HAPPY KAHLOWEEN!

Happy Kahloween from Artfully a Hare!

Edward the bunny has been dressed up in many a costume, but this may be my favorite so far.  Inspired by Frida Kahlo's Self Portrait Dedicated to Dr. Eloesser from 1940 (and her signature look in general), Mr. Beast donned a flower crown and unibrow to complete the look.

What are you going to be for Halloween?

PUFFY

Another one from MASS MoCA:  Lee Boroson's Plastic Fantastic.

Meant to evoke organic forms, the shapes in this installation are fabricated out of man-made materials, thereby collapsing the notion of a natural environment.  It reminded me of Tomas Saraceno's installation on the roof of the Met a few years ago, but it gave me a greater urger to hug the walls.

Same outfit, with an H&M mens' vest.

Photos by Kathy Paciello.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ROY LICHTENSTEIN

Happy birthday to Roy Lichtenstein, who was born on this day in 1923.

Here is a throwback to my Halloween costume of yesteryear, a Lichtenstein girl.

Do you have any artistic inspiration for Halloween this year?

ANSELM KIEFER at MASS MoCA

One of the most outstanding aspects of my first visit to MASS MoCA was the long-term Anselm Kiefer exhibition, on view through 2028.  Kiefer is arguably the most important post-war German artist, and his work deals with many themes related to his home country's struggle after World War II.

Kiefer was born in Germany in 1945, and the rebuilding years after the war are his first memories.  His work deals with history directly, through the use of varied materials like photographs, organic matter, and post-industrial building materials.  It has been described as apocalyptic, and that term comes to mind easily when confronted with the size and scale of the works in the MASS MoCA exhibition.

In its own building separate from the rest of the museum, the Anselm Kiefer exhibition, in collaboration with the Hall Art Foundation, is like a memorial, and the quiet within the space attests to the ___ with which the images and forms are imbued.

Dress: Marni

Necklace: Saturday

Shoes: Pour la Victoire

Photos by Kathy Paciello.

RIP Oscar de la Renta

I like light, color, luminosity.  I like things full of color and vibrant.

--Oscar de la Renta (1932 - 2014)

In light of the passing of one of my most revered fashion designers, I'll find a way to wear my favorite garment, a custom Oscar de la Renta gown. RIP OdlR

SWEATER WEATHER

It's finally sweater weather, and what better inspiration for autumn layering than Jayson Musson's Coogi canvases?  

The Brooklyn based artist uses the eponymous 'Cosby' sweaters to cover canvases, which become some fusion between Abstract Expressionist painting and landscape.  

Originally marketed as 'wearable art' in the 1980s, the sweaters became a symbol of status for African Americans in the late '80s and early '90s.  Musson deconstructs the garments and reassembles them, finding a balance between their street culture significance and aesthetic relevance to fine art. 

In Art in America, Judith Stein asserted that, "In their ability to communicate a cultural narrative, Musson's Coogis are related to the faux-batik Dutch textiles favored by Yinka Shonibare, which encode the history of colonialism in Africa."

 Musson's alter-ego, Hennessy Youngman, discusses art world tropes like the ones his work purports through a series of web eposides called Art Thoughtz.  

Sweater: Coogi

Skirt: Vintage

Bag: Marc by Marc Jacobs

Heels: United Nude

Images via www.jaysonmusson.com and Artsy.net.

ART TO WEAR: Lichtenstein Brushstroke.

Roy Lichtenstein, Brushstroke, 1965
Screenprint on paper

Pop Art looks out into the world.  It doesn't look like a painting of something, it looks like the thing itself.  --Roy Lichtenstein

Feeling gestural?  I found the perfect frock to show your love of Pop's nod to Abstract Expressionism, Roy Lichtenstein's Brushstroke at the Tate. Pair with boots and a tear in the corner of your eye, and you, too, will look like the thing itself.

Paint Strokes Black Dress, $72 at Pixie Market

EVERYBODYWILLBEDANCINGIFWE'REDOINGITRIGHT

Welcome to the most overwhelmingly colorful site-specific installation, created by Brooklyn-based artists Markus Linnenbrink at Ameringer | McEnery | Yohe in Chelsea.

I could hardly contain my excitement upon entering the room, entirely covered in colorful stripes from floor to ceiling.  Much of Markus' work deals with the way colors pile and spill onto one another, and his epoxy resin pieces are beautifully complex.  The full exhibition, entitled Everybodywillbedancingifwe'redoingitright (love the Daftpunk reference) is on view until October 4. 

Blouse and skirt: Pleats Please Issey Miyake

Shoes: Rachel Comey

Purse: Cynthia Rowley

Photos by Kathy Paciello.