Sea Urchin Bone China @ Tiffany & Co.

Last year I saw some sea urchin shaped & textured tea cups at Anthropologie. And now Tiffany & Co. offers a sea urchin set in bone china. I like the tea pot and the cups.

Work In Progress: Belize

Fliegendes Pferd (Flying Horse) © Nina Buesing Corvallo

Atonement

While we are on the subject of fashion, I wanted to mention the green dress that Keira Knightly wore in "Atonement". This really lovely dress was wonderfully conceived for the character but also for Ms. Knightly's physique. The talented Jacqueline Durran designed it, and is receiving lots of accolades for it: The dress was voted best film costume and Ms. Durran is nominated for an Oscar. Deservedly so, as the costumes throughout the movie were beautifully imagined and executed. Apparently the public at large is equally enthusiastic about this dress and while one of the original dresses (they made a couple for the movie) is up for auction for charity, an imitation is also available to order. But if you go that route be prepared to put yourself on a waiting list, because the demand is that great.
I love strong yet sophisticated color, floor length dresses, a comfortable but clever cut and delicate material -- and Ms. Durran's dress has it all. I hope she wins an Oscar. Also outstanding in "Atonement" was the cinematography by Seamus McGarvey who is meritoriously nominated for an Oscar as well. But I am still also rooting for Roger Deakins to win the Oscar for Best Cinematography for his work in "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford".

Ready-to-Wear 2008

Today is the end of fashion week in New York. I must admit I did not pay much attention. However while I was in Italy last, I did grab the Marie Claire Spring 2008 runway report. I love the collection of Roman born Paris based Giambattista Valli. I read on style.com that he was inspired by 'Veruschka in her desert mode' for his Spring 20o8 Ready-to-Wear collection and I can definitley see the amazing countess in these modern yet bohemian clothes.
I love the kaftans, the sheer material and the use of (sometimes layered) hot pink & canary yellow with white; the simple black pieces (hey, I am a New Yorker!) with clunky turquoise jewelery (-- who cares what those SITC girls think about turquoise jewelery!).
The Roberto Cavalli's Spring 2008 collection is beautiful too.
The clothes look comfortable and elegant, and I love the white lace batiste dresses, especially floor-length ones.
It's sexy hippie chic.
I still miss Jil Sander at the helm of Jil Sander. However I like Raf Simons use of hot pink and again these are simple comfortable cuts. Lanvin also has some very generous and comfortable cuts with bold colors (more dresses celebrities can hide their pregnancies in ;) or one would want to wear on an island or in the desert).

Happy Year of The Rat !

Happy Chinese New Year! This is the 'Year of The Rat'. May it be a peaceful one. Yesterday when I was looking at the work of Polly Morgan, I came across her works "Champagne Rat" and "Study for Rest a Little on the Lap of Life". In the biography published on Polly Morgan's website it is stated that she "encourages us to look a them (animals) as if for the first time; a rat sheds its association with horror and disease and be rightly viewed as a beautiful animal". I thought this simple, yet so profound. A commentary about how much bias we carry with us and how important objectivity or the strive for it is.
My husband likes to reference Robert Sullivan's book "Rats", when I squeamishly run by urban rats, which says that there are no confirmed rat attacks on humans on record in the city of New York. Yes, they carry disease, but he is probably very right that they are unlikely to attack me and even less likely to attack me in a concerted group effort.
At Karni Mata Temple in Northern India people have a more harmonious relationship with rats, as the rats are believed to carry the souls of followers of the Hindu Godess Durga. In Hindu religion it is believed that a god can take the form of any animal, which probably adds to the popularity of vegetaranism with Hindus.
"Rat" is an anagram of "Art" as someone pointed out to Bansky (he talks about this in his excellent book "Wall & Piece" ), and indeed that is a really clever observation. So I leave you with this image from the free Banksy shop:


"Greetings from London" by Banksy

The Satorialist at Danziger Projects

Oh I have been waiting for another excuse to post about
The Satorialist. I just love his blog: thesartorialist.blogspot.com. So here it is: Through February 23, 2008 The Satorialist's finds will be on view at Danziger Projects in Chelsea.

Polly Morgan: The Exquisite Corpse

Today I was thinking about what to post about and ended up searching for new artists. The web is such an incredible but vast tool. I did not know where to look for new art on the web, and thus I ended up looking through the pages of Nylon instead and came across the mention of Polly Morgan. What a find! Take a look at her website: pollymorgan.co.uk
Her work is innovative, gorgeous and deals with death as we all should be able to: a part of life.
I am incredibly excited about this work. I would love to see a book or show featuring the work of Ms. Morgan, Amy Ross, Amy Walsh, Walton Ford, Ryan McLennan and Simen Johan.

Below an "exquisite corpse" I came across in Soho:


A Little Death in Soho © Nina Buesing

Super Duper Tuesday with Brian Lehrer

Brian Lehrer will be covering the election starting at 7 p.m. on WNYC.

Juliana Beasley

One of the things that is so excellent about Amy Stein (& her blog) is that she is supportive of other artists. One of the photographers she recently featured is Juliana Beasely, who just won second place in PX3 - Prix de la Photographie Paris for her series about (conservative) Mennonites in Mexico titled "Eyes of Salamanca". Ms. Beasely's work is often daring but also always compassionate, which distinguishes her from many documentary photographers. This particular series recalls the work of pioneer Mary Ellen Mark, but also showcases Ms. Beasely's distinct own voice. Having just returned from North Western Belize, which also has an established Mennonite community, I was drawn to this series immediately. The compositions and colors are perfect and create a hyper-reality that serves the portrayal of this community well.

PS & Emma Woodhouse

The previous entry about Jan Groover hinting at my nostalgia for 'Old New York' and darkrooms clearly dates me. But so what? Most take comfort in what they know or what was a good period in their life. On a recent excursion to B&H Photo (the New York Photo store) my friend Pete (who went to photography school with me) and I became reminiscent and humored by holding up Hypo Check and other almost obsolete photographic items to one another. Indulging in a very particular humor, fueled by shared memories and probably not funny to anyone else besides other photo nerds ;)
Another former classmate of mine Wyatt Gallery - a person not a place;) - recently found a kitten, fell madly in love with it and named it Canon. True story. Then to test how well this kitten would travel, he took the cat to B&H Photo while stocking up on photo supplies.
All this nostalgia made me think about what forms us as we grow into our adult selves and it made me think of a blog entry by Emma Woodhouse titled "Daily Muse -A Surfer's Guide to Life"
Emma is a great writer with an unbeatable sense of humor and finally has committed to blogging (so add her to your RSS feed) : musefeed.blogspot.com
And yes Emma Woodhouse is her real name-- how perfect for a (comedic) writer, isn't it?

Old Skool: Jan Groover at Janet Borden

Janet Borden is currently exhibiting work by Jan Groover.
Ms. Groover is an artist's artist. Trained as a painter and heavily referencing the history of art in her work, she is not always accessible to, or sometimes simply dismissed, by the public at large. Ms. Groover along with Irving Penn made me fall in love with still life. I was first introduced to Ms. Grover's work by my favorite teacher Jonathan Kline and first saw her work at Janet Borden Gallery, back when most galleries where still in Soho, in walking distant from my art school. It's beautiful work that might also make you nostalgic for 'Old New York' and darkrooms.

Upcoming Shows

If you are in Edinburgh in late February visit Ingleby Gallery to see: "Alexander Gorlinzki & Indian Spells: Drawings from the Nineteenth Century". The opening is February 23, 2008 and they are serving Bloody Marys.
If you are in Los Angeles in late February you can catch Amy Stein's first solo show at Paul Kopeikin Gallery. I think "Domesticated" is Ms. Stein's best work so far, but there is also something special about Ms. Stein's "Halloween in Harlem" series and I hope she continues photographing Halloween every year. Ms. Stein is also an avid blogger: amysteinphoto.blogspot.com (thanks for the tip Maria).
If you are in New York in late February head over to Yossi Milo to see Muzi Quawson's show "Pull Back the Shade". And don't miss a favorite: Shirin Neshat at Gladstone Gallery
- also in New York (through February 23rd). It is not new work, but still well worth seeing.