Designed in 2006 by Jonas Damon.
Friday, November 28, 2008
TRAPEZOID WATCH
Trapezoid, a watch designed for fashion brand Issey Miyake by Japanese designer Naoto Fukasawa, has gone on sale.
The sloping bezel displays numbers that are stretched like road markings so that they appear normally when seen straight-on.
MURAKAMI TO OPEN HOLLYWOOD ANIMATION STUDIO
TAKASHI MURAKAMI announced this week that he’s poised to set up a new animation studio in LA in summer 2009.
Operating under the umbrella of KAI KAI KIKI, his artist management & personal production company, the studio will be located on North Highland Ave in close proximity to the nexus of Hollywood studio activity.
Having proved his studio’s formidable animation chops with the Kai Kai Kiki-produced video for Kanye West’s “Good Morning,” and the “Superflat Monogram” short for Louis Vuitton, the company’s first pursuit will be the expansion of Murakami’s playfully fecal-friendly “Planting the Seeds” shorts starring his signature characters Kai Kai and Kiki that debuted at his “© Murakami” show in LA and Brooklyn last year into a feature-length film. Said Murakami about his new move into cartoons, “Animation and film have always been among my greatest influences, ever since I first saw ‘Star Wars’ and Hayao Miyazaki’s films. This studio represents a great step in the evolution of Kai Kai Kiki and gives me a closer proximity to the community of artists with whom I hope to collaborate as I continue my explorations of animated and live-action film.”
via supertouchart.
Kaws at Gering & Lopez Gallery
Kaws has his first solo show on display at Gering & López Gallery in New York. Works in the show range from geometric acrylics on canvas to bronze sculptures of the artist's head and a life size rendition of one of his better-known toy figures.
KAWS
Through 23 December 2008
Gering & López Gallery
730 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10019 map
tel. +1 646 336 7183
Thursday, November 27, 2008
BBC|ICE CREAM NYC FLAGSHIP 1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY
From the BBC blog:
Time flies… It’s been a year already in New York since our store opened and we have a few special releases coming out including this Billionaire Boys Club NYC T-Shirt(Moon Print) only available at the New York Flagship store this Friday(November 28th) at 11AM.
via BBC.
The Paintings at Terence Koh’s New Show Are Possibly Edible
By: Andrew Goldstein and Jada Yuan
At last night's blowout opening party for Terence Koh's new show, "Flowers for Baudelaire," questions of taste predominated. Not about whether Koh — who created a scandal in England earlier this year by showing a statue of Jesus with a huge erection — had gone too far, but about whether people had actually tasted the art. The show, which rising 23-year-old dealer Vito Schnabel (son of Julian) curated in the seamless, immaculately white photography studio of the late Richard Avedon's East 75th Street townhouse, featured an ethereal array of 51 white granulated canvases that were hypnotically blurred by the haze of a fog machine. Viewers were encouraged to remove their shoes before entering the space, where Koh, dressed in a black suit and bright white sneakers, was inviting guests to eat little flecks from the paintings. "You can lick them — let me show you, it's very sweet," he said. "I was just trying to make the simplest paintings possible. It's just plain canvases, corn syrup, and powdered sugar."
While one reporter followed his lead, not everyone was so eager to trust the artist, who has been known to use his own bodily fluids and other unpleasant materials in his work. The art dealer Jeffrey Deitch, who deemed the show "magical," wasn't biting. "The question is we don't know if it's powdered sugar or crystal meth," he said. "I travel with an official taster, so I have to wait for my taster to come." Artist Agathe Snow balked too. "I don't taste paintings," she said. "Did it taste like cocaine?" (No, it tasted like sugar.) Schnabel — who had set up the show through his friend Olivier Sarkozy, the half-brother of the French president and the owner of Avedon's finely appointed house — showed his faith in the artist by sampling the work but warned against overindulging. "I just imagine that titanium pigment wouldn't be good to swallow," he said, adding, "There might be some semen in there, I don't know. Who knows."
Upstairs at the party, an art-world crowd featuring Alanna Heiss, Klaus Biesenbach, Kembra Phaler, and Todd Eberle were joined by glossy figures like Anna Wintour and Salman Rushdie, with people spilling out onto a two-story patio. Sarkozy had installed two of Koh's paintings in his living room, and as the night progressed, the jostling of the revelers created a minor snowstorm of powder. Ann Dexter-Jones was wearing a black coat, but the entire back of it was white. "I bought a painting," she said. "I talked to Terence, and I said I needed to have one. And then I accidentally leaned on one and this happened. Now I'm a little worried." Lyor Cohen's black coat was similarly whitened, but only on the sleeves. He said he hadn't gotten near a painting; he'd just run into a lot of powder-covered friends who kept grabbing his arms, saying, "Lyor, how you doing?" Indeed, the paintings were shedding all over Sarkozy's bookshelves, which lined the floor of the room and an entire wall by the bathroom. (The shelves by the bathroom contained dozens of diet books: Digestive Wellness, Marion Nestle's What to Eat, The Omnivore's Dilemna, etc., as well as Connect Four and a DVD titled Scientology: An Overview.) At some point, guests noticed all the powder on the shelves and started making lines, then took turns scampering about the room with a lampshade on their heads. Whatever was in the paintings, they provided fuel for a memorable night, and an excellent show.
via nymag.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
LORI HERSBERGER
Lori is an artist from Switzerland who utilizes neon light in her work. Really great stuff!
ANDY WARHOL COLORING BOOK
The National Gallery of Scotland has a great assortment of coloring books for all ages, including this one from the famous Andy Warhol. “The large format 24 page book of Andy Warhol’s drawings of animals and various other pictures for colouring. Suitable for children and adults.”
BAPE x ISETAN SPECIAL ITEMS
Bape has produced a number of limited edition items, that will only be available in the pop-up store. The store opens tomorrow and will stay open until December 2nd. The series includes Panda-, Shark- and Tiger full zip hoodies, as well as a new Cow full zip hoodie, that also comes with a cow pattern on the front pockets.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Redefining "Bullet Time"
Timesculpture commercial by Toshiba was shot using 200 Toshiba Gigashot camcorders and is presented as an evolution to the famous "Bullet Time" introduced by the Matrix.
"Rather than showing a 3-D rotation of a still moment, this groundbreaking new filming process manipulates moving snapshots of time using Toshiba technology, redefining cinematic human movement". No CGI imagery was used on the commercial.
Make sure to watch The Making of Video!
Advanced Beauty | Updates
The NTSC / 5:1 Surround DVD is now available for pre-order enquires. The DVD will be released with four collectible covers. For those wishing for the High Definition release, we are working on HD digital distribution when the avenues are in place in early 2009. Meanwhile onedotzero are touring the full HD film to cinemas worldwide.
False / F.O.R.
FALLACY OF ROME is the conjoined brainchild of revered Grammy Award winning rapper Lupe Fiasco and Creative Supervillain Le Messie of the FALSE brand movement. A capsule collection embedded into Lupe Fiasco’s 2nd coming to his much sought after FALL OF ROME brand. The capsule collection contains hand-finished garments by the FALSE duo Le Messie & Amanda Scully.
Conceptualized around the “Hound of Hades” story-line that depicts the 3 minds involved in the birth of FALLACY OF ROME along with it’s possible journey into the depths of it’s future.
FALLACY OF ROME is a high-end capsule collection released internationally at only the best boutiques.
FourTrack iPhone Application
Sonoma Wire Works created a new iPhone application that allows you to record music anywhere. The process is as easy as sliding the record button to the right, belting out lyrics and hitting the stop button. With its clever interface, the four-track recorder allows you to execute a full harmony by recording one track while listening to the other three, and the WiFi compatibility makes it so you to upload your jam to any computer in WAV format in just about five minutes. Revolutionizing portable music production, FourTrack is a guaranteed hit.
You can purchase the application through the iTunes store for $10.
Art Dealer Emmanuel Perrotin to Start a Fund to Help Finance Artists’ More Expensive Pieces
"Emmanuel Perrotin, owner of the Paris and Miami based Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, has announced the formation of Artists’ Dreams, a vehicle which will allow investors to finance expensive pieces by leading artists. Perrotin has syndicated investments in several artistic pieces, reaching out to his wide network in the collecting community to fund works such as Piotr Uklanski’s Untitled (Floor Dance) piece, which was exhibited at the Guggenheim in 2007. As competition intensifies among artists, this new venture tries to fill a gap by allowing emerging artists to compete more effectively with brand name artists such as Damien Hirst and Jeff Koons, who often use very expensive materials and processes in their productions. Works financed through Artists’ Dreams will be sold exclusively through Perrotin’s two galleries, and investors will see returns on their investments out of the dealer’s cut once the work is sold. Perrotin has raised €2 million, and is also planning similar vehicles in conjunction with museums and other dealers, under similar terms. Perrotin has been building on his success recently, having regained the right to represent Damien Hirst as his client, and presenting two shows curated by Pharrell Williams (of N.E.R.D and The Neptunes) at his Miami and Paris galleries."
via artobserved.
Monday, November 24, 2008
The Fine Art of Surviving the Crash in Auction Prices
By ALEXANDRA PEERS
So where does it go from here? The art-market bubble has burst. Prices of contemporary, modern and Impressionist artwork tumbled about 30%, and sometimes more, at the huge auctions that finished last Friday in New York. There's no guarantee that further declines aren't yet to come.The art market's crash -- for that is what it is -- threatens to remake the art world. In the past few weeks, auctioneers, dealers, artists and collectors have changed strategies and policies, and it's likely that future changes will be even more sweeping. With Sotheby's stock hovering at about $9, down from $50 a year ago, it's now cheaper to buy the 164-year old brand than all the art it sold in the past three months.
It's all been a reality check for art collectors. Noted one West Coast art dealer: "Their houses are worth less, their stocks are worth less, but they thought their Rudolph Stingel was still priced the same? No."
In the wake of the auctions, says Tobias Meyer, a vice chairman of Sotheby's: "The price disparity between good and great has widened to humongous." The problem for the trillion-dollar global art industry is that most of the art it has for sale is, by definition, just average.
Here, a look at how the art-market retrenchment will affect its players:
The Auctioneers
Cutbacks are coming. Sotheby's CEO William Ruprecht told analysts in a conference call that "we'll be resizing our organization" and "there are no sacred cows." And while Christie's is not publicly traded, the two top auction houses' moves often mirror each other.
The "recipe for all the auction houses has changed," said Michael McGinnis of Phillips de Pury auctioneers, in the wake of sales last Thursday and Friday in which only about 60% of the art the company put on the block sold. All the auctioneers are likely to focus on "volume control," offering more "focused, targeted" sales at the next big round of auctions next spring.
They're also likely to push more of the risk of selling art onto collectors. In recent years, in a booming market, auctioneers often offered sellers guarantees of minimum amounts -- but the auction house would profit on the upside. Mr. Ruprecht told the analysts that "going forward, we will generally not be using our capital for guarantees."
Sellers, of course, may not let the auctioneers off easy. They'll increasingly be requesting clauses in their contracts allowing them to take art off the block if market conditions change and promises regarding catalogue entries and the touring and exhibition of their works, says Jo Backer Laird, art-law attorney at Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler and former general counsel of Christie's. If they're smart, she says, they'll insist that specific marketing proposals for their pieces be included in their contracts.
The Dealers
It's been lucrative to be in the art business in the past few years, but it's also been quite costly. "Dealers fighting for market share have had to open spaces around the world or lose their artists to other galleries," says John Martin, a London dealer who also runs the Art Dubai contemporary art fair.
In that light, last week's contemporary art sales were "a disaster, but it's a good one," says dealer David Nahmad, one of the world's most active art buyers. Dealers, by and large, were the ones ponying up for the art that did sell at auction in recent weeks, with Larry Gagosian, Jack Tilton and Robert Mnuchin raising paddles.
The downturn was foreseeable, and some dealers started strategizing early, says Robert Goff, principal of Chelsea's Goff & Rosenthal gallery. Last April, his gallery halted price increases, trimmed its stable of artists and cut down on art fairs. Meanwhile, "we're still selling," he says, though not at the breakneck pace of last year. In New York, only a couple of galleries have closed their doors so far, but several are opening only "by appointment" and not staging new shows.
The Artists
And for the legions of young artists who came of age during the boom, right now "it's a case of spray and pray," says New York private dealer Andrew Terner, who curates of the art collection of the Four Seasons restaurant.
“The price disparity between good and great has widened to humongous.” Tobias Meyer, a vice chairman of Sotheby's
Consider Peter Doig, a Canadian who paints works inspired in part by horror films. Mr. Doig's works skyrocketed in the past five years -- from about $400,000 in 2003 to millions of dollars as Peter Norton, Don and Mera Rubell, Charles Saatchi and even the Museum of Modern Art added Doigs to their collections. Collector "waiting lists" for his new works inflated prices and, last year, Georgian industrialist Boris Ivanishvili bought one for $11.4 million. But last Wednesday a Doig priced at about $5.5 million couldn't break half that and didn't sell.
Painter Kehinde Wiley, 31, has had tremendous success with his skilled, Renaissance-style portraiture of black men. He is collected by Susan and Michael Hort, LL Cool J and Russell Simmons, among others. Mr. Wiley says he's aware that his paintings, meant to be somewhat spiritual, have an element of being "high-end luxury goods for the wealthy." But he says that before he even arrived for the party celebrating his recent show at Deitch Projects, "I heard half [the works] were sold."
Indeed, since nearly $747 million of art did change hands at the auctions (a total that would have been considered robust just five years ago), what was in demand? Paintings that sold well were by veteran artists with a small following of extremely passionate collectors in search of works that rarely come up for auction: Edvard Munch, Joseph Cornell and Kazimir Malevich, by and large, defied the slump. Blue-chip, mid-career artists about to have major shows or who have major patrons also are faring well, at auction and in private sales. Women artists, by and large, are selling better than men, as they play catch-up on the price run-ups of the past few years. Works that had been owned by a famous collector, such as Donald Judd or even Lehman CEO Richard Fuld Jr., largely escaped the rout, too.
Nonetheless, some big plans have been scaled back for big names. Since last spring, Sotheby's and Japanese art star Takashi Murakami have been negotiating and structuring a solo sale of his works, similar to the Damien Hirst blowout in September. Now, those plans have been canceled, Sotheby's insiders say.
The Collectors
Certainly collectors have seen the value of their art fall sharply -- and those who've bought in bulk or taken out loans against their collections could face serious financial hits. But art collecting is a passion, even an addiction, that doesn't end based on market trends, says Larry Warsh, a leading collector of U.S. and Chinese contemporary art. Indeed, the collector may now be in the catbird seat.
Dealers "are offering very fair prices," says Miami real-estate developer and art collector Craig Robins. Indeed, he argues that the volume of art sales going on in the weak economy points to the "strength -- not the weakness -- of the art market." Right now, says auctioneer Christopher Burge, Christie's chairman emeritus, collectors are "finding excuses not to buy." But he's seen several downturns in 40 years at the rostrum, and they don't last. Ultimately, art behaves much like luxury real estate, he says, with the best material holding and increasing in value. Moreover, bad economies have traditionally spurred better contemporary art, he says.
That said, art sellers of all stripes are refocusing their marketing on the very top end of the market. Earlier this month, in a soaring penthouse apartment overlooking Carnegie Hall, Palm Beach art-fair organizer David Lester spoke to a crowd that included host Wilbur Ross, coal billionaire; members of the Bancroft family (until recently, owners of this newspaper); and designer Mario Buatta. Urging them to attend his American International Art Fair in February -- and its new menu for VIP guests of golf outings, private museum tours and dinner at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago -- he revealed the silver lining of the current downturn. "Things are going to come to market that would not normally become available," he said. "There are opportunities."
Ms. Peers writes on art and the art market for The Wall Street Journal.
Write to Alexandra Peers at alexandra.peers@wsj.com
via wsj.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Friday, November 21, 2008
A closer look at Colette
Catching up with colette’s creative director and buyer Sarah Lerfel, the International Herald Tribune gives us a closer look into the Wonderwall re-designed Parisian retail front. Sarah discusses the role that streetwear and art have played in the development of the concept shop, and how this was reflected in the re-design by Wonderwall.
Medicom Fabrick x Alakazam Collection
Medicom Fabrick got together with Will Sweeney’s Alakazam!. Using the all-over monster print by the artist, they produced a series of product, including a messenger bag, pouches, room slippers and a cushion.
The Medicom Fabrick x Alakazam collection is now available at Haven.
russian mafia plushes by gal shkedi @ rotopolpress, germany (nov 14-jan 28)
"Israeli-designer Gal Shkedi's series of RUSSIAN MAFIA Plush Toys [previously featured on TRE in early 2008] will be on exhibit at RUSSENS (Russian Exhibition) @ Rotopolpress Gallery - Kassel, Germany (Nov 14 - Jan 28, 2009) - and will also see the inclusion of a new AK-47-totting gang-member; KIRILL!"
via toysrevil.
stainless steel showcars
Back in the 1930s, early stainless steel producer Allegheny Ludlum formed a partnership with Ford to show off their new, novel material. The result was a line of stainless steel showcars, starting with the 1936 Deluxe Coupe and ending with the 1967 Lincoln Continental Convertible, with a '60 Thunderbird in between.
Examples of all three are extant and parked at the Crawford Auto Museum in Cleveland, Ohio. Even cooler, Allegheny Ludlum is still around, and still has two running Continentals that it uses for special events.
via toolmongerConverse Chuck Taylor Leather Pack
The Converse Chuck Taylor comes in a nice premium navy leather pack. Everything on the upper comes in navy leather, including the toe cap. Undefeated has it available now.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
The Swiss Chocolate Knife
Designed to look like a Swiss Army Knife, the Swiss Chocolate Knife is made from the finest Swiss chocolate and hazelnut praline.
1800s Vampire Killing Kit sells for $14,850
Made in America roughly 200 years ago, this authentic Vampire Killing Kit came stocked ready to battle bloodsucking creatures of night with stakes, mirrors, a gun with silver bullets, crosses, a Bible, holy water, candles and garlic. Housed in an American walnut case with crosses carved in the top, it recently sold at auction for $14,850.
via selectism
Visvim Kiefer-Hi 2 Tone Pack » visvim-kiefer-hi-2-tone-4
The pack consists of three Kiefer Hi’s, each coming in a mix of leather and suede. Supply has them in stock now.
via highsnobiety.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
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