Fashion week is coming to and end and if you have been following the latest trends and wondering where to get them here are some of our favorites to give you some ideas.
Styling by Vanessa Cocchiaro
23/06/2015
Style Suggestions: Men’s Fashion Week
A colourful structure carefully nested among green lawns and trees of Kensington Gardens – the latest Serpentine Pavilion takes on a breezy, playful note as a way of reminding its public of the limited, temporary nature of its purpose. Opening this week and now at its 15th edition, the Serpentine Pavilion has become the Summer cultural hotspot in London as a site of a rich series of “Park Night” talks, lectures and readings. Created by Selgas Cano, a little known Spanish architecture practice based outside Madrid, the pavilion consists of a double-layered plastic skin in a variety of colours, wrapped around a series of metal arches.
José Selgas and Lucía Cano describe the project: “When the Serpentine invited us to design the Pavilion, we began to think about what the structure needed to provide and what materials should be used in a Royal Park in London. These questions, mixed with our own architectural interests and the knowledge that the design needs to connect with nature and feel part of the landscape, provided us with a concept based on pure visitor experience. We sought a way to allow the public to experience architecture through simple elements: structure, light, transparency, shadows, lightness, form, sensitivity, change, surprise, colour and materials. The spatial qualities of the pavilion only unfold when accessing the structure and being immersed within it.”
After Smiljan Radic, Sou Fujimoto, Zaha Hadid or Peter Zumthor – all architects who haven’t built in the UK prior to their pavilion commission – apparent disregard for seriousness and theoretical conceptualization distinguishes this work, serves as an antidote to London’s dire weather, as well as a reminder that architecture can be an engaging and boundary-pushing platform for a discussion in arts.
The Blogazine – Images courtesy of Iwan Baan
22/06/2015
Two Centuries of Display: Summer Exhibition
Held for the past 247 years, the Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy is a direct heritage of 18th century fair-like approach to displaying art. Its premises are simple and clear: artists submit their work through an open call, which is then evaluated by a panel of judges and displayed in the institution’s imposing galleries. While this exhibition model has defined how art was disseminated and approached in the past – and is enacted in different biennials, which amass artistic production in out-dated national pavilions – its relevance for contemporary art must be questioned today.
This is the prerogative with which one approaches this edition of the Summer Exhibition, which opened on the 8th of June at Burlington House. This year, the show was coordinated by Michael Craig-Martin, whose “distinctive creative vision” guided the display of works in “room after room bursting with variety, colour and remarkable new work by leading and emerging artists” selected from a pool of 12,000 entries. The final number of displayed work amounts to around 1100 individual artworks loosely arranged in groups based on different media and disciplines. The sheer extent of the show allows for its definition as the ‘most democratic art exhibition’, which conditions both its modus operandi as well as positions its ultimate goal.
Each gallery was hung by a member of the selection committee – Norman Ackroyd, Olwyn Bowey, Gus Cummins, Jock McFadyen, David Remfry, Mick Rooney, Alison Wilding and Bill Woodrow – who arranged works according to a common thread, ranging from themes like ‘radical landscape’ to rooms dedicated specifically to sculpture. Craig-Martin’s choice to use bold colours, enhances the visual impact and guides the visitor through often crowded displays.
But is the Summer Exhibition really democratic, and why should that even be relevant today? In a time of elusiveness, continuous redefinitions of the term and tumultuous national and foreign policies, the very use of the word democracy is charged with political meaning – theoretically positioning this exhibition in a context that it does not seem to live up to. While the richness and diversity of work – ranging from established artists like Anish Kapoor to Ron Arad, blended with young artists and a number of Royal Academicians – allows for a plurality of meanings, discussions and concerns, the fair-like background of the exhibition conditions its ultimate goal – selling work. Thus, can an open call really constitute the premise for ‘democracy’ in art? It most likely can’t.
The international fashion scene is currently dominated by menswear: the current menswear shows and this week’s Pitti Immagine Uomo 88 – an international trade event that showcases men’s fashions and contemporary lifestyle trends – have taken the fashion spotlight. The question on everyone’s lips these days is what the future of menswear will look like.
Several projects focusing on menswear were presented during the ongoing Pitti Uomo event in Florence. One of these is ”Open”, which aims to challenge our ideas about gender, and offers an interpretation of a new generation of collections that move beyond borders of what is masculine or feminine. The project will be presented in a conceptual setting designed by the Storage Associati, a renowned Milan design studio that works on cross-pollination between different art forms.
Another innovative section displayed during the event is ”My factory”, a result of a union between technology, music, art and design that aims to create a platform promoting creative workshops within the fields of urban style and sportswear. The future society and the urban lifestyle have inspired everything, from the concept of the event to its set design. Similar ideas were also seen on the catwalk, and have influenced, for example, Christopher Kane’s menswear collection for Summer 2016 that was shown in London this week. Kane has developed the brand’s menswear line, from almost being a toned down match to its womenswear collections, into a collection that both feels more relevant and looks to the future. Kane has successfully included pieces that both feel gender-natural and that take on the urban- and sportswear aesthetics. If this is what menswear will look like in the future, we can’t but love it.
18/06/2015
Agnes Martin at Tate Modern
Has the moment finally arrived for women artists of the past century to take over the spotlight from men? Tate Modern this year seems devoted to reaffirm the role of women in art, first with a compelling exhibition on Sonia Delaunay, and now with a massive retrospective devoted to the doyen of conceptual art, Agnes Martin. Martin, known for her geometric, meticulous paintings, is put in context by exhibition curators as “one of the pre-eminent painters of the twentieth century”, thus her work is explored in relation to artists like Ellsworth Kelly, Robert Indiana and Lenore Tawney.
With a willingness to discover the origins, permutations and inspiration of the subtle poetics that characterized so much of Martin’s work, the exhibition reveals Martin’s lesser-known early paintings and experimental works from this period including The Garden from 1958. It charts her experiments in different media and formats with found objects and geometric shapes, before she began making her inimitable pencilled grids on large, square canvases which would become her hallmark. Even though the desire is to paint a comprehensive, elaborate narrative on Martin’s work, the show also brings together seminal examples of here signature works from the 1960s such as Friendship 1963, a gold leaf covered canvas incised with Martin’s emblematic fine grid.
From her birth in in 1912 in Macklin, Saskatchewan, Canada, to her position on the New York art scene, to her final move to New Mexico by 1940 ( following a nubbier of other artists and writers such as DH Lawrence, Edward Hopper and Mark Rothko who had all been drawn to visit the area), the exhibition challenges how we understand Martin’s work. While often associated with Minimalists and an influential figure to those artists, Martin’s restrained style underpinned a deep conviction in the emotive and expressive power of art influenced by Asian belief systems including Taoism and Zen Buddhism as well as the natural surroundings of New Mexico. But even for those who don’t feel like delving too deep into meanders of philosophy and art theory, seeing Agnes Martin’s work will be a pleasure to the eye and, more importantly, the mind. The exhibition remains on show until 11 October 2015 at Tate Modern in London.
At the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp there have been several success stories over the years, not the least the “Antwerp six”. So, each year the expectations are high to view what the graduates of the school have produced. During the Fashion Show of 2015 many awards were given to the Master students that have now completed their studies and will continue out in the fashion world. For the students as well as the teachers, the experience at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts has been evolutionary and taught the students to harbor and express their creativity without losing touch with the production aspect, according to the words expressed by Walter van Beirendonck, who is in charge of the fashion department of the Academy.
Color and patterns were transcendent to the silhouettes without dominating the looks in their entirety. However, the fun twist to the story was how many pieces seemed almost anachronistic, out of time. There were 1960s references and a sophisticated adaptation of the 1980s fitness revolution. Nevertheless, the pieces had a nuance of suave effortlessness that was fresh to the eye.
The collections’ key element could be written – however cliché it might sound – in one word; “Love”. The collection “The Dear Elso Letter” from designer Laure Severac was inspired by love, especially the nostalgia for knitting with her grandmother. The inspiration explains the collection’s ethereal feel and the combination of abstract with structured pieces to illustrate the abstract feeling of love, yet lived with a specific moment in mind. Designer Miriam Laubscher presented pieces with a layered color-blocking effect, bringing to mind Yves Saint Laurent’s Mondrian dress but in a totally new spin, still establishing it as a work of art. Designer Joeri Van Campenhout elevated his looks with delicate appliques of feathers and small trims, resulting in a demure approach that caused a dramatic effect. The graduates seemed to be in sync with contemporary approaches that use small means to create a larger effect and push fashion forward with an interesting concept for future endeavors.
Established in 2008, the annual exhibition and competition FreshFaced+WildEyed gives emerging talent the opportunity to exhibit their work at The Photographers’ Gallery. Showcasing the quality and breadth of graduate work from visual arts courses across the UK, the exhibition and relating programmes celebrate the innovative practices from a range of photographic fields. Selected by a panel of photographic experts from different backgrounds, artist/photographers have the opportunity to work closely with the exhibitions team to develop their presentation within the exhibition at The Photographers’ Gallery (16 June – 5 July 2015) as well as participate in talks and events. This year’s panel of judges are Kate Cooper, Autoitalia, Damien Poulain, Oodee Books, AK Dolven, artist and photographer and Brett Rogers, Director The Photographers’ Gallery.
Images top to bottom: Jocelyn Allen, Dominic Hawgood, Signe Emma & Theodoulos Polyviou, Coco Capitan, Jonathan Simpson, Francesca Allen, Sian Davey, Craig Gibson
The Blogazine – Images courtesy of The Photographers’ Gallery
The Brutalist Playground is an exhibition that is part sculpture, part architectural installation, which invites people of all ages to come and play, the Brutalist way. Occupying the entire Architecture Gallery at RIBA in London, the immersive landscape is a new commission by Turner Prize nominated design and architecture collective Assemble and artist Simon Terrill. It explores the abstract concrete playgrounds that were designed as part of post-war housing estates in the mid-twentieth century, but which no longer exist. They became playgrounds unsuitable for play. The exhibition draws on features from a number of London estates including Churchill Gardens, the Brunel Estate and the Brownfield Estate. The playgrounds were often made from concrete, cast into sculptural forms, which presented a distinct move away from previous playground design. They were envisaged as a key aspect of the estate layout and design and as such reflect the preoccupations and social theories of society at that time.
“The challenge of reconstructing elements of now forgotten Brutalist play structures within the RIBA gallery is an exciting opportunity for us to explore contemporary issues surrounding play, by looking at the often surreal objects from the past. Working closely with the RIBA collections and the artist Simon Terrill, the interpretation of these spaces has allowed us to ask questions around materiality and the nature of risk in play, while also giving greater visibility to the incredible original images of the playgrounds that can be found in the collections.” said the collective.
Assemble and Simon Terrill have drawn inspiration from photographs and visual material in the RIBA’s collections, documenting the playgrounds when they were newly built and in use. The exhibition installation will recreate visual elements from the playgrounds in reconstituted foam, creating an interactive, contemporary space where the viewer becomes participant and in this way completes the work. Archive images of the original playgrounds will be projected on the walls. The playground will remain on show until August 16 2015 at RIBA in London.
15/06/2015
Style Suggestions: Preppy Cool
Preppy style is something that will never go out of date and it is not a complicated look to accomplish. Mix classic and modern by putting together a traditional cardigan with a denim shirt so you can look cool and feel comfortable.
Styling by Vanessa Cocchiaro
In Italian, a “convivio” is an out-dated synonym for banquet, a cheerful meeting around a table reuniting the joys of food and conversation into a unique framework. This archetype, deeply rooted in the Italian culture and beyond, vaunts a noble literary reference: before dedicating the rest of his life to “La Divina Commedia”, Dante Alighieri spent his first years of exile from Florence writing “Convivio”, an essay dedicated to the representation of the whole spectrum of human wisdom. According to the Sommo Poeta (lit. “Highest Poet”, which is how Italians use to call their most illustrious writer), knowledge can be conceived as a banquet, where every dish is a philosophical topic that table-mates need to appreciate and “digest” one after the other.
Back to our time, where food debates have become ubiquitous and represent the new obsession both in terms of function (a resource to be distributed) and form (of culinary research, of self expression), the first Italian design university to be founded in Italy in 1975, ISIA, has decided to go back to Dante’s work to presented in Milan the showcase of its students’ projects exploring new perspectives on food and social responsibility.
The metaphor of knowledge as a table laden with ideas and proposals animates ISIA’s quest for learning: how can design nourish the planet, serving every man’s right to be fed? Is design a means of knowledge for all? How can a project involve our senses? Can design inspire new virtues? In the time of Expo, design seems curiously willing to go back to the same great questions that marked the shift from the Middle Ages to Renaissance, expressing the need for a new humanism which, once again, gets human and user centred.
