Gallery Stroll

I've been seeing a lot of art over the past few weeks. Look forward to some more regular postings about some of the shows I'm popping into these days.

The first was artist Helle Mardhal's first New York solo exhibition at one of my favorite galleries, La Viola Bank Gallery in Chinatown. The work is consuming, dark, and somewhat cute and humorous, something that one could argue is expected from a scandanavian artist. (Those swedes, fins, and danes are all so conflicted and adorable.) The event was hosted by my three favorite promoters in the city, the six six six girls. They have a fun DIY blog full of fashion and excitement here.



The Girls



The Artist




Next stop a week or so later was the open studios at The School of Visual Arts. I was going to see my friend Jessica's performance art piece. She's a downtown photographer who featured me in a series of polaroids she did for a portrait series. You can see the picture of me @ her site, Transgressica



Now I can't say that I fully understand or appreciate performance art most of the time. This performance featured a cellist who was playing beautifully with his back turned to the audience and performers. A blindfolded attractive tattooed fellow stood blindfolded while he masturbated in front of an audience full of people. Jessica took polaroids of him, sometimes from a distance, sometimes from very close up. Voyeuristic, but intriguing. I don't mind performance art when it features an attractive tattooed fellow.




Next stop was the Met. I've been itching to see the Francis Bacon retrospective since it opened last Friday, but wandered around the glorious museum for three hours before I went inside. And as someone remotely connected to the I hadn't yet explored the New American Wing, or really gotten to appreciate the Greek and Roman galleries. I've steadily been drawing and illustrating more men, learning the appreciation for the male body that I've had for the female one my entire life--so I was particularly intrigued by the marble busts and figures of men. The male body has its own softness and curvature that I'm starting to feel secure enough to explore in my own work.

Portraiture is always exciting. Marble busts had to be accurate in a way that an oil painting can avoid, so it can sometimes be very haunting to see some of these faces, looking at you over the span of hundreds of years.

The Francis Bacon exhibition was exhausting and beautiful. His distorted portraits of himself, his lovers, and his anguish were very eye opening and dark. I needed an ice cream after leaving, and had to think of My Little Ponies before I went to bed, for fear of bloody fanged baboons coming after me in the night. I managed to snap a few pictures before I was stopped by the guard.."No pictures of the Bacon!"


Marie Antoinette's Pillow!


This statue always freaks me out. I know they're supposed to be sleeping. But they totally look dead. Dead babies!


Work the hair.


Face face give me face


I need a me some Heracles!


Why the long face?


bacon is beautiful.

Homme Boys

I've always been interested in what motivates people to make certain decisions about what they're wearing. It's really easy to point at someone and mock their personal style, especially if it deviates outside of the norm. But it takes a lot of panache to be your own person and not give a flying duck about what other people think. I recently took up the task of doing street style photography for hommeboy.net, a leading men's fashion website that launched a few months ago. The creators of hommeboy.net have a very specific aesthetic in terms of the style they feature on their site, and many of the people I photograph and interview never even make it to their pages. I'll be regularly featuring some of the outtakes here.


Scott



Ryan


Pete

Exclusive Interview with Erin Barra and Snejana

Check out this interview. Snejana's first ever.

Springtime Reading

Since I've been unemployed, I've found a lot more time to read. Currently this is how I've spent my time both on the subway, and in bed.

The Monsters of Templeton, Lauren Groff


The Monsters of Templeton is the first novel from writer Lauren Groff. It chronicles the messy life of a girl returning home to her single mother, who informs her about the truth of her parentage, which sends the protagonist on a quest through her family history. It's a fascinating glimpse into the life of one family's history in a very old world america, and there's just the right touch of mysticism to keep it somewhat gothic.

Wonder Bread & Ecstasy: The Life of Joey Stefano, Christopher Isherwood

Found this on the dollar rack @ Housing Works bookstore...definitely bought it from looking at the cover. Joey Stefano was the first porn star 'bottom' who's career spanned a short period of time in the late eighties/early nineties. It's a strange psychological profile of a young man who was conflicted by the death of his father, his sexuality, drug abuse, and HIV status. There's a voyeuristic quality to the writing, and the strange guilt-stigma attached to watching porn is almost revived by examining the brutal realities of a multi million business--and some of the people it consumes.

After the Fall, Arthur Miller


Marilyn Monroe fans haven't paid their dues unless they've read After The Fall. It was the first successful play written by Arthur Miller after his marriage/divorce, and the eventual death, of Marilyn Monroe. He captures her effervesence and fragility in a few simple lines, and recalls the role he created in becoming her husband. Classic and brilliant.

COLETTE!!

Colette is my new favorite author--I found a translated compilation of her short novels at THE STRAND and decided to try it out. I've heard much of one of France's greatest female authors of all time--and I wasn't disappointed. Her prose is marked by a genuine style and honest breath, and some of her character descriptions are the most poignant I have ever read.

The subject matter generally deals with love and relationships--in the theater, music, and literary worlds. She scandalized belle-epoque society with her racy descriptions in regards to sex and gender roles, including many homosexual themes. Read her wikipedia profile here--it definitely seems more scandalous than anything in Us Weekly.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colette

Kouklitas @ Bloomies~

Hey all...thought you'd enjoy this video!!

Display & Exhibit

I thought these would be fun to post. Whenever I have my camera and find myself in front of a well lit window display uptown or downtown, I can't resist snapping a picture. What you put in the window is often very telling of what you can find inside a store (obviously) and what image a brand is trying to project. Plus its always fun to see the clothes up close and somewhat personally.


The Space Ghost Collection from Calvin Klein


The only cute thing about the Chloe Store : The door handle. Note: Roberto Cavalli must've used the same interior designer, their door handle is a bronze snake.


Gray Broadtails at the now defunct Petrou Store.


Mannequins trapped at the Pat Field shophouse.


Black Party at Barneys


Lily Donaldson, with and without her head at GUCCI on Madison.


Plaid gay circuit party at Barneys.


RIP OLIVIER THEYSKIENS. PS: I'll still do you even though you're like the opium for old fashion labels, intoxicating and deadly.


*Sigh...Monsieur Margiela. I would drown several cute puppies for this jacket.

Fashion Week

Fashion week came and went and another February seems to have disappeared into a black hole called Bryant Park. Here are some fun pictures of the madness.



The cast features:

Nicolas Petrou as Creative Director
Soteris Kallis as Senior Designer
Patrick Klinc as Eye Candy
Jack F*cking Cohen
Shannon Davidson as Fashion Show Producer
Amanda Ross as Stylist to the Stars
Yours Truly as First Place Fashion Beotch
Valerie Zimbal as Mink Queen
Alyssa Yang as The Twisted Sister
Erin Barra & Sophie Gouddard as Fashion Party People
Models as Themselves

Cold Readings

It's been freezing here in New York City, which makes reading a book while waiting for the train a lot more difficult, but definitely worthwhile. You may lose sensation in your hands, but at least you will have escaped into another world.

This last week I finished two little books, The Ladies of Grace Adieu by Susanna Clarke and The Tsar's Dwarf by Peter Fogtal.



I found the Ladies when I was working the corner of Prince and Mulberry for the Young Designer's Market this last weekend. It was hidden away in the SALE section of the amazing McNally Jackson Bookstore, and of course I was attracted to its very old school spine, all charcoal gray canvas binding, black embossed letters, and pale pink neaveau flowers. It's rare to find a book that is made with such quality nowadays. After perusing the pages I quickly realized it was authored by the same person who scribed Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, a huge book that was noted by the NYT as being the 'adult Harry Potter' and stayed on several bestseller lists for several weeks--one that I loved and gifted to my younger brother Anthony for Christmas this year.

It is a collection of short stories and fairy tales that casts Mary Queen of Scots alongside an eighteenth century Jewish doctor, a handsome clergyman, and Jonathan Strange. My favorite from the stories was Mr.Simonelli and the Fairy Widower-- a haunting tale about a clergyman who winds up in a little town on the moors solving all sorts of mysteries. Ms. Clarke expertly weaves humor, magic, and romance into these little gems.





Each of the stories is separated by gorgeous black and white illustrations by Charles Vess--whose work in this book is reminiscent of Arthur Rackham, a timeless fairy tale illustrator from the turn of the century. The above pictures are some of his other various projects--he is mostly known for his work with Neil Gaiman- The Sandman anyone? Check out his (ironically poorly designed) website here.

The Tsar's Dwarf was originally written in Danish by Peter Fogtal and translated into English by Tiina Nunnally. Again I was shamelessly drawn to this novel by it's chic cover art and well merchandised location in the New Fiction Section at the St.Mark's Bookstore. And after reading the summary- it became an immediate must have.



The intriguing storyline is set in late seventeenth century Denmark and Russia, and follows Surine, later Surinka, a cynical dwarf born to a priest. She is haunted by her past, a child, and a world that is unable to see past her stature. By her wit and wisdom she earns a place in the King of Denmark's court, and is later given to the Tsar of Russia as a present when the two countries join in an allyance against Sweden. It is a short novel; but it is Surinka's voice which transcends the translation and enraptures you. She is scathing, bitter, and soulful. She hates the world and aches with love for it at the same time. An amazing new piece of work. And it actually gave me some insight into why my Swedish friends make fun of Danish people all the time.

Go judge a book by its cover-- you just might find something you like.