JOYCE KOZLOFF: Maps + Patterns

On a recent most springlike day, I strolled from my office in Silicon Alley over to 22nd Street in Chelsea to see Joyce Kozloff's Maps + Patterns exhibition at DC Moore Gallery.

Described as "a cross between coloring books and illuminated manuscripts", the works on view are based on motifs that Kozloff encountered throughout her travels on the Silk Route.  The central image in these works is the Islamic Star, which Kozloff has returned to as a motif throughout her 40 year artistic career.

The pieces in the exhibition are mixed media collage, and include elements of previous works, studies, and ephemera Kozloff has collected along the way.

The exhibition closes on April 25, so make your way to the gallery ASAP if you'd like to experience these exuberant works of art.

Dress: Vintage silk, found at Lulu's in Chicago

Boots: Pour la Victoire (also worn in this post)

Photos by Kathy Paciello.

CHRIS OFILI | NEW MUSEUM

If you're in New York City this weekend looking for something to do, I highly recommend that you check out the Chris Ofili exhibition at the New Museum before it closes on February 1st.

Ofili made a name for himself with his controversial work in the Sensation exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum in 1999.  His work is imbued with cultural references, from his heritage to Hip Hop music to the Bible, and his work spans across media including painting, drawing, and sculpture.  In some ways reminiscent of cave painting, the works also have a decorative aspect and an arts and crafts feel brought on through the use of materials such as glitter, studs, and even elephant dung.  The exhibition fills the entire museum and is a surprising journey through Ofili's career; proof that he has covered a lot of ground in his twenty years as an artist.

Dress: Givenchy (SIMILAR HERE)

Belt: Vintage

Shoes: Hussein Chalayan (exact shoes in patent leather HERE)

Photos of me by Kathy Paciello; other photos by me.

PHILIP TAAFFE

On Friday night I made the familiar trek to Bushwick for the Philip Taaffe (b. 1955) opening at Luhring Augustine.  I've long been a fan of Taaffe's work (peep my ancient blog post inspired by his work), and the way he is able to combine so many elements into a large canvas.  His canvases feature a myriad of processes, including silkscreen, collage, stain, and paint, and imagery drawn from broad sources such as religion, popular culture, and media.  According to his gallery, "Taffe strives for an optical vibrancy and visual energy that integrate the decorative with the narrative, the natural with the man-made, the ancient with the modern - entwining cultural lineages and histories to create something authentically new from these interwoven sources."

The exhibition continues through April 26th at 25 Knickerbocker Avenue in Brooklyn.

Vintage Dress: No Relation, NYC

Leather Boots: Goodwill, VA

Poncho: Brooklyn Flea

Photos by Kathy Paciello.

I HAVE A DREAM

Romare Bearden, Martin Luther King - Mountain Top, 1968

Almost always, the creative dedicated minority has made the world better.

--Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

I have a dream: that our culture will continue to embrace art as a means of expression, promoting equality, education, and opportunity.

[Image via IFPDA.]

Joyeux Noël

Thomas Lanigan-Schmidt, Angel with Music, 1975

Joyeux Noël from Artfully Awear!  

I hope your day, week, month, and year are filled with colorful merriment and creative fulfillment.

Image via Artsy.

CHALLENGE: Mickalene Thomas.

I'm excited to announce the inaugural Artfully Awear Challenge!

I've chosen a work of art (below) for inspiration, and dare you to style an outfit influenced by it: a direct representation of the work or a subtle nod to the color, form, feeling of the piece.  Take a photo of your look and send it to artfullyawear@gmail.com by midnight EST on Friday, November 22nd.

I'll post all of the photos here, and challenge one entrant to choose the next inspirational work.

For the first challenge, I've chosen a piece by one of my favorite contemporary artists, Mickalene Thomas.  This untitled work is made with rhinestones, glitter, acrylic, enamel, pastel, charcoal, graphite, and oil on wood panel.  

Mickalene Thomas, Untitled #4, 2013

I can't wait to see your photos!

Plainness in clothing is the enemy of art.

KEITH HARING

I recently had the pleasure of attending the Keith Haring: 1978-1982 exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum.  I've always been enamored by the scope and reach of Haring's work, produced in such a short time span.

I briefly discussed Haring's work before here, but the Brooklyn Museum exhibition was the first time I'd experienced such a wide range of media.  Haring's classic imagery such as the radiant baby and barking dog were well represented, but there were also a number of unfamiliar pieces that provided new insight to his work as a whole.

Central to the exhibition was a selection of party photos from the Keith Haring archives that showcased Haring's involvement in the East Village club culture, as well as his association with other artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat and Kenny Scharf.  In addition, excerpts from Haring's journals gave insight into his artistic process.

A particularly poignant piece in the exhibition is a film that I saw for the first time, Painting Myself Into a Corner, from 1979.  The work is an excellent example of the way that Haring's work, life, and essentially, his being, overlapped.

Before his death in 1990, he founded the Keith Haring Foundation, which provides funding and imagery to AIDS organizations, and has continued Haring's legacy of social and political awareness with a sense of humor.

I'm wearing a Keith Haring x Patricia Field dress, United Nude shoes, and an H&M necklace.

Keith Haring: 1978-1982 is on view at the Brooklyn Museum through July 8.
Visit their website for more information and interaction, including a playlist meant to accompany the exhibition.

BEATRIZ MILHAZES

On a cold, grey, winter day, I was inspired by the exuberant works of Brazilian artist Beatriz Milhazes.

Milhazes (1960-) is one of a growing number of Latin American artists who has reached international acclaim in recent years, due to a multitude of factors related to globalization.  

Her large-scale paintings and collages are influenced by Brazilian folk culture, including carnival, as well as decorative art; most notably, fashion and furniture design.

Her work is deeply connected to European and Brazilian modernism, and has been characterized as "low art" or "love art", referencing both the decorative/design aspect of the work and her gender.

Milhazes cites Henri Matisse (view my post here), Hélio Oiticica, Piet Mondrian (here), and Bridget Riley (here) as great influencers of her work.

"I want to have optical movements, disturbing things; such visions that your eyes would be disturbed when you see them...your eyes are always moving.  It's rather disturbing, even vertigo.  That way, I feel like you have a communication with the entire world."

             --Beatriz Milhazes

Milhazes lives and works in Rio de Janeiro, and is represented by one of my very favorite New York art galleries, James Cohan Gallery in Chelsea, as well as Stephen Friedman Gallery in London.

I'm wearing a thrifted, vintage dress (altered by me), vintage scarf, Libby Edelman suede boots, and a vintage eel skin purse.

[Milhazes images from jamescohan.com.  Quote from “Interview with Beatriz Milhazes,” RES Art World/World Art, No. 2 May 2008: 2-15.]

RUFINO TAMAYO

There's something so fresh and summery about the combination of pink and orange (which has been dominating street and personal style sites), and I love the warm, bright palette's similarity to the work of Rufino Tamayo.

Tamayo (1899-1991) was a Zapotecan Indian artist who traveled abroad and eventually founded the Tamayo Contemporary Art Museum in Mexico City.

During his early artistic career in Mexico, Tamayo was looked down upon by other artists such as Diego Rivera and

José Clemente Orozco, whose work dealt with overt political themes.

Tamayo, more interested in the personal, everyday human identity, relocated to New York, and eventually Paris, where he found wide recognition and popularity for his work.

A key element of Tamayo's work is his use of mixografia, a technique in which handmade paper was used to build a textured surface, upon which the artwork was created.

"Art is a means of expression that must be understood by everybody, everywhere. It grows out of the earth, the textures of our lives, and our experience." --Rufino Tamayo

I'm wearing a thrifted silk blouse, vintage silk pants, vintage necklace, Johnny Wujek x Modern Vintage heels, and a Cynthia Rowley clutch.

[Tamayo images from artloft.com, metmuseum.org, and galeriedada.com, respectively.]

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.]