ORLY GENGER at MADISON SQUARE PARK

The first time I encountered Orly Genger's Red, Yellow, and Blue during its installation at Madison Square Park, I wasn't sure I appreciated the 1.4 million feet of repurposed rope, equal to more than 20 times the length of Manhattan, undulating amongst the grass and trees.

At first,  the sculptures seemed to detract from the respite of the lush park in the midst of hurried Flatiron, but I soon appreciated their presence as I watched the public, encouraged through interaction with the works, to experience the park and their surroundings in a new way.

Fashioned out of nautical rope gathered from the East Coast and then meticulously knotted by hand, the massive installation Red, Yellow, and Blue encompasses multiple layers of meaning, both literally and figuratively. 

Genger’s installations have been described as “aggressive”, and almost appear to man-handle the spaces in which they reside. At the same time, there is a calming quality to the repeated links and knots.  Genger's work is inspired by Minimalism and interaction in work by artists such as Richard Serra and Felix Gonzalez-Torres.

Dress: W118 by Walter Baker

Jacket: Doo. Ri

Shoes: Rachel Roy

Photos by Meri Feir.

Concurrent with the Madison Square Park project, you can buy Genger's MSP collection, inspired by Red, Yellow, and Blue, through Grey Area.

ART TO WEAR: Filigree

Jewelry, especially from ancient times, is just as much artwork as artifact, especially when you consider the craftsmanship behind each piece.  Filigree is a type of metalwork used for jewelry since the 6th century B.C., and is represented in many ancient cultures, including Italian, French, Greek, and Etruscan, and is still popularly used today. Filigree is accomplished by soldering together many tiny filaments to form a piece of metal that resembles lace.

I'm wearing the Filigree Statement Necklace, courtesy of Lydell NYC.

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.

ART TO WEAR: Iris Tsante.

I am in love with the tongue-in-cheek jewelry by artist Iris Tsante.  

"I consider jewelry as a process of exploring ways to define the senses of 'beauty' and 'value' in reference to memories of significant objects and the subsequent human/social connections related to them."

Ms. Tsante is currently exhibiting at Galerie Ra in Amsterdam through 12 February. 

To see more work and read her bio, click here.

[via arthound.net & sharesomecandy.com.]