouldn't be deterred from creating Olympics-related art while the whole world is watching. " -The Atlantic

Some obvious differing opinions at the end of the article, but a fan of graffitti or not, Banksy's "work" requires context and time for it to really hit home, and it does.  Without the context, it's just a stencil on the wall with some political value.  It makes you think a little and is usually pretty fun to look at.  I'm a fan, but he probably wouldn't care either way if London erased it, it would be expected and an opportunity to express himself again.

Big Appetites

Big Appetites is quirky and fun!

by Christopher Boffoli

View larger format photographs on his website or buy a pack of post cards for your refrigerator!

Barnes Foundation: Relocation

Despite the controversy surrounding the relocation of the Barnes, as chronicled in the 2009 documentary The Art of the Steal, the building design for the foundation has surprised me.  Designed by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects (here) true to their design philosophy, they've created a building that evokes a sense of lasting and beauty.  I was apprehensive with the initial build and location of the foundation at the start, but thoroughly surprised by the lovely result.

Obsessions Lately

Wheelmen & Co. (Scout Series) Merchant Daypack  |  BBros Patterned Belt  |  Woolrich John Rich & Bros. Safari Jacket  |  Becket Boot Dr. Marten  |  “Dover Street Bust” Brian Ferry  |  Robyn  |  Specialized Stumpjumper FSR EVO  | 

I Spoke Fewer Words | Kelly Lanzendorfer

I received a wonderful treat this week in the mail.  These prints are from my pal Kelly Lanzendorfer from her work: "I Spoke Fewer Words--documentation of the subtle and strangely romantic things I encountered during my time in France."

I talked about Kelly's travels before in a post "France: A Friend's Perspective".  I'm happy to have a great group of talented friends.  These photos are really inspiring and make me want to grab my camera and get out there.  Now to find worthy frames!

Kelly Lanzendorfer: Here 

behind the scenes--renault

via

 



GK: Progress rather than perfection?

HB: Exactly, no one can decide about perfection. For one it
is boring and doesn’t exist. You only need to look at nature to
realise that it changes all the time. There is the great quote
by Lampedusa from his book ‘The Leopard’. It was made into
a film starring Burt Lancaster who said the line- “Everything
must change to stay the same”.

For me, the director of that movie Luchino Visconti, or Moby
Dick or even Optimus Prime is exactly the same level of
importance. Culture is our life and this includes popular
culture. It’s about inspiring people to create things for
themselves.

People are constantly talking about greenhouse gasses, I am
way more worried about the dead gas in peoples heads. The
real issue is that people don’t look at things anymore, they
don’t read anything and they don’t have any kind of sense of
judgement. Designers have a responsibility to inject some sort
of culture into society and to have far reaching references. To
educate. And to be honest. We need trust.

Full Interview: Here