Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Fashion at the Circus; A Freak Show

Thanks to the duo fashion photographers Pamela Reed and Matthew Rader (AKA Reed + Rader), Freak Show takes us on a whimsical journey held in a circus setting. Meet all the different performers in this animated fashion shoot. 

This was a fun project for us as the content was specifically based on characters and their actions, something we always try to push.
~~ Reed + Rader

Freak Show
© Reed + Rader
Coat by Oscar De La Renta
Jumpsuit by Louise Gray
Dress by Tao Comme des Garcons
Dress by Manish Arora
Dress by Proenza Shouler
Top by Christian Dior
Gloves by La Crasia
Dress by Yusuke Maegawa
Dress Marc by Marc Jacobs
Vest by D&G
Coat by Paul Smith

Freak Show
Courtesy and copyright Reed + Rader
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Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Holiday Greetings!..... Celebrate each day.

Peace, Joy and Lasting Happiness


I will be taking a few days off from blogging to celebrate the holiday. To my readers, many thanks for all the likes and constant support. 

Warmest thoughts and best wishes for a wonderful festive season and a Happy New Year!







Shot all with my iPhone on Instagram


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Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Christian Tagliavini; 1503 - A Visionary Renaissance

Taking 13 months to complete, 1503 is largely inspired by the masters of the Renaissance, notably Agnolo di Cosimo ( known as "Il Bronzino") who was born in the same year as the title. Using cardboard and paper in place of materials allows Christian Tagliavini to design each item from the patterning to the final construction of form completely.

In this visionary Renaissance nine still characters are portrayed in striking handcrafted clothes made by Tagliavini himself. Set against the backdrop of art history, the Swiss-Italian artist wields his lens after the long complex process of designing, building and making to create his mis en scene.

From beginning to completion Tagliavini's work is a labour of love. He admits that he enjoys the process as much as the resulting photograph.

Christian Tagliavini lives in Lugano, Switzerland, and works as a graphic designer and photographer.

1503 is currently on view at Diemar / Noble Photography, London.

1503
© Christian Tagliavini
Cecilia
Lucrezia © Christian Tagliavini
Lady Clotilde © Christian Tagliavini
Bartolomeo © Christian Tagliavini
Portrait of a Lady in Green © Christian Tagliavini
Portrait of a Man © Christian Tagliavini
Artemisia © Christian Tagliavini
Portrait of a Young Woman © Christian Tagliavini
Portrait of a Young Man with Plumed Hat © Christian Tagliavini


Courtesy Christian Tagliavini / Diemar/Noble Photography
Christian Tagliavini: 1503
November 3, 2011 - January 7, 2012


Monday, December 12, 2011

Yayoi Kusama: "Flowers That Bloom at Midnight"

As fall cedes to winter, the Jardins des Tuileries in Paris will be enlivened by Yayoi Kusama's vibrantly colored Flowers That Bloom at Midnight, a series of unique large-scale sculptures. This is the first time these sculptures will be seen in France. The presentation by the Musee du Louvre - which coincides with Kusama's major retrospective at the Centre Pompidou - is consistent with the museum's ongoing initiative to integrate contemporary art into its broader historical and cultural program. This special project has been realized with the support of Gagosian Gallery.

The first known photograph of Kusama as a small child is an arresting image: her beautiful face with its grave expression appears above a cluster go gigantic dahlias, each bloom larger than her small head. Flowers have continued to populate Kusama's imaginary since the beginning of her career, and it is evident that the monstrous flower sculptures of today have their origins in the surrealistic specimens that pervade the landscapes of her early paintings.

Nicknamed the Polka Dot Princess by the paparazzi in the 1960s when she lived in New York City,Yayoi Kusama was born in Matsumoto, Japan in 1929. Like other great women artists such as Louise Bourgeois or Eva Hesse, Kusama has a very distinctive and individual place in the history of contemporary art. With her unrivaled eye of color, pattern and sinuous baroque form, the avant-garde artist developed Flowers That Bloom at Midnight - an exuberant series of fifteen unique sculptures cast in fiberglass reinforced plastic and painted by hand - following major permanent sculptural commissions for public, among them Tulipes de Shangri-La (2003), Lille, France, and The Hymn of Life: Tulips (2007), Beverly Hills City Council, Los Angeles.

Yayoi Kusama lives and works in Tokyo. Her work is collected by leading museums worldwide including the Museum of Modern Art, NY; LACMA, Los Angeles; Tate Modern, London, and many more.

Flowers That Bloom at Midnight is currently on view at the Jardins des Tuileries, Paris.
December 1, 2011 - Spring 2012

Yayoi Kusama
Flowers That Bloom at Midnight 





A look at the "Yayoi Kusama" exhibition at the Centre Pompidou, a retrospective of the artist's work since her departure from Japan.


Centre Pompidou
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Friday, December 9, 2011

Azzedine Alaia in the 21st Century

Tunisian-born Azzedine Alaia is one of the most important fashion designers of the last decades. Nicknamed the "King of Cling" Alaia practically invented the stretch mini, Lycra cycling shorts and the bodysuit that became inspiration to high street fashion design. His creations are considered by many to be the sexiest, trendiest, and most utterly original clothes produced by any contemporary designer. His tight dresses embrace the bodies of the world's most seductive and successful women.
Alaia's talent and reputation, spread largely by word of mouth, has won him the adoration of an extraordinary suite of faithful clients, among them Naomi Campbell, Tina Turner, Michelle Obama and Madonna.

From December 11, 2011 to May 6, 2012, the Groninger Museum will present the exhibition entitled Azzedine Alaia in the 21st century. This exhibition displays the most fantastic Alaia fashion creations of the last ten years, and focuses on various materials the designer has consistently used over the past decade: velvet, fur, wool, leather, cotton, animal skins, chiffon and knitwear.
A monograph will be published to accompany the exhibition compiled by curator Mark Wilson.

©Azzedine Alaia / zomer/herfst / S/F 2003
Photo: Robert Kot
@Azzedine Alaia / zomer/herfst / S/F 2003
Photo: Robert Kot
© Azzedine Alaia / zomer/herfst / S/F 2003
Photo: Robert Kot
© Azzedine Alaia / winter 2007
Photo: Robert Kot

©Azzedine Alaia / winter 2008
Photo: Robert Kot
© Azzedine Alaia / winter 2009
Photo: Robert Kot
© Azzedine Alaia / zomer / summer 2010
Photo: Robert Kot
© Azzedine Alaia / zomer / summer 2009
Photo: Robert Kot
© Azzedine Alaia / zomer / summer 2010
Photo: Robert Kot
@ Azzedine Alaia / zomer / summer 2010
Photo: Robert Kot
© Azzedine Alaia / zomer / summer 2010
Photo: Robert Kot
© Azzedine Alaia / winter 2010
Photo: Robert Kot
© Azzedine Alaia / winter 2010
Photo: Robert Kot
© Azzedine Alaia / couture, winter 2011
Photo: Robert Kot
© Azzedine Alaia / couture, winter 2011
Photo: Robert Kot


Courtesy the Groninger Museum
Azzedine Alaia in the 21st century
December 11, 2011 - May 6, 2012
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Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Karen Knorr: "India Song", the Panchatantra of the 21st century

Like the pioneering early photographers who found in India a wealth of exotic subject matter, Karen Knorr celebrates the visual richness found in the myths and stories of northern India using sacred and secular sited to highlight caste, femininity and its relationship with the animal world. Interiors are painstakingly photographed, live animals are inserted into the architectural sites, fusing high resolution digital with analogue photography. In India Song, Knorr's most recent work, each finished photograph is both a mystery and a fable - referencing the vast tradition of picturing animals in art along with the western appreciation/appropriation of eastern culture and form. The results create original and stunning images that reinvent the Panchatantra (an ancient Indian collection of animal fables) for the 21st century and further blur the boundaries between reality and illusion.

Based in London, Karen Knorr was born in Frankfurt, Germany, raised in San Juan Puerto Rico, and educated in Paris and London. Widely exhibited in Europe and India, India Song is the artist's first solo show in the United States. This past October, this series was nominated for the 2012 Deutsche Borse Photography Prize - Europe's most prestigious award for a living photographer who has made the most significant contribution to the medium of photography over the past year.
India Song is currently showing at Danziger Gallery, New York.

India Song 2008-2010
Avatars of Devi, Zanana, Samode Palace
© Karen Knorr / Danziger Gallery NY
The Witness, Humayun's Tomb, New Delhi
© Karen Knorr / Danziger Gallery NY
The Queen's Room, Udaipur City Palace
© Karen Knorr / Danziger Gallery NY
The Gatekeeper, Zanana, Samode Palace
© Karen Knorr / Danziger Gallery NY
The Private Audience, AAm Khas, Junha Mahal, Dungarpur
© Karen Knorr / Danziger Gallery NY
The Courtyard Conference, Dungarpur Palace
© Karen Knorr / Danziger Gallery NY
Conqueror of the World, Podar Haveli, Nawalgarh
© Karen Knorr
Flight to Freedom, Durbar Hall
© Karen Knorr / Danziger Gallery NY
The Joy Of Ahimsa, Takhat Vilas, Mehrangarh Fort, Jodhpur
© Karen Knorr / Danziger Gallery NY
The Peacemaker, Jaipur Palace
© Karen Knorr / Danziger Gallery NY
Flight to Freedom, Durbar Hall
© Karen Knorr / Danziger Gallery NY


India Song 
November 3 - December 23, 2011
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