Art
One of my favorite sketches. Done with the basic Bic ballpoint pen.
I recently picked up a new miniature Moleskin sketchbook, which the above drawing and many others in my collection were done in. It has been a while since I drew in this old standby, and I had forgotten how much I love the smaller format, the heavy cream colored paper, the ease in transporting a continuous art project.
Looking forward to sharing more snippets from the new Moleskin...
On Thursday night I attended Mark Fox's opening at Robert Miller Gallery in Chelsea.
The work on view is whimsical but also painstakingly rendered. Pieces simplistic in theory become complex through the layers of meaning created in the overlapping of cut-out text and doodles. Words take on and lose meaning as they hang in mid air or weave through other seemingly non-related text. How does each word relate? Is there a hidden message behind each piece?
The idea of creating painted sculpture completely fascinated and inspired me. Seeing a return to painting and being able to get a sense of the artist's hand in each piece was so refreshing.
A definite must see.
Shot at Robert Miller Gallery, 524 West 26th Street, NYC. All photos by Nicole Weiler.
Ribbons have always fascinated me. Light bounces off the curves of a twirled or twisted silky strand, glowing electric white at the peaks and darkening deeply in the valleys. This high contrast of light and dark makes the ribbon one of my most favorite subjects to draw.
At the Jean Paul Gaultier exhibit at The Brooklyn Museum of Art, I was struck by an exquisitely-made corset sewn together with salmon silk ribbon.
Ballooning over a woman's hips, blossoming above her full breasts, the ribbons in the corset highlight and accentuate the beauty of the female form. The corset is both delicate and tough at the same time; the sensual, curvilinear lines in the garment are balanced by a tightly bound, hard lacing that shapes the body into near-impossible ideals. Tightly wound at top and spilling into beautiful chaos below.
She is bathed in pink luxury, exuding a strong, confident sexuality... while still retaining a touch of vulnerability as she comes undone.
Shot at the Brooklyn Museum of Art. All photos by Nicole Weiler.
Another piece from the ink drawing series I began a few years ago {first seen here}.
Both sketches are inspired by fashion advertisements - the woman on the left was discovered in an old Ralph Lauren ad and the lips on the right were cropped from a David Yurman feature.
What initially drew me to these images was the sense of drama inherent in each photo. Each seemed to harbor a secret, somewhat foreboding story. Further cropping the subjects with my pen, I accentuated and heightened the sense of mystery and danger lurking beneath the surface. Together, the sketches speak to each other and create an even more complex and dark tale... left for the viewer to create.
A colorful silk scarf is my go-to accessory, oftentimes the final piece I throw on to complete an outfit. An instant mood booster, a quick pop of color, a conversation starter... I love a good scarf.
That being said, I am very excited about Alexander McQueen's collaboration with Damien Hirst.
The fashion house has teamed up with the artist to create a collection of 30 limited edition scarves incorporating the iconic McQueen skull and elements inspired by Hirst's Entomology series.
While I am not always the biggest fan of Hirst's work (depends on the piece), I do love his Entomology series. The exactingly symmetrical overall patterns Hirst constructs using butterflies, beetles, and other entomological specimens are stunning. For me, they recall ancient mural works and weavings.
"Tityus" by Damien Hirst, 2012
Hirst's trippy, kaliedoscopic patterns translate beautifully into scarf designs.
And the film shot for the collection by Sølve Sundsbø {below} is just as beautiful and inspiring.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wK_-Ycn69sg&w=560&h=315]
{scarf images courtesy of www.damienhirst.com}
Last weekend I took a break from the city and ventured out to Montclair, NJ. It was my favorite kind of crisp autumn day. The trees were afire in shades of yellow, orange, and red. A bright blue sky provided the perfect backdrop.
The destination was the Montclair Art Museum, which I had never visited. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the museum has an exceptional collection. An exhibit on Native American art was followed by a show featuring some contemporary artists I am very much interested in - including Cindy Sherman, Alex Prager, and Nan Goldin.
However, my favorite part of the visit was just outside the museum walls.
Artist Jean Shin was commissioned by the museum to create the fascinating sculptures that currently reside near the front entrance. Her three pieces are constructed from stainless steel knives, forks, and spoons. Welded together, the cutlery is transformed into a tree stump, a log, and a spindly tree.
Shin has successfully transformed these mundane, everyday objects we usually never give a second thought to into breath-taking art objects. Highly recommended and definitely worth the trip.
Shot at the Montclair Art Museum. All photos by Nicole Weiler.
Halloween always catches me off guard. I spend months looking forward to the holiday, to the opportunity to get creative with costuming. And yet, when the special day finally arrives, I am caught off guard, usually costume-less.
Luckily I was able to improvise with glow-in-the-dark necklaces this year. Neon instantly adds an element of fun to any get-up.
The Whitney Museum provided the colorful necklaces at their opening party for "Rituals of Rented Island," on view through February 2nd. A Halloween celebration followed the exhibition viewing.
"Rituals of Rented Island" focuses on the radical performance art that took place in downtown Manhattan during the 1970's. Artists in this group performed anywhere and everywhere - in private lofts, on the stage, in store fronts. Some performance pieces lack any film documentation; photos and posters are left to tell their stories.
The show was quite fitting for a Halloween opening night as I found much of the work on view somewhat eerie. Jack Smith's monstrous bras for men (from his performance "Irrational Landlordism of Bagdad") were captivating but left me uncomfortable. The crazily patterned props looked as if they may come alive at any moment and crawl toward me, bra straps threateningly raised.
Squat Theatre's area showcased a hanging severed head amongst posters and photographs documenting the group's plays. As someone with a bit of a dummy/doll phobia, this mask will leave me haunted for weeks. A large-scale mural of a demonic child played a film of a naked woman contorting her body into impossible positions - through its eyes. A Freudian reference?
While I did not understand much of the exhibition, I was at the very least relieved that the quirky art in the show stood out much more than my lack of a costume.
Shot at The Whitney Museum of American Art. Photos by Rachel Kozin and Nicole Weiler. Wearing {a somewhat festive Halloween pick... black seems to always do the trick!}:
Phillip Lim sheer black silk top, mandarin garnet yellow gold ring, stacked yellow gold diamond pinky rings, diamond solitaire necklace {my design}, dangling diamond/blue sapphire/tanzanite yellow gold necklace {my design}
Imagine. Sky scrapers at your feet. Sidewalks curved towards the heavens. Brownstones flipped and toppling downwards. Lush greenery spilling out in every direction.
Jennifer Williams makes these seemingly impossible feats a reality in "The High Line Effect," which opened on Thursday night at Robert Mann Gallery in Chelsea. The show is on view through December 7th.
Williams' show focuses on New York City's High Line, the recently constructed (and still expanding) elevated park that just happens to be in the same neighborhood as the gallery hosting her work.
Images in the photo collages highlight the ongoing transformation of this public space as it continues to grow and become an ever-increasingly popular attraction. Cranes, construction sites, and buildings under development collide with bustling streets, rich foliage, and towering skyscrapers.
These images are more than photographic references to the neighborhood in which they are displayed. Each installation reverberates with energy and embodies the sheer electricity of the bustling High Line. Williams' pieces come alive before you, exploding with color, crawling around corners, wrapping over ceiling beams, spilling out onto the gallery floor.
What blows me away most about Williams' work is her ability to capture a sense of movement and life through very simple, basic images. Her photographs are not static records of the world. Together they are mind-bending, lively creations that challenge traditional ideas on perspective.
The way that Williams arranges her photos together creates a new world that feels more real than any photograph does on its own. Despite the fact that buildings are flipped upside down and placed under foot (so far from physical reality) I felt that I could be standing in the middle of the elevated park when standing in front of each installation.
For me, the collages embodied the feeling of walking along the High Line... experiencing the chaotic world around the park, hearing the incessant beeping of taxis, squinting from the sharp light reflected off surrounding buildings, feeling the crisp wind against my face, watching the tourists and city strollers pass by.
A big thank you goes out to my old college buddy, Ethan, who helped prepare the show and invited me and some friends to the special occasion.
Shot at Robert Mann Gallery. Photos by Nicole Weiler and Christine Bilms. Wearing {a delicate one-of-a-kind treasure from the '60s that feels more special with every wear}:
vintage jacket with beading and pearls, Rag +Bone jeans, Rag +Bone boots, vintage bag
Beauty is present in the simplest of things. Over the summer I was inspired by the humble beauty in a cluster of freshly-picked, juicy-red tomatoes. Resting atop a crisp white tablecloth with bright blue lines dancing across its folds, the tomatoes glowed in the warm afternoon light.
I have been painting with pastels for almost fifteen years. Growing up, I spent my summers training one-on-one with artist Rosalie Nadeau in Cape Cod. A talented and thoughtful mentor, Rose taught me to truly see light, shadow, and the complexities of color.
Pastels are pure pigment. Rich sticks of color that can be layered, blended, and manipulated to capture the splendor of the natural world. When painting, I utilize my color palette to express the presence of my subject, the general feel of the moment as I experience it, the fleeting luminosity of light as it colors the scene before me.
There is a beauty and a sadness in the painting process. The painter races to capture the impossible, a brief moment of time that passes instantly and immediately becomes something new. Light fades, flowers wilt, a breeze alters the arch of a branch.
Nothing is permanent. Every moment is important.
Art has been a constant in my life. From the time I could hold a pencil, I have been drawing, painting, sculpting, creating.
The sketch above was done with a simple Bic ballpoint pen. A few years ago, I embarked on an exploration of how sexuality and femininity are portrayed in fashion advertisements and editorials through simple pen drawings. Using a small journal as my canvas, I reinvented the fashion photographs that spoke to me. My pen further cropped and distorted the images - emphasizing and acting as an extension of the male gaze present in the original photo.
The two drawings here are framed together. Both exude a powerful, raw sexuality.