SLOW DANCE AND THE DAYLIGHT

"The work I make is based on things and places I see, feel, and keep close to me." --Paul Wackers

I can't believe the summer is coming to an end.  Thankfully, Paul Wackers' new mural at the James Hotel in SoHo is just bright and cheery enough to keep the summer spirit alive.  As a part of the #artatthejames program, Wackers' mural engages with the neighborhood and provides a welcome respite from the passing traffic on Sixth Avenue.  

Silk Jumpsuit: H&M

Sandals: Valentino

Photos by William Sealy.

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.

CHRISTOPHER WOOL at the GUGGENHEIM

I'm excited to share my newest DIY, inspired by the Christopher Wool retrospective at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City.

Wool (b. 1955) is an American artist, known by me for his large text-based canvases, such as the ones shown here.  Using commercial materials, such as black enamel, rollers, and stencils, Wool creates paintings that feature words as their subject, drawing to mind the shapes and contrasts that words create on a white page.

The New York-based artist studied painting at the New York Studio School, and subsequently studied film at NYU, before dedicating his career to painting.  I was surprised to find beautiful suites of black and white photographs as a part of the retrospective, depicting lonely scenes of city life. These works were surprisingly relatable to Wool's large canvases, equally monochrome and devoid of human interaction.

Making this dress was an enlightening experience, providing me a glimpse into the process behind Wool's much more involved canvases.  First, I chose a plain black dress from my closet (worn here), and found some commercial stencils at an art supply store.  Using acrylic paint, I painted the words from Wool's Untitled work, "THE SHOW IS OVER THE AUDIENCE GET UP TO LEAVE THEIR SEATS TIME TO COLLECT THEIR COATS AND GO HOME THEY TURN AROUND NO MORE COATS AND NO MORE HOME." The quote is from Greil Marcus' Lipstick Traces, and is a poignant example of Wool's theme of nihilism.

Seeing Wool's retrospective gave me a much greater appreciation of his work, helping to establish a broader context of themes and mediums, and viewing the full timeline of his practice.  The exhibition closes on January 22nd.

Dress: DIY (originally from H&M)

Tights: Topshop

Boots: Ash

Sweater: Velvet

Photos by Hannah Kauffman.

MARTIN CREED

I recently stopped by the new Hauser & Wirth outpost on 18th Street in Chelsea.  Intending to peruse the Dieter & Bjorn Roth exhibition (which I will review shortly in my Art Blanche column), I was pleasantly surprised to discover this Martin Creed installation taking over the entryway.

Creed (b. 1968) is most well-known for his Minimalist, Conceptual works of art such as Work No. 227, the lights going on and off, which won him the Turner Prize in 2001.  The work's title is self-explanatory: Creed orchestrated a 5 seconds on/5 seconds off light cycle in and empty room.

This site-specific installation (Work No. 1461) is anything but empty, featuring a dramatic motif of tape lining the walls.  Evoking the work of many other artists, from Barnett Newman and Donald Judd, to Aakash Nihalani, Creed's installation is a multifacted, colorful experience.

Blouse: 3.1 Phillip Lim

Skirt: Diane von Furstenberg (I love this version from Opening Ceremony)

Mohair Coat: H&M

Purse: Maison Martin Margiela x H&M Leather Glove Purse

Boots: United Nude

[Photos by @kay_elle_pea.]

CLOUD CITY

These photos were taken on the roof of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where Tomás Saraceno's installation Cloud City currently resides, through November 4.  Saraceno creates environments out of scientific forms, breaking boundaries between art, science, and architecture.  This work challenges the way the participant interacts with his or her surroundings, and the roof of the Met is the perfect place to experience the mirrored structure, which allows viewers to ascend closer and closer to clouds themselves.

I'm wearing a Robert Rodriguez blouse, H&M skirt, Neon wedges, and Linda Farrow sunglasses.

GEORGIA O'KEEFFE

When I came across this dress, the layered, petal-like hem and rosy hue called to mind the flower paintings of Georgia O'Keeffe.

O'Keeffe (1887-1986) is widely regarded as one of the most important American artists of the 20th century, notable not only for her paintings of stark landscapes and larger-than-life blooms, but also as a woman who rose to renown in a male-dominated field.

Throughout her life, she lived and worked all over the country, depicting her natural surroundings from Illinois to New York, South Carolina, Virginia, Hawaii, Texas, and, finally, New Mexico.

Married to famed photographer and gallerist Alfred Stieglitz, O'Keeffe was also closely associated with other American modernists such as Charles Demuth, Arthur Dove, and Marsden Hartley.  See my Dove post here and Hartley post here.

O'Keeffe's most well-known works are her close-up views of nature, such as the flower paintings depicted here.

There have been many varied readings of O'Keeffe's flower paintings, particularly related to the feminist art movement of the 1970s, and the flowers' innate sensuality.  O'Keeffe maintained that her work simply existed to confront the viewer with the enchantment of nature.

"I decided that if I could paint that flower in a huge scale, you could not ignore its beauty." --Georgia O'Keeffe

I'm wearing a dress courtesy of sway chic, necklace from H&M, and Boutique 9 shoes.

Photos by @kay_elle_pea on the High Line.

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.]

TAMARA DE LEMPICKA

Although I gather outfit inspiration from all over, I very rarely find an outfit that I want to recreate head to toe. However, when I came across photos of this Miu Miu ensemble worn by Anna Dello Russo, I was immediately inspired by its Art Deco feel.

The main reason I was drawn to the look (other than the electric green color and striking accessories) is because of its affinity to the work of Polish artist Tamara de Lempicka.

Lempicka (1898-1980) is one of the most well-known female Art Deco painters.

Her style is a combination of synthetic cubism and Art Deco, and the resulting work is geometric and exacting, yet still maintains a keen appreciation for the female body.

The majority of Lempicka's paintings depict assertive, independent women. Her self-portrait Tamara in the Green Bugatti (below) imbues her own image with a sense of independence that was not widely accorded to the women of her time.

Her notoriously glamorous yet alternative lifestyle made Lempicka the subject of a number of books and screen productions. After a life spent solidifying her social and artistic importance, Lempicka became known as "the baroness with a brush".

I tried to capture the Art Deco feel of these works by combining a beaded jacket with a structured shift dress and geometric accessories.

I'm wearing a vintage beaded and sequined jacket, H&M silk dress, Falke Pure Matte tights in Emerald, Divided shoes, Gap belt, and vintage gold clutch.

In other news, my birthday is just around the corner! I was so excited to see daffodils (my birthday flower) in bloom this week.

[Lempicka images from sarahfullercostume.blogspot.com, vintagegal.tumblr.com, fashionstylist.net, and dailyartist.blogspot.com, respectively. ADR images from streetpeeper.com, alltheprettybirds.com, and jakandjil.com.]