NICK MAUSS

I'm returning refreshed after a spring break from blogging. After a few weeks spent working on some other projects, traveling, and looking at art, I'm full of ideas and inspiration.

I came across this dress while vintage shopping in Atlanta, and it ended up being the perfect piece to reflect the work of Nick Mauss.

Mauss (b. 1980) is a New York-based artist whose work I first admired at the Compass in Hand exhibition at the MoMA last year.

Each work encompasses multiple elements, including watercolor, acrylic, pastel, and carbon prints, resulting in multilayered collages.

Discussing these works in Art in America, Steve Pulimood wrote, "Colors explode and dissolve free of the restraint of form, flourishing with Kandinsky-like exuberance."

Incorporating images of well-known 19th-century dandies atop marbleized paper and paint, this body of work represents youthful vitality and frivolity.

I've long admired Mauss' subjects--such Victorian dandies as Oscar Wilde and Charles Baudelaire--and their respective influences on art and fashion.

Mauss' current work encompasses an even broader set of media, including video installation, and is represented by 303 Gallery in New York.

I found the marbled print of the dress to be wonderfully reminiscent of the swirling elements of Mauss' works on paper.

I'm wearing a vintage dress from the Clothing Warehouse in Atlanta, Michael Kors wood and lucite platforms, leather Lauren Merkin clutch, and a metal stud cuff from the Met Store.

[Mauss images from moma.org.]

INDIVIDUALITY

One of the easiest ways to understand art is by examining the intersections between various artistic disciplines; for example, the relationship between clothing and art.

Paul Klee (1879-1940), a German and Swiss painter, straddled artistic media and styles, as well as various disciplines, including visual art, music, theory, and poetry.

In my last post influenced by Klee, it was striking to see the range of differences between the works, as well as the shared color and shape sensibility. Whether painting, drawing, writing, or music, Klee's work is relatable across media.

I personally find it most enlightening to read his poetry as a companion to his artwork.

Individuality?

is not of the substance of elements.

It is an organism, indivisibly

occupied

by elementary objects of a divergent character:

if you

were to attempt division, these parts

would die.

Myself,

for instance: an entire dramatic company.

--Paul Klee

Inspired by Klee's work, I wore a dress and hat reminiscent of his palette and favor for geometric shapes, yet reflected my personal sense of style and individuality, like all artistic interpretations.

I'm wearing a Marc by Marc Jacobs dress, Cynthia Rowley x Roxy sandals, Juicy Couture straw tote, and a straw hat by Maria Bonita Extra.

What does individuality mean to you?

[Klee images from allpaintings.org, poetry4beauty.blogspot.com, and chinaoilpainting.com, respectively.]

TEXTILES

The use of textiles in art is something that has always been present, from ancient woven tapestries to the Native American textiles discussed here. However, it has often been relegated to the status of craft instead of fine art.

In recent years, textiles have become a medium for artists seeking to explore the boundaries between art, design, and craft, and, ultimately, provisioning textiles with a new status in art.

One such artist is Sheila Hicks, who was born in Nebraska in 1934.

Hicks studied painting under Josef Albers at Yale, and went on to receive a Fulbright scholarship for painting in Chile.

During her post-graduate work, Hicks became fascinated with Peruvian and Mexican handweaving, and began producing woven works that embodied the composition, color, and texture of painting.

Throughout her career, Hicks has established production facilities in Mexico, Chile, S. Africa, and now considers her work a combination of performance art, sculpture, and painting.

Hicks (pictured above, with her work) combines a multitude of materials for her woven works, including various fabrics, as well as goat hair, alpaca, paper, leather, stainless steel, and found objects.

Hicks' work is now recognized internationally, and is represented in museum collections all over the world.

I based an outfit around this woven vest, which evoked the woven, textural feel of Hicks' work.

I'm wearing a silk DKNY blouse, vintage woven vest thrifted in Virginia, PRPS boyfriend jeans, Cynthia Vincent wedges, necklace from H&M, and a Marc by Marc Jacobs handbag.

[Hicks images from cristinagrajalestinc.com, waggledancing.wordpress.com, artnet.com, allartnews.com, and 123nonstop.com, respectively.]

EDELWEISS

Immediately after I become acquainted with a new body of work, I begin seeing relationships between the work and things in my wardrobe.

For example, I've owned this dress for some time, but suddenly I couldn't look at it without seeing the collage works of German video artist Marcel Odenbach (b. 1953), whose work I recently discovered via the MoMA.

Odenbach's background in art history, architecture, and semiotics has provisioned him a wide lens through which to view the concept of identity. Odenbach uses symbolism, like the edelweiss depicted above, to add multiple levels of meaning to his work.

Central to Odenbach's work is the subject of German national identity, as complicated by the Holocaust, and how this is reflected in the life of the contemporary individual.

Though video installations form the basis of his work, Odenbach often accompanies these works with related performances, drawings, and collages, pictured here, which are reminiscent of Cubist an Dadaist collages.

By using a multimedia approach, Odenbach is able to address similar issues from a multitude of angles. Click below to watch a lovely short video in which Odenbach discusses the above work, You Can't See the Forest for the Trees.

If you can't see the screen, click here to watch the video.

The multiple black and white prints that make up this dress have a sort of collage effect that resembles Odenbach's works, and the little floral print is reminiscent of edelweiss.

I'm wearing a Walter dress, Madewell necklaces, Rebecca Minkoff purse, and Halston Heritage espadrilles.

Thank you to Lydia for the One Lovely Blog award and to Allie for mentioning me in her Inspiration post!

Also, I was featured along with some other stylish ladies in What I Wore's Rainy Day Challenge. Check it out here!

[Odenbach images from moma.org, flickr.com, nyclovesnyc.blogspot.com, and katiephoto.tumblr.com, respectively. Video from moma.org.]

SUNDAY AFTERNOON

I've always admired the society of leisure that is portrayed in French painting from the turn of the century. An afternoon at the shore, luncheon on the grass--I'm of the opinion that our society does not place nearly enough importance on the necessity of down time.

One of my favorite paintings that reminds me of the importance of repose is A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte.

This painting is the masterpiece of French Post-Impressionist Georges-Pierre Seurat (1859-1891).

Seurat was one of the first proponents of Neo-Impressionism, and pioneered the use of Pointillism, along with Paul Signac.

Pointillism is the use of a mass of small dots of various colors that combine to form a visual depiction of another color.

When viewed from far away, Pointillist paintings appear to have bold shapes of color, but upon closer inspection, these are made up of hundreds of smaller dots. Pointillism leaves the work of color mixing to the eye of the beholder.

I was inspired by Seurat's palette for my own leisurely afternoon on the bay, and combined the striking contrast of orange and periwinkle with a dotted scarf as a reference to Pointillism. Of course, the parasol is a nod to the women of leisure in the painting.

I'm wearing a vintage silk scarf, my mother's vintage brooch, Madewell tee, H&M pants, Cynthia Rowley x Roxy kaleidoscope wedges, and an Indian parasol bought in San Francisco.

[Seurat images from westcler.org, flickr.com, and farm4.static.flickr.com, respectively.]