GUGGENHEIM VISIONARIES

There is a joke amongst my art-loving friends: if anyone asks "What's at the Guggenheim right now?" we always answer, "Kandinsky!"

Vasily Kandinsky is the artist I most closely associate with the museum, and for good reason: his work made up the initial collection that launched the Guggenheim to be what it is today.

In the current exhibition, Visionaries: Creating a Modern Guggenheim, the work of Kandinsky is seen alongside work by Pablo Picasso, Piet Mondrian, and Alexander Calder, among others, whose presence in the collection established the museum as an elite institution.  The exhibition also delves into the history of the museum, and highlights some of the individuals who were necessary in building such a prestigious collection: Solomon R. Guggenheim, of course, but also Hilla Rebay, Justin K. Thannhauser, Karl Nierendorf, and Peggy Guggenheim.  It is an interesting curatorial perspective, one that is very institution-specific, and helped me to appreciate the museum's holdings in a much deeper way.

For this dress, I chose two works by Kandinsky: the front (not shown) is inspired by Several Circles (January - February 1926) and the back is inspired by Composition 8 (July 1923).  This is the first time I've combined multiple works into one garment, and it was fun to think about curating an outfit like one would curate an exhibition.

Visionaries: Creating a Modern Guggenheim is on view at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City until September 6, 2017.

Photos by Mark Rosen.

ARTFULLY AWEAR + PANTONE: Blue Aster.

I'm picking back up with a brand new post in my series inspired by Pantone colors.  This time, it's the cool 18-4252 TCX Blue Aster, which is beautifully apparent in the accompanying paintings by Swiss artist Karina Wisniewska.

Born in 1966, Wisniewska was trained and performed as a chamber musician and concert pianist before discovering her love for the visual arts, including painting. 

For her, the act of painting in essence records a musical composition onto the canvas.  This ideal brings to mind the visual compositions of Wassily Kandinsky, who said:

Color is the keyboard, the eyes are the harmonies, the soul is the piano with many strings. The artist is the hand that plays, touching one key or another, to cause vibrations in the soul.

Wisniewska's approach to painting is similar to Kandinsky's in that she equates strokes on the canvas with musical representation.  However there is very little formal similarity between the two artists' works.  

Wisniewska applies pigment to canvas using a brush or spatula and often mixes the paint with quartz sand in order to build up a surface.

When I forget what something is called and how I normally know it, that's when I begin to see. By keeping the wrist flexible and varying the pressure and speed, it is [possible] to draw a line without hesitation that will flow like a piece of music. --Karina Wisniewska

Dress: Aqua via Bloomingdale's

Necklace: H&M

Shoes: C'N'C Costume National (available here for 70% off!)

Photos by Meri Feir, images from 1stdibs.com, artnet.com, artsy.net, and karinawisniewska.com.