I had no idea that was allergic to metals, until the discomfort stopped. These earrings were made to look suspended in midair, like my necklaces. As it turns out, all is hypoallergenic and was exactly what I needed!
"You don't know what you don't know until you know it." Richard Pratt
Am trying something new here
Street Art in Paris photographed by Karen Dietshe.
"Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others." Jonathan Swift
How To Make a Book With Steidl is a wonderful documentary, directed by Jörg Adolph and Gereon Wetzel made in 2010. You will enjoy every single moment of this 88 minutes long film, but here are some of them: [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8McHbjaxpbA&w=560&h=315]
Gerhard Steidl is a German publisher and printer of art books, but what it really means is that he is an artist in his own right.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SBD967rmJA&w=560&h=315]
Steidl approaches his work with passion and child like wonder, while upholding his commitment to excellence. In this film we get to witness his collaborations all over the world with such renowned photographers as Robert Frank, Ed Ruscha, Karl Lagerfeld, Robert Adams and many more. His company produces over 300 titles a year, and he overseas each and every one of them.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3l36ao_I0i4&w=560&h=315]
Listen to Gerhard Steidl and Robert Polidori discuss their approach to what they do at the Monoqi Liberatum Berlin Design Summit.
"What gunpowder did for war, the printing press has done for the mind." Wendell Phillips
Covergirl Teens Mascara
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHNY0pj-KR4&w=560&h=315] Scott Schuman is a New York blogger who "travels the world to find people who's style define who we are today."
The fantastic Angela Ahrendts, which he mentions in his interview with Kinvara Balfour, was my boss in the 80s, so he and I must have crossed paths at one point, so very long ago.
Here is the link to his photoblog: www.thesartorialist.com
Can you imagine how wonderful it would have been to have this kind of record of the past? How interesting will it be to look at it 50 years from now?
I love his videos on AOL.
Watch his video for Intel Vusual Life.
"Create your own visual style... let it be unique for yourself and yet identifiable for others." Orson Welles
Lev Poliakov is a wonderful friend and artist, who works in black and white photography. His work is exhibited at the Mimi Ferzt Gallery in Soho, until February 21st. Hours: Monday - Tuesday: 10 am - 6 pm, Wednesday: 10 am - 7 pm, Sunday: 11 am - 6 pm.
Address: 81 Greene Street, New York, NY 10012
Telephone: 212-343-9377
It is amazing what he sees with his lens, and how much intensity and emotion he packs into 8 x 10.
"Sometimes I arrive just when God's ready to have someone click the shutter." Ansel Adams
Movie Count So Far: 36 My plan is to update this list constantly, and to make it as complete as possible. Please comment on your favorites, and point out the ones I missed. Happy Watching!
*Unzipped (1995) Directed by Douglas Keeve.
* The September Issue(2009) Directed by R. J. Cutler.
* Bill Cunningham New York(2010) Directed by Richard Press.
* Seamless(2005) Directed by Douglas Keeve.
* Valentino: The Last Emperor(2008) Directed by Matt Tyrnauer.
* Marc Jacobs and Louis Vuitton(2007)Directed by Loïc Prigent.
* Lagerfeld Confidential(2007)Directed by Rodolphe Marconi.
* Signé Chanel (2005)Directed by Loïc Prigent. tv mini-series.
* This is My Dream(2011) Directed by Theo Stanley.
* McQueen and I(2011) Directed by Louise Osmond.
* OWN: Tom Ford Visionary Documentary (2011) Directed by Michael Bonfiglio.
* Notebook on Cities and Clothes (1989) Directed by Wim Wenders.
* Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel (2011) Directed by Lisa Immordino Vreeland, Bent-Jorgen Perimutt, Frédéric Tcheng.
* Masters of Style(2008) tv series.
* The Day Before (2009) tv series
* The Secret World of Haute Couture(2007) Directed by Margy Kinmonth.
* Mademoiselle C (2013) Directed by Fabien Constant.
*Inside: Dolce & Gabbana (2014) Directed by Tom Gibson. (tv series)
*Men of the Cloth (2013) Directed by Vicki Vasilopoulos.
* L’AmourFou (2010) Directed by Jacques Rivette.
* The Tents (2012) Directed by James Belzer.
* God Save My Shoes (2011) Directed by Julie Benasra.
* Ralph Rucci: A Designer And His House (2007) Directed by David Boatman.
* Schmatta: Rags to Riches to Rags (2009) Directed by Marc Levin.
* Dressing America: Tales from the Garment Center (2011) Directed by Steven Fischler and Joel Sucher.
* Anna Wintour: Bloomberg Game Changers (2011) Directed by John Newhouse. tv series.
* Kell on Earth (2010-) Stars Kelly Cutrone. tv series.
* Ultrasuede: In Search of Halston (2010) Directed by Whitney Smith.
* A Man's Story (2010) Directed by Varon Bonicos.
* Prêt-à-Porter (1994) Directed by Robert Altman.
* Coco Before Chanel (2009) Directed by Anne Fontaine.
* The Devil Wears Prada (2006) Directed by David Frankel.
* Funny Face (1957) Directed by Stanley Donen.
* Rage (2009) Directed by Sally Potter.
* Mahogany (1975) Directed by Berry Gordy, Jr.
* Flair (1990) Directed by Henri Safran. tv mini-series.
"Fashion is made to become unfashionable." Coco Chanel
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JxfgId3XTs] A very fun and very short way to learn about XXth Century fashion.
"A fashion is nothing but an induced epidemic."
George Bernard Shaw
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSjurs4ZnlM]In 2007 I went to hear Doug Farr speak at the Municipal Art Society in NY, and have been talking about it ever since. He is a Chicago based architect who wrote a book about Sustainable Urbanism. This lecture is very similar to the one I heard all those years ago, and I am happy to be able to share this video. Everything Douglas is saying resonates with me, and I would love to see this become our normal way of life. As a child I dreamt of becoming an architect, and occasionally attend lectures on urban planning, but his speech affected my imagination the most.
"Human behavior flows from three main sources: desire, emotion, and knowledge."
Plato
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLIJuQSOJis] Motoi Yamamoto is a Japanese artist who's media of choice is salt.
I find his creations incredibly beautiful when they are done, but wathicng him work is truly inspirationall.
Similar to the Tibetan Sand Mandalas, in the end the salt is gathered by the visitors to be returned to the sea. Watch and listen to his reasons for working this way.
Currently his installations can be seen in Saint Petersburg, Russia, at the Hermitage Museum, until February 8th, and in Tel Aviv, Israel, at the Inga Gallery, until January 4th.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayz3WVG3ZPQ]
"The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance."
Aristotle
Men of the Cloth is a documentary by Vicki Vasilopoulos about the three accomplished master tailors, Nino Corvato, Checchino Fonticoli, and Joe Centofanti, who share a passionate devotion to their craft.
The film will be screened during the DOC NYC film festival at the IFC Center in Greenwich Village in November.
Hours: November 19th at 7:15 pm and November 21st at 5 pm.
Address: 323 Sixth Avenue at West 3rd Street.
Telephone: 212-924-7771
When I first started working on Fashion Avenue in the 80s, Italian tailors used to gather in a big group during their lunch hour, in front of 550 Seventh Avenue, which is a home to a lot of high end American designers. Hearing and seeing these handsome men speaking their beautiful operatic language is another tradition that is gone now.
The showrooms were moved to the less expensive locations out of the city, or outsourced altogether. Young designers, whom I teach, do not know what they are missing. Working with great Italian masters was a privilege, which I feel very lucky to have had in my career.
"If people knew how hard I worked to get my mastery, it wouldn't seem so wonderful after all." Michelangelo
"Chagall: Love, War, and Exile" exhibit at the Jewish Museum focuses on the artist's work between 1930 and 1948, the dark years during the rise of Fascism and the Holocaust. Click here to get an overview of the exhibit, which will run through February 2nd, 2014.
Marc Chagall was an early modernist artist of the XXth century. Many of his paintings reflect his life as a Jew in Eastern Europe, but the ones that touch me the most are of his wife and the love they shared. As a quote from Notting Hill says: "It feels like how being in love should be."
Hours: Friday - Tuesday: 11 am - 5:45 pm, Thursday - 11 am - 8 pm, Wednesday - Closed.
Address: 1109 Fifth Avenue, at 92nd Street, New York, NY 10128
Telephone: 212-423-3200
"If I create from the heart, nearly everthing works; if from the head, almost nothing." Marc Chagall
Robert A.M. Stern is a postmodernist architect, who has been a Dean of the Yale School of Architecture since 1988, and is still doing it all at the age of 74. Click here to watch a fascinating half hour documentary about him on PBS.
Stern is responsible for 42nd Street looking as it does today, but mostly he is known for buildings that "reflect their physical and historical context", like the 15 Central Park West on the photograph above.
He has been publicly speaking out against the modern architecture's tendency to become "abstract and unconnected with people", and I found listening to him passionatly defend his point of view to be thought provoking and inspirational.
"A building has integrity just like a man. And just as seldom." Robert A.M. Stern
The fashion world of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum from October 25th - February 23rd.
In Conversation: Jean Paul Gaultier and Thierry-Maxime Loriot on October 24th at 7pm, in Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Auditorium, 3rd Floor.
Hours: Wednesday, Friday - Sunday: 11 am - 6 pm, Thursday: 11 am - 10 pm.
Address: 200 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, New York 11238
Telephone: 718-638-5000
Known as fashion's "enfant terrible", Gaultier caused shock by challenging social standards, defying established aesthetic codes. and breaking with traditional gender roles.
The exhibition features 140 haute couture and prêt-à-porter ensembles, together with sketches, stage costumes, accessories, excerpts from films, and much more.
"My eccentricity became direction." Jean Paul Gaultier
The Art Of The Brick is a wonderful exhibition by artist Nathan Sawaya, who's inspiring sculptures and paintings are made exclusively in Lego blocks.
There are many famous works of art reproduced in Legos, but the ones that intrigued me the most are artist's own creations, like this man in red.
See it now at The Discovery Times Square.
Address: 226 West 44th Street. Between Seventh and Eights Avenues.
Telephone: 866-987-9692
"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up." Pablo Picasso
Between The Folds is a documentary directed by Vanessa Gould, which won a 2010 Peabody Award.
The film chronicles ten fine artists and scientists working in the medium of origami. Their passion is contagious. Their creativity is inspirational. I absolutely love it. Click here to watch the full movie on youtube.
The two highlights for me are:
Erik Demaine - a young Canadian scientist, who completed his PhD at 20, and uses origami to study DNA.
Eric Joisel - a French sculptor, who's life-like paper creations were displayed in the Louvre.
"A work of art is the unique result of a unique temperament." Oscar Wilde
"The Telling Room: A Tale of love, Betrayal, Revenge, and the World's Greatest Piece of Cheese" book by Michael Paterniti.
I love people who are passionate about something. Anything. You can recognise them from afar. They have a twinkle in their eyes, and their excitement is contagious.
Clearly, I never thought that one of these passions could be c h e e s e. Click to listen and read more.
"Man is only great when he acts from passion." Benjamin Disraeli
"Do You Recognize These 10 Mental Blocks to Creative Thinking?" article by Brian Clark is fascinating, and you should read the whole thing, but here is a quick list at a glance:
1 - Trying to Find the "Right" Answer
2 - Logical Thinking
3 - Following Rules
4 - Being Practical
5 - Play is Not Work
6 - That's Not My Job
7 - Being a "Serious" Person
8 - Avoiding Ambiguity
9 - Being Wrong is Bad
10 - I'm Not Creative
If any of the above sound true to you, I also suggest reading "A Whack on the Side of the Head: How You Can Be More Creative" by Roger von Oech.
"To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong."
Joseph Chilton Pearce
Beatrice Wood (1893-1998) was an American artist and potter, who became known for her extraordinary life, as well as her art. Click here to read more.
She lived till 105, forever 32 in her heart. When asked to reveal the secret to her longevity, she would say: "art books, chocolates, and young men."
She met Marcel Duchmp, and together with Roché, they founded The Blind Man magazine, which was one of the first manifestation of the Dada movement in New York.
She was the inspiration behind the characters of Rose in James Cameron's Titanic, and Catherine in Henri Roché's Jules et Jim.
She kept daily journala for 85 years, and learned computers at the age of 90. At the age of 92 she wrote an autobiography titled I Shock Myself. At 101 she became a subject ot Tom Neff's documentary Beatrice Wood: Mama of Dada for PBS.
This woman's approach to life is my constant source of inspiration.
"My life is full of mistakes. They're like pebbles that make a good road." Beatrice Wood