Please enjoy this oldie by goodie while I spend the next two weeks camping, packing, visiting with the mom-in-law and moving from WA to OR. See you in September!
Art
Art isn’t just limited paint on a canvas or carved marble. Anyone who knows me knows that I love shoes, so these babies by Israeli born designer Kobi Levi won me over at first glance. Amazing stuff! I hope you enjoy seeing them as much as I did!
Happy Shoesday, my friends!
A man gives many question marks, however, a woman is a whole mystery. ~Diana Stürm
Artist Brad Kunkle is a creator of feminine mysteries. Haunting, glistening visual fairy tales which are at once throwbacks to the past and yet thoroughly modern.
His work takes inspiration from the Pre-Raphaelite era, as evidenced by the medieval-feel of the compositions, near photographic precision and intricate surface detail.
But don’t be mistaken, Kunkle’s figures and compositions are not antiquated, but rather fresh and current. The paintings are like pages of out a Vogue magazine fairy tale– and I mean that in the best possible way. These aren’t helpless ingenues, but contemporary women caught up in circumstance.
These are the modern daughters of Eve, tempted and tempting, the subject of desire and blame. Filled with sensual strength tinged with sadness. Kunkle tells the story of their past by placing them in classical compositions and poses, but the elegant background treatments and inherent edginess keep them firmly on current ground.
To see more of Brad Kunkle’s work, please visit his website. If you’re in the New York area, his work is represented by Arcadia Gallery, where he will exhibit a solo show in Spring 2012.
Featured image is “Girl With Serpent and Pearls”, oil and gold and silver on linen, 25×30.
All images are courtesy of the artist’s website.
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Be runway dressed and ready to brave the paparazzi for Artsy Forager’s very own artsyFashion Week!
I love art. I love design. Why not put the two together on the blog? There was a time in my life when I thought my career path lay ( Thank you, Suzanne Decuir for the grammatical help ) in Interior Design. I took courses, devoured design and shelter magazines. As often happens in life, circumstances got in the way and the path detoured. But that’s a story for another time. Let’s focus on the fun stuff today!
One of my absolute favorite things while designing ( OK, it was THE absolute favorite thing ), was creating moodboards. To begin with an inspiration and build a room or facility around it was thrilling to my color, texture and pattern lovin’ soul. And for me, it always began with the artwork. While doing project management/art consulting, I worked with a lot of designers and many ( but by no means all! ) viewed the artwork for a design as an after-thought. Like adding sprinkles to a cake. Still a cake without the sprinkles, but oh, if we add them, won’t that be pretty! But if we don’t have sprinkles, it’s OK. It’s still a nice cake. Instead, I think of the artwork as the frosting– not just smoothed across the top, but spread between the layers and all over. It is what holds the cake together and gives it the extra texture and sweetness that keeps us going back for more.
( Wow, anyone else craving cake now? )
So you’ve purchased this beautiful painting by Christina Foard. You love it, it speaks to your heart and reflects your style and everything you love about life. But maybe you live at the beach and are unsure how to design a room around it. Aren’t all beach houses supposed to be full of palm trees & seashells?
This piece to speak more to the feeling of being on the beach just after a storm, while the skies are still a bit gray but the sun is beginning to peek through, warming up the sand to both the eye and the touch. So let’s take our cue from that and begin with soft, grayish tones, layering on the warmth of the sun in our accent chair, rug and window coverings. An important component in Christina’s work is texture, so we’ll make sure there are plenty of interesting surfaces to draw our eyes in, just as Christina’s painterly build up does in her work.
Have you ever designed a room around a piece of artwork? Or bought a piece of artwork not knowing where exactly to hang it in your home but you couldn’t live without it? Have a beloved piece of art sitting in a closet somewhere because you don’t think it “goes” or can’t figure out how to incorporate it with your current furnishings? Um, yeah, me too. 🙂
Sources: Painting: Seaside Reflections by Christina Foard; Paint color ( board background color ): Skimming Stone by Farrow & Ball; Sofa: Charlotte Collection by Mitchell Gold Bob Williams; Chair & Ottoman: Rhys Chair & Ottoman by Anthropologie; Rug: Festival by Anthropologie; Coffee table: Monarch Coffee Table by Anthropologie; Lamp: Malaya Large Coral & Zinc Lamp by Arteriors Home; Round side table: Riveria Side Table by Ralph Lauren Home; Mirror: Venus Mirror by Anthropologie; Square side table: Duotone Side Door Table by The Painted Cow Furniture Co. on Etsy; Window covering: Coqo Floral Curtain by Anthropologie; Bowls: Tatara Zukuri Bowls by Ashes & Milk
Though our time in the cities we visited on our cross-country tour was short, we managed to hit a couple of wonderful, yet very different museums along the way. In Tulsa, we spent a few hours exploring the Philbrook Museum of Art.
My Jacksonville readers will be familiar with the Cummer Museum of Art in Jax. The Philbrook is, to me, like the Cummer on steroids. Like the Cummer, the Philbrook was once a private residence, which was donated to the city of Tulsa by its owners, oilman Waite Phillips and his wife Genevieve. Once we entered the museum doors, we found ourselves in a gorgeous, domed center hall, light streaming through the oculus in the center of the dome.
Just walking the halls of this Renaissance style villa, built in 1927 and designed by architect Edward Buehler Delk for the Phillips as “a place where there two children could entertain friends” ( Imagine the sleepovers you could have! ), is a pleasure in itself.
The museum houses a varied and extensive permanent collection of art, ranging from African & Asian collections, Native American art to Italian Renaissance and a surprising and delightful modern collection.
While the museum collections are enjoyable, it is the museum grounds that really steal the show. Though we visited on a gray and rainy day, it didn’t stop us from exploring the extensive gardens behind the museum. The original formal gardens extend from the rear colonnade of the museum down to the tempietto. Let’s take a little walking tour..
Let’s switch gears now, fast-forward through another 12 hour day on the road and pay a little visit to Denver. While in the mile-high city, we spent some time downtown including a tour through the Denver Art Museum. While the Philbrook is classically ornate, the DAM’s Hamilton Building, where we spent our time, is splendidly contemporary. Designed by Daniel Lubeskind, the structure represents the Rocky Mountain peaks surrounding Denver.
We started at the top and worked our way down, discovering lots of fun & interesting contemporary work along the way.
Did you notice in the pictures above how the walls are slanted? The angled walls created a very interesting visual space, especially in the 4th floor gallery where they were prominent. They were a bit disconcerting when walking down the main stairs, though!
We were all fascinated by the piece above, by Mark Tansey. Another highlight was the Fox Games installation by Sandy Skoglund. I first saw Skoglund’s work in Jacksonville and am always fascinated by the environments she creates.
And there was just something about “Minotaur with Brushstrokes” that appealed to us. What can I say, we like work that makes us smile.
Speaking of making us smile, George & I also loved the piece below, although I’m sad to report that I don’t recall the name of the artist. But it reminded me of spring in the Northwest.
The museum also boasts an impressive Western American Art Collection, as well as African, American Indian, Oceanic, Pre-Columbian and Spanish Colonial Collections. We toured through the current special exhibition, Cities of Splendor: A Journey Through Renaissance Italy, but alas, no photography allowed in the exhibit, so you’ll have to check out the DAM website for a taste. As you can see, our art experiences on this trip were widely varied and we are looking forward to more such experiences here in the Northwest.
CONFESSION TIME: One of my biggest pet peeves is artwork hung incorrectly. And by this I mean too high, too low, staggered when there is no reason for staggering ( i.e., up a staircase wall ), etc. While there are no set rules when it comes to hanging artwork, there are guidelines. Knowledge is power, ya’ll, and you’ll thank me for it when my eyes aren’t twitching uncontrollably when I come over and see how your artwork is hung. I’m too polite to say anything, though.. I am a Southern girl, after all.
Guideline #1: Normal height for hanging artwork is to center it at eye level.
But whose eye level? You may be 4’11” but your husband is 6’4″– how do you decide? Law of averages, my friends. I’m 5’5″ ( ok, 5’4 1/2″ ), so my eye level is actually spot on. The safest height at which to hang artwork is 60″ from the center of the artwork to the floor.
I couldn’t resist adding in this image from Traditional Home ( via House of Turquoise ). Recognize the work of our very own Pick of the Crop artist, Christina Baker?! Girl’s got skilz.
Guideline #2: Use picture hooks and D-rings for hanging whenever possible
Plain ol’ nails might be super cheap, but picture hooks are the best way to go to get your artwork to hang levelly and securely. The weight of a piece of artwork will drag down a nail, but the picture hooks are designed to set the nail at an angle so that the laws of physics hold the picture up, instead of putting all the weight on the nail. There are different size hooks available according to the weight of what you’re hanging, so if you’re in doubt about the weight, go with the heaviest weight hook so you’ll be sure your artwork won’t fall on someone’s head.. or toes.
D-rings are God-sends for hanging artwork and should be used instead of wire, if possible. Simply install two d-rings at the same horizontal level on the back of the picture frame. It’s true, you’ll need to put two holes in the wall instead of one, but your artwork will be more secure and won’t have that annoying habit of going crooked anytime it get’s bumped a little or someone closes a door a bit too hard.
Guideline #3: When hanging multiple pieces together, be aware of the space between them and how they relate to each other
If you’re hanging a pair or series of artwork above a piece of furniture, measure and treat the pieces as if you were hanging one solid piece– taking into account a bit of space between them and center the overall size horizontally above the furniture and center each piece vertically at 60″.
Guideline #4: Some rules were made to be broken
Not Guideline #2, the picture hook thing is always important, not just for aesthetics, but for safety. The other two, however, might be flexible depending on the situation.
If you ever find yourself unsure of how to hang your latest acquisition, I hope these guidelines are helpful. If you’re really stuck, drop me a line– I’m happy to help! Happy hanging!
In my daily reading of Artinfo.com this morning I came across two articles, seemingly unrelated, until the Facebook comments regarding one of the articles tied them together for me. The first article, found here, poses the question, “Should Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia Remain Unfinished?” The Barcelona basilica, begun in 1882 by renown artist-architect Antonio Gaudi is still under construction eighty-five years following the architect’s death.
Though Gaudi left plaster models and drawings, many of his notes were destroyed during the Spanish Civil War, leaving his vision open to interpretation by current sculptors, architects and designers. While some critics feel the current direction doesn’t jive with Gaudi’s original vision, even during his lifetime, there were many sculptors working on the basilica. Like any monumental undertaking, “it takes a village” to bring Gaudi’s creation to life.
Should Gaudi’s original design be so open to interpretation? He gave artistic license to those working under him while alive, would he so object to modern interpretations now being imposed? Unlike other types of sculpture, cathedrals are often the product of centuries worth of work by multiple architects, artists and craftsman.
As Gaudi was aware he would not be alive to see it to completion, wouldn’t he have known his original design would be open to interpretation by those who came after him? Does the fact that Gaudi is not here to personally oversee the work negate the additions?
Artists using apprentices and assistants is nothing new. The art world of the Renaissance era, which produced such celebrated masters as Michelangelo and DaVinci was built upon the concept of apprenticeship. But what about now? The second article I read this morning was regarding the approval of a Dale Chihuly museum at the site of a former amusement park in downtown Seattle ( now the Seattle Center ).
The museum in itself is the subject of controversy, but that isn’t what I’d like to address here. Instead, I’d like direct attention to another Chihuly controversy– his use of others to craft his designs. One Facebook poster thought it necessary to point out that since losing the use of his left eye due to a car accident, he is no longer the person actually blowing the art glass he is so famous for. ( In reality, Chihuly continued to blow glass for three years following the accident, until a body surfing incident dislocated his shoulder, so he was no longer able to manually manipulate the glass ). The poster’s statement that “His employees make everything. Just sayin’.” seems to somehow fault Chihuly for continuing to create in the only way he physically could, by having others help him. The artist himself has said that his role, more of a director, allows him better perspective on the work.
As stated above regarding Gaudi, the practice of using assistants and apprentices to create monumental works of art has been done for centuries ( and yes, many of Chihuly’s creations are monumental in scope ). So as long as the artist himself continues to design the creations with his name on them, what’s the big deal?
And what about so-called “production originals”? You might be thinking of the ones advertised as “hand painted original works of art”, usually being sold out of a hotel ballroom. But what I’m talking about are the production art studios– where perhaps one “lead artist” is creating original works of art, which are then being recreated & reproduced by the hand of “assistant artists”. There are more of these studios around than people realize and the work can be found in galleries, corporate and private collections all over the world. While the savvy gallerist, art consultant, designer and art afficionado knows production art when they see it, what about the collector who thinks they are buying a true original work of art, only to spot an almost exact replica when in their hotel while on vacation in Hawaii? Do we lump Chihuly in with these?
These are three examples of artwork being completed and accomplished without the direct hand of the creator. What are your thoughts? Is it ever OK to put your name on something you didn’t actually physically create? This is definitely a gray area.. would love to hear your thoughts!
OK, the fashion loving girl in me is coming out! Check out this amazing show opening at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco. “Pulp Fashion: The Art of Isabel de Borchgrave” is a study in fashion and sculpture, meticulously recreating garments from the annals of art history out of paper. Wonder if George will let me take me a detour through San Fran on our trip to the NW?
One should either be a work of art, or wear a work of art. ~Oscar Wilde
Image via The Sartorialist
Image of Guernica by Pablo Picasso, via Museo Reina Sofia