After the Whitney in New York a Jeff Koons retrospective has hit the Centre Pompidou and we came to see it while in Paris last week. So that’s the most unemotional and boring sentence I have ever started a post with. But somehow it describes my initial feelings towards his art very well. Jeff Koons – “The king of kitsch”, how Forbes calls him, goes for the obvious and plays it bold – bright colors, children’s toys and sex! As a matter of fact his works do not seem to blend well with my minimalist, discreet aesthetics that are mostly defined in black and white as well as nature inspired neutrals. So what made us go there? Did we got caught up within the heavy advertisement?
Tag Archives: contemporary art
Its all about the knit …
Around a year ago shortly before Christmas I discovered Innocent smoothie bottles with knit beanies while lunching at Cojean, the organic canteen of Paris famed department store Printemps. I immediately thought how cute is that. These bottles are actually wearing beanies to protect their – well caps – “against the cold of the fridge”. A few weeks later fall 2014 collections were presented and as usual knitwear was a repeating theme. But this season it wasn’t just about coziness. Much more at several brands the sweaters were that big that they gave a feeling of the wearer being caught in a spiders web. At Commes des Garçons the idea of human beings locked up in woolen textiles spinning around the body got really scary! In June we visited Dover Street Market, the multi floor shopping empire owned by the Japanese brand Commes des Garçons. Again something knitted caught my eye! One of the three several floor spanning columns was covered in colorful knit reminding me of South American native crafts and evoking joyful childhood memories. Until that time to me woolen textiles had always been something functional that keeps you warm and creates a cosy atmosphere at home. But far beyond that I started to realize that they can evoke strong feelings ranging from cuteness to discomfort. However, I had never seen or been aware of sculptures or installations made out of textile! Are there artist working mainly or solely with textiles?
Who or what is KAWS …?
Strolling through Frieze Sculpture Park on a sunny Wednesday morning with two bored children on hand there was nothing around that seemed to make the hours until opening of the fair shorter. But at a time I had almost given up there it was. A giant wooden Pinocchio, Mickey Mouse or Simpsonesque clown? Whatever it was my children were immediately delighted. While they started exploring the, OK lets call its sculpture, I somehow couldn’t help but wonder. I would consider myself as a person with quite some interest in contemporary art, but I would really have allocated this piece more to a theme park than a contemporary art fair.
Gartenkinder at Frieze London 2014
So we are back from almost one week London art trip and there is really so much to talk about. Let’s start with one of my first impressions from Frieze Artfair London. For all, who haven’t yet visited an art fair here comes a short explanation: Art fairs are actually supposed to be trade shows, where private collectors can purchase pieces. However, according to New York Times about 80 percent of Frieze visitors are just spectators. The idea of art fairs isn’t new! It originated in the 20ies in Germany and constantly grew in line with the growth of the global art market, particularly in the major art buying countries, USA, China and UK. The biggest art fair in the world is Art Basel, which is hosted at 3 different locations Basel, Miami Beach and Hong Kong. Frieze, which originated in the UK in October 2003, is the second biggest fair…
Chanel again …! A look inside the Chanel art book.
I know its a little bit too much Chanel on the blog at the moment… But there is really a lot Chanel thats worth to be discussed right now. One of those things is the Chanel Art book, a photo book published by the German photo publisher Steidl depicting the Karl Lagerfeld created artworks that decorated the Grand Palais for the brands spring summer 2014 presentation.
Beyond the Irving Penn exhibition @Palazzo Grassi, Venice Italy
Its been a while since my report on the Irving Penn exhibition at Palazzo Grassi in Venice. And its almost two months ago that we had visited Venice (…unbelievable how fast time passes by!). But I don’t want to forget to recommend the second collection of art works that is presented besides the Irving Penn exhibition at Palazzo Grassi until end of this year. The exhibition is entitled “The illusion of light” and deals with all possible ways to alter the human perception with the help of light. It includes a huge amount of fabulous installations – Here are my 3 favorites:
Past meets present @ Louis Vuitton Espace Culturel Venezia
Only two years ago Louis Vuitton opened its new flagship in Venice, which of course includes the brands art space Louis Vuitton Espace Culturel Venezia. The store as such was designed by the American architect Peter Marino and offers the whole product range on 4 floor (ground floor luggage and handbags, first floor mens wear, second woman’s wear and third floor book shop and art space – as far as I remember). The third floor, which was my favorite, has a beautiful loft like character with sofas to sit down and browse the huge book selection. Just the perfect counterbalance to the overcrowded street leading to St Marks square.
No such thing as history – Espace Culturel Louis Vuitton Munich
“No such thing as history” is the title of the first exhibition at the two story Espace Culturel Louis Vuitton Munich, which we visited yesterday. As typical for Vuitton everything is organized perfectly. Every visitor can first enjoy a private guided tour through the exhibition and take more time to discover the artworks alone afterwards.