A stunning display by Japanese flower artist, Azuma Maoto. More, here.
There’s a fascinating read in the NY Times Style magazine on another flower artist, Satoshi Kawamoto, the artist and creative director behind installations for brands like Filson, Gant and Mr Porter. Read it here. (Via)
Happy weekend.
Vanishing Lines is a current exhibition by the Norfolk-based artist (and friend) Fred Ingrams.
Painting en plein air, Fred captures the flat marshland typical of the region in vivid and dramatic colour.
Vanishing Lines, Art Bermondsey 183-185 Bermondsey Street, London SE1 3UW
until Sunday 17th May 2015.
More images from the opening night on owl’s house london Instagram, here
Koluma 01, architecture Peter Zumthor, 2007. Photograph, Hélène Binet, ammann // gallery
Tightly cropped and thick with atmosphere, Hélène Binet’s photographs capture the play of light on the structures of some of contemporary architecture’s leading figures, including Zaha Hadid, Daniel Libeskind and Peter Zumthor. Binet is this year’s recipient of the Julius Shulman Institute Excellence in Photography Award.
Hélène Binet: Fragments of Light, February 28 — March 29, 2015. Woodbury University Hollywood Gallery, 6518 Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90028
Fabulous abstract, graphic, black and white forms by Emil Kozak, in a new exhibition within Box in Denmark.
LYNfabrikken, Vestergade 49, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark, until February 15 2015. More, here.
A XI 2011
Crossing the boundary between photography, art and sculpture, German artist Christine Erhard’s work is familiar and ambiguous at the same time. The architectural subject matter and modernist aesthetic seem familiar, until the unusual viewpoint and use of materials cause the imagery to appear distorted and other worldly.
Initially studying sculpture, Christine Erhard became increasingly interested in the images of the object, rather than the objects themselves, until photography and its ability to manipulate became her primary focus. She explores various movements within Modernism, with the avant-garde architecture of the Russian Constructivists a theme she returns to over and again.
Christine cites artists of the 1920s such as Laszlo Moholy-Nagy as her inspiration; artists who work in various disciplines – painting, poetry, graphic design, photography. Like Moholy-Nagy, there is a strong graphic quality to her work. For me, these works are both familiar and enigmatic, and very appealing.
AXX 2011
MI II 2012
QVIII 2012
More of Christine Erhard’s work, here. All images courtesy of the artist.
Like Ampersand house (I write about it here and here), this home in Antwerp doubles as a gallery space. The first thing that one notices is the wall colour: an intense, muted grey/green. The second thing is the cobblestone floor and exposed brick. Originally built as a workshop in the 19th century, it translates beautifully into the 21st, with contemporary materials – resin floors and polished concrete elements – adding to the simple fixturing that allow the gallery’s pieces to be shown to best effect.
Much of the furniture is by Muller Van Severen, who describe their pieces as ‘sitting somewhere between art and design’. I love their simple, industrial but elegant aesthetic.
Gallery house in Antwerp via AD. Photographs: Ricardo Labougle
It’s art fair season here in London, and the big daddy of them all, Frieze Art Fair, concluded at the weekend.
The white box format with which galleries usually display their wares was changed perhaps for ever more by the innovative booth of Helly Nahmad gallery. The booth, called ‘The Collector’ was a perfect replica of the Paris apartment of a fictional art collector called Corrado N, dating from 1968. Replete with old issues of Paris Match, overflowing ashtrays, and the artwork of Picasso, Miro and (my personal favourite) Lucio Fontana, the studio portrayed the life of a ‘passionate, intellectual reclusive’, who lived and breathed art.
More, Art News. Photo, Fausta Maria Bolettier Continue reading
Sir Denys Lasdun created a radical new headquarters for the Royal college of Physicians 50 years ago. Unlike anything else in the classical, verdant green surroundings of Regent’s Park, his building was bold, restrained and unashamedly modern. He is also the architect responsible for one of my other favourite of all London buildings, the National theatre, Southbank.
Lasdun’s building is comprised of three contrasting materials, expressing the form of the building and defining the three distinct zones. The grand, ceremonial areas are clad in off-white mosaic, appearing to float above the lower administrative areas constructed from dark blue engineering bricks. Concrete was used for the fire escape and functional, hard-working parts of the building.
This extraordinary building is the subject of a current exhibition, now until 13 February 2015.
‘The anatomy of a building: Denys Lasdun and the Royal College of Physicians’, Royal College of Physicians, St Andrew’s Place, Regent’s Park, London. More, here
I first wrote about Ampersand House, a home and gallery featuring classic design pieces and objet d’art, here
The House has just reopened in a new premises within central Brussels, in another classical, light filled interior. Again the eclectic mix of 20th century furniture create a fascinating, constantly evolving, living museum. The mix is vintage, contemporary, prototype and commissioned work, and almost everything is available for sale.
Ampersand House, 33 rue de Suisse, Brussels 1060, Belgium
Back in London, and we are looking forward to Modern Shows pop up in Fulham this weekend, and hoping to find that illusive armchair and console for the new abode… Modern Shows Fulham pop-up, details here
Intense, geometric imagery in bold, saturated colour by photographer and graphic design student Paolo Pettigiani. Taken near Turin, Italy; more on Behance, here.
Blue – without a doubt my favourite hue of all. There’s a fascinating read on the Tate blog of the importance of blue in art’s history, from ultramarine to Yves Klein, and Matisse’s striking blue nudes.
Read it, here Happy weekend.
owl's house london. 