Urubbu

o52 from the catalog © Urubbu

My dear friends Geraldo & Craig have embarked on a new venture: Greeting Cards.
And they are fantastic! Take a look at their website: www.urubbu.com (I love the name) or contact them directly for more information: info@urubbu.com


I think beautiful Canada served as inspiration © Urubbu

Helmut Lang

Helmut Lang is such a gifted designer and I miss seeing his collections. For those who want a taste of Mr. Lang there is the "Never Ever After" exhibit at "The Journal" to visit.

Thomas Holton

Sasha Wolf Gallery has a very nice collection of mostly contemporary, documentary based photography. The subjects of the different works shown at Sasha Wolf is a melting pot of different cultures and places and thus New York is a perfect location for this gallery. Pablo Lopez's work first led me to the Sasha Wolf Gallery, which subsequently led me to the work of Thomas Holton.
Having lived and shopped in and near Chinatown for a number of years I was drawn to Holton's "The Lams of Ludlow" and found it to be an insightful and sensitive portrayal of a sometimes overlooked downtown community.

Hank Willis Thomas

Yeah, yeah...I am posting about Hank again.
But he is on a roll and his art should be looked at and
his message heard. Dick Gordon interviewed Hank for
The Story on January 22. You can listen to this
thoughtful interview here.


Branded Head, 2003 © Hank Willis Thomas

Adam Gopnik: Love and Politics

Worth reading: Adam Gopnik's piece "Love and Politics" in this week's New Yorker.

John Currin in The New Yorker

This week's issue of the New Yorker features an interesting profile of the painter John Currin by Calvin Tomkins titled "Lifting the Veil". The New Yorker also has a slide show of some of Currin's work (some might find it offensive) and portraits of the artist and his wife & muse-- fellow artist (and occasional Marc Jacobs model) Rachel Feinstein.

Roger Deakins

See, I told you that the cinematography is really stunning in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.
Roger Deakins is nominated for an Osacr!

News from Sundance

Hank briefly wrote yesterday and pointed me to fellow ©ause Collective artist Jessica Ingram's blog posting from Sundance on NPR -- Jessica, I love that picture of you and Bob ;) .
Like Jessica's mother I am a fan of Mr. Redford's and "All The President's Men" and "The Candidate" are two of my favorite films.


Along the Way ©ause Collective

Aza's movie now has a website: www. mommasman.com. If you miss Momma's Man at Sundance you can also catch it right after Sundance at The International Rotterdam Film Festival.
And while we are on the topic of filmmaking, The New York Times recently had an eloquent article by Caryn James about George Clooney titled "A Movie Star for All Eras, Even the Present".

Martin Luther King Day

Today is the third Monday of the first month of the year and that means it is Martin Luther King Jr Day in America (Even though Dr. King's actual birthday is January 15th) .
You can listen & watch part of Dr. King's most famous speech
- "I Have a Dream"- via NPR at:
http://www.npr.org/news/specials/march40th/speeches.html

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford - DVD Release

Andrew Dominick's film The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford comes out on DVD on February 5th, 2008.
If you did not see it theaters, you might find it worth the rental or even purchase. I admit that I might not have seen this movie, if Brad Pitt did not star in it. Westerns are not my favorite genre and Jesse James is not a favorite subject. But since Brad Pitt is still incredibly charismatic and often makes interesting film choices, I went to see the movie with a friend who is a photo editor. We were both completely stunned by the beauty of the cinematography in this picture.
An aging Brad Pitt delivers a melancholic Jesse James, Casey Afflek a creepy Robert Ford and Mary Louise Parker along with the rest of the supporting actors are well cast. But the stars of this film are Roger Deakins' cinematography and Patricia Norris' production design (art direction by Martin Gendron & Troy Sizemore). Accompanied by a haunting soundtrack with original music by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis.

Contemporay Miniature Painting

Maybe it's because I have been living in New York so long, where space is scarce or maybe it is based on childhood impressions from Persia, either way I love miniature painting.


Iranian plate. Mom & I in the mountains of Iran © Buesing Family

Miniature is an exquisite art and a tradition that has been practiced for many centuries. Present-day artists like Alexander Gorlizki & Riyaz Uddin and Shahzia Sikander have updated this beautiful way of painting and given miniature painting a place in contemporary art.
Shazia Sikander is included in the aforeedmentioned PBS series "art:21" and she is represented by Sikkema Jenkins & Co in New York, while Alexander Gorlinzki & Riyaz Uddin's work was recently featured in Elle Decor and can be explored of course through their website riyazdesign.com.


Contemporary miniatures © Alexander Golinzki & Riyaz Uddin/ Riyaz Design