Rodarte: Fra Angelico Collection

Rodarte_Fra_Angelico_Collection_lacma

RODARTE: Fra Angelico Collection, on view starting tomorrow at the LACMA's Italian Renaissance gallery, features a group of extraordinary gowns by Kate and Laura Mulleavy. The collection is inspired by Italian art, specifically the Renaissance frescoes in the monastery of San Marco by Fra Angelico in Florence, Italy, as well as the Baroque sculpture, Ecstasy of Saint Teresa, by Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598–1680) in Rome. Rodarte’s signature dressmaking techniques and sculptural details can be seen in each of the gowns. Silk fabrics (including chiffon, georgette, lamé, organza, satin, taffeta, and tulle) are draped and manipulated to give form, texture, and tonal variety to the color palette inspired by the frescoes. The gowns are customized utilizing a variety of materials such as feathers, swarovski elements, sequins, and custom-made silk flowers. Hand-forged gold metallic accessories such as a headpiece, breastplate, and belts dramatically complete the look of several key gowns. The Fra Angelico collection will enter LACMA’s Costume and Textiles Department, which houses over twenty-five thousand objects, representing more than one hundred cultures and two thousand years of human creativity in the textile arts.

SHERRIE LEVINE: MAYHEM

Sherrie Levine (b. 1947) has transformed and re-contextualized images and objects in her work since the late 1970s, often presenting them as installations that provide a compelling sense of context. An exhibition at the Whitney in New York, entitled Mayhem, developed as a project by the artist, includes works ranging from well-known photographs, such as After Walker Evans: 1-22, 1981, to recent sculptures, such as Crystal Skull: 1-12, 2010. The exhibition, conceived by the artist as offering constellations of older and newer works, will provide juxtapositions that provoke new associations and responses. The installation will also emphasize the powerfully seductive, tactile nature of Levine’s art, and the complex layers of reference and meaning that unfold between the ostensible sources and Levine’s own work. Sherrie Levine: Mayhem is on view at the Whitney until January 22, 2012. 

Blue Notes in Black and White

Louis Armstrong, 1960

Miles Davis, supremely cool behind his shades. Billie Holiday, eyes closed and head tilted back in full cry. John Coltrane, one hand behind his neck and a finger held pensively to his lips. These iconic images have captivated jazz fans nearly as much as the music has. Jazz photographs are visual landmarks in American history, acting as both a reflection and a vital part of African American culture in a time of immense upheaval, conflict, and celebration. Charting the development of jazz photography from the swing era of the 1930s to the rise of black nationalism in the ’60s, Blue Notes in Black and White is the first of its kind: a fascinating account of the partnership between two of the twentieth century’s most innovative art forms.

3DD Deluxe

Following the success of his first 3D breast book, Henry Hargreaves is back with 3DD Deluxe, another collection building on his universally appreciated theme: real breasts, in “even better” 3D. While the last compilation featured NYC models exclusively, the deluxe edition has women of all shapes, sizes, ages and colors from New Zealand, Australia, London, LA and NYC.

TIM BARBER: UNTITLED PHOTOGRAPHS

tim_barber_oh_wow_untitled

OHWOW announces the publication of Tim Barber's Untitled Photographs. In Untitled Photographs, Barber presents a collection of images spanning his fifteen years behind the lens. From portraits to landscapes to narrative scenes, Barber approaches all of his subject matter with a palpable delicacy. Expanding on amateur aesthetics, these images can feel as much like spontaneous documentation of the artist's adventures as careful compositions. The line between autobiography and fiction is as ethereal as the overall tone of the work. In the case of Barber's photography, ambiguity is seductive and the lure of fantasy eclipses the security of literality. Book signing Friday, December 16, 2011 6-8pm at OHWOW book club - 227 Waverly Place, New York.

Naked

Daisy Lowe and others get naked for London based Mari Sarai's new book entitled Naked. "I wanted to express that the nudity of a woman is not limited to fulfilling men's erotic desires. She is worthy of respect. A naked woman can possess her own style, independence and strength." - Mari Sarai

In Focus: Los Angeles, 1945–1980

Gary Winogrand

The Getty presents 30 photographs from the Museum’s permanent collection made in Los Angeles between 1945 and 1980. Both iconic and relatively unknown works are featured by artists whose careers are defined by their association with the city, who may have lived in Los Angeles for a few brief but influential years, or whose visit inspired them to create memorable images. Works by Robert Cumming, Joe Deal, Judy Fiskin, Anthony Friedkin, Robert Heinecken, Anthony Hernandez, Man Ray, Edmund Teske, William Wegman, Garry Winogrand, Max Yavno and others are loosely grouped around the themes of experimentation, street photography, architectural depictions, and the film and entertainment industries. In Focus: Los Angeles, 1945–1980 will be on view from December 20 to May 6, 2012. 

[FIRST LOOK] POST x BLK DNM Perfume 11

A video by POST, an Ipad only arts and culture publication, for BLK DNM Perfume 11 which premiered at The Webster Miami for Art Basel; with sound design by Twin Shadow. "BLK DNM Perfume 11 molecules mixed with water - and in one scene, paint....The inspiration was a re-imagining of a birth of a nebula in an alternate universe, and then how planets, rocks, land, water and clouds - an atmosphere - may form in an alternative gravitational field.....It was important for us to use the actual perfume within the liquid mix so as to imbue the video with a special energy and integrity as an artwork."

MICHAËL BORREMANS: The Devil’s Dress

MICHAËL _BORREMAN_the_devils_dress

David Zwirner gallery in New York presents an exhibition of new works by Michaël Borremans, The Devil’s Dress. Borremans’ drawings, paintings, and films present an evocative combination of solemn-looking characters, unusual close-ups, and unsettling still lifes. There is a theatrical dimension to his works, which are at once highly staged and ambiguous, just as his complex and open-ended scenes lend themselves to conflicting moods—simultaneously nostalgic, darkly comical, disturbing, and grotesque. His paintings display a concentrated dialogue with previous art historical epochs, however their unconventional compositions and curious narratives defy expectations and lend them an indefinable yet universal character. On view until  December 17, 2011 - 525 West 19th Street.