REVOK and POSE

During a downtown afternoon which included a stop at my favorite dumpling shop and a visit to the New Museum, I was fortuitously dressed to match the legendary Bowery and Houston mural, currently occupied by a collaboration between graffiti writers REVOK and POSE.  It consists of a sampling of tags from many different late writers, including Dondi, Iz the Whiz, Nekst, Tie, CASE2, Ayer, Rammellzee, Vaughn Bode, and took 6 days to complete.

"With layers of tributes to fallen graffiti writers, shout-outs to friends and family, and heartfelt thanks to the host city that sparked a global graffiti scene decades earlier (including this very spot), the visiting thirty something graffiti brothers couldn't quite quantify the depth of feeling they were experiencing as they slowly smashed a big wall in the heart of Manhattan."  Read the full recap here.

Silk Pants: Talulah

Tank: H&M

Sandals: Miss Trish Sslither

Necklace: Duro Olowu for JCP

Straw Handbag: vintage

Sunglasses: Ray-Ban aviators

Photos by Kathy Paciello.

WEARING: Imran Qureshi at the Met.

Over the weekend, I finally had an opportunity to visit The Roof Garden Commission: Imran Qureshi at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  When I first read about this year's rooftop commission, I was surprised to find that this was much more introspective than the usual summertime sculpture shows that take place at the top of the Met.

Pakistani artist Imran Qureshi's And How Many Rains Must Fall Before the Stains Are Washed Clean is in no way obtrusive, essentially becoming an aspect of the surroundings.  Handpainted in the color of dried blood, the work, which resembles Pollock's splatter paintings adorned with organic floral-type forms, calls to mind both the record of a battle scene and new life.

Though Ken Johnson's review in the Times criticized the work as not taking into account its site-specificity with relation to terrorism and the September 11 attacks, he still described the work thus: "A dreamlike carpet underfoot, bound to be scuffed and soiled by thousands of shoes and beaten by sun and rain, it remains generously open to meditative reflection."

I agree with Johnson's assertion that the work illicits reflection, and add that its violence is an ever present reminder of the struggles faced by our own and other cultures.  The rooftop exhibition is open through November 3.

Dress: Vintage, via Beacon's Closet Park Slope

Sandals: Madison Harding

Handbag: Vintage, via Goodwill

Sunglasses: Dolce and Gabbana

Necklace: Belonged to my mother

Photos by Kathy Paciello and myself.

NOW WEARING: Bubbles.

The best way for me to deal with a gray day has always been to pull out my brightest brights.  When I came across this umbrella on Fab.com, I knew it would be the perfect way to offset the blahs of a rainy day.  I paired it with this bubble print wrap dress to evoke the work of Karen Tompkins.

I discovered these gouache paintings on Artsy, and was immediately intrigued by the way color and light is reflected within the works.

According to the artist, bubbles are a way for her to express energy and the ephemeral experience of nature.

Capturing in paintings the quixotic bubble forms that usually escape the eye of the viewer in the fraction of second that they exist, is a magical experience...Not unlike the way Da Vinci is said to have exalted in seeking out “the invisible key of Nature” through his art. Nature, in this case, hands us one of it’s most beautiful keys...the most energy-efficient configuration in nature is a bubble. In this way, the Circle Series brings to light a mysterious world of creation and transformation.  --Karen Tompkins 

Wrap Dress: Diane von Furstenberg

Heels: United Nude

Handbag: Michael Kors East to West Tote in Mandarin

Umbrella: via Fab.com

[Tompkins images from artsy.net; photos by Brett McKenzie.]

NOW WEARING: Deep Blue Interactive Aquarium.

Interactive artwork isn't a medium that I often post here, simply because it doesn't translate as easily into something wearable.  However, Dominic Harris's Deep Blue Interactive Aquarium is both participatory and visually engaging, a perfect harmony of beauty and technology.

Harris is a London-based artist and designer whose "chosen palette of materials is lighting interaction design, and electronics."

His training as an architect has affected the function and scale of his creative projects, which are carried out by Cinimod Studio, founded by Harris in 2007.

Beautiful in its latent state, this piece comes alive when the viewer engages with the screen.  Aquarium is reminiscent of my favorite interactive artwork, Daniel Rozin's Sketch Mirror.  Whereas Rozin's piece literally mirrors the viewer, Aquarium mimics the viewer's movements and actions, framing them as though their presence gives the work greater meaning.

This outfit in its entirety (including accessories) cost under $100!

Dress ($21.99) and Jacket ($14.99): L'Amour by Nanette Lepore via JCP

Snakeskin Mini Bag: Lauren Merkin Essex (via sample sale)

Pumps: Prabal Gurung for Target

Cuff: Met Museum gift shop

Outfit photos by Hannah Kauffman, Aquarium images from dominicharris.com.

Deep Blue Interactive Aquarium (with commentary by Dominic Harris) from Cinimod Studio on Vimeo.

ART OF FASHION 2013: Past Behavior.

"There is no such thing as design, just re-design."

Left: Bronzino, Portrait of Eleanor of Toledo and Her Son, ca. 1545; Right: Frank Sorbier Collection, Fall 2013 Couture

This statement is true across media of art and design -- as it is said, there is nothing new under the sun.  Artists and designers alike look to the past for inspiration and ways to re-make, re-model, re-imagine styles and ideals that came before.  Art of Fashion, an award-winning not-for-profit organization, is committed to fostering the careers of emerging Canadian apparel and accessory designers by creating platforms for exposure.  Each year, Art of Fashion hosts a call for entries for emerging designers to create looks based on a chosen theme.  This year, the theme for the Project Runway-like competition is Past Behavior.

Left: Michiel Jansz. van Mierevelt, Portrait of a Woman, 1628; Right: Georges Hobeika Collection, Fall 2013 Couture

Designers entering the competition are encouraged to "take from the past and apply to the present", resulting in modern takes on traditional designs.  Fashion, like art, is cyclical, and the canon of Art History provides a wealth of inspiration for today's established fashion designers.  As with the inspirational images in this post, it is obvious that the theme Past Behavior is relevant within the latest collections of some of the most distinguished fashion designers.

Left: Torii Kiyonaga, Geisha of the Tachibana Street, 1742; Right: Didit Hediprasetyo Collection, Spring 2013 Couture

Art of Fashion's Past Behavior call for entries closes on August 9th, and the ten most promising entrants will showcase their collections in Toronto on September 27th.  I can't wait to see how these emerging designers will utilize the theme, and look forward to seeing work that reinvents the past in ways that are uniquely Canadian.

You can follow Art of Fashion on Facebook and Twitter, and stay tuned for my recap of the winning designs!

[Artwork images via metmuseum.org, worldofshakespeare.com, and www.elizabethan-portraits.com; Runway images from nymag.com.]

INSPIRATION: Steven Vasquez Lopez.

If you know me, then you know of my obsession with Staedtler Triplus Fineliners--the perfect marker/pen hybrids that come in a rainbow of colors in an award-winning easel case.  When I came across these mind-blowing works on paper by San Francisco-based Steven Vasquez Lopez, I assumed they were created with thread.  Wrong!  These works are ink on paper, using the dear-to-my-heart Fineliners!  How beautiful are these drawings, and how miraculously does the artist capture the warp and weft of fabric?

Images from cover-magazine.com, design-milk.com, and cescontemporary.com.