Is there an artist/designer/illustrator out there who hasn’t succumbed to a gnawing sense of inadequacy when trying—very hard—to understand color theory as it’s generally taught in art schools? What ever happened to the delight we took as children when cracking open a fresh box of 64 Crayolas? Often given for an important holiday or a birthday celebration, the colors represented far more than the … Read the full Story >>
To have something that’s beautiful somehow gives me a feeling that approaches immortality. It’s very similar to the act of creating. So Robert Mapplethorpe (1946-1989) is quoted saying for a magazine article in 1978. By that time, the artist had established himself as a photographer, having had his first solo show, at New York’s Light Gallery in 1973. His work was shown at Documenta 6/Kassel in … Read the full Story >>
I always look forward to AIGA’s annual 50 Books/50 Covers show because it presents many publications that I would otherwise not have a chance to see. In addition to book jackets designed to make a novel leap off the shelf and into your hands, cookbooks that would make your mouth water, and art publications that open new worlds, there are corporate and institutional pieces … Read the full Story >>
T: The New York Times Style Magazine celebrated its tenth anniversary with these cover lines: Voice / Passion / Taste / Identity / Style / Creativity / Influence. The magazine was launched in August 2004. It is published 15 times a year and distributed within the Sunday edition of the New York Times newspaper. Stefano Tonchi was editor until 2010; his replacement was Sally Singer. Singer left … Read the full Story >>
Each year, the Autumn season launches an avalanche of new illustrated books of every imaginable kind, from those printed in the hundreds of thousands (Ken Burns' The War, 525,000, for example) to limited editions of a dozen or so (Penthesilea, see below), and self-published books printed on demand. This year is no exception. September ends with the New York Art Book … Read the full Story >>
Andrzej Maciejewski is a photographer living in rural Ontario, who teaches at nearby Fleming College, Haliburton School of Arts. He recently photographed places across Ontario that take their names from illustrious European capitals. After seeing some of the images from his series, Lisbon-Moscow, on Facebook, I contacted Andrzej about the project; this is what he wrote: I emigrated to Canada from Poland as a … Read the full Story >>
Textile design, weaving methods and hand embroidery have recently informed contemporary visual arts in a big way as painters become textile muralists and sculptors weave discarded soda cans into room-size installations. Pieced work, as in patchwork quilts, is another form that artists are embracing to create large, colorful installations in which sewing machines and fusible mesh supplant paints and brushes as tools. And as … Read the full Story >>
Artist Kevin Cooley has recently engineered his largest installation to date, filling a new residential building alongside the High Line Park with TVs that receive a live transmission of the evening's line-up of programs his father watches, at his home in Niwot, Colorado. In Remote Nation, as the installation is titled, he writes, “the inhabitants of an entire high-rise apartment building appear to … Read the full Story >>
Field Condition, a fascinating website that documents the architectural evolution of New York City, silently burst on the scene in September 2013. With a singular vision and consistent photographic style, the anonymous author and photographer offer(s) a mesmerizing view of urbanism at the top of the scale. Starchitects, including Herzog and de Meuron; Santiago Calatrava; Stephen Holl; Robert Stern; SHoP; FXFowle; and the like, form the list … Read the full Story >>
For the last official week of summer, DART looks at the extraordinary Modernist villa, E 1027, perched on a rocky promontory in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, near Saint-Tropez, France. Built in 1929 by the now-legendary designer/architect Eileen Gray as a love nest for herself and the Romanian architect and critic Jean Badovici, the house has become something of an icon for Modernist design and preservation; in design … Read the full Story >>
Molière, born Jean Baptiste Poquelin (1622-1673), was inspired by modern life, particularly the huge disparities between the noble and peasant classes. He invented a form of satirical comedy known as farce to avenge the greed and stupidity of the court and its courtiers. Before he became well known in Paris, Molière and his stage company toured the provinces for 13 years, later settling in the city … Read the full Story >>
Peggy Roalf: I understand that you were trained as a graphic designer; what kind of work were you doing when you began making these tiny sculptures from scraps—and how did the personal work influence your design work? Lydia Ricci: I was doing a lot of packaging and branding work at the time when I made my first sculpture: The Dodge (green Dodge Dart, below). … Read the full Story >>
At this time of year many students, new graduates planning a gap year, and art faculty members are organizing for a summer residency program. And every spring, some of the most fascinating programs reveal themselves among the hundreds of announcements that land in my inbox. The Urban Incubator: Belgrade [UIB] is my choice for a program to follow on a regular basis this summer. … Read the full Story >>
British photographer Martin Parr offers sound advice for documenting family vacations: "On holiday, photograph the daytrips and good times, but make sure you document when everything isn't going to plan as well." Above: Italy, Lake Garda, 1999. © Martin Parr In an article for the Guardian, he went through the canon, covering all of the W’s. For example: “Don't be scared of photographing a … Read the full Story >>
The Frieze New York Art Fair, in its New York debut, proved to be a first in several ways. Located on Randall’s Island and accessible only by a dedicated East River Ferry or shuttle busses from the #4/5/8 lines at 125th Street, it turned out to be easier and more fun to get to than the Armory Show on the West Side. According to The … Read the full Story >>
If ever there was a design polymath, it's Paul Sahre. Designer, illustrator, photographer, and inventor, his process and practice consistently taking the road not taken. For a recent assignment to create the packaging for a new release by rock stars They Might Be Giants, he has topped himself, creating a life-size "truck hearse" out of paper and cardboard (below left), and … Read the full Story >>
Leif Parsons is an artist whose illustrations appear in major publications coast to coast, from the New York Times to the L.A. Times, where he produces a monthly art column. On receiving an announcement about a solo show of his personal art opening this Friday at the Greenpoint Terminal Gallery, and a group show opening on Saturday at the Buffalo Arts Studio, I … Read the full Story >>
This just in from Brian Palmer: Like several hundred others, I spent the early hours last Friday morning at the Occupy Wall Street protest just a couple of blocks north of Wall Street, at Zuccotti Park. I saw clusters of grungy, crunchy kids lounging and talking, several long-haired and funky lefties closer to my age holding forth, giddy tourists angling for photos, plus thousands … Read the full Story >>
Doug Fogelson, a Chicago-based photographer and founder of Front Forty Press, takes a utopian approach to art making: collaboration. Extending the ethos to this week's installment of Fine Print: Alternative Media at P.S. 1, he will bring colleagues Dan De Los Monteros and David Castillo to the party. Many FFP artists and writers will also be on hand to give readings, and Yuri … Read the full Story >>
September 24–27: Independent 20th Century at The Breuer Building As New York’s autumn art calendar kicks into high gear, the Independent 20th Century art fair takes over the iconic Breuer Building—the new global headquarters for Sotheby's in the former home of the Whitney. Under the sharp curatorial eye of Independent’s founder Elizabeth Dee, this year's fair nearly doubles its footprint to host 56 … Read the full Story >>
