What to help local food and beverage entrepreneurs in your neighborhood? Samuel Adams give us a glimpse into how!
A first for the venerable Sotheby’s Auction House, Art as Jewelry as Art is a groundbreaking auction in more ways than one.
Expertly assembled by Sotheby’s Artist Jewelry Specialist and Head of Sale Tiffany Dubin, Art as Jewelry as Art focuses on an emerging class of increasingly in-demand works: precious and rare examples of experimentation and exploration by some of the world’s most celebrated artists. Dubin’s conceptually-forward understanding of art celebrates these artists as they explore new mediums, scales, materials, and application. Many of these unique pieces allow collectors to wear the art.
Rife with conceptual integrity and craftsmanship, there are some 150 thoughtfully chosen works of art in the sale, many of which can be worn as adornment or exhibited as part of a collection. Despite being made up of over a century of work, the intent of this sale is very modern, where today’s collectors are seeking more interactive, more unique, and more personal works of art.
For Ms. Dubin, “The focus of artists and their jewelry was on three elements: ensuring that it is limited or unique; that the piece is emblematic of the artist’s oeuvre; and that it is representative of the time during which it was made.”
Calder Hairband, courtesy Sotheby’s
Among the highlights are Alexander Calder’s coils of hammered metal- presented as headbands, broaches and bracelets- which feel as if they’re an electric current fizzling with energy. These works have a rich provenance; closely associated with the Guggenheim family and once worn by Jeanne Moreau.
Lalanne Orchidée (Orchid) Handbag courtesy Sotheby’s
Claude Lalanne’s expression of personal style was through decorative flora and fauna, and that is deeply apparent in these works of jewelry as art. High achievements here include a series of creations taking advantage of an orchid-influenced motif. According to the catalogue, “[Lalanne] conceptualized these bronze works as gilded fossils to be worn and appreciated into perpetuity”. A highlight is a bold and poetic handbag. In a similar vein, a work by Andrew Grima (a favorite designer of the United Kingdom Royal Family) offers a remarkably accurate execution of a leaf as a broach with a diamond representing a dew drop.
Michele Oka Doner’s Set of Two ‘Talisman’ Necklaces. Courtesy Sotheby’s.
As for contemporary artists, work is well-represented. Particularly special is Michele Oka Doner’s set of two “Talisman” necklaces, informed by her scholarly understanding and emotional connection to the primitive and abstract. At once a work of engineering and instinct, the layering of stones and wire creates a spiritually charged work.
Line Vautrin’s Carrousel’ (Carousel) Earrings. Courtesy Sotheby’s.
Many works are imbued with a charming grasp of humor and lightheartedness, including Line Vautrin’s Carrousel’ (Carousel) Earrings and Jean Lurçat’s ‘Le Cockerel’ Brooch.
Hubert Le Gall’s Set of a Obsidian Swallow Pendant and Jewelry Stand with Mirror. Courtesy of Sotheby’s.
There are plenty of other highly-conceptual and theatrical works that take advantage of the human form to explore and examine, from Cartier’s chains to Man Ray’s sensual ‘Les Amoureux’ lips. Others enjoy the theater and theory of vanity and humanity, from Hubert Le Gall’s pendant that comes with a jewelry stand with mirror to Yury Revich’s Eye Jewelry.
The Art as Jewelry as Art online sale continues until October 4th, 2022 at Sotheby’s. You can browse the lots and place your bids at www.sothebys.com
Over the years, German fashion has slowly shed its image of being a deadly serious affair, with its often-somber silhouettes and straight-laced academic ideas, to something that is far more cutting edge, fun, and organic in character; exploring the bounds of beauty, wearability, and approachability. Berlin Fashion Week is the culmination of these ideas, with a week of celebration and shows.
The idea of the opera pulling headlines might seem a bit anachronistic; a niche interest suddenly becoming the whole of the zeitgeist. But this is exactly what Festival Verdi has become over its 20 years in current existence.
Post-NYFW show, Luar’s loyal and excited fans lined up down the block, in the rain (most even without umbrellas!), while waiting patiently to enter the afterparty, and celebrate the brand of the hour-Luar.
Kourtney Kardashian sure did bring her rock n’ roll flare, both clothing and music-wise, for her Boohoo, New York Fashion Week Show!
This is the first time that the notorious Fotografiska New York is showcasing a single-solo artist’s works throughout the whole museum!
On view from September 10, 2022, through February 19, 2023, the exhibition brings together more than 80 of the artist’s creations for stage, spectacles, and street theater, alongside a variety of environments, ephemera, material samples, photography, and video.
The West Chelsea Contemporary gallery in New York City is hosting the first-ever solo exhibition for the artist Blek Le Rat.
West Chelsea Contemporary is the right place for an artist like Blek Le Rat to show for his first solo exhibition in New York because it was in 1971 that the artist (now 40 years into a career) found his seed of inspiration in NYC. “There was an incredible profusion, in the subway, on the walls surrounding basketball courts, graffiti drawn in marker, nestling signatures surmounted by a crown, spray-painted lettering, filled with swirls and colors, everywhere I looked. I was so intrigued by these illuminations I remember asking the inevitable question: “What does all this mean? Why are these people doing this?”
The graffiti I saw in New York remained firmly planted in my memory, though acting out my own graffiti took ten years to hatch.
Studying fine arts and architecture during the 1970s at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, Blek Le Rat always had an academic mind for art. Well-versed in etching, lithography, and screen printing, Blek Le Rat had the skill for mastering art. But thrilled by the risk, unpredictability and beauty of street art, he was drawn to the craft. Armed with a study of architecture at the Architectural Teaching Unit #6, he was well-suited to create work around the urban environment. Together, he began applying the principles of fine art to the street in Paris, becoming the pioneer in the place where even the most progressive thinkers dismissed graffiti as a nuisance.
Years later, some of Blek Le Rat’s questions of meaning have been answered, recognizing the symbolic power of graffiti: “I’m here, get used to it.” Over time, Blek Le Rat took advantage of stencils to make his process more efficient but no less individual or beautifully executed. The result has been hundreds of works, all over the world, often composed of human-scale dancers, musicians, common people, and of course, the rat itself, an ever-changing, reoccurring character in Blek Le Rat’s cast of stencils.
Cited as an inspiration for Banksy (who has been welcomed into the world of fine art), it’s an opportunity for Blek Le Rat to reconstitute his street art in the context of a canvas, serving as yet another turn inward and reconsideration of his classical training. The new prints on view continue reveling in the historical references Blak Le Rat has treasured in his work, featuring figures such as Beethoven, Sibyl, Eros, and a tribute to fellow artist Richard Hambleton, as well as new subjects of interest, often superimposed on rustic backgrounds, just as they might be found in the wilds of the urban space.
West Chelsea Contemporary opened in October 2020 under the direction of Lisa Russell, a tastemaker with a unique appreciation for mediums. Showcasing everything from mid-career and emerging artists to legends like KAWS, Yayoi Kusama, Keith Haring, Mr. Brainwash, Takashi Murakami and more, West Chelsea Contemporary was the logical choice to steward such a show in New York.
Blek Le Rat is on view from August 20-September 25, 2022 at West Chelsea Contemporary, located at 231 10th Ave., NY 10011. Free. Learn more at https://wcc.art/