Holiday Gifts: The Art of Tim Burton

And my selection of gift items continues with this "whimsical" book .....

For the first time ever a comprehensive look at the personal and project artwork of Tim Burton. The Art of Tim Burton is the definitive compilation of forty years of Tim Burton's artistry, including film concepts and hundreds of illustrations from his personal archives. This 434 page book is grouped into thirteen chapters that examine common themes in Burton's work, from his fascination with clowns to his passion for misunderstood monsters, to his delight in the oddities of people.
" Some people want to know why I've got a whole chapter of holiday drawings and paintings in my art book (for what it's worth: "The Art of Tim Burton"). I've always loved the holidays. Maybe it has something to do with growing up in a California suburb, where the only way to tell the passing of seasons was when people broke out the holiday decorations. Christmas has always been one of my favorites. I love the gaudy decorations people strew everywhere and the idea of snow before I ever got to experience it."

Here are excerpts from the book, the weirdest Christmas images

All images courtesy Tim Burton via Huffington Post

To view more click on The Art of Tim Burton

The Banke Hotel in Paris, an artsy place

Derby Hotels Collection, the prestigious Spanish chain of hotels, opens its first establishment in Paris. A Baroque pearl in a Haussmann-style setting, the Banke Hotel is located just steps from the Palais Garnier and the city's big department stores. Everywhere the previous vocation of the building is evident, right from the medallions on the spandrels of the entrance portico. Formerly the headquarters of a major bank, the building blends opulence with austerity. The heavy wrought-iron doors reinforce the inheritance from the previous century.With its gigantic chandelier and diaphanous vermilion drapes, the vestibule is more evocative of the world of theatre than high finance.
There is an impressive collection of jewelry and contemporary art displayed on every floor of the 94-room hotel, and this aesthetic splendor adds to the atmosphere of refinement so characteristic of the Derby Hotels Collection.

Images courtesy Derby Hotels 

To view more, click on The Banke Hotel- Paris

When Blade Runner meets Splash

Young designer Iris Van Herpen is the grand winner of the Dutch Fashion Awards 2010. Not only did she win the Mercedes Benz Dutch Fashion Award, she was also awarded with the Dutch Fashion Accessory Award and the Dutch Fashion Incubator Award 2010. During the ceremony that took place in the Hague on November 5, Van Herpen showed pieces from "Synthesia" her futuristic collection, and also pieces from her new collection "Crystallization." We could describe her latest collection as "the process of water turning into crystal," breathtaking creations spun from thousands of nylon threads that shimmered like a waterfall of light.....

To view more, click on Iris Van Herpen
Photos courtesy Peter Stigter

Peter Lindbergh: " On Street "

Whether he is photographing Kate Moss or Catherine Deneuve, the melancholy pictures of Peter Lindbergh look behind the star cult, styling and make-up to reveal the individual personality in all its strength. Born in 1944 in Lissa, Poland, Lindbergh grew up in Germany, and currently lives in Paris, Arles and New York. He began photography in 1971 and established himself as an advertising photographer. He is considered to be one of the world's preeminent fashion photographers, particularly in black and white, and is credited with helping create the supermodel phenomenon of the 1990s. As a visual teller of tales, Peter Lindbergh frequently arranges his compositions to resemble famous film scenes from early German cinema or from the free dance of the 1920s.
Despite a Berlin exhibition that made its debut in September and another set for Shanghai next year, Lindbergh is very much rooted in the moment. "Fashion photography has gotten a little lost. There is a lot of carnival going on. The hair has gotten too crazy and the make-up. At the moment, everybody is trying to do young. They have to look young or dress young. Youth is so overdone," he said. "All the advertising and magazine covers today - they don't look like natural women. For me, that's a real pity. There's all this retouching. A little humanity would do good, especially in fashion photography."
WWD, 2010


A large new Peter Lindbergh exhibition " On Street " is currently on view at C/O Berlin Museum, from September 25, 2010 to January 9, 2011.

Kate Moss for Harper's Bazaar, New York, 1994

Mariacarla Boscono, New York, 2008

Monique Olsen for Vogue Italy, NY, 2006

Comme des Garcons, Pont A Mousson Factory, Nancy, France, 1988

Milla Jovovich, Karen Elson for Vogue Italy, Downtown Los Angeles, 2000

Milla Jovovich for Vogue Italy, Downtown L.A, 2000

All images, courtesy Peter Lindbergh and C/O Berlin

To view additional photographs of the exhibition, click on " On Street," Peter Lindbergh.